in July, 1784, engaged in superintending the erection of a house,
after a design by Mr. Samuel Wyatt, intended for the residence of

the Commissioner (now occupied by the Port Admiral) at Portsmouth
Dockyard, together with a new chapel, and several buildings

connected with the Yard. Telford took care to keep his eyes open to
all the other works going forward in the neighbourhood, and he

states that he had frequent opportunities of observing the various
operations necessary in the foundation and construction of

graving-docks, wharf-walls, and such like, which were among the
principal occupations of his after-life.

The letters written by him from Portsmouth to his Eskdale
correspondents about this time were cheerful and hopeful, like

those he had sent from London. His principalgrievance was that he
received so few from home, but he supposed that opportunities for

forwarding them by hand had not occurred, postage being so dear as
scarcely then to be thought of. To tempt them to correspondence he

sent copies of the poems which he still continued to compose in the
leisure of his evenings: one of these was a 'Poem on Portsdown Hill.'

As for himself, he was doing very well. The buildings were
advancing satisfactorily; but, "above all," said he, "my proceedings

are entirely approved by the Commissioners and officers here--
so much so that they would sooner go by my advice than my master's,

which is a dangerous point, being difficult to keep their good
graces as well as his. However, I will contrive to manage it"*[5]

The following is his own account of the manner in which he was
usually occupied during the winter months while at Portsmouth Dock:--

"I rise in the morning at 7 (February 1st), and will get up
earlier as the days lengthen until it come to 5 o'clock.

I immediately set to work to make out accounts, write on matters of
business, or draw, until breakfast, which is at 9. Then I go into

the Yard about 10, see that all are at their posts, and am ready to
advise about any matters that may require attention. This, and

going round the several works, occupies until about dinner-time,
which is at 2; and after that I again go round and attend to what

may be wanted. I draw till 5; then tea; and after that I write,
draw, or read until half after 9; then comes supper and bed. This

my ordinary round, unless when I dine or spend an evening with a
friend; but I do not make many friends, being very particular, nay,

nice to a degree. My business requires a great deal of writing and
drawing, and this work I always take care to keep under by

reserving my time for it, and being in advance of my work rather
than behind it. Then, as knowledge is my most ardentpursuit, a

thousand things occur which call for investigation which would
pass unnoticed by those who are content to trudge only in the

beaten path. I am not contented unless I can give a reason for
every particular method or practice which is pursued. Hence I am

now very deep in chemistry. The mode of making mortar in the best
way led me to inquire into the nature of lime. Having, in pursuit

of this inquiry, looked into some books on chemistry, I perceived
the field was boundless; but that to assignsatisfactory reasons

for many mechanical processes required a general knowledge of that
science. I have therefore borrowed a MS. copy of Dr. Black's

Lectures. I have bought his 'Experiments on Magnesia and
Quicklime,' and also Fourcroy's Lectures, translated from the

French by one Mr. Elliot, of Edinburgh. And I am determined to
study the subject with unwearied attention until I attain some

accurate knowledge of chemistry, which is of no less use in the
practice of the arts than it is in that of medicine." He adds, that

he continues to receive the cordialapproval of the Commissioners
for the manner in which he performs his duties, and says, "I take

care to be so far master of the business committed to me as that
none shall be able to eclipse me in that respect."*[6] At the same

time he states he is taking great delight in Freemasonry, and is
about to have a lodge-room at the George Inn fitted up after his

plans and under his direction. Nor does he forget to add that he
has his hair powdered every day, and puts on a clean shirt three

times a week.
The Eskdale mason was evidently getting on, as he deserved to do.

But he was not puffed up. To his Langholm friend he averred that
"he would rather have it said of him that he possessed one grain of

good nature or good sense than shine the finest puppet in
Christendom." "Let my mother know that I am well," he wrote to

Andrew Little, "and that I will print her a letter soon."*[7]
For it was a practice of this good son, down to the period of his

mother's death, no matter how much burdened he was with business,
to set apart occasional times for the careful penning of a letter

in printed characters, that she might the more easily be able to
decipher it with her old and dimmed eyes by her cottagefireside at

The Crooks. As a man's real disposition usually displays itself
most strikingly in small matters--like light, which gleams the

most brightly when seen through narrow chinks--it will probably
be admitted that this trait, trifling though it may appear, was

truly characteristic of the simple and affectionate nature of the
hero of our story.

The buildings at Portsmouth were finished by the end of 1786, when
Telford's duties there being at an end, and having no engagement

beyond the termination of the contract, he prepared to leave, and
began to look about him for other employment.

Footnotes for Chapter III.
*[1] Robert and John Adam were architects of considerablerepute in

their day. Among their London erections were the Adelphi Buildings,
in the Strand; Lansdowne House, in Berkeley Square; Caen Wood

House, near Hampstead (Lord Mansfield's); Portland Place, Regent's
Park; and numerous West End streets and mansions. The screen of the

Admiralty and the ornaments of Draper's Hall were also designed by
them.

*[2] Long after Telford had become famous, he was passing over
Waterloo Bridge one day with a friend, when, pointing to some

finely-cut stones in the corner nearest the bridge, he said:
"You see those stones there; forty years since I hewed and laid them,

when working on that building as a common mason."
*[3]Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated London, July, 1783.

*[4] Mr., afterwards Sir William, Pulteney, was the second son of
Sir James Johnstone, of Wester Hall, and assumed the name of

Pulteney, on his marriage to Miss Pulteney, niece of the Earl of
Bath and of General Pulteney, by whom he succeeded to a large

fortune. He afterwards succeeded to the baronetcy of his elder
brother James, who died without issue in 1797. Sir William Pulteney

represented Cromarty, and afterwards Shrewsbury, where he usually
resided, in seven successive Parliaments. He was a great patron of

Telford's, as we shall afterwards find.
*[5] Letter to Andrew Little, Langholm, dated Portsmouth, July 23rd,

1784.
*[6] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated Portsmouth

Dockyard, Feb. 1, 1786.
*[7] Ibid

CHAPTER IV.
BECOMES SURVEYOR FOR THE COUNTY OF SALOP.

Mr. Pulteney, member for Shrewsbury, was the owner of extensive
estates in that neighbourhood by virtue of his marriage with the

niece of the last Earl of Bath. Having resolved to fit up the
Castle there as a residence, he bethought him of the young Eskdale

mason, who had, some years before, advised him as to the repairs of
the Johnstone mansion at Wester Hall. Telford was soon found, and

engaged to go down to Shrewsbury to superintend the necessary
alterations. Their execution occupied his attention for some time,

and during their progress he was so fortunate as to obtain the
appointment of Surveyor of Public Works for the county of Salop,

most probably through the influence of his patron. Indeed, Telford
was known to be so great a favourite with Mr. Pulteney that at

Shrewsbury he usually went by the name of "Young Pulteney."
Much of his attention was from this time occupied with the surveys

and repairs of roads, bridges, and gaols, and the supervision of
all public buildings under the control of the magistrates of the