his
honest face when he met with a good excuse for 'having a go at' one of
the bars of lead with hammer and anvil as if it were a bar of iron; and
how, with a few dexterous strokes, punchings of holes, and rounded
notches, he would give the rough bar or block its desired form. He
always aimed at working it out of the solid as much as possible, so as
to avoid the risk of any concealed defect, to which ironwork built up
of welded parts is so liable; and when he had thus cleverly finished
his model, he used forthwith to send for the foreman of smiths, and
show him how he was to instruct his men as to the proper forging of the
desired object." One of Mr. Maudslay's old workmen, when informing us
of the skilful manner in which he handled the file, said, "It was a
pleasure to see him handle a tool of any kind, but he was QUITE
SPLENDID with an eighteen-inch file!" The vice at which he worked was
constructed by himself, and it was perfect of its kind. It could be
turned round to any position on the bench; the jaws would turn from the
horizontal to the perpendicular or any other position--upside-down if
necessary--and they would open twelve inches parallel.

Mr. Nasmyth furnishes the following further recollections of Mr.
Maudslay, which will serve in some measure to illustrate his personal
character. "Henry Maudslay," he says, "lived in the days of
snuff-taking, which unhappily, as I think, has given way to the
cigar-smoking system. He enjoyed his occasional pinch very much. It
generally preceded the giving out of a new notion or suggestion for an
improvement or alteration of some job in hand. As with most of those
who enjoy their pinch, about three times as much was taken between the
fingers as was utilized by the nose, and the consequence was that a
large unconsumed surplus collected in the folds of the master's
waistcoat as he sat working at his bench. Sometimes a file, or a tool,
or some small piece of work would drop, and then it was my duty to go
down on my knees and fetch it up. On such occasions, while waiting for
the article, he would take the opportunity of pulling down his
waistcoat front, which had become disarranged by his energetic working
at the bench; and many a time have I come up with the dropped article,
half-blinded by the snuff jerked into my eyes from off his waistcoat
front.

"All the while he was at work he would be narrating some incident in
his past life, or describing the progress of some