Excerpt from Memorials: Of the Lineage, Early Life, Education, and Development of the Genius of James Watt Merits of so transcendent a character surely claimed the unanimous testimony of his country's gratitude. AS yet, however, no public recognition of them had been made. It was only natural and becoming that such a testimony should originate in the town, and in the heart of the community which enjoyed the privilege of num bering james watt among its sons. Beyond the general advantages derived from his prolific invention that were shared in common with the rest of the nation, the town of Greenock lay under signal obliga tions to the generosity as well as the genius of Watt. The adapta tion of the steam-engine to the purposes of Navigation had given a remarkable impulse to its trade. The new requirements of this important branch of industry had caused the establishment of Found ries, Forges, and Engine-works, till then almost unknown in this portion of the country. A spirit of active enterprise had been evoked - not unobserved by the great mechanician himself; who, anxious that it might be rightly animated, - that the awakened ingenuity might be William Street, known as The Greenodc Tavern, Alan Swan. Kept by Mrs. Cunningham, and subsequently by William Kerr. Mrs. Lyle, and, in 1824, by Mrs. Fairlie. After James Mollison, M.D. Their removal to the Greenock Tavern, several new W'illiam Scott. (bookseller) About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.