t the somewhat apocryphal anecdote of his testing the power of
steam as it issued from his aunt's teakettle when a little lad barely
breeched) at an early age he gave evidence of what sort of a man he
would be. In such a condensed work as the present book, it is impossible
to give much of the life of this celebrated genius; but fortunately
there are many biographies of him to which the student can refer, as
well as scientific and other tomes, in which his manifold inventions
have been recorded, and in no corner of the earth where the steam-engine
has been introduced can his name be unknown. After many years' labour to
bring the new motive power into practical use, Watt, helped by his
friend Dr. Roebuck, took out his first patent in 1769. Roebuck's share
was transferred to Matthew Boulton in 1773, and in the following year
James Watt came to Birmingham. An Act of Parliament prolonging the
patent for a term of twenty-four years was obtained in May, 1775, and on
the first of June was commenced the world-famous partnership of Boulton
and Watt. Up to this date the only engine made to work was the one
brought by Watt from Scotland, though more than nine years had been
spent on it, and thousands of pounds expended in experiments,
improvements, and alterations. Watt's first residence here was in
Regent's Place, Harper's Hill, to which (Aug. 17, 1775) he brought his
second wife. He afterwards removed to Heathfield, where the workshop in
which he occupied his latest years still remains, as on the day of his
death. In 1785, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society; in 1806,
the University of Glasgow conferred the degree of LL.D. upon him, and in
1808 he was elected a member of the National Institute of France. One of
the latest inventions of James Watt was a machine for the mechanical
copying of sculpture and statuary, its production being the amusement of
his octogenarian years, for, like his partner Boulton, Watt was
permitted to stay on the earth for longer than the so-called allotted
term, his death taking place on the 19th of August, 1819, when he was in
his 83rd year. He was buried in Handsworth Church, where there is a
monument, the features of which are said to be very like him. A statue
was erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey in 1824, and others have
been set up in Birmingham, Manchester, Greenock, and Glasgow. The
following is the inscription (written by Lord Brougham) on the tomb of
Watt in Westminster Abbey, t