NOT TO PERPETUATE A NAME, WHICH MUST ENDURE WHILE THE PEACEFUL ARTS FLOURISH, BUT TO SHOW THAT MANKIND HAVE LEARNT TO HONOR THOSE WHO BEST DESERVE THEIR GRATITUDE, THE KING, HIS MINISTERS, AND MANY OF THE NOBLES AND COMMONERS OF THE REALM, RAISED THIS MONUMENT TO JAMES WATT, WHO, DIRECTING THE FORCE OF AN ORIGINAL GENIUS, EARLY EXERCISED IN PHILOSOPHIC RESEARCH, TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE STEAM-ENGINE, ENLARGED THE RESOURCES OF HIS COUNTRY, INCREASED THE POWER OF MAN, AND ROSE TO AN EMINENT PLACE AMONG THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS FOLLOWERS OF SCIENCE AND THE REAL BENEFACTORS OF THE WORLD. BORN AT GREENOCK, MDCCXXXVI. DIED AT HEATHFIELD, IN STAFFORDSHIRE, MDCCCXIX. [Illustration: Tomb of James Watt.] SECTION II.--THE CONTEMPORARIES OF JAMES WATT. In the chronology of the steam-engine, the contemporaries of Watt have been so completely overshadowed by the greater and more successful inventor, as to have been almost forgotten by the biographer and by the student of history. Yet, among the engineers and engine-builders, as well as among the inventors of his day, Watt found many enterprising rivals and keen competitors. Some of these men, had they not been so completely fettered by Watt's patents, would have probably done work which would have entitled them to far higher honor than has been accorded them. WILLIAM MURDOCH was one of the men to whom Watt, no less than the world, was greatly indebted. For many years he was the assistant, friend, and coadjutor of Watt; and it is to his ingenuity that we are to give credit for not only many independent inventions, but also for the suggestions and improvements which were often indispensable to the formation and perfection of some of Watt's own inventions. Murdoch was employed by Boulton & Watt in 1776, and was made superintendent of construction in the engine department, and given general charge of the erection of engines. He was sent into Cornwall, and spent in that district much of the time during which he served the firm, erecting pumping-engines, the construction of which for so many years constituted a large part of the business of the Soho establishment. He was looked upon by both Boulton and Watt as a sincere friend, as well as a loyal adherent, and from 1810 to 1830 was given a partner's share of the income of the firm, and a salary of £1,000. He retired from business at the last of the two dates named, and, dying in 1839, was buried near the two partners in Handsworth Church.