THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID JAMES BKIXDLEY. JAMES BRINDLEY AND THE EAKLY ENGINEERS. BY SAMUEL SMILES, i| , AUTHOR OP 'SELF-HELP, ETC. "Lord Bacon hath said truly, there be three things which make a nation great and prosperous, a fertile soil, busy workshops, and easy conveyance for men and commodities from one place to another ; to which let me add, knowledge r and freedom." BISHOP HALL. " The ineloquent Brindley, behold he has chained seas together ; his ships do visibly float over valleys, invisibly through the heart of mountains ; and the Mersey and the Thames, the Humber and the Severn have shaken hands." OARLTLE, Past and Present. ABRIDGED FROM 'LIVES OF THE ENGINEE i. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMAELE STREET. 1864. The right of Translation is reserved. WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. STORY OP THE LIFE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON : A NEW EDITION THOROUGHLY REVISED, INCLUDING A MEMOIR OF ROBERT STEPHENSON. With Illustrations. Post 8vo. 6s. INDUSTRIAL BIOGRAPHY: IRON-WORKERS AND TOOL-MAKERS. Post 8vo. 6s. SELF-HELP; WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHARACTER AND CONDUCT. Post 8vo. 6s. LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS; comprising a HISTORY OP INLAND COMMUNICATION IN BRITAIN. First Series. 2 vols. 8vo. 42s. With Portraits and 200 Woodcuts. Vol. I. SIR CORNELIUS VERMUYDEN SIR HUGH MYDDELTON JAMES BRINDLET. Vol. II. JOHN SMEATON JOHN RENNIE THOMAS TELFORD. Second Series. 1 vol. 8vo. 21s. With Portraits and 70 Woodcuts Vol. III. GEORGE AND ROBERT STEPHENSON. WORKMEN'S EARNINGS, SAVINGS, AND STRIKES ; reprinted from the ' Quarterly Review.' Post 8vo. Is. 6 tab and Corr^mml- account of its salubriousness, is 28 , ni-K of T. S. WliaUey, D.D.} Sta- in 1000, that of Ely is only 17 in tistics, however, prove that the Feu 1000. 48 ANCIENT WATER SUPPLY OF LONDON. CHAP. III. CHAPTER III. SIR HUGH MYDDELTON. THE CUTTING or THE NEW RIVER. WHILE the engineer has occasionally to contend with all his skill against the powers of water, he has also to deal with it as a useful agent. Though water, like fire, is a bad master, the engineer contrives to render it docile and tractable. He leads it in artificial channels for the purpose of driv- ing mills and machinery, or he employs it to feed canals along which boats and ships laden with merchandise may be safely floated. But water is also an indispensable necessary of life, an abundant supply of it being essential for human health and comfort. Hence nearly all the ancient towns and cities were planted by the banks of rivers, principally because the inhabitants required a plentiful supply of water for their daily uses. Old London had not only the advantage of its pure broad stream flowing along its southern boundary, so useful as a water-road, but it also possessed an abundance of Wells, from which a supply of pure water was obtained, adequate for the requirements of its early population. The river of Wells, or Wallbrbok, flowed through the middle of the city ; and there were numerous wells in other quarters, the chief of which were Clerke's Well, Clement's Well, and Holy Well, the names of which still survive in the streets built over them. As London grew in size and population, these wells were found altogether inadequate for the wants of the inhabit- ants ; besides, the water drawn from them became tainted by the impurities which filter into the soil wherever large numbers are congregated. Conduits were then constructed, through which water was led from Paddington, from James's Head, Mewsgate, Tyburn, Highbury, and Hanip- CHAP. III. ANCIENT WATER SUPPLY OF LONDON. 49 stead. There were sixteen of such public conduits about London, and the Conduit Streets which still exist through- Ancient Condutt in Westcheap. out the metropolis mark the sites of several of these ancient The copious supply of water by the conduits was works.* * The conduits used, in former times, to be yearly visited with con- siderable ceremony. For instance, we find that" On the 1 8th of Sep- tember, 1562, the Lord Mayor (Har- per), the Aldermen, with many wor- shipful persons, and divers of the Masters and Wardens of the twelve companies, rode to the Conduit's- head [now the site of Conduit Street, New Bond Street], for to see them after the old custom. And afore dinner they hunted the hare and killed her, and thence to dinner at the head of the Conduit. There J. B. was a good number entertained with good cheere by the Chamberlain, and, after dinner, they hunted the fox. There was a great cry for a mile, and at length the hounds killed him at the end of St. Giles's. Great hallooing at his death, and blowing of homes ; and thence the Lord Mayor, with all his company, rode through London to his place in Lombard Street." Stow's ' Sur- vey of London.' It would appear that the ladies of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen attended on these jovial occasions, riding in ivaggons. E 50 ANCIENT WATER SUPPLY OF LONDON. CHAP. III. all the more necessary at that time, as London was for the most part built of timber, and liable to frequent fires, to extinguish which promptly, every citizen was bound to have a barrel full of water in readiness outside his door. The corporation watched very carefully over their protec- tion, and inflicted severe punishments on such as interfered with the flow of water through them. We find a curious instance of this in the City Records, from which it appears that, on the 12th November, 1478, one William Campion, resident in Fleet Street, had cunningly tapped the conduit where it passed his door, and conveyed the water into a well in his own house, " thereby occasioning a lack of water to the inhabitants." Campion was immediately had up before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, and after being con- fined for a time in the Cornptour in Bread Street, the fol- lowing further punishment was inflicted on him. He was set upon a horse with a vessel like unto a conduit placed upon his head, which being filled with water running out of small pipes from the same vessel, he was taken round all the conduits of the city, and the Lord Mayor's proclamation of his offence and the reason for his punishment was then read. When the conduit had run itself empty over the culprit, it was filled again. "The places at which the pro- clamation was read were the following, at Leadenhall, at the pillory in Cornhill, at the great conduit in Chepe, at the little conduit in the same street, at Ludgate and Fleet Bridge, at the Standard in Fleet Street, at Temple Bar, and at St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet Street ; from whence he was finally marched back to the Comptour, there to abide the will of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen.* But the springs from which the conduits were supplied in course of time decayed ; perhaps they gradually diminished by reason of the sinking of wells in their neighbourhood for the supply of the increasing suburban population. Hence a deficiency of water began to be experienced in the * 'Corporation Eecords,' Index No. I., fo. 181 b. CHAP. III. PETER MOEICE'S PUMPING ENGINE. 51 city, which in certain seasons almost amounted to a famine. There were frequent contentions at the conduits for " first turn," and when water was scarce, these sometimes grew into riots. The water carriers came prepared for a fight, and at length the Lord Mayor had to interfere, and issued his proclamation forbidding persons from resorting to the conduits armed with clubs and staves. This, however, did not remedy the deficiency. It is true the Thames, " that most delicate and serviceable river," as Nichols terms it,* was always available ; but an increasing proportion of the inhabitants lived at a distance from the river. Besides, the attempt was made by those who occupied the lanes leading towards the Thames to stop the thoroughfare, and allow none to pass without paying a toll. A large number of persons then obtained a living as water carriers,! selling the water by the " tankard " of about three gallons ; and they seem to have formed a rather unruly portion of the population. The difficulty of supplying a sufficient quantity of water to the inhabitants by means of wells, conduits, and water carriers, continued to increase, until the year 1582, when Peter Morice, the Dutchman, undertook, as the inhabitants could not go to the Thames for their water, to carry the Thames to them. With this object he erected an ingenious pumping engine in the first arch of London Bridge, worked * Progresses of James I./ vol. ii., 699. The Corporation records con- tain numerous references to the pre- servation of the purity of the water in the river. The Thames also fur- nished a large portion of the food of of the river down even to the time of James II. t The water carrier was com- monly called a "Cob," and Ben Jonson seems to have given a sort of celebrity to the character by his the city, and then abounded in sal- delineation of " Cob " in his ' Every mon and other fish, the London Man in his Humour.' Gifford, in fishermen constituting a large class, j a note on the play, pointed out that We find numerous proclamations issued relative to the netting of the " salmon and porpoises," wide nets and wall nets being especially pro- hibited. Fleets of swans on the Thames were a picturesque feature there is an avenue still called " Cob's Court," in Broadway, Black- friars; not improbably (he adds) from its having formerly been in- habited principally by the class of water carriers. E 2 52 DEMAND FOR INCREASED WATER SUPPLY. CHAP. III. by water wheels driven by the rise and fall of the tide, which then rushed with great velocity through the arches. This machine forced the water through leaden pipes, laid into the houses of the citizens. The power with which Morice's forcing pumps worked was such, that he was enabled to throw the water over St. Magnus's steeple, greatly to the astonishment of the Mayor and Aldermen, who assembled to witness the experiment. The machinery succeeded so well that a few years later we find the corpora- tion empowering the same engineer to use the second arch of London Bridge for a similar purpose.* But even this augmented machinery for pumping was found inadequate for the supply of London. The town was extending rapidly in all directions, and the growing density of the population along the river banks was every year adding to the impurity of the water, and rendering it less and less fit for domestic purposes. Hence the demand for a more copious and ready supply of pure water continued steadily to increase. Where was the new supply to be obtained, and how was it to be rendered most readily available for the uses of the citizens? Water is by no means a scarce element in England ; and no difficulty was experienced in finding a sufficiency of springs and rivers of pure water at no great distance from the metropolis. Thus, various springs were known to exist in different parts of Hertfordshire and Middlesex ; and many vague projects were proposed for conveying their waters to London. Desiring that one plan or another might be carried out, the corporation obtained an Act towards the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, f empowering them to cut a river to the city from any part of Middlesex or Hertfordshire; and ten years were specified as the time for carrying out the necessary works. But, though many plans were sug- * The river pumping-leases con- tinued in the family of the Morices until 1701, when the then owner sold his rights to Richard Soams for 38,OOOL, and by him they were afterwards transferred to the New River Company at a still higher price. t Act 13 Eliz. c. 18. PROPOSED RIVER FROM CHADWELL AND AMWELL. 53 gested and discussed, no steps were taken to cut the proposed river. The enterprise seemed too large for any private individual to undertake ; and though the corpora- tion were willing to sanction it, they were not disposed to find any part of the requisite means for carrying it out. Notwithstanding, therefore, the necessity for a large supply of water, which became more urgent in proportion to the increase of population, the powers of the Act were allowed to expire without anything having been done to carry them into eifect. In order, however, to keep alive the parliamentary powers, another Act was obtained in the third year of James I.'s reign (1605),* to bring an artificial stream of pure water from the springs of Chadwell and Amwell, in Hertfordshire ; and the provisions of this Act were enlarged and amended in the following session, f From an entry in the journals of the corporation, dated the 14th October, 1606, it appears that one William Inglebert petitioned the court for liberty to bring the water from the above springs to the northern parts of the city " in a trench or trenches of brick." The petition was " referred," but nothing further came of it; and the inhabitants of London continued for some time longer to suffer from the famine of water the citizens patiently waiting for the corporation to move, and the corporation as patiently waiting for the citizens. The same inconveniences of defective water-supply were experienced in other towns, and measures were in some cases taken to remedy them. Thus, at Hull, in certain sea- sons, the inhabitants were under the necessity of bringing the water required by them for ordinary uses across the Humber from Lincolnshire in boats, at great labour and expense. They sought to obtain a better supply by leading water into the town from the streams in the neighbourhood ; but the villagers of Hessle, Anlaby, and Cottingham, with others, resisted their attempts. In 1376, the mayor and * 3 Jac. c, 18. f 4 Jac. c. 12. 54 ARTIFICIAL WATER SUPPLY OF TIVERTON. CHAP. III. burgesses appealed to the Crown; commissioners were ap- pointed to inquire into the subject; and the result was, that powers were granted for making an aqueduct from Anlaby Springs to Hull. This was not accomplished with- out serious opposition on the part of the^ villagers, who riotously assembled to destroy the works, and they even went so far as to threaten Hull itself with destruction. Some of the rioters were seized and hanged at York, and the aqueduct was then finished. Tiverton, in Devonshire, has in like manner been sup- plied with water from a very early period, by means of an artificial cut called the Town-leet, extending from a spring on White Down, about five miles distant, into the heart of the town. This valuable conduit was the free gift of Amicia, Countess of Devon, to the inhabitants, as long ago as the year 1240; and it continues a constant source of blessing. A perambulation is made along its course once in eveiy five or six years, by the portreeve, the steward of the manor, the water bailiffs, and others, from Cogan's Well in the centre of the town, to the source of the stream on White Down. All obstructions are then removed, and the stream is claimed publicly for the sole use of the inhabitants of Tiverton. For about two miles of its course, it may, perhaps, be regarded as a natural stream; but from the village of Chettiscombe the channel is for the most part artificial, the water being confined within a high embank- ment, in many places above the level of the surrounding country; and it is conveyed, as one writer says, "over a deep road behind the hospital, by a leaded shute, on a strong stone arch, into the town." * By this channel, the water, shedding in its passage an allotted portion to each street, is brought to Cogan's Well, where it is artificially parted into three streams, which run along the sides of the remaining streets, until they are discharged into one or other of the -two rivers, the Loman and the Exe, from which the place * Dunsford's ' Historical Memoirs,' p. 106. CHAP. III. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 55 derives its name of Twy-ferd-town, or Tiverton. Copious rivulets are in like manner led, by artificial cuts, through the principal streets of Salisbury, from the natural streams at the confluence of which that city is situated. But the most important artificial work of the kind in the West of England is that constructed for the supply of water to Plymouth, which was carried out through the public spirit and enterprise of one of the most distinguished of English admirals the great Sir Francis Drake. It ap- pears from ancient records that water was exceedingly scarce in that town, the inhabitants being under the neces- sity of sending their clothes more than a mile to be washed, the water used by them for domestic purposes having to be fetched for the most part from Plympton, about five miles distant. Sir Francis Drake, who was born within ten miles of Plymouth, and had settled in the neighbourhood, after having realized a considerable fortune by his adventures on the Spanish main, observing the great inconvenience suffered by the population from their want of water, as well as the difficulty of furnishing a supply to the ships frequenting the port, conceived the project of remedy- ing the defect by leading a store of water to the town from one of the numerous springs on Dartmoor. Accordingly, in 15 87, when he represented Bossiney (Tintagel) in Cornwall, he obtained an Act enabling him to convey a stream from the river Mew or Meavy ; and in the preamble to the Act it was expressed that its object was not only to ensure a con- tinual supply of water to the inhabitants, but to obviate the inconvenience hitherto sustained by seamen in watering their vessels. It would appear, from documents still extant, that the town of Plymouth contributed 2001. towards the expenses of the works, Sir Francis being at the remainder of the cost ; and on the completion of the undertaking the corporation agreed to grant him a lease of the aqueduct for a term of twenty years, at a nominal rental. Drake lost no time in carrying out the work, which was finished in four years after the passing of the 56 WATER SUPPLY OF PLYMOUTH. CHAP. III. Act; and its completion in 1591, on the occasion of the welcoming of the stream into the town, was celebrated by great public rejoicings.* The " Leet," as it is called, is a work of no great magni- tude, though of much utility. It was originally nothing more than an open trench cut along the sides of the moor, in which the water flowed by a gentle inclination into the town and through the streets of Plymouth. The distance between the head of the aqueduct at Sheep's Tor and Ply- mouth, as the crow flies, is only seven miles; but the length of the Leet so circuitous are its windings is nearly twenty-four miles. After its completion, Drake presented the aqueduct to the inhabitants of Plymouth "as a free gift for ever," and it has since remained vested in the corporation, who might, however, bestow more care than they do on its preservation against impurity. Two years after the completion of the Leet, the burgesses, probably as a mark of their gratitude, elected Drake their representative in Parliament. The water proved of immense public con- venience, and Plymouth, instead of being one of the worst supplied, was rendered one of the best watered towns in the kingdom. Until a comparatively recent date the water flowed from various public conduits, and it ran freely on either side of the streets, that all classes of the people might enjoy the benefit of a full and permanent supply throughout the^ year. One of the original conduits still remains at the head of Old Town-street, bearing the inscription, " Sir Francis Drake first brought this water into Plymouth, 1591." The example of Plymouth may possibly have had an influence upon the corporation of London in obtaining the * The tradition survives to this day that Sir Francis Drake did not cut the Leet by the power of money and engineering skill, but by the power of magic. It is said of him that, calling for his horse, he mount- ed it and rode about Dartmoor until he came to a spring sufficiently copious for his design, on which, pronouncing some magical words, he wheeled round, and, starting off at a gallop, the stream formed its own channel, and followed his horse's heels into the town. CHAP. III. HUGH MYDDELTOK 57 requisite powers from Parliament to enable them to bring the springs of Chad well and Amwell to the thirsty popula- tion of the metropolis ; but unhappily they had as yet no Drake to supply the requisite capital and energy. In March, 1608, one Captain Edmond Colthurst petitioned the Court of Aldermen for permission to enter upon the work ; but it turned out that the probable cost was far beyond the petitioner's means, without the pecuniary help of the corporation; and that being withheld, the project fell to the ground. After this, one Edward Wright is said to have actually begun the works ; but they were suddenly suspended, and fever and plague* continued to decimate the population. The citizens of London seemed to be as far as ever from their supply of pure water. At this junc- ture, when all help seemed to fail, and when men were asking. each other "who is to do this great work, and how is it to be done?" citizen Hugh Myddelton, impatient of further delay, came forward and boldly offered to execute it at his own cost. Yet Hugh Myddelton was not an engineer, nor even an architect nor a builder. What he really was, we now proceed briefly to relate, according to the best information that we have been able to bring together on the subject. Hugh Myddelton, the London goldsmith, was born in the year 1555, at Galch-hilL, near Denbigh, in North Wales. * The plague was then a frequent visitor in the city. Numerous pro- clamations were made by the Lord Mayor and Corporation on the sub- ject, proclamations ordering wells and pumps to be drawn, and streets to be cleaned, and precepts for removing hogs out of London, and against the selling or eating of pork. Wherever the plague was in a house, the inhabitant thereof was enjoined to set up outside a pole of the length of seven feet, with a bundle of straw fit the top, as a sign that the deadly visitant was within. Wife, children, and servants belonging to that house must carry white rods in their hands for thirty-six days before they were considered " purged." It was also ordered subsequently, that on the street-door of every house infected, or upon a post thereby, the inha- bitant must exhibit imprinted on paper a token of St. Anthony's Cross, otherwise called the sign of the Taw T tnat a11 persons might have knowledge that such house was infected. ' Corporation of City of London Records/ jor. 12, fol. 136. No. 1. Years 1590 to 1694. 58' THE MYDDELTOX FAMILY. CHAP. III. Richard Myddelton, of Galch-hill, was governor of Den- bigh Castle in the reigns of Edward VI., Mary, and Myddelton's House at Galch-hill, Denbigh. Elizabeth. He was a man eminent for his uprightness and integrity, and is supposed to have been the first member who sat in Parliament for the town of Denbigh. His wife was one Jane Dryhurst, the daughter of an alderman of the town, by whom he had a family of nine sons and seven daughters. He was buried with his wife in the parish church of Denbigh, called Whitchurch or St. Marcellus; where a small monumental brass, placed within the porch, represents Richard Myddelton and Jane his wife, with their sixteen children behind them, all kneeling. Several of the Governor's sons rose to distinction. The third son, William, was one of Queen Elizabeth's famous CHAP. III. THE MYDDELTON FAMILY. 59 sea captains. He was also a man of literary tastes, being the author of a volume entitled * Barddonnaeth, or the Art of Fac-simile of the Myddelton Brass in Whitchurch Porch. Welsh Poetry.' While on his cruises, he occupied himself in translating the Book of Psalms into Welsh ; he finished it in the West Indies, and it was published in 1603, shortly after his death. The fourth son, Thomas, was an eminent citizen and grocer of London. He served the office of Sheriif in 1603, when he was knighted ; and he was elected Lord Mayor in 1613. He was the founder of the Chirk Castle family, now represented by Mr. Myddelton Biddulph. The fifth son, Charles, succeeded his father as governor of Denbigh Castle, and when he died bequeathed numerous legacies for charitable uses. The sixth son was Hugh, the subject of this memoir. Robert, the seventh, was, like two of his brothers, a citizen of London, and afterwards a mem- ber of Parliament. Foulk, the eighth son, served as high 60 THE LONDON GOLDSMITHS. CHAP. III. sheriff of the county of Denbigh. This was certainly a large measure of worldly prosperity and fame to fall to the lot" of one man's offspring. Hugh Myddelton was sent up to London to be bred to business there, under the eye of his elder brother Thomas, the grocer and merchant adventurer. In those days country gentlemen of moderate income were accustomed to bind their sons apprentices to merchants, especially where the number of younger sons was large, as it certainly was in the case of Eichard Myddelton of Galch-hill. There existed at that time in the metropolis numerous exclusive companies or guilds, the admission into which was regarded as a safe road to fortune. The merchants were few in number, constituting almost an aristocracy in themselves; indeed, they were not unfrequently elevated to the peerage because of their wealth as well as public services, and not a few of our present noble families can trace their pedi- gree back to some wealthy skinner, mercer, or tailor, of the reigns of James or Elizabeth. Hugh Myddelton was entered an apprentice of the guild of the Goldsmiths' Company. Having thus set his son in the way of well-doing, Eichard Myddelton left him to carve out his own career, relying upon his own energy and ability. He had done the same with Thomas, whom he had helped until he could stand by himself; and William, whom he had educated at Oxford as thoroughly as his means would afford. These sons having been fairly launched upon the world, he bequeathed the residue of his property to his other sons and daughters. The goldsmiths of that day were not merely dealers in plate, but in money. They had succeeded to much of the business formerly carried on by the Jews and Venetian merchants established in or near Lombard-street. They tisually united to the trade of goldsmith that of banker, money-changer, and money-lender, dealing generally in the precious metals, and exchanging plate and foreign coin for gold and silver pieces of English manufacture, which CHAP. III. MYDDELTON'S SHOP. 61 had become xmicli depreciated by long use as well as by frequent debasement. It was to the goldsmiths that persons in want of money then resorted, as they would now resort to money-lenders and bankers ; and their notes or warrants of deposit circulated as money, and suggested the establish- ment of a bank-note issue, similar to our present system of bullion and paper currency. They held the largest propor- tion of the precious metals in their possession ; hence, when Sir Thomas Gresham, one of the earliest bankers, died, it was found that the principal part of his wealth was comprised in gold chains.* The place in which Myddelton's goldsmith's shop was situated was in Bassishaw (now called Basinghall) Street, and he lived in the overhanging tenement above it, as was then the custom of city merchants. Few, if any, lived away from their places of business. The roads into the country, close at hand, were impassable in bad weather, and danger- ous at all times. Basing Hall was only about a bow-shot from the City Wall, beyond which lay Finsbury Fields, the archery ground of London, which extended from the open country to the very wall itself, where stood Moor Gate. The London of that day consisted almost exclusively of what is now called The City ; and there were few or no buildings east of Aldgate, north of Cripplegate, or west of Smithfield. At the accession of James I. there were only a few rows of thatched cottages in the Strand, along which, on the river's side, the boats lay upon the beach. At the same time there were groves of trees in Finsbury and green pastures in Holborn ; Clerkenwell was a village ; St. Pancras boasted only of a little church standing in meadows ; and St. Martin's, like St. Giles's, was literally "in the fields." All the country to the west was farm and pasture land ; and woodcocks and partridges flew over the site of the future Regent Street, May Fair, and Belgravia. * It may be remembered that I for his pictures by so many links of Kubens was accustomed to be paid | gold chain. 62 "THE CITY" OF LONDON. CHAP. III. The population of the city was about 150,000, living in some 17,000 houses, brick below and timber above, with picturesque gable-ends, and sign boards swinging over the footways. The upper parts of the houses so overhung the foundations, and the streets were so narrow, that D'Avenant said the opposite neighbours might shake hands without stirring from home. The ways were then quite impassable for carriages, which had not yet indeed been introduced into England ; all travelling being on foot or on horseback. "When coaches were at length introduced and became fashionable, the aristocracy left the city, through the streets of which their carriages could not pass, and migrated west- ward to Covent Garden and Westminster. Those were the days for quiet city gossip and neighbourly chat over matters of local concern ; for London had not yet grown so big or so noisy as to extinguish that personal interchange of views on public affairs which continues to characterise most provincial towns. Merchants sat at their door ways in the cool of the summer evenings, under the over- hanging gables, and talked over the affairs of trade ; whilst those courtiers who still had their residences within the walls, lounged about the fashionable shops to hear the city gossip and talk over the latest news. Myddelton's shop appears to have been one of such fashionable places of resort, and the pleasant tradition was long handed down in the parish of St. Matthew, Friday-street, that Hugh Myddel- ton and Walter Ealeigh used to sit together at the door of the goldsmith's shop, and smoke the newly introduced weed, tobacco, greatly to the amazement of the passers by. It is not improbable that Captain William Myddelton, who lived in London* after his return from the Spanish main in 1591, formed an occasional member of the group; for Pennant states that he and his friend Captain Thomas Price, of Plasgollen, and another, Captain Koet, were the first who * He resided at the old Eliza- I wards occupied as an inn, called bothan house in Highgate, after- | the " King's Head." CHAP. III. MYDDELTON'S VENTURES. 63 smoked, or as they then called it, " drank " tobacco publicly in London, and that the Londoners flocked from all parts to see them.* Hugh Myddelton did not confine himself to the trade of a goldsmith, but from an early period his enterprising spirit led him to embark in ventures of trade by sea ; and hence, when we find his name first mentioned in the year 1597, in the records of his native town of Denbigh, of which he was an alderman and " capitall burgess," as well as the represen- tative in Parliament, he is described as " Cittizen and Gouldsmythe of London, and one of the Merchant Adven- turers of England." t The trade of London was as yet very small, but a beginning had been made. A charter was granted by Henry VII., in 1505, to the Company of Mer- chant Adventurers of England, conferring on them special privileges. Previous to that time, almost the whole trade had been monopolised by the Steelyard Company of Foreign Merchants, whose exclusive privileges were formally with- drawn in 1552. But for want of an English mercantile navy, the greater part of the foreign carrying trade of the country continued long after to be conducted by foreign ships. The withdrawal of the privileges of the foreign mer- chants in England had, however, an immediate effect in stimulating the home trade, as is proved by the fact, that in the year following the suppression of the foreign com- pany, the English Merchant Adventurers shipped off for Flanders no less than 40,000 pieces of cloth. Myddelton entered into this new trade of cloth-making with great energy, and he prosecuted it with so much success, that in a speech delivered by him in the House of Commons on the proposed cloth patent, he stated that he and his partner then maintained several hundred families by that trade. He also seems to have taken part in the maritime adven- * Tour in Wales/ vol. ii., p. 31. I f Williams's ' Ancient and Mo- Ed. 1784. | dern Denbigh/ p. 105. 64 MYDDELTON ELECTED MEMBER FOR DENBIGH. CH. III. tures of the period, most probably encouraged thereto by his intimacy with Ealeigh and other sea captains, including his brother William, who had made profitable ventures on the Spanish main. In short, Hugh Myddelton was regarded as an eminently prosperous man. At this stage of his aifairs, when arrived at a compara- tively advanced age, Myddelton took to himself a wife ; and the rank and fortune of the lady he married afford some indication of the position he had by this time attained. She was Miss Elizabeth Olmstead, the daughter and sole heiress of John Olmstead of Ingatestone, Essex, with whom the thriving goldsmith and merchant adventurer received a considerable accession of property. That he had secured the regard of his neighbours, and did not disdain to serve them in the local offices to which they chose to elect him, is apparent from the circumstance that he officiated for three years as churchwarden for the parish of St. Matthew, to which post he was appointed in the year 1598. Myddelton continued to keep up a friendly connection with his native town of Denbigh, and he seems to have been mainly instrumental in obtaining for the borough its charter of incorporation in the reign of Elizabeth. In re- turn for this service the burgesses elected him their first alderman, and in that capacity he signed the first by-laws of the borough in 1597. On the back of the document are some passages in his hand- writing, commencing with " Tafod aur yngenau dedwydd " [A golden tongue is in the mouth of the blessed], followed by other aphorisms, and concluding with some expressions of regret at parting with his brethren, the burgesses of Denbigh, whom he had specially visited on the occasion. It would appear, from subsequent letters of his, that about this time he temporarily resided in the town, most probably during an attempt which he made to sink for coal in the neighbourhood, which turned out a total failure. A few years later, Myddelton was appointed Recorder of the borough, and in 1G03 he was elected to represent it in Parliament. In those days the office of representative was CHAP. III. MYDDELTON IN PARLIAMENT. 65 not so much coveted as it is now, and boroughs remote from the metropolis were occasionally under the necessity of paying their members to induce them to serve. It Whitchurch, or St. Marcellus, Denbigh. was, doubtless, an advantage to the burgesses of Denbigh that they had such a man to represent them as Hugh Myddelton, resident in London, and who was more- over an alderman and a benefactor of the town. His two brothers Thomas Myddelton, citizen and grocer, and Eobert, citizen and skinner, of London -were members of the same Parliament, and we find Hugh and Eobert fre- quently associated on committees of inquiry into matters connected with trade and finance. Among the first com- mittees to which the brothers were appointed was one on the subject of a bill for explanation of the Statute of Sewers, and another for the bringing of a fresh stream of running water from the river of Lea, or Uxbridge, to the north parts of the city of London. Thus the providing of a better supply J. B. F 66 MYDDELTON AS JEWELLER. CHAP. III. of water to the inhabitants of the metropolis came very early under his notice, and doubtless had some influence in directing his future action on the subject. At the same time the business in Bassishaw-street was not neglected, for, shortly after the arrival of King James in London, we find Myddeltoii supplying jewelry for Queen Anne, whose rage for finery of that sort was excessive. A warrant, in the State-Paper-office, orders 25 OZ. to be paid to Hugh Myddelton, goldsmith, for a jewel given by James I. to the queen ;* and it is probable that this connection with the Court introduced him to the notice of the king, and facilitated his approach to him when he afterwards had occasion to solicit His Majesty's assistance in bringing the New Eiver works to completion. The subject of water supply to the northern parts of the city was still under the consideration of parliamentary committees, of which Myddeltoii was invariably a member ; and at length a bill passed into law, and the necessary powers were conferred. But no steps were taken to carry them into effect. The chief difficulty was not in passing the Act, but in finding the man to execute the work. A proposal made by one Captain Colthurst to bring a running stream from the counties of Hertford and Middlesex, was negatived by the Common Council in 1608. Fever and plague from time to time decimated the population, and the citizens of London seemed as far as ever from being supplied with pure water. It was at this juncture that Hugh Myddelton stepped * " 2Gth of February, 1604. To j cumstance stated by Dr. Steven in Hugh Middleton, Goldsmith, the his Memoir of George Heriot,' sum of 250Z. for a pendant of one the King's goldsmith (founder of diamond bestowed upon the Queen Heriot's Hospital, Edinburgh), that by His Majesty. By writ dated j during the ten years which imme- 9th day of January, 1604, 250/." - diately preceded the accession of Extract from the ' Pell Kecords.' j King James to the throne of Great [The sum named would be equiva- j Britain, Heriot's bills for the lent to about 1000?. of our present j Queen's jewels alone could not money. The Queen's passion for j amount to less than 50,OOOZ. ster- ewels may be inferred from the cir- ; ling.] CHAP. III. UNDERTAKES TO CUT THE NEW RIVER. 67 forth, and declared that if no one else would undertake it, he would, and bring the water from Hertfordshire into London. " The matter," quaintly observes Stow, " had been well-mentioned though little minded, long debated but never concluded, till courage and resolution lovingly shook hands together, as it appears, in the soule of this 110 way to be daunted, well-minded gentleman." When all others held back lord mayor, corporation, and citizens Myddelton took courage, and showed what one strong practical man, borne forward by resolute will and purpose, can do. " The dauntless Welshman," says Pennant, " stept forth and smote the rock, and the waters flowed into the thirsting metro- polis." Myddelton's success in life seems to have been attributable not less to his quick intelligence than to his laborious appli- cation and indomitable perseverance. He had, it is true, failed in his project of finding coal at Denbigh ; but the practical knowledge which he acquired, during his attempt, of the arts of mining and excavation, had disciplined his skill and given him fertility of resources, as well as culti- vated in him that power of grappling with difficulties, which emboldened him to undertake this great work, more like that of a Eoman emperor than of a private London citizen. The corporation were only too glad to transfer to him the powers with which they had been invested by the legisla- ture, together with the labour, the anxiety, the expense, and the risk of carrying out an undertaking which they re- garded as so gigantic. On the 28th of March, 1609, the cor- poration accordingly formally agreed to his proposal to bring a supply of water from Amwell and Chad-well, in Hertford- shire, to Islington, as being " a thing of great consequence, worthy of acceptation for the good of the city ;" but subject to his beginning the works within two months from the date of their acceptance of his oiler, and doing his best to finish the same within four years. A regular indenture was drawn up and executed between the parties on the 21st of April following ; and Myddelton began the works and " turned F 2 68 MYDDELTON'S PLAN. CHAP. III. the first sod " in the course of the following month, accord- ing to the agreement. The principal spring was at Chad well, near Ware, and the operations commenced at that point. The second spring was at Amwell, near the same town ; each being about twenty miles from London as the crow flies. The general plan adopted by Myddelton in cutting the New Eiver was to follow a contour line, as far as practicable, from the then level of the Chadwell Spring to the circular pond at Islington, subsequently called the New Elver Head. The stream originally presented a fall of about 2 inches in the mile, and its City end was at the level of about 82 feet above what is now known as Trinity high water mark. Where the fall of the ground was found inconveniently rapid, a stop-gate was introduced across the stream, penning from 3 to 4 feet perpendicularly, the water flowing over weirs down to the next level. To accommodate the cut to the level of the ground as much as possible, numerous deviations were made, and the river was led along the sides of the hills, from which suffi- cient soil was excavated to form the lower bank of the intended stream. Each valley was traversed on one side until it reached a point where it could be crossed ; and there an embankment became necessary, in some cases of from 8 to 10 feet in height, along the top of which the water was conducted in a channel of the proper dimensions. In those places where the embankments were formed, provision had of course to be made for the passage of the sur- face waters from the west of the line of works into the river Lea, which forms the natural drain of the district. In some cases the drainage "waters were conveyed under the New Eiver in culverts, and in others over it by what were termed flashes. At each of the " flashes " there CHAP. III. THE "BOARDED RIVER.' were extensive swamps, where the flood-waters were up- held to such a level as to enable them to pass over the flash, which consisted of a wooden trough, about twelve feet wide and three deep, extending across the river ; and from these swamps, as well as from every other running stream, such apparatus was introduced as enabled the Company to avail themselves of the supply of water which they afforded, when required. Openings were also left in the banks for the passage of roads under the stream, the continuity of which was in such cases maintained either by arches or timber troughs lined with lead. One of these troughs, at Bush Hill, near Edmonton, was about 660 feet long, and 5 feet deep. A brick arch also formed part of this aqueduct, under which flowed a stream which had its source in Enfield Chase ; the arch sustaining the trough and the road along its side. Another strong timber aqueduct, 460 feet long and 17 feet high, conducted the New Eiver over the valley near where it entered the parish of Islington. This was The Boarded River formerly at Bush Hill. 70 NEW RIVER WORKS. CHAP. III. long known in the neighbourhood as " Myddelton's Boarded Eiver." At Islington also there was a brick tunnel of considerable extent, and another at Newington. That at Islington averaged in section about 3 feet by 5, and appears to have been executed at different periods, in short lengths. Such were the principal works along the New Eiver. Its original extent was much greater than it is at present, from its frequent windings along the high grounds for the purpose of avoiding heavy cuttings and embankments. Although the distance between London and Ware is only about 20 miles, the New River, as originally constructed, was not less than 38| miles in length. Brick Arch under the New River, formerly near Bush Hill. The works were no sooner begun than a swarm of oppo- nents sprang up. The owners and occupiers of lands through which the New Eiver was to be cut, strongly objected to it as most injurious to their interests. In a petition presented by them to Parliament, they alleged that their meadows The map on the next page will enable the reader to trace the line of the New River works between Amwell, Chadwell, and London. The dotted lines indicate those parts of the old course which have since been superseded by more direct cuts, represented by the continuous black line. Where the loops have been detached from the present line of works, they are, in most instances, laid dry, and may be examined and measured correctly, as also the soil of which the banks were originally formed. CHAP. III. NEW RIVER MAP. 71 Map of the New River. 72 HUGH MYDDELTON CHAP. III. would be turned into " bogs and quagmires," and arable land become "squallid ground;" that their farms would be " mangled " and their fields cut up into quillets and " small peeces ;" that the " cut," which was no better than a deep ditch, dangerous to men and cattle, would, upon "soden raines," inundate the adjoining meadows and pastures, to the utter ruin of many poor men ; that the church would be wronged in its tithe without remedy; that the highway between London and Ware would be made impassable ; and that an infinity of evils would be perpetrated, and irretriev- able injuries inflicted on themselves and their posterity. The opponents also pointed out that the Mayor and corpora- tion would have nothing to do with the business, but, by an irrevocable act of the Common Council, had transferred their powers of executing the works to Mr. Myddelton and his heirs, " who doth the same for his own private benefit." The agitation against the measure was next taken up in Parliament. "Much ado there is in the House," writes Mr. Beaulieu, on the 9th of May, 1610, to a friend in the country, "about the work undertaken, and far advanced already by Myddelton, of the cutting of a river and bring- ing it to London from ten or twelve miles off, through the grounds of many men, who, for their particular interests, so strongly oppose themselves to it, and are like (as it is said) to overthrow it all." On the 20th of June following, a Bill was introduced and committed to repeal the Act author- ising tJie construction of the Kew Eiver. A committee of ten was appointed a few days after " to view " the river and to cer- tify respecting the progress made with the works, doubtless with the object of ascertaining what damage had actually been done, or was likely to be done, to private property. The committee were directed to make their report in the next session ; but as Parliament was prorogued in July, and did not meet for four years, the subject is not again men- tioned in the Journals of the House. Worse than all, was the popular opposition which Myddelton had to encounter. The pastor of Tottenham, CHAP. III. ENCOUNTERS POPULAR OPPOSITION. 73 writing in 1631, speaks of the New River as "brought with an ill wille from Ware to London." Stow, who was a contemporary and enthusiastic admirer of Myddelton, says bitterly, " If those enemies of all good endeavours, Danger, Difficulty, Impossibillity, Detraction, Contempt, Scorn, Derision, yea, and Desperate Despight, could have prevailed, by their accursed and malevolent interposition, either before, at the beginning, in the very birth of the proceeding, or in the least stolne advantage of the whole prosecution, this Worke, of so great worth, had never been accomplished." Stow records that he rode down divers times to see the progress made in cutting and constructing the New River, and "diligently observed that admirable art, pains, and industry were bestowed for the passage of it, by reason that all grounds are not of a like nature, some being oozy and very muddy, others again as stiff, craggy, and stony. The depth of the trench," he adds, " in some places descended full thirty feet, if not more, whereas in other places it required a sprightful art again to mount it over a valley in a trough, between a couple of hills, and the trough all the while borne up by wooden arches, some of them fixed in the ground very deep, and rising in height above twenty-three feet." It shortly became apparent to Myddelton that the time originally fixed by the Common Council for the completion of the works had been too short, and we accordingly find him petitioning the Corporation for its extension. This was granted him for five years more, on the ground of the oppo- sition and difficulties which had been thrown in his way by the occupiers and landowners along the line of the proposed stream. It has usually been alleged that Myddelton fell short of funds, and that the Corporation refused him the necessary pecuniary assistance ; but the Corporation records do not bear out this statement, the only application appa- rently made by Myddelton being for an extension of time. It has also been stated that he was opposed by the water- carriers, and that they even stirred up the Corporation to HUGH MYDDELTON. CHAP. III. oppose the construction of the New Elver ; but this state- ment seems to be equally without foundation. The prin- cipal obstacle which Myddelton had to encounter was unquestionably the opposition of the landowners and occupiers ; and it was so obstinate that in his emergency he was driven to apply to the King for assistance. Though James I. may have been ridiculous and unkingly in many respects, he nevertheless appears throughout his reign to have exhibited a sensible desire to encourage the industry and develop the resources of the kingdom he governed. It was he who made the right royal declaration with reference to the drowned lands in the Fens, that he would not suffer the waters to retain their dominion over the soil which skill and labour might reclaim for human uses. He projected the drainage and reclamation of the royal manor of Hatneld Chase, as well as the reclamation of Sedgemoor and Malvern Chase ; and when the landowners in the Fens would take no steps to drain the Great Level, he expressed the determination to become himself the sole undertaker. And now, when Hugh Myddelton's admirable project for supplying the citizens of London with water threatened to break down by reason of the strong local opposition oifered to it, and while it was spoken of by many with derision and contempt as an impracticable undertaking, the same monarch came to his help, and while he rescued Myddelton from heavy loss, it might be ruin, he enabled him to prosecute his important enterprise to completion. James had probably become interested in the works from observing their progress at the point at which they passed through the Royal Park at Theobalds, a little beyond Enfield.* Theobalds was the favourite residence of the * Theobalds, a singularly beau- tiful place, where Elizabeth held counsel with Bmieigh, James often lived, and Charles played with his children. The palace was ordered to be pulled down by the Long Par- liament, in spite of the commis- sioners' report that it was " an excel- lent building in very good repair ;" and, the materials having been sold to the highest bidder, the proceeds were divided amongst the soldiers of Cromwell and Fairfax. The materials alone realised not less than 8275Z. 11s, CHAP. III. ASSISTEB BY JAMES I. 75 King, where lie frequently indulged in the pastime of hunting ; and on passing the labourers occupied in cutting the New Eiver, he would naturally make inquiries as to their progress. The undertaking was of a character so unusual, and so much of it passed directly through the King's domains, that he could not but be curious about it. Myddelton, having had dealings with His Majesty as a jeweller, seized the opportunity of making known his need of immediate help, otherwise the project must fall through. Several interviews took place between them at Theobalds and on the ground ; and the result was that James deter- mined to support the engineer with his effective help as King, and also with the help of the State purse, to enable the work to be carried out. An agreement was accordingly entered into between the King and Myddelton, the original of which is deposited in the Rolls-office, and is a highly interesting document. It is contained on seven skins, and is very lengthy; but the following abstract will sufficiently show the nature of the arrangement between the parties. The Grant, as it is described, is under the Great Seal, and dated the 2nd of May, 1612. It is based upon certain articles of agreement, made between King James I. and Hugh Myddelton, " citizen and goldsmith of London," on the 5th of November pre- ceding. It stipulates that His Majesty shall discharge a moiety of all necessary expenses for bringing the stream of water within " one mile of the city," as well as a moiety of the disbursements " already made " by Hugh Myddelton, upon the latter surrendering an account, and swearing to the truth of the same. In consideration of His Majesty's pecuniary assistance, Myddelton assigned to him a moiety of the interest in, and profits to arise from, the New Eiver " for ever," with the exception of a small quill or pipe of water which the said Myddelton had granted, at the time of his agreement with the City, to the poor people inhabiting St. John-street and Aldersgate-street, which exception His Majesty allowed. 76 PROGRESS OF THE WORKS. CHAP. III. One of the first benefits Myddelton derived from the arrangement was the repayment to him of one-half the expenditure which had been incurred to that time. It appears from the first certificate delivered to the Lord Treasurer, that the total expenditure to the end of the year ]612 had been 4485Z. 18s. lid., as attested by Hugh Myddelton, acting on his own behalf, and Miles AY hitacres acting on behalf of the King. Further payments were made out of the Treasury for costs disbursed in executing the works ; and it would appear from the public records that the total payments made out of the Royal Treasury on account of the Is ew River works amounted to 8G09/. 14s. fid. As the books of the New Eiver Company were accidentally destroyed by a fire many years ago, we are unable to test the accuracy of these figures by comparison with the finan- cial records of the Company ; but, taken in conjunction with other circumstances hereafter to be mentioned, the amount stated represents, with as near an approach to accuracy as can now be reached, one-half of the original cost of con- structing the New River. As the undertaking proceeded, with the powerful help of the King and the public Treasury, and as the great public uses of the New River began to be recognised, the voice of derision became gradually stilled, and congratulations began to rise up on all sides in view of the approaching completion of the bold enterprise. The scheme had ceased to be visionary, as it had at first appeared, for the water was already brought within a mile of Islington ; all that was wanted to admit it to the reservoir being the completion of the tunnel near that place. At length that too was finished; and now King, Corporation, and citizens vied with each other in doing honour to the enterprising and public spirited Hugh Myddelton. The Corporation elected his brother Thomas Lord Mayor for the year; and on Michaelmas Day, KUo, the citizens assembled in great numbers to celebrate by a public pageant the admission of the New River water to the metropolis. The ceremony CHAP. III. OPENING OF THE NEW RIVER. 77 took place at the new cistern at Islington, in the presence of the Lord Ma} r or, Aldermen, Common Council, and a great con- course of spectators. A troop of some three score labourers in green Monmouth caps, bearing spades and mattocks, or such other implements as they had used in the construction of the work, marched round the cistern to the martial music of drums and trumpets, after which a metrical speech, com- posed by one Thomas Middleton, was read aloud, expressive of the sentiments of the workmen. The following extract may be given, as showing the character of the persons employed on the undertaking : First, here's the Overseer, this try'd man, An antient souldier and an artizau ; The Clearke ; next him the Mathematian ; The Maister of the Timber- worke takes place Next after these ; the Measurer in like case ; Bricklayer, and Enginer ; and after those The Borer, and the Pavier ; then it showes The Labourers next ; Keeper of Am well Head ; The Walkers last ; so all their names are read. Yet these but parcels of six hundred more, That, at one time, have been imploy'd before ; Yet these in sight and all the rest will say That all the weeke they had their Royall pay ! At the conclusion of the recitation the flood-gates were thrown open, and the stream of pure water rushed into the cistern amidst loud huzzas, the firing of mortars, the peal- ing of bells, and the triumphant welcome of drums and trumpets.* t * A large print was afterwards published by G-. Bickham, in com- memoration of the event, entitled ' Sir Hugh Myddelton's Glory.' It represents the scene of the ceremony, the reservoir, with the stream rush- ing into it; the Lord Mayor (Sir John Swinnerton) on a white pal- frey, pointing exultingly to Sir Hugh; the Recorder, Sir Henry Montague, afterwards Lord Keeper and Earl of Manchester, and by his side the Lord Mayor elect, the pro- jector's brother, Maister Thomas Myddelton. Various figures gesti- culating their admiration occupy the foreground, whilst the foot of the print is garnished with little " chambers," or miniature mortars, spontaneously exploding. There is a copy of the original print in the British Museum. 78 USES OF THE NEW RIVER. CHAP. III. It is rather curious that James I. was afterwards nearly drowned in the New River which he had enabled Hugh Myddelton to complete. He had gone out one winter's day after dinner to ride in the park at Theobalds accompanied by his son Prince Charles ; when, about three miles from the palace, his horse stumbled and fell, and the King was thrown into the river. It was slightly frozen over at the time, and the King's body disappeared under the ice, nothing but his boots remaining visible. Sir Richard Young rushed into his rescue, and dragged him out, when " there came much water out of his mouth and body." He was, however, able to ride back to Theobalds, where he got to bed and was soon well again. The King attri- buted his accident to the neglect of Sir Hugh and the Corporation of London in not taking measures to properly fence the river, and he did not readily forget it ; for when the Lord Mayor, Sir Edward. Barkham, accompanied by the Recorder, Sir Heneage Finch, attended the King at Green- wich, in June, 1622, to be knighted, James took occasion, in rather strong terms, to remind the Lord Mayor and his brethren of his recent mischance in " Myddelton's Water." It is scarcely necessary to point out the great benefits conferred upon the inhabitants of London by the construc- tion of the New River, which furnished them with an abundant and unremitting supply of pure water for do- mestic and other purposes. Along this new channel were poured into the city several millions of gallons daily ; and the reservoirs at New River Head being, as before stated, at an elevation f 82 feet above the level of high water in the Thames, they were thus capable of supplying through pipes the basement stories of the greater number of houses then in the metropolis. The pipes which were laid down in the first instance to convey the water to the inhabitants were made of wood, principally elm ; and at one time the New River Company had wooden pipes laid down through the streets to the extent of about 400 miles ! But the leakage was so great through CHAP. III. WATER CARRIERS. 79 the porousness of the material, about one-fourth of the whole quantity of water supplied passing away "by filtra- tion, and the decay of the pipes in ordinary weather was so rapid, besides being liable to burst during frosts, that they were ultimately abandoned when mechanical skill was sufficiently advanced to enable pipes of cast-iron to be substituted for them. For a long time, however, a strong prejudice existed against the use of water conveyed through pipes of any kind, and the cry of the water carriers long continued to be familiar to London ears, of " Any New Eiver water here ! " " Fresh and fair New Eiver water! none of your pipe sludge ! " Among the many important uses to which the plentiful supply of New Eiver water was put, was the extinction of fires, then both frequent and destructive, in conse- quence of the greater part of the old houses in London being built of wood. Stow particularly mentions the case of a fire which broke out in Broad Street, on the 12th November, 1623, in the house of Sir William Cockaigne, which speedily extended itself to several of the adjoining buildings. We are told by the chronicler, that " Sir Hugh Myddelton, upon the first knowledge thereof, caused all the sluices of the water- cisteme in the field to be left open, whereby there was plenty of water to quench the fire. The water " [of the New Eiver], he continues, " hath done many like benefits in sundrie like former distresses." We now proceed to follow the fortunes of Myddelton in connexion with the New Eiver Company. The year after the public opening of the cistern at Islington, we find him " New fliver Water ! " [After an Ancient Print.] 