The activity and fertility of his mind are abundantly demonstrated by the nature of the work which occupied him in the following year. In April we read of a paper from his pen detailing certain improvements which he had contrived in the air-pump; in June he describes an ingenious modification in ship-tackle by means of pulleys, so arranged that one man might easily raise a ton weight; in November he describes certain experiments which had been made with Captain Savary's steam-engine, the precursor of James Watt's. Meantime he was engaged in researches into "the Natural Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills and other Machines depending on a Circular Motion;" which afterwards gained him the Royal Society's gold medal--almost the highest honour a man of science can receive in England. Now, it is obvious that to accomplish so much honest and valuable work, and at the same time to carry on his business, required great application, great energy, great method. And it must be conceded that throughout life Smeaton was an unwearied seeker after knowledge; that his two main objects were, self-improvement and the public welfare; self-improvement being necessary that he might render the gifts he possessed of the highest possible usefulness to society. "One of his maxims," says Smiles, "was, that 'the abilities of the individual are a debt due to the common stock of public happiness;' and the steadfastness with which he devoted himself to useful work, in which he at the same time found his own true happiness, shows that the maxim was no mere lip-utterance on his part, but formed the very mainspring of his life. From an early period he carefully laid out his time with a view to getting the most good out of it: so much for study, so much for practical experiments, so much for business, and so much for rest and relaxation." [Sidenote: The value of order.]