nd.

Many of the facts set forth in the Life and Inventions of William
Murdock have already been published in my 'Lives of Boulton and Watt;'
but these are now placed in a continuous narrative, and supplemented by
other information, more particularly the correspondence between Watt
and Murdock, communicated to me by the present representative of the
family, Mr. Murdock, C.E., of Gilwern, near Abergavenny.

I have also endeavoured to give as accurate an account as possible of
the Invention of the Steam-printing Press, and its application to the
production of Newspapers and Books,--an invention certainly of great
importance to the spread of knowledge, science, and literature,
throughout the world.

The chapter on the "Industry of Ireland" will speak for itself. It
occurred to me, on passing through Ireland last year, that much
remained to be said on that subject; and, looking to the increasing
means of the country, and the well-known industry of its people, it
seems reasonable to expect, that with peace, security, energy, and
diligent labour of head and hand, there is really a great future before
Ireland.

The last chapter, on "Astronomers in Humble Life," consists for the
most part of a series of Autobiographies. It may seem, at first sight,
to have little to do with the leading object of the book; but it serves
to show what a number of active, earnest, and able men are
comparatively hidden throughout society, ready to turn their hands and
heads to the improvement of their own characters, if not to the
advancement of the general community of which they form a part.

In conclusion, I say to the reader, as Quarles said in the preface to
his 'Emblems,' "I wish thee as much pleasure in the reading as I had in
the writing." In fact, the last three chapters were in some measure
the cause of the book being published in its present form.

London, November, 1884.

CHAPTER I.

PHINEAS PETT: BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH SHIP-BUILDING.

"A speck in the Northern Ocean, with a rocky coast, an ungenial
climate, and a soil scarcely fruitful,--this was the material patrimony
which descended to the English race--an inheritance that would have
been little worth but for the inestimable moral gift that accompanied
it. Yes; from Celts, Saxons, Danes, Normans--from some or all of
them--have come down with English nationality a talisman that could
command sunshine, and plenty, and empire, and fame. The 'go' which
they transmitted t