Biographies of Working Men

Biographies of Working Men

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Title: Biographies of Working Men
Author: Grant Allen
Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6492] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on December 22,
2002]
Edition: 10

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BIOGRAPHIES OF WORKING MEN ***

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BIOGRAPHIES OF WORKING MEN
BY
GRANT ALLEN, B.A.

CONTENTS.
I. THOMAS TELFORD, STONEMASON
II. GEORGE STEPHENSON, ENGINE-MAN
III. JOHN GIBSON, SCULPTOR
IV. WILLIAM HERSCHEL, BANDSMAN
V. JEAN FRANCOIS MILLET, PAINTER
VI. JAMES GARFIELD, CANAL BOY
VII. THOMAS EDWARD, SHOEMAKER

PREFACE.
My acknowledgments are due to Dr. Smiles's "Lives of the Engineers,"
"Life of the Stephensons," and "Life of a Scotch Naturalist;" to Lady
Eastlake's "Life of Gibson;" to Mr. Holden's "Life of Sir William
Herschel;" to M. Seusier's "J. F. Millet, Sa Vie et Ses OEuvres;" and to
Mr. Thayer's "Life of President Garfield;" from which most of the facts
here narrated have been derived.
G. A.

I.

THOMAS TELFORD, STONEMASON.
High up among the heather-clad hills which form the broad dividing
barrier between England and Scotland, the little river Esk brawls and
bickers over its stony bed through a wild land of barren braesides and
brown peat mosses, forming altogether some of the gloomiest and most
forbidding scenery in the whole expanse of northern Britain. Almost
the entire bulk of the counties of Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, and Ayr is
composed of just such solemn desolate upland wolds, with only a few
stray farms or solitary cottages sprinkled at wide distances over their
bare bleak surface, and with scarcely any sign of life in any part save
the little villages which cluster here and there at long intervals around
some stern and simple Scottish church. Yet the hardy people who
inhabit this wild and chilly moorland country may well be considered
to rank among the best raw material of society in the whole of Britain;
for from the peasant homes of these southern Scotch Highlands have
come forth, among a host of scarcely less distinguished natives, three
men, at least, who deserve to take their place in the very front line of
British thinkers or workers--Thomas Telford, Robert Burns, and
Thomas Carlyle. By origin, all three alike belonged in the very strictest
sense to the working classes; and the story of each is full of lessons or
of warnings for every one of us: but that of Telford is perhaps the most
encouraging and the most remarkable of all, as showing how much may
be accomplished by energy and perseverance, even under the most
absolutely adverse and difficult circumstances.
Near the upper end of Eskdale, in the tiny village of Westerkirk, a
young shepherd's wife gave birth to a son on the 9th of August, 1757.
Her husband, John Telford, was employed in tending sheep on a
neighbouring farm, and he and his Janet occupied a small cottage close
by, with mud walls and rudely thatched roof, such as in southern
England even the humblest agricultural labourer would scarcely
consent willingly to inhabit. Before the child was three months old, his
father died; and Janet Telford was left alone in the world with her
unweaned baby. But in remote country districts, neighbours are often
more neighbourly than in great towns; and a poor widow can manage to
eke out a livelihood for herself with an occasional lift from the helping
hands of friendly fellow-villagers. Janet Telford had nothing to live
upon save her own ten fingers; but they were handy enough, after the

sturdy Scotch fashion, and they earned some sort of livelihood in a
humble way for herself