80 HUGH MYDDELTOK CHAP. III. a petitioner to the Corporation for a loan of 3000Z., for three years, at six per cent., which was granted , him " in consideration of the benefit likely to accrue to the city from his New Eiver ; " his sureties being the Lord Mayor (Hayes), Mr. Kobert Myddelton (his brother), and Mr. Eobert Bateman. There is every reason to believe that Myddelton had involved himself in difficulties by locking up his capital in this costly undertaking ; and that he was driven to solicit the loan to carry him through until he had been enabled to dispose of the greater part of his interest in the concern to other capitalists. This he seems to have done very shortly after the completion of the works. The capital was divided into seventy-two shares,* one-half of which belonged to Myddelton and t the other half to the King, in consideration of the latter having borne one-half of the cost. Of the thirty-six shares owned by the former, as many as twenty-eight were conveyed by him to other per- sons ; and that he realized a considerable sum by the sale is countenanced by the circumstance that we find him shortly after embarked in an undertaking hereafter to be described, requiring the command of a very large capital. The shareholders were incorporated by letters patent on the 21st of June, 1619, under the title of " The Governors and Company of the New Kiver brought from Chadwell and Amwell to London." f The government of the corpo- ration was vested in the twenty-nine adventurers who held amongst them the thirty-six shares originally belonging to Myddelton, who had by that time reduced his holding * In Pennant's 'London' it is stated that the original shares in the concern were 1 OOZ. each, whereas En- tick makes them to have amounted to not less than 7000/. each ! This is only another illustration of the Imp-hazard statements put forth re- specting Sir Hugh and his works. The original cott of the New Iliver probably did not amount to more than 18,000?., in which case the capital represented by each oiiginal share would be about 250/. f On the occasion of its subse- quent confirmation by parliament. Sir Edward Coke said : " This is a very good bill, and prevents one great mischief that hangs over the city. Nimis potatio : Jregu&ns iu- cendium." CHAP. III. VALUE OF NEW RIVER SHARES. 81 to only two shares. At the first Court of proprietors, held on the 2nd of November, 1619, he was appointed Governor, and Robert Bateman Deputy-Governor of the Company. Sir Giles Mompesson was appointed, on behalf of the King, Surveyor of the profits of the New Kiver, with authority to attend the meetings, inspect the accounts, &c., with a grant for such service of 200/. per annum out of the King's moiety of the profits of the said river. It was long, however, before there were any profits to be divided ; for the cost of making repairs and improvements, and laying down wooden pipes, continued to be very great for many years ; and the ingenious method of paying dividends out of capital, to keep up the price of shares and invite further speculation, had not yet been invented. In fact, no dividend whatever was paid until after the lapse of twenty years from the date of opening the New River at Islington ; and the first dividend only amounted to 15Z. 3s. 3d a share. The next dividend of 31. 4s. 2d. was paid three years later, in 1636 ; and as the concern seemed- to offer no great prospect of improvement, and a further call on the proprietors was expected, Charles I., who re- quired all his available means for other purposes, finally regranted his thirty-six " King's shares " to the Company, imder his great seal, in consideration of a fee farm rent of 500/., which is to this day paid by them yearly into the King's exchequer. Notwithstanding this untoward commencement of the New Elver Company, it made great and rapid progress when its early commercial difficulties had been overcome ; and after the year 1640 its prosperity steadily kept pace with the population and wealth of the metropolis. By the end of the seventeenth century the dividend paid was at the rate of about 200Z. per share; at the end of the eight- eenth century the dividend was above 500Z. per share; and at the present date each share produces about 850Z. a year. At only twenty years' purchase, the capital value of a single share at this day would be about 17,OOOZ. But j. B. G 82 HUGH MYDDELTOX. CHAP. III. most of the shares have in course of time, by alienation and bequeathment, become very much subdivided; the pos- sessors of two or more fractional parts of a share being enabled, under a decree of Lord Chancellor Cowper, in 1711, to depute a person to represent them in the govern- ment of the Company. Source of the New River at Chadwell, near Ware, with the Monumental Pedestal in memory of Sir Hugh Myddelton. CHAP. IV. BEADING HAVEN, ISLE OF WIGHT. 83 CHAPTEE IV. HUGH MYDDELTON (continued) His OTHER ENGINEERING AND MINING WORKS AND DEATH. SHORTLY after the completion of the New Eiver, and the organization of the Company for the supply of water to the metropolis, we find Hugh Myddelton entering upon a new and formidable enterprise that of enclosing a large tract of drowned land from the sea. The scene of his opera- tions on this occasion was the eastern extremity of the Isle of Wight, at a place now marked on the maps as Brading Harbour. This harbour or haven consists of .a tract of about eight hundred acres in extent. At low water it appears a wide mud flat, through the middle of which a small stream, called the Yar, winds its way from near the village of Brading, at the head of the haven, to the sea at its eastern extremity ; whilst at high tide it forms a beautiful and apparently inland lake, embayed between hills of moderate elevation covered with trees, in many places down to the water's edge. At its seaward margin Bern- bridge Point stretches out as if to meet the promontory on the opposite shore, where stands the old tower of St. Helen's Church, now used as a sea-mark; and, as seen from most points, the bay seems to be completely land- locked. The reclamation of so large a tract of land, apparently so conveniently situated for the purpose, had long been matter of speculation. It is not improbable that at some early period neither swamp nor lake existed at Brading Haven, but a green and fertile valley; for in the course of the works undertaken by Sir Hugh Myddelton for its recovery from the sea, a well, strongly cased with stone, was dis- covered near the middle of the haven, indicating the G 2 84 HUGH MYDDELTON. CHAP. IV. View of Brading Haven, temporarily reclaimed by Sir Hugh Myddelton, as seen from the Village of Brading. CHAP. IV. KECLAMATION OF BEADING HAVEN. 85 existence of a population formerly settled on the soil. The sea must, however, have burst in and destroyed the settle- ment, laying the whole area under water. In King James's reign, when the inning of drowned lands began to receive an unusual degree of attention, the project of re- claiming Brading Haven was again revived; and in the year 1616 a grant was made of the drowned district to one John Gibb, the King reserving to j| himself a rental of 201. per annum. The owners of the adjoining lands con- tested the grant, claiming a prior right to the pro- perty in the haven, whatever its S4 worth might ^g'.wRto. be. But the verdict of the Exchequer went against the landowners, and the right of the King to grant the area of the haven for the pur- pose of reclamation was main- tained. It appears that Gibb sold his grant to one Sir Bevis Thelwall, a page of the King's bedchamber, who at once invited Hugh Myddelton to join him in undertaking the work; but Thelwall would not agree to pay Gibb anything until the enterprise had been found practicable. In 1620 we find that a correspondence was in progress as to "the composition to be made by the Solicitor-General Map of Brading Harbour. 86 HUGH MYDDELTON. CHAP. IV. with Myddelton touching the draining of certain lands in the Isle of Wight, and the bargain having been made according to such directions as His Majesty hath given, then to prepare the surrender, and thereupon such other assurance for His Majesty as shall be requisite." * A satisfactory arrangement having been made with the King, Myddelton began the work of reclaiming the haven in the course of the same year. He sent to Holland for Dutch workmen familiar with such undertakings; and from the manner in which he carried out his embankment, it is obvious that he mainly followed the Dutch method of reclamation, which, as we have already seen in the case of the drainage of the Fens by Vermuyden, was not, in many respects, well adapted for English practice. But it would also appear, from a patent for draining land which he took out in 1621, that he employed some invention of his own for the purpose of facilitating the work. The introduction to the grant of the patent runs as follows : " WHEREAS wee are given to vnderstand that our welbeloved subiect Hugh Middleton, Citizen and Goldsmith of London, hath to his very great charge maynteyned many strangers and others, and bestowed much of his tyme to invent a new way, and by his industrie, greate charge, paynes, and long experience, hath devised and found out ' A NEW INVENCON, SKILL, OR WAY FOR THE WYN- NING AND DRAYNING OF MANY GROUND^ WHICH ARE DAYLIE AND DESPERATELIE SURROUNDED WITHIN OUR KINGDOME or ENG- LAND AND DOMINION OF WALES,' and is now in very great hope to bringe the same to good effect, the same not being heretofore knowne, experimented, or vsed within our said realme or dominion, whereby much benefitt, which as yet is lost, will certenly be brought both to vs in particular and to our comon wealth in generall, and hath offered to publish and practise his skill amongest our loving subiect-^ , KNOWE YEE, that wee, tendring the weale of this our kingdom and the benefitt of our subiect-^ , and out of our * ' Domestic Calendar of State Papers.' Docquet, 13th August, 1620. CHAP. IV. RECLAMATION OF BRADING HAVEN. 87 princely care to nourish all art-^ , invencions, and studdies whereof there may be any necessary or |>ffitable vse within our dominions, and out of our desire to cherish and encourage the industries and paynes of all other our loving subiect^ in the like laudable indea- vors, and to recompence the labors and expences of the said Hugh Middleton disbursed and to be susteyned as aforesaid, and for the good opinion wee have conceived of the said Hugh Middleton, for that worthy worke of his in bringing the New River to our cittie cf London, and his care and Industrie in busines of like nature tending to the publicke good doe give and graunt full, free, and absolute licence, libertie, power, and authoritie vnto the said Hughe Middleton, his deputies," &c. to use and practise the same during the terme of fowerteene years next ensuing the date hereof. No description is given of the particular method adopted by Myddelton in forming his embankments. It woiild, however, appear that he proceeded by driving piles into the bottom of the Haven near Bembridge Point where it is Entrance to Brading Harbour, from St. Helen's Old Tower.* * The above view represents the I Brading Haven. A wide ridge of present state of the entrance to | drifted sand lies across it, in front RECLAMATION OF BEADING HAYEK CHAP. IV. about the narrowest, and thus formed a strong embankment at its junction with the sea, but unfortunately without making adequate provision for the egress of the inland waters. A curious contemporary manuscript by Sir John Og- lander is still extant, preserved amongst the archives of the Oglander family, who have held the adjoining lands from a period antecedent to the date of the Conquest, which we cannot do better than quote, as giving the most authentic account extant of the circumstances connected with the enclosing of Brading Haven by Hugh Myddeltoii. This manuscript says : " Brading Haven was begged first of all of King James by one Mr. John Gibb, being a groom of his bedchamber, and the man that King James trusted to carry the reprieve to Winchester for my Lord George Cobham and Sir Walter Eawleigh, when some of them were on the scaffold to be executed. This man was put on to beg it of King James by one Sir Bevis Thelwall, who was then one of the pages of the bedchamber. After he had begged it, Sir Bevis would give him nothing for it until the haven were cleared ; for the gentlemen of the island whose lands join to the haven chal- lenged it as belonging unto them. King James was wonderful earnest in the business, both because it concerned his old servant, and also because it would be a leading case for the fens in Lincoln- shire. After the verdict went in the Chequer against the gentlemen, of the old bank raised by Myddelton, which extended from a point below the hill under " Mrs. Grant's house," a little to the westward of the vil- lage of Bembridge (seen on the served for a sluice were dug up near the Boat Houses. At the ex- tremity of the sand-ridge there is a ferry across to the village of Bem- bridge, in front of which is the opposite shore) to what are now narrow entrance into the have called "The Boat Houses," situated towards the northern side of the haven, and behind the sand-ridge extending across the view. The black piles driven into the bottom There have been serious encroach- ments of the sea on that side of loto years, and the channel has become much impeded ; so much so that it has been feared that the navigation of the haven in the process of em- j would be lost. The old church- bankment are still to be seen stick- | tower of St. Helen's, faced with brick ing up at low water; and only a < and whitewashed, on the right of the few years since the old gates which view, is still used as a sea-mark. CHAP. 17. THE OGLANDEE MANUSCRIPT. 89 then Sir Bevis Thelwall would give nothing for it till he could see that it was feasible to be inned from the sea; whereupon one Sir Hugh Myddelton was called in to assist and undertake the work, and Dutchmen were brought out of the Low Countries, and they began to inn the haven about the 20th of December, 1620. Then, when it was taken in, King James compelled Thelwall and Myddel- ton to give John Gibb (who the King called 'Father') 2000?. Afterwards Sir Hugh Myddelton, like a crafty fox and subtle citizen, put it off wholly to Sir Bevis Thelwall, betwixt whom afterwards there was a great suit in the Chancery; but Sir Bevis did enjoy it some eight years, and bestowed much money in* build- ing of a barnhouse, mill, fencing of it, and in many other necessary works. " But now let me tell you somewhat of Sir Bevis Thelwall and Sir Hugh Myddelton, and of the nature of the ground after it was inned, and . the cause of the last breach. Sir Bevis was a gentle- man's son in Wales, bound apprentice to a mercer in Cheapside, and afterwards executed that trade till King James came into Eng- land : then he gave up, and purchased to be one of the pages of the bedchamber, where, being an understanding man, and knowing how to handle the Scots, did in that infancy gain a fair estate by getting the Scots to beg for themselves that which he first found out for them, and then himself buying of them with ready money under half the value. He was a very bold fellow, and one that King James very well affected. Sir Hugh Myddelton was a goldsmith in London. This and other famous works brought him into the world, viz., his London waterwork, Brading Haven, and his mine in Wales. " The nature of the ground, after it was inned, was not answer- able to what was expected, for almost the moiety of it next to the sea was a light running sand, and of little worth. The best of it was down at the farther end next to Brading, my Marsh, and Knight's Tenement, in Bembridge. I account that there was 200 acres that might be worth 6s. 8d. the acre, and all the rest 2s. Qd. the acre. The total of the haven was 706 acres. Sir Hugh Myddelton, before he sold, tried all experiments in it : he sowed wheat, barley, oats, cabbage seed, and last of all rape seed, which proved best ; but all the others came to nothing. The only incon- venience was in it that the sea brought in so much sand and ooze and seaweed that choked up the passage of the water to go out, insomuch as I am of opinion that if the sea had not broke in Sir 90 RECLAMATION OF BEADING HAVEN. CHAP. IV. Bevis could hardly have kept it, for there would have been no cur- rent for the water to go out ; for the eastern tide brought so much sand as the water was not of force to drive it away, so that in time it would have laid to the sea, or else the sea would have drowned the whole country. Therefore, in my opinion, it is not good meddling with a haven so near the main ocean. " The country (I mean the common people) was very much against the inning of it, as out of their slender capacity thinking by a little fishing and fowling there would accrue more benefit than by pasturage ; but this I am sure of, it caused, after the first three years, a great deal of more health in these parts than was ever before ; and another thing is remarkable, that whereas we thought it would have improved our marshes, certainly they were the worse for it, and rotted sheep which before fatted there. " The cause of the last breach was by reason of a wet time when the haven was full of water, and then a high spring tide, when both the waters met underneath in the loose sand. On the 8th of March, 1630, one Andrew Ripley that was put in earnest to look to Brading Haven by Sir Bevis Thelwall, came in post to my house in New- port to inform me that the sea had made a breach in the said haven near the easternmost end. I demanded of him what the charge might be to stop it out ; he told me he thought 40s., whereupon I bid him go thither and get workmen against the next day morning, and some carts, and I would pay them their wages ; but the sea the next day came so forcibly in that there was no meddling of it, for Ripley went up presently to London to Sir Bevis Thelwall himself, to have him come down and take some further course ; but within four days after the sea had won so much on the haven, and made the breach so wide and deep, that on the 15th of March when I came thither to see it I knew not well what to judge of it, for whereas at the first 5Z. would have stopped it out, now I think 200Z. will not do it, and what will be the event of it time will tell. Sir Bevis on news of this breach came into the island on the 17th of March, 1630, and brought with him a letter from my Lord Conway to me and Sir Edward Dennies, desiring us to cause my Lady Worsley, on behalf of her son, to make up the breach which happened in her ground through their neglect. She returned us an answer that she thought that the law would not compel her unto it, and therefore desired to be excused, which answer we returned to my lord. What the event will be I know not, but it seemeth to me not reasonable that she should suffer for not complying with his request. If he had CHAP. IV. THE OGLANDER MANUSCRIPT. 91 not inned the haven this accident could never have happened ; there- fore he giving the cause, that she should apply the cure I understand not. But this I am sure, that Sir Bevis thinketh to recover of her and her son all his charges, which he now sweareth every way to he 2000?. For my part, I would wish no friend of mine to have any hand in the second inning of it. Truly all the better sort of the island were very sorry for Sir Bevis Thelwall, and the commoner sort were as glad as to say truly of Sir Bevis that he did the coun- try many good offices, and was ready at all times to do his best for the public and for everyone. '* Sir Hugh Myddelton took it first in, and it was proper for none but him, because he had a mine of silver in Wales to maintain it. It cost at the first taking of it in 4000Z., then they gave 2000Z. to Mr. John Gibb for it, who had begged it of King James ; afterwards, in building the barn and dwelling-house, and water-mill, with the ditching and quick-setting, and making all the partitions, it could not have cost less than 200Z. more : so in the total it stood them, from the time they began to take it in, until the 8th of March, a loss of 7000Z." It will thus be observed that the loss of this undertaking fell upon Thelwall, and not upon Myddelton, who sold out of the adventure long before the sea burst through the embankment. The date of conveyance of his rights in the reclaimed land to Sir Bevis Thelwall was the 4th September, 1624, nearly six years before the final ruin of the work. He had, therefore, got his capital out of the concern, most probably with his profit as contractor, and was thus free to embark in the important mining enter- prise in Wales, on which we find him next engaged. Sir Hugh continued to maintain his Parliamentary con- nection with his native town of Denbigh, of which he was still the representative. We do not find that he took an active part in political questions. The name of his brother, Sir Thomas, frequently appears in the Parliamentary debates of the time, and he was throughout a strong oppo- nent of the Court party ; but that of Sir Hugh only occurs 92 HUGH MYDDELTON. CHAP. IV. in connection with commercial topics or schemes of internal improvement, on which he seems to have been consulted as an authority. Sir Hugh's occasional visits to his constituents brought him into contact with Welsh families, and made him acquainted with the mining enterprises then on foot in different parts of Wales so rich in ores of copper, lead, and iron. It appears that the Governor and Company of Mines Eoyal in Cardiganshire were incorporated in the year 1604, for the purpose of working the lead and silver mines of that county. The principal were those at Cwmsymlog and the Darren Hills, situated about midway, as the crow flies, between Aberystwith and the mountain of Plinlimmon, and at Tallybout, about midway between Aberystwith and the Chart of Mines in North Wales. [From an old Print in the British Museum.] CHAP. IV. EAISED TO THE DIGNITY OF A BARONET. 93 estuary at the mouth of the Eiver Dovey. They were all situated in the township of Skibery Coed, in the northern part of the county of Cardigan. For many years these mines (which were first opened out by the Eomans) were worked by the Corporation of Mines Eoyal ; but it does not appear that much success attended their operations. Mining was little understood then, and all kinds of pumping and lifting machinery were clumsy and inefficient. Although there was no want of ore, the mines were so drowned by water, that the metal could not well be got at and worked out. Myddelton's spirit of enterprise was excited by the pros- pect of battling with the water and getting at the rich ore, and he had confidence that his mechanical ability would enable him to overcome the difficulties. The Company of Mines Eoyal were only too glad to get rid of their unprofit- able undertaking, and they agreed to farm their mines to Sir Hugh at the rental of 400?. per annum. This was in the year 1617, some time after he had completed his Xew Eiver works, but before he had begun the embank- ment of Brading Haven, and Sir Bevis Thelwall was also a partner- with him in this new venture. It took him some time to clear the mines of water, which he did by pumping- machines of his own contrivance ; but at length sufficient ore was raised for testing, and it was found to contain a satisfactory proportion of silver. His mining adventure seems to have been attended with success, for we shortly afterwards find him sending considerable quantities of silver to the Eoyal Mint to be coined. King James was so much gratified by the further proofs of Myddelton's skill and enterprise, displayed in his em- bankment of Brading Harbour and his successful mining operations in Wales, that he raised him to the dignity of a Baronet on the 19th of October, 1622; and the compliment was all the more marked by His Majesty directing that Sir Hugh should be discharged from the payment of the cus- tomary fees, amounting to 1095?., and that the dignity 94 PATENT OF BARONETCY. CHAP. IV. should be conferred upon him without any charge what- ever.* The patent of baronetcy granted on the occasion sets forth the " reasons and considerations " which induced the King to confer the honour ; and it may not be out of place to remark, that though more eminent industrial services have been rendered to the public by succeeding engineers, there has been no such cordial or graceful recog- nition of them by any succeeding monarch. The patent states that King James had made a baronet of Hugh Myddelton, of London, goldsmith, for the following reasons and considerations : " 1. For bringing to the city of London, with excessive charge and greater difficulty, a new cutt or river of fresh water, to the great benefit and inestimable preservation thereof. 2. For gaming a very great and spacious quantity of land in Brading Haven, in the Isle of Wight, out of the Lowells of the sea, and with bankes and pyles and most strange defensible and chargeable mountains, fortifying the same against the violence and fury of the waves. 3. For finding out, with a fortunate and prosperous skill, exceeding industry, arid noe small charge, in the county of Cardigan, a royal and rych myne, from whence he hath extracted many silver plates which have been coyned in the Tower of London for current money of England." f The King, however, did more than confer the title he added to it a solid benefit in confirming the lease made to Sir Hugh by the Governor and Company of Mines Hoyal, " as a recompense for his industry in bringing a new river into London," waiving all claim to royalty upon the silver * Rloane MS. (Biitiah Museum), j case, as it will be found from the vol. ii. 4177. Also Calendar of patent for draining laud taken out Domestic State Papers,' Oct. 19th, \ by him in 1621 (see ante, p. XC,, 1G22: "Grant to Hugh Myddelton ! that he was then described as of the rank of Baronet, granting simply " Oil i/en ;m< made a iJaronet." The usual slate- found in any (Contemporary list of ment is to the effect that Myddel- j King James's Knights. ton was knigiilcd on the occasion f Harleiari MS., No. 1507, Art. of the opening of the New River j 40. (British Museum.) in 1013. But this was not the ] CHAP. IV. MYDDELTON'S WELSH MINES. 95 produced, although the Crown was entitled, according to the then interpretation of the law, to a payment on all gold and silver found in the lands of a subject ; and it is certain that the lessee* who succeeded Sir Hugh did pay such royalty into the State Exchequer. It also appears from documents preserved amongst the State Papers, that large offers of royalty were actually made to the King at the very time that this handsome concession was granted to Sir Hugh. The discovery of silver in the Welsh mountains doubtless caused much talk at the time, and, as in Australia and California now, there were many attempts made by lawless persons to encroach upon the diggings. On this, a royal proclamation was published, warning such persons against the consequences of their trespass, and orders were issued that summary proceedings should be taken against them. It appears that Sir Ihigh and his partners continued to work the mines with profit for a period of about sixteen years, although it is stated that during most of that time, in consequence of the large quantity of water met with, little more than the upper surface could be got at. The water must, however, have been sufficiently kept under to enable so much ore eventually to be raised. Waller says an engine was employed at Cwmsymlog ; and a tradition long existed among the neighbouring miners that there were two engines placed about the middle of the work. There were also several "levels" at Cwmsymlog, one of which is called to this day " Sir Hugh's Level." The following rude cut, from Fettus' ' Fodinss Regales,' * Subsequent to 1G3G, Thomas Bushell (who purchased the lease) paid WOOL per annum to the King; and some years a Her, in 1047, we find him agreeing to pay 2500J. per annum to the Parliament. As a curious fact, we may here add that, under date Die Sabbati, 14 August, 1641, rarliamcut granted an order or license to Thomas Bushell to dig turf on the King's wastes within the limits of Cardiganshire, for the purpose of smelting and refining the lead ores, &c., iiis predecessor (Myddelton) having used up almost all the wood growing in the neigh- bourhood of the mines. 96 MYDDELTON'S WELSH MINES. CHAP. IV. may serve to give an idea of the manner in which the works of Cwrnsymlog (facetiously styled by the author or his printer " Come-some-luck ") were laid out : Plan of Myddelton's Silver Mining Works at Cwmsyrnlog. A. The old works of Myddelton and Bushell. B. The round holes are the shafts of the mine. C. Windlace to wind up ore from the shafts. D. A new vein. E. Sir H. Myddelton's adit F. A new adit. G. Adits to drain works. H. Myddelton's decayed chapel. I. Old stamping-house. K. The smelting mills, supposed six miles from the lull. II. TJnwrought ground. M. The hrook that divides the hill. N. The stream which drives the mills. From a statement made by Bushell to Parliament of the results of the working subsequent to 1636, it appears that the lead alone was worth above 5000/. a year, to which there was to be added the value of the silver Bushell alleging, in his petition to Charles I., deposited in the' State Paper-office,* that Sir Hugh had brought "to the Minte theis 16 yeares of puer silver 100 poundes weekly." * Dated 22nd October, 1636. The prayer of Bushell's petition to Charles I. is, that His Majesty will ratify his agreement with Lady Myddelton (by that time a widow) for the purchase of the residue of her lease. Cir. IV. PROPOSED RECLAMATION OF WELSH MARSHES. 97 A ton of the lead ore is said to have yielded about a hundred ounces of silver, and the yield at one time was such that Myddelton's profits were alleged by Bushell to have amounted to at least two thousand pounds a month. There is no doubt, therefore, that Myddelton realised considerable profits by the working of his Welsh mines, and that towards the close of his useful life he was an eminently prosperous man.* Successful as he had been in his enterprise, he was ready to acknowledge the Giver of all Good in the matter. He took an early opportunity of presenting a votive cup, manu- factured by himself out of the Welsh silver, to the corpora- tion of Denbigh, and another to the head of his family at Gwaenynog, in its immediate neighbourhood, both of which are still preserved. On the latter is inscribed "Mentem non inunus Omnia a Deo Hugh Myddelton." While conducting the mining operations, Sir Hugh resided at Lodge, now called Lodge Park, in the imme- diate neighbourhood of the mines. The house was the property of Sir John Pryse, of Gogerddan, whose son Eichard, afterwards created a baronet, was married to Myddelton's daughter Hester. The house stood on the top of a beautifully wooded hill, overlooking the estuaiy of the Dovey and the great bog of Gorsfochno, the view being bounded by picturesque hills on the one hand and by the sea on the other. Whilst residing here, on one of his visits to the mines, a letter reached him from his cousin, Sir John Wynn, of Gwydir, dated the 1st September, 1625, asking his assistance in an engineering project in which he was interested. This was the reclamation of the large sandy marshes, called Traeth-Mawr and Traeth-Bach, situated at * In these rampant days of joint- stock enterprise, we are not sur- prised to observe that a scheme has been set on foot to work the long - abandoned silver and lead mines of Sir Hugh Myddelton. J. B. With the greatly improved mining machinery of modern times, it u not unreasonable to anticipate a considerable measure of success from such an undertaking. 98 SIR HUGH MYDDELTON. CHAP. IV. the junction of the counties of Caernarvon and Merioneth, at the northern extremity of the bay of Cardigan. Sir John, after hailing his good cousin as " one of the great honours of the nation," congratulated him on the great work which he had performed in the Isle of Wight, and added, " I may say to you what the Jews said to Christ, We have heard of thy greate workes done abroade, doe now somewhat in thine own country." After describing the nature of the land proposed to be reclaimed, Sir John declares his willingness " to adventure a brace of hundred pounds to joyne with Sir Hugh in the worke," and concludes by urging him to take a ride to Traeth-Mawr, which was not above a day's journey from where Sir Hugh was residing, and afterwards to come on and see him at Gwydir House, which was at most only another day's journey or about twenty-five miles further to the north-west of Traeth-Mawr. The following was Sir Hugh's reply : " HONOURABLE SIR, " I have received your kind letter. Few are the things done by me ; for which I give God the glory. It may please you to understand my first undertaking of public works was amongst my owne kindred, within less than a myle of the place where I hadd my first being, 24 or 25 years since, in seekinge of coales for the town of Denbighe. " Touching the drowned lands near your lyvinge, there are many things considerable therein. Iff to be gayned, which will hardlie be performed without great stones, which was plentiful at the Weight [Isle of Wight], as well as wood, and great sums of money to be spent, not hundreds, but thousands ; * and first of all his Majesty's * A long time passed before the attempt was made to reclaim the large tract of land at Traeth-Mawr ; but after the lapse of two centuries, it was undertaken by William Alexander Madocks, Esq., and ac- complished in spite of many formid- able difficulties. Two thousand acres of Penmorfa Marsh were first enclosed on the western side of the river, after which an embankment was constructed across the estuary, about a mile in length, by which 6000 additional acres were secured. The sums expended on the works are said to have exceeded 100,OOOZ. ; but the expenditure has proved pro- ductive, and the principal part of the reclaimed land is now under cultivation. Tremadoc, or Madock's Town, and Port Madoc, are two thriving towns, built by the pro- prietor on the estate thus won from the sea. CHAP. IV. HIS DEATH. 09 interest must be got. As for myself, I am grown into years, and full of business here at the mynes, the river at London, and other places, rny weeklie charge being above 200?. ; which maketh*me verie unwillinge to undertake any other worke ; and the least of theis, whether the drowned lands or mynes, requireth a whole man, with a large purse. Noble sir, my desire is great to see you, which should draw me a farr longer waie ; yet such are my occasions at this tyme here, for the settlinge of this great worke, that I can hardlie be spared one howr in a daie. My wieif being also here, I cannot leave her in a strange place. Yet my love to publique works, and desire to see you (if God permit), maie another tyme drawe me into those parts. Soe with my heartie comendations I comit you and all your good desires to God. " Your assured lovinge couzin to command, " Lodge, Sept. 2nd, 1625." " HUGH MYDDELTON. At the date of this letter Sir Hugh was an old man of seventy, yet he still continued industriously to apply him- self to business affairs. Like most men with whom work has become a habit, he could not be idle, and active occupa- tion seems to have been necessary to his happiness. To the close of bis life we find him engaged in correspondence on various subjects on mining, draining, and general affairs. When in London lie continued to occupy his house in Bassishaw-street, where the goldsmith business was carried on in his absence by his son William. He also continued to maintain v his pleasant country house at Bush Hill, near Edmonton, which he occupied when engaged on the engi- neering business of the New River, near to which it was conveniently situated. At length all correspondence ceases, and the busy hand and head of the old man find rest in death. Sir Hugh died on the 10th of December, 1631, at the advanced age of seventy-six. In his will, which he made on the 21st November, three weeks before his death, when he was " sick in bodie " but " strong in mind," for which he praised God, he directed that he should be buried in the church of St. Matthew, Friday-street, where he had officiated as church- warden, and where six of his sons and five of his daughters H 2 100 SIR HUGH MYDDELTON. CHAP. IV. had been baptized. It had been his parish church, and was hallowed in his memory by many associations of family griefs as well as joys ; for there he had buried several of his children in early life, amongst others his two eldest-born sons. The church of St. Matthew, however, has long since ceased to exist, though its registers have been preserved : it was destroyed in the great fire of 1666, and the monumental record of Sir Hugh's last resting-place perished in the common ruin. The popular and oft-repeated story of Sir Hugh Myddel- ton having died in poverty and obscurity is only one of the numerous fables which have accumulated about his memory.* He left fair portions to all the children who survived him, and an ample provision to his widow, j His eldest son and heir, William, who succeeded to the baronetcy, inherited the estate at Ruthin, and afterwards married the daughter of Sir Thomas Harris, Baronet, of Shrewsbury. Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir William, married John Grene, of Enfield, clerk to the New Kiver Company, and from her is * The tradition still survives that Sir Hugh retired in his old age to the village of Kemberton, near Shiffnal, Salop, where he lived in great indigence under the assumed name of Kayrnond, and that he was there occasionally employed as a street paviour! The parish regis- ter is said to contain an entry of his burial on the llth of March, 1702 ; by which date Hugh Myddelton, had he lived until then, would have baen about 150 years old! The entry in the register was com- municated by the rector of the parish in 1809 to the ' Gentleman's Magazine' (vol. Ixxix., p. 795), but it is scarcely necessary to point out that it can have no reference what- ever to the subject of this memoir. t On the 24th June, 1632, Lady Myddelton memorialised the Com- mon Council of London with refer- ence to the loan of 3000/. advanced to Sir Hugh, which does not seem to have been repaid ; and more than two years later, on the 10th Oct., 1634, we find the Corporation al- lowed 1000Z. of the amount, in con- sideration of the public benefit con- ferred on the city by Sir Hugh through the formation of the New River, and for the losses alleged to have been sustained by him through breaches in the water-pipes on the occasion of divers great fires, as well as for the " present comfort " of Lady Myddelton. It is to be in- ferred that the balance of the loan of 3000/. was then repaid. Lady Myddelton died at Bush Hill on the 19th July, 1643, aged sixty- three, and was interred in the chancel of Edmonton Church, Mid- dlesex. On her monumental tablet it is stated that she was " the mother of fifteen children." CHAP. IV. HIS WILL. 101 lineally descended the Rev. Henry Thomas Ellacombe, M.A., rector of Clyst St. George, Devon, who still holds two shares in the New Eiver Company, as trustee for the surviving descendants of Myddelton in his family. Sir Hugh left to his two other sons, Henry and Simon,* besides what he had already given them, one share each in the New Eiver Com- pany (after the death of his wife) and 4001. a-piece. His five daughters seem to have been equally well provided for. Hester was left 900Z., the remainder of her portion of 1900Z. ; Jane having already had the same portion on her marriage to Dr. Chamberlain, of London. Elizabeth and Ann, like Henry and Simon, were left a share each in the New Eiver Company and 5001. a-piece. He bequeathed to his wife, Lady Myddelton, the house at Bush Hill, Edmonton, and the furniture in it, for use during her life, with remainder to his youngest son Simon and his heirs. He also left her all the " chains, rings, jewels, pearls, bracelets, and gold buttons, which she hath in her custody and useth to wear at festivals, and the deep silver basin, spout pot, maudlin cup, and small bowl ;" as well as " the keeping and wearing of the great jewel given to him by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, and after her decease to such one of his sons as she may think most worthy to wear and enjoy it." By the same will Lady Myddelton was authorised to dispose of her interest in the Cardiganshire mines for her own benefit ; and it afterwards appears, from documents in the State Paper Office, that Thomas Bushell, " the great chy- mist," as he was called, purchased it for 40QZ. cash down, and 400?. per annum during the continuance of her grant, which had still twenty-five years to run after her husband's death. Besides these bequeathments, and the gifts of land, money, and New Eiver shares, which he had made to his other children during his lifetime, Sir Hugh left numerous other sums to relatives, friends, and clerks; for instance, to * Simon's son Hugh was created a Baronet, of Hackney, Middlesex, in 1681. He married Dorothy, the daughter of Sir William Oglander, of Nunwell, Baronet. 102 SIR HUGH MYDDELTOX. CHAP. IV. Eicliard Newell and Howell Jones, 30Z. each, " to the end that the former may continue his care in the works in the Mines Royal, and the latter in the New River water- works," where they were then respectively employed. He also left an annuity of 20/. to William Lewyn, who had been engaged in the New River undertaking from its commencement. Nor were his men and women servants neglected, for he bequeathed to each of them a gift of money, not forgetting " the boy in the kitchen," to whom he left forty shillings. He remembered also the poor of Henllan, near Denbigh, " the parish in which he was born," leaving to them 20Z. ; a similar sum to the poor of Denbigh, which he had repre- sented in several successive Parliaments; and 51. to the parish of Amwell, in Hertfordshire. To the Goldsmiths' Company, of which he had so long been a member, he bequeathed a share in the New River Company, for the benefit of the more necessitous brethren of that guild, " espe- cially to such as shall be of his name, kindred, and county." * Such was the life and such the end of Sir Hugh Myddel- ton, a man full of enterprise and resources, an energetic and untiring worker, a great conqueror of obstacles and diffi- culties, an honest and truly noble man, and one of the most distinguished benefactors the city of London has ever known. * Several of the descendants of Sir Hugh Myddelton, when reduced in circumstances, obtained assistance from this fund. It has been stated, and often repeated, that Lady Myd- delton, after her husband's death, became a pensioner of the Gold- smiths' Company, receiving from them 201. a year. But this annuity was paid, not to the widow of the first Sir Hugh, but to the mother of the last Sir Hugh, more than a century later. The last who bore the title was an unworthy scion of this distinguished family. He could raise his mind no higher than the enjoyment of a rummer of ale ; and towards the end of his life existed upon a pension granted him by the New River Company. The state- ments so often published (and which, on more than one occasion, have brought poor persons up to town from Wales to make inquiries) as to an annuity of 100Z. said to have been left by Sir Hugh and unclaimed for a century, and of an advertise- ment calling upon his descendants to apply for the sum of 10,OOOZ., alleged to be lying for them at the Bank of England, are altogether un- founded. No such annuity has been left, no such sum has accrued, and no such advertisement has appeared. CHAP. V. BREACHES IN THAMES EMBANKMENTS. 103 CHAPTER Y. CAPTAIN PERRY STOPPAGE OF DAGENHAM BREACH. ALTHOUGH the cutting of the New River involved a great deal of labour, and was attended with considerable cost, it was not a work that would now be regarded as of any importance in an engineering point of view. It was, never- theless, one of the greatest undertakings of the kind that had at that time been attempted in England ; and it is most probable that, but for the persevering energy of Myddelton and the powerful support of the King, the New River enter- prise would have failed. As it was, a hundred years passed before another engineering work of equal importance was attempted, and then it was necessity, and not enterprise, that occasioned it. We have, in a previous chapter, referred to the artificial embankment of the Thames, almost from Richmond to the sea, by which a large extent of fertile land is protected from inundation along both banks of the river. The banks first raised seemed to have been in many places of insufficient strength ; and when a strong north-easterly wind blew down the North Sea, and the waters became pent up in that narrow part of it lying between the Belgian and the English coasts, and especially when this occurred at a time of the highest spring tides, the strength of the river embankments became severely tested throughout their entire length, and breaches often took place, occasioning destructive inunda- tions. Down to the end of the seventeenth century scarcely a season passed without some such accident occurring. There were frequent burstings of the banks on the south side between London Bridge and Greenwich, the district of Bermondsey, then green fields, being especially liable to be 104 DESTRUCTIVE INUNDATIONS. CHAP. V. submerged. Commissions were appointed on such occasions, with full powers to distrain for rates, and to impress labourers in order that the requisite repairs might at once be carried out. In some cases the waters for a long time held their ground, and refused to be driven back. Thus, in the reign of Henry VIII., the marshes of Plumstead and Lesnes, now used as a practising ground by the Woolwich garrison, were completely drowned by the waters which had burst through Erith Breach, and for a long time all measures taken to reclaim, them proved ineffectual. There were also frequent inundations of the Combe Marshes, lying on the east of the royal palace at Greenwich. But the most destructive inundations occurred on the north bank of the Thames. Thus, in the year 1676, a serious breach took place at Limehouse, when many houses were swept away, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the waters could be banked out again. The wonder is, that sweeping, as the new current did, over the Isle of Dogs, in the direction of Wapping, and in the line of the present West India Docks, the channel of the river was not then permanently altered. But Deptford was already esta- blished as a royal dockyard, and probably the diversion of the river would have inflicted as much local injury, judging by comparison, as it unquestionably would do at the present day. The breach was accordingly stemmed, and the course of the river held in its ancient channel by Deptford and Greenwich. Another destructive inundation shortly after occurred through a breach made in the embankment of the West Thurrock Marshes, in what is called the Long Reach, nearly opposite Greenhithe, where the lands remained under water for seven years, and it was with much difficulty that the breach could be closed. But the most destructive and obstinate of all the breaches was that made in the north bank a little to the south of the village of Dagenham, in Essex, by which the whole of the Dagenham and Havering Levels lay drowned at every tide. A similar breach had occurred in 1621, which CHAP. V. DAGENHAM BREACH. 105 Vermuyden, the Dutch engineer, succeeded in stopping; and at the same time he embanked or " inned " the whole of Dagenham Creek, through which the little rivulet flowing past the village of that name found its way to the Thames. Across the mouth of this rivulet Vermuyden had erected a sluice, of the nature of a " clow," being a strong gate suspended by hinges, which opened to admit of the egress of the inland waters at low tide, and closed against the entrance of the Thames when the tide rose. It hap- pened, however, that a heavy inland flood, and an unusually high spring tide, occurred simultaneously during the preva- lence of a strong north-easterly wind, in the year 1707; when the united force of the waters meeting from both directions blew up the sluice, the repairs of which had been neglected, and in a very short time nearly the whole area of the above Levels was covered by the waters of the Thames. At first the gap was so slight as to have been easily closed, being only from 14 to 16 feet wide. But no measures hav- ing been taken to stop it, the tide ran in and out for several years, every tide wearing the channel deeper, and rendering the stoppage of the breach more difficult. At length the channel was found upwards of 30 feet deep at low water, and about 100 feet wide, a lake more than a mile and a half in extent having by this time been formed inside the line of the river embankment. Above a thousand acres of rich lands were spoiled for all useful purposes, and by the scouring of the waters out and in at every tide, the soil of about a hundred and twenty acres was completely washed away. It was carried into the channel of the Thames, and formed a bank of about a mile in length, reaching half- way across the river. This state of things could not be allowed to continue, for the navigation of the stream was seriously interrupted by the obstruction, and there was no knowing where the mischief would stop. Various futile attempts were made by the adjoining landowners to stem the breach. They filled old ships with 106 . DAGEtfHAM BREACH. CHAP. V. chalk and stones, and had them scuttled and sunk in the deepest places, throwing in baskets of chalk and earth outside them, together with bundles of straw and hay to stop up the interstices; but when the full tide rose, it washed them away like so many chips, and the opening was again driven clean through. Then the expedient was tried of sinking into the hole gigantic boxes made expressly for the purpose, fitted tightly together, and filled with chalk. Power was obtained to lay an embargo on the cargoes of chalk and ballast contained in passing ships, for the pur- pose of filling these boxes, as well as damming up the gap ; and as many as from ten to fifteen freights of chalk a day were thrown in, but still without effect. One day when the tide was on the turn, the force of the water lifted one of the monster trunks sheer up from the bottom, when it toppled round, the lid opened, out fell the chalk, and, righting again, the immense box floated out into the stream and down the river. One of the landowners interested in the stoppage ran along the bank, and shouted out at the top of his voice, " Stop her ! stop her !" But the unwieldy object being under no guidance was carried down stream towards the shipping lying at Gravesend, where its unusual appearance, standing so high out of the water, excited great alarm amongst the sailors. The empty trunk, however, floated safely past, down the river, until it reached the Nore, where it stranded upon a sandbank. The Government next lent the undertakers an old royal ship called the Lion, for the purpose of being sunk in the breach, which was done, with two other ships ; but the Lion was broken in pieces by a single tide, and at the very next ebb not a vestige of her was to be seen. Xo matter what was sunk, the force of the water at high tide bored through underneath the obstacle, and only served to deepen the breach. After the destruction of the Lion, the channel was found deepened to 50 feet at low water, at the very place where she had been sunk. All this had been but tinkering at the breach, and CHAP. V. CAPTAIN PERRY. 107 every measure that had been adopted merely proved the incompetency of the undertakers. The obstruction to the navigation through the deposit of earth and sand in the river being still on the increase, an Act was passed in 1714, after the bank had been open for a period of seven years, giv- ing powers for its repair at the public expense. But it is an indication of the very low state of engineering ability in the kingdom at the time, that several more years passed before the measures taken with this object were crowned with success, and the opening was only closed after a fresh succession of failures. The works were first let to one Boswell, a contractor. He proceeded very much after the method which had already failed, sinking two rows of caissons or chests across the breach, but provided with sluices for the purpose of shutting off the inroads of the tide. All his contrivances, however, failed to make the opening watertight ; and his chests were blown up again and again. Then he tried pontoons of ships, which he loaded and sunk in the opening ; but the force of the tide, as before, rushed under and around them, and broke them all to pieces, the only result being to make the gap in the bank considerably wider and deeper than he found it. Boswell at length abandoned all further attempts to close it, after suffering a heavy loss ; and the engineer- ing skill of England seemed likely to be completely baffled by this hole in a river's bank. The competent man was, however, at length found in Captain Perry, who had just returned from Eussia, where, having been able to find no suitable employment for his abilities in his own country, he had for some time been employed by the Czar Peter in carrying on extensive engineering works. John Perry was born at Eodborough, in Gloucestershire, in 1669, and spent the early part of his life at sea. In 1693 we find him a lieutenant on board the royal ship the Montague. The vessel having put into harbour at Ports- mouth to be refitted, Perry is said to have displayed consider- 108 CAPTAIN PERRY. CHAP. V. able meclianical skill in contriving an engine for throwing out a large quantity of water from deep sluices (probably for purposes of dry docking) in a very short space of time. The Montague having been repaired, went to sea, and was shortly after lost. As the English navy had suffered greatly during the same year, partly by mismanagement, and partly by treachery, the Government was in a very bad temper, and Perry was tried for alleged misconduct. The result was, that he was sentenced to pay a fine of 1000Z., and to undergo ten years' imprisonment in the Marshalsea. This sentence must, however, have been subsequently mitigated, for we find him in 1095 publishing a "Regula- tion for Seamen," with a view to the more effectual manning of the English navy; and in 1698 the Marquis of Caermar- then and others recommended him to the notice of the Czar Peter, then resident in England, by whom he was invited to go out to Eussia, to superintend the establishment of a royal fleet, and the execution of several gigantic works then contemplated for the purpose of opening up the re- sources of that empire. Perry was engaged by the Czar at a salary of 300/. a year, and shortly after accompanied him to Holland, thence proceeding to Moscow, to enter upon the business of his office. One of the Czar's grand designs was to open up a system of inland navigation to connect his new city of St. Peters- burg with the Caspian Sea, and also to place Moscow upon another line, by forming a canal between the Don and the Volga. In 1698 the works had been begun by one Colonel Breckell, a German officer in the Czar's service. But though a good military engineer, it turned out that he knew nothing of canal making ; for the first sluice which he constructed was immediately blown up. The water, when let in, forced itself under the foundations of the work, and the six months' labour of several thousand workmen was destroyed in a night. The Colonel, having a due regard for his personal safety, at once fled the country in the disguise of a servant, and was never after heard of. CHAP. V. ENGINEER TO THE CZAR. 109 Captain Perry entered upon this luckless gentleman's office, and forthwith proceeded to survey the work he had begun, some seventy-five miles beyond Moscow. Perry had a vast number of labourers placed at his disposal, but they were altogether unskilled, and therefore comparatively useless. His orders were to have no fewer than 30,000 men at work, though he seldom had more than from 10,000 to 15,000 ; but one-twentieth the number of skilled labourers would have better served his purpose. He had many difficulties to contend with. The local nobility or boyars were strongly opposed to the undertaking, declaring it to be impossible; and their observation was, that God had made the rivers to flow one "way, and it was presumption in man to think of attempting to turn them in another. Shortly after the Czar had returned to his dominions, he got involved in war with Sweden, and was defeated by Charles XII. at the battle of Narva, in 1701. Athough the Don and Volga Canal was by this time half-dug, and many of the requisite sluices were finished, the Czar sent orders to Perry to let the works stand, and attend upon him imme- diately at St. Petersburg. Leaving one of his assistants to take charge of the work in hand, Perry waited upon his royal employer, who had a great new design on foot of an altogether different character. This was the formation of a royal dockyard on one of the southern rivers of Russia, where Peter contemplated building a fleet of war-ships, wherewith to act against the Turks in the Black Sea. Perry immediately entered upon the office to which he was appointed, of Comptroller of Russian Maritime Works, and proceeded to carry out the new project. The site of the Royal Dockyard was fixed at Yeronize on the Don, where he was occupied for several years, with a vast number of workmen under him, in building a dockyard, with store- houses, ship-sheds, and workshops. He also laid down and superintended the construction of numerous vessels, one of them of eighty guns : the slips on which he built them are said to have been very ingeniously contrived. 110 CAPTAIN PERRY. CHAP. V. The creation of this dockyard was far advanced when he received a fresh command to undertake the survey of a canal to connect St. Petersburg with the Volga, to enable provisions, timber, and building materials to flow freely to the capital from the interior of the empire. Perry sur- veyed three several routes, recommending the adoption of that through Lakes Ladoga and Onega ; and the works were forthwith begun under his direction. Before they were completed, however, he had left Russia, never to return. During the whole of his stay in the kingdom he had been unable to get paid for his work. His applications for his stipulated salary were put off with excuses from year to year. Proceedings in the courts of law were out of the question in such a country ; he could only dun the Czar and his ministers; and at length his arrears had become so great, and his necessities so urgent, that he could no longer endure his position, and threatened to quit the Czar's service. It came to his ears that the Czar had threatened on his part, that if he did, he would have Perry's head ; and the engineer immediately took refuge at the house of the British minister, who shortly after contrived to get him conveyed safely out of the country, but without being paid. He returned to England in 1712, as poor as he had left it, though he had so largely contributed to create the navy of Russia, and to lay the foundations of its afterwards splendid system of inland navigation. It will be remembered that all attempts made to stop the breach at Dagenham had thus far proved ineffectual ; and it threatened to bid defiance to the engineering talent of England. Perry seemed to be one of those men who delight in difficult undertakings, and he no sooner heard of the work than he displayed an eager desire to enter upon it. He went to look at the breach shortly after his return, and gave in a tender with a plan for its repair ; but on Boswell's being accepted, which was the lowest, he held back until that contractor had tried his best, and failed. The way was now clear for Perry, and again he offered to stop the CHAP. V. HIS PLAN OF DAGENHAM BREACH. Ill breach and execute the necessary works for the sum of 25,000/.* His offer was this time accepted, and operations were begun early in 1715. The opening was now of great width and depth, and a lake had been formed on the land from 400 to 500 feet broad in some places, and extending nearly 2 miles in length. Perry's plan of operations may be briefly explained with the aid of his own map. Perry's Ran of Dagenham Breach. A. The Dam whereby the Breach was stopped. B. The site of Boswell's works. C. The site of the Landowners' works. D. The site of Perry's Sluices. E. The site of Boswell's Sluices. IT. A Dam and Sluire made for recovery of the Mea- dows shortly after the Breach had occurred. G. Small Sluice for drainage of the land waters. HH. The dotted line represents the extent of the inundation caused hy the Breach. I. Places where stags' horns were dug up. K. Parallel lilies, showing the depth at low wa- ter at every 60 yards distance from the shore. * Boswell's price had been 16,3007., and he undertook to do the work in fifteen months. 112 CAPTAIN PERRY. CHAP. V. In the first place lie sought to relieve the tremendous pressure of the waters against the breach at high tide, by making other openings in the bank through which they might more easily flow into and out of the inland lake, without having exclusively to pass through the gap which it was his object to stop. He accordingly had two openings, protected by strong sluices, made in the bank a little below the breach, and when these had been opened and were in action he proceeded to stop the breach itself. He began by driving in a row of strong timber piles across the channel ; and they were dovetailed one into the other so as to render them almost impervious to water. The heads of the piles were not more than from eighteen inches to two feet above low water mark, so that in driving them little or no diffi- culty would be experienced from the current of ebb or flood. " Forty feet from this central row of sheeting piles, was constructed on each side, a sort of low coffer-dam-like structure, variously stated as 18 or 20 feet broad, formed of vertical piles and horizontal boarding, and filled with chalk, to prevent the toe of the future embankment from spreading. On the outside of these foot- wharfs, as Perry calls them, a wall of chalk rubble was made, as a further security. The dam itself. was composed entirely of clayey earth, in layers about 3 feet in height, and scarcements or steps of about 7 feet ; and in the course of its erection, care was taken always to shut the sluices already mentioned when, at each successive ebb-tide, the level of the back-water fell to the level of the top of the work in progress. In this way there was at no time a higher face for the water of the rising tide to flow over. In fact the unfinished embankment held in the water, over the land it was intended to lay dry, at a depth corresponding to its gradual progress, until finally, when the bank was above high- water line, it was discharged by the sluices, and never re-admitted." * * Description of Perry's work by S. Downing, C.K, in Tradical Mechanics Journal, May, 18G4. CHAP. V. STOPPAGE OF DAGENHAM BEEACH. 