CHARACTER IN WORKS.
Telford, the engineer, relates that he came to London in 1782, and got employed at the quadrangle of Somerset house-buildings; he soon became known to Sir William Chambers and Mr. R. Adam, the two most distinguished architects of that day; the former haughty and reserved, the latter affable and communicative; and a similar distinction of character pervades their works, Sir William's being stiff and formal, and those of Mr. Adam, playful and gay.
BRINDLEY, THE ENGINEER.
Though one of the most successful engineers of his age, Brindley was so illiterate as to be scarcely able to read or to write. By his unrivalled powers of abstraction and memory, he often executed his plans without committing them to paper; and when he was engaged in any difficult or complex undertaking, he was in the habit of retiring to bed, where he often remained for two or three days, till he had thoroughly completed his design. So singular, indeed, was the structure of his mind, that the spectacle of a play in London, disturbed to such a degree the balance of its mechanism, that he could not, for some time, resume his usual pursuits.
REASON FOR SILENCE.
Some one asked Fontaine, the celebrated geometrician, what he did in society where he remained almost perfectly silent. "I study," replied he, "the vanity of men, in order to mortify it occasionally."