Excerpt from Memoir of Lewis D. B. Gordon, F. R. S. E: Late Regius Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanics in the University of Glasgow IN the course of a life that has extended beyond the average duration, I have more than once been received on terrhs of brotherhood by other circles than my own; but gratitude to the fatherly provi dence of Him who setteth the solitary in families has never been so strongly called forth in me as in the year 1834, when - having been left alone of my kindred in Edinburgh - I was invited to enter the family that then occupied 1 1 Bellevue Crescent. It was indeed a privilege to be affiliated for a time to Mr. Joseph Gordon and his most hospitable wife, to be admitted to loving intercourse with their chil dren, and, above all, to secure the warm and steady friendship of him whose life - in sunshine and in shadow - will be the subject of the following Memoir. 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.