113 Scarcely had Perry begun the work, and proceeded so far as to exhibit his general design, than Boswell, the former contractor, presented a petition to Parliament against the engineer being allowed to go on, alleging that his scheme was utterly impracticable. The work being of great importance, and executed at the public expense, a Parlia- mentary Committee was appointed, when Perry was called before them and examined fully as to the details. His answers were so explicit, and, on the whole, so satisfactory, that at the close of the examination one of the -members thus spoke the sense of the Committee : " You have answered us like an artist, and like a workman; and it is not only the scheme, but the man, that we recommend." Perry was then allowed to proceed, and the work went steadily forward. About three hundred men were employed in stopping the breach, and it occupied them about five years to accomplish it. "Perry was proceeding steadily with the dam, which was constructed by successive scarce- ments about 7 feet broad and 3 feet high; these being supported by piles and planking on the side, and protected by layers of reeds on the top, had been able to resist the action of the tide when it came on. In this manner he was advancing to completion, when one of his assistants pro- posed to the parties who had advanced Captain Perry the necessary capital, to set all hands to work at neap tides, and form a narrow wall of earth, unprotected by reeds or planking, and build it so rapidly as to get it above the level of the springs before they should come on, and thus at once exclude the tides from the level. Unfortunately, the next spring-tide rose to an unexpected height under the influence of a storm from the north-west, and overtopped this narrow dam by about six inches, although Perry used the greatest energy, and heightened the wall of earth by piles and boarding set on edge on the top ; but all in vain : the water poured over it, and in the course of two hours the whole dam was swept away, and the dovetailed piles laid bare. This accident was repaired in the winter months, J. B. i 114 DAGENHAM LAKE. CHAP. V. and in June, 1718, the tide was again turned out of the levels; but in September of the same year the dam gave way again, and this time with far greater injury to the work, as upwards of 100 feet of the dovetailed piles were torn up and carried away. In one place there was about 20 feet greater depth than before the work was begun. The third dam was completed on the 18th June, 1719, about fourteen years after the accident first occurred." Thus the opening was at length effectually stopped, and the water drained away by the sluices, leaving the exten- sive inland lake, which is to this day used by the Lon- doners as a place for fishing and aquatic recreation.* Dagciiham Lakr. A good idea of the formidable character of the embank * It has recently been proposed to convert the lake into extensive docks, connected with London by the Tilbury Eailway ; and a Com- pany has been formed for the pur- pose of carrying out the enterprise. CHAP. V. EMBANKMENTS ALONG THE THAMES. 115 ments extending along the Thames may be obtained by a visit to this place. Standing on the top of the bank, which is from 40 to 50 feet above the river level at low water,* we see on the one side the Thames, with its shipping passing and repassing, high above the inland level when the tide is up, with the still lake of Dagenham and the far extending flats on the other. Looking from the lower level on these strong banks extending along the stream as far as the eye can reach, we can only see the masts of sailing ships and the funnels of large steamers leaving behind them long trails of murky smoke, at once giving an idea of the gigantic traffic that flows along this great water highway, and the enormous labour which it has cost to bank up the lands and confine the river within its present artificial The Thames from Dagenham Bank, looking up the River. limits. We do not exaggerate when we state that these formidable embankments, winding along the river side, up * The banks themselves are from 17 to 25 feet high in the neighbour- hood of Dagenham, and from 25 to 30 feet wide at the base. The marks of the old breach are still easily traceable. I 2 116 CAPTAIN PEREY. CHAP. V. creeks and tributary streams, round islands and about marshes, from London to the mouth of the Thames, are not less than 300 miles in extent. It is to be regretted that Perry gained nothing but fame by his great work. The expense of stopping the breach far exceeded his original estimate ; he required more mate- rials than he had calculated upon; and frequent strikes amongst his workmen for advances of wages greatly increased the total cost. These circumstances seem to have been taken into account by the Government in settling with the engineer, and a grant of 15,OOOZ. was voted to him in consideration of his extra outlay. The landowners interested also made him a present of a sum of 10007. But even then he was left a loser; and although the public were so largely benefited by the success of the work, which restored the navigation of the river, and enabled the adjoining proprietors again to reclaim for pur- poses of agriculture the drowned lands within the em- bankment, the engineer did not really receive a far thing's remuneration for his five years' anxiety and labour. After this period Perry seems to have been employed on harbour works, more particularly at Eye and Dover ; but none of these were of great importance, the enterprise of the country being as yet dormant, and its available capital for public undertakings comparatively limited. It appears from the Corporation Records of Eye, that in 1724 he was appointed engineer to the proposed new harbour-works there. The port had become very much silted up, and for the purpose of restoring the navigation it was designed to cut a new channel, with two pier-heads, to form an entrance to the harbour. The plan further included a large stone sluice and draw-bridge, with gates, across the new channel, about a quarter of a mile within the pier-heads ; a wharf constructed of timber along the two sides of the channel, up to the sluice ; together with other well-designed improve- ments. But the works had scarcely been begun before the Commissioners displayed a strong disposition to job, one of CHAP. V. HIS DEATH. 117 them withdrawing for the purpose of supplying the stone and timber required for the new works at excessive prices, and others forming what was called " the family compact," or a secret arrangement for dividing the spoil amongst them. The plan of Perry was not fully carried out ; and though the pier-heads and stone sluice were built, the most important part of the work, the cutting of the new channel, was only partly executed, when the undertaking was suspended for want of funds. From that time forward, Perry's engineering ability was very much confined to making reports as to what things should be done, rather than in being employed to do them. In 1727 he published his "Proposals for Draining the Fens in Lincolnshire ;" and he seems to have been employed there as well as in Hatfield Level, where " Perry's Drain " still marks one of his works. He was acting as engineer for the adventurers who undertook the drainage of Deeping Fen, in 1732, when he was taken ill and died at Spalding, in the sixty-third year of his age. He lies buried in the churchyard of that town; and the tombstone placed over his grave bears the following inscription : To the Memory of IOHN PERRY Esq r ; in 1693 Commander of His Maiesty King Will 1 "' 8 Ship the Cignet ; second Son of Sam 1 Perry of Rodborough in Gloucestershire Gent & of Sarah his Wife ; Daughter of Sir Tho 8 Nott ; K r He was several Years Comptroller of the Maritime works to Czar Peter in Russia & on his Return home was Employed by y e Parliament to stop Dagenham Breach which he Effected and thereby Preserved the Navigation of the River of Thames and Rescued many Private Familys from Ruin he after departed this Life in this Town & was here Interred February 13; 1 732 Aged 63 Years This stone was placed over him by the Order of William Perry of Penthurst in Kent Esq r his Kindsman and Heir Male 118 INLAND COMMUNICATIONS OF ENGLAND. CHAP. VI. CHAPTEE VI. JAMES BRINDLEY THE BEGINNINGS OF CANAL NAVIGATION. IN the preceding memoirs of Vermuyden and Perry, we have found a vigorous contest carried on against the powers of water, the chief object of the engineers being to dam it back by embankments, or to drain it off by cuts and sluices ; whilst in the case of Myddelton, on the other hand, we find his chief concern to have been to collect all the water within his reach, and lead it by conduit and aqueduct for the supply of the thirsting metropolis. The engineer whose history we are now about to relate dealt with water in like manner to Myddelton, but on a much larger scale ; directing it into extensive artificial canals, for use as the means of communication between various towns and districts. Down to the middle of last century, the trade and com- merce of England were comparatively insignificant. This is sufficiently clear from the wretched state of our road and river communication about that time ; for it is well understood that without the ready means of transporting commodities from place to place, either by land or water, commerce is impossible. But the roads of England were then about the worst in Europe, and usually impassable for vehicles during the greater part of the year.* Corn, wool, and such like articles, were sent to market on horses' or bullocks' backs; and manure was carried to the field, and fuel conveyed from the forest or the bog, in the same way. The only coal used in the inland southern counties was carried on horseback in sacks for the supply of the blacksmiths' forges. The food of London was principally * For a full account of Old Koads [ refer the reader to ' Lives of the aiid Travelling in England, we must | Engineers/ vol. i. pp. 154-275. CHAP. VI. COST OF TRANSPORT. 119 brought from the surrounding country in panniers. The little merchandise transported from place to place was mostly of a light description, the cloths of the West of England, the buttons of Birmingham and Macclesfield, the baizes of Norwich, the cutlery of Sheffield, and the tapes, coatings, and fustians of Manchester. Articles imported from abroad were in like manner con- veyed inland by pack-horse or waggon; and it was then cheaper to bring most kinds of foreign wares from remote parts to London by sea than to convey them from the inland parts of England to London by road. Thus, two centuries since, the freight of merchandise from Lisbon to London was no greater than the land carriage of the same articles from Norwich to London ; and from Am- sterdam or Eotterdam the expense of conveyance was very much less. It cost from 71. to 9Z. to convey a ton oi goods from Birmingham to London, and 13Z. from Leeds to London. It will readily be understood that rates such as these were altogether prohibitory as regarded many of the articles now entering largely into the consumption of the great body of the people. Things now considered ne- cessaries of life, in daily common use, were then regarded as luxuries, obtainable only by the rich. The manufac- ture of pottery was as yet of the rudest kind. Vessels of wood, of pewter, and even of leather, formed the principal part of the household and table utensils of genteel and opulent families; and we long continued to import our cloths, our linen, our glass, our " Delph " ware, our cutlery, our paper, and even our hats, from France, Spain, Ger- many, Flanders, and Holland. Indeed, so long as corn, fuel, wool, iron, and manufactured articles had to be trans- ported on horseback, or in rude waggons dragged over still ruder roads by horses or oxen, it is clear that trade and commerce could make but little progress. The cost of transport of the raw materials required for food, manu- factures, and domestic consumption, must necessarily have formed so large an item as to have in a great measure pre- 1 20 JOHN TREW. CHAP. VI. eluded their use ; and before they could be made to enter largely into the general consumption, it was absolutely necessary that greater facilities should be provided for their transport. England was not, however, like many other countries less favourably circumstanced, necessarily dependent solely upon roads for the means of transport, but possessed natu- ral water communications, and the means of improving and extending them to an almost indefinite extent. She was pro- vided with convenient natural havens situated on the margin of the world's great highway, the ocean, and had the advan- tage of fine tidal rivers, up which fleets of ships might be lifted at every tide into almost the heart of the land. Very little had as yet been done to take advantage of this great natural water power, and to extend navigation inland either by improving the rivers which might be made navigable, or by means of artificial canals, as had been done in Holland, France, and even Russia, by which those countries had in some parts been rendered in a great measure independent of roads. It is true, public attention had from time to time been directed to the improvement of rivers and the cutting of canals, but excepting a few isolated attempts, little had been done towards carrying the numerous suggested plans in different parts of the country into effect. If we except some of the wider drains in the Fens, which were in certain cases made available for purposes of navigation, though to a very limited extent, the first canal was that constructed by John Trew, at Exeter, in 1566. In early times the tide carried vessels up to that city, but the Countess of Devon took the opportunity of revenging herself upon the citizens for some affront they had offered to her, by erecting a weir across the Exe at Topsham in 1 284, which had the effect of closing the river to sea-going vessels. This continued until the reign of Henry VIII., when authority was granted by Parliament to cut a canal about three miles in length along the west side of the CHAP. VI. CAXAL FEOM EXETER TO TOPSHAM. 121 liver, from Exeter to Topsham. The work was executed by Trew, and it is a curious circumstance that it contained the first lock constructed in England, though locks are said to have been used in the Brenta in 1488, and were shortly after adopted in the Milan canals. John Trew was a native of Glamorganshire ; and though he must have been a man of skill and enterprise, like many other projectors of improvements and benefactors of mankind, he seems to have realised only loss and mortification by his work. In consequence of an alleged failure on his part in carrying out the agreement for executing the canal, the Mayor and Chamber of the city disputed his claims, and he became involved in ruinous litigation. In a letter written by him to Lord Burleigh, in which he relates his suit against the Chamber of Exeter, Trew draws a sad picture of the state to which he was reduced. " The varyablenes of men," says he, " and the great injury done unto me, brought me in such case that I wyshed my credetours sattisfyd and I away from earth : what becom may of my poor wyf and children, who lye in great mysery, for that I have spent all." * He then proceeded to recount " the things whearin God hath given (him) exsperyance ;" relating chiefly to mining operations, and various branches of civil and even military engineering. It is satisfactory to add that in 1573 the harassing suit was brought to a conclusion, and Trew granted the Corporation a release on their agreeing to pay him a sum of 224/., and thirty pounds a year for life.f In the reign of James I. several Acts of Parliament were passed, giving powers to improve rivers, so as to facilitate the passage of boats and barges carrying mer- * Lansdowne MS. evil. art. 73. t The Lansdowne MS. xxxi., art. 74, sets forth certain " Reasons engaged as harbour-engineer at ten shillings a-day wages ; but the corporation, thinking that he was ;; gainst the proceedings of John inclined to protract the work on Trew in the w^orks of Dover Haven, which he was engaged, summarily 1581." It appears from Lysons's ! dismissed him. This is the last History of Dover, that Trew was i that we hear of John Trew. 122 FRANCIS MATIIEWS PROJECT. CHAP. VI. chandise. Thus, in 1623, Sir Hugh Myddelton was en- gaged upon a Committee on a bill then under considera- tion " for the making of the river of Thames navigable to Oxford." In the same year Taylor, the water poet, pointed out to the inhabitants of Salisbury that their city might be effectually relieved of its poor by having their river made navigable from thence to Christchurch. The progress of improvement, however, must have been slow; as urgent appeals, on the same subject, continued to be addressed to Parliament and the public for a century later. In 1656 we find one Francis Mathew addressing Crom- well and his Parliament on the immense advantage of opening up a water-communication between London and Bristol. But he only proposed to make the rivers Isis and Avon navigable to their sources, and then either to connect their heads by means of a short sasse or canal of about three miles across the intervening ridge of country, or to form a fair stone causeway between the heads of the two rivers, across which horses or carts might carry produce between the one and the other. His object, it will be observed, was mainly the opening up of the existing rivers; "and not," he says, "to have the old channel of any river to be forsaken for a shorter passage." Mathew fully recognised the formidable cha- racter of his project, and considered it quite beyond the range of private enterprise, whether of individuals or of any corporation, to undertake it ; but he ventured to think that it might not be too much for the power of the State to construct the three miles of canal and carry out the other improvements suggested by him, with a reasonable prospect of success. The scheme was, how- ever, too bold for Mathew's time, and a century elapsed before another canal was made in England. A few years later, in 1677, a curious work was pub- lished by Andrew Yarranton,* in which he pointed out * ' England's Improvement by Sea and Land.' London, 1677. CHAP. VI. YARRANTON'S CANAL PLANS. 123 what the Dutch had accomplished by means of inland navi- gation, and wnat England ought to do as the best means of excelling the Dutch without fighting them. The main feature of his scheme was the improvement of our rivers so as to render them navigable and the inland country thus more readily accessible to commerce. For, in England, said he, there are large rivers well situated for trade, great woods, good wool and large beasts, with plenty of iron stone, and pit coals, with- lands fit to bear flax, and with mines of tin and lead ; and besides all these things in it, England has a good air. But to make these ad- vantages available, the country, he held, must be opened up by navigation. First of all, he proposed that the Thames should be improved to Oxford, and connected with the Severn by the Avon to Bristol these two rivers, he insisted, being the master rivers of England. "When this has been done, says Mr. Yarranton, all the great and heavy carriage from Cheshire, all Wales, Shropshire, Staf- fordshire, and Bristol, will be carried to London and recarried back to the great towns, especially in the winter time, at half the rates they now pay, which will much promote and advance manufactures in the counties and places above named. " If I were a doctor," he says, " and could read a Lecture of the Circulation of the Blood, I should by that awaken all the City : For London is as the Heart is in the Body, and the great Eivers are as its Veins ; let them be stopt, there will then be great danger either of death, or else such Veins will apply themselves to feed some other part of the Body, which it was not properly intended for : For I tell you, Trade will creep and steal away from any place, provided she may be better treated elsewhere." But he goes on " I hear some say, You projected the making Navigable the Eiver Stoure in Worcestershire : what is the reason it was not finished ? I say it was my projection, and I will tell you the reason it was not finished. The Eiver Stoure and some other Eivers were granted by an Act of Parliament to certain 1 24 EARLY CANALS. CHAP. VI. Persons of Honour, and some progress was made in the work; but within a small while after the ""Act passed it was let fall again. But it being a brat of my own, I was not willing it should be Abortive ; therefore I made offers to perfect it, leaving a third part of the Inheritance to me and my heirs for ever, and we came to an agreement. Upon which I fell on, and made it compleatly Navigable from Sturbridge to Kederminster ; and carried down many hundred Tuns of Coales, and laid out near one thousand pounds, and then it was obstructed for Want of Money, which by Contract was to be paid." There is no question that this " want of money " was the secret of the little progress made in the improvement of the internal communications of the country, as well as the cause of the backward state of industiy generally. England was then possessed of little capital and less spirit, and hence the miserable poverty, starvation, and beggary which prevailed to a great extent amongst the lower classes of society at the time when Mr. Yarranton wrote, and which he so often refers to in the course of his book. For the same reason most of the early Acts of Parliament for the improvement of navigable rivers remained a dead letter : there was not money enough to carry them out, modest though the projects usually were. Among the few schemes which were actually carried out about the be- ginning of the eighteenth century, was the 'opening up of the navigation of the rivers Aire and Calder, in Yorkshire. Though a work of no great difficulty, Thoresby speaks of it in his diary as one of vast magnitude. It was, however, of much utility, and gave no little impetus to the trade of that important district. It was, indeed, natural that the demand for improve- ments in inland navigation should arise in those quarters where the communications were the most imperfect and where good communications were most needed, namely, in the manufacturing districts of the north of England. On the western side of the island Liverpool was then rising in CHAP. VI. CANAL ENTERPRISE. 1 25 importance, and the necessity became urgent for opening up its water communications with the interior. By the assistance of the tide, vessels were enabled to reach as high up the Mersey as Warrington ; but there they were stopped by the shallows, which it was necessary to re- move to enable them to reach Manchester and the adjacent districts. Accordingly, in 1720, an Act was obtained empowering certain persons to take steps to make navig- able the rivers Mersey and Irwell from Liverpool to Man- chester. This was effected by the usual contrivance of wears, locks, and flushes, and a considerable improvement in the navigation was thereby effected. Acts were also passed for the improvement of the Weaver navigation, the Douglas navigation, and the Sankey navigation, all in the same neighbourhood; and the works carried out proved of much service to the district. But these improvements, it will be observed, were prin- cipally confined to clearing out the channels of existing rivers, and did not contemplate the making of new and direct navigable cuts between important towns or districts. It was not until about the middle of last century that English enterprise was fairly awakened to the necessity of carrying out a system of artificial canals throughout the kingdom ; and from the time when canals began to be made, it will be found that the industry of the nation made a sudden start forward. Abroad, monarchs had stimulated like undertakings, and drawn largely on the public re- sources for the purpose of carrying them into effect; but in England such projects are usually left to private enter- prise, which follows rather than anticipates the public wants. In the upshot, however, the English system, as it may be termed which is the outgrowth in a great measure of individual energy does not prove the least efficient; for we shall find that the English canals, like the English railways, were eventually executed with a skill, despatch, and completeness, which imperial enter- prise, backed by the resources of great states, was unable 126 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VI. to surpass or even to equal. How the first English, canals were made, how they prospered, and how the system extended, will appear from the following biography of James Brindley, the father of canal engineering in England. In the third year of the reign of George I., whilst the British Government were occupied in extinguishing the embers of the Jacobite rebellion which had occurred in the preceding year, the first English canal engineer was born in a remote hamlet in the High Peak of Derby, in the midst of a rough country, then inhabited by quite as rough a people. The nearest town of any importance was Macclesfield, where a considerable number of persons were employed, about the middle of last century, in making wrought buttons in silk, mohair, and twist such being then the staple trade of the place. Those articles were sold through- out the country by pedestrian hawkers, most of whom lived in the wild region called " The Flash," from a hamlet of that name situated between Buxton, Leek, and Macclesfield. They squatted on the waste lands and commons in the district, and were notorious for their wild, half-barbarous manners, and brutal pastimes. Tra- velling about from fair to fair, and using a cant or slang dialect, they became generally known as " Flash men," and the name still survives. Their numbers so grew, and their encroachments on the land became so great, that it became imperatively necessary to root them out; but for some time no bailiff was met with sufficiently bold to attempt to serve a writ in the district. At last an officer was found who undertook to arrest several of them, and other landowners, taking courage, followed the example. Those who refused to become tenants left, to squat elsewhere ; and the others then consented to settle down to the cultivation of their farms. Another set of travelling rogues belonging to the same neighbourhood was CHAP. VI. HIS BIRTH. 127 known as the " Broken Cross Gang," from a place called Broken Cross, situated to the south east of Macclesfield. Those fellows consorted a good deal with the Flash men, Brind ley's Native District. frequenting markets and travelling from fair to fair, practising the pea-and-thimble trick, and enticing honest country people into the temptation of gambling. They proceeded to more open thieving and pocket-picking, until at length the magistrates of the district took active measures to root them out of Broken Cross, and the gang became broken up. Such was the district, and such the population, in the neighbourhood of which our hero was born. James Brindley first saw the light in a humble cottage standing about midway between the hamlet of Great Kocks and that of Tunstead, in the liberty of Thornsett, some three miles to the north-east of Buxton. The house in which he was born, in the year 1716, has long since fallen to ruins the Brindley family having been its last occupants. The walls stood for some time after the roof had fallen in, and at length the materials were removed to 128 JAMES BEINDLET. CHAP. VI. build cowhouses ; but in the middle of the ruin there grew up a young ash tree, forcing up one of the flags of the cottage floor. It looked so healthy and thriving a plant, that the labourer employed to remove the stones for the purpose of forming the pathway to the neighbouring farm-house, spared the seedling, and it grew up into the large and flourishing tree, six feet nine inches in girth, standing in the middle of the Croft, and now known as " Brindley's Tree." This ash tree is Nature's own memorial of the birth-place of the engineer, and it is the only one as yet erected in commemoration of his genius. Brindley's Croft.* Although the enclosure is called Biindley's Croft, this * The site of the Croft is very elevated, and commands an exten- sive view as far as Topley Pike, between Bakewell and Buxton, at the top of what is called the Long Hill. Topley Pike is behind the spectator in looking at the Croft in the above aspect. The rising ground behind the ash tree is called Worm- hill Common, though now enclosed. The old road from Buxton to Tide^- well skills the front of the rising ground. CHAP. VI. "BRINDLEY'S CROFT." 129 name was only given to it of late years by its tenant, in memory of the engineer who was born there. The state- ment made in Mr. Henshall's memoir of Brindley,* to the effect that Brindley's father was the freehold owner of his croft, does not appear to have any foundation ; as the present owner of the property, Dr. Fleming, informs us that it was purchased, about the beginning of the present century, from the heirs of the last of the Heywards, who became its owners in 1688. No such name as Brindley occurs in any of the title-deeds belonging to the property ; and it is probable that the engineer's father was an under- tenant, and merely rented the old cottage in which our hero was born. There is no record of his birth, nor does the name of Brindley appear in the register of the parish of Wormhill, in which the cottage was situated ; but registers in those days were very imperfectly kept, and part of that of Wormhill has been lost. It is probable that Brindley's father maintained his family by the cultivation of his little croft, and that he was not much, if at all, above the rank of a cottier. It is indeed recorded of him that he was by no means a steady man, and was fonder of sport than of work. He went shooting and hunting, when he should have been labour- ing ; and if there was a bull-running within twenty miles, he was sure to be there. The Bull King of the district lay less than three miles off, at the north end of Long Eidgo Lane, which passed almost by his door ; and of that place of popular resort Brindley's father was a regular frequenter. These associations led him into bad company, and very soon reduced him to poverty. He neglected his children, not only setting before them a bad example, but permitting them to grow up without education. Fortunately, Brind- ley's mother in a great measure supplied the father's shortcomings ; she did what she could to teach them what she knew, though that was not much ; but, perhaps more * KippLs's ' Biograplna Britaniiica/ Art. Brindley. J. B. K 130 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VI. important still, she encouraged them in the formation of good habits by her own steady industry.* The different members of the family, of whom James was the eldest, were thus under the necessity of going out to work at a very early age to provide for the family wants. James worked at any ordinary labourer's employment which offered until he was about seventeen years old. His mechanical bias had, however, early displayed itself, and he was especially clever with his knife, making models ./ of mills, which he set to work in little mill-streams of his contrivance. It is said that one of the things in which he took most delight when a boy, was to visit a neighbouring grist-mill and examine the water-wheels, cog-wheels, drum- wheels, and other attached machinery, until he could carry away the details in his head; afterwards imitating the arrangements by means of his knife and such little bits of wood as he could obtain for the purpose. We can thus readily understand how he should have turned his thoughts in the direction in which we afterwards find him employed, and that, encouraged by his mother, he should have determined to bind himself, on the first opportunity that offered, to the business of a millwright. The demands of trade were so small at the time, that Brindley had no great choice of masters ; but at the village of Sutton, near Macclesfield, there lived one Abraham Bennett, a wheelwright and millwright, to whom young Brindley offered himself as apprentice ; and in the year 1733, after a few weeks' trial, he became bound to that master for the term of seven years. Although the em- ployment of millwrights was then of a very limited * Brindley's father seems after- and he contrived to realise the re- wards to have somewhat recovered maining portion before his death, himself; for we find him, in 1729, j and to leave it to his son James, purchasing an undivided share of a None of the Brindley family re- small estate at Lowe Hill, within mained at Wonnhill, and the name a mile of Leek, in Staffordshire, has disappeared in the district, where he had before gone to settle ; I CHAP. VI. THE WHEELWRIGHT'S APPRENTICE. 131 character, they obtained a great deal of valuable practi- cal information whilst carrying on their business. The millwrights were as yet the only engineers. In the course of their trade they worked at the foot-lathe, the carpenter's- bench, and the anvil, by turns ; thus cultivating the faculties of observation and comparison, acquiring prac- tical knowledge of the strength and qualities of materials, and dexterity in the handling of tools of many different kinds. In country places, where division of labour could not be carried so far as in the larger towns, the millwright / was compelled to draw largely upon his own resources, and to devise expedients to meet pressing emergencies as they arose. Necessity thus made them dexterous, expert, and skilful " in mechanical arrangements, more particularly those connected with mill-work, steam-engines, pumps, cranes, and such like. Hence millwrights in those early days were looked upon as a very important class of work- men. The nature of their business tended to render them self-reliant, and they prided themselves on the importance of their calling. On occasions of difficulty the millwright was invariably resorted to for help; and as the demand for mechanical skill arose, in course of the progress of manufacturing and agricultural industry, the men trained in millwrights' shops, such as Brindley, Meikle, Eennie, and Fairbairn, were borne up by the force of their prac- tical skill and constructive genius into the highest rank of skilled and scientific engineering. Brindley, however, only acquired his skill by slow degrees. Indeed, his master thought him slower than most lads, and even stupid. Bennett, like many well- paid master mechanics at that time, was of intemperate habits, and gave very little attention to his apprentice, leaving him to the tender mercies of his journeymen, who were for the most part a rough and drunken set. Much of the lad's time was occupied in running for beer, and when he sought for information he was often met with a rebuff. Skilled workmen were then very jealous K 2 132 JAMES BRINDLEY. 'CHAP. VI. of new hands, and those who were in any lucrative em- ployment usually put their shoulders together to exclude outsiders. Brindley had thus to find out nearly every- thing for himself, and he only worked his way to dexterity through a succession of blunders. He was frequently left in sole charge of the wheel- wrights' shop the men being absent at jobs in the country, and the master at the public-house, from which he could not easily be drawn. Hence, when customers called at the shop to get any urgent repairs done, the apprentice was under the necessity of doing them in the best way he could, and that often very badly. When the men came home and found tools blunted and timber spoiled, they abused Brindley and complained to the master of his bungling apprentice's handiwork, declaring him to be a mere " spoiler of wood." On one occasion, when Bennett and the jour- neymen were absent, he had to fit in the spokes of a cart- wheel, and was so intent on completing his job that he did not find out that he had fitted them all in the wrong way until he had applied the gauge-stick. Not long after this occurrence, Brindley was left by himself in the shop for an entire week, working at a piece of common enough wheel- wright's work, without any directions ; and he made such a "mess" of it, that on the master's return he was so enraged, that he threatened, there and then, to cancel the indentures and send the young man back to farm-labourer's work, which Bennett declared was the only thing for which he was fit. Brindley had now been two ^jears at the business, and in his master's opinion had learnt next to nothing ; though it shortly turned out that, notwithstanding the apprentice's many blunders, he had really groped his way to much valuable practical information on matters relating to his trade. Bennett's shop would have been a bad school for an ordinary youth, but it proved a profitable one for Brindley, who was anxious to learn, and determined to make a way for himself if he could not find one. He must have had a CHAI>. VI. FIRST SUCCESSFUL PIECE OF MILL-WORK. 133 brave spirit to withstand the many difficulties he had to contend against, to learn dexterity l^irough blunders, and success through defeats. But this is necessarily the case with all self-taught workmen ; and Brindley was mainly self-taught, as we have seen, even in the details of the business to which he had bound himself apprentice. In the autumn of 1735 a small silk-mill at Macclesfield, the property of Mr. Michael Daintry, sustained considerable injury from a fire at one of the gudgeons inside the mill, and Bennett was called upon to execute the necessary repairs. Whilst the men were employed at the shop in executing the new work, Bindley was sent to the mill to remove the damaged machinery, under the directions of Mr. James Milner, the superintendent of the factory. Milner had thus frequent occasion to enter into conversation with the young man, and was struck with the pertinence of his remarks as to the causes of the recent fire and the best means of avoiding similar accidents in future. He even applied to Bennett, his master, to permit the apprentice to assist in executing the repairs of certain parts of the work, which was reluctantly assented to. Bennett closely watched his " bungling apprentice," as he called him ; but Brindley, encouraged by the superintendent of the mill, suc- ceeded in satisfactorily executing his allotted portion of the repairs, not less to the surprise of his master than to the mortification of his men. Many years after, Brindley, in describing this first successful piece of mill- work which he had executed, observed, " I can yet remember the delight which I felt when my worjj: was fixed and fitted complete ; though I could not understand why my master and the other workmen, instead of being pleased, seemed to be dissatisfied with the insertion of every fresh part in its proper place." The completion of the job was followed by the usual supper and drink at the only tavern in the town, then 011 Parsonage Green. Brindley's share in the work was a good deal ridiculed by the men when the drink began to 134 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VI. operate; on which Mr. Milner, to whose intercession his participation in the work had been entirely attributable, interposed and said, "I will wager a gallon of the best ale in the house, that before the lad's apprenticeship is out he will be a cleverer workman than any here, whether master or man." We have not been informed whether the wager was accepted ; but it was long remembered, and Brindley was so often taunted with it by the workmen, that he was not himself allowed to forget that it had been offered. Indeed, from that time forward, he zealously endeavoured so to apply himself as to justify the prediction, for it was nothing less, of his kind friend Mr. Milner ; and before the end of his third year's apprenticeship his master was him- self constrained to admit that Brindley was not the " fool " and the " blundering blockhead " which he and his men had so often called him. Very much to the chagrin of the latter, and to the sur- prise of Bennett himself, the neighbouring millers, when sending for a workman to execute repairs in their machinery, would specially request that " the young man Brindley " should be sent them in preference to any other of the work- men. Some of them would even have the apprentice in preference to the master himself. At this Bennett was greatly surprised, and, quite unable to understand the mystery, he even went so far as to inquire of Brindley where he had obtained his knowledge of mill- work! Brindley could not tell; it "came natural-like;" but the whole secret consisted in Brindley working with his head as well as with his hands. The apprentice had already been found peculiarly expert in executing mill repairs, in the course of which he would frequently suggest alterations and improvements, more especially in the application of the water-power, which.no one had before thought of, but which proved to be founded on correct principles, and worked to the millers' entire satisfaction. Bennett, on afterwards inspecting the gearing of one of the mills re- paired by Brindley, found it so securely and substantially CHAP. VI. HIS EXCELLENT WORK. 135 fitted, that lie even complained to him of his style of work. "Jem," said he, "if thou goes on i' this foolish way o' workin', there will be very little trade left to be done when thou comes oot o' thy time : thou knaws firmness o' wark's th' ruin o' trade." Brindley, however, gave no heed whatever to the unprincipled suggestion, and considered it the duty and the pride of the mechanic always to execute the best possible work. Among the other jobs which Brindley's master was employed to execute about this time, was the machinery of a new paper-mill proposed to be erected on the river Dane. The arrangements were to be the same as those adopted in the Smedley paper-mill on the Irk, and at Throstle-Nest, on the Irwell, near Manchester ; and Bennett went over to inspect the machinery at those places. But Brindley was afterwards of opinion that he must have inspected the taverns in Manchester much more closely than the paper- mills in the neighbourhood ; for when he returned, the practical information he brought with him proved almost a blank. Nevertheless, Bennett could not let slip the oppor- tunity of undertaking so lucrative a piece of employment in his special line, and, ill-informed though he was, he set his men to work upon the machinery of the proposed paper- mill. It very soon appeared that Bennett was altogether, un- fitted for the performance of the contract which he had undertaken. The machinery, when made, would not fit ; it would not work; and, what with drink and what with perplexity, Bennett soon got completely bewildered. Yet to give up the job altogether would be to admit his own iiicompetency as a mechanic, and must necessarily affect his future employment as a^ millwright. He and his men, therefore, continued distractedly to persevere in their operations, but without the slightest appearance of satis- factory progress. About this time an old hand, who happened to be passing the place at which the men were at work, looked in upon 136 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VI. them and examined what they were about, as a mere matter of curiosity. When he had done so, he went on to the nearest public-house and uttered his sentiments on the subject very freely. He declared that the job was a farce, and that Abraham Bennett was only throwing his em- ployer's money away. The statement of what the " expe- rienced hand " had said, was repeated until it came to the ears of young Brindley. Concerned for the honour of his shop as well as for the credit of his master though he probably owed him no great obligation on the score either of treatment or instruction Brindley formed the immediate resolution of attempting to master the difficulty so that the work might be brought to a satisfactory completion. At the end of the week's work Brindley left the mill without saying a word of his intention to any one, and instead of returning to his master's house, where he lodged, he took the road for Manchester. Bennett was in a state of great alarm lest he should have run away ; for Brindley, now in the fourth year of his apprenticeship, had reached the age of twenty-one, and the master feared that, taking advantage of his legal majority, he had left his service never to return. A messenger was despatched in the course of the evening to his mother's house; but he was not there. Sunday came and passed still no word of young Brindley : he must have run away ! On Monday morning Bennett went to the paper-mill to proceed with his fruitless work; and lo! the first person he saw was Brindley, with his coat off, working away with greater energy than ever. His disappearance was soon, explained. He had been to Smedley Mill to inspect the machinery there with his own eyes, and clear up his mas- ter's difficulty. He had walkeij. the twenty-five miles thither on the Saturday night, and on the following Sunday morning he had waited on Mr. Appleton, the proprietor of the mill, and requested permission to inspect the machinery. With an unusual degree of liberality Mr. Appleton gave the required consent, and Brindley spent the whole of that CHAP. VI. IMPEOVES MACHINERY OF PAPER-MILL. 137 Sunday in the most minute inspection of the entire arrange- ments of the mill. He could not make notes, but he stored up the particulars carefully in his head ; and believing that he had now thoroughly mastered the difficulty, he set out upon his return journey, and walked the twenty-five miles back to Macclesfield again. Having given this proof of his determination, as he had already given of his skill in mechanics, Bennett was only too glad to give up the whole conduct of the contract thenceforth to his apprentice ; Brindley assuring him that he should now have no difficulty in completing it to his satisfaction. No time was lost in revising the whole design ; many parts of the work already fixed were rejected by Brindley, and removed ; others, after his own design, were substituted ; several entirely new improvements were added ; and in the course of a few weeks the work was brought to a conclusion, within the stipulated time, to the satisfaction of the proprietors of the mill There was now no longer any question as to the extra- ordinary mechanical skill of Bennett's apprentice. The old man felt that he had been in a measure saved by young Brindley, and thenceforth, during the remainder of his apprenticeship, he left him in principal charge of the shop. For severalyears after, Brindley maintained his old master and his family in respectability and comfort; and when Bennett died, Brindley carried on the concern until the work in hand had been completed and the accounts wound up ; after which he removed from Macclesfield to begin business on his own account at the town of Leek, in Staf- fordshire. 138 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VII. CHAPTER VII. BRINDLET AS MASTER WHEELWRIGHT AND MILLWRIGHT. BRINDLEY had now been nine years at his trade, seven as apprentice and two as journeyman ; and he began business as a wheelwright at Leek at the age of twenty-six. He had no capital except his skill, and no influence except that which his character as a steady workman gave him. Leek was not a manufacturing place at the time when Brindley began business there in 1 742. It was but a small market town, the only mills in the neighbourhood being a few grist-mills driven by the streamlets flowing into the waters of the Dane, the Churnet, and the Trent. These mills usually contained no more than a single pair of stones, and they were comparatively rude and primitive in their arrangement and construction. Brindley at first obtained but a moderate share of em- ployment. His work was more strongly done, and his charges were consequently higher, than was customary in the district ; and the agricultural classes were^as yet too poor to enable them to pay the prices of the best work. He gradually, however, acquired a position, and became known for his skill in improving old machinery or invent- ing such new mechanical arrangements as might be required for any special purpose. He was very careful to execute the jobs which were entrusted to him within the stipulated time, and he began to be spoken of as a tho- roughly reliable workman. Thus his business gradually extended to other places at a distance from Leek, and more especially into the Staffordshire Pottery districts, about to rise into importance under the fostering energy of Josiah Wedgwood. At first Brindley kept neither apprentices nor journeymen, but felled his own timber and cut it up himself, with such Cir. VII. MASTER WHEELWRIGHT AXD MILLWRIGHT. 139 assistance as he could procure on the spot. As his business increased he took in an apprentice, and then a journeyman, to carry on the work in the shop while he was absent ; and he was often called to a considerable distance from home, more particularly for the purpose of being consulted about any new machinery that was proposed to be put up. Nor did he confine himself to mill-work. He was ready to undertake all sorts of machinery connected with the pump- ing of water, the draining of mines, the smelting of iron and copper, and the 'various mechanical arrangements con- nected with the manufactures rising into importance in the adjoining counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Whenever he was called upon in this way, he endeavoured to intro- duce improvements ; and to such an extent did he carry this tendency, that he became generally known in the neighbourhood by the name of " The Schemer." A number of Brindley's memoranda books* are still in existence, which show the varied nature of his employ- ment during this early part of his career. It appears from the entries made in them, that he was not only employed in repairing and fitting up silk-throwing mills at Maccles- field, all of which were then driven by water, but also in repairing corn-mills at Congleton, Kewcastle-under-Lyne, and various other places, besides those in the immediate neighbourhood of Leek, where he lived. We believe the pocket memoranda books, to which we refer, were the only records which Brindley l^ept of his early business transac- tions ; the rest he carried in his memory, which by practice became remarkably retentive. Whilst working as an apprentice at Macclesfield, he had taught himself the art of writing ; but he never mastered it thoroughly, and to the end of his life he wrote with difficulty, and almost illegibly. His spelling was also very bad ; and what with the bad * In the possession of Joseph ! manuscripts relating to Brindley, Mayer, Esq., of Liverpool, who has ! so curiously illustrative of his start kindly permitted the author to in- | in life as a working and consulting spect the whole of his valuable | Engineer. 140 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VII. spelling and what with the hieroglyphics in which he wrote, it is sometimes very difficult to decypher the entries made by him from time to time in his books. We find him frequently at Trentham. On one occasion he makes entry of a " Loog of Daal 20 foot long ; " at another time he is fitting a pump for " Arle Gower," the Earl being one of Brindley's first patrons. The log of deal, it afterwards appears, was required for the flint-mill of a Mr. Tibots " a mow [new?] invention," as Brindley enters it in his book of which more hereafter. On May 18, 1755, he enters "Big Tree to cut 1 day," and he seems to have felled the tree, and, some months after, to have cut it up himself, en- tering so many days at two shillings a day for the labour. When he had to travel some distance, he set down sixpence a day extra for expenses. Thus on one occasion he makes this entry: "For Mr. Kent corn mill of Codan looking out a shaft iieer Broun Edge 1 day : 2 : 6." Between Leek and Trentham lay the then small pottery village of Burslem, which Brindley had frequent occasion to pass through in CHAP. VII. ERECTS FLINT-MILLS. 141 going to and from his jobs for the Earl. The earthenware then manufactured at Burslem was of a very inferior sort, consisting almost entirely of brown vessels ; and the quantity turned out was so small that it was hawked about on the backs of the potters themselves, or sold by higglers, who carried it from village to village in the panniers of their donkeys. The brothers Elers, the Dutchmen, erected a potwork of an improved kind near Burslem, at the begin- ning of the century, in which they first practised the art of salt-glazing, brought by them from Holland. The next improvement introduced was the use of powder of flints, used at first as a wash or dip, and afterwards mixed with tobacco-pipe clay, from which an improved ware was made, called "Flint potters." The merit of introducing this article is usually attributed to William Astbury, of Shelton, who, when on a journey to London, stopping at an inn at Dunstable, noticed the very soft and delicate nature of some burnt flint-stones when mixed with water (the hostler having used the powdered flint as a remedy for a disorder in his horses' eyes), and from thence he is said to have conceived the idea of applying it to the purposes of his trade. In first using the calcined flints, Mr. Astbury's practice was to have them pounded in an iron mortar until perfectly levigated; and being but sparingly used, this answered the demand for some time. But when the use of flint became more common, this tedious process would no longer Suffice. The brothers John and Thomas Wedgwood carried on the pottery business in a very small way, but were never- theless hampered by an insufiicient supply of flint powder, and it was found necessary to adopt some means of in- creasing it. In their emergency the potters called " The Schemer " to their aid ; and hence we find him frequently occupied in erecting flint-mills, in Burslem and the neigh- bourhood, from that time forward. The success which attended his efforts brought Brindley not only fame, but business. 142 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VII. Tt happened that, while thus occupied, Mr. John Edensor Heathcote, owner of the Clifton estate near Manchester, be- came married to one of the daughters of Sir Kigel Gresley, of Knypersley, in the neighbourhood of Burslem, and that the marriage festivities were in progress, when the remark- able ingenuity of the young millwright of Leek was acci- dentally mentioned in the hearing of Mr. Heathcote one day at dinner. The Manchester man, in the midst of pleasure, did not forget business ; and it occurred to him that this ingenious mechanic might be of use in con- triving some method for clearing his Clifton coal-mines of the water by which they had so long been drowned. The old methods of the gin- wheel and tub, and the chain-pump, had been tried, but entirely failed to keep the water under : if this Brindley could but do anything to help him in his difficulty, he would employ him at once ; at all events, he would like to see the man. Brindley was accordingly sent for, and the whole case was laid before him. Mr. Heathcote described as minutely as possible the nature of the locality, the direction in which the strata lay, and exhibited a plan of the working of the mines. Brindley was perfectly silent for a long time, seemingly absorbed in a consideration of the difficulties to be overcome ; but at length his countenance brightened, his eyes sparkled, and he briefly pointed out a method by which he thought he should be enabled, at no great expense, eifectually to remedy the evil. His explanations were con- sidered so satisfactory, that he was at once directed to proceed to Clifton, with full powers to carry out his pro- posed plan of operations. This was, to call to his aid the fall of the river Irwell, which formed one boundary of the estate, and pump out the water from the pits by means of the greater power of the water in the river. With this object Brindley contrived and executed his first tunnel, which he drove through the solid rock for a distance of six hundred yards, and in this tunnel he led the river on to the breast of an immense water-wheel fixed in a CHAP. VII. CLEARS CLIFTON COAL-MINES OF WATER. 143 chamber some thirty feet below the surface of the ground, from the lower end of which the water, after exercising its power, flowed away into the lower level of the Irwell. The expedient, though bold, was simple, and it proved effective. The machinery was found fully equal to the emergency ; and in a very short time Brindley's wheel and pumps, working night and day, so cleared the mine of water as to enable the men to get the coal in places from which they had long been completely " drowned out." We are not informed of the remuneration which the engineer received for carrying out this important work ; but from the entries in his memorandum book it is probable that all he obtained was only his workman's wage of two shillings a day. Notwithstanding his ingenuity and hard- working energy, Brindley never seems, during the early part of his career, to have earned more than about one-third the wage of skilled mechanics in our own time ; and from the insignificant sums charged by him for expenses, it is clear that he was satisfied to live in the fashion of an ordinary labourer. What modern engineers will receive ten guineas a day for doing, he, with his strong original mind, was quite content to do for two shillings. But eminent constructive skill seems to hav been lightly appre- ciated in those days, if we may judge by the money value attached to it.* To this, however, it must be added, that * The low remuneration paid for skilled labour of the same sort long before Brindley's time is worthy of passing notice. In 1544 John of Padua was paid only two shillings a-day as " devizour of His Majestie's works," in other words as Eoyal architect, Still later, Inigo Jones was paid only eight shillings and fourpence a-day as architect and surveyor of the Whitehall Banquet- ing House, and forty-six pounds a- year for house-rent, clerks, and in- cidental expenses ; whilst Nicholas Stowe, the master mason, was allowed but four and tenpence a- day. When the Duchess of Maii- borough was afterwards engaged in resisting the claims of one of her Blenheim surveyors, she told him indignantly " that Sir Christopher Wren, while employed upon Saint Paul's, was content to be dragged up to the top of the building three times a-week in a basket, at the great hazard of his life, for only 200Z. a-year" the actual amount of his salary as architect of that magnificent Cathedral. Brindley, however, fared worse still, and for 144 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VII. at the time of which we speak, the people of the country were comparatively poor manufacturers as well as land- owners. . In Macclesfield and the neighbourhood, where the inven- tions of men such as Brindley have issued in so extraor- dinary a development of wealth, the operations of trade were as yet in their infancy, and had numerous obstructions and difficulties to contend against. Perhaps the greatest difficulty of all was the absence of those facilities for trans- port between one district and another, without which the existence of trade is simply impossible ; but we shall shortly find Brindley also entering upon this great work of opening up the internal communications of the countiy, with an extraordinary degree of ability and success. By the middle of last century, Macclesfield and the neighbouring towns were gradually rising out of the small button-trade, and aiming at greater things in the way of manufacture. In 1755 Mr. N. Pattison of London, Mr. John Clayton, and a few other gentlemen, entered into a partnership to build a new silk-mill at Congleton, in Cheshire, on a larger scale than had yet been attempted in that neighbourhood. Brindley was employed to execute the water-wheel and the commoner sort of mill-work about the building ; but the smaller wheels and the more complex parts of the machinery, with which it was not supposed Brindley could be acquainted, were .entrusted to a master joiner and millwright, named Johnson, who also superin- tended the progress of the whole work. The superintendent required Brindley to work after his mere verbal directions, without the aid of any plan ; and Brindley was not even allowed to inspect the models of the machinery required for the proposed mill. He thus worked at a great disadvantage, and the operations connected with a long time does not seem to have risen above mere mechanic's pay, even whilst engaged in constructing the celebrated canal for the Duke of Bridge water, which laid the foun- dation of so many gigantic fortunes. CHAP. VII. SILK-MILL AT CONGLETON. 