HKB
secured more care and regularity on the part of the pupil apprentices; as, while it checked inattention and irregularity, it offered a direct and substantial encouragement to zeal and industry.
But the arrangement which we greatly preferred was to employ intelligent well-conducted young lads, the sons of labourers or mechanics, and advance them by degrees according to their merits. They took charge of the smaller machine tools, by which the minor details of the machines in progress were brought into exact form without having recourse to the untrustworthy and costly process of chipping and filing. A spirit of emulation was excited amongst the lads. They vied with each other in executing their work with precision. Those who excelled were paid an extra weekly wage. In course of time they took pride, not only in the quantity but in the quality of their work; and in the long run they became skilful mechanics. We were always most prompt to recognise their progress in a substantial manner. There was the most perfect freedom between employer and employed. Every one of these lads was at liberty to leave at the end of each day's work. This arrangement acted as an ever-present check upon master and apprentice. The only bond of union between us was mutual interest. The best of the lads remained in our service because they knew our work and were pleased with the surroundings; while we on our part were always desirous of retaining the men we had trained, because we knew we could depend upon them. Nothing could have been more satisfactory than the manner in which this system worked.
In May 1835 I had the great happiness of receiving a visit from my dear father. I was then in Dale Street, Manchester, where my floor was overloaded with the work in progress. My father continued to take a great interest in mechanical undertakings, and he was pleased with the prosperity which had followed my settlement in this great manufacturing centre. He could still see his own lathe, driven by steam power, in full operation for the benefit of his son. His fame as an artist was well known in Manchester, for many of his works were possessed by the best men of the town. I had the pleasure of introducing him to the Brothers Grant, John Kennedy, Edward Lloyd, George Murray, James Frazer, William Fairbairn, and Hugh and Joseph Birley, all of whom gave him a most cordial welcome, and invited him to enjoy their hospitality.
[Image] Alexander Nasmyth. After a cameo by Samuel Joseph
In 1838 he visited me again. I had removed to Patricroft, and the Bridgewater Foundry was in full operation. My father was then in his eightieth year. He was still full of life and intellect. He was vastly delighted in witnessing the rapid progress which I had made since his first visit. He took his daily walk through the workshops, where many processes were going on which greatly interested him. He was sufficiently acquainted with the technical details of mechanical work to enjoy the sight, especially when self-acting tools were employed. It was a great source of pleasure to him to have "a crack" with the most intelligent foremen and mechanics. These, on their part, treated him with the most kind and respectful attention. The Scotch workmen regarded him with special veneration. They knew that he had been an intimate friend of Robert Burns, their own best-beloved poet, whose verses shed a charm upon their homes, and were recited by the fireside, in the fields, or at the workman's bench.