since imparted an almost classical interest, and
his orders were at first so few that they could easily be overtaken by
himself with the assistance of two apprentices. His experience was
eventually that of the great bulk of mankind, verifying the well-known
aphorism--_labor omnia vincit_. In the course of time he was encouraged
to undertake the general work of an engineer, and his removal from
Greyfriars Wynd to Camlachie Foundry afforded greater scope for the
extension of his operations. While here, he undertook a number of
tolerably large contracts, one of them being for the pipes required by
the Glasgow Water Company when bringing the supply from the upper
reaches of the Clyde. The first land engine made by Mr. Napier is still
in use in Mr. Boak's spinning factory at Dundee. His first essay at
marine engineering was a contract undertaken in 1823, to build the
engines for the Leven, a small paddle-steamer that used to ply between
Glasgow and Dumbarton. When the Leven had been "put on the shelf," after
having served its day, the engines were taken from her and removed to
the Vulcan Foundry in Washington Street, to which Mr. Napier
subsequently removed, and where these interesting memorials of the early
history of a trade which has since assumed such gigantic proportions may
still be viewed.

Succeeding his cousin in the Lancefield Foundry, as he had previously
succeeded him in Camlachie, Mr. Napier was enabled, by the acquisition
of better facilities to undertake a much larger amount of work, and with
Mr. David Elder, an engineer of much experience and inventive genius, as
his manager, he speedily laid the foundations of an altogether
exceptional reputation as a marine engineer. In 1826 he engined the
Eclipse, a vessel employed on the Glasgow and Belfast route; and in 1830
he became connected with the City of Glasgow Steam Packet Company,
projected for the purpose of running first-class vessels between Glasgow
and Liverpool, through which his maritime influence acquired an
additional impetus. Indeed, from this time forward, no steamship company
of any importance was started on the Clyde without Mr. Napier being
called in to consult. In the year 1834, he contracted for and engined
several vessels for the Dundee and London Shipping Company, of which Mr.
George Duncan, late M.P. for Dundee, and a very warm friend of Mr.
Napier's, was a leading director. The Clyde-built vessels belonging to
this concern were admired by all