145 the construction of the intended machinery were very shortly found in a state of complete muddle. The proprie tors had reason to suspect that their superintendent was not equal to the enterprise which he had undertaken. At first he endeavoured to assure them that all was going right ; but at last, after various efforts, he was obliged to confess his incompetency and his inability to complete the work. The proprietors, becoming alarmed, then sent for Brindley and told him of their dilemma. "Would he undertake to complete the works ?" He asked to see the model and plans which the superintendent engineer had proposed to follow out. But on being applied to, the latter positively refused to submit his designs to a common mill- wright, as he alleged Brindley to be. The proprietors were almost in despair, and their only reliance now was on Brindley 's genius. " Tell me," he said, " what is the pre- cise operation that you wish to perform, and I will endea- vour to provide you with the requisite machinery for doing it ; but you must let me carry out the work in my own way." To this they were only too glad to assent; and having been furnished with the necessary powers, he forth- with set to work. His intelligent observation of the process of manufacture in the various mills he had inspected, his intimate practical knowledge of machinery of all kinds then in use, and his fertility of resources in matters of mechanical arrangement, enabled him to perform even more than he had promised ; and he not only finished the mill to the complete satisfac- tion of its owners, but added a number of new and skilful improvements in detail, which afterwards proved of the greatest value. For instance, he adapted lifts to each set of rollers and swifts, by means of which the silk could be wound upon the bobbins equably, instead of in wreaths as in other mills; and he so arranged the shafting as to throw out of gear and stop either the whole or any part of the machinery at will an arrangement sub- sequently adopted in the throstle of the cotton-spinning J. B. L 146 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VII. machine, and, though common enough now, then thought perfectly marvellous. And, in order that the tooth-and- pinion wheels should fit with perfect precision, he expressly invented machinery for their manufacture a thing that had not before been attempted all such wheels having, until then, been cut by hand, at great labour and cost. By means of this new machinery, as much work, and of a far better description, could be cut in a day as had before occu- pied at least a fortnight. The result was, that the new silk-mill, when finished, was found to be one of the most complete and economical arrangements of manufacturing machinery that had up to that time been erected in the neighbourhood. After the Congleton silk-mill had been completed, we find Brindley engaged in erecting flint-mills in the Potteries, of a more powerful and complete kind than any that had before been tried, but which were rendered necessary by the growing demands of the earthenware-manufacture. One of the largest was that erected for Mr. Thomas Baddely, at a place called Machins' of the Mill, near Tunstall. We find these entries in Brindley 's pocket- book: "March 15, 1757. With Mr. Badley to Matherso about a now flint mill upon a windey day 1 day 3s. 6d. March 19 draing a plann 1 day 2s. 6d. March 23 draing a plann and to sat out the wheel race 1 day 4s." This new mill was driven by water-power, and the wheel both worked the pumping apparatus by which the adjoining coal-mine was drained, and the stamping machinery for pounding and grinding the flints. The wheel, which was of considerable diameter, was fixed in a chamber below the surface of the ground, and the water was conveyed to it from the mill-pool through a small trough opening upon it at its breast, which kept the paddle-boxes of the descending part constantly filled, without any waste whatever, and thus, by the rotation of the wheel, the pumps and stampers were effectually worked. The main shaft was more than two hundred yards from the mill ; and to work the pumps CHAP. VII. FLINT-MILLS IN THE POTTERIES. 147 Brindley invented the slide rods, which were moved hori- zontally by a crank at the mill, and gave power to the upright arm of a crank-lever, whose axis was at the angle, and the lift at the other extremity. In course of time, as improvements were introduced in the grinding of flints, the stamping apparatus was detached from the machinery ; but this water-wheel continued its constant and useful operation of pumping out the mines for full forty years after the death of its inventor ; and when it was at length broken up, about the year 1812, the pump-trees, which consisted of wooden staves firmly bound together with ashen hoops, were found to be lined with cow-hides, the working buckets being also covered with leather a contrivance of which the like, it is believed, has not before been recorded.* About the same time Brindley was requested by Mr. John Wedgwood to erect a windmill for a similar purpose on an elevated site adjoining the town of Bursleni, called The Jenkins ; this being one of the first, if not the very first, experiments made of the plan of grinding the calcined flints in water, which in this case was pumped by the action of the machinery from a well situated within the mill itself. This invention, which was of considerable importance, has by some been attributed to Brindley, whose ingenious mind was ever ready to suggest improvements in whatever process of manufacture came under his notice. It was natural that he should closely watch the operation of flint-grinding, having to construct and repair the greater part of the machinery used in the process ; and he could not fail to notice the distressing consequences resulting from inhaling the fine particles with which the air of the flint-mills was laden. Hence the probability of his sug- gesting that the flints should be ground in water, as calcu- lated not only to prevent waste and preserve the purity of * 'History of the Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent.' By John Ward. 1853. P. 16-i. L 2 148 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VII, the air, but also to facilitate the operation of grinding, a simple enough suggestion, but, as the result proved, a most valuable one. With this object he invented an improved mill, which consisted of a large circular vat, about thirty inches deep, having a central'step fixed in the bottom, to carry the axis of a vertical shaft. The moving power was applied to this shaft by a crown cog-wheel placed on the 'top. At the lower part of the shaft, at right angles to it, were four arms, upon which the grinding-stones .were fixed, large blocks of stone of the same kind being likewise placed in the vat. These stones were a very hard silicious mineral, called " Chert," found in abundance in the neighbourhood of Bakewell, in Derbyshire. The broken flints being intro- duced to the vat and completely covered with water, the axis was made to revolve with great velocity, when the calcined flints were quickly reduced to an impalpable powder. This contrivance of Brindley's proved . of great value to Wedgwood, and it was shortly after adopted throughout the Potteries, and continues in use to this day. Being thus extensively occupied in the invention and erection of machinery driven by one power or another, it was natural that Brindley's attention should have been attracted to the use of steam power in manufacturing operations. Wind and water had heretofore been almost the exclusive agents employed for the purpose; but far- seeing philosophers and ingenious mechanics had for centuries been feeling their way towards the far greater power derived from the pent-up force of vaporised water ; and engines had actually been contrived which rendered it likely that the problem would ere long be solved, and a motive agent invented, which should be easily con- trollable, and independent alike of wind, tides, and water- falls. Eeserving for another place the history of the successive stages of this great invention, it will be suffi- cient for our present purpose merely to indicate, briefly, the direction of Brindley's labours in this important field. CHAP. VII. STEAM-ENGINE AT FEXTON VIVIAN. 149 It appears that Newcomen had as early as the year 1711 erected aii atmospheric engine for the purpose of drawing water from a coal mine in the neighbourhood of Wolverhampton ; and after considerable difficulties had been experienced in its construction and working, the engine was at length pronounced the most effective and economical that had yet been tried. Other engines of a similar kind were shortly after erected in the coal districts of the north of England, in the tin and copper mines of Cornwall, and in the lead mines of Cumberland, for the purpose of pumping water from the pits. Brindley, like other contrivers of power, felt curious about this new invention, and proceeded to Wolver- hampton to study one of Newcomeii's engines erected there. He was greatly struck by its appearance, and, with the irrepressible instinct of the inventor, immediately set about contriving how it might be improved. He found the consumption of coal so great as to preclude its use excepting where coal was unusually abundant and cheap, as, for instance, at the mouth of a coal-pit, where the fuel it consumed was the produce and often the refuse of the mine itself; and he formed the opinion that unless the consumption of coal could be reduced, the extended use of the steam-engine was not practicable, by reason of its dearness, as compared with the power of horses, wind, or water. With this idea in his head, he proceeded to contrive an improved engine, the main object of which was to ensure greater economy in fuel. In 1756 we find him erecting a steam-engine for one Mr. Broade, at Fenton Vivian, in Staffordshire, in which he adopted the expe- dient, afterwards tried by James Watt, of wooden cylin- ders made in the manner of coopers' ware, instead of cylinders of iron. He also substituted wood for iron in the chains which worked at the end of the beam. Like Watt, however, he was under the necessity of abandoning the wooden cylinders; but he surrounded 150 JAMES BRINDLEY. CITAP. Y1I. his metal cylinders with a wooden case, filling the in- termediate space with wood-ashes; and by this means, and using no more injection of cold water than was necessary for the purpose of condensation, he succeeded in reducing the waste of steam by almost one-half. Whilst busy with Mr. Broade's engine, we find from the entries in his pocket-book that Brindley occasionally .spent several days together at Coalbrookdale, in super- intending the making of the boiler-plates, the pipes, and other iron- work. Eeturning to Fenton Vivian, he pro- ceeded with the erection of his engine-house and the fitting of the machinery, whilst, during five days more, he appears to have been occupied in making the hoops for the cylinders. It takes him five days to get the "great leaver fixed," thirty-nine days to put the boiler together, and thirteen days to get the pit prepared ; and as he charges only workmen's wages for those days, we infer that the greater part of the work was done by his own hands. He even seems to have himself felled the requisite timber for the work, as we infer from the entry in his pocket-book of " falling big tree 3ir days." The engine was at length ready after about a year's work, and was set a-going in November, 1757, after which we find these significant entries : " Bad louk [luck] five days ;" then, again, " Bad louk " for three days more ; and, after that, " Midlin louk ;" and so on with " Midlin louk " until the entries under that head come to an end. In the spring of the following year we find him again striving to get his " engon at woork," and it seems at length to have been fairly started on the 19th of March, when we have the entry " Engon at woork 3 days." There is then a i toppage of four days, and again the engine works for seven days more, with a sort of " loud cheer " in the words added to the entry, of " driv a-Heyd !" Other intervals occur, until, on the 16th of April, we have the words "at woor good ordor 3 days," when the entries come to a sudden close. The engine must certainly have given Brindley a great 4 CHAP. VII. PATENT FOE STEAM-ENGINE. 151 deal of trouble, and almost driven him to despair, as we now know how very imperfect an engine with wooden hooped cylinders must have been ; and we are not there- fore surprised at the entry" which he honestly makes in his pocket-book on the 21st of April, immediately after the one last mentioned, when the engine had, doubtless, a second time broken down, "to Eun about a Drinking, 0:1:6." Perhaps he intended the entry to stand there as a warning against giving way to future despair; for he underlined the words, as if to mark them with unusual emphasis.* Brindley did not remain long in this mood, but set to work upon the contrivance and erection of another engine upon a new and improved plan. What his plan was, may be learnt from the specification lodged in the Patent Office, on the 26th December, 1758, by "James Brindley, of Leek, in the county of Stafford, Millwright." -f In the arrangement of this new steam-engine he provided that the boiler should be made of brick or stone arched over, and the stove over the fire-place of cast-iron, fixed within the boiler. The feeding-pipe for the boiler was to be made with a clack, opening and shutting by a float upon the surface of the water in the boiler, which would thus be self-feeding. The great chains for the segments at the extremity of the beams were of wood; and the pumps were also of wooden staves strongly hooped to- gether. * "We find the following memo- { f He describes it as " A Fire- randum in Brindley 's pocket-book, i Engine for Drawing Water out of relating to the expense of working the engine in the year 1760 : Miss Clare Maria Broad 3 fire engine at fentan vivian. First yeer's work and repare night and day 161 Do. torn back 025 Mines, or for Draining of Lands, or for Supplying of Cityes, Townes, or Gardens with Water, or which may be applicable to many other great and usefull Purposes, in a better and more effectual Manner than any Engine or Machine that hath hitherto been made or used Due for te first yeer 139 i for the like Purpose."-' Specifica- L>ue for the second yeer 102 } tions of Patents/ No. 730. 152 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VII. Brindley, as a millwright, seems to have long retained his early predilection for wood, and to have preferred it to iron wherever its use was practicable. His plans were, however, subjected to modification and improvement from time to time, as experience suggested; and in the course of a few years, brick, stone, and wood were alike dis- carded in favour of iron; until, in 1763, we find Brindley erecting a steam-engine for the Walker Colliery, at New- castle, wholly of iron, manufactured at Coalbrookdale, which was pronounced the most "complete and noble piece of ironwork" that had up to that time been pro- duced.* But by this time Brindley's genius had been turned in another direction ; the invention of the steam- engine being now safe in the hands of Watt, who was perseveringly occupied in bringing it to completion. Stuart's Anecdotes of Steam-Engines,' p. 626. CHAP. VIII. BEGINNINGS OF CANALS. 153 CHAPTEE VIII. THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER BRINDLEY EMPLOYED AS THE ENGINEER OF HIS CANAL. VERY little had as yet been done to open up the inland navigation of England, beyond dredging and clearing out in a veiy imperfect manner the channels of some of the larger rivers, so as to admit of the passage of small barges. Several attempts had been made in Lancashire and Cheshire, as we have already shown, to open up the navigation of the Mersey and the Irwell from Liverpool to Manchester. There were similar projects for improving the Weaver from Frodsham, where it joins the Mersey, to Winford Bridge above Northwich; and the Douglas, from the Kibble to Wigan. About the same time like schemes were started in Yorkshire, with the object of opening up the navigation of the Aire and Calder to Leeds and VVakefield, and of the Don from Doncaster to near Sheffield. One of the Acts passed by Parliament in 1737 is worthy of notice, as the forerunner of the Bridgewater Canal enterprise : we allude to the Act for making navigable the Worsley Brook to its junction with the river Irwell, near Manchester. A similar Act was obtained in 1755, for making navigable the Sankey Brook from the Mersey, about two miles below Warrington, to St. Helens, Gerrard Bridge, and Penny Bridge. In this case the canal was constructed separate from the brook, but alongside of it ; and at several points locks were provided to adapt the canal to the level of the lands passed through. The same year in which application was made to Par- liament for powers to construct the Sankey Canal, the Corporation of Liverpool had under their consideration a much larger scheme no less than a canal to unite the 154 THE DUKE OF BRIDGE WATER. CHAP. Vlir. Trent and the Mersey, and thus open a water-communi- cation between the ports of Liverpool and Hull. It was proposed that the line should proceed by Chester, Stafford, Derby, and Nottingham. A survey was made, principally at the instance of Mr. Hardman, a public spirited mer- chant of Liverpool, and for many years one of its repre- sentatives in Parliament. Another survey was shortly after made at the instance of Earl Gower, afterwards Marquis of Stafford, and it was probably in making this survey that Brindley's attention was first directed to the business of canal engineering. We find his first entry relating to the subject made on the 5th of February, 1758 " novocion [navigation] 5 days;" the second, a little better spelt, on the 19th of the same month "a bout the novogation 3 days;" and afterwards "surveing the novogation from Long brigg to Kinges Milles 12 days V It does not, however, appear that the scheme made much progress, or that steps were taken at that time to bring the measure before Parliament ; and Brindley continued to pursue his other employments, more especially the erection of "fire-engines" after his new patent. This continued until the following year, when we find him in close consultation with the Duke of Bridgewater relative to the construction of his proposed canal from Worsley to Manchester. The early career of this distinguished nobleman was of a somewhat remarkable character. He was born in 1736, the fifth and youngest son of Scroop, third Earl and first Duke of Bridgewater, by Lady Rachel Russell. He lost his father when only five years old, and all his brothers died by the time that he had reached his twelfth year, at which early age he succeeded to the title of Duke of Bridgewater. He was a weak and sickly child, and his mental capacity was thought so defective, that steps were even in contemplation to set him aside in favour of the next heir to the title and estates. His mother seems almost entirely to have neglected him. In the first year CHAP. VIII. HIS EARLY LIFE. 155 of her widowhood she married Sir Richard Lyttleton, and from that time forward took the least possible notice of her boy. The young Duke did not give much promise of surviv- ing his consumptive brothers, and his mind was considered so incapable of improvement, that he was left in a great measure without either domestic guidance or intellectual discipline and culture. Horace Walpole writes to Mann in 1761: "You will be happy in Sir Eichard Lyttleton and his Duchess ; they are the best-humoured people in the world." But the good humour of this handsome couple was mostly displayed in the world of gay life, very little of it being reserved for home use. Possibly, however, it may have been even fortunate for the young Duke that he was left so much to himself, to profit by the wholesome neglect of special nurses and tutors, who are not always the most judicious in their bringing up of delicate children. At seventeen, the young Duke's guardians, the Duke of Bedford and Lord Trentham, finding him still alive and likely to live, determined to send him abroad on his travels the wisest thing they could have done. They selected for his tutor the celebrated traveller, Eobert Wood, author of the well-known work on Troy, Baalbec, and Palmyra ; afterwards appointed to the office of Under-Secretary of State by the Earl of Chatham. Wood was an accom- plished scholar, a persevering traveller, and withal a man of good business qualities. His habits of intelligent obser- vation could not fail to be of service to his pupil, and it is not unnatural to suppose that the great artificial water- courses and canals which they saw in the course of their travels had some effect in afterwards determining the latter to undertake the important works of a similar character by which his name became so famous. While passing through the south of France, the Duke was especially interested by his inspection of the Grand Canal of Lan- guedoc, a magnificent work executed under great diffi- culties, and which had promoted in an extraordinary 156 THE DUKE OF BRIDGE WATER. CHAP. VTIL degree the prosperity of that part of the kingdom.* Pro- ceeding into Italy, the Duke and his companion inspected all that was worthy of being seen there, including the picture galleries at Florence, Venice, and Eome. During their visit Mr. Wood sat to Mengs for his portrait, which still forms part of the Bridgewater collection. The Duke also purchased works of sculpture at Eome ; but that he himself entertained no great enthusiasm for art is evident from the fact related by the late Earl of Ellesmere, that these works remained in their original packing-cases until after his death, j Eeturned to England, he seems to have led the usual life of a gay young nobleman of the time, with plenty of money at his command. In 1756, when only twenty years old, he appears from the ' Eacing Calendar ' to have kept race-horses ; occasionally riding them in matches himself. Though in after life a very bulky man, he was so light as a youth, that on one occasion Lord Ellesmere says a bet was jokingly offered that he would be blown off his horse. Dressed in a livery of blue silk and silver, with a jockey cap, he once rode a race against His Eoyal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, on the long terrace at the back of the wood in Trentham Park, the seat of his relative, Earl Gower. During His Eoyal Highness's visit, the large old green-house, since taken down, was hastily run up for the playing of skittles ; and prison bars and other village games were instituted for the recreation of the guests. Those occupations of the Duke were varied by an occa- sional visit to his racing-stud at Newmarket, where he had a house for some time, and by the usual round of London gaieties during the season. A young nobleman of tender age, moving freely in * See Appendix, Grand Canal of Languedoc, and its execution by lliquet de Bonrepos. f ' Essays in History, Biography, Geography, Engineering,' &c. By the late Earl of Ellesmere. Lon- don, 1858. P. 226. CHAP. VIII. HIS LOVE AFFAIR. 157 circles where were to be seen some of the finest specimens of female beauty in the world, could scarcely be expected to pass heart-whole ; and hence the occurrence of the event in his London life which, singularly enough, is said to have driven him in a great measure from society, and induced him to devote himself to the construction of canals ! We find varioiis allusions in the letters of the time to the intended marriage of the young Duke of Bridgewater. One rumour pointed to the only daughter and heiress of Mr. Thomas Eevell, formerly M.P. for Dover, as the object of his choice. But it appears that the lady to whom he became the most strongly attached was one of the Gun- nings the comparatively portionless daughters of an Irish gentleman, who were then the reigning beauties at Court. The object of the Duke's affection was Elizabeth, the youngest daughter, and perhaps the most beautiful of the three. She had been married to the fourth Duke of Hamilton, in Keith's Chapel, Mayfair, in 1752, "with a ring of the bed-curtain, half-an-hour after twelve at night,"* but the Duke dying shortly after, she was now a gay and beautiful widow, with many lovers in her train. In the same year in which she had been clandestinely married to the Duke of Hamilton, her eldest sister was married to the sixth Earl of Coventry. The Duke of Bridgewater paid his court to the young widow, proposed, and was accepted. The arrangements for the marriage were in progress, when certain rumours reached his ear reflecting upon the character of Lady Coventry, his intended bride's elder sister, who was cer- tainly more fair than she was wise. Believing the reports, he required the Duchess to desist from further intimacy with her sister, a condition which her high spirit would not brook, and, the Duke remaining firm, the match was broken off. From that time forward he is said never : Walpole to Mann,' Feb. 27th, 1752. 158 THE DUKE OF BRIDGE WATER. CHAP. VIII. to have addressed another woman in the language of gallantry.* The Duchess of Hamilton, however, did not remain long a widow. In the course of a few months she was engaged to, and afterwards married, John Campbell, subsequently Duke of Argyll. Horace Walpole, writing of the affair to Marshal Coiiway, January 28th, 1759, says: "You and M. de Bareil do not exchange prisoners with half as much alacrity as Jack Campbell and the Duchess of Hamilton have exchanged hearts. . . . It is the prettiest match in the world since yours, and everybody likes it but the Duke of Bridge water and Lord Con way. What an extra- ordinary fate is attached to these two women! Who could have believed that a Gunning would unite the two great houses of Campbell and Hamilton ? For my part, I expect to see my Lady Coventry Queen of Prussia. I would not venture to marry either of them these thirty years, for fear of being shuffled out of the world prematurely to make room for the rest of their adventures." The Duke, like a wise man, sought consolation for his disappointment by entering into active and useful occupa- tion. Instead of retiring to his beautiful seat at Ashridge, we find him straightway proceeding to his estate at Worsley, on the borders of Chat Moss, in Lancashire, and conferring with John Gilbert, his land-steward, as to the practicability of cutting a canal by which the coals found upon his Worsley estate might be readily conveyed to market at Manchester. Manchester and Liverpool at that time were improving towns, gradually rising in importance and increasing in population. The former place had long been noted for its manufacture of coarse cottons, or " coatings," made of wool, * Chalmers, in his ' Biographical Dictionary,' vol. xiii., 94, gives an- other account of the rumoured cause of the Duke's subsequent antipathy to women ; hut the above statement of the late Earl of Elles- mere, confirmed as it is by cer- tain passages in Walpole's Letters, is more likely to be the correct one. Portrait of the Young Duke. 160 MANCHESTER IN THE LAST CENTURY. CHAP. VIII. in imitation of the goods known on the Continent by that name. The Manchester people also made fustians, mixed stuffs, and small wares, amongst which leather-laces for women's bodices, shoe-ties, and points were the more important. But the operations of manufacture were still carried on in a clumsy way, entirely by hand. The wool was spun into yarn by means of the common spinning wheel, for the spinning-jenny had not yet been invented, and the yarn was woven into cloth by the common hand- loom. There was no whirr of engine-wheels then to be heard ; for Watt's steam-engine had not yet come into existence. The air was free from smoke, except that which arose from household fires, and there was not a single factory-chimney in Manchester. In 1724, Dr. Stukeley says Manchester contained no fewer than 2400 families, and that their trade was " incredibly large" in tapes, ticking, girth- webb, and fustians. In 1757 the united population of Manchester and Salford was only 20,000 ; * it is now, after the lapse of a century, 460,000 ! The Manchester manufacturer was then a very humble per- sonage compared with his modern representative. He was part chapman, part weaver, and part merchant working hard, living frugally, principally on oatmeal, and usually contriving to save a little money. Dr. Aikin, writing in 1795, thus described the Man- chester manufacturer in the first half of the eighteenth century : " An eminent manufacturer in that age," said he, " used to be in his warehouse before six in the morning, accompanied by his children and apprentices. At seven they all came in to breakfast, which consisted of one large dish of water-pottage, made of oatmeal, water, and a little salt, boiled thick, and poured into a dish. At the side was a pan or basin of milk, and the master and apprentices, each with a wooden spoon in his hand, without loss of time, * Aikin's ' Description of the I Miles round Manchester.' London, Country from Thirty to Forty j 1795, CHAP. VIII. MANCHESTER IN 1740. 161 dipped into the same dish, and thence into the milk-pan, and as soon as it was finished they all returned to their work." What a contrast to the " eminent manufacturer " of our own day ! As trade increased, its operations became more subdivided, and special classes and ranks began to spring into import- View of Manchester in 1740. [Fac-simile of an Engraving of the period.] ance. The manufacturers sent out riders to take orders, and gangs of chapmen with pack-horses to distribute the goods and bring back wool, which they either used up themselves, or sold to makers of worsted yarn at Man- chester, or to the clothiers of Rochdale, Saddleworth, or the West Eiding of Yorkshire. Mr. Walker, author of the 'Original,' left the following interesting reminiscence of the dealings of Manchester men with the inhabitants of the Fen districts : " I have by tradition," said he, " the fol- lowing particulars of the mode of carrying on the home trade by one of the principal merchants of Manchester, who was born at the commencement of the last century, and who realised a sufficient fortune to keep a carriage when not half a dozen were kept in the town by persons connected with business. He sent the manufactures of the place into J. B. M 162 TRADERS IN OLDEN TIMES. CHAP. VIII. Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and the intervening counties, and principally took in exchange feathers from Lincolnshire, and malt from Cambridge- shire and Nottinghamshire. All his commodities were conveyed on pack-horses, and he was from home the greater part of every year, performing his journeys entirely on horseback. His balances were received in guineas, and were carried with him in his saddle-bags. He was exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather, to great labour and fatigue, and to constant danger. In Lincoln- shire he travelled chiefly along bridle- ways through fields where frequent gibbets warned him of his perils, and where flocks of wild fowl continually darkened the air. Business carried on in this manner required a combination of personal attention, courage, and physical strength, not to be hoped for in a deputy ; and a merchant then led a much more severe and irksome life than a bagman after wards, and still more than a traveller of the present day. In the earlier days of the merchant abovementioned, the wine merchant who supplied Manchester, resided at Preston, then always called Proud Preston, because exclu- sively inhabited by gentry. The wine was carried on horses, and a gallon was considered a large order. Men in business confined themselves generally to punch and ale, using wine only as a medicine, or on extraordinary occasions; so that a considerable tradesman somewhat injured his credit amongst his neighbours by being so extravagant as to send to a tavern for wine, to entertain a London customer." * The roads out of Manchester in different directions, like those in most districts throughout the kingdom, were in a very neglected state, being for the most part altogether impracticable for waggons. Hence the use of pack-horses was an absolute necessity ; and the roads were but ill- * Thomas Walker : The Original, No. xi. Article entitled " Change in Commerce." CHAP. VIII. ROADS IN LANCASHIRE. 163 adapted even for them. Indeed, it was more difficult then to reach a village twenty miles out of Manchester than it is to make the journey from thence to London now. The only coach to London plied but every second day, and it was four days and a half in making the journey, there being a post only three times a week.* The roads in most districts of Lancashire were what were called " mill roads," along which a horse with a load of oats upon its back might proceed towards the mill where they were to be ground. There was no private carriage kept by any person in business in Manchester until the year 1758, when the first was set up by some specially luxurious individual. But wealth led to increase of expenditure, and Aikin mentions that there was "an evening club of the most opulent manufacturers, at which the expenses of each person were fixed at fourpence-halfpenny fourpence for ale, and a halfpenny for tobacco." The progress of luxury was further aided by the holding of a dancing assembly once a week in a room situated about the middle of King Street, now a busy thoroughfare, the charge for admission to the nightly ball being half-a-crown the quarter. The ladies had their maids to wait for them with lanterns and pattens, and to conduct them home ; " nor," adds Aikin, " was it unusual for their partners also to attend them." The imperfect state of the communications leading to and from Manchester rendered it a matter of some difficulty at certain seasons to provide food for so large a population. In winter, when the roads were closed, the place was in the condition of a beleaguered town ; and even in summer, the land about Manchester itself being com- paratively sterile, the place was badly supplied with fruit, vegetables, and potatoes, which, being brought from con- * March 3rd, 1760, the Flying Machine was started, and adver- tised to perform the journey, "if God permit," in three days, by John Hanforth Matthew Howe, Samuel Granville, and William Richardson. Fare inside, 21. 5s. ; outside, half-price. M 2 164 BAD KOADS AND FAMINE. CHAP. VIII. siderable distances slung across horses' backs, were so dear as to be beyond the reach of the mass of the population. The distress caused by this frequent dearth of provisions was not eifectually remedied until the canal navigation became completely opened up. Thus a great scarcity of food occurred in Manchester and the neighbourhood in 1757, which the common people attributed to the millers and corndealers ; and unfortunately the notion was not confined to the poor who were starving, but was equally entertained by the well-to-do classes who had enough to eat. An epigram by Dr. Byrom, the town clergyman, written in 1737, on two millers (tenants of the School corn-mills), who, from their spare habits, had been nick- named " Skin " and " Bone," was now revived, and tended to fan the popular fury. It ran thus : ^ "Bone and Skin, two millers thin, Would starve the town, or near it ; But be it known to Skin and Bone, That Flesh and Blood can't bear it." The popular hunger and excitement increasing, at length broke out in open outrage; and a riot took place in 1758, long after remembered in Manchester as the " Shude Hill fight," in which unhappily several lives were lost. For the same reasons, the supply of coals was but scanty in winter ; and though abundance of the article lay under- ground, within a few miles of Manchester, in nearly every direction, those few miles of transport, in the then state of the roads, were an almost insurmountable difficulty. The coals were sold at the pit mouth at so much the horse-load, weighing 280 Ibs., and measuring two baskets, each thirty inches by twenty, and ten inches deep ; that is, as much as an average horse could carry on its back.* The price of * This " load " is still used as a measure of weight, though the practice of carrying all sorts of commodities on horses' backs, in which it originated, has long since ceased. CHAV. VIII. DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSIT. 165 the coals at the pit mouth was Wd. the horse-load ; but by the time the article reached the door of the consumer in Manchester, the price was usually more than doubled, in consequence of the difficulty and cost of conveyance. The carriage alone amounted to about nine or ten shillings the ton. There was as yet no connection of the navigation of the Mersey and Irwell with any of the collieries situated to the eastward of Manchester, by which a supply could reach the town in boats ; and although the Duke's collieries were only a comparatively short distance from the Irwell, the coals had to be carried on horses' backs or in carts from the pits to the river to be loaded, and after reaching Man- chester they had again to be carried to the doors of the consumers, so that there was little if any saving to be effected by that route. Besides, the minimum charge insisted on by the Mersey Navigation Company of 3s. 4d. a ton for even the shortest distance, proved an effectual barrier against any coal reaching Manchester by the river. The same difficulty stood in the way of the transit of goods between Manchester and Liverpool. By road the charge was 40s. a ton, and by river 12s. a ton; that between vvarrington and Manchester being 10s. a ton: besides, there was great risk of delay, loss, and damage by the way. Some idea of the tediousness of the river navigation may be formed from the fact, that the boats were dragged up and down stream exclusively by the labour of men, and that horses and mules were not employed for this purpose until after the Duke's canal had been made. It was, indeed, obvious that unless some means could be devised for facilitating and cheapening the cost of transport between the seaport and the manufacturing towns, there was little prospect of any considerable further development being effected in the industry of the district. Such was the state of things when the Duke of Bridge- water turned his attention to the making of a water-road for the passage of his coal from Worsley to Manchester. 106 BRIDGEWATER CANAL PROJECTS. CHAP. VIII. The Old Mersey Company would give him no facilities for sending his coals by their navigation, but levied the full charge of 3s. 4d. for every ton he might send to Manchester by river even in his own boats. He therefore perceived that to obtain a vend for his article, it was necessary he should make a way for himself ; and it became obvious to him that if he could but form a canal between the two points, he would at once be enabled to secure a ready sale for all the coals that he could raise from his Worsley pits. We have already stated that, as early as 1737, an Act had been obtained by the Duke's father, giving power to make the Worsley Brook navigable from the neighbourhood of the pits to the Irwell. But the enterprise, and its cost, appear to have been too formidable ; so the powers of the Act were allowed to expire without anything being done to carry them out. The young Duke now determined to revive the Act in another form, and in the early part of 1759 he applied to Parliament for the requisite powers to enable him to cut a navigable canal from Worsley Mill eastward to Salford, and to carry the same westward to a point on the river Mersey, called Hollin Ferry. He intro- duced into the bill several important concessions to the inhabitants of Manchester. He bound himself not to exceed the freight of 2s. 6d. per ton on all coals brought from Worsley to Manchester, and not to sell the coal so brought from the mines to that town at more than 4d. per hundred, which was less than half the then average price. tt was clear that, if such a canal could be made and the navigation opened as proposed, it would prove a great public boon to the inhabitants of Manchester. The bill was accordingly well supported, and it passed the legislature without opposition, receiving the Eoyal assent in March, 1759. The Duke gave further indications of his promptitude and energy, in the steps which he adopted to have the works carried out without loss of time. He had no inten- tion of allowing the powers of this Act to remain a dead CHAP. VIII. THE GILBERTS AND BRINDLEY. 167 letter, as the former had done. Accordingly, no sooner had it passed than he set out for his seat at Worsley to take the requisite measures for constructing the canal. The Duke was fortunate in having for his land-agent a very shrewd, practical, and enterprising person, in John Gilbert, whom he consulted on all occasions of difficulty. Mr. Gilbert was the brother of Thomas Gilbert, the originator of the Gilbert Unions, then agent to the Duke's brother-in-law, Lord Gower. That nobleman had for some time been promoting the survey of a canal to unite the Mersey and the Trent, on which Brindley had been em- ployed, and thus became known to Gilbert as well as to his brother. We find from an entry in Brindley's pocket- book that the millwright had sundry interviews with Thomas Gilbert on matters of business previous to the passing of the first Bridgewater Canal Bill, though there is no evidence that he was employed in making the survey. Indeed, it is questionable whether any survey was made of the first scheme. Engineering projects were then submitted to Parliamentary Committees in a very rough state. Levels were guessed at rather than surveyed and calculated ; and merely general powers were taken enabling such property to be purchased as might by possibility be required for the execution of the works. In the case of the Bridgewater Canal, the prices of land and compensation for damage were directed to be assessed by a local committee appointed by the Act for the purpose. When the Duke proceeded to consider with Gilbert the best mode of carrying out the proposed canal, it appeared clear to them that the plan originally contemplated was faulty in many respects, and that an application must be made to Parliament for further powers. By the original Act it was intended to descend from the level of the coal-mines at Worsley by a series of locks into the river Irwell. This, it was found, would necessarily involve a heavy cost both in the construction and working of the canal, as well as considerable delay in the conduct 168 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VIII. of the traffic, which it was most desirable to avoid. Neither the Duke nor Gilbert had any practical knowledge of engineering ; nor, indeed, were there many men in the Map of the Duke's Canal. [Western Part.] country at that time who knew much of the subject; for it must be remembered that this canal of the Duke's was the very first project in England for cutting a navig- able trench through the dry land, and carrying merchan- dise in it across the country, independent of the course of the existing streams. It was in this emergency that Gilbert advised the Duke to call to his aid James Brindley, whose fertility of resources and skill in overcoming mechanical difficulties had long been the theme of general admiration in his own district. Doubtless the Duke was as much impressed CHAP. VIII. THE DUKE'S CANAL. 169 by the native vigour and originality of the unlettered genius introduced to him by his agent, as were all with whom he was brought in contact. Certain it is that the Map of the Duke's Canal. [Eastern Part.] Duke showed his confidence in Brindley by entrusting him with the conduct of the proposed work ; and, as the first step, he was desired to go over the ground at once, and give his opinion as to the best plan to be adopted for carrying it out with despatch. Brindley, accordingly, after making what he termed an " ochilor [ocular] servey or a ricconitoring," speedily formed his conclusion, and came back to the Duke with his advice. It was that, instead of carrying the canal down into the Irwell by a flight of locks, and so up again on the other side to the proposed level, it should be carried 170 JAMES BRIXDLEY. CHAP. VIII. right over the river, and constructed upon one uniform level throughout. But this, it was clear, would involve a series of formidable works, the like of which had not before been attempted in England. In the first place, the low ground on the north side of the Irwell would have to be filled up by a massive embankment, and to be united with the land on the other bank by means of a large aqueduct of stone. Would it be practicable or possible to execute works of such magnitude? Brindley expressed so strong and decided an opinion of their prac- ticability, that the Duke was won over to his views, and determined again to go to Parliament for the requisite powers to enable him to carry out the design. Many were the deliberations which took place about this time between the Duke, Gilbert, and Brindley, in the Old Hall at Worsley, where the Duke had now taken up his abode. We find from Brindley's pocket-book memo- randa, that in the month of July, 1759, he had taken up his temporary quarters at the Old Hall ; and from time to time, in the course of the same year, while the details of the plan were being prepared with a view to the intended application to Parliament, he occasionally stayed with the Duke for weeks together. He made a detailed survey of the new line, and at the same time, in order to facilitate the completion of the undertaking when the new powers had been obtained, he proceeded with the construction of the sough or level at Worsley Mill, and such other portions of the work as could be executed under the original powers. During the same period Brindley travelled backwards and forwards a great deal, on matters connected with his various business in the Pottery district. We find, from his private record, that he was occupied at intervals in carrying forward his survey of the proposed canal through Staffordshire, visiting with this object the neigh- bourhood of Newcastle-under-Lyne, Lichfield, and Tarn- worth. He also continued to give his attention to mills, CHAP. VIII. HIS PERSONAL CREDIT. 171 water-wheels, cranes, and fire-engines, which he had erected, or which required repairs, in various parts of the same district. In short, he seems at this period to have been fully employed as a millwright ; and although, as we have seen, the remuneration which he received for his skill was comparatively small, being a man of frugal habits he had saved a little money ; for about this time we find him able to raise a sum of 543Z. 6s. 8d., being his fourth share of the purchase-money of the Turnhurst estate, situated near Golden Hill, in the county of Stafford. The principal part of this sum was no doubt borrowed, as appears by his own memoranda, from his friend Mr. Launcelot, of Leek; but the circumstance proves that, amongst his townsmen and neighbours, who knew him best, he stood in good credit and repute. His other partners in the purchase were Mr. Thomas Gilbert (Earl Gower's agent), Mr. Henshall (afterwards his brother-in- law), and his brother John Brindley. The estate was understood to be full of minerals, the knowledge of which had most probably been obtained by Brindley in the course of his surveying of the proposed Staffordshire canal ; and we shall afterwards find that he turned the purchase to good account. At length the new plans of the canal from Worsley to Manchester were completed and ready for deposit; and on the 23rd of January, after a visit to the Duke and Gilbert at the Hall, we find the entry in Brindley 's pocket-book of " Sot out for London." On the occasion of his visits to London, Brindley adopted the then most convenient method of travelling on horseback, the journey usually occupying five days. We find him varying his route according to the state of the weather and of the roads. In summer he was accustomed to go by Coventry, but in winter he made for the Great North Road by North- ampton, which was usually in better condition for winter travelling. The second Act passed like the first, without opposition, 1"2 JAMES BK1NDLEY. CHAP. VIII. early in the session of 1760. It enabled the Duke to carry his proposed canal over the river Irwell, near Barton Bridge, some five miles westward of Manchester, by means of a series of arches, and to vary its course accordingly ; whilst it further authorised him to extend a short branch to Longford Bridge, near Stretford, that to Hollin Ferry, authorised by the original Act, being abandoned. In the mean time the works near Worsley had been actively pushed forward, and considerable pro- gress had been made by the time the additional powers had been obtained. That part of the canal which lay between Worsley Mill and the public highway leading from Manchester to Warrington had been cut ; the sough or level between Worsley Mill and Middlewood, for the purpose of supplying water to the canal, was considerably advanced ; and operations had also been begun in the neigh- bourhood of Salford and on the south of the river Irwell. The most difficult part of the undertaking, however, was that authorised by the new Act ; and the Duke looked forward to its execution with the greatest possible anxiety. Although aqueducts of a far more formidable description had been executed abroad, nothing of the kind had until then been projected in this country ; and many regarded the plan of Brindley as altogether wild and impracticable. The proposal to confine and carry a body of water within a water-tight trunk of earth upon the top of an embank- ment across the low grounds on either side of the Irwell, was considered foolish and impossible enough; but to propose to carry ships upon a lofty bridge, over the heads of other ships navigating the Irwell which flowed underneath, was laughed at as the dream of a madman. Brindley, by leaving the beaten path, thus found himself exposed to the usual penalties which befall originality and genius. The Duke was expostulated with by his friends, and strongly advised not to throw away his money upon so desperate an undertaking. Who ever heard of so large a body of water being carried over another in the man- CHAP. VIII. BARTON AQUEDUCT. 173 ner proposed? Brindley was himself appealed to; but lie could only repeat his conviction as to the entire prac- ticability of his design. At length, by his own desire and to allay the Duke's apprehensions, another engineer was called in and consulted as to the scheme. To Brindley's surprise and dismay, the person consulted concurred in the view so strongly expressed by the public. He cha- racterised the plan of the Barton aqueduct and embank- ment as instinct with recklessness and folly; and after expressing his unqualified opinion as to the impracticability of executing the design, he concluded his report to the Duke thus : " I have often heard of castles in the air ; but never before saw where any of them were to be erected." * It is to the credit of his Grace that, notwithstanding these strong adverse opinions, he continued to give his confidence to the engineer whom he had selected to carry out the work. Brindley's common-sense explanations, though they might not remove all his doubts, nevertheless determined the Duke to give him the full opportunity of carrying out his design ; and he was accordingly authorised to proceed with the erection of his " castle in the air." Its progress was watched with great interest, and people flocked from all parts to see it. The Barton aqueduct is about two hundred yards in length and twelve yards wide, the centre part being sustained by a bridge of three semicircular arches, the middle one being of sixty-three feet span. It carries the canal over the Irwell at a height of thirty-nine feet above the river this head-room being sufficient to enable the largest barges to pass underneath without lowering their masts. The bridge is entirely of stone blocks, those on * We have heard the name of Smeaton mentioned as that of the engineer consulted on the occasion, but are unable to speak with cer- tainty on the point. Excepting Smeaton, however, there was then no other engineer in the country of recognised eminence in the profes- sion. 174 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VIIL the faces being dressed on the front, beds, and joints, and cramped with iron. The canal, in passing over the arches, is confined within a puddled * channel to prevent leakage, and is in as good a state now as on the day on which it was completed. Although the Barton aqueduct has since been thrown into the shade by the vastly greater works of modern engineers, it was unquestionably a very bold and ingenious enterprise, if we take into account the time at which it was erected. Humble though it now appears, it was the parent of the magnificent aqueducts of Eennie and Telford, and of the viaducts of Stephenson and Brunei, which rival the greatest works of any age or country. The embankments formed across the low grounds on either side of the Barton viaduct were also considered very formidable works at that day. A contemporary writer speaks of the embankment across Stretford Meadows as an amazing bank of earth 900 yards long, 112 feet in breadth across the base, 24 feet at top, and 17 feet high. The greatest difficulty anticipated, was the holding of so large a body of water within a hollow channel formed of soft materials. It was supposed at first that the water would soak through the bank, which its weight would soon burst, and wash away all before it. But Brindley, in the course of his experience, had learnt something of the powers of clay-puddle to resist the passage of water. He had already succeeded in stopping the breaches of rivers flowing through low grounds by this means ; and the thorough * The process of puddling is of considerable importance in canal engineering. Puddle is formed by a mixture of well-tempered clay and sand reduced to a semi-fluid state, and rendered impervious to water by manual labour, as by working and chopping it about with spades. It is usually applied in three or more strata to a depth or thickness of about three feet : and care is taken at each operation so to work the new layer of pud- dling stuff as to unite it with the stratum immediately beneath. Over the top course a layer of common soil is usually laid. It is only by the careful employment of pud- dling that the filtration of the water of canals into the neighbour- ing lower lands through which they pass can be effectually pre- vented. Barton Aqueduct. QBy Percival Skelton, after his original Drawing.] !76 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VIII. manner in which he finished the bed of this canal, and made it impervious to water, may be cited as a notable illustration of the engineer's practical skill, taking into account the early period at which this work was exe- cuted. Not the least difficult part of the undertaking was the formation of the canal across Trafford Moss, where the weight of the embankment pressed down and " blew up " the soft oozy stuff on each side ; but the difficulty was again overcome by the engineer's specific of clay-puddle, which proved completely successful. Indeed, the execu- tion of these embankments by Brindley was regarded at the time as something quite as extraordinary in their way as the erection of the Barton aqueduct itself. The rest of the canal between Longford and Manchester, being mostly on sidelong ground, was cut down on the upper side and embanked up on the other by means of the excavated earth. This was comparatively easy work ; but a matter of greater difficulty was to accommodate the streams which flowed across the course of the canal. This was, however, provided for in a highly ingenious manner. For instance, a stream called Cornbrook was found too high to pass under the canal at its natural level. Accord- ingly, Brindley contrived a weir, over which the stream fell into a large basin, from whence it flowed into a smaller one open at the bottom. From this point a culvert, con- structed under the bed of the canal, carried the waters across to a well situated on its further side, where the waters rising up to their natural level, again flowed away in their proper channel. A similar expedient was adopted at the Manchester terminus of the canal, at the point at which it joined the waters of the Medlock. It was a principle of Brindley's never to permit the waters of any river or brook to intermix with those of the canal except for the purpose of supply; as it was clear that in a time of flood such intermingling would be a source of great danger to the navigation. In order, there- CHAP, VIII. THE DUKE'S CANAL. 177 fore, to provide for the free passage of the Medlock with- out causing a rush into the canal, a weir was contrived 366 yards in circumference, over which its waters flowed into a lower level, and from thence into a well several yards in depth, down which the whole river fell. It was received at the bottom in a subterranean passage, by which it passed into the river Irwell, near at hand. The weir was very ingeniously contrived, though it was afterwards found necessary to make considerable alterations and im- provements in it, as experience suggested, in order effec- tually to accommodate the flood-waters of the Medlock. Arthur Young, when visiting the canal, shortly after it was opened up to Manchester, says, " The whole plan of these works shows a capacity and extent of mind which foresees difficulties, and invents remedies in anticipation of possible evils. The connection and dependence of the parts upon each other are happily imagined ; and all are exerted in concert, to command by every means the wished- for success." * Brindley's labours, however, were not confined to the construction of the canal, but his attention seems to have been equally directed to the contrivance of the whole of the arrangements and machinery by which it was worked. The open navigation between Worsley Mill and Man- chester was 10J- miles in length. A large basin was excavated at the former place, of sufficient capacity to contain a great many boats, and to serve as a head for the navigation. It is at Worsley Basin that the canal enters the bottom of the hill by a subterranean channel which extends for a great distance, connecting the different workings of the mine, so that the coals can be readily transported in boats to their place of sale. A representation of the basin is given in the annexed cut. It lies at the base of * Six Months' Tour through the North of England,' vol. iii., p. 258. Ed. 1770. J. B. 178 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VIII. a cliff of sandstone, some hundred feet in height, over- hung by luxuriant foliage, beyond which is seen the graceful spire of Worsley church. In contrast to this scenic beauty above, lies the almost stagnant pool beneath. The barges* laden with coal emerge from the mine through the two low, semi-circular arches opening at the base of the rock, such being the entrances to the underground workings. The smaller aperture is the mouth of a canal of only half a mile in length, serving to prevent the obstruction which would be caused by the entrance and egress of so many barges through a single passage. The other archway is the entrance of a wider channel, extending nearly six miles in the direction of Bolton, from which various other canals diverge in different directions. In Brindley's time, this subterranean canal, hewn out of the rock, was only about a mile in length, but it now extends to nearly forty miles in all directions underground. "Where the tunnel passed through earth or coal, the arching was of brickwork; but where it passed through rock, it was simply hewn out. This tunnel acts not only as a drain and water-feeder for the canal itself, but as a means of carrying the facilities of the navigation through the very heart of the collieries ; and it will readily be seen of how great a value it must have proved in the economical working of the navigation, as well as of the mines, so far as the traffic in coals was concerned. At every point Brindley's originality and skill were at work. He invented the cranes for the purpose of more readily loading the boats with the boxes filled with the Duke's "black diamonds." He also contrived and laid down within the mines a system of underground railways, all leading from the face 'of the coal, where the miners * The barges are narrow and long, each conveying about ten tons of coal. They are drawn along the tunnels by means of staples fastened to the sides. When they are empty, and consequently higher in the water, they are so near the roof that the bargemen, lying on their backs, can propel them with their feet. -^ Worsley Basin. N 2 160 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VIII. worked, to tlie wells which he had made at different points in the tunnels, through which the coals were shot into the boats waiting below to receive them. At Manchester, where they were unloaded for sale, the contrivances which he employed were equally ingenious. It was at first intended that the canal should terminate at the foot of Castle Hill, up which the coals were dragged by their purchasers from the boats in wheelbarrows or carts. But the toil of dragging the loads up the hill was found very great ; and, to remedy the inconvenience, Brindley con- trived to extend the canal for some way into the hill, opening a shaft from the surface of the ground down to the level of the water. The barges having made their way to the foot of this shaft, the boxes of coal were hoisted to the surface by a crane, worked by a box water-wheel of 30 feet diameter and 4 feet 4 inches wide, driven by the waterfall of the river Medlock. In this contrivance Brindley was only adopting a modification of the losing and gaining bucket, moved on a vertical pillar, which he had before successfully employed in drawing water out of coal-mines. By these means the coals were rapidly raised to the higher ground, where they were sold and distributed, greatly to the convenience of those who came to purchase them. Brindley's practical ability was equally displayed in planning and building a viaduct or in fitting up a crane in carrying out an embankment or in contriving a coal- barge. The range and fertility of his constructive genius were extraordinary. For the Duke, he invented water- weights at Rough Close, riddles to wash coal for the forges, raising dams, and numerous other contrivances of well- adapted mechanism. At Worsley he erected a steam- engine for draining those parts of the mine which were beneath the level of the canal, and consequently could not be drained into it ; and he is said to have erected, at a cost of only 150Z., an engine which until that time no one had known how to construct for less than 500Z. At the mouth of one of the mines he erected a water -bellows for the pur- CHAP. VIII. HIS VARIOUS CONTRIVANCES. 181 pose of forcing fresh air into the interior, and thus venti- lating the workings.