Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 1.djvu/233

 , who, dilating on the benefits of steam-navigation, several years before the death of Bell, described it as "that new and mighty power, new at least in the application of its might, which walks the water like a giant, rejoicing in its course, stemming alike the tempest and the tide—accelerating intercourse—shortening distances—creating, as it were, unexpected neighbourhoods, and new combinations of social and commercial relations, and giving to the fickleness of winds, and the faithlessness of waves, the certainty and steadiness of a highway upon the land." Whilst commerce and civilization were thus making rapid progress by means of his invention, Henry Bell reaped no personal advantage from it. He even approached the confines of old age in very straitened circumstances. Touched by his condition, the late Dr Cleland, and a number of other benevolent individuals, commenced a subscription on his behalf, by which a considerable sum was raised. The trustees on the river Clyde granted him an annuity of £100, which has been continued to his widow. This was but a becoming acknowledgment of the value of his great invention on the part of the trustees of a river whose annual revenue was increased, mainly by the impulse given to its trade by steam-navigation, from £6676 in 1810, the year before Bell commenced the construction of the Comet, to £20,296 in 1830, the year in which he died; and which has been more than tripled during the last twenty-two years, being, in 1852, £76,000. Within the same space of time, the channel of the river has undergone a corresponding improvement, being rendered navigable by ships of 700 and 800 tons burthen; whereas, little more than half a century ago, it was navigable only by coal gabbards and vessels of 30 to 45 tons. The average available depth of the Clyde at high water of neap-tides, is 16 feet, with an additional depth of two or three feet at spring-tides. At the Broomielaw, the harbour of Glasgow, there are now 10,000 lineal feet of quayage, giving accommodation to hundreds of the largest ships belonging to the mercantile marine of this and foreign countries. Mr Bell died at Helensburgh, March 14, 1830, aged sixty-three, and lies buried in the Row churchyard. An obelisk to his memory was erected on the rock of Dunglass, a promontory on the Clyde, about 2$ miles above Dumbarton.

, of Antermony, a traveller of the eighteenth century, was the son of Patrick Bell, the representative of that old and respectable family, and of Anabel Stirling, daughter of Mungo Stirling of Craigbarnet. He was born in 1691, and, after receiving a classical education, turned his attention to the study of medicine. On passing as physician, he determined to visit foreign countries, but we shall insert this part of his history in Mr Bell's own words. "In my youth," says he, "I had a strong desire of seeing foreign parts; to satisfy which inclination, after having obtained, from some persons of worth, recommendatory letters to Dr Areskine, chief physician and privy counsellor to the Czar Peter the First, I embarked at London, in the month of July, 1714, on board the Prosperity of Ramsgate, Captain Emerson, for St Petersburg. On my arrival there, I was received by Dr Areskine in a very friendly manner, to whom I communicated my intentions of seeking an opportunity of visiting some parts of Asia, at least those parts which border on Russia. Such an opportunity soon presented itself, on occasion of an embassy then preparing, from his Czarish Majesty to the Sophy of Persia."—Preface to his Travels. The ambassador fortunately applied to Dr Areskine to recommend some one skilled in physic and surgery to go in his suite, and Mr Bell was soon afterwards engaged in the service of the Russian Emperor. He accordingly left St Petersburg on the 15th of July, 1715, and proceeded to Moscow, from thence to Cazan, and down the Volga to Astracan. The embassy then sailed down the Caspian Sea to Derbend, and journeyed by Mougan, Tauris, and Saba, to Ispahan, where they arrived on the 14th of March,