Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Dr Smiles’ first book was published in 1836, and he continued to write till nearly the close of the century. The period of his literary labours, therefore, is almost exactly coincident with the reign of the late Queen Victoria, the age pre-eminently of mechanical invention. Dr Smiles’ achievement is that by common consent he is recognised as the authorised and pious chronicler of the men who founded the industrial greatness of England.