The Life of Thomas Telford Part 22

*[12] Letter to Mr. William Little, Langholm, 24th January, 1815.

*[13] Telford thought so little about money, that he did not even know the amount he died possessed of. It turned out that instead of 16,600L. it was about 30,000L.; so that his legatees had their bequests nearly doubled. For many years he had abstained from drawing the dividends on the shares which he held in the ca.n.a.ls and other public companies in which he was concerned. At the money panic of 1825, it was found that he had a considerable sum lying in the hands of his London bankers at little or no interest, and it was only on the urgent recommendation of his friend, Sir P. Malcolm, that he invested it in government securities, then very low.

*[14] 'Selections from the Letters of Robert Southey,' vol. iv., p. 391. We may here mention that the last article which Southey wrote for the 'Quarterly' was his review of the ' Life of Telford.'