66 66 (so far as we have known anything of them), THE MOST VIRTUOUS, THE MOST WISE, AND THE MOST JUST.' M. Arago, one of the most uncompromising, though, at the same time, the most pure-minded and amiable of republicans, has expressed, in his 'Eloge,' great and rather indignant surprise that "it was not even proposed to make Watt a "Peer." It was certainly not proposed to elevate him to the peerage; nor would that have suited the moderate fortune, the retired habits, and the unambitious character of Mr. Watt. They order these things differently in France, and M. Arago no doubt supposed that what was almost a matter of course in the one country, should likewise be so in the other. But the English Government was not altogether unmindful of the merits of Mr. Watt; and it was intimated to him, by a friendly message from Sir Joseph Banks, a few years before his death, that the highest honour usually conferred in England on men of literature and science,-(that of a Baronetcy), -was open to him, if he chose to express a wish to that effect. He felt flattered by the intimation, but on conversing with his son, it occurred to both, that there were circumstances and considerations which rendered it ineligible. It was, therefore, allowed to drop; although with a sincere feeling of gratitude on the part of Mr. Watt towards the Sovereign who was prepared so to have honoured him. James Watt would have been the last to join in any disloyal outcry such as we have heard raised in our own time, to the effect that the names of men of genius are more dignified in themselves than when they have received the addition of titles of higher rank; and far distant, we trust, may be the day, when true British hearts will consent either to speak evil of dignities, or to slight the majesty of that regal power which has the constitutional privilege of conferring them. It is true, that "The rank is but the guinea stamp,- but the pure gold loses nothing of its genuineness by being Plat. Phad. cap. lxviii. stamped with the image and superscription of the monarch, and made to pass current in the world with that additional warrant and estimate of its value. Most of the Peers of England have owed their patents of nobility to great talents, or services rendered to their country by their ancestors or themselves; there is no reason why that which adds lustre to the renown of a Nelson or a Wellington should bring discredit on the name of a Watt; and such an elevation, we venture to believe, will never be despised, as one of the rewards of an honest and honourable ambition, except by that most inconsistent of all feelings, "the pride which apes humility." Not long after Mr. Watt's death, it was understood that Lord Liverpool had publicly expressed regret, that a great opportunity of rewarding merit had been lost. That such were the sentiments of the King, (George IV.), and of the able men who then formed the ministry, became evident from the eagerness with which they entered into the proposal of erecting a public monument to the memory of Mr. Watt, when suggested by his friends, among whom Mr. Charles Hampden Turner took the lead. At the meeting at which provision was made for effecting that national object, the Prime Minister of the Crown occupied the chair, and announced that he was commanded by the King to say that he was most deeply sensible of the merits of Mr. Watt; that he was most anxious that there should be no subscription in testimony of such services in which his name should not appear; and that he was authorised to put down his Majesty's name for 5007.; while a Huskisson, a Peel, an Aberdeen, and a Brougham, vied with a Davy, a Mackintosh, a Wilberforce, and a Wedgwood, in expressing their sense of the value of the magnificent inventions with which the name of Watt was associated. "A meeting more distinguished by "rank, station, and talent,"-as it was truly remarked at the time," was never assembled to do honour to genius, and to "modest and retiring worth; and a more spontaneous, noble, " and discriminating testimony was never borne to the virtues, "talents, and public services of any individual, in any age or "country." To be so honoured by those most full of honour, and praised by the most praiseworthy, seems to leave nothing more to be desired in the way of posthumous fame, of private respect, or national esteem. 