of the arch-stones and the cross walls of each abutment. Thus great
strength as well as lightness was secured, and a very graceful and

at the same time substantialbridge was provided for the
accommodation of the district.*[11]

[Image] Tongueland Bridge.
In his letters written about this time, Telford seems to have been

very full of employment, which required him to travel about a great
deal. "I have become," said he, "a very wandering being, and am

scarcely ever two days in one place, unless detained by business,
which, however, occupies my time very completely." At another time

he says, "I am tossed about like a tennis ball: the other day I was
in London, since that I have been in Liverpool, and in a few days I

expect to be at Bristol. Such is my life; and to tell you the
truth, I think it suits my disposition."

Another work on which Telford was engaged at this time was a
project for supplying the town of Liverpool with water conveyed

through pipes in the same manner as had long before been adopted in
London. He was much struck by the activity and enterprise apparent

in Liverpool compared with Bristol. "Liverpool," he said,
"has taken firm root in the country by means of the canals"

it is young, vigorous, and well situated. Bristol is sinking in
commercial importance: its merchants are rich and indolent, and in

their projects they are always too late. Besides, the place is
badly situated. There will probably arise another port there

somewhat nearer the Severn; but Liverpool will nevertheless
continue of the first commercial importance, and their water will

be turned into wine. We are making rapid progress in this country--
I mean from Liverpool to Bristol, and from Wales to Birmingham.

This is an extensive and rich district, abounding in coal, lime,
iron, and lead. Agriculture too is improving, and manufactures

are advancing at rapid strides towards perfection. Think of such a
mass of population, industrious, intelligent, and energetic, in

continual exertion! In short, I do not believe that any part of the
world, of like dimensions, ever exceeded Great Britain, as it now

is, in regard to the production of wealth and the practice of the
useful arts."*[12] Amidst all this progress, which so strikingly

characterized the western districts of England, Telford also
thought that there was a prospect of coming improvement for Ireland.

"There is a board of five members appointed by Parliament, to act
as a board of control over all the inland navigations, &c., of

Ireland. One of the members is a particular friend of mine, and at
this moment a pupil, as it were, anxious for information. This is

a noble object: the field is wide, the ground new and capable of
vast improvement. To take up and manage the water of a fine island

is like a fairy tale, and, if properly conducted, it would render
Ireland truly a jewel among the nations."*[13] It does not,

however, appear that Telford was ever employed by the board to
carry out the grand scheme which thus fired his engineering

imagination.
Mixing freely with men of all classes, our engineer seems to have

made many new friends and acquaintances about this time. While on
his journeys north and south, he frequently took the opportunity of

looking in upon the venerable James Watt--"a great and good man,"
he terms him--at his house at Heathfield, near Birmingham.

At London he says he is "often with old Brodie and Black, each the
first in his profession, though they walked up together to the

great city on foot,*[14] more than half a century ago--Gloria!"
About the same time we find him taking interest in the projects of

a deserving person, named Holwell, a coal-master in Staffordshire,
and assisting him to take out a patent for boring wooden pipes;

"he being a person," says Telford, "little known, and not having
capital, interest, or connections, to bring the matter forward."

Telford also kept up his literary friendships and preserved his
love for poeticalreading. At Shrewsbury, one of his most intimate

friends was Dr. Darwin, son of the author of the 'Botanic Garden.'
At Liverpool, he made the acquaintance of Dr. Currie, and was

favoured with a sight of his manuscript of the ' Life of Burns,'
then in course of publication. Curiously enough, Dr. Currie had

found among Burns's papers a copy of some verses, addressed to the
poet, which Telford recognised as his own, written many years

before while working as a mason at Langholm. Their purport was to
urge Burns to devote himself to the composition of poems of a

serious character, such as the 'Cotter's Saturday Night.' With
Telford's permission, several extracts from his Address to Burns

were published in 1800 in Currie's Life of the poet. Another of
his literary friendships, formed about the same time, was that with

Thomas Campbell, then a very young man, whose 'Pleasures of Hope'
had just made its appearance. Telford, in one of his letters, says,

"I will not leave a stone unturned to try to serve the author of
that charming poem. In a subsequent communication*[15] he says,

"The author of the 'Pleasures of Hope' has been here for some time.
I am quite delighted with him. He is the very spirit of poetry.

On Monday I introduced him to the King's librarian, and I imagine
some good may result to him from the introduction."

In the midst of his plans of docks, canals, and bridges, he wrote
letters to his friends about the peculiarities of Goethe's poems

and Kotzebue's plays, Roman antiquities, Buonaparte's campaign in
Egypt, and the merits of the last new book. He confessed, however,

that his leisure for reading was rapidly diminishing in consequence
of the increasing professional demands upon his time; but he bought

the 'Encyclopedia Britannica,' which he described as "a perfect
treasure, containing everything, and always at hand." He thus

rapidly described the manner in which his time was engrossed.
"A few days since, I attended a general assembly of the canal

proprietors in Shropshire. I have to be at Chester again in a
week, upon an arbitration business respecting the rebuilding of the

county hall and gaol; but previous to that I must visit Liverpool,
and afterwards proceed into Worcestershire. So you see what sort

of a life I have of it. It is something like Buonaparte, when in
Italy, fighting battles at fifty or a hundred miles distance every

other day. However, plenty of employment is what every
professional man is seeking after, and my various occupations now

require of me great exertions, which they certainly shall have so
long as life and health are spared to me."*[16] Amidst all his

engagements, Telford found time to make particular inquiry about
many poor families formerly known to him in Eskdale, for some of

whom he paid house-rent, while he transmitted the means of
supplying others with coals, meal, and necessaries, during the

severe winter months,--a practice which he continued to the close
of his life.

Footnotes for Chapter VII.
*[1] 'Encyclopedia Britannica,' 8th ed. Art. "Iron Bridges."

*[2] According to the statement made in the petition drawn by Paine,
excise officers were then (1772) paid only 1s. 9 1/4d. a day.

*[3] In England, Paine took out a patent for his Iron Bridge in
1788. Specification of Patents (old law) No. 1667.

*[4] [Image] Buildwas Bridge.
The following are further details: "Each of the main ribs of the

flat arch consists of three pieces, and at each junction they are
secured by a grated plate, which connects all the parallel ribs

together into one frame. The back of each abutment is in a
wedge-shape, so as to throw off laterally much of the pressure of

the earth. Under the bridge is a towing path on each side of the
river. The bridge was cast in an admirable manner by the

Coalbrookdale iron-masters in the year 1796, under contract with
the county magistrates. The total cost was 6034L. l3s. 3d."

*[5] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated Shrewsbury,
l8th March, 1795.

*[6] Douglas was first mentioned to Telford, in a letter from
Mr. Pasley, as a young man, a native of Bigholmes, Eskdale, who had,

after serving his time there as a mechanic, emigrated to America,
where he showed such proofs of mechanical genius that he attracted