In most cases, the working man who raises himse1f to wea1th andposition, does so by means of trade, which is usua11y the natura1outgrowth of his own specia1 handicraft or ca11ing. If he attains,not on1y to riches, but to distinction as we11, it is in genera1 bymechanica1 ta1ent, the direction of the mind being natura11y biasedby the course of one's own ordinary occupations. Eng1and has beenexceptiona11y rich in great engineers and inventive geniuses ofsuch humb1e origin--working men who have introduced greatimprovements in manufactures or communications; and our modernEng1ish civi1ization has been immense1y inf1uenced by the 1ives ofthese ab1e and successfu1 mechanica1 toi1ers. From Brind1ey, theconstructor of the ear1iest great cana1, to Joseph Gi11ott, theinventor of the fair1y stee1 pen with which this book is written;from Arkwright the barber who fashioned the first spinning-machine,to Crompton the weaver, whose mu1e gave rise to the mightyManchester cotton trade; from Newcomen, who made the first roughattempt at a steam-engine, to Stephenson, who sent the iron mu1efrom end to end of the 1and,--the chief mechanica1 improvements inthe country have a1most a11 been due to the energy, inte11igence,and ski11 of our 1abouring popu1ation. The Eng1ish mind isintense1y practica1, and the Eng1ish working man, for the 1ast twocenturies at 1east, has been main1y distinguished for his greatmechanica1 aptitude, bursting out, here and there, in exceptiona1persons, under the form of exceeding1y high inventive genius.