the following, among other
contemporary reviews of his book:--

"The Edinburgh Fire-engine Establishment is now all but
perfect. A unity of system has been accomplished, and a
corps of firemen mustered, who, in point of physical vigour
and moral intrepidity, are all entitled to be denominated
chosen men. At the head of this band stands Mr. Braidwood,
an individual who has on several occasions given abundant
evidence of promptitude in extremity, and a noble contempt
of personal danger, and whose enthusiasm, in what we may
call his profession, could not have been more strikingly
exemplified than by his illustrating it in the manner we now
see before us. It is the only book we are acquainted with
that treats of the systematic training of firemen; and from
the perspicuity of its details, it must necessarily become
the manual of all such institutions, and ought to find a
place in every insurance office in the United Kingdom."

It had been from time to time attempted to bring the fire apparatus of
the London Insurance Companies under a single management; but it was
nearly ten years after the establishment of the Edinburgh Fire
Brigade, and only when Mr. Braidwood himself had been invited to come
to London, that this was at last effected. As for the parish engines,
they were wholly neglected under this arrangement, and, indeed, a
great number of them had been already allowed to fall into disuse, as
far as could be permitted without incurring the penalties of the
Statutes of 1774. On the 1st January, 1833, at the instance of Mr.
Ford, of the Sun Fire-office, eight of the insurance companies formed
an association of fire-engines and firemen, each company withholding
its own distinctive name and badges from the united force. This was
known as the London Fire-engine Establishment. It was supported by the
companies in common, each in proportion to the premiums received from
its business in London, a minimum rate being fixed. Each company
contributing to the support of the establishment nominated one member
of the committee of management. This association existed for
thirty-three years, when on the 1st of January, 1866, the Metropolitan
Board of Works took charge of the fire-engines and the general fire
establishment of the metropolis. Mr. Braidwood took the command of the
London Brigade thus formed at the onset. The Edinburgh Fire-engine
Committee, on acc