*[7] Sir David Brewster, observes on this point: "It is difficult to analyse that peculiar faculty of mind which directs a successful engineer who is not guided by the deductions of the exact sciences; but it must consist mainly in the power of observing the effects of natural causes acting in a variety of circumstances; and in the judicious application of this knowledge to cases when the same causes come into operation. But while this sagacity is a prominent feature in the designs of Mr. Telford, it appears no less distinctly in the choice of the men by whom they were to be practically executed. His quick perception of character, his honesty of purpose, and his contempt for all otheracquirements,-- save that practical knowledge and experience which was best fitted to accomplish, in the best manner, the object he had in view,--have enables him to leave behind him works of inestimable value, and monuments of professional celebrity which have not been surpassed either in Britain or in Europe."--'Edinburgh Review,' vol. lxx. p. 46. *[8] It seems singular that with Telford's great natural powers of pleasing, his warm social temperament, and his capability of forming ardent attachments for friends, many of them women, he should never have formed an attachment of the heart. Even in his youthful and poetical days, the subject of love, so frequently the theme of boyish song, is never alluded to; while his school friendships are often recalled to mind and, indeed, made the special subject of his verse. It seems odd to find him, when at Shrewsbury--a handsome fellow, with a good position, and many beautiful women about him--addressing his friend, the blind schoolmaster at Langholm, as his "Stella"! *[9] Mr. Mitchell says: "He lived at the rate of about 1200L. a year. He kept a carriage, but no horses, and used his carriage principally for making his journeys through the country on business. I once accompanied him to Bath and Cornwall, when he made me keep an accurate journal of all I saw. He used to lecture us on being independent, even in little matters, and not ask servants to do for us what we might easily do for ourselves. He carried in his pocket a small book containing needles, thread, and buttons, and on an emergency was always ready to put in a stitch. A curious habit he had of mending his stockings, which I suppose he acquired when a working mason. He would not permit his housekeeper to touch them, but after his work at night, about nine or half past, he would go up stairs, and take down a lot, and sit mending them with great apparent delight in his own room till bed-time. I have frequently gone in to him with some message, and found him occupied with this work."