ucted,
with several admirable improvements, by the Messrs. Donkin, the
well-known mechanical engineers, after the working drawings of the
Messrs. Scheutz.

[5] History of the Royal Society, ii. 374.

CHAPTER XIV.

FOX OF DERBY--MURRAY OF LEEDS--ROBERTS AND WHITWORTH OF MANCHESTER.

"Founders and senators of states and cities, lawgivers, extirpers of
tyrants, fathers of the people, and other eminent persons in civil
government, were honoured but with titles of Worthies or demi-gods;
whereas, such as were inventors and authors of new arts, endowments,
and commodities towards man's life, were ever consecrated amongst the
gods themselves."--BACON, Advancement of Learning.

While such were the advances made in the arts of tool-making and
engine-construction through the labours of Bramah, Maudslay, and
Clement, there were other mechanics of almost equal eminence who
flourished about the same time and subsequently in several of the
northern manufacturing towns. Among these may be mentioned James Fox
of Derby; Matthew Murray and Peter Fairbairn of Leeds; Richard Roberts,
Joseph Whitworth, James Nasmyth, and William Fairbairn of Manchester;
to all of whom the manufacturing industry of Great Britain stands in
the highest degree indebted.

James Fox, the founder of the Derby firm of mechanical engineers, was
originally a butler in the service of the Rev. Thomas Gisborne, of
Foxhall Lodge, Staffordshire. Though a situation of this kind might
not seem by any means favourable for the display of mechanical ability,
yet the butler's instinct for handicraft was so strong that it could
not be repressed; and his master not only encouraged him in the
handling of tools in his leisure hours, but had so genuine an
admiration of his skill as well as his excellent qualities of
character, that he eventually furnished him with the means of beginning
business on his own account.

The growth and extension of the cotton, silk, and lace trades, in the
neighbourhood of Derby, furnished Fox with sufficient opportunities for
the exercise of his mechanical skill; and he soon found ample scope for
its employment. His lace machinery became celebrated, and he supplied
it largely to the neighbouring town of Nottingham; he also obtained
considerable employment from the great firms of Arkwright and
Strutt--the founders of the modern cotton manufacture. Mr. Fox also
became celebrated for his lathes, which were of excellent quality,
still m