* At the entrance of the underground canal he designed and built a mill of a new construc- tion, driven by an over-shot wheel twenty-four feet in diameter, which worked three pair of stones for grinding corn, besides a dressing or boulting mill, and a machine for sifting sand and mixing mortar. Brindley's quickness of observation and readiness in turning circumstances to advantage were equally displayed in the mode by which he contrived to obtain an ample supply of lime for building purposes during the progress of the works. We give the account as related by Arthur Young : " In carrying on the navigation," he observes, " a vast quantity of masonry was necessary for building aqueducts, bridges, warehouses, wharves, &c., and the want of lime was felt severely. The search that was made for matters that would burn into lime was for a long time fruitless. At last Mr. Brindley met with a substance of a chalky kind, which, like the rest, he tried; but found (though it was of a limestone nature lime-marl, which was found along the sides of the canal, about a foot below the surface) that, for want of adhesion in the parts, it would not make lime. This most inventive genius happily fell upon an expedient to remedy this misfortune. He thought of tempering this earth in the nature of brick- earth, casting it in moulds like bricks, and then burning it ; and the success was answerable to his wishes. In that * A writer in the ' St. James's j water falls into the cylinder, and Chronicle,' under date the 30th of i issues out at the bottom of it, but September, 1763. gives the follow- | at the same time carries a quantity ing account of this apparatus, long ] of air with it, which is received since removed : " At the mouth of ! into the pipes and forced to the the cavern is erected a water- innermost recesses of the coalpits, bellows, being the body of a tree, I where it issues out as if from a forming a hollow cylinder, standing pair of bellows, and rarefies the upright. Upon this a wooden basin body of thick air, which would is fixed, in the form of a funnel, otherwise prevent the workmen which receives a cm-rent of water from subsisting on the spot where from the higher ground. This the coals are dug." 182 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. VIII. state it burnt readily into excellent lime ; and this acquisi- tion was one of the most important that could have been made. I have heard it asserted more than once that this stroke was better than twenty thousand pounds in the Duke's pocket ; but, like most common assertions of the same kind, it is probably an exaggeration. However, whether the discover} 7 was worth five, ten, or twenty thousand, it certainly was of noble use, and forwarded all the works in an extraordinary manner." * It has been stated that Brindley's nervous excitement was so great on the occasion of the letting of the water into the canal, that he took to his bed at the AVheatsheaf, in Stretford, and lay there until all cause for apprehension was over. The tension on his brain must have been great, with so tremendous a load of work and anxiety upon him ; but that he " ran away," f as some -of his detractors have * 'Six Months' Tour,' vol. iii., p. 270-1. Mr. Hughes, C.E., says of this discovery : " The lime thus made would appear to be the first cement of which we have any knowledge in this country ; since the calcareous marl here spoken of would probably produce, when burnt, a lime of strong hydraulic properties." t This story was first set on foot, we believe, by the Earl of Bridge- water, in his singularly incoherent publication entitled, 'A Letter to the Parisians and the French Nation upon Inland Navigation, containing a defence of the public character of His Grace Francis Egerton, late Duke of Bridgewater. By the Hon. Francis Henry Eger- ton.' The first part of this curious book (published at Paris j was dated " Hotel Egerton, Paris, 21st Dec., 1818 ;" the second part was pub- lished two years later ; and a third part, consisting entirely of a note about Hebrew interpretations, was published subsequently. He had in the mean time become Earl of Bridgewater, in October, 1823, having formerly been prebendary of Durham and rector of Whit- church in Shropshire. The late Earl of Ellesmere, in his 'Essays on History, Biography,' &c., says of this nobleman that " he died at Paris in the odour of eccentricity." But this is a mild description of his lordship, who had at least a dozen distinct crazes about canals, the Jews, punctuation, the wonder- ful merits of the Egertons, the proper translation of Hebrew, the ancient languages generally, but j more especially about prophecy and | poodle-dogs. When he drove along the Boulevards in Paris, nothing could be seen of his lordship for poodle-dogs looking out of the car- riage-windows. The poodles sat at table with him at dinner, each being waited on by a special valet. The most creditable thing the Earl did was to leave the sum of 12,OOOZ. CHAP. VIII. VALUABLE USES OF THE CANAL. 183 alleged, is at variance with. tne whole character and history of the man. The Duke's canal, when finished, was for a long time regarded as the wonder of the neighbourhood. Strangers flocked from a distance to see Brindley's "castle in the air ;" and contemporary writers spoke in glowing terms of the surprise with which they saw several barges of great burthen drawn by a single mule or horse along " a river hung in the air," over another river flowing underneath, by the side of which some ten or twelve men might be seen slowly hauling a single barge against the stream. A lady who writes a description of the work in 1765, speaks of it as "perhaps the greatest artificial curiosity in the world ;" and she states that " crowds of people, including those of the first fashion, resort to it daily." The chief importance of the work, however, consisted in its valuable uses. Manchester was now regularly and cheaply supplied with coals. The average price was at once reduced by one-half from Id. the cwt. to 3 id. '(six score being given to the cwt.) and the supply was regular instead of intermitting, as it had formerly been. But the full advantages of this improved supply of coals were not experienced until many years after the opening of the canal, when the invention of the steam-engine, and its extensive employment as a motive power in all manufac- turing operations, rendered a cheap and abundant supply of fuel of vital importance to the growth and prosperity of Manchester and its neighbourhood. to the Britisli Museum, and 8000Z. to meritorious literary men for writing the well-known 'Bridge- water Treatises.' bruary, 1829. He died in Fe- 184 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. IX. CHAPTER IX. EXTENSION OF THE DUKE'S CANAL TO THE MERSEY. THE CANAL had scarcely been opened to Manchester when we find Brindley occupied, at the instance of the Duke, in surveying the country between Stretford and the river Mersey, with the view of carrying out a canal in that direction for the accommodation of the growing trade between Liverpool and Manchester. The first boat-load of coals sailed over the Barton viaduct to Manchester on the 17th of July, 1761; on the 7th of September fol- lowing we find Brindley at Liverpool,* " rocconitoring ;" and, by the end of the month, he was busily engaged levelling for a proposed canal to join the Mersey at Hemp- stones, about eight miles below Warrington Bridge, from whence there was a natural tideway to Liverpool, about fifteen miles distant. The project in question was a very important one on public grounds. We have seen how the community of Manchester had been hampered by defective road and water communications, which seriously aifected its supplies of food and fuel, and, at the same time, by retarding its trade, hindered to a considerable extent the regular em- * It would almost seem as if the extension of the canal to the Mersey had formed part of the Duke's ori- ginal plan; for Brindley was en- gaged in making a survey from Longford to Dunham in the autumn of the preceding year, as appears from the following account, pre- served at the Bridgewater Canal Office at Manchester, of his ex- penses in making the survey : " Expenses in Surveying from Longford Bridge to Dunham. Ocf 21 st 1760. Spent at Stretford ( At Altringham all Night . . . . 6 ( Gave the Men to Drink that) . , assisted ] x ( More at Altringham 2 e pa Mr. Brinley this." CHAP. IX. MANCHESTER AND LIVERPOOL. 185 ployment of its population. The Duke of Bridgewater, by constructing his canal, had opened up an abundant supply of coal, but the transport of the raw materials of manufacture was still as much impeded as before. Liver- pool was the natural port of Manchester, from which it drew its supplies of cotton, wool, silk, and other produce, and to which it returned them for export when worked up into manufactured articles. There were two existing modes by which the commu- nication was kept up between the two places : one was by the ordinary roads, and the other by the rivers Mersey and Irwell. From a statement published in December, 1761, it appears that the weight of goods then carried by land from Manchester to Liverpool was " upwards of forty tons per week," or about two thousand tons a year. This quantity, insignificant though it must appear when com- pared with the enormous traffic now passing between the two towns, was then thought very large, as no doubt it was when the limited trade of the country is taken into account. But the cost of transport was the important feature ; it was not less than two pounds sterling per ton this heavy charge being almost entirely attributable to the execrable state of the roads. It was scarcely possible to drive waggons along the ruts and through the sloughs which lay between the two places at certain seasons of the year, and even pack-horses had considerable difficulty in making the journey. The other route between the towns was by the naviga- tion of the rivers Mersey and Irwell. The raw materials used in manufacture were principally transported from Liverpool to Manchester by this route, at a cost of about twelve shillings per ton ; the carriage of timber and such like articles costing not less than twenty per cent, on their value at Liverpool. But the navigation was also very tedious and difficult. The boats could only pass up to the first lock at the Liverpool end with the assistance of a spring tide ; and further up the river there were. 186 LIVERPOOL A VILLAGE. CHAP. IX. numerous fords and shallows which the boats could only- pass in great freshes, or, in dry seasons, by drawing extra- ordinary quantities of water from the locks above. Then, in winter, the navigation was apt to be impeded by floods, and occasionally it was stopped altogether. In short, the growing wants of the population demanded an improved means of transit between the two towns, which the Duke of Bridgewater now determined to supply. The growth of Liverpool as a seaport has been compara- tively recent. At a time when Bristol and Hull possessed thriving harbours, resorted to by foreign ships, Liverpool was little better than a fishing village, its only distinction being that it was a convenient place for setting sail to Ireland. In the war between France and England which broke out in 1347, when Edward the Third summoned the various ports in the kingdom to make contributions towards the naval power according to their means, London was required to provide 25 ships and 662 men ; Bristol 22 ships and 608 men ; Hull, 16 ships and 466 men ; whilst Liver- pool was only asked to find 1 bark and 6 men ! In Queen Elizabeth's time, the burgesses presented a petition to Her Majesty, praying her to remit a subsidy which had been imposed upon it and other seaport towns, in which they styled their native place " Her Majesty's poor decayed town of Liverpool." Chester was then of considerably greater importance as a port. In 1634-5, when Charles I. made his unconstitutional levy of ship-money throughout Eng- land, Liverpool was let off with a contribution of 15Z., whilst Chester paid 100Z., and Bristol not less than WOOL The channel of the Dee, however, becoming silted up, the trade of Chester decayed, and that of Liverpool rose upon its ruins. In 1699 the excavation of the Old Dock was begun; but it was used only as a tidal harbour (being merely an enclosed space with a small pier) until the year 1709, when an Act was obtained enabling its con- version into a wet dock ; since which time a series of docks have been constructed, extending for about five miles along CHAP. IX. RISE AND PEOGEESS OF LIVEEPOOL. 187 the north, shore of the Mersey, which are among the greatest works of modern times, and afford an almost un- equalled amount of shipping accommodation. Liverpool in 1650. From that time forward the progress of the port of Liver- pool has kept steady pace with the trade and wealth of the country behind it, and especially with the manufac- turing activity and energy of the town of Manchester. Its situation at the mouth of a deep and navigable river, its convenient proximity to districts abounding in coal and iron and inhabited by an industrious and hardy popula- tion, were unquestionably great advantages. But these of themselves would have been insufficient to account for the extraordinary progress made by Liverpool during the last century, without the opening up of the great system of canals, which brought not only the towns of Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire into immediate connection with 188 LIVERPOOL COACHES. CHAP. IX. that seaport, but also tlie manufacturing districts of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and the other central counties of England situated at the confluence of the various navi- gations.* Liverpool thus became the great focus of import and export for the northern and western districts. The raw materials of commerce were poured into it from Ireland, America, and the Indies. From thence they were distributed along the canals amongst the various seats of manufacturing industry, and a large proportion was readily returned by the same route to the same port, in a manufactured state, for shipment to all parts of the world. At the time of which we speak, however, it will be observed that the communication between Liverpool and Manchester was very imperfect. It was not only diffi- cult to convey goods between the two places, but it was also difficult to convey persons. In fine weather, those who required to travel the thirty miles which separated them, could ride or walk, resting at AVarrington for the night. But in winter the roads, like most of the other country roads at the time, were simply impassable. Although an Act had been passed as early as the year 1726 for repairing and enlarging the road from Liver- pool to Prescot, coaches could not come nearer to the town than Warrington in 1750, the road being impracticable for such vehicles even in summer.f A stage-coach was not started between Liverpool and Manchester until the year 1767, performing the journey only three times a week. It required six and sometimes eight horses to draw the lumbering vehicle and its load * Progress of Liverpool. Years. 1701 1760 1800 Vessels entered. 102 1,245 4,746 Tonnage. Duties Paid. 8,619 2,330 450,060 23,379 1858 21,352 4,441,943 347,889 f Mr. Baines says : " Carriages were then very rare, and it is men- tioned as a singular fact that at the period in question (1750) there was but one gentleman s carriage in the town of Liverpool, and that carriage was kept by a lady of the name of Clayton." 'History of Lancashire/ vol. iv., p. 90. CHAP. IX. BRINDLEY'S SURVEY OF A CANAL. 189 along the ruts and through the sloughs, the whole day being occupied in making the journey. The coach was accustomed to start early in the morning from Liverpool ; it breakfasted at Prescot, dined at Warrington, and arrived at Manchester usually in time for supper. On one occasion, at \Varrington, the coachman intimated his wish to proceed, when the company requested him to take another pint, as they had not finished their wine, asking him at the same time if he was in a hurry ? '* Oh," replied the driver, " I'm not partic'lar to an hour or so !" As late as 1775, no mail- coach ran between Liverpool and any other town, the bags being conveyed to and from it on horseback; and one letter-carrier was found sufficient for the wants of the place. A heavy stage then ran, or rather crawled, between Liverpool and London, makmg only four journeys a week in the winter time. It started from the Golden Talbot, in Water-street, and was three days on the road. It went by Middle wich, wiiere one of its proprietors kept the "White Bear inn ; and during the Knutsford race- week the coach was sent all the way round by that place, in order to bring customers to the Bear. We have said that Brindley was engaged upon the preliminary survey of a canal to connect Manchester with the Mersey, immediately after the original Worsley line had been opened, and before its paying qualities had been ascertained. But the Duke, having once made up his mind as to the expediency of carrying out this larger project, never halted nor looked back, but made arrangements for prosecuting a bill for the purpose of enabling the canal to be made in the very next session of Parliament. We find that Brindley 's first visit to Liverpool and the intervening district on the business of the survey was made early in September, 1761. During the remainder of the month he was principally occupied in Staffordshire, looking after the working of his fire-engine at Fenton Vivian, carrying out improvements in the silk-manufactory 190 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. IX. at Congleton, and inspecting various mills at Newcastle- under-Lyne and the neighbourhood. His only idle day during that month seems to have been the 22nd, which was a holiday, for he makes the entry in his book of " crounation of Georg and Sharlot," the new King and Queen of Eng- land. By the 25th we find him again with the Duke at Worsley, and on the 30th he makes the entry, " set out at Dunham to Level for Liverpool." The work then went on continuously until the survey was completed; and on the 19th of November he set out for London, with 71. 18s. in his pocket. In the course of his numerous journeys, we find Brind- ley carefully noting down the various items of his expenses, which were curiously small. Although he was four or five days on the road to London, and stayed eight days there, his total expenses, both going and returning, amounted to only 41. Ss. : it is most probable, however, that he lived at the Duke's house whilst in town. On the 1st of December we find him, on his return journey to Worsley, resting the first night at a place called Brick- hill; the next at Coventry, where he makes the entry, " Moy mar had a bad fall in the frasst ;" the third at Sandon ; the fourth at Congleton ; and the fifth at Worsley. He had still some inquiries to make as to the depth of water and the conditions of the tide at Hempstones; and for three days he seems to have been occupied in traffic- taking, with a view to the evidence to be given before Parliament; for on the 10th of December we find him at Stretford, "to count the caridgos," and on the 12th he is at Manchester for the same purpose, "counting the loded caridgos and horses." The following bill refers to some of the work done by him at this time, and is a curious specimen of an engineer's travelling charges in those days the engineer himself being at the same time paid at the rate of 3s. 6d. a day : CHAP. IX. HIS TRAVELLING CHARGES. 191 Expenses for His Grace the Duk of Bridgwator to pay for traveling Chareges by James Brindley. 18 Novem 1761. 18 No masuring a Cros from Dunham to Warbuton Mercey and Thai wall, 3s -lid Dunham for 2 diners Is -3d for - the man Is - Od at Thalwall Is - 2d all Night Warington 074 19 Novem Sat out from Chester for London & at Worsley Septm 5 Retorned back going to London and at London & hors back to Worsley Charged Hors & my salf . . . . 480 9 december Coming back from Ham Stone Charges at Wil- derspool all Night 080 at Warington to meet M r Ashley dining . . . . 042 10 to ataind the Turn pike Rode 2s - Qd & againe on t e 12 D e Rode3s-6d 6.0 21 Deem to inspect t e flux and Reflux at Ham Stone 2 dayes ... 066 26 Dec r 1761. Rec d the Contents of the above Bill by the Hands of John Gilbert. James "Brindley 6 00 In the early part of the month of January, 1762, we find Brindley busy measuring soughs, gauging the tides at Hempstones, and examining and altering the Duke's paper-mills and iron slitting-mills at Worsley ; and on the 7th we find this entry : " to masuor the Duks pools I and Smeaton." On the following day he makes "an ochilor survey from Saldnoor [Sale Moor] to Stockport," with a view to a branch canal being carried in that direction. On the 14th, he sets out from Congleton, by way of Ashbourne, Northampton, and Dunstable, arriving in London on the fifth day. Immediately on his arrival in town we find him pro- ceeding to rig himself out in a new suit of clothes. His means were small, his habits thrifty, and his wardrobe scanty; but as he was about to appear in an important character, as the principal engineering witness before a Parliamentary Committee in support of the Duke's bill, he felt it necessary to incur an extra expenditure on dress for the occasion. Accordingly, on the morning of the 18th we find him expending a guinea an entire week's pay in the purchase of a pair of new breeches; two 192 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. IX. guineas on a coat and waistcoat of broadcloth, and six shillings for a pair of new shoes. The subjoined is a fac-simile of the entry in his pocketbook. Fac-simile of Brindley's Hand-writing. It will be observed that an expenditure is here entered of nine shillings for going to " the play." It would appear that his friend Gilbert, who was in London with him on the canal business, prevailed on Brindley to go with CHAP. IX. OPPOSITION TO PROPOSED CANAL. 193 him to the theatre to see Garrick in the play of ' Richard III.,' and he went. He had never been to an entertainment of the kind before; but the excitement which it caused him was so great, and it so completely disturbed his ideas, that he was unfitted for business for several days after. He then declared that no consider- ation should tempt him to go a second time, and he held to his resolution. This was his first and only visit to the play. The following week he enters in his memorandum- book concerning himself " ill in bed," and the first Sunday after his recovery we find him attending service at " Sant Mary's Church." The service did not make him ill, as the play had done, and on the following day he attended the House of Commons on the subject of the Duke's bill. The proposed canal from Manchester to the Mersey at Hempstones stirred up an opposition which none of the Duke's previous bills had encountered. Its chief opponents were the proprietors of the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, who saw their monopoly assailed by the measure; and, unable though they had been satisfactorily to conduct the then traffic between Liverpool and Manchester, they were unwilling to allow of any additional water service being provided between the two towns. Having already had sufficient evidence of the Duke's energy and enter- prise, from what he had been able to effect in so short a time in forming the canal between Worsley and Man- chester, the Navigation Company were not without reason alarmed at his present project. At first they tried to buy him off by concessions. They offered to reduce the rate of 3s. 4d. per ton of coals, timber, &c., conveyed upon the Irwell between Barton and Man- chester, to 6dL if he would join their Navigation at Barton and abandon the part of his canal between that point and Manchester ; but he would not now be diverted from his plan, which he resolved to carry into execution if possible. Again they tried to conciliate his Grace by offering him certain exclusive advantages in the use of J. B. o 194 JAMES BEINDLEY. CHAP. IX. their Navigation. But it was again too late ; and the Duke having a clear idea of the importance of his project, and being assured by his engineer of its practicability and the great commercial value of the undertaking, determined to pro- ceed with the measure. It offered to the public the advantages of a shorter line of navigation, not liable to be interrupted by floods on the one hand or droughts on the other, and, at the same time, a much lower rate of freight, the maximum charge proposed in the bill being 6s. a ton against 12s., the rate charged by the Mersey and Trwell Navigation between Liverpool and Manchester. The opposition to the bill was led by Lord Strange, s^ n of the Earl of Derby, one of the members for the county of Lancaster, who took the part of the " Old Navigators," as they were called, in resisting the bill. The question seems also to have been treated as a political one; and, the Duke and his friends being AMiigs, Lord Strange mustered the Tory party strongly against him. Hence we find this entry occurring in Brindley's note- book, under date the 16th of February: "The Toores [Tories] mad had [made head] agane ye Duk." The principal objections offered to the proposed canal were, that the landowners would suffer by it from having their lands cut through and covered with water, by which a great number of acres would be for ever lost to the public ; that there was no necessity whatever for the canal, the Mersey and Irwell Navigation being sufficient to carry more goods than the trade then existing required ; that the new navigation would run almost parallel with the old one, and offered no advantage to the public which the existing river navigation did not supply; that the canal would drain away the waters which supplied the rivers, and be very prejudicial to them, if not totally destructive, in dry seasons ; that the proprietors of the old navigation had in- vested their money on the faith of protection by Parliament, and to permit the new canal to be established would be a gross interference with their vested rights ; and so on. CHAP. IX. EVIDENCE BEFORE COMMONS' COMMITTEE. 195 To these objections there were very sufficient answers. The bill provided for full compensation being made to the owners of lands through which the canal passed, and, in addition, it was provided that all sorts of manure should be carried for them without charge. It was also shown that the Duke's canal could not abstract water from either the Mersey or the Irwell, as the level of both rivers was con- siderably below that of the intended canal, which would be supplied almost entirely from the drainage of his own coal-mines at Worsley; and with respect to the plea of vested rights set up, it was shown that Parliament, in granting certain powers to the old navigators, had regard mainly to the convenience and advantage of the public; and they were not precluded from empowering a new navi- gation to be formed if it could be proved to present a more convenient and advantageous mode of conveyance. On these grounds the Duke was strongly supported by the inhabitants of the localities proposed to be served by the intended canal. The " Junto of Old Navigators of the Mersey and Irwell Company " had for many years carried things with a very high hand, extorted the highest rates, and, in cases of loss by delay or damage to goods in transit, refused all redress. A feeling very hostile to them and their monopoly had accordingly grown up, which now exhibited itself in a powerful array of petitions to Parlia- ment in favour of the Duke's bill. On the 17th of February, 1762, the bill came before the Committee of the House of Commons, and Brindley was examined in its support. We regret that no copy of his evidence now exists* from which we might have formed an opinion of the engineer's abilities as a witness. Some curious anecdotes have, however, been * Search has been made at the Bridgewater Estate Offices at Man- chester, and in the archives of the Houses of Parliament, bnt no copy can be found. It is probable that the Parliamentary papers connected with this application to Parliament were destroyed by the fire which consumed so many similar docu- ments about twenty-five years ago. 2 196 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. IX. preserved of his demeanour and evidence on canal bills before Parliament. When asked, on one occasion, to produce a drawing of an intended bridge, he replied that he had no plan of it on paper, but he would illustrate it by a model. He went out and bought a large cheese, which he brought into the room and cut into two equal parts, saying, "Here is my model." The two halves of the cheese represented the semicircular arches of his bridge ; and by laying over them some long rectangular object, he could thus readily communicate to the Com- mittee the position of the river flowing underneath and the canal passing over it.* On another occasion, when giving his evidence, he spoke so frequently about "puddling," describing its uses and advantages, that some of the members expressed a desire to know what this extraordinary mixture was, that could be applied to such important purposes. Preferring a practical illustration to a verbal description, Brindley caused a mass of clay to be brought into the committee- room, and, moulding it in its raw untempered state into the form of a trough, he poured into it some water, which speedily ran through and disappeared. He then worked the clay up with water to imitate the process of puddling, and again forming it into a trough, filled it with water, which was now held in without a particle of leakage. "Thus it is," said Brindley, "that I form a water-tight trunk to carry water over rivers and valleys, wherever they cross the path of the canal." f Again, when Brindley was giving evidence before a Committee of the House of Peers as to the lockage of his proposed canal, one of their Lordships asked him, "But what is a lock?" on which the engineer took a piece of chalk from his pocket and proceeded to explain it by * Stated by Mr. Hughes, in his ' Memoir of Brindley,' as having been communicated to him by James Loch, Esq., M.P., formerly agent for the Duke's Trustees. t 'Memoir of Brindley,' by S. Hughes, C.E., in ' Weale's Papers on Civil Engineering.' CHAP. IX. A CANAL LOCK DESCRIBED. 197 means of a diagram which he drew upon the floor, and made the matter clear at once.* He used to be so ready * As the reader may possibly desire information on the same point, we may here briefly explain the nature of a Canal Lock. It is employed as a means of carrying navigations through an uneven country, and raising the boats from one water level to another, or vice versa. The lock is a chamber formed of masonry, occupying the bed of the canal where the differ- ence of level is to be overcome. It is provided with two pairs of gates, one at each end ; and the chamber is so contrived that the level of the water which it contains may be made to coincide with either the higher level above, or the lower level below it. The following dia- grams will explain the form and construction of the lock. A repre- sents what is called the upper pond, B the lower, is the left wall, and DD side culverts. When the gates at the lower end of the chamber (E) are opened, and those at the upper end (F) are closed, the water in the chamber will stand at the lower level of the canal ; but when the lower gates are closed, and the upper gates are opened, the water will naturally coincide with that in the upper part of the canal. In the first case, a boat may be floated into the lock from the lower part, and then, if the lower gates be closed and water is admitted from the upper level, the canal-boat is raised, by the depth of water thus added to the lock, to the upper level, and on the com- plete opening of the gates it is thus floated onward. By reversing the process, it will readily be under- stood how the boat may, in like manner, be lowered from the higher Longitudinal Section and Plan of Lock. 198. JAMES BRINDLEY, CHAP. IX, with his chalk for purposes of illustration, that it became a common saying in Lancashire, that " Brindley and chalk would go through the world." He was never so eloquent as when with his chalk in hand, it stood him in lieu of tongue. On the day following Brindley's examination before the Committee on the Duke's bill, that is, on the 18th of February, we find him entering in his note-book that the Duke sent out "200 leators" to members possible friends of the measure ; containing his statement of reasons in favour of the bill. On the 20th Mr. Tomkinson, the Duke's solicitor, was under examination for four hours and a half. Sunday intervened, on which day Brindley records that he was "at Lord Harrington's." On the following day, the 22nd, the evidence for the bill was finished, and the Duke followed this up by sending out 250 more letters to members, with an abstract of the evidence given in favour of the measure. On the 26th there was a debate of eight hours on the bill, followed by a division, in Committee of the whole House, thus recorded by Brindley : " ad a grate Division of 127 fort Duk 98 nos for t e Duk 29 Me Jorete " But the bill had still other discussions and divisions to encounter before it was safe. The Duke and his agents worked with great assiduity. On the 3rd of March he to the lower level. The greater the lift or the lowering, the more water is consumed in the process of exchange from one level to another; and where the traffic of the canal is great, a large supply of water is required to carry it on, which is usually provided by capa- cious reservoirs situated above the summit level. Various expedients are adopted for economising water : thus, when the width of the canal will admit of it, the lock is made in two compartments, communi- cating with each other by a valve, which can be opened and shut at pleasure ; and by this means one- half of the water which it would otherwise be necessary to discharge to the lower level may be trans- ferred to the other compartment. CHAP. IX. HIS RETURN TO LANCASHIRE. 199 caused 250 more letters to be distributed amongst the members ; and on the day after we find the House wholly occupied with the bill. We quote again from Brindley's record : " 4 [March] ade bate at the Hous with grate vigor 3 divisons the Duke carred by Numbers evory time a 4 division moved but Noos yelded." On the next day we read " wont thro the closos ; " from which we learn that the clauses were settled and passed. Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Tomkinson then set out for Lancashire : the bill was safe. It passed the third reading, Brindley making men- tion that " Lord Strange " was " sick with geef [grief] on that affair Mr. Wellbron want Eong god," which latter expression we do not clearly understand, unless it was that Mr. Wilbraham wanted to wrong God. The bill was carried to the Lords, Brindley on the 10th March making the entry, " Touk the Lords oath." But the bill passed the Upper House " without opposishin," and received the Eoyal Assent on the 24th of the same month. On the day following the passage of the bill through the House of Lords (of which Brindley makes the trium- phant entry, " Lord Strange defetted "), he set out for Lancashire, after nine weary weeks' stay in London. To hang about the lobbies of the House and haunt the office of the Parliamentary agent, must have been excessively irksome to a man like Brindley, accustomed to incessant occupation and to see works growing under his hands. During this time we find him frequently at the office of the Duke's solicitor in " Mary Axs ;" sometimes with Mr. Tomkinson, who paid him his guinea a-week during the latter part of his stay; and on several occasions he is engaged with gentlemen from the country, advising them about "saltworks at Droitwitch" and mill-arrangements in Cheshire. Many things had fallen behind during his absence and required his attention, so he at once set out home; but the first day, on reaching Dunstable, he was alarmed to find that his mare, so long unaccustomed to the road, had 200 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. IX. " allmost lost ye use of her Limes" [limbs]. He therefore went on slowly, as the mare was a great favourite with him his affection for the animal having on one occasion given rise to a serious quarrel between him and Mr. G ilbert and he did not reach Congleton until the sixth day after his setting out from London. He rested at Congleton for two days, during which he "settled the geering of the silk-mill," and then proceeded straight on to \Vorsley to set about the working survey of the new canal. The course of this important canal, which unites the mills of Manchester with the shipping of Liverpool, is about twenty-four miles in length.* From Longford Bridge, near Manchester, its course lies in a south-westerly direction for some distance, crossing the river Mersey at a point about five miles above its junction with the Irwell. At Altrincham it proceeds in a westerly direction, crossing the river Bollin about three miles further on, near Dun- ham. After crossing the Bollin, it describes a small semi- circle, proceeding onward in the valley of the Mersey, and nearly in the direction of the river as far as the crossing of the high road from Chester to Warrington. It then bends to the south to preserve the high level, passing in a southerly direction as far as Preston, in Cheshire, from whence it again turns round to the north to join the river Mersey. [For Map of the Canal, see pp. 168-9.] The canal lies entirely in the lower part of the new red sandstone, the principal earthworks consisting of the clays, marls, bog-earths, and occasionally the sandstones of this formation. The heaviest bog crossed in the line of the works was Sale Moor, west of the Mersey, where the bottom was of quicksand; and the construction of the * The following statement of the lengths of the different portions of the Duke's canal, including those originally executed, is from the map published by Brindley in 1709 : Miles, furl, chains. From Worsley to Longford Bridge 6 Level. Longford Bridge to Manchester 4 2 Longford Bridge to Preston Brook .... 19 Preston Brook to upper part of Runcorn ..440 Upper part of Kuncorn to the Mersey .... 5 1 79 feet fall. CHAP. IX. SECURES UNINTERRUPTED LEVEL. 201 canal at that part was probably an -undertaking of as formidable a character as the laying of the railroad over Chat Moss proved some sixty years later. But Brindley, like Stepheiison, looked upon a difficulty as a thing to be overcome ; and when an obstruction presented itself, he at once set his wits to work and studied how it was best to be grappled with and surmounted. A large number of brooks had to be crossed, and also two important rivers, which involved the construction of numerous aqueducts, bridges, and culverts, to provide for the surface water supply of the district. It will, therefore, be obvious that the undertaking was of a much more important nature more difficult for the engineer to execute, and more costly to the noble proprietor who found the means for carrying it to a completion than the comparatively limited and inexpensive work between Worsley and Man- chester, which we have above described. The capital idea which Brindley early formed and deter- mined to carry out, was to construct a level of dead water all the way from Manchester to a point as near to the junction of the canal with the Mersey as might be found practicable. Such a canal, he clearly saw, would not be so expensive to work as one furnished with locks at inter- mediate points. Brindley's practice of securing long levels of water in canals was in many respects similar to that of George Stephenson with reference to flat gradients upon railways; and in all the canals that he constructed, he planned and carried them out as far as possible after this leading principle. Hence the whole of the locks on the Duke's canal were concentrated at its lower end near Kuncorn, where the navigation descended, as it were by a flight of water steps, into the river Mersey. Lord Elles- mere has observed that this uninterrupted level of the Bridge water Canal from Leigh and Manchester to Runcorn, and the concentration of its descent to the Mersey at the latter place, have always been considered as among the most striking evidences of the genius and skill of Brindley. 202 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. IX. There was, as usual, considerable delay in obtaining pos- session of the land on which to commence the works. The tenants required a certain notice, which must necessarily expire before the Duke's engineer could take possession; and numerous obstacles were thrown in his way, both by tenants and landlords hostile to the undertaking. In many cases the Duke had to pay dearly for the land purchased under the compulsory powers of his Act. Near Lymni, the canal passed through a little bit of garden belonging to a poor man's cottage, the only produce growing upon the ground being a pear-tree. For this the Duke had to pay thirty guineas, and it was thought a very extravagant price at that time. Since the introduction of railways, the price would probably be considered ridiculously low. For the land on which the warehouses and docks were built at Manches- ter, the Duke had to pay in all the much more formidable sum of about forty thousand pounds. The Old Quay Navigation, even at the last moment, thought to delay if not to defeat the Duke's operations, by lowering their rates nearly one-half. Only a few days after the Eoyal Assent had been given to the bill, they published an announcement, appropriately dated the 1st of April, setting forth the large sacrifices they were about to make, and intimating that " from their Reductions in Carriage a real and permanent Advantage will arise to the Public, and they will experience that Utility so cried up of late, but which has hitherto only existed in promises." The Duke heeded not the ineffective blow thus aimed at him : he was only more than ever resolved to go forward with his canal. He was even offered the Mersey Navigation itself at the price of thirteen thousand pounds ; but he would not have it now at any price. The public spirit and enterprise displayed by many of the young noblemen of those days was truly admirable. Brindley had for several years been in close personal com- munication with Earl Gower as to the construction of the canal intended to unite the Mersey with the Trent and the CHAP. IX. CANAL FROM MANCHESTER TO LIVERPOOL. 203 Severn, and thus connect the ports of Liverpool, Hull, and Bristol, by a system of inland water-communication. With this object, as we have seen, he had often visited the Earl at his seat at Trentham, and discussed with him the plans by which this truly magnificent enteiprise was to be carried out ; and he had frequently visited the Earl of Stamford at his seat at Enville for the same purpose. But those schemes were too extensive and costly to be carried out by the private means of either of those noblemen, or even by both combined. They were, therefore, under the necessity of stirring up the latent enterprise of the landed proprietors in their respective districts, and waiting until they had received a sufficient -amount of local support to enable them to act with vigour in carrying their great design into effect. The Duke of Bridge water's scheme of uniting Manchester and Liverpool by an entirely new line of water-communi- cation, cut across bogs and out of the solid earth in some places, and carried over rivers and valleys at others by bridges and embankments, was scarcely less bold or costly. Though it was spoken of as another of the Duke's " castles in the air," and his resources were by no means overflowing at the time he projected it, he nevertheless determined to go on alone with it, should no one be willing to join him. The Duke thus proved himself a real Dux or leader of industrial enterprise in his district; and by cutting his canal, and providing a new, short, and cheap water-way between Liverpool and Manchester, which was afterwards extended through the counties of Chester, Stafford, and Warwick, he unquestionably paved the way for the creation and development of the modern manufacturing system ex- isting in the north-western counties of England. We need scarcely say how admirably he was supported throughout by the skill and indefatigable energy of his engineer. Brindley's fertility in resources was the theme of general admiration. Arthur Young, who visited the works during their progress, speaks with enthusiastic 204 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. IX. admiration of his "bold and decisive strokes of genius," his "penetration which sees into futurity, and prevents obstructions un thought of by the vulgar mind, merely by foreseeing them : a man," says he, " -with such ideas, moves in a sphere that is to the rest of the world imaginary, or at best a terra incognita."" It would be uninteresting to describe the works of the Bridgewater Canal in detail; for one part of a canal is usually so like another, that to do so were merely to involve a needless amount of repetition of a necessarily dry description. We shall accordingly content ourselves with referring to the original methods by which Brindley con- trived to overcome the more important difficulties of the undertaking. From Longford Bridge, where the new works commenced, the canal, which was originally about eight yards wide and four feet deep, was carried upon an embankment of about a mile in extent across the valley of the Mersey. One might naturally suppose that the conveyance of such a mass of earth must have exclusively employed all the horses and carts in the neighbourhood for years. But Brindley, with his usual fertility in expedients, contrived to make the con- struction of one part of the canal subservient to the com- pletion of the remainder. He had the stuff required to make up the embankment brought in boats partly from Worsley and partly from other parts of the canal where the cutting was in excess ; and the boats, filled with this stuff, were conducted from the canal along which they had come into watertight caissons or cisterns placed at the point over which the earth and clay had to be deposited. The boats, being double, fixed within two feet of each other, had a triangular trough supported between them of sufficient capacity to contain about seventeen tons of earth. The bottom of this trough consisted of a line of trap-doors, which flew open at once on a pin being drawn, and dis- charged their whole burthen into the bed of the canal in an instant. Thus the level of the embankment was raised CHAP. IX. CANAL CARRIED OVER SALE MOOR MOSS. 205 to the point necessary to enable the canal to be carried forward to the next length. Arthur Young was of opinion that the saving effected by constructing the Stretford embankment in this way, instead of by carting the stuff, was equivalent to not less than five thousand per cent. ! The materials of the caissons employed in executing this part of the work were afterwards used in forming tempo- rary locks across the valley of the Bollin, whilst the embankment was being constructed at that point by a process almost the very reverse, but of equal ingenuity. Brindley's Ballast Boats. In the same valley of the Mersey the canal had to be carried over a large brook subject to heavy floods, by means of a strong bridge of two arches, adjoining which was a third, affording provision for a road. Further on, the canal was carried over the Mersey itself upon a bridge with one arch of seventy feet span. Westward of this river lay a very difficult part of the work, occasioned by the carrying of the navigation over the Sale Moor Moss. Many thought this an altogether impracticable thing ; as not only had the hollow trunk of earth in which the canal lay to be made water-tight, but to preserve the level of the water-way it must necessarily be raised considerably above the level of the Moor across which it was to be laid. Brindley overcame the difficulty in the following manner. He made a strong casing of timber- work outside the intended line of embank- ment on either side of the canal, by placing deal balks in an erect position, backing and supporting them on the out- side with other balks laid in rows, and fast screwed toge- ther ; and on the front side of this woodwork he had his 206 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. IX. ear tli- work brought forward, hard rammed, and puddled, to form the navigable canal; after which the casing was moved onward to the part of the work further in advance, and the bottom having previously been set with rubble and gravel, the embankment was thus carried forward by degrees, the canal was raised to the proper level, and the whole was substantially and satisfactorily finished. A steam-engine of Brindley's contrivance was erected at Dunham Town Bridge to pump the water from the foun- dations there. The engine was called a Sawney, for what reason is not stated, and, for long after, the bridge was called Sawney's Bridge. The foundations of the under- bridge, near the same place, were popularly supposed to be set on quicksand ; and old Lord Warrington, when he had occasion to pass under it, would pretend cautiously to look about him, as if to examine whether the piers were all right, and then run through as fast as he could. A tall poplar-tree stood at Dunham Banks, on which a board was nailed showing the height of the canal level; the people long after called the place " The Duke's Folly," the name given to it while his scheme was still believed to be im- practicable. But the skill of the engineer baffled these and other prophets of evil ; and the success of his expedients, in nearly every case of difficulty that occurred, must certainly be regarded as remarkable, considering the novel and un- precedented character of the undertaking. Brindley invariably contrived to economise labour as much as possible, and many of his expedients with this object were very ingenious. So far as he could, he endea- voured to make use of the canal itself for the purpose of forwarding the work. He had a floating blacksmith's forge and shop, provided with all requisite appliances, fitted up in one barge ; a complete carpenter's shop in another ; and a mason's shop in a third ; all of which were floated on as the canal advanced, and were thus always at hand to supply the requisite facilities for prosecuting the opera- tions with economy and despatch. Where there was a CH. IX. PRECAUTIONS AGAINST BURSTING OF BANKS. 207 break in the line of work, occasioned, for instance, by the erection of some bridge not yet finished, the engineer had similar barges constructed and carried by land to other lengths of the canal which were in progress, where they were floated and advanced in like manner for the use of the workmen. When the bridge across the Mersey, which was pushed on as rapidly as possible with the object of econo- mising labour and cost of materials, was completed, the stone, lime, and timber were brought along the canal from the Duke's property at Worsley, as well as supplies of clay for the purpose of puddling the bottom of the waterway ; and thus the work rapidly advanced at all points. As one of the great objections made to the construction of the canal had been the danger threatened to the sur- rounding districts by the bursting of the embankments, Brindley made it his object to provide against the occur- rence of such an accident by an ingenious expedient. He had stops or flood-gates contrived and laid in various parts of the bed of the canal, across its bottom, so that, in the event of a breach occurring in the bank and a rush of water taking place, the current which must necessarily set in to that point should have the effect of immediately raising the valvular floodgates, and so shutting off the stream and preventing the escape of more water than was contained in the division between the two nearest gates on either side of the breach. At the same time, these floodgates might be used for cutting off the waters of the canal at different points, for the purpose of making any necessary repairs in particular lengths ; the contrivance of waste tubes and plugs being so arranged that the bed of any part of the canal, more especially where it passed over the bridges, might be laid bare in a few hours, and the repairs executed at once. In devising these ingenious expedients, it ought to be remembered that Brindley had no previous experience to fall back upon, and possessed no knowledge of the means which foreign engineers might have adopted to meet 208 JAMES BRIXDLEY. CHAP. IX. similar emergencies. All had been the result of his own original thinking and contrivance; and, indeed, many of these devices were altogether new and original, and had never before been tried by any engineer. It is curious to trace the progress of the works by Brindley's own memoranda, which, though brief, clearly exhibit his marvellous industry and close application to every detail of the business. He settled with the farmers for their tenant-right, sold and accounted for the wood cut down and the gravel dug out along the line of the canal, paid the workmen employed,* laid out the work, measured off the quantities done from time to time, planned and erected the bridges, designed the canal boats required for conveying the earth to form the embankments, and united in himself the varied functions of land-surveyor, carpenter, mason, brickmaker, boat-builder, paymaster, and engineer. We even find him condescending to count bricks and sell grass. Nothing was too small for him to attend to, nor too bold for him to undertake, when necessity required. At the same time we find him contriving a water-plane for the Duke's collieries at Worsley, and occasionally visiting New- chapel, Leek, and Congleton, in Staffordshire, for the pur- pose of attending to the business on which he still continued to be employed at those places. The heavy works at the crossing of the Mersey occupied * The following bill is preserved amongst the Bridgewater Canal papers. chanic, and acted as foreman of the carpenters : Simcox was a skilled rne- " His Grace the Duke of Bridgewater to Saml Simcox. 23 Mar* 23 Ang* To 12 days work at 2 1* 1 per To 6 days more d at d To 8 days more d at d . . . s. d. 110 10 6 14 256 1 Nov 1760. Reed the Contents above by the Hands of John Gilbert for the Use of Saml Simcox. P<* JAMES BBINDLEV." The wages of what was called a "right-hand man" at that time were from 14d. to IQd. a day, and of a "left-hand man to 14d. from Is. CM. IX. QUARREL BETWEEN BRINDLEY AND GILBERT. 209 him almost 'exclusively towards the end of the year 1763. He was there making dams and pushing on the building of the bridge. Occasionally he enters the words, " short of men at Cornbrook." Indeed, he seems at that time to have lived upon the works, for we find the almost daily entry of "dined at the Bull, Sd" On the 10th of November he makes this entry : " Aftor noon sattled about the size of the arch over the river Marsee [Mersey] to be 66 foot span and rise 16-4 feet." Next day he is "landing balk out of the ould river in to the canal." Then he goes on, " I prosceded to Worsley Mug was corking ye boats the masons woss making the senter of the waire [weir]. AVhith 6 was osing to put the lator side of the water-wheel srouds on I orderd the pit for ye spindle of ye morter-mill to be sunk level with ye canal Mr. Gilbert sade ye 20 Tun Boat should be at ye water mitang [meeting] by 7 o'clock the next morn." Next morning he is on the works at Cornhill, setting " a carpentar to make scrwos" [screws], superintending the gravelling of the towing-path, and arranging with a farmer as to Mr. Gilbert's slack. And so he goes on from day to day with the minutest details of the undertaking. He was not without his petty " werrets " and troubles either. Brindley and Gilbert do not seem to have got on very well together. They were both men of strong tem- pers, and neither would tolerate the other's interference. Gilbert, being the Duke's factotum, was accustomed to call Brindley 's men from their work, which the other would not brook. Hence we have this entry on one occasion, " A meshender [messenger] from Mr G I retorned the anser No more sosiety." In fact, they seem to have quarrelled.* * The Earl of Bridgewater, in his rambling Letter to the Pari- sians,' above referred to, alleges that the quarrel originated in Gil- bert's horse breaking into the field where Brindley's mare was grazing, and doing her such injury that the engineer Avas for^a time prevented using the animal in the pursuit of his business. The mare was a great favourite of Brindley's, and he is said to have taken the thing very much to heart. The Earl al- leges that Brindley was under the impression Gilbert had contrived the trick out of spite. J.B. P 210 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. IX. We find the following further entries on the subject in Briiidley's note-book : " Thursday 1 7 Kovr past 7 o'clock at night M Gilbert and sun Tom caled on mee at Gorshill and I went with them to ye Coik [sign of the Cock] tha stade all night and the had balk [blank ?] bill of parsill 18 Fryday November 7 morn I went to the Cock and Bruck- fast with Gilberts he in davred to imploye ye carpinters at Cornhill in making door and window frames for a Building in Castle field and shades for the mynors in Dito and other things I want them to Saill Moor Hee took upon him diriction of ye back drains and likwaise such Lands as be twixt the 2 hous and ceep uper side the large farme and was displesed with such raing as I had pointed out." Those differences between Brindley and Gilbert were eventually reconciled, most probably by the mediation of the Duke, for the services of both were alike essential to him; and we afterwards find them working cordially together and consulting each other as before on any irnportant part of the undertaking. During the construction of Longford Bridge, Brindley seems, from his note-book, to have entertained considerable apprehensions as to its ability to resist the heavy floods with which it was threatened. Thus, on the 26th of' November, 1763, he enters : " Grate Rains the canal rose 2 inches extra I dreed fr [4 ?] clock at Longfoard ;" and on the following day, which was a Sunday, he writes : " Lay in Bad till noon floode and Eaine." Then in the afternoon he adds, " The water in Longfoord Brook was withe in six inches of the high of the santer [centre] of ye waire [weir ?]." The bridge, however, stood firm ; and when the flood subsided, the building was again proceeded with ; and by the end of the year it was finished and gravelled over, while the embankment was steadily proceeding beyond the Mersey in the manner above described. Brindley did not want for good workmen to carry out his plans. He found plenty of labourers in the neighbour- hood accustomed to hard work, who speedily became CHAP. IX. HIS PRINCIPAL WORKMEN. 211 expert excavators; and though there was at first a lack of skilled carpenters, blacksmiths, and bricklayers, they soon became trained into such under the vigilant eye of Longford Bridge. so able a master as Brindley was. We find him, in his note-book, often referring to the men by their names, or rather byenaines; for in Lancashire* proper names seem to have been little used at that time. " Black David" was one of the foremen most employed on difficult matters, and " Bill o Toms " and " Busick Jack " seem also to have been confidential workmen in their respective departments. We are informed by a gentle- man of the neighbourhood* that most of the labourers employed were of a superior class, and some of them were "wise" or "cunning men," blood-stoppers, herb- doctors, and planet-rulers, such as are still to be found in the neighbourhood of Manchester. Their very super- stitions, says our informant, made them thinkers and calculators. The foreman bricklayer, for instance, as his son used afterwards to relate, always " ruled the planets * R. Rawliuson. Esq., C.E., Engineer to the Bridge-water Canal. p 2 212 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. IX. to find out the lucky days on which to commence any important work," and he added, "none of our work ever gave way." The skilled men had their trade-secrets, in which the unskilled were duly initiated, simple matters in themselves, but not without their uses. The follow- ing may be taken as specimens of the secrets of embank- ing in those days : A wet embankment can be prevented from slipping by dredging or dusting powdered lime in layers over the wet clay or earth. Sand or gravel can be made water-tight by shaking it together with flat bars of iron run in some depth, say two feet, #nd washing down loam or soil as the bars are moved about, thus obviating the necessity for clay puddle. Dry-rot can be prevented in warehouses by setting the bricks opposite the ends of the main beams of the ware- house in dry sand. Whilst constructing the canal, Brindley was very inti- mate with one Lawrence Earnshaw, of Mottram-in-Long- dendale, a kindred mechanical genius, though in a smaller way. Lawrence was a very poor man's son, and had served a seven years' apprenticeship to the trade of a tailor, after which he bound himself apprentice to a clothier for seven years ; but these trades not suiting his tastes, and being of a decidedly mechanical turn, he finally bound himself apprentice to a clockmaker, whom he also served for seven years. This eccentric person invented many curious and ingenious machines, which were regarded as of great merit in his time. One of these was an astrono- mical and geographical machine, beautifully executed, showing the earth's diurnal and annual motion, after the manner of an orrery. The whole of the calculations were made by himself, and the machine is said to have been so exactly contrived and executed that, provided the vibra- tion of the pendulum did not vary, the machine would not alter a minute in a hundred years; but this might probably be an extravagant estimate on the part of Earn- CH. IX. HIS INTIMACY WITH LAWRENCE EARNSHAW. 213 shaw's friends. He was also a musical instrument maker and music teacher, a worker in metals and in wood, a painter and glazier, an optician, a bellfounder, a chemist and metallurgist, an engraver in short, an almost uni- versal mechanical genius. But though he could make all these things, it is mentioned as a remarkable fact, that with all his ingenuity, and after many efforts (for he made many), he never could make a wicker-basket! In- deed, trying to be a universal genius was his ruin. He did, or attempted to do, so much, that he never stood still and established himself in any one thing; and, notwith- standing his great ability, he died " not worth a groat." Amongst Earnshaw's various contrivances was a piece of machinery to raise water from a coal-mine at Hague, near Mottram, and (about 1753) a machine to spin and reel cotton at one operation in fact, a spinning-jenny which he showed to some of his neighbours as a curiosity, but, after having convinced them of what might be done by its means, he immediately destroyed it, saying that "he would not be the means of taking bread out of the mouths of the poor."