66 The tribute which a grateful nation has since paid to his memory is thus testified not only by those monuments which in other places throughout the kingdom his countrymen have set up, but also by the colossal statue, from the chisel of Chantrey, erected in Westminster Abbey, by "the King, his Ministers, and many of the Nobles and Commoners "of the realm;" "NOT," in the eloquent words of Lord Brougham, now for ever associated with the triumphs of the sculptor, TO PERPETUATE A NAME WHICH MUST ENDURE "WHILE THE PEACEFUL ARTS FLOURISH, BUT TO SHEW THAT "MANKIND HAVE LEARNT TO HONOUR THOSE WHO BEST "DESERVE THEIR GRATITUDE.' 66 Lord Brougham's composition has, indeed, attained the distinction of being declared "beyond all comparison the "finest lapidary inscription in the English language,” and is said by the same authority to have, "among its other signal merits, one which appertains rather to its subject than its 66 * The inscription is as follows: NOT TO PERPETUATE A NAME WHICH MUST ENDURE WHILE THE PEACEFUL ARTS FLOURISH BUT TO SHEW THAT MANKIND HAVE LEARNT TO HONOUR THOSE WHO BEST DESERVE THEIR GRATITUDE THE KING HIS MINISTERS AND MANY OF THE NOBLES AND COMMONERS OF THE REALM RAISED THIS MONUMENT TO JAMES WATT WHO DIRECTING THE FORCE OF AN ORIGINAL GENIUS TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE STEAM ENGINE ENLARGED THE RESOURCES OF HIS COUNTRY AND ROSE TO AN EMINENT PLACE AMONG THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS FOLLOWERS OF SCIENCE DIED AT HEATHFIELD IN STAFFORDSHIRE MDCCCXIX. 66 author, that, lofty as is the eulogy, every word of it is "true." The filial piety of the late Mr. Watt of Aston Hall has liberally and judiciously multiplied those noble statues of his father, which have been justly regarded as Chantrey's greatest works. Thus the Town of Greenock, the University of Glasgow, and the Church of Handsworth, each possesses one of those exquisite pieces of memorial sculpture, truthfully portraying to distant ages the mild, thoughtful, and venerable features of the patriarchal sage, and with silent but impressive eloquence commemorating the birth, the life, the inventions, and the death of James Watt. But there is, perhaps, no one whose name more forcibly illustrates the sentiment of antiquity-that "of illustrious men the whole world is the "tomb; and not only does the inscription on their own "monuments in their own country bear witness to their glory, but even in foreign lands an unwritten record of the "mind rather than of any monument remains with every one "for ever." † 66 * 'Quarterly Review,' vol. CIV. p. 451. 1858. Thucyd. lib. ii. cap. 43, ed. Arnold, 1830. CHAPTER XXIX. CHARACTER OF MR. WATT BY LORD JEFFREY - SCIENTIFIC TITLES PORTRAITS BY BEECHEY, BONE, LONGCASTRE, PARTRIDGE, LAWRENCE, RAEBURN, GRAHAM GILBERT, HENNING, JACKSON, FINDEN - - STATUES AND BUSTS BY CHANTREY - MEDAL BY WYON· -BUSTS BY CHEVERTON. "THIS name,” wrote Lord Jeffrey, on receiving the first intelligence of the death of his venerated friend, and the portraiture he then rapidly drew will always remain unsurpassed in fidelity and power,-" fortunately needs no comme"moration of ours; for he that bore it survived to see it "crowned with undisputed and unenvied honours; and many "generations will probably pass away, before it shall have gathered all its fame.' We have said that Mr. Watt was "the great improver of the steam-engine; but, in truth, as to "all that is admirable in its structure, or vast in its utility, "he should rather be described as its inventor. It was by his "inventions that its action was so regulated, as to make it 66 66 66 capable of being applied to the finest and most delicate "manufactures, and its power so increased, as to set weight "and solidity at defiance. By his admirable contrivance, it "has become a thing stupendous alike for its force and its flexibility, for the prodigious power which it can exert, "and the ease, and precision, and ductility, with which it " can be varied, distributed, and applied. The trunk of an elephant, that can pick up a pin or rend an oak, is as "nothing to it. It can engrave a seal, and crush masses of "obdurate metal before it,-draw out, without breaking, a "thread as fine as gossamer, and lift a ship of war like a "bauble in the air. It can embroider muslin and forge "anchors,-cut steel into ribbons, and impel loaded vessels "against the fury of the winds and waves. 66 "It would be difficult to estimate the value of the benefits |