In the middle of the seventeenth century several mechanical engineers attempted to utilize the properties of steam; their labors were brought to perfection by Watt in the middle of the eighteenth.
The steam-engine quickly became the drudge of civilization.

It performed the work of many millions of men.

It gave, to those who would have been condemned to a life of brutal toil, the opportunity of better pursuits.
He who formerly labored might now think.
Its earliest application was in such operations as pumping, wherein mere force is required.

Soon, however, it vindicated its delicacy of touch in the industrial arts of spinning and weaving.

It created vast manufacturing establishments, and supplied clothing for the world.