* He was a total abstainer from strong drink, long before the days of Teetotal Societies. Towards the end of his life he continued on intimate terms with Brindley; and when they met they did not readily separate. While the undertaking was in full progress, from four to six hundred men were employed ; they were divided into gangs of about fifty, each of which was directed by a captain and setter-out of the works. One who visited the canal during its construction in 1765, wrote thus of the busy scene which the works presented : " I surveyed * Mr. Bennet Woodcraft, of the Patent Office, writes us as follows with reference to Earnshaw's alleged invention of a spinning machine : " The fact really is, that the machine in question was invented by John Kay of Bury ; and when, in 1753, a mob broke into Kay's house, and completely gutted it, the model of the spinning machine was saved by Eamshaw, who subsequently destroyed it." 214 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. IX. the Duke's men for two hours, and think the industry of bees or labour of ants is not to be compared to them. Each man's work seems to depend on and be connected with his neighbour's, and the whole posse appeared as I conceive did that of the Tyrians when they wanted houses to put their heads in at Carthage."* At Stretford the visitor found "four hundred men at work, putting the finishing stroke to about two hundred yards of the canal, which reached nearly to the Mersey, and which, on draw- ing up the floodgates, was to receive a proper quantity of water and a number of loaded barges. One of these appeared like the hull of a collier, with its deck all covered, after the manner of a cabin, and having an iron chimney in the centre ; this, on inquiry, proved to be the carpentry, but was shut up, being Sabbath-day, as was another barge, which contained the smith's forge. Some vessels were loaded with soil, which was put into troughs (see cut, p. 205), fastened together, and rested on boards that lay across two barges ; between each of these there was room enough to discharge the loading by loosening some iron pins at the bottom of the troughs. Other barges lay loaded with the foundation-stones of the canal bridge, which is to carry the navigation across the Mersey. Is ear two thousand oak piles are already driven to strengthen the foundations of this bridge. The carpenters on the Lancashire side were preparing the centre frame, and on the Cheshire side all hands were at work in bringing down the soil and beating the ground adjacent to the founda- tions of the bridge, which is designed to be covered with stone in a month, and finished in about ten days more." f By these vigorous measures the works proceeded rapidly towards completion. Before, however, they had made any * St. James's Chronicle, July 1st, 1765. f ' A History of Inland Naviga- tions. Particularly those of the Duke of Bridgewater in Lanca- shire and Cheshire.' 2nd Ed., p. 39, CH. IX. PROJECTED AQUEDUCT ACROSS THE MERSEY. 215 progress at the Liverpool end, Earl Gower, encouraged and assisted by the Duke, had applied for and obtained an Act to enable a line of navigation to be formed between the Mersey and the Trent; the Duke agreeing with the promoters of the undertaking to vary the course of his canal and meet theirs about midway between Preston- brook and Euncorn-, from which point it was to be carried northward towards the Mersey, descending into that river by a flight of ten locks, the total fall being not less than 79 feet from the level of the canal to low- water of spring- tides. When this deviation was proposed, the bold imagina- tion of Brindley projected a bridge across the tideway of the Mersey itself, which was there some four hundred and sixty yards wide, with the object of carrying the Duke's navigation directly onward to the port of Liverpool on the Lancashire side of the river.* This was an admirable idea, which, if carried out, would probably have redounded more to the fame of Brindley than any other of his works. But the cost of that portion of the canal which had already been executed, had reached so excessive an amount, that the Duke was compelled to stop short at Euncorn, at which place a dock was constructed for the accommo- dation of the shipping employed in the trade connected with the undertaking. From Euncorn, it was arranged that the boats should navigate by the open tideway of the Mersey to the harbour of Liverpool, at which place the Duke made arrangements to provide another dock for their accommodation. Brindley * This bold scheme, so earnestly advocated by Brindley, was thus noticed by a Liverpool paper of the time : " On Monday last, Mr. Briudley waited upon several of the principal gentlemen of this town and others at Euncorn, in order to ascertain the expense that may attend the building of a bridge over the river Mersey at the latter place, which is esti- mated at a sum inferior to the advantages that must arise both to the counties of Lancaster and Chester from a communication of this sort." Williamson's ' Liver- pool Advertiser,' July 19th, 17G8. 216 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. IX. made frequent visits to Liverpool for the .purpose of directing its excavation, and he superintended it until its completion. The Duke's Dock lies between the Salt- house and Albert Docks on the north, and the Wapping and King's Docks on the south. The Salthouse was the only public dock near it at the time that Brindley exca- vated this basin. There were only three others in Liver- pool to the north, and not one to the south ; but the Duke's Dock is now the centre of about five miles of docks, ex- tending from it on either side along the Lancashire shore of the Mersey ; and it continues to this day to be devoted to the purposes of the navigation. The Duke's Dock, Liverpool. CHAP.X. THE DUKE'S DIFFICULTIES. 217 CHAPTER X. THE DUKE'S DIFFICULTIES COMPLETION OF THE CANAL GROWTH OF MANCHESTER. LONG before the Euncorn locks were constructed, and the canal from Longford Bridge to the Mersey was available for purposes of traffic, the Duke found himself reduced to the greatest straits for want of money. Numerous unex- pected difficulties had occurred, so that the cost of the works considerably exceeded his calculations ; and though the engineer carried on the whole operations with the strictest regard to economy, the expense was nevertheless almost more than any single purse could bear. The exe- cution of the original canal from Worsley to Manchester cost about a thousand guineas a mile, besides the outlay upon the terminus at Manchester. There was also the expenditure incurred in building the requisite boats for the canal, in opening out the underground workings of the collieries at Worsley, and in erecting various mills, work- shops, and warehouses for carrying on the new business. The Duke was enabled to do all this without severely taxing his resources, and he even entertained the hope of being able to grapple with the still greater undertaking of cutting the twenty-four miles of new canal from Long- ford Bridge to the Mersey. But before these works were half finished, and whilst the large amount of capital invested in them was lying entirely unproductive, he found that the difficulties of the undertaking were likely to prove too much for him. Indeed, it seemed an enter- prise beyond the means of any private person, and more like that of a monarch with State revenues at his command, than of a young English nobleman with only his private resources. 218 THE DUKE OF BKIDGEWATER. CHAP. X, But the Duke was possessed by a brave spirit. He had put his hand to the work, and he would not look back. He had become thoroughly inspired by his great idea, and determined to bend his whole energies to the task of carrying it out. He was only thirty years of age the owner of several fine mansions in different parts of the country, surrounded by noble domains he had a fortune sufficiently ample to enable him to command the pleasures and luxuries of life, so far as money can secure them ; yet he voluntarily denied himself their enjoyment, and chose to devote his time to consultations with an unlettered engineer, and his whole resources to the cutting of a canal to unite Liverpool and Manchester. Taking up his residence at the Old Hall at Worsley a fine specimen of the old timbered houses so common Worsley Old Hall. in South Lancashire and the neighbouring counties, he cut down eveiy unnecessaiy personal expense ; denied himself every superfluity, except perhaps that of a pipe of tobacco; paid off his retinue of servants; put down his carriages and town house; and confined himself and his Ducal establishment to a total expenditure of 400Z. a-year. A horse was, however, a necessity, for the CHAP. X. THE DUKE'S DIFFICULTIES. 219 purpose of enabling him to visit the canal works during their progress at distant points ; and he accordingly con- tinued to maintain one horse for himself and another for his groom. Notwithstanding this rigid economy, the Duke still found his resources inadequate to meet the heavy cost of vigor- ously carrying on the undertaking, and on Saturday nights he was often put to the greatest shifts to raise the requi- site money to pay his large staff of craftsmen and labourers. Sometimes their payment had to be postponed for a week or more, until the cash could be raised by sending round for contributions among the Duke's tenantry. Indeed, his credit fell to the lowest ebb, and at one time he could not get a bill for 500?. cashed in either Liverpool or Man- chester.* He was under the necessity of postponing all payments that could be avoided, and it went abroad that the Duke was " drowned in debt." He tried to shirk even the pay- ment of his tithes, and turned a deaf ear to all the appli- cations of the collector. At length the rector himself determined to waylay him. But the Duke no sooner caught sight of him coming across his path than he bolted ! The rector was not thus to be baulked. He followed pur- sued and fairly ran his debtor to earth in a saw-pit ! The Duke was not a little amused at being hunted in such a style by his parson, and so soon as he found his breath, he promised payment, which shortly followed. When Mr. George Eennie, the engineer, was engaged, in 1825, in making the revised survey of the Liverpool and Manchester Eailway, he lunched one day at Worsley Hall with Mr. Bradshaw, manager of the Duke's property, * There is now to be seen at money, to whom the Duke applied Worsley, in the hands of a private ' at the time, was Mr. C. Smith, a person, a promissory note given by : merchant at Kochdale ; but he the Duke, bearing interest, for as | would not lend a farthing, be- low a sum as five pounds. Amongst | lieving the Duke to be engaged the persons known to be lenders of 1 in a perfectly ruinous undertaking. 220 THE DUKE OF BEIDGEWATEE. CHAP. X. then a very old man. He had been a contemporary of the Duke, and knew of the monetary straits to which his Grace had "been reduced during the construction of the works. Whilst at table, Mr. Bradshaw pointed to a small whitewashed cottage on the Moss, about a mile and a half distant, and said that in that cottage, formerly a public- house, the Duke, Brindley, and Gilbert had spent many an evening discussing the prospects of the canal while in progress. One of the principal topics of conversation on those occasions was the means of raising funds against the next pay night. "One evening in particular," said Mr. Bradshaw, " the party was unusually dull and silent. The Duke's ready-money was exhausted; the canal was not nearly finished ; his Grace's credit was at the lowest ebb ; and he was at a loss what step to take next. There they sat, in the small parlour of the little public-house, smoking their pipes, with a pitcher of ale before them, melancholy and silent. At last the Duke broke the silence by asking in a querulous tone, ' Well, Brindley, what's to be done now? How are we to get at the money for finishing this canal?' Brindley, after a few long puffs, answered through the smoke, 'Well, Duke, I can't tell; I only know that if the money can be got, I can finish the canal, and that it will pay well.' ' Ay,' rejoined the Duke, 'but where are we to get the money?' ' Brindley could only repeat what he had already said ; and thus the little party remained in moody silence for some time longer, when Brindley suddenly started up and said, ' Don't mind, Duke ; don't be cast down ; we are sure to succeed after all ! ' The party shortly after separated, the Duke going over to Worsley to bed, to revolve in his mind the best mode of raising money to complete his all-absorbing project." One of the expedients adopted was to send Gilbert, the agent, upon a round of visits among the Duke's tenants, raising five pounds here and ten pounds there, until he had gathered together enough to pay the week's wages. CHAP. X. BORROWS FROM HIS TENANTS. 221 Whilst travelling about among the farmers on one of such occasions, Gilbert was joined by a stranger horseman, who entered into conversation with him; and it very shortly turned upon the merits of their respective horses. The stranger offered to swap with Gilbert, who, thinking the other's horse better than his own, agreed to the exchange. On afterwards alighting at a lonely village inn, which he had not before frequented, Gilbert was surprised to be greeted by the landlord with mysterious marks of recog- nition, and still more so when he was asked if he had got a good booty. It turned out that he had exchanged horses with a highwayman, who had adopted this expe- dient for securing a nag less notorious than the one which he had exchanged with the Duke's agent.* At length, when the tenantry could furnish no further advances, and loans were not to be had on any terms in Manchester or Liverpool, and the works must needs come to a complete stand unless money could be raised to pay the workmen, the Duke took the road to London on horseback, attended only by his groom, to try what could be done with his London bankers. The house of Messrs. Child and Co., Temple Bar, was then the principal banking-house in the metropolis, as it is the oldest; and most of the aristocratic families kept their accounts there. The Duke had determined at the outset of his under- taking not to mortgage his landed property, and he had held to this resolution. But the time arrived when he could not avoid borrowing money of his bankers on such other security as he could offer them. He had already created a valuable and lucrative property, which was happily available for the purpose. The canal from Wors- ley to Manchester had proved remunerative in an extra- ordinary degree, and was already producing a large in- come. He had not the same scruples as to the pledging of the revenues of his canal that he had to the mortgaging * The Earl of Ellesmere's ' Essays on History, Biography,' &c., p. 236. 222 THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER. CHAP. X. of his lands; and an arrangement was concluded with the Messrs. Child under which they agreed to advance the Duke sums of money from time to time, by means of which he was eventually enabled to finish the entire canal. The Messrs. Child and Co. have kindly permitted an examination of their books to be made for the purposes of this memoir; and we are accordingly enabled to state that from them it appears that the Duke obtained his first advance of 3,800Z. from the firm about the middle of the year 1765, at which time he was in the greatest diffi- culty; shortly after a further sum of 15,OOOZ. ; then 2,OOOZ., and various other sums, making a total of 25,OOOZ. ; which remained owing until the year 1769, when the whole was paid off doubtless from the profits of the canal traffic as well as the economised rental of the Duke's unburthened estates. The entire level length of the new canal from Long- ford Bridge to the upper part of Euncorn, nearly twenty- eight miles in extent, was finished and opened for traffic in the year 1767, after the lapse of about five years from the passing of the Act. The formidable flight of locks, from the level part of the canal down to the waters of the Mersey at- Euncorn, were not finished for several years later, by which time the receipts derived by the Duke from the sale of his coals and the local traffic of the undertaking enabled him to complete them with comparatively little difficulty. Considerable delay was occasioned by the resistance of an obstinate landowner near Euncorn, Sir Eichard Brooke, who interposed every obstacle which it was in his power to offer ; but his oppo- sition too was at length overcome, and the new and com- plete line of water-communication between Manchester and Liverpool was finally opened throughout. In a letter written from Euncorn, dated the 1st January, 1773, we find it stated that "yesterday the locks were opened, and the Heart of Oalt, a vessel of 50 tons burden, CHAP. X. COMPLETION OF THE CANAL. 223 for Liverpool, passed through them. This day, upwards of six hundred of his Grace's workmen were entertained upon the lock banks with an ox roasted whole and plenty of good liquor. The Duke's health and many other toasts were drunk with the loudest acclamations by the multitude, who ^, \ crowded from all parts of the country to be spectators of these as- tonishing works. The gentlemen of the coun- try for a long time en- The Locks at Runcorn. 224 UNDERGROUND CANALS AT WORSLEY. CHAP. X. tertained a very unfavourable opinion of this undertak- ing, esteeming it too difficult to be accomplished, and fearing their lands would be cut and defaced without producing any real benefit to themselves or the public; but they now see with pleasure that their fears and ap- prehensions were ill-grounded, and they join with one voice in applauding the work, which cannot fail to pro- duce the most beneficial consequences to the landed property, as well as to the trade and commerce of this part of the kingdom." Whilst the canal works had been in progress, great changes had taken place at Worsley. The Duke had year by year been extending the workings of the coal; and when the King of Denmark, travelling under the title of Prince Travindahl, visited the Duke in 1768, the tunnels had already been extended for nearly two miles under the hill. When the Duke began the works, he possessed only such of the coal-mines as belonged to the Worsley estate; but he purchased by degrees the adjoining lands containing seams of coal which run under the high ground between Worsley, Bolton, and Bury ; and in course of time the underground canals connecting the different workings extended for a distance of nearly forty miles. Both the hereditary and the purchased mines are worked upon two main levels, though in all there are four different levels, the highest being a hundred and twenty yards above the lowest. Tn opening up the underground workings the Duke is said to have expended about 168,000?.; but the immense revenue derived from the sale of the coals by canal rendered this an exceedingly productive outlay. Besides the extension of the canal along these tunnels, the Duke subsequently carried a branch by the edge of Chat-Moss to Leigh, by which means new supplies of coal were introduced to Manchester from that district, and the traffic was still further increased. It was a saying of the Duke's, that "a navigation should always have coals at the heels of it." CHAP. X. HIS LOW RATE OF PAY. 225 The total cost of completing the canal from Worsley to Manchester, and from Longford Bridge to the Mersey at Euncorn, amounted to 220,OOOZ. A truly magnificent undertaking, nobly planned and nobly executed. The power imparted by riches was probably never more munificently exercised than in this case; for, though the traffic proved a source of immense wealth to the Duke, it also conferred incalculable blessings upon the population of the district. It added much to their comforts, increased their employment, and facilitated the operations of indus- try in all ways. As soon as the canal was opened its ad- vantages began to be felt. The charge for water-carriage between Liverpool and Manchester was lowered one-half. All sorts of produce were brought to the latter town, at moderate rates, from the farms and gardens adjacent to the navigation, whilst the value of agricultural property was immediately raised by the facilities afforded for the con- veyance of lime and manure, as well as by reason of the more ready access to good markets which it provided for the farming classes. The Earl of Ellesmere has not less truly than elegantly observed, that " the history of Francis Duke of Bridgewater is engraved in intaglio on the face of the country he helped to civilize and enrich." Probably the most remarkable circumstance connected with the money history of the enterprise is this : that although the canal yielded an income which eventually reached about 80,000/. a year, it was planned and executed by Brindley at a rate of pay considerably less than that of an ordinary mechanic of the present day. The highest wage he received whilst in the employment of the Duke was 3s. Qd. a day. For the greater part of the time he received only half-a-crown. Brindley, no doubt, accom- modated himself to the Duke's pinched means, and the satisfactory completion of the canal was with him as much a matter of disinterested ambition and of profes- sional character as of pay. He seems to have kept his own expenses down to the very lowest point. Whilst super- J . B. Q 226 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. X. intending the works at Longford Bridge, we find him making an entry of his day's personal charges at only 6d. for " ating and drink." On other days his outgoings were confined to " 2d. for the turnpike." When living at " The Bull," near the works at Throstle Nest, we find his dinner costing 8d. and his breakfast 6d. His expenditure through- out was on an equally low scale, for he studied in all ways to economize the Duke's means, that every available shilling might be devoted to the prosecution of the works. The Earl of Bridgewater, in his singular publication, the ' Letter to the Parisians,' above referred to, states that " Brindley offered to stay entirely with the Duke, and do business for no one else, if he would give him a guinea a week ;" and this statement is repeated by the late Earl of Ellesmere in his ' Essays on History, Biography,' &c. But, on the face of it, the statement looks untrue ; and we have since found, from Brindley's own note-book, that on the 25th of May, 1762, he was receiving a guinea a day from the Earl of Warrington for performing services for that nobleman ; nor is it at all likely that he would prefer the Duke's three-and-sixpence a day to the more adequate rate of payment which he was accustomed to charge and to receive from other employers. It is quite true, however and the fact is confirmed by Brindley's own record that he received no more than a guinea a week whilst in the Duke's service; which only affords an illustration of the fact that eminent constructive genius may be displayed and engineering greatness achieved in the absence of any adequate material reward. In a statement of the claims of Brindley's representatives, forwarded to the Earl of Bridgewater on the 3rd of November, 1803, it was stated that " during the period of his employ under His Grace, many highly advantageous and lucrative offers were made to him, particularly one from the Prince of Hesse, in 1766, who at that time was medi- tating a canal through his dominions in Germany, and who offered to subscribe to any terms Mr. Brindley might CHAP. X. CLAIMS OF HIS WIDOW. 227 stipulate. To this engagement his family strongly urged him, but the solicitation of the Duke, in this as in every other instance, to remain with him, outweighed all pecu- niary considerations; relying upon such a remuneration from His Grace as the profits of his work might afterwards justify." * The inadequate character of his remuneration was doubt- less well enough known to Brindley himself, and rendered him very independent in his bearing towards the Duke. They had frequent differences as to the proper mode of carrying on the works ; but Brindley was quite as obstinate as the Duke on such occasions, and when he felt convinced * We regret to have to add that Brindley's widow (afterwards the wife of Mr. Williamson, of Long- port) in vain petitioned the Duke and his representatives, as well as the above Earl of Bridgewater, for payment of a balance said to have been due to Brindley for services, at the time of the engineer's death. In her letter to Robert Bradshaw, M.P., dated the 2nd May, 1803, Mrs. Williamson says : " It will doubtless appear to you extra- ordinary that so very late an ap- plication should now be made . . . but I must beg leave to state that repeated applications were made by me (after Mr. Brindley's sudden and unexpected death) to the late j Mr. Thomas Gilbert and also to his brother, but without any other effect than that of constant pro- mises to lay the matter before His Grace ; and I conceive it owing to this channel of application that no settling ever took place. A letter was also written to His Grace on this subject so late as the year 1801, but no answer was received. From the year 1765 to 1772, Mr. Brindley received no money on account of his salary. At that time he -was frequently in very great want, and made application to the Duke, whose answer (to use the Duke's expression) was, ' I am much more distressed for money than you; however, as soon as I can recover myself, your services shall not go unrewarded.' In consequence of this, Mr. Brindley was under the necessity of borrowing several sums to make good engagements he was then under to various canal com- panies. In the year 1774, two years after Mr. Brindley's death, the late Mr. John Gilbert paid my brother, Mr. Henshall, the trifling sum of 100Z. on account of Mr. Brindley's time, which is all that has been received. I beg leave to suggest how small and inadequate a return this is for his services during a period of seven years. Mr. B.'s travelling expenses on His Grace's account during that time were considerable, towards which, when he had not sufficient money to carry him the whole journey, he now and then received a small sum. How far his plans and undertakings have been bene- ficial to His Grace's interest is well known." Q 2 228 THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER. CHAP. X. that his own plan was the right one he would not yield an inch. It is said that, after long evening discussions at the hearth of the old timbered hall at Worsley, or at the Duke's house at Liverpool, while the works there were in progress, the two would often part at night almost at daggers-drawn. But next morning, on meeting at breakfast, the Duke would very frankly say to his engineer, " Well, Brindley, I have been thinking over what we were talking about last night. I find you -may be right after all ; so just finish the work in your own way." The Duke himself, to the end of his life, took the greatest personal interest in the working of his coal-mines, his canals, his mills, and his various branches of industry. These were his hobbies, and he took pleasure in nothing else. He was utterly lost to the fashionable world, and, as some thought, to a sense of its proprieties. Shortly after his canal had been opened for the conveyance of coals, the Duke established a service of passage-boats between Man- chester and Worsley, and between Manchester and a station within two miles of Warrington, by which passengers were conveyed at the rate of a penny a mile.* The boats were fitted up like the Dutch treckschuyts, and, being found cheap as well as convenient, were largely patronized by the public. This service was afterwards extended to Euncorn, and from thence to Liverpool. The Duke took particular pleasure in travelling by his own boats, preferring them to any more stately and aristo- cratic method. He often went by them to Manchester to watch how the coal- trade was going on. When the pas- sengers alighted at the coal-wharf, there were usually many poor people about, wheeling away their barrow-loads * When the Duke had put on the boats and established the ser- vice, he offered to let them for 60Z. of conducting the service himself, by means of an agent. In the course of a short time the boats a year ; but not being able to find ! were found to yield a clear profit of any person to take them at that price, he was under the necessity 1600Z. a year. CHAP. X. ANECDOTES OF THE DUKE. 229 of coals. One of the Duke's regulations was, that whenever any deficiency in the supply was apprehended, those people who came with -their wheelbarrows, baskets, and aprons for small quantities, should be served first, and waggons, carts, and horses sent away until the supply was more abundant. The numbers of small customers who thus resorted to the Duke's coal-yard rendered it a some- what busy scene, and the Duke liked to look on and watch the proceedings. One day a customer of the poorer sort, having got his sack filled, looked about for some one to help it on to his back. He observed a stoutish man standing near, dressed in a spencer, with dark drab smallclothes. "Heigh! mester !" said the man, " come, gie me a lift wi' this sack o' coal on to my shouder." Without any hesitation, the person in the spencer gave the man the required " lift," and off" he trudged with the load. Some one near, who had witnessed the transaction, ran up to the man and asked, "Dun yo know who's that yo've been speaking tull?" " NEW ! who is he ?" " Why, it's th' Duke his-sen !" " The Duke !" exclaimed the man, dropping the bag of coals from his shoulder, " Hey ! what'll he do at me ? Maun a goo an ax his pardon ?" But the Duke had disappeared.* He was very fond of watching his men at work, espe- cially when any new enterprise was on foot. When they were boring for coal at Worsley, the Duke came every morning and looked on for a long time together. The men did not like to leave off" work whilst he remained there, and they became so dissatisfied at having to work so long beyond the hour at which the bell rang, that Brindley * A similar story is told of him at Worsley. A boy had been fetch- ing some coal from the mouth of the tunnel, and having rested his load could not get it cleverly on his back again. Seeing but not knowing the Duke, he called out, "Here, felly, gie us a hoist up." The Duke asked the boy a number of questions before helping him up with the sack ; but when the youth felt it safe for carrying, he ex- pressed his acknowledgments by observing " Wai, thou's a big chap, but thou's a lazy un !" 230 THE DUKE OF BEIDGEWATER. CHAP. X. had difficulty in getting a sufficient number of hands to continue the boring. On inquiry, he found out the cause and communicated it to the Duke, who from that time made a point of immediately walking off when the bell rang, returning when the men had resumed work, and remain- ing with them usually until six o'clock. He observed, how- ever, that though the men dropped work promptly as the bell rang, when he was not by, they were not nearly so punctual in resuming work, some straggling in many minutes after time. He asked to know the reason, and the men's excuse was, that though they could always hear the clock when it struck twelve, they could not so readily hear it when it struck only one. On this, the Duke had the mechanism of the clock altered so as to make it strike thir- teen at one o'clock ; which it continues to do to this day. On another occasion, going into the yard at Worsley, he saw two men employed in grinding an axe, and three others looking on, probably waiting their turn at the grind- stone. The Duke said nothing ; but next morning he was in the yard early, and said to the foreman that he had observed it took five men to grind an axe. He then ordered that a water-wheel should be put up to drive the grindstone, and it was set about at once. The Duke was often after seen grinding the ferrule of his walking-stick against the self-acting machine. His time was very fully occupied with his various busi- ness concerns, to which he gave a great deal of personal attention. Habit made him a business man punctual in his appointments, precise in his arrangements, and econo- mical both of money and time. When it was necessary for him to see any persons about matters of business, he pre- ferred going to them instead of letting them come to him ; " for," said he, " if they come to me, they may stay as long as they please; if I go to them, I stay as long as I please." His enforced habits of economy during the construction of the canal had fully impressed upon his mind the value of money. Yet, though "near," he was not CHAP. X. ANECDOTES OF THE DUKE. 231 penurious, but was usually liberal, and sometimes muni- ficent. When the Loyalty Loan was raised, he contributed to it no less a sum than 100,000/. in cash. He was tho- roughly and strongly national, and a generous patron of many public benevolent institutions. The employer of a vast number of workpeople, he exer- cised his influence over them in such a manner as to evoke their gratitude and blessings. He did not " lord it " over them, but practically taught them, above all things, to help themselves. He was the pattern employer of his neigh- bourhood. With a kind concern for the welfare of his colliery workmen then a half-savage class he built comfortable dwellings and established shops and markets for them; by which he ensured that at least a certain portion of their weekly earnings should go to their wives and families in housing, food, and clothing, instead of being squandered in idle dissipation and drunkenness. In order to put a stop to idle Mondays, he imposed a fine of half-a-crown on any workman who did not go down the pit at the usual hour on that morning; and hence the origin of what is called Half Crown Kow at Worsley, as thus described by one of the colliers : " T'ould dook fined ony mon as didn't go daown pit o' Moonday mornin auve a craown, and abeaut thot toime he made a new road to t'pit, so t'colliers caw'd it Auve Craown Kow." Debts contracted by the men at public-houses were not recognised by the pay-agents. The steadiest workmen were allowed to occupy the best and pleasantest houses as a reward for their good conduct. The Duke also bound the men to contribute so much of their weekly earnings to a general sick club ; and he encouraged a religious tone of character amongst his people by the establishment of Sunday schools, which were directly superintended by his agents, selected from the best available class. The conse- quence was, that the Duke's colliers soon held a higher character for sobriety, intelligence, and good conduct, than the weavers and other workpeople of the adjacent country. 232 THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER. CHAP. X. He did not often visit London, where he had long ceased to maintain a house ; but when he went there he made an arrangement with one of his friends, who undertook for a stipulated sum to provide a daily dinner for His Grace and a certain number of guests whilst he remained in town. He also made occasional visits to his fine estate of Ashridge, in Buckinghamshire, taking the opportunity of spending a few days, going or coming, with Earl Gower and his Countess, the Duke's only sister, Lady Louisa Egerton, at Trentham Park. During his visits at the latter place, the Duke would get ensconced on a sofa in some distant corner of the room in the evenings, and discourse earnestly to those who would listen to him about the extraordinary advantages of canals. There was a good deal of fun made on these occasions about " the Duke's hobby." But he was always like a fish out of water until he got back to Worsley, to John Gilbert, his coal-pits, his drainage, his mills, and his canals. No wonder he was fond of Worsley. It had been the scene of his triumphs, and the foundation of his greatness. Illustrious visitors from all parts resorted thither to witness Brindley's " castle in the air," and to explore the under- ground canals at Worsley-hill. Frisi, the Italian, the King of Denmark, and others, regarded these subterranean works with wonder and admiration when they were only from li to 2 miles in length; soon they extended to nearly 40 miles. Among the visitors entertained by the Duke was Fulton, the American artist, with whose speculations he was much interested. Fulton had given his attention to the subject of canals, and was then speculating on the employment of steam power for propelling canal boats. The Duke was so much impressed with Fulton's ingenuity, that he urged him to give up the profession of a painter and devote himself to that of a civil engineer. Fulton acted on his advice, and shortly after we find him resid- ing at Birmingham the central workshop of England studying practical mechanics, and fitting himself for CHAP. X. HIS STEAM-TUG EXPERIMENT. 233 superintending the construction of canals, on which he was afterwards employed in the midland counties.* The Duke did not forget the idea which Fulton had communicated to him as to the employment of steam as a motive power for boats, instead of horses ; and when he afterwards heard that Symington's steam-boat, The Dundas, had been tried successfully on the Forth and Clyde Canal, he arranged to have six canal boats constructed after Symington's model ; for he was a man to shrink from no expense in carrying out an enterprise which, to use his own words, had " utility at the heels of it." The Earl of Ellesmere, in his ' Essay on Aqueducts and Canals/ states that the Duke made actual experiment of a steam-tug, and quotes the following from the communication of one of the Duke's servants, alive in 1844: "I well remember the steam-tug experiment on the canal. It was between 1796 and 1799. Captain Shanks, R.N., from Deptford, was at Worsley many weeks preparing it, by the Duke's own orders and under his own eye. It was set going and tried with coal-boats ; but it went slowly, and the paddles made sad work with the bottom of the canal, and also threw the water on the bank. The Worsley people called it Bona- parte." | But the Duke dying shortly after, the trustees refused to proceed with the experiment, and the project consequently fell through. Had the Duke lived, canal steam-tugs would doubtless have been fairly tried ; and he might thus have initiated the practical introduction of steam-navigation in England, as he unquestionably laid the foundations of the canal system. He lived long enough, however, to witness the introduction of tram-roads, and he * The treatise which Fulton j through the most mountainous afterwards published, entitled 'A j countries, independent of Locks Treatise on Canal Navigation, ex- and Aqueducts/ (London, 1796,) hibiting the numerous advantages , is well known amongst engineers, to be derived from small Canals, &c., f Lord Ellesmere's 'Essays,' p. with a description of the machinery j 241. for facilitating conveyance by water j 234 THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATEB. CHAP. X. saw considerable grounds for apprehension in them. " We may do very well," he once observed to Lord Kenyon, " if we can keep clear of these tram-roads." He was an admirable judge of character, and was rarely deceived as to the men he placed confidence in. John Gilbert was throughout his confidential adviser a prac- tical out-doors man, full of energy and perseverance. When any proposal was made to the Duke, he would say, " Well, thou must go to Gilbert and tell him all about it ; I'll dg nothing without I consult him." From living so much amongst his people, he had contracted their style of speak- ing, and " thee'd " and " thou'd " those whom he addressed, after the custom of the district. He was rough in his speech, and gruff and emphatic in his manner, like those amidst whom he lived ; but with the rough word he meant and did the kindly act. His early want of education debarred him in a measure from the refining influences of letters ; for he read little, except perhaps an occasional newspaper, and he avoided writing whenever he could. He also denied himself the graces of female society ; and the seclusion which his early disappointment in love had first driven him to, at length grew into a habit. He lived wifeless and died childless. He would not even allow a woman servant to wait upon him. In person he was large and corpulent; and the slim youth on whom the bet had been laid that he would be blown off his horse when riding the race in Trent- ham Park so many years before, had grown into a bulky and unwieldy man. His features strikingly resembled those of George III. and other members of the Eoyal Family. He dressed carelessly, and usually wore a suit of brown something of the cut of Dr. Johnson's with dark drab breeches, fastened at the knee with silver buckles. At dinner he rejected, with a kind of antipathy, all poultry, veal, and such like, calling them "white meats," and wondered that everybody, like himself, did not prefer the brown. He was a great smoker, and Francis Duke of Bridgewater (set. 70.) 236 THE DUKE OF BRIDGE WATER. CHAP. X. smoked far more than lie talked. Smoking was his prin- cipal evening's occupation when Brindley and Gilbert were pondering with him over the difficulty of raising funds to complete the navigation, and the Duke con- tinued his solitary enjoyment through life. One of the droll habits to which he was addicted was that of rush- ing out of the room every five minutes, with the pipe in his mouth, to look at the barometer. Out of doors he snuffed, and he would pull huge pinches out of his right waiscoat pocket and thrust the powder up his nose, accompanying the operation with sundry strong short snorts. He would have neither conservatory, pinery, flower- garden, nor shrubbery at Worsley; and once, on his re- turn from London, finding some flowers which had been planted in his absence, he whipped their heads off with his cane, and ordered them to be rooted up. The only new things introduced about the place were some Tur- key oaks, with which his character seemed to have more sympathy. But he took a sudden fancy for pictures, and with his almost boundless means the formation of a valu- able collection of pictures was easy.* Lord Ellesmere says : " An accident laid the foundation of the Bridgewater collection. Dining one day with his nephew, Lord Gower, afterwards Duke of Sutherland, the Duke saw and admired a picture which the latter had picked up a bargain, for some 10/., at a broker's in the morning. 'You must take me,' he said, 'to that fellow to-morrow.' "Whether this impetuosity produced any immediate result we are not informed, but plenty of such * fellows ' were doubtless not wanting to cater for the taste thus suddenly developed." * " His purchases from Italy and , this country, he became a principal Holland were judicious and im- i in the fortunate speculation of its portant, and, finally, the distrac- I purchase." ' Essays on History, tions of France forcing the trea- i Biography/ &c. Bures of the Orleans Gallery into | CHAP. X. CHARACTER OF THE DUKE. 237 Fortunately the Duke's investments in paintings appear to have been well directed ; and a discerning eye seems to have guided a liberal hand in selecting fine separate works, as well as the gems from Continental collections which were then dispersed and found their way hither, thus enabling him to lay the foundation of the famous Bridgewater Gal- lery, one of the finest private collections in Europe. At his death, in 1803, its value was estimated at 150,OOOZ. The Duke very seldom took part in politics, but usually followed the lead of his relative Earl Gower, afterwards Marquis of Stanford, who was a Whig. In 1762, we find his name in a division on a motion to withdraw the British troops from Germany, and on the loss of the motion he joined in a protest on the subject. When the repeal of the American Stamp Act was under discussion His Grace was found in the ranks of the opposition to the measure. He strongly supported Mr. Fox's India Bill, and generally approved the policy of that statesman. The title of Duke of Bridgewater died with him. The Earldom went to his cousin General Egerton, seventh Earl of Bridgewater, and from him to his brother the crazed Francis Henry, eighth Earl; and on his death at Paris,' in February, 1829, that title too became extinct. The Duke bequeathed about 600,000?. in legacies to his relatives, General Egerton, the Countess of Carlisle, Lady Anne Yernon, and Lady Louisa Macdonald. He de- vised most of his houses, his pictures, and his canals, to his nephew George Granville (son of Earl Gower), second Marquis of Stafford and first Duke of Suther- land, with reversion to his second son, Lord Francis Egerton, first Earl of Ellesmere, who thus succeeded to the principal part of the vast property created by the Duke of Bridgewater. The Duke was buried in the family vault at Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, in the plainest manner, without any state, at his own express request. On his monument was inscribed the simple and appropriate epitaph Impulit ille rates ubi duxit aratra Colonus. 238 THE DUKE OF BRIDGED ATER. CHAP. X. The Duke was a great public benefactor. The boldness of his enterprise, and the salutary results which flowed from its execution, entitle him to be regarded as one of the most useful men of his age. A Liverpool letter of 1765 says, "The services the Duke has rendered to the town and neighbourhood of Manchester have endeared him to the country, more especially to the poor, who, with grateful benedictions, repay their noble benefactor."* If he became rich through his enterprise, the public grew rich with him and by him ; for his undertaking was no less productive to his neighbours than it was to himself. His memory was long venerated by the people amongst whom he lived, a self-reliant, self-asserting race, proud of their independence, full of persevering energy, and strong in their attachments. The Duke was a man very much after their own hearts, and a good deal after their own manners. In respecting him, they were perhaps but pay- ing homage to those qualities which they most cherished in themselves. Long after the Duke had gone from amongst them, they spoke to each other of his rough words and his kindly acts, his business zeal and his in- domitable courage. He was the first great "Manchester man." His example deeply penetrated the Lancashire character, and his presence seems even yet to hover about the district. " The Duke's canal " still carries a large pro- portion of the merchandise of Manchester and the neigh- bouring towns ; " the Duke's horses " f still draw " the * ' History of Inland Navigation,' p. 76. t The Duke at first employed mules in hauling the canal-boats, because of the greater endurance and freedom from disease of those animals, and also because they could eat almost any description of provender. The Duke's breed of mules was for a long time the finest that had been known in England. The popular impression in Manchester is, that the Duke's Acts of Parliament authorising the construction of his canals, forbade the use of horses, in order that men might be employed ; and that the Duke consequently dodged the provisions of the Acts by employ- ing mules. But this is not the case, there being no clause in any of them prohibiting the use of horses. CH. X. BENEFITS CONFERRED BY THE DUKE'S CANAL. 239 Duke's boats;" "the Duke's coals" still issue from "the Duke's levels ; " and when any question affecting the traffic of the district is under consideration, the questions are still asked of "What will the Duke say?" "What will the Duke do?"* Manchester men of this day may possibly be surprised to learn that they owe so much to a Duke, or that the old blood has helped the new so materially in the de- velopment of England's modern industry. But it is nevertheless true that the Duke of Bridgewater, more than any other single man, contributed to lay the foundations of the prosperity of Manchester, Liverpool, and the sur- rounding districts. The cutting of the canal from Worsley to Manchester conferred upon that town the immediate benefit of a cheap and abundant supply of coal ; and when Watt's steam-engine became the great motive power in manufactures, such supply became absolutely essential to its existence as a manufacturing town. Being the first to secure this great advantage, Manchester thus got the start forward which she has never since lost.f But, besides being a waterway for coal, the Duke's canal, when opened out to Liverpool, immediately conferred upon Manchester the immense advantage of direct con- nection with an excellent seaport. New canals, supported by the Duke and constructed by the Duke's engineer, grew out of the original scheme between Manchester and Runcorn, which had the further effect of placing the former town in direct water-communication with the rich districts of the north-west of England. Then the Duke's * There is even a tradition sur- viving at Worsley, that " the Duke" rides through the village once in every year at midnight, drawn by six coal-black horses ! t The cotton trade was not of much importance at first, though it rapidly increased when the steam- engine and spinning-jenny had be- come generally adopted. It may be interesting to know that sixty years since it was considered satis- factory if one cotton-flat a day reached Manchester from Liver- pool. In the Duke's time the flats always " cast anchor " on their way, or at least laid up for the night, at six o'clock precisely, starting again at six o'clock on the following morning. 240 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER. CHAP. X. canal terminus became so important, that most of the new navigations were laid out to join it ; those of Leigh, Bolton, Stockport, Eochdale, and the West Riding of Yorkshire, being all connected with the Duke's system, whose centre was at Manchester. And thus the whole industry of these districts was brought, as it were, to the very doors of that town. But Liverpool was not less directly benefited by the Duke's enterprise. Before his canal was constructed, the small quantity of Manchester woollens and cottons manu- factured for exportation was carried on horses' backs to Bewdley and Bridgenorth on the Severn, from whence they were floated down that river to Bristol, then the chief seaport on the west coast. No sooner, however, was the new water-way opened out than the Bridgenorth pack-horses were taken off, and the whole export trade of the district was concentrated at Liverpool. The additional accommodation required for the increased business of the port was promptly provided as occasion required. New harbours and docks were built, and before many years had passed Liverpool had shot far ahead of Bristol, and became the chief port on the west coast, if not in all England. Had Bristol been blessed with a Duke of Bridgewater, the result might have been altogether dif- ferent; and the valleys of Wilts, the coal and iron fields of Wales, and the estuary of the Severn, might have been what South Lancashire and the Mersey are now. Were statues any proof of merit, the Duke would long since have had the highest statue in Manchester as well as Liverpool erected to his memory, and that of Brind- ley would have been found standing by his side ; for they were both heroes of industry and of peace, though even in commercial towns men of war are sometimes more honoured. We can only briefly glance at the extraordinary growth of Manchester since the formation of the Duke's canal, as indicated by the annexed plan. CHAP. X. GROWTH OF MANCHESTER. 241 Though Manchester was a place of some importance about the middle of last century, it was altogether insig- nificant in extent, trade, and population, compared with Plan of Manchester, showing its extent at three periods. (The parts printed black -| represent Manchester in 1770 ; those dark-shaded |^ show its extent in 1804; and the light-shaded parts ^ Manchester at the present day.) what it is now. It consisted of a few principal streets narrow, dark, and tortuous one of them leading from the Market Place to St. Ann's Square, being very appropri- ately named " Dark Entry." Deansgate was the principal original street of the town, and so called because of its J. JJ. K, 242 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER. CHAP. X. leading to the dean or valley along which it partly ex- tended. From thence a few streets diverged in different directions into the open country. St. Ann's Square, the fashionable centre of modern Manchester, was in 1770 a corn-field surrounded with lofty trees, and known by the name of "Acre's Field." The cattle-fairs of the town were held there, the entrance from Deansgate being by Toll Lane, a narrow, dirty, unpaved way, so called be- cause toll was there levied on the cattle proceeding towards the fair. The ancient seat of the Kadcliffe family still stood at Pool Fold, close to the site of the modern Cross Street, and the water in the moat was used as a ducking-pond for scolds. When the pool became filled up, the ducking-pond was removed to Daub Holes, then on the outskirts of the town, where the Infirmary now stands. The site of King Street, now the very heart of Manchester, was as yet comparatively retired, a colony of rooks having established themselves in the tall trees at its upper end, from which they were only finally ex- pelled about forty years ago. Cannon Street was the principal place of business, the merchants and their families living in the comparatively humble tenements fronting the street, the equally humble warehouses in which their business was done standing in the rear. The ground on which the crowded thoroughfares of Oldham Street, London Eoad, Mosley Street, and their continu- ations, now exist, was as yet but garden or pasture-land. Salford itself was only a hamlet occupying the bend of the Irwell. It consisted of a double line of mean houses, extending from the Old Bridge (now Victoria Bridge) to about the end of Gravel Lane, then a country road containing only a few detached cottages. The compara- tively rural character of Manchester may be inferred from the circumstance that the Medlock and the Irk, the Tib and Shooter's Brook, were favourite fishing streams. Salmon were caught in the Medlock and at the mouth of the Irk ; and the others were well stocked with trout. CHAP. X. GROWTH OF MANCHESTER. 243 The Medlock and the Irk are now as black as old ink, and as thick; but the Tib and Shooter's Brook are en- tirely lost, having been absorbed, like the London Fleet, in the sewage system of the town. Tib Street and Tib Lane indicate the former course of the Tib; but of Shooter's Brook not a trace is left The townships of Ardwick Green, Hulme, and Chorl- ton-upon-Medlock (formerly called Chorlton Eow), were entirely rural. The old rate-books of Chorlton Eow ex- hibit some curious facts as to the transformations effected in that township. In 1720, a "lay" of I4d. in the pound produced a sum of 26/. 18s., the whole disbursements for the year amounting to 28/. 8s. 5d. From the highway rate laid in 1722, it appears that the contributors were only twenty persons in all, whose payments ranged from Sd. to II 13s. 4d., producing a total levy of 6/. 18s. lOd. for the year. From the disbursements, it appears that the regular wage paid to the workmen employed was a shilling a-day. In 1750, a lay of 3d. in the pound pro- duced only 61. 2s. l^d. ; so that the population and value of property in Chorlton Eow had not much increased during the thirty years that had passed. In 1770, two levies brought in 57?. 8s. 6d. ; and in 1794, four, made in that year, produced 208/. 2s. 4d.* Among the list of con- tributors in the latter year we find " Mrs. Quincey 16s. 6d" the mother of De Quincey, the English opium-eater, who was brought up in Chorlton Eow. De Quincey describes the home of his -childhood as a solitary house, "beyond which was nothing but a cluster of cottages, composing the little hamlet of Greenhill." It was con- nected by a winding lane with the Eusholme road. The house, called Greenheys the nucleus of an immense sub- urban district built by De Quincey's father, " was then," * Recent " poor-lays " exhibit a ; Medlock yielded (at 2s. lOd. in the very different result from what they pound) 18,798Z. ; the property in did in former years. In 1860-1 the ; the township being of the rateable poor-rate levied in Chorlton-upou- ; value of 145,844^. R 2 244 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER. CHAP. X. lie says, " a clear mile from the outskirts of Manchester," Princess Street being then the termination of the town on that side.* Now it is enveloped by buildings in all directions, and nothing of the former rural character of the neighbourhood remains but the names of Greenhill, Rusholme, and Greenheys. Coming down to the second expansion of Manchester, as exhibited on our plan, it will be observed that a con- siderable increase of buildings had taken place in the in- terval between 1770 and 1804. The greater part of the town was then contained in the area bounded by Deans- gate, the crooked lanes leading to Princess Street, Bond Street, and David Street, to the Eochdale Canal, and round by Ancoats Lane (now Great Ancoats Street) and Swan Street, to Long Millgate, then a steep narrow lane form- ing the great highway into North Lancashire. Very few buildings existed outside the irregular quadrangle indi- cated by the streets we have named. The straggling houses of Deansgate, which were principally of timber, ended at Knott Mill. A few dye-works stood at intervals along the Medlock, now densely occupied by buildings for miles along both banks. Salford had not yet extended to St. Stephen's Street in one direction, nor above half way to Broughton Bridge in another.^ The comparatively limited spaces thus indicated sufficed, however, for places of business and habitations for the population. Now the central districts are almost exclusively occupied for busi- ness purposes, and houses for dwellings have rapidly extended in all directions. The populous districts of Broughton, Higher and Lower, did not exist thirty-five years ago. They contained no buildings excepting Strange- * De Quincey's ' Autobiographic Sketches,' pp. 34, 48. t The corner of Irwell Street, Salford, as recently as 1828, was "Bannister's Ship." Opposite it was a row of cottages with gardens in front. Oldfield and Ordsall Lanes were country roads, and the occupied by an old canal " flat," streets adjacent to them were not tenanted by an eccentric character, yet in existence, after whom it was designated { CHAP. X. GROWTH OF MANCHESTER. 245 ways Hall and a few cottages wliich lay scattered beyond the bottom of the workhouse brow ; the locality where the new Assize Courts have been erected, which the citizens of Manchester claim to be unequalled in the kingdom for magnificence and accommodation. But pastures, corn-fields, and gardens rapidly gave place to streets and factory buildings.* The suburban districts of Ardwick, Hulrne, and Cheetham, became wholly absorbed in the great city. Stretford New Eoad, a broad street nearly a mile and a half long, forms the main highway for a district occupied during the life of the present generation by a population greater than that of many cities. Not fifty years since, a few farm-houses and detached dwellings were all the buildings it contained, and Chester Boad, the princi- pal one in the district, was a narrow winding lane, with hedges on each side. Jackson's Lane, remembered as a mere farm-road through corn-fields, has become a spacious thoroughfare dignified with the name of Great Jackson Street, that contains a relic of rural Hulme in the rem- nant of " Jackson's Farm " buildings, which gave the name, first to the " lane " and then to the " street." It is a single-storey building, covered with grey flags, and stands in an oblique recess on the left-hand side, about half- way between Chester Eoad and the recently formed City Eoad. Higher up, at the junction of Chapman and Preston Streets, the houses, also covered with grey flags, stiH re- main, which, within a comparatively recent period, stood amidst fields, and were known as " Geary's Farm," these buildings are now surrounded by streets on every side. About thirty years since, the part of Hulme nearest to Manchester was occupied by " tea gardens," and places of resort much used by the " town " population. The * The growth of Manchester, and the sister borough of Salford, will be more readily appreciated, perhaps, by a glance at the popu- lation at different periods than by any other illustration : Population in 1774. 1801. 1821. 1861. 41,032 84,020 187,0ol 460,028. 2(5 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER. CHAP. X. principal of these was at the White House ; and it is said of late roysterers at that place, that unless they could form a party or secure the services of " the patrol," they had frequently to sojourn there all night. The officers constituting the patrol * carried swords and horn lanterns ; and, clad as they were in heavy greatcoats with many capes, they were by no means light of foot, or at all formi- dable adversaries to the footpads who " worked " the district. Among the most remarkable improvements in Man- chester of late years, have been the numerous spacious thoroughfares which have been opened up in all direc- tions. In this respect, the public spirit of Manchester has not been surpassed by any town in the kingdom, the new streets being laid out on a settled plan with a view to future extension, and executed with admirable judgment. Narrow, dark, and crooked ways have been converted into wide and straight streets, admitting light, air, and health to the inhabitants, and affording spacious highways for the great and growing traffic of the dis- trict. The important street-improvements executed in Manchester during the last thirty years have cost an ag- gregate of about 800,000?. The central and oldest part of the town has thus undergone a complete transforma- tion. So numerous are the dark and narrow entries that have been opened up the obstructive buildings that have been swept away, the projecting angles that have been cut off, and the crooked ways that have been made straight that the denizen of a former age would be very unlikely to recognise the Manchester of to-day, were it possible for him to revisit it. Some of the street-improvements have their peculiar social aspects, and call up curious reminiscences. The * On the subject of watchmen, it may be mentioned that the first watchman was appointed for Chorl- ton-on-Medlock in 1814. In 1832 and regulating that township, and so recently as 1833 it was first lighted with gas. The Police Act for the Township of Huline was an Act was obtained for improving i obtained in 1834. CFIAP. X. GROWTH OF MANCHESTER. 247 stocks, pillory, and Old Market Cross, were removed from the Market Place in 1816. The public whipping of cul- prits on the pillory stage is within the recollection of the elder portion of the present inhabitants. Another " social institution," of a somewhat different character, was ex- tinguished much more recently, by the construction of the splendid piece of terrace-road in front of the cathe- dral, known as the Hunt's Bank improvement. This road swept away a number of buildings, shown on the old plans of Manchester as standing on the water's edge, close to the confluence of the Irk with the Irwell. They were reached by a flight of some thirty steps, and con- sisted of a dye-work, employing three or four hands, two public-houses, and about a dozen cottages and other build- ings. The public-houses, the ' Eing o' Bells ' and the * Blackamoor,' particularly the former, were famous places in their day. On Mondays, wedding-parties from the country, consisting sometimes of from twenty to thirty couples, accompanied by fiddlers, visited " t' Owd Church " to get married. The * Ring o' Bells ' was the rendez- vous until the parties were duly married and ready to form and depart homewards, in a more or less orderly manner, headed by their fiddlers as they had come. The ' Eing o' Bells ' was also a favourite resort of the re- cruiting-serjeant, and more recruits, it is said, were en- listed there than at any other public-house in the king- dom. But tnese, and many curious characteristics of old Manchester, have long since passed away ; and not only the town but its population have become entirely new. Bridgewater Halfpenny Token. 248 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. XI. CHAPTER XI. BRINDLEY CONSTRUCTS THE GRAND TRUNK CANAL/ LONG before the Duke's Canal was finished, Brindley was actively employed in carrying out a still larger enter- prise, a canal to connect the Mersey with the Trent, and "both with the Severn, thus uniting Iby a grand line of water-communication the ports of Liverpool, Hull, and Bristol. He had, as we have already seen, made a survey of such a canal, at the instance of Earl Gower, "before his engagement as engineer for the Bridgewater undertaking. Thus, in the beginning of February, 1758, before the Duke's bill had been even applied for, we find him occupied for days together "a bout the novogation," and he then surveyed the country between Longbridge in Staffordshire, and King's Mills in Derbyshire. The enterprise, however, made very little progress. The success of canals in England was as yet entirely problematical ; and this was of too formidable a character to be hastily undertaken. But again, in 1759, we find Brindley proceeding with his survey of the Staffordshire Canal; and in the middle of the following year he was occupied about twenty days in levelling from Harecastle, at the summit of the proposed canal, to Wilden, near Derby. During that time he had many interviews with Earl Gower at Trentham, and with the Earl of Stamford at Enville, discussing the project. The next step taken was the holding of a public meet- ing at Sandon, in Staffordshire, as to the proper course which the canal should take, if finally decided upon. Considerable difference of opinion was expressed at the meeting, in consequence of which it was arranged that Mr. Smeaton should be called upon to co-operate with Brindley in making a joint survey and a joint report. CHAP. XI. THE POTTERY DISTRICT. 249 A second meeting was held at Wolseley Bridge, at which, the plans of the two engineers were ordered to be en- graved and circulated amongst the landowners and others interested in the project. Here the matter rested for several years more, without any further action being taken. Brindley was hard at work upon the Duke's Canal, and the Staffordshire projectors were disposed to wait the issue of that experiment; but no sooner had it been opened, and its extraordinary success become matter of fact, than the project of the canal through Staffordshire was again revived. The gentlemen of Cheshire and Staf- fordshire, especially the salt manufacturers of the former county and the earthenware-manufacturers of the latter, now determined to enter into co-operation with the lead- ing landowners in concerting the necessary measures with the object of opening up a line of water-communi- cation with the Mersey and the Trent. The earthenware manufacture, though in its infancy, had already made considerable progress; but, like every other branch of industry in England at that time, its further development was greatly hampered by the wretched state of the roads. Throughout Staffordshire they were as yet, for the most part, -narrow, deep, circuitous, miry, and inconvenient ; barely passable with rude waggons in summer, and almost impassable, even with pack-horses, in winter. Yet the principal materials used in the manu- facture of pottery, especially of the best kinds, were necessarily brought from a great distance flint-stones from the south-eastern ports of England, and clay from Devonshire and Cornwall. The flints were brought by sea to Hull, and the clay to Liverpool. From Hull the materials were brought up the Trent in boats to Willing- ton; and the clay was in like manner brought from Liverpool up the Weaver to Winsford, in Cheshire. Con- siderable quantities of clay were also conveyed in boats from Bristol, up the Severn, to Bridgenorth and Bewdley. From these various points the materials were conveyed 250 DIFFICULTY AND COST OF TRANSPORT. CHAP. XI. by land-carriage, mostly on the backs of horses, to the towns in the Potteries, where they were worked up into earthenware and china. The manufactured articles were returned for export in the same rude way. Large crates of pot- ware were slung across horses' backs, and thus conveyed to their respective ports, not only at great risk of breakage and pilferage, but also at a heavy cost. The expense of carriage was not less than a shilling a ton per mile, and the lowest charge was eight shillings the ton for ten miles. Besides, the navigation of the rivers above mentioned was most uncer- tain, arising from floods in winter and droughts in summer. The effect was, to prevent the expansion of the earthenware manufacture, and veiy greatly to restrict the distribution of the lower-priced articles in common use. The same difficulty and cost of transport checked the growth of nearly all other branches of industry, and made living both dear and uncomfortable. The indispensable article of salt, manufactured at the Cheshire Wiches, was in like manner carried on horses' backs all over the country, and reached almost a fabulous price Jy the time it was sold two or three counties off. About a hundred and fifty pack-horses, in gangs, were occupied in going weekly from Manchester, through Stafford, to Bewdley and Bridgenorth, loaded with woollen and cotton cloth for exportation;* but the cost of the carriage by this * In a curious book published in 1766, by Richard Whitworth, of Balcham Grange, Staffordshire, afterwards Sir Richard Whitworth, member for Stafford, entitled ' The Advantages of Inland Navigation,' he points to the various kinds of traffic that might be expected to come upon the canal then proposed by him, and amongst other items he enumerates tiie following : " There are three pot-waggons go from Newcastle and Burslem weekly, through Eccleshall and Newport to Bridgenorth, and carry about eight tons of pot-ware every week, at 31. per ton. The same waggons load back with ten tons of close goods, consisting of white clay, grocery, and iron, at the same price, delivered on their road to Newcastle. Large quantities of pot- CHAP. XI. POPULATION OF THE POTTERIES. 251 mode so enhanced the price, that it is clear that in the case of many articles it must have acted as a prohibition, and greatly checked both production and consumption. Even corn, coal, lime, and iron-stone were conveyed in the same way, and the operations of agriculture, as of manufacture, were alike injuriously impeded. There were no shops then in the Potteries, the people being supplied with wares and drapery by packmen and hucksters, or from Newcastle-under-Lyne, which was the only town in the neighbourhood worthy of the name. The people of the district in question were quite as rough as their roads. . Their manners were coarse, and their amusements brutal. Bull-baiting, cock-throwing, and goose-riding were their favourite sports. When Wesley first visited Burslem, in 1760, the potters assembled to jeer and laugh at him. They then proceeded to pelt him. " One of them," he says, " threw a clod of earth which struck me on the side of the head ; but it neither disturbed me nor the congregation." At that time the whole population of the Potteries did not amount to more than about 7000 souls. The villages in which they lived were poor and mean, scattered up and down, and the houses were mostly covered with thatch. Hence the Eev. Mr. Middleton, incumbent of Stone a man of great shrewd- ness and quaintness, distinguished for his love of harmless mirth and sarcastic humour when enforcing the duty of humility upon his leading parishioners, took the oppor- tunity, on one occasion, after the period of which we speak, of reminding them of the indigence and obscurity ware are conveyed on horses' backs from Burslem and Newcastle to Bridgenorth and Bewdley for ex- portation about one hundred tons 312 tons of cloth and Manchester wares in the year, at 3/. 10s. per ton. The great salt-trade that is carried on at Northwich may be yearly, at 21 10*. per ton. Two j computed to send 600 tons yearly broad-wheel waggons (exclusive of | along this canal, together with 150 pack-horses) go from Man- Nantwich 400, chiefly carried now Chester through Stafford weekl) T , on horses' backs, at 10s. per ton and may be computed to carry \ oil a medium." 252 THE CITY OF MUD." CHAP. XI. from which they had risen to opulence and respectability. He said they might be compared to so many sparrows, for that all of them had been hatched under the thatch. When the congregation of this gentleman, growing rich, bought an organ and placed it in the church, he persisted in calling it the hurdy-gurdy, and often took occasion to lament the loss of his old psalm-singers. The people towards the north were no better, nor were those further south. When Wesley preached at Congleton, four years later, he said, " even the poor potters [though they had pelted him] are a more civilized people than the better sort (so .called) at Congleton." Arthur Young visited the neighbourhood of Newcastle-under-Lyne in 1770, and found poor-rates high, wages low, and employ- ment scarce. " Idleness," said he, " is the chief employ- ment of the women and children. All drink tea, and fly to the parishes for relief at the very time that even a woman for washing is not to be had. By many accounts I received of the poor in this neighbourhood, I apprehend the rates are burthened for the spreading of laziness, drunkenness, tea-drinking, and debauchery, the general effect of them, indeed, all over the kingdom." * Button's account of the population inhabiting the southern portion of the same county is even more dismal. Between Hales Owen and Stourbridge was a district usually called the Lie Waste, and sometimes the Mud City. Houses stood about in every direction, composed of clay scooped out into a tenement, hardened by the sun, and often destroyed by the frost. The males were half- naked, the children dirty and hung over with rags. " One might as well look for the moon in a coal-pit," says Hutton, "as for stays or white linen in the City of Mud. The principal tool in business is the hammer, and the beast of burden the ass." f * Young's 'Six Months' Tour.' I f History of Birmingham/ Ed. Ed. 1770. Vol. iii, p. 317. | 1835, p. 24. CHAP. XI. JOSIAH WEDGWOOD. 253 The district, however, was not without its sprinkling of public-spirited men who were actively engaged in devising new sources of employment for the population; and, as one of the most effective means of accomplishing this object, opening up the communications, by road and canal, with near as well as distant parts of the country. One of the most zealous of such workers was the illustrious Josiah Wedgwood. He was one of those indefatigable men who from time to time spring from the ranks of the common people, and by their energy, skill, and enter- prise, not only practically educate the working population in habits of industry, but, by the example of diligence and perseverance which they set before them, largely influence public action in all directions, and contribute in a great measure to form the national character. Josiah Wedgwood was born in a humble position in life ; and though he rose to eminence as a man of science as well as a manufacturer, he possessed no greater advantages at starting than Brindley himself did. His grandfather and granduncle were both potters, as was also his father Thomas, who died when Josiah was a mere boy, the youngest of a family of thirteen children. He began his industrial life as a thrower in a small pot- work, conducted by his elder brother; and he might have continued working at the wheel but for an attack of virulent small-pox, which, being neglected, led to a disease in his right leg, which in a great- measure unfitted him for following even that humble employment. When he returned to his work, most probably before he was sufficiently recovered from his illness, the pain in his limb was such that he had to keep it almost constantly rested upon a stool before him.* The disease continued increasing as he advanced * The Papers of Mr. Llewellynn j teresting particulars relating to the Jewitt, F.S.A., on ' Wedgwood life and labours of Wedgwood, and and Etruria,' published in the Art are well worthy of perusal. Journal, 1864, contain many in- I 254 JOSIAH WEDGWOOD. CHAP. XI. in years, and it was greatly aggravated by an -unfor- tunate bruise, which kept him to his bed for months, and reduced him to the last extremity of debility. At length the disorder reached the knee, and threatened to endanger his life, when amputation was found necessary. During the enforced leisure of his many illnesses arising from this cause, Wedgwood took to reading and thinking, and turned over in his mind the various ways of making a living by his trade, now that he could no longer work at the potter's wheel. It has been no less elegantly than truthfully observed by Mr. Gladstone, that "it is not often that we have such palpable occasion to record our obligations to the small-pox. But in the wonderful ways of Providence, that disease, which came to him. as a two- fold scourge, was probably the occasion of his subsequent excellence. It prevented him from growing up to be the active, vigorous English workman, possessed of all his limbs, and knowing right well the use of them ; but it put him upon considering whether, as he could not be that, he might not be something else, and something greater. It sent his mind inwards ; it drove him to meditate upon the laws and secrets of his art. The result was, that he arrived at a perception and a grasp of them which might, perhaps, have been envied, cer- tainly have been owned, by an Athenian potter." * Wedgwood began operations on his own account by making various ornamental objects out of potter's clay, such as knife-hafts, boxes, and sundry curious little articles for domestic use. He joined in several successive partnerships with other workmen, but made comparatively small progress until he began business for himself, in 1759, in a humble cottage near the Market House in Burslem, known by the name of the Ivy House. He * ' Wedgwood ;' an Address de- livered at Burslem, Oct. 26, 1863. By the Eight Hon. W. E. Glad- stone, Chancellor of the Exchequer. London : Murray. CHAP. XI. HIS FIRST POTTERY. 255 there pursued his manufacture of knife-handles and other small wares, striving at the same time to acquire such a knowledge of practical chemistry as might enable him to Ivy House, Burslem, Wedgwood's first Pottery.* improve the quality of his work in respect of colour, glaze, and durability. Success attended Wedgwood's diligent and persistent efforts, and he proceeded from one stage of improvement to another, until at length, after a course of about thirty years' labour, he firmly established a new branch of industry, which not only added greatly to the conveniences of domestic life, but proved a source of remunerative employment to many thousand families throughout England. * The Ivy House, in which Wedgwood began business on his own account, is the cottage shown on the right-hand of the engraving. The other house id the old " Turk's Head." 256 EXTENSION OF WEDGWOOD'S TRADE. CHAP. XL His trade having begun to expand, an extensive demand for his articles sprang up, not only in London, but in foreign countries.* But there was this great difficulty in his way, that the roads in his neighbourhood were so bad that he was at the same time prevented from obtaining a sufficient supply of the best kinds of clay and also from disposing of his wares in distant markets. This great evil weighed heavily upon the whole industry of the district, and Wedgwood accordingly appears to have bestirred himself at an early period in his career to improve the local communications. In conjunction with several of the leading potters he promoted an appli- cation to Parliament for powers to repair and widen the road from the Red Bull, at Lawton, in Cheshire, to Cliff Bank, in Staffordshire. This line, if formed, would run right through the centre of the Potteries, open them to traffic, and fall at either end into a turnpike road. The measure was, however, violently opposed by the people of Newcastle-under-Lyne, on the ground that the proposed new road would enable waggons and packhorses to travel north and south from the Potteries without passing through their town. The Newcastle innkeepers acted as if they had a vested interest in the bad roads ; but the bill passed, and the new line was made, stopping short at Burslem. This was, no doubt, a great advantage, but it was not enough. The heavy carriage of clay, coal, and earthenware needed some more convenient means of * Faujas Saint Fond, in his * Travels in England,' thus writes re- specting Wedgwood's ware : " Its excellent workmanship, its solidity, the advantage which it possesses of standing the action of fire, its fine glaze, unpenetrable to acids, the beauty, convenience, and variety of its forms, and its moderate price, have created a commerce so active, and so universal, that in travelling j from Paris to St. Petersburg, from Amsterdam to the farthest point of Sweden, from Dunkirk to the southern extremity of France, one is served at every inn from English earthenware. The same fine article adorns the tables of Spain, Portugal, and Italy ; and it provides the cargoes of ships to the East Indies, the West Indies, and America." Josiah \V r tdgwood. transport than waggons and roads; and, when the subject of water communication came to be discussed, Josiah Wedgwood at once saw that a canal was the very thing for the Potteries. Hence he immediately entered with great spirit into the movement* again set on foot for the construction of Brindley's Grand Trunk Canal. The field was not, however, so clear now as it had been before. The success of the Duke's canal led to the pro- jection of a host of competing schemes in the county of J. B. s 258 OPPOSITION TO GRAND TRUNK CANAL. CHAP. XI. Chester, and it appeared that Brindley's Grand Trunk project would have to run the gauntlet of a powerful local opposition. There were two other schemes be- sides his, which formed the subject of much pamphleteer- ing and controversy at the time, one entering the district by the river Weaver, and another by the Dee. Neither of these proposed to join the Duke of Bridgewater's canal, whereas the Grand Trunk line was laid out so as to run into his at Preston-on-the-Hill near Kuncorn. As the Duke was desirous of placing his navigation and through it Manchester, Liverpool, and the intervening districts in connection with the Cheshire Wiches and the Staffordshire Potteries, he at once threw the whole weight of his support upon the side of Brindley's Grand Trunk. Indeed, he had himself been partly at the expense of its preliminary survey, as we find from an entry in Brindley's memorandum-book, under date the 12th of April, 1762, as follows: " Worsley Rec d from Mr Tho Gilbert for ye Staffordshire survey, on account, 33Z. 16. lid." The Cheshire gentlemen protested against the Grand Trunk scheme, as calculated to place a monopoly of the Staffordshire and Cheshire traffic in the hands of the Duke; but they concealed the fact, that the adoption of their respective measures would have established a similar monopoly in the hands of the Weaver Canal Company, whose line of navigation, so far as it went, was tedious, irregular, and expensive. Both parties mustered their forces for a Parliamentary struggle, and Brindley exerted himself at Manchester and Liverpool in obtaining support and evidence on behalf of his plan. The following letter from him to Gilbert, then at Worsley, relates to the rival schemes. " 21 Deer. 1765 " On Tusdey Sr Georg [Warren] sent Nuton in to Manchester to make what intrest he could for Sir Georg and to gather ye old Na- CHAP. XI. MEETING OF BBINDLEY'S SUPPORTERS. 259 vogtors togather to meet Sir Georg at Stoperd to make Head a ganst His Grace "I sawe Docter Seswige who sese Hee wants to see you about pamant of His Land in Cheshire " On Wednesday ther was not much transpired but was so dark 1 could carse do aneything " On Thursdey Wadgwood of Burslam came to Dunham & sant for mee and wee dined with Lord Gree [Grey] & Sir Hare Mainwering and others Sir Hare cud not ceep His Tamer [temper] Mr. Wedg- wood came to seliset Lord Gree in faver of the Staffordshire Canal & stade at Mrs Latoune all night & I whith him & on frydey sa.t out to wate on Mr Edgerton to seliset Him Hee sase Sparrow and others are indavering to gat ye Land owners consants from Hare Castle to Agden "I have ordered Simcock to ye Langth falls of Sanke Navega- cion. " Ryle wants to have coals sant faster to Alteringham that Hee may have an opertunety dray of ye sale Moor Canal in a bout a weeks time. " I in tend being back on Tusdy at fardest." The first public movement was made by the supporters of Brindley's scheme. They held an open meeting at Wolseley Bridge, Staffordshire, on the 30th of December, 1765, at which the subject was fully discussed. Earl Gower, the lord-lieutenant of the county, occupied the chair; and Lord Grey and Mr. Bagot, members for the county, Mr. Anson, member for Lichfield, Mr. Thomas Gilbert, the agent for Earl Gower, then member for Newcastle-under-Lyne, Mr. Wedgwood, and many other influential gentlemen, were present to take part in the proceedings. Mr. Brindley was called upon to explain bis plans, which, lie did to the satisfaction of the meeting ; and these having been adopted, with a few immaterial alterations, it was determined that steps should be taken to apply for a bill conferring the necessary powers in the next session of Parliament. Mr. Wedgwood put his name down for a thousand pounds towards the prelimi- nary expenses, and promised to subscribe largely for s 2 260 STAFFORDSHIRE CAXAL SCHEMES. CHAP. XI. shares besides.* The promoters of the measure proposed to designate the undertaking " The Canal from the Trent to the Mersey ;" but Brindley, with sagacious foresight, urged that it should be called The Grand Trunk, because, in his judgment, numerous other canals would branch out from it at various points of its course, in like manner as the arteries of the human system branch out from the aorta ; and before many years had passed, his anticipations in this respect were fully realized. The Staffordshire potters were greatly pleased with the decision of the meeting, and on the following evening they assembled round a large bonfire at Burslem, and drank the healths of Lord Gower, Mr. Gilbert, and the other pro- moters of the scheme, with fervent demonstrations of joy. The opponents of the measure also held meetings, at which they strongly declaimed against the Duke's pro- posed monopoly, and set forth the superior merits of their respective schemes. One of these was a canal from the river Weaver, by Xantwich, Eccleshall, and Stafford, to the Trent at Wilden Ferry, without touching the Potteries at all. Another was for a canal from the Weaver at Xorthwich, passing by Macclesfield and Stock- port, round to Manchester, thus completely surrounding the Duke's navigation, and preventing its extension south- ward into Staffordshire or any other part of the Midland districts. But there was also a strong party opposed to all canals * Wedgwood even entered the ! communication between the ports lists as a pamphleteer in aid of of Liverpool and Hull.' It pointed the Grand Trunk project, and, in out in glowing language the ad- 1765, he and his partner, Mr. ! vantages to be derived from open- Bentley, formerly of Liverpool, drew ing up the internal communications up a very able statement, showing of a country by means of roads, the advantages likely to be de- | canals, &c. ; and showed how the rived from the construction of the ! comfort and even the necessity of proposed canal, under the title of all classes must be so much better ' A View of the Advantages of In- provided for by a reduction in the land Navigation, with a plan of cost of carriage of useful and ne- a Navigable Canal intended for a cessary commodities. . XI. PACK-HOESE AND WAGGON INTEEEST. 261 whatever the party of croakers, who are always found in opposition to improved communications, whether in the shape of turnpike roads, canals, or railways. They pro- phecied that if the proposed canals were made, the country would be ruined, the breed of English horses would be destroyed, the innkeepers would be made bank- rupts, and the pack-horses and their drivers would be deprived of their subsistence. It was even said that the canals, by putting a stop to the coasting trade, would destroy the race of seamen. It is a fortunate thing for England that it has contrived to survive these repeated prophecies of ruin. But the manner in which our coun- trymen contrive to grumble their way along the high road of enterprise, thriving and grumbling, is one of the peculiar features in our character which perhaps only Englishmen can understand and appreciate. It is a curious illustration of the timidity with which the projectors of those days entered upon canal enter- prise, that one of their most able advocates, in order to mitigate the opposition of the pack-horse and waggon interest, proposed that " no main trunk of a canal should be carried nearer than within four miles of any great manufacturing and trading town ; which distance from the canal would be sufficient to maintain the same number of carriers and to employ almost the same number of horses as before." * But as none of the towns in the Pot- teries were as yet large manufacturing or trading places, this objection did not apply to them, nor prevent the canals from being carried quite through the centre of what has since become a continuous district of populous manufacturing towns and villages. The vested interests of some of the larger towns were, however, for this reason, preserved, greatly to their own ultimate injury ; and when the canal, to conciliate the local opposition, was so laid out as to leave them at a distance, not many * ' The Advantages of Inland Navigation,' by K. Whitvorih. 1766. 262 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. XI. years elapsed before they became clamorous for branches to join the main trunk but not until the mischief had been done, and a blow dealt to their own trade, in con- sequence of their being left so far outside the main line of water communication, from which many of them never after recovered. It is not necessary to describe the Parliamentary con- test upon the Grand Trunk Canal Bill. There was the usual muster of hostile interests, the river navigation companies uniting to oppose the new and rival company the array of witnesses on both sides, Brindley, Wedg- wood, Gilbert, and many more, giving their evidence in support of their own scheme, and a powerful array of the Cheshire gentry and Weaver Navigation Trustees appearing on behalf of the others, and the whipping-up of votes, in which the Duke of Bridgewater and Earl Gower worked their influence with the Whig party to good purpose. Brindley 's plan was, on the whole, considered the best. It was the longest and the most circuitous, but it appeared calculated to afford the largest amount of accommodation to the public. It would pass through important districts, urgently in need of an improved communication with the port of Liverpool on the one hand, and with Hull on the other. But it was not so much the connection of those ports with each other that was needed, as a more convenient means of communication between them and the Staffordshire manufacturing districts ; and the Grand Trunk system somewhat in the form of a horse- shoe, with the Potteries lying along its extreme convex part pro- mised effectually to answer this purpose, and to open up a ready means of access to the coast on both sides of the island. A glance at the course of the proposed line will show its great importance. Starting from the Duke's canal at Preston-on-the-IIill, near Runcorn, it passed southwards by Northwich and Middlewich, through the great salt- CHAP. XL COURSE OF THE GRAND TRUNK CANAL. 263 manufacturing districts of Cheshire, to the summit at Harecastle. It was alleged that the difficulties presented by the long tunnel at that point were so great that it could never be the intention of the projectors of the canal to carry their " chimerical idea," as it was called, into effect. Brindley however insisted, not only that, the tunnel was practicable, but that, if the necessary powers were granted, he would certainly execute it.* Descending from the summit level into the valley of the Trent, the canal proceeded southwards through the Pottery districts, passing close to Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, and Lane End. It then passed onward, still south, by Trentharn, Stone, and Shutborough, to Hay wood, where it joined the canal projected to unite the Severn with the Mersey. Still fol- lowing the valley of the Trent, the canal near Eugeley, turning sharp round, proceeded in a north-easterly direc- tion, nearly parallel with the river, passing Burton and Ashton, to a junction with the main stream at Wilden Ferry, a little above where the Derwent falls into the Trent near Derby. From thence there was a clear line of navigation, by Nottingham, Newark, and Gainsborough, to the Humber. Provided this admirable project could be carried out, it appeared likely to meet all the neces- sities of the case. Ample evidence was given in support of the allegations of its promoters ; and the result was, that Parliament threw out the bills promoted by the * In one of the many angry pamphlets published at the time, the ' Supplement to a pamphlet entitled Seasonable Considerations on a Navigable Canal intended to be cut from the Trent to the Mersey,' &e., the following passage occurs : " When our all is at stake, these gentlemen [the promoters of the Grand Trunk Canal] must not be surprised at bold truths. We conceive more favourably of their understanding than of their motive ; we cannot suspect them of enter- taining the chimerical idea of cut- ting through Hare Castle! We rather believe that they are de- sirous of cutting their canal at both ends, and of leaving the middle for the project of a future day. Are these projectors jealous of their honour ? Let them adopt a clause (which reason and justice strongly enforce) to restrain them from meddling with either end till they have finished the great trunk. This, and this alone, will shield them from suspicion." 264 MAP OF THE GRAND TRUNK CANAL. CHAP. XI. .WASHINGTON tiAirro > ro.MONTHEHiLL ALTRINGHAM CHEADLE NEWCASTLE OARLSTONoUoSTONE Cheshire MANCHESTER gen tlemen on behalf of the old river na- vigation in- terest, and the Grand Trunk Canal Act passed ELD into law. At the same time another important Act was passed, empower- ing the construc- tion of the AYol- verhampton Canal, from the river Severn, near Bewdley, to the river FENTON Trent) near Haywood Mill . thug uniting the navigation of the three rivers which had their ter- mini at the ports of Liverpool, Hull, and Bristol, on the opposite SANDO " sides of the island. ^2* Y,\oLAWTON HARECASTLE "TUNSTALL RUDOELEY LICHFIELD W I tO E M \ / KINGSMILLS WOLVERHAMPTON BIRMINGHAM There was great re- // ioicino: at Bursleni on U1TAMWORTH | the news arriving at that place of the pass- ing of the bill ; and very shortly after, on the 26th of July, 1766, CHAP. XI. WEDGWOOD BUILDS " ETRURIA." 265 tlie works were formally commenced by Josiah Wedgwood on the declivity of Bramhills, in a piece of land within a few yards of the bridge which crosses the canal at that place. Brindley was present at the ceremony, when due honours were paid him by the assembled potters. After Mr. Wedgwood had cut the first sod, many of the leading persons of the neighbourhood followed his example, putting their hand to the work by turns, and each cutting a turf or wheeling a barrow of earth in honour of the occasion. It was, indeed, a great day for the Potteries, as the event proved. In the afternoon a sheep was roasted whole in Burslem market-place, for the good of the poorer class of potters ; a feu de joie was fired in front of Mr. Wedg- wood's house, and sundry other demonstrations of local rejoicing wound up the day's proceedings. Wedgwood was of all others the most strongly impressed with the advantages of the proposed canal. He knew and felt how much his trade had been hindered by the defective communications of the neighbourhood, and to what extent it might be increased provided a ready means of transit to Liverpool, Hull, and Bristol could be secured ; and, con- fident in the accuracy of his anticipations, he proceeded to make the purchase of a considerable estate in Shelton, intersected by the canal, on the banks of which he built the celebrated Etruria the finest manufactory of the kind up to that time erected in England, alongside of which he built a mansion for himself and cottages for his workpeople. He removed his works thither from Burslem, partially in 1769, and wholly in 1771, shortly before the works of the canal had been completed. The Grand Trunk was the most formidable undertaking of the kind that had yet been attempted in England. Its whole length, including the junctions with the Birming- ham Canal and the river Severn, was Io9i miles. In con- formity with Brindley's practice, he laid out as much of the navigation as possible upon a level, concentrating the locks in this case at the summit, near Harecastle, from 266 JAMES BEINDLEY. CHAP. XL which point the waters fell in both directions, north and south. Brindley's liking for long flat reaches of dead water made him keep clear of rivers as much as possible. He likened water in a river flowing down a declivity, to a furious giant running along and overturning everything ; whereas (said he) " if you lay the giant flat upon his back, he loses all his foice, and becomes completely passive, whatever his size may be." Hence he contrived that from Middlewich, a distance of seventeen miles, to the Duke's Canal at Preston Brook, there should not be a lock ; but goods might be conveyed from the centre of Cheshire to Manchester, for a distance of about seventy miles, along one uniform water level. He carried out the same prac- tice, in like manner, on the Trent side of Harecastle, where he laid out the canal in as many long lengths of dead water as possible. The whole rise of the canal from the level of the Mersey, including the Duke's locks at Euncorn, to the summit at Harecastle, is 395 feet; and the fall from thence to the Trent at Widen is 288 feet 8 inches. The locks of the Grand Trunk proper, on the northern side of Harecastle, are thirty-five, and on the southern side forty. The dimen- sions of the canal, as originally constructed, were twent}^- eight feet in breadth at the top, sixteen at the bottom, and four and a half feet in depth ; but from Wilden to Burton, and from Middlewich to Preston-on-the-Hill, it was thirty- one feet broad at the top, eighteen at the bottom, and five and a half feet deep, so as to be navigable by large barges ; and the locks at those parts of the canal were of corre- spondingly large dimensions. The width was afterwards made uniform throughout. The canal was carried over the river Dove on an aqueduct of twenty-three arches, approached by an embankment on either side in all a mile and two furlongs in length. There were also aqueducts over the Trent, which it crosses at four different points one of these being of six arches of twenty-one feet span each and over the Dane and other smaller streams. CHAP. XI. GRAND TRUNK TUNNELS. 2G7 The number of minor aqueducts was about 160, and of road-bridges 109. But the most formidable works on the canal were the tunnels, of which there were five the Harecastle, 2880 yards long; the Hermitage, 150 yards; the Barnton, 560 yards ; the Saltenford, 350 yards ; and the Preston-on-the Hill, 1241 yards. The Harecastle tunnel (subsequently duplicated by Telford) was constructed only nine feet wide and twelve feet high ;* but the others were seventeen feet four inches high, and thirteen feet six inches wide. The most extensive ridge of country to be penetrated was at Harecastle, involving by far the most difficult work in the whole undertaking. This ridge is but a continuation of the high ground, forming what is called the " back-bone of England," which extends in a south-westerly direction from the Yorkshire mountains to the Wrekin in Shrop- shire. The flat county of Cheshire, which looks almost as level as a bowling-green when viewed from the high ground near New Chapel, seems to form a deep bay in the land, its innermost point being almost immediately under the village of Harecastle ; and from thence to the valley of the Trent the ridge is at the narrowest. That Brindley was correct in determining to form his tunnel at this point has since been confirmed by the survey of Telford, who there constructed his parallel tunnel for the same canal, and still more recently by the engineers of the North Staffordshire Railway, who have also formed their railway tunnel almost parallel with the line of both canals. "When Brindley proposed to cut a navigable way under * Bilndley's tunnel had only space for a narrow canal-boat to pass through, and it was propelled by the tedious and laborious pro- men who " leg " the boat, literally kick it along from one end to the other. They lie on their backs on the boat-cloths, with their shoulders ' cess of what is called " legging." resting against some package, and ! propel it along by means of their feet pressing against the top or It still continues to be worked in the same way, while horses haul the boats through the whole length of Telford's wider tunnel. The | sides of the tunnel. 268 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. XI. tliis ridge, it was declared to be chimerical in the extreme. The defeated promoters of the rival projects continued to make war upon it in pamphlets, and in the exasperating language of mock sympathy proclaimed Brindley's proposed Northern Entrance of Harecastle Tunnels.* tunnel to be " a sad misfortune," f inasmuch as it would utterly waste the capital raised by the subscribers, and end in the inevitable ruin of the concern. Some of the small local wits spoke of it as another of Brindley's "Air Castles ;" but the allusion was not a happy one, as his first * The smaller opening into the hill on the right-hand of the view is Brindley's tunnel; that on the left is Telford s, executed some forty years since. Harecastle church and village occupy the ground over the tunnel entrances. t ' Seasonable Considerations,' &c. ; Canal pamphlet dated 1760. CHAP. XI. HAHECASTLE TUNNEL. 269 " castle in the air," despite all prophecies to the contrary, had been built, and continued to stand firm at Barton ; and judging by the issue of that undertaking, it was rea- sonable to infer that he might equally succeed in this, difficult though it was on all hands admitted to be. The Act was no sooner passed than Brindley set to work to execute the impossible tunnel. Shafts were sunk from the hill-top at different points down to the level of the intended canal. The stuff was drawn out of the shafts in the usual way by horse-gins ; and so long as the water was met with in but small quantities, the power of windmills and watermills working pumps over each shaft was suffi- cient to keep the excavators at work. But as the miners descended and cut through the various strata of the hill on their downward progress, water was met with in vast quantities ; and here Brindley 's skill in pumping machinery proved of great value. The miners were often drowned out, and as often set to work again by his mechanical skill in raising water. He had a fire-engine, or atmospheric steam-engine, of the best construction possible at that time, erected on the top of the hill, by the action of which great volumes of water were pumped out night and day. This abundance of water, though it was a serious hin derance to the execution of the work, was a circumstance on which Brindley had calculated, and indeed depended, for the supply of water for the summit level of his canal. When the shafts had been sunk to the proper line of the intended waterway, the excavation then proceeded in oppo- site directions, to meet the other driftways which were in progress. The work was also carried forward at both ends of the tunnel, and the whole line of excavation was at length united by a continuous driftway it is true, after long and expensive labour when the water ran freely out at both ends, and the pumping apparatus on the hilltop was no longer needed. At a general meeting of the Com- pany, held on the 1st October, 1768, after the works had been in progress about two years, it appeared from the 270 BRINDLEY'S ACTIVE SUPERINTENDENCE. CHAP. XL report of the Committee that four hundred and nine yards of the tunnel were cut and vaulted, besides the vast exca- vations at either end for the purpose of reservoirs ; and the Committee expressed their opinion that the work would be finished without difficulty. Active operations had also been in progress at other parts of the canal. About six hundred men in all were employed, and Brindley went from point to point superin- tending and directing their labours. A Burslem cor- respondent, in September, 1767, wrote to a distant friend thus : " Gentlemen come to view our eighth wonder of the world, the subterraneous navigation, which is cutting by the great Mr. Brindley, who handles rocks as easily as you would plum-pies, and makes the four elements subservient to his will. He is as plain a looking man as one of the boors of the Peak, or as one of his own carters ; but when he speaks, all ears listen, and every mind is filled with wonder at the things he pronounces to be practicable. He has cut a mile through bogs, which he binds up, embanking them with stones which he gets out of other parts of the navigation, besides about a quarter of a mile into the hill Yelden, on the side of which he has a pump worked by water, and a stove, the fire of which sucks through a pipe the damps that would annoy the men who are cutting towards the centre of the hill. The clay he cuts out serves for bricks to arch the subterraneous part, which we heartily wish to see finished to Wilden Ferry, when we shall be able to send Coals and Pots to London, and to different parts of the globe." In the course of the first two years' operations, twenty- two miles of the navigation had been cut and finished, and it was expected that before eighteen months more had elapsed the canal would be ready for traffic by water between the Potteries and Hull on the one hand, and Bristol on the other. It was also expected that by the same time the canal would be ready for traffic from the north end of Harecastle Tunnel to the river Mersey. The CHAP. XI. BENEFITS CONFERRED BY THE CANAL. 271 execution of the tunnel, however, proved so tedious and difficult, and the excavation and building went on so slowly, that the Committee could not promise that it would be finished in less than five years from that time. As it was, the completion of the Harecastle Tunnel occupied nine years more ; and it was not finished until the year 1777, by which time the great engineer had finally rested from all his labours. It is scarcely necessary to describe the benefits which the canal conferred upon the inhabitants of the districts through which it passed. As we have already seen, Stafford- shire and the adjoining counties had been inaccessible during the chief part of each year. The great natural wealth which they contained was of little value, because it could with difficulty be got at ; and even when reached, there was still greater difficulty in distributing it. Coal could not be worked at a profit, the price of land-carriage so much restricting its use, that it was placed altogether beyond the reach of the great body of consumers. It is difficult now to realise the condition of poor people situated in remote districts of England less than a century ago. In winter time they shivered over scanty wood-fires, for timber was almost as scarce and as dear as coal. Fuel was burnt only at cooking times, or to cast a glow about the hearth in the winter evenings. The fireplaces were little apartments of themselves, sufficiently capacious to enable the whole family to sit within the wide chimney, where they listened to stories or related to each other the events of the day. Fortunate were the villagers who lived hard by a bog or a moor, from which they could cut peat or turf at will. They ran all risks of ague and fever in summer, for the sake of the ready fuel in winter. But in places remote from bogs, and scantily timbered, existence was scarcely possible ; and hence the settlement and culti- vation of the country were in no slight degree retarded until comparatively recent times, when better communica- tions were opened up. 272 LAND AND CANAL CARRIAGE CONTRASTED. CHAP. XI. When the canals were made, and enabled coals to be readily conveyed along them at comparatively moderate rates, the results were immediately felt in the increased comfort of the people. Employment became more abundant, and industry sprang up in their neighbourhood in all direc- tions. The Duke's canal, as we have seen, gave the first great impetus to the industry of Manchester and that dis- trict. The Grand Trunk had precisely the same effect throughout the Pottery and other districts of Staffordshire ; and their joint action was not only to employ, but actually to civilize the people. The salt of Cheshire could now be manufactured in immense quantities, readily conveyed away, and sold at a comparatively moderate price in all the midland districts of England. The potters of Burslem and Stoke, by the same mode of conveyance, received their gypsum from Northwich, their clay and flints from the sea- ports now directly connected with the canal, and returned their manufactures by the same route. The carriage of all articles being reduced to about one-fourth of their pre- vious rates,* articles of necessity and comfort, such as had formerly been unknown except amongst the wealthier * The following comparison of the rates per ton at which goods were conveyed by land-carriage be- fore the opening of the Grand Trunk Canal, and those at which they were subsequently carried by it, will show how great was the advantage conferred on the country by the introduction of navigable canals : " The cost of carrying a ton of goods from Liverpool to Etruria, the centre of the Stafford- shire Potteries, by land-carriage, was 50s. ; the Trent and Mersey re- duced it to 13s. 4d. The land- carriage from Liverpool to Wolver- hampton was 51. a ton; the canal reduced it to 11. 5s. The land-car- riage from Liverpool to Birming- ham, and also to Stourport, was 51. a ton; the canal reduced both to 11 10s Thus the cost of inland transport was reduced, on the average, to about one-fourth of the rate paid previous to the intro- duction of canal navigation. The advantages were enormous : wheat, for example, which formerly could not be conveyed a hundred miles, from corn-growing districts to the large towns and manufacturing districts, for less than 20s. a quar- ter, could be conveyed for about 5s. a quarter. These facts show how great was the service conferred on the country by Brindley and the Duke of Bildgewater." Barnes's ' History of the Commerce and Town of Liverpool.' CH. XI. MORAL AND SOCIAL INFLUENCES OF CANALS. 273 classes, came into common use amongst the people. Employ- ment increased, and the difficulties of subsistence dimin- ished. Led by the enterprise of Wedgwood and others like him, new branches of industry sprang up, and the manu- facture of earthenware, instead of being insignificant and comparatively unprofitable, which it was before his time, became a staple branch of English trade. Only about ten years after the Grand Trunk Canal had been opened, Wedgwood stated in evidence before the House of Com- mons, that from 15,000 to 20,000 persons were then em- ployed in the earthenware-manufacture alone, besides the large number of labourers employed in digging coals for their use, and the still larger number occupied in provid- ing materials at distant parts, and in the carrying and distributing trade by land and sea. The annual import of clay and flints into Staffordshire at that time was from fifty to sixty thousand tons ; and yet, as Wedgwood truly predicted, the trade was but in its infancy. The tonnage outwards and inwards at the Potteries is now upwards of three hundred thousand tons a-year. The moral and social influences exercised by the canals upon the Pottery districts were not less remarkable. From a half-savage, thinly-peopled district of some 7000 persons in 1760, partially employed and ill-remunerated, we find them increased, in the course of some twenty-five years, to about treble the population, abundantly em- ployed, prosperous, and comfortable.* Civilization is doubtless a plant of very slow growth, and does not ne- cessarily accompany the rapid increase of wealth. On the contrary, higher earnings, without improved morale, may only lead to wild waste and gross indulgence. But the testimony of Wesley to the improved character of the population of the Pottery district in 1781, within a few years after the opening of Brindley's Grand Trunk Canal, * The population of the same district in 1861 was found to be upwards of 120,000. J.B. T 274 TESTIMONY OF WESLEY. CHAP. XI. is so remarkable, that we cannot do better than quote it here ; and the more so, as we have already given the ac- count of his first visit in 1760, on the occasion of his being pelted. " I returned to Burslem," says Wesley ; " how is the whole face of the country changed in about twenty years ! Since which, inhabitants have continually flowed in from every side. Hence the wilderness is literally become a fruitful field. Houses, villages, towns, have sprung up, and the country is not more improved than the people." CHAP. XII. WOLVERHAMPTON CANAL. 275 CHAPTEE XII. BRINDLEY' s LAST CANALS His DEATH AND CHARACTER. IT is related of Brindley that, on one occasion, when giving evidence before a Committee of the House of Com mons, in which he nrged the superiority of canals over rivers for purposes of inland navigation, the question was asked by a member, "Pray, Mr. Brindley, what then do you think is the use of navigable rivers ? " " To make canal navigations, to be sure," was his instant reply. It is easy to understand the gist of the engineer's meaning. For purposes of trade he regarded regularity and certainty of communication as essential conditions of any inland navigation ; and he held that neither of these could be relied upon in the case of rivers, which are in winter liable to interruption by floods, and in summer by droughts. In his opinion, a canal, with enough of water always kept banked up, or locked up where the country would not admit of the level being maintained throughout, was absolutely necessary to satisfy the requirements of com- merce. Hence he held that one of the great uses of rivers was to furnish a supply of water for canals. It was only another illustration of the " nothing like lea- ther " principle ; Brindley 's head being so full of canals, and his labours so much confined to the making of canals, that he could think of little else. In connection with the Grand Trunk which proved, as Brindley had anticipated, to be the great aorta of the canal system of the midland districts of England w~ ser- ous lines were projected and afterwards carried out under our engineer's superintendence. One of the most import- ant of these was the Wolverhampton Canal, connecting the Trent with the Severn, and authorised in the same \ 2 276 BRINDLEY'S OTHER CANALS. CHAP. XII. year as the Grand Trunk itself. It is now known as the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, passing close to the towns of Wolverhampton and Kidderminster, and falling into the Severn at Stourport. This branch opened up several valuable coal-fields, and placed Wolverhampton and the intermediate districts, now teeming with popula- tion and full of iron manufactories, in direct connection with the ports of Liverpool, Hull, and Bristol. Two years later, in 1768, three more canals, laid out by Brindley, were authorised to be constructed : the Coventry Canal to Oxford, connecting the Grand Trunk system by Lich- field with London and the navigation of the Thames ; the Birmingham Canal, which brought the advantages of in- land navigation to the very doors of the central manu- facturing town in England ; and the Droitwich Canal, to connect that town by a short branch with the river Severn. In the following year a further Act was obtained for a canal laid out by Brindley, from Oxford to the Coventry Canal at Longford, eighty-two miles in length. These were highly important works ; and though they were not all carried out strictly after Brindley 's plans, they nevertheless formed the groundwork of future Acts, and laid the foundations of the midland canal system. Thus, the Coventry Canal was never fully carried out after Brindley's designs; a difference having arisen be- tween the engineer and the Company during the progress of the undertaking, in consequence, as is supposed, of the capital provided being altogether inadequate to execute the works considered by Brindley as indispensable. He probably foresaw that there would be nothing but diffi- culty, and very likely there might be discredit attached to himself by continuing connected with an undertaking the proprietors of which would not provide him with sufficient means for carrying it forward to completion ; and though he finished the first fourteen miles between Coventry and Atherstone, he shortly after gave up his connection with the undertaking, and it remained in an unfinished CHAP. XII. BOULTON AND WEDGWOOD. 277 state for many years, in consequence of the financial diffi- culties in which the Company had become involved through the insufficiency of their capital. The connec- tion of the Coventry Canal with the Grand Trunk was afterwards completed, in 1785, by the Birmingham and Fazeley and Grand Trunk Companies conjointly, and the property eventually proved of great value to all parties concerned. The Droitwich Canal, though only a short branch five and a half miles in length, was a very important work, opening up as it did an immense trade in coal and salt between Droitwich and the Severn. The works of this navigation were wholly executed by Brindley, and are considered superior to those of any others on which he was engaged. Whilst residing at Droitwich, we find our engineer actively engaged in pushing on the subscription to the Birmingham Canal, the capital of which was taken slowly. Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham, was one of the most active promoters of the scheme, and Josiah Wedgwood also bestirred himself in its behalf. In a letter written by him about this time, we find him re- questing one of his agents to send out plans to gentle- men whom he names, in the hope of completing the sub- scription-list.* Brindley did not live to finish the Bir- * The letter is so characteristic of Josiah Wedgwood that we here insert it at length, as copied from the original in the possession of Mr. Mayer of Liverpool : " Burslem, 12th July, 1769. " Dear Sir, I should have wrote to you about young Wilson, but the multiplicity of branches you wrote me he was expected to learn, made me despair of teaching him any. Pray give my compliments to his father, and if he chooses to have his son to learn to be a warehouseman and book- keeper, which is quite sufficient and better than more for any one person, I will learn him those in the best manner; but, even then, Mr. Wilson must not expect him to be set ou the top of a ladder without set- ting his feet upon the lowermost steps; and unless he will let the Boy pursue that method, I would not be concerned with him on any account. I will not attempt to teach him any more trades; it would in- jure the Boy, and do me no good. If he has a mind at his leisure time to amuse himself with drawing I have no objection, and would encourage him in it, as an inno- cent amusement, and what may be of use to him, but would not make this a branch of his business. If the business I propose is too humble for Mr. Wilson's son, I would not by any means have him accept of it " Mr. Brindley desires you'll send 30 plans to each of the undermentioned Gen- tlemen by the first Waggons, and let us know when they are sent, as we shall ad- vertise them in several of the Country papers: Mr. Walker, of Oxford, Steward to D. of Marlbro' you may perhaps get CHESTERFIELD CANAL. CHAP. XII. mingham Canal; it was carried out by his successors,- partly by his pupil, Mr. Whitworth, and partly by Smeaton and Telford. Brindley's plan was, as usual, to cut the canal as flat as possible, to avoid the necessity for lockage ; but his successors, in order to relieve the capital expenditure, as they supposed, constructed it with a number of locks to carry it over the summit at Smithwick. Shortly after its opening, however, the Company found reason to regret their rejection of Mr. Brindley's advice, and they lowered the summit by cutting a tunnel, as he had originally recommended, thereby incurring an extra expense of about 30,000?. Another of Brindley's canals, authorised in 1769, was that between Chesterfield and the river Trent, at Stock-' with, about forty-six miles in length, intended for the transport of coal, lime, and lead from the rich mineral districts of Derbyshire, and the return trade of deals, corn, and groceries to the same districts. It would appear that Mr. Grundy, another engineer, of considerable reputation in his day, was consulted about the project, and that he advised a much more direct route than that pointed out by Brindley, who looked to the accommodation of the ex- isting towns, rather than shortness of route, as the main thing to be provided for. Brindley, in this respect, took very much the same view in laying out his canals as was afterwards taken by George Stephenson a man whom he resembled in many respects in laying out railways. He would rather go round an obstacle in the shape of an elevated range of country, than go through it, especially if in going round and avoiding expense he could accom- modate a number of towns and villages. Besides, by avoiding the hills and following the course of the valleys, them sent from Marlbro' house ; Mr. Dud- I plates of all sorts, sallad dishes, covered ley, Attorney - at - Law, Coventry ; Mr. Eichardson, Silversmith, in Chester; Mr. Perry, Wolverhampton. " We shall send you this week end, double salte, creams, pott'y potts, table do., pierced desert plates, &c. We cannot get Sadler to send us any pierced desert ware, &c. Pay Addison 5 or 6 guineas. " Yours, &c., J. W." CHAP. XII. BRINDLEY'S CANALS. 279 along which the population usually lies, he avoided expense of construction and secured flatness of canal ; just as Stephenson secured flatness of railway gradient. Although the length of canal to be worked was longer, yet the cost of tunnelling and lockage was avoided. The popula- tion of the district was also fully accommodated, which could not have been accomplished by the more direct route through unpopulated districts or under barren hills. The proprietors of the Chesterfield Canal concurred in Brindley's view, adopting his plan in preference to Grundy's, and it was accordingly carried into effect. This navigation was, nevertheless, a work of considerable diffi- culty, proceeding, as it did, across a very hilly country, the summit tunnel at Hartshill being 2850 yards in ex- tent. "Like many of Brindley's other works projected about this time, it was finished by his brother-in-law, Mr. Henshall, and opened for traffic several years after the great engineer's death.* The whole of these canals were laid out by Brindley, though they were not all executed by him, nor precisely after his plans. No record of any kind has been pre- served of the manner in which the works were carried out. Brindley himself made few reports, and these merely stated results, not methods; yet he had doubtless many formidable difficulties to encounter, and must have over- come them by the adoption of those ingenious expedients, varying according to the circumstances of each case, in which he was always found so fertile. He had no trea- * The following were the canals laid out and principally executed by Briadley : Miles, furl, chains. The Duke's Canals I W rs ^ e y to Manchester 10 2 I Longford Bridge to the Mersey below Runcorn 24 1 7 Grand Trunk Canal Proper, from Wilden Ferry to Preston Brook 88 7 9 Wolverhampton Canal 46 4 Coventry , 36 7 8 Birmingham , , 24 2 Droitwich , 5 4 9 Oxford : 82 7 3 Chesterfield , , . . 46 280 OBSTACLES TO BRINDLEY'S SUCCESS. CHAP. XII. sury of past experience, as recorded in books, to consult, for he could scarcely read English; and certainly he could neither read French nor Italian, in which languages the only engineering works of any value were then written ; nor had he any store of native experience to draw from, he himself being the first English canal engineer of emi- nence, and having all his methods and expedients to devise for himself. It would doubtless have been most interesting could we have had some authentic record of this strong original man's struggles with opposition and difficulty, and the means by which he contrived not only to win persons of high station to support him with their influence but also with their purses, at a time when money was com- paratively a much rarer commodity than it is now. " That want of records, journals, and memoranda," says Mr. Hughes, " which is ever to be deplored when we seek to review the progress of engineering works, is particularly felt when we have to look back upon those undertakings which first called for the exercise of engineering skill in many new and untried departments. In Brindley's day, the entire absence of experience derived from former works, the obscure position which the engineer occupied in the scale of society, the imperfect communication be- tween the profession in this country and the engineers and works of other countries, and, lastly, the backward condition of all the mechanical arts and of the physical sciences connected with engineering, may all be ranked in striking contrast with the vast appliances which are placed at the command of modern engineers." * Moreover, the great canal works upon which Brindley was engaged during the later part of his career, were as yet scarcely appreciated as respects the important influ- ences which they were calculated to exercise upon society * ' Memoir,' by Samuel Hughes, C.E. Weale's ' Quarterly Papers,' 1844. CH. XII. CONSULTED ON PLANS OF OTHER ENGINEERS. 281 at large. The only persons who seem to have regarded them with interest were far-sighted men like Josiah Wedg- wood, who saw in them the means not only of promoting the trade of his own county, but of developing the rich natural resources of the kingdom, and diffusing amongst the people the elements of comfort, intelligence, and civili- zation. The literary and scientific classes as yet took little or no interest in them. The most industrious and observant literary man of the age, Dr. Johnson, though he had a word to say upon nearly every subject, never so much as alluded to them, though all Brindley's canals were finished in Johnson's lifetime, and he must have observed the works in progress when passing on his various journeys through the midland districts. The only refer- ence which he makes to the projects set on foot for opening up the country by means of better roads, was to the effect, that whereas there were before cheap places and dear places, now all refuges were destroyed for ele- gant or genteel poverty. Before leaving this part of the subject, it is proper to state that during the latter part of Brindley's life, whilst canals were being projected in various directions, he was, on many occasions, called upon to give his opinion as to the plans which other engineers had prepared. Among the most important of the new projects on which he was thus consulted were, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal ; the im- provement of the navigation of the Thames to Reading ; the Calder Navigation ; the Forth and Clyde Canal ; the Salis- bury and Southampton Canal ; the Lancaster Canal ; and the Andover Canal. Many of these schemes were of great importance in a national point of view. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal, for instance, brought the whole manu- facturing district of Yorkshire along the valley of the Aire into communication with Liverpool and the intermediate districts of Lancashire. The advantages of this navigation to Leeds, Bradford, Keighley, and the neighbouring towns, are felt to this day, and their extraordinary prosperity 282 LEEDS AND LIVERPOOL CANAL. CHAP. XII. is doubtless in no small degree attributable to the facili- ties which the canal has provided for the ready convey ance of raw materials and manufactured produce between those places and the towns and sea-ports of the west. Brindley surveyed and laid out the whole line of this navi- gation, 130 miles in length, and he framed the estimate on which the Company proceeded to Parliament for their bill. On the passing of the Act in 1768-9, the Directors appointed him their engineer ; but, being almost over- whelmed with other business at the time, and feeling that he could not give the proper degree of personal at- tention to carrying out so extensive an undertaking, he was under the necessity of declining the appointment. The works were immediately begun at both ends of the canal, and portions were speedily made use of; but the difficulty and expensiveness of the remaining works greatly delayed their execution, and the canal was not finished until the year 1816. Twenty miles, extending from near Bingley to the neighbourhood of Bradford, were opened on 21st March, 1774. A correspondent of 'Williamson's Liver- pool Advertiser ' thus describes the opening : " From Bingley and about three miles down, the noblest works of the kind that perhaps are to be found in the universe are exhibited, namely, a five-fold, a three-fold, a two-fold, and a single lock, making together a fall of 120 feet; a large aqueduct-bridge of seven arches over the river Aire, and an aqueduct on a large embankment over Ship- ley valley. Five boats of burden passed the grand lock, the first of which descended through a fall of sixty-six feet in less than twenty-nine minutes. This much wished- for-event was welcomed with ringing of bells, a band of music, the firing of guns by the neighbouring militia, the shouts of spectators, and all the marks of satisfaction that so important an acquisition merits." On the 21st October of the same year the following paragraph ap- peared : " The Liverpool end of the canal was opened from Liverpool to Wigan on Wednesday, the 19th instant, CHAP. XII. BRINDLEY'S SURVEY OF THE THAMES. 283 with great festivity and rejoicings. The water had been, led into the basin the evening before. At nine A.M. the proprietors sailed up the canal in their barge, pre- ceded by another with music, colours flying, &c., and re- turned to Liverpool about one. They were saluted with two royal salutes of twenty-one guns each, besides the swivels on board the boats, and welcomed with the re- peated shouts of the numerous crowds assembled on the banks, who made a most cheerful and agreeable sight. The gentlemen then adjourned to a tent, on the quay, where a cold collation was set out for themselves and their friends. From thence they went in procession to George's coffee-house, where an elegant dinner was pro- vided. The workmen, 215 in number, walked first, with their tools on their shoulders, and cockades in their hats, and were afterwards plentifully regaled at a dinner pro- vided for them. The bells rang all day, and the greatest joy and order prevailed on the occasion." Brindley being now the recognised head of his profes- sion, and the great authority on all questions of naviga- tion, he was, in 1770, employed by the Corporation of London to make a survey of the Thames above Battersea, with the object of having it improved for purposes of navi- gation. As usual, Brindley strongly recommended the construction of a canal in preference to carrying on the navigation by the river, where it was liable to be inter- rupted by the tides and floods, or by the varying deposits of silt in the shallow places. In his first report to the Common Council, dated the 16th of June, 1770, he pointed out that the cost of hauling the barges was greatly in favour of the canal. For example, he stated that the expense of taking a vessel of 100 or 120 tons from Isle worth to Sunning, and back again to Isleworth, was 80/., and sometimes more ; whilst the cost by the canal would only be 161 The saving in time would be still greater, for the double voyage might easily be performed in fifteen hours-; whereas by the river the boats were sometimes 284 BRINDLEY'S SURVEY OF THE THAMES. CHAP. XII. three weeks in going up, and almost as much in coming down. He estimated that there would be a saving to the public of at least 64L on every voyage, besides the saving of time in performing it. After making a further detailed examination of the district, and maturing his views on the whole subject, he sent in a report, accom- panied by a profile of the river about seven feet long, which is still to be seen amongst the records of the Corporation of London. His plan was not, however, carried out; the proposal to construct a canal parallel with the Thames having been abandoned so soon as the Grand Junction Canal was undertaken. These and numerous other schemes in various parts of the country at Stockton, at Leeds, at Cambridge, at Chester, at Salisbury and Southampton, at Lancaster, and in Scotland fully occupied the attention of Brindley ; in addition to which, there was the personal superintend- ence which he must necessarily give to the canals in active progress, and for the execution of which he was responsible. In fact, there was scarcely a design of a canal navigation set on foot throughout the kingdom during the later years of his life, on which he was not consulted, and the plans of which he did not entirely make, revise, or improve. In addition to his canal works, Brindley was also con- sulted as to the best means of draining the low lands in different parts of Lincolnshire, and the Great Level in the neighbourhood of the Isle of Ely.* He supplied the cor- poration of Liverpool with a plan for cleansing the docks and keeping them clear of mud, which is said to have proved very effective; and he pointed out to them an economical method of building walls against the sea with- out mortar, which long continued to be employed with complete success. In such cases he laid his plans freely open to the public, not seeking to secure them by patent, nor shrouding his proceedings in any mystery. He was perfectly open with professional men, harbouring no 'petty CHAP. XII. BRINDLEY AND HENSHALL. 285 jealousy of rivals. His pupils had free access to all his methods, and he took a pride in so training them that they should reflect credit on the engineer's profession, then rising into importance, and be enabled, after he left the scene, to carry on those great industrial enterprises which he probably foresaw clearly enough in England's future. It will be observed, from what we have said, that Brindley's engagements as an engineer extended over a very wide district. Even before his employment by the Duke of Bridgewater, he was under the necessity of travel- ling great distances to fit up water-mills, pumping-engines, and manufacturing machinery of various kinds, in the counties of Stafford, Cheshire, and Lancashire. But when he had been appointed to superintend the construction of the Duke's canals, his engagements necessarily became of a still more engrossing character, and he had very little leisure left to devote to the affairs of private life. He lived principally at inns, in the immediate neighbourhood of his work ; and though his home was at Leek, he sometimes did not visit it for weeks together. Brindley had very little time for friendship, and still less for courtship. Nevertheless, he did contrive to find time for marrying, though at a comparatively advanced period of his life. In laying out the Grand Trunk Canal, he was necessarily brought into close connection with Mr. John Henshall, of the Bent, near New Chapel, land-surveyor, who assisted him in making the survey. He visited Hen- shall at his house in September, 1762, and then settled with him the preliminary operations. During his visits Brindley seems to have taken a special liking for Mr. Henshall's daughter Anne, then a girl at school, and when he went to see her father, he was accustomed to take a store of gingerbread for Anne in his pocket. She must have been a comely girl, judging by the portrait of her as a woman, which we have seen. BRINDLEY'S MAREIAGE. CHAP. XII. In due course of time, the liking ripened into an attach- ment ; and shortly after the girl had left school, at the age of only nineteen, Brindley proposed to her, and was accepted. By that time he was close upon his fiftieth year, so that the union may possibly have been quite as much a matter of convenience as of love on his part. He had now left the Duke's service for the purpose of entering upon the construction of the Grand Trunk Canal, and with that object resolved to transfer his home to the immediate neighbourhood of Harecastle, as well as of his colliery at Golden Hill. Shortly after the marriage, the old mansion of Turnhurst fell vacant, and Brindley with his young wife became its occupants. The marriage took place on the 8th December, 1705, in the parish church of Wolstanton, Brindley being described in the register as " of the parish of Leek, engineer ;" but from that time until the date of his death his homo was at Turnhurst. Brindley's House at Tunihurst. CHAP. XII. HIS HOUSE AT TURNHUEST. 287 The house at Turnhurst was a comfortable, roomy, old- fashioned dwelling, with a garden and pleasure-ground behind, and a little lake in front. It was formerly the residence of the Bellot family, and is said to have been the last mansion in England in which a family fool was main- tained. Sir Thomas Bellot, the last of the name, was a keen sportsman, and the panels of several of the upper rooms contain pictorial records of some of his exploits in the field. In this way Sir Thomas seems to have squandered his estate, and it shortly after became the property of the Alsager family, from whom Brindley rented it. A little summer-house, standing at the corner of the outer court- yard, is still pointed out as Brindley's office, where he sketched his plans and prepared his calculations. As for his correspondence, it was nearly all conducted, subsequent to his marriage, by his wife, who, notwithstanding her youth, proved a most clever, useful, and affectionate partner. Turnhurst was conveniently near to the works then in progress at Harecastle Tunnel, which was within easy walking distance, whilst the colliery at Golden Hill was only a few fields off. From the elevated ground at Golden Hill, the whole range of high ground .may be seen under which the tunnel runs the populous Pottery towns of Tunstall and Burslem filling the valley of the Trent towards the south. At Golden Hill, Brindley carried out an idea which he had doubtless brought with him from Worsley. He and his partners had an underground canal made from the main line of the Harecastle Tunnel into their coal-mine, about a mile and a half in length ; and by that tunnel the whole of the coal above that level was after- wards worked out, and conveyed away for sale in the Pottery and other districts, to the great profit of the owners and much to the convenience of the public. These various avocations involved a great amount of labour as well as anxiety, and probably considerable tear and wear of the vital powers. But we doubt whether mere hard work ever killed any man, or whether Brindley's 28$ BRINDLEY'S DEATH. CHAP. XII. labours, extraordinary though they were, would have shortened his life, but for the far more trying condition of the engineer's vocation irregular living, exposure in all weathers, long fasting, and then, perhaps, heavy feeding when the nervous system was exhausted, together with habitual disregard of the ordinary conditions of physical health. These are the main causes of the shortness of life of most of our eminent engineers, rather than the amount and duration of their labours. Thus the constitution becomes strained, and is ever ready to break down at the weakest place. Some violation of the natural laws more flagrant than usual, or a sudden exposure to cold or wet, merely presents the opportunity for an attack of disease which the ill-used physical system is found unable to resist. Such an accidental exposure unhappily proved fatal to Brindley. While engaged one day in surveying a branch canal between Leek and Froghall, he got drenched near Ipstones, and went about for some time in his wet clothes. This he had often before done with impunity, and he might have done so again ; but, unfortunately, he was put into a damp bed in the inn at Ipstones, and this proved too much for his constitution, robust though he naturally was. He became seriously ill, and was disabled from all further work. Diabetes shortly developed itself, and, after an illness of some duration, he expired at his house at Turn- hurst, on the 27th of September, 1772, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and was interred in the burying-ground at New Chapel, a few fields distant from his dwelling. James Brindley was probably one of the most remark- able instances of self-taught genius to be found in the whole range of biography. The impulse which he gave to social activity, and the ameliorative influence which he exercised upon the condition of his countrymen, seem out of all proportion to the meagre intellectual culture which he had received in the course of his laborious and active career. We must not, however, judge him merely by the CHAP. XII. HIS MECHANICAL GENIUS. 289 literary test. It is true, he could scarcely read, and lie was thus cut off, to his own great loss, from familiar intercourse with a large class of cultivated minds, living and dead ; for he could with difficulty take part in the conversation of educated men, and he was unable to profit by the rich stores of experience treasured up in books. Neither could he write, except with difficulty and inaccurately, as we have shown by the extracts above quoted from his note-books, which are still extant. Brindley was, nevertheless, a highly-instructed man in many respects. He was full of the results of careful observation, ready at devising the best methods of over- coming material difficulties, and possessed of a powerful and correct judgment in matters of business. When any emergency arose, his quick invention and ingenuity, culti- vated by experience, enabled him almost at once unerringly to suggest the best means of providing for it. His ability in this way was so remarkable, that those about him attri- buted the process by which he arrived at his conclusions rather to instinct than reflection the true instinct of genius. " Mr. Brindley," said one of his contemporaries, "is one of those great geniuses whom Nature sometimes rears by her own force, and brings to maturity without the necessity of cultivation. His whole plan is admirable, and so well concerted that he is never at a loss ; for, if any difficulty arises, he removes it with a facility which appears so much like inspiration, that you would think Minerva was at his fingers' ends." His mechanical genius was indeed most highly culti- vated. From the time when he bound himself apprentice to the trade of a millwright impelled to do so by the strong bias of his nature he had been undergoing a course of daily and hourly instruction. There was nothing to distract his attention, or turn him from pursuing his favourite study of practical mechanics. The training of his inventive faculty and constructive skill was, indeed, a slow but a continuous process ; and when the time and the J.I). U 290 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. XII. opportunity arrived for turning these to account when the silk-throwing machinery of the Congleton mill, for instance, had to be perfected and brought to the point of effectively performing its intended work Brindley was found able to take it in hand and carry out the plan, when even its own designer had given it up in despair. But it must also be remembered that this extraordinary ability of Brindley was in a great measure the result of close observation, pains-taking study of details, and the most indefatigable industry. The same qualities were displayed in his improvements of the steam-engine, and his arrangements to economise power in the pumping of water from drowned mines. It was often said of his works, as was said of Columbus's dis- covery, " How easy ! how simple !" but this was after the fact. Before he had brought his fund of experience and clearness of vision to bear upon a difficulty, every one was equally ready to exclaim " How difficult ! how absolutely impracticable !" This was the case with his " castle in the air," the Barton Viaduct such a work as had never before been attempted in England, though now any common mason would undertake it. It was Brindley 's merit always to be ready with his simple, practical expedient ; and he rarely failed to effect his purpose, difficult although at first sight its accomplishment might seem to be. Like men of a similar stamp, Brindley had great confi- dence in himself and in his powers and resources. Without this, it had been impossible for him to have accomplished so much as he did. It is said that the King of France, hearing of his wonderful genius, and the works he had performed for the Duke of Bridgewater at Worsley, ex- pressed a desire to see him, and sent a message inviting him to view the Grand Canal of Languedoc. But Brind- ley's reply was characteristic : " I will have no journeys to foreign countries," said he, " unless to be employed in sur- passing all that has been already done in them." His observation was remarkably quick. In surveying a CHAP. XII. HIS QUICKNESS OF OBSERVATION. 291 district, he rapidly noted the character of the country, the direction of the hills and the valleys, and, after a few journeys on horseback, he clearly settled in his mind the best line to be selected for a canal, which almost invariably proved to be the right one. In like manner he would estimate with great rapidity the fall of a brook or river while walking along the banks, and thus determined the height of his cuttings and embankments, which he after- wards settled by a more systematic survey. In these estimates he was rarely, if ever, found mistaken. His brother-in-law, Mr. Henshall, has said of him, ' ; when any extraordinary difficulty occurred to Mr. Brindley in the execution of his works, having little or no assistance from books or the labours of other men, his resources lay within himself. In order, therefore, to be quiet and uninterrupted whilst he was in search of the necessary expedients, he generally retired to his bed ;* and he has been known to be there one, two, or three days, till he had attained the object in view. He would then get up and execute his design, without any drawing or model. Indeed," it was never his custom to make either, unless he was obliged to do it to satisfy his employers. His memory was so remark- able that he has often declared that he could remember, and execute, all the parts of the most complex machine, provided he had time, in his survey of it, to settle in his mind the several parts and their relations to each other. His method of calculating the powers of any machine invented by him was peculiar to himself. He worked the question for some time in his head, and then put down the results in figures. After this, taking it up again at that stage, he worked it further in his mind for a certain time, and set down the results as before. In the same way he * The younger Pliny seems to I avocant abductus, et liber, et mihi have adopted almost a similar j relictus, non oculos ammo sed ani- method : " Clausse fenestrse ma- mum oculis sequor, qui eadem qua; nent. Mire enim silentio et tene- mens vident quoties non vident bris animus alitur. Ab iis quae ' alia." Epist. lib. ix., ep. 36. u 2 292 JAMES BRINDLEY. CHAP. XII. still proceeded, making use of figures only at stated parts of the question. Yet the ultimate result was generally true, though the road he travelled in search of it was unknown to all but himself, and perhaps it would not have been in his power to have shown it to another." * The statement about his taking to bed to study his more difficult problems is curiously confirmed by Brindley's own note-book, in which he occasionally enters the words " lay in bed," as if to mark the period, though he does not par- ticularise the object of his thoughts on such occasions. It was a great misfortune for Brindley, as it must be to every man, to have his mental operations confined exclusively within the limits of his profession. Anthony Trollope well observes, that " industry is a good thing, and there is no bread so sweet as that which is eaten in the sweat of a man's brow ; but the sweat that is ever running makes the bread bitter." Brindley thought and lived mechanics, and never rose above them. He found no pleasure in anything else ; amusement of every kind was distasteful to him ; and his first visit to the theatre, when in London, was also his last. Shut out from the humanising influence of books, and without any taste for the politer arts, his mind went on painfully grinding in the mill of mechanics. " He never seemed in his element," said his friend Bentley, "if he was not either planning or executing some great work, or conversing with his friends upon subjects of importance." To the last he was full of projects and full of work ; and then the wheels of life came to a sudden stop, when he could work no longer. It is related of him that, when dying, some eager canal undertakers insisted on having an interview with him. * 'Biographia Britannica,' 2nd Ed. Edited by Dr. Kippis. The materials of the article are ac- knowledged to have been obtained principally from Mr. Henshall by Messrs. Wedgwood and Bentley, who wrote and published the me- moir in testimony of their admira- tion and respect for their deceased friend, the engineer of the Grand Trunk Canal. CHAP. XII. HIS PRIVATE CHARACTER. 293 They had encountered a serious difficulty in the course of constructing their canal, and they must have the advice of Mr. Brindley on the subject. They were introduced to the apartment where he lay scarce able to gasp, yet his mind was clear. They explained their difficulty they could not make their canal hold water. " Then puddle it," said the engineer. They explained that they had already done so. " Then puddle it again and again." This was all he could say, and it was enough. It remains to be added that, in his private character, Brindley commanded general respect and admiration. His integrity was inflexible ; his manner, though rough and homely, was kind ; and his conduct unimpeachable.* He was altogether unassuming and unostentatious, and dressed and lived with great plainness. His was the furthest pos- sible from a narrow or jealous temper, and nothing gave him greater pleasure than to assist others with their inven- tions, and to train up a generation of engineers in his pupils, qualified to carry out the works he had himself de- signed, when he should be no longer able to conduct them. The principal undertakings in which he was engaged up to the time of his death were carried on by his brother-in-law, Mr. Henshall, formerly his clerk of the works on the Grand Trunk Canal, and by his able pupil, Mr. Eobert Whitworth, * It has, indeed, been stated in the strange publication of the last Earl of Bridge-water, to which we have already alluded, that when in the service of the Duke, Brind- ley was "drunken." But this is completely contradicted by the tes- timony of Brindley's own friends ; by the evidence of Brindley's note- book, from repeated entries in which it appears that his "ating and drink " at dinner cost no more than 8d. ; by the confidence gene- rally reposed in him, and the friendship entertained for him, by such men as Josiah Wedgwood ; and by the fact of the vast amount of work that he subsequently con- trived to get through. No man of "drunken" habits could possibly have done this. We should not have referred to this topic but for the circumstance that the late Mr. Baines, of Leeds, has quoted the Earl's statement, without contra- diction, in his excellent 'History of Lancashire.' 294 INFLUENCE OF BRINDLEY'S CANALS CHAP. XII. for both of whom he had a peculiar regard, and of whose integrity and abilities he had the highest opinion. Brindley left behind him two daughters, one of whom, Susannah, married Mr. Bettington, of Bristol, merchant, afterwards the Honourable Mr. Bettington, of Brindley's Plains, Yan Diemen's Land, where their descendants still live. His other daughter, Anne, died unmarried, on her passage home from Sydney, in 1838. His widow, still young, married again, and died at Longport in 1826. Brindley had the sagacity to invest a considerable portion of his savings in Grand Trunk shares, the great increase in the value of which, as well as of his colliery property at Golden Hill, enabled him to leave his family in affluent circumstances. Before finally dismissing the subject of Brindley's canals, we may briefly allude to the influence which they exercised upon the enterprise as well as the speculation of the time. " When these fellows," says Sheridan in the ' Critic,' " have once got hold of a good thing, they do not know when to stop." This might be said of the speculative projectors of canals, as afterwards of railways. The commercial success which followed the opening of the Duke's Canal, and shortly after it the Grand Trunk, soon infected the whole country, and canal schemes were projected in great numbers for the accommodation even of the most remote and unlikely places. In those districts where the demand for improved water communication grew out of an actual want as, for in- stance, where it was necessary to open up a large coal-field for the supply of a population urgently in need of fuel or where two large towns, such as Manchester and Liverpool, required to be provided with a more cheap and convenient means of trading intercourse than had formerly existed or where districts carrying on extensive and various manufactures, such as Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and CHAP. XII. UPON ENTERPRISE AND SPECULATION. 295 the Potteries, needed a more ready means of communication with other parts of the kingdom there was no want of trade for the canals ; and those constructed for such pur- poses very soon had as much traffic as they could carry. The owners of land discovered that their breed of horses was not destroyed, and that their estates were not so cut up as to be rendered useless, as many of them had prognosti- cated. On the contrary, the demand for horses to carry coals, lime, manure, and goods to and from the canal depots, rapidly increased. The canals meandering through their green fields were no such unsightly objects after all, and they very soon found that inasmuch as the new water- ways readily enabled agricultural produce to reach good markets in the large towns, they were likely even to derive considerable pecuniary advantages from their formation. Another objection alleged against canals, on public grounds, was alike speedily disproved. It was said that inland navigation, by reason of its greater cheapness, ease, and certainty, must necessarily diminish the coasting trade, and consequently discourage the training of seamen, who formed the constitutional bulwark of the kingdom. But the extraordinarily rapid growth of the shipping-trade of Liverpool, and the vastly increased number of seagoing vessels required to accommodate the traffic converging on that seaport, very soon showed that canals, instead of diminishing, were calculated immensely to promote the naval power and resources of England. Thus it was found that in the thirty years which elapsed subsequent to the opening of the Duke's Canal between Worsley and Man- chester, during which time the navigation had also been opened to the Mersey, and the Grand Trunk and other main canals had been constructed, connecting the principal inland towns with the seaports, the tonnage of English ships had increased threefold, and the number of sailors been more than doubled. So great an impulse had thus been given to the industry of the country, and it had become so clear that facility of 296 INFLUENCE OF BRINDLEY'S CANALS CHAP. XII. communication must be an almost unmixed good, that a desire for the extension of canals sprang up in all districts ; and instead of being resisted and denounced, they became everywhere the rage. They were advocated in pamphlets, in newspapers, and at public meetings. One enthusiastic pamphleteer, advocating the formation of a canal between Kendal and Manchester, denounced the wretched state of the turnpike-roads, which were maintained by "an enormous tax," and exclaimed, " May we all scorn to plod through the dirt as we long have done at so large an expense ; and for the support of our drooping manufactories, let canals be made through the whole nation as common as the public highways." * There seemed, indeed, to be every probability that this desire would be shortly fulfilled ; for so soon as the canals which had been made began to pay dividends, the strong motive of personal gain became superadded to that of public utility. The rapid increase of wealth which they promoted served to stimulate the projection of new schemes ; and in a very few years after Brindley's death we find an immense number of Navigation Acts receiving the sanction of the legislature, and canal works in progress in all parts of the country. The shares were quoted upon 'Change, where they became the subject of commerce, and very shortly of wild speculation. By the year 1792, the country was in a perfect ferment about canal shares. Notices of eighteen new canals were published in the ' Gazette ' of the 18th August in that year. The current premiums on single shares in those companies for which Acts had been obtained were as follows : Grand Trunk, 350?. ; Birmingham and Fazeley, 1170?. ; Coventry, 350?.; Leicester, 155?.; and so on. There was a rush to secure allotments in the new schemes, and the requisite capi- * ' A Cursory View of a proposed Canal from Kendal to the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal, leading to the great manufacturing town of Man- chester.' 1785. CHAP. XII. UPON ENTERPRISE AND SPECULATION. 297 tals were at once eagerly subscribed. At the first meeting, held in 1790, of the promoters of the Ellesmere Canal, 112 miles in extent, to connect the Mersey, the Dee, and the Severn, applications were made for four times the dispos- able number of shares. A great number of worthless and merely speculative schemes were thus set on foot, which brought ruin upon many, and led to waste both of labour and capital. But numerous sound projects were at the same time launched, and an 'extraordinary stimulus was given to the pro- secution of measures, too long delayed, for effectually opening up the communications of the country. The movement extended to Scotland, where the Forth and Clyde Canal, and the Crinan Canal, were projected ; and to Ireland, where the Grand Canal and Eoyal Canal were undertaken. But, as Arthur Young pithily remarked, in reference to these latter projects, " a history of public works in Ireland would be a history of jobs." In the course of the four years ending in 1794, not fewer than eighty-one Canal and Navigation Acts were obtained : of these, forty-five were passed in the two latter years, authorising the expenditure of not less than 5,300,000/. As in the case of the railways at a subsequent period, works which might, without pressure upon the national resources, easily have been executed if spread over a longer period, were undertaken all at once ; and the usual consequences followed, of panic, depreciation, and loss. But though individuals lost, the public were eventually the gainers. Many projects fell through, but the greater number were commenced, and after passing through the usual financial difficulties, were finished and used for traffic. The country became thoroughly opened up in all directions by about 2600 miles of navigable canals in England, 276 miles in Ireland, and 225 miles in Scotland. The cost of executing these great water-ways is estimated to have amounted to about fifty millions sterling. There was not a place in England south of Durham, more than 298 CANALS AND KAILWAYS. CHAP. XII. fifteen miles from water communication ; and most of the large towns, especially in the manufacturing districts, were directly accommodated with the means of easy transport of their goods to the principal markets. " At the beginning of the present century," says Dr. Aiken, writing in 1795, " it was thought a most arduous task to make a high road practicable for carriages over the hills and moors which separate Yorkshire from Lancashire, and now they are pierce'd through by three navigable canals !" Notwithstanding the great additional facilities for con- veyance of merchandise which have been provided of late years by the construction of railways, a very large propor- tion of the heavy carrying trade of the country still continues to be conducted upon canals. It was indeed at one time proposed, during the railway mania, and that by a somewhat shrewd engineer, to fill up the canals and make railways of them. It was even predicted, during the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Eailway, that "within twelve months of its opening, the Bridgewater Canal would be closed, and the place of its waters be covered over with rushes." But canals have stood their ground, even against railways; and the Duke's Canal, instead of being closed, continues to carry as much traffic as ever. It has lost the conveyance of passengers by the fly-boats,* it is true ; but it has retained and in many respects increased its traffic in minerals and merchandise. The canals have stood the competition of railways far more * The following curious para- graph is from the 'Times' of the 19th December, 1806. It relates to the despatching of troops from London for Ireland, during a time of lowed by others to-morrow, and on Sunday. By this mode of con- veyance the men will be only seven days in reaching Liverpool, and with comparatively little fatigue, great excitement : " The first divi- and it would take them above four- of the troops that are to pro- ceed by Paddington Canal for Liverpool, and thence by trans- ports for Dublin, will kave Pad- diugton to-day, and will be fol- teen days to march that distance. Kelays of fresh horses for the canal-boats have been ordered to be in readiness at all the stations." CHAP. XII. MODERN CANAL TRAFFIC. 299 successfully than the old turnpike-roads, though these too are still, in their way, as indispensable as canals and rail- ways themselves. Not less than twenty millions of tons of traffic are estimated to be carried annually upon the canals of England alone, and this quantity is steadily increasing. In 1835, before the opening of the London and Birmingham Eailway, the through tonnage carried on the Grand Junc- tion Canal was 310,475 tons; and in 1845, after the railway had been open for ten years, the tonnage carried on the canal had increased to 480,626 tons. At a meeting of proprietors of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, held in October, 1860, the chairman said, "the receipts for the last six months were, with one exception, the largest they had ever had." Railways are a great invention, but in their day canals were as highly valued, and indeed quite as important ; and it is fitting that the men by whom they were constructed should not be forgotten. We may be apt to think lightly of the merits and achievements of the early engineers, now that works of so much greater magnitude are accomplished without difficulty. The appliances of modern mechanics enable men of this day to dwarf by comparison the achieve- ments of their predecessors, who had obstructions to encounter which modern engineers know nothing of. The genius of the older men now seems slow, although they were the wonder of their own age. The canal, and its barges tugged along by horses, may appear a cumbersome mode of communication, beside the railway and the locomo- tive with its power and speed. Yet canals still are, and will long continue to form, an essential part of our great system of commercial communication, as much so as roads, railways, or the ocean itself. Brindley's Burial-place at New Chapel. APPENDIX. 301 APPENDIX. THE GRAND CANAL OF LANGUEDOC AND ITS CONSTRUCTOR, PIERRE-PAUL EIQUET DE BONREPOS. THE Canal du Midi, more commonly known as the Grand Canal of Languedoc, was one of the most important works of the kind at the time at which it was executed, though it has since been surpassed by many canals in France, as well as in England and other countries. It was commenced in 1666, about a hundred years before Brindley began the Bridgewater Canal, and it was finished in 1681. The magnitude and importance of, the work will be understood from the following brief statement of facts. The canal crosses the isthmus which connects France with Spain, along the valley between the Pyrenees and the Khone, and extends from the Garonne at Toulouse (which is navigable from thence to the Bay of Biscay) to Cette on the shores of the Mediterranean, thus uniting that sea with the Atlantic Ocean. The length of the navi- gation, from Toulouse to Cette, is about 158 English miles, including its passage through Lake Thau, near Cette, where, in consequence of the shallowness of the lake, it is confined for a considerable distance within artificial dykes. The canal is carried along its course over rivers, and under hills, by means of numerous aque- ducts, bridges, and tunnels. From the Garonne to the summit it rises 207 feet by twenty-six locks ; the summit level is 3^- miles, after which it descends by thirty-seven locks into the Aude near Carcassonne. It then proceeds along the north side of that river, passing over several streams, and descending by twenty-two locks into Lake Thau. There are other locks in the neighbourhood of Toulouse and Cette; the whole number being above a hundred. The fall from the summit at Naurouse to the Mediterranean is 62 1 feet ; a fact of itself which bespeaks the formidable character of the undertaking. 302 APPENDIX. The Grand Canal of Languedoc was constructed by Pierre-Pan 1 Riquet de Bonrepos, a man of extraordinary force of character, bold yet prudent, enterprising and at the same time sagacious and patient, possessed by an inexhaustible capacity for work, and endowed with a faculty for business, as displayed in his organization of the labours of others, amounting to genius. Yet Riquet, like Brindley, was for the most part self-taught, and was impelled by his instincts rather than by his education to enter upon the construction of canals, which eventually became the great business of his life. Presuming that an account of the " French Brindley " will not be uninteresting to English readers, we append the following summary of Riquet's career in connection with the great enterprise in question. The union of the Mediterranean with the Atlantic by means of a navigable canal across the South of France had long formed the subject of much curious speculation. The design of such a work will be found clearly sketched out in the * Me*moires de Sully ;' but the project seemed to be so difficult of execution, that no steps were taken to carry it into effect until it was vigorously taken in hand by Riquet in the reign of Louis XIV. Though descended from a noble stock (the Arrighetti or Riquetti of Florence, to a branch of which Riquetti Marquis de Mirabeau belonged), Riquet, at the time he took the scheme in hand, was only a simple exciseman (homme de gabelle). His place of residence was at the village of Bonrepos, situated near the foot of the Montague Noire, where he owned some property. France is there at about its narrowest part, and it had naturally occurred to those who speculated on the subject of a canal, that it would be of great public importance if by such means the large navigable river, the Garonne, which flowed into the Western Ocean, could be united to the smaller river, the Aude, which flowed into the Mediterranean. Both had their sources in the Pyrenees, and in one part of their course the rivers were only about fourteen leagues apart. The idea of joining them was thus perfectly simple. The great difficulty was in the execution of the work, the levels being different, and the intervening country rocky and mountainous. The deputies from Languedoc to the States General of Paris had at various times brought the subject of the proposed canal under the notice of the Government, and engineers were even sent into the locality to report as to the feasibility of the scheme ; but the GRAND CANAL OF LANGUEDOC. 303 result of their examination only served to confirm the general impression which prevailed as to the impracticable character of the undertaking. The situation of Eiquet's property at the Montagne Noire probably had the effect of directing his attention to the subject of the pro- posed canal. Though the king had made him a tax-gatherer, nature had made him a mathematician ; and his studies having taken a practical turn, he gradually went from geometry to levelling and sur- veying. His instruments and appliances were of the simplest sort, but they proved sufficient for his purpose. The Chancellor d'Aguesseau, in the memoir of his father, who personally knew Riquet, says of him that " the only instrument he then possessed was a wretched com- pass of iron ; and it was this, with very little instruction and assist- ance, that led him, guided mainly by his powerful natural instinct, which often avails more than science, to form the daring conception of uniting the Ocean with the Mediterranean." * He carefully examined the course of the streams in his neighbour- hood, trying to find out some practicable method of uniting the Garonne and the Aude, but more especially some means of supplying the upper levels of the Canal which he had in his mind's eye with sufficient water for purposes of navigation. With those objects he made many surveys of the adjacent country, until he knew almost every foot of the ground for thirty miles round. In the mean time he hired one Pierre, the son of a well-sinker of Revel, to dig a number of experimental little canals under his direction, in his gardens at Bonrepos, where they are still to be seen. These miniature works included conduits, sluices, locks, and even a model tunnel through a hill. At length, in the year 1662, he brought his plans under the notice of the famous Minister Colbert. Addressing him from the village of Bonrepos, Riquet said, " You will be surprised that I should address you on a matter about which I might be supposed to know nothing, and that an exciseman should mix himself up with river surveying. But you will excuse my presumption when I inform you that it is by the order of the Archbishop of Toulouse that I write to you."f He then proceeded to state that, having made a particular study of the subject, he had formed definite plans for carrying into effect the * '(Euvres de d'Aguesseau,' tome xiii. f ' Histoire du Canal de Languedoc,' par les Descendants de Pierre-Paul Riquet de Bonrepos. Paris, 1805. 304 APPENDIX. proposed canal, of which he enclosed a description, though in a very imperfect form; "for," he added, "not having learnt Greek nor Latin, and scarce knowing how to speak French, it is not possible for me to explain myself without stammering." Pointing out the great advantages to the nation of the proposed canal, the time and the money that would be saved by enabling French [ships to avoid the long voyage between the west coast and the Mediterranean by the Straits of Gibraltar, while the resources of the rich districts of Languedoc and Guienne would be freely opened up to the opera- tions of commerce, Kiquet concluded by stating that when he had the pleasure of learning that the project met with the general approval of the Minister, he would send him the details of his plans, the number of locks it would be necessary to provide, together with his calculations of the exact length, breadth, depth, and other parti- culars of the proposed canal. Colbert, at that time Controller-General of Finance, was actively engaged in opening up new sources of wealth to France, and Eiquet's plan at once attracted his attention and excited his admiration. He lost no time in bringing it under the notice of Louis XIV., whose mind was impressed by all undertakings which bore upon them the stamp of greatness. The king saw that Kiquet's enterprise, if carried out, was calculated to add to the glory of his reign ; and he resolved to assist it by all the means in his power. By his order, a Eoyal Commission was appointed to inquire into the scheme, examine on the spot the direction of the proposed navigation, and report the result. Meanwhile Kiquet was not idle. He walked over the entire line of the intended canal several times, correcting, amending, and per- fecting the details of his plans with every possible care. " I have gone everywhere, all over the ground," he wrote to the Archbishop, " with level, compass, and measuring line, so that I am perfectly acquainted with the route, the various lengths, the locks that will be required, the nature of the soil, whether rock or pasture, the elevations, and the number of mills along the line of navigation. In a word, my Lord, I am ignorant of no point of detail in the project, and the plan which I am prepared to submit will be faithful, being made on the ground, and with full knowledge of the subject." His survey finished, Kiquet proceeded to Paris to see Colbert, to whom he was introduced by his friend the Archbishop ; and after many conferences, Kiquet returned to Languedoc to prepare for the inspec- tion of the proposed line of navigation by the Commission. Their labours extended over two months, beginning at Toulouse and ending GRAND CANAL OF LANGUEDOC. 305 at Beziers.* The result of the investigation was favourable to Riquet's plan, which was pronounced practicable, with certain modi- fications, more particularly as respected the water-supply ; and the Commissioners further recommended the extension of the proposed canal to a harbour at Gette. A long correspondence ensued between Eiquet and Colbert as to the details of the scheme. Riquet disputed the conclusions of the Commissioners as to the alleged difficulty of constructing the works near Pierre de Naurouse intended for the supply of water to the canal ; and, to show his confidence in his own plans, he boldly offered to construct the conduit there at his own risk and cost : " in undertaking to do which," said he, " I risk both honour and goods ; for if I fail in satisfactorily performing the work, I shall pass for a mere visionary, and at the same time lose a considerable sum of money." So much difference of opinion prevailed upon this point, the men of science alleging the inadequacy of Riquet's plans, and Riquet himself urging their perfect sufficiency, that Colbert resolved that until this point was decided, no further step should be taken to authorize the canal itself to be proceeded with. But in order that Riquet might have an opportunity of vindicating the soundness of his plans, and not improbably with a view to test his practical ability to carry out the larger works of excavation and construction, letters patent were issued entrusting him to proceed with the necessary trench or conduit to enable some experience to be obtained of the inclination of the ground and the probability or otherwise of obtaining an adequate supply of water for the navigation. Riquet, with his usual promptitude, immediately began the execu- tion of this work. The rapidity with which he proceeded surprised everybody ; and the conduit was very speedily finished to the entire satisfaction of the Government inspectors. Having given this proof of his practical skill, and demonstrated the possibility of supplying sufficient water to the summit level, the king determined on authoriz- ing Riquet to proceed with the construction of the 'canal. The question of providing the requisite money for the purpose formed the next important subject of consideration. As the province of Languedoc would derive the principal advantages from the navi- gation being opened out, it was proposed at the assembly of the * The Proems- Verbal des Commissaires is preserved in the Manuscrits Col- bert, No. 202, Biblioth6c[ue Imperiale. J.B. * 306 APPENDIX. States, in 1665, that that province should contribute a certain pro- portion of the cost, on condition that the king should provide the remainder. Notwithstanding, however, the great advantages to the province of the construction of the canal, the States of Languedoc would not untie their purse-strings ; and they declared (26th Febru- ary, 1666) that they would neither then nor thereafter contribute towards its cost. On the other hand, the royal treasury had become almost exhausted, and any new expense could with difficulty be borne by it. Eiquet's demonstration of the possibility of uniting the Mediter- ranean with the ocean had therefore thus far been in vain. But he had fairly committed himself to the enterprise, and he was not the man now to turn back. Having had the courage to con- ceive the design, he urged the Government to allow the work to proceed ; and he suggested a method by which in his opinion the means might be provided without unnecessarily burdening the public treasury. He offered to construct the works upon the first division of the canal, from Toulouse -to Trebes near the river Aude, within a period of eight years, for the sum of 3,630,000 livres; and in payment of this sum he proposed to the king that he should grant him the sole farming of the taxes in Languedoc, Eoussillon, Con- flans, and Cerdagne during six years, on the same terms at which they were then held, and also that the offices of Controllers of peasants'-tax (des tailles), of tradesmen's-tax, and of rights over the salt-works of Pecais, should at the same time be assigned to him. This was a bold offer ; but the Council of State accepted it, and the necessary legal powers were accordingly granted to Eiquet, upon which measures were taken to enable him to proceed with the works. The plans which Riquet had prepared were revised and settled by M. Cavalier, the Commissaire-Grene'ral of Fortifications, who acted on behalf of the king. Eiquet's plans had been prepared with such care, that in his specification Cavalier for the most part adopted them, only altering the dimensions,* which were somewhat increased. The King's Engineer was careful not to define too rigidly the manner in which the works were to be carried out. He did not even trace a definite line to be followed, but merely marked the general limits within which the canal was to run. He foresaw that, with experience, many modifications might be found necessary ' Caiiaux Navigables,' par La Lande, 120. GRAND CANAL OF LANGUEDOC. 307 in the progress of the works, and he preferred leaving the manage- ment of the details as much as possible to the skill and judgment of the contracting engineer.* Riquet had now to display his genius in a new sphere. Hitherto he had exhibited himself mainly as a designer ; he had drawn plans, advocated and explained them to others, and transacted the part of a diplomatist in getting them adopted. Though his execution of the conduit near Pierre de Naurouse had enabled him to give satisfactory proofs of his engineering skill, the work he was now about to enter upon was of a much more formidable character, calling for the exer- cise of a varied class of practical qualities. He had to direct the labours of a very large number of men, to select the most suitable persons to superintend their various operations, and meanwhile to give his continuous attention to the carrying out of his plans, which, as in the case of all great undertakings, required constant modification according to the many unforeseen circumstances which from time to time occurred in the course of their execution. Anxious to proceed with the greatest despatch, Riquet began with the organization of his staff of workmen and superintendents. He divided them into a number of distinct groups, appointing a chef d'attelier to each, under whom were five brigadiers, each brigadier hav- ing the direction of fifty workmen. These groups were again combined in departments, a controller-general being appointed over each, and under him were travelling controllers, who received the reports of the brigadiers and chefs d'atteliers. and thus effectually maintained and concentrated the operations of the workpeople, who sometimes numbered from eleven to twelve thousand. Before Riquet had proceeded far with his enterprise, he experienced a difficulty v 'rich' has prcm 1 t 1 -5 bane of many a grand scheme want of money ! The produce of the taxes above referred to was not sufficient to enable him to push on the works with vigour ; but, rather than they should be delayed, he himself incurred heavy debts, selling or mortgaging all his available property to raise the requisite means. Notwithstanding the early decision of the States of Languedoc not to contribute towards the cost of constructing the- canal, Eiquet again and again made urgent appeals to them for help, but for some time in vain. Several grants had been made from the royal treasury to enable the contract to proceed, but Louis XIV. hav- ing become engaged in one of his expensive wars, was no longer able to Histoire du Canal de Languedoc,' p. 50. 308 APPENDIX. contribute ; and Biquet, having come to the end of his own resources, began to fear lest the canal works should be brought to a complete standstill. Colbert continued his fast friend and 'supporter, and took the most lively interest in the prosecution of the undertaking. His name was indeed a tower of strength, and his influence was in itself equal to a large capital. Of this Eiquet on one occasion made very adroit use, for the purpose of inducing the States of Languedoc at length to take part in his enterprise. It is said that, in order to impress upon their minds the confidence reposed in him by the great Minister, and thus to enhance his credit with them, he persuaded Colbert to allow him to try the following ruse. He asked to be permitted to enter his cabinet while he was engaged with the farmers-general of the province in discussing the renewal of their leases. Colbert consented ; and while thus occupied, Eiquet turned the key of the room-door, and entered and sat down, without saying a word to any one, and without any one speaking to him. The farmers-general looked at Riquet, then at the Minister, who took no heed of him, and then at each other. Strange that Colbert should place such confidence in "Riquet as to permit him thus to enter his private chamber at pleasure ! A second meeting of the same kind took place, and again Riquet entered as before. After the interview was over, the farmers spoke to Riquet of his canal, and its great utility ; and ended by offering to lend him 200,000 livres. Riquet, however, listened to the proposal very coolly, without accepting it. At the end of a third interview with the Minister, at which Riquet was present as before, the farmers raised their terms, and offered to lend him 500,000 livres. Riquet replied that he could do nothing without the sanction of the Minister ; and re-entering the cabinet of Colbert, he related to him what had passed. The Minister was very much amused at Riquet's adroitness, and readily gave his sanction to the proposed loan.* This advance proved the beginning of a series of loans of great mag- nitude advanced to Riquet by the States of Languedoc to enable him to complete the canal. Though they were slow to believe in the prac- ticability of the scheme, and for some time regarded it as impossible, their views changed when they saw the first part of the canal com- pleted from Toulouse to Trebes, and opened for the purposes of naviga- tion. They were then ready to recognize its great public uses, and from that time forward they exerted themselves to raise the neces- * This anecdote is given in the Memoires du Baron de Be'senval.' GRAND CANAL OF LANGUEDOC. 309 sary money to enable it to be completed to its junction with the Mediterranean at the port of Cette. - But Riquet had numerous difficulties to encounter besides those arising from want of money in the course of his undertaking. The prosecution of the works involved constant anxiety and unremitting labour. One of his greatest troubles was the conciliation of the owners of the land through which the canal passed, many of whom were ex- tremely hostile to the enterprise, and feared that it would inflict irre- parable injury upon their property. Worse than all was the malice, misrepresentation, and calumny that pursued him. He was denounced as an impostor, attempting to do an impossible thing ; he was wasting public money upon a work which, even if finished, could never be of any use. Before he began the canal, it was predicted that water enough could never be collected to supply the summit level ; and after that difficulty had been satisfactorily solved, local detraction was directed against the works. " Indeed," writes M. de Froidour to M. de Barillon, " the people of the locality are so agreed in decrying them that the wonder is to find a person who has not arrived at the foregone conclusion that this enterprise can never succeed."* Notwithstanding the alleged uselessness of the canal, the in- sufficiency of the works, and the prophecies of its failure even if completed, Eiquet bravely bore up, