‘He was almost as much of a diplomatist as an engineer, and knew perfectly well how to handle a case in the witness-box so as to leave no loophole for his opponents to take advantage of. At the same time he was a perfectly honest witness, and while he avoided saying more than was necessary for the advancement of the cause in which he was engaged, he would have scorned to say or imply anything by his evidence inconsistent with strict truth. ‘Although he had attained to great celebrity as a witness, the committee room being crowded to hear him, he always declined to engage in the very lucrative work of a professional witness. He made a rule never to appear except on behalf of undertakings of which he was the engineer, or with which his own companies were interested. To help a friend, he occasionally but very rarely broke through this resolve; but, whether he appeared in support of his own plans or those of others, there were few, if any, professional men whose evidence carried more weight than his did before Parliamentary Committees.’ The following memorandum from Mr. George T. Clark, of Dowlais, formerly one of Mr. Brunel’s assistants, contains his recollections of Mr. Brunel during the construction of the Great Western Railway:-- ‘I made your father’s acquaintance, rather characteristically, in an unfinished tunnel of the Coal-pit Heath Railway; and when the shaft in which we were suspended cracked and seemed about to give way, I well remember the coolness with which he insisted upon completing the observations he came to make. Shortly afterwards I became, at his request, his assistant; and during the parliamentary struggle of 1835, and the subsequent organisation of the staff, and commencement of the works of the Great Western, I saw him for many hours daily, both in his office and in the field, travelled much with him, and joined him in the very moderate recreation he allowed himself. ‘These two years, and the preceding year, 1834, were, I apprehend, the turning points of his life. His vigour, both of body and mind, were in their perfection. His powers were continually called forth by the obstacles he had to overcome; and the result of his examinations in the committee rooms placed him, in the opinion of the members of the legislature, and of his own profession, in the very first rank of that profession, both for talents and knowledge. ‘I wish I could convey to you even a tolerable idea of your father as he was in those years, during which I knew him intimately, and saw him often under circumstances of great difficulty.