n who added the shirt.

A distinguished living mechanic thus expresses himself to the Author on
this point:--"Kings, warriors, and statesmen have heretofore
monopolized not only the pages of history, but almost those of
biography. Surely some niche ought to be found for the Mechanic,
without whose skill and labour society, as it is, could not exist. I
do not begrudge destructive heroes their fame, but the constructive
ones ought not to be forgotten; and there IS a heroism of skill and
toil belonging to the latter class, worthy of as grateful record,--less
perilous and romantic, it may be, than that of the other, but not less
full of the results of human energy, bravery, and character. The lot
of labour is indeed often a dull one; and it is doing a public service
to endeavour to lighten it up by records of the struggles and triumphs
of our more illustrious workers, and the results of their labours in
the cause of human advancement."

As respects the preparation of the following memoirs, the Author's
principal task has consisted in selecting and arranging the materials
so liberally placed at his disposal by gentlemen for the most part
personally acquainted with the subjects of them, and but for whose
assistance the book could not have been written. The materials for the
biography of Henry Maudslay, for instance, have been partly supplied by
the late Mr. Joshua Field, F.R.S. (his partner), but principally by Mr.
James Nasmyth, C.E., his distinguished pupil. In like manner Mr. John
Penn, C.E., has supplied the chief materials for the memoir of Joseph
Clement, assisted by Mr. Wilkinson, Clement's nephew. The Author has
also had the valuable assistance of Mr. William Fairbairn, F.R.S., Mr.
J. O. March, tool manufacturer (Mayor of Leeds), Mr. Richard Roberts,
C.E., Mr. Henry Maudslay, C.E., and Mr. J. Kitson, Jun., iron
manufacturer, Leeds, in the preparation of the other memoirs of
mechanical engineers included in this volume.

The materials for the memoirs of the early iron-workers have in like
manner been obtained for the most part from original sources; those of
the Darbys and Reynoldses from Mr. Dickinson of Coalbrookdale, Mr.
William Reynolds of Coed-du, and Mr. William G. Norris of the former
place, as well as from Mr. Anstice of Madeley Wood, who has kindly
supplied the original records of the firm. The substance of the
biography of Benjamin Huntsman, the inventor of cast-steel, has been
furnished by his line