The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1859-02-04
James Watt In His Last Years.

| Towards the close of his life Watt was
distressed by the apprehension that his men
| tai faculties were deserving him, and remark
ed to DR.. Darwin "Of all the evils of age
the loss Of the few mental faculties one DOS.
sessed in youth is the most greivous. To
test his memory, he again commenced the
study OF German, which he had allowed
himself to forget; and speedily acquired such
proficiency as to enable him to read the
language with comparative ease. But he
gave stronger evidence of the integrity
OF his powers. When in his seventv-fiftl
year, he was consulted by a company n,
Glasgow, as'to the mode of conveying wa
ter from peninsula across the Clyde to the
comrany's engines at Dalrfiarnock, Difficult
ty which appeared in them almost nsur
mountable, the plan suggested BY Watt
proved that his remarkable ingenuity re-
mained uninpaired by age. 1t was neces
sary to fit the pipes through which the waite,
passed to the uneven and shifting bed of the
river; and Watt taking the tail Of the lobster
for his model, forwarded plan of tube oI
iron similarly articulated, which was execu.
ted and laid down with complete success.
A few years later, when close upon his
e'ght'eth year, the aged mecbanician formed
one OF party assembled in Edinburgh, at
which Sir Walter Scott was present. He
delighted the northern literati with his kind
ly cheerfuIness, not less than he astonisheG
them by the extent and profundity of his in.
formation. The alert, kind, and benenev.
lent old man," says Scott, "had his atten.
ton alive to every ones question-hs infor.
nation at every ones command. His tai
ents and fancy overiowed on every subject
One gentleman was deep phiIologist
talked with him on the origin ofthe alpha
bet, as if he had been coeval with Cadmus;
another, celebrated critic-you would have
said tho old man had studied political econ
omy belles-lettres all his life of science it is
unnecessary to speak-it was his own dis
tingushed walk" The vast extent of his
knowledge was remarked by all who came
in contact with him. ut seemed" said JEFF.
frey. ''as if every subject that was casually
started, had been that which he had been
occupied in studying" Yet, though no
man was more ready to communicate knowl-
edge, none could be less ambitious of dis.
playing it.
"He was," says Mrs. Shimmel- -Pennick, in
the vivid portrait she has drawn Of him in
her autobiography. lone of the most COM
plcte specimens Of the melancholic temper
ament. His head was generally bent for.
ward or leaning on his hand in meditation,
his shoulders STOPPING and his chest falling
in, his limbs lank and unmuscular, and his
complexion sallow. His utterance was slow
and unimpassioned, deep and low in tone,
with broad Scottish accent; his manners
gentle, modest and unassuming. In COM
pany where he was not known, unless spo-
ken to, he might have TRANQUILITY passed the
whole time in pursuing his own meditations.
When he entered room, men of letters,
men of scince. nay, military men, artists,
ladies, even little childen thronged around
him. remember celebrated Swedish art
ist having been instructed by him that rats
whiskers make the most plant paint brush
es; ladies would appeal TO him on the best
means Of devising CRATES, curing smoking
chmneys, warming their houses, and obtain
ing fast colors. can speak from expert.
ence Of his teaching me how to make a
dulcimer and improve jews harp" What
Jeffrey said of the steam engine NAV be
applied to the conversation Of its parent
that like the trunk Of an elephant it could
stick up pin or rend an oak.
Quarterly Review.