I remained at Edinburgh two years. My early
progress in mathematics would have been lost in the classical
training which was then insisted upon at the academy, but for my
brother who was not only a good mathematician but an excellent
mechanic. He took care to carry on my instruction in that branch
of knowledge, as well as to teach me to make models of machines
and buildings, in which he was himself proficient. I remember,
in one of my journeys to Edinburgh, by coach from Darlington,
that a gentleman expressed his wonder what a screw propeller
could be like; for the screw, as a method of propulsion, was then
being introduced. I pointed out to him the patent tail of a
windmill by the roadside, and said, "It is just like that!"
In 1844 my mother died; and shortly after, my brother having
become M.D., and obtained a prize gold medal, we returned to
Scarborough. It was intended that he should assist my father;
but he preferred going abroad for a few years. I may mention
further, with relation to him, that after many years of
scientific research and professional practice, he died at Hong
Kong in 1858, when a public monument was erected to his memory,
in what is known as the "Happy Valley."
I remained for a short time under the tuition of my old master.
But as the time was rapidly approaching when I too must determine
what I was "to be" in life.
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