piece of bored pipe, he managed to procure
it, and made a working model of a pump that raised water very well.
These anecdotes are related of him while he was yet a mere child in
petticoats, and probably before he had attained his sixth year. At the
age of fourteen or fifteen he had made for himself an engine to turn
rose-work, and he made several presents to his friends of boxes in
wood and ivory, as specimens of its operation.

In the year 1742, Mr. Holmes, afterwards his partner in the Deptford
Water-works, visited Smeaton and could not conceal his astonishment at
the mechanical skill displayed by the young engineer; he forged his
iron and steel, and melted his metal; he had tools of every sort for
working in wood, ivory, and metals. He had made a lathe, by which he
had cut a perpetual screw in brass, a thing very little known at that
day. All these resources were not furnished to him by rich and wealthy
parents, nor had he the advantage of masters in his various pursuits;
on the contrary, by the strength of his genius, and by indefatigable
industry, he acquired at the age of eighteen an extensive set of
tools, and the art of working in most of the mechanical trades, and
Mr. Holmes, himself a good mechanic, says that few men could work
better.

Astronomy was one of his most favourite studies, and he contrived and
made several astronomical instruments for himself and friends. In
later years, after fitting up an observatory at his house at
Ansthorpe, he devoted much time to it when he was there, even in
preference to engineering.

Smeaton's father being an attorney was desirous to educate his son for
the same profession. He was therefore sent to London in 1742, where
during a few terms he attended court; but finding the legal profession
distasteful to him, and not to suit "the bent of his genius," he wrote
a strong memorial on the subject to his father, who had the good sense
to allow him from that time to pursue the path which nature pointed
out to him. He continued to reside in London, and about the year 1750
he commenced the business of mathematical instrument maker. In 1751 he
invented a machine to measure a ship's way at sea, and a compass of
peculiar construction, touched by Dr. Knight's artificial magnet. He
made two voyages in company with Dr. Knight for the purpose of
ascertaining the merits of these contrivances.

In 1753 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and his
admirable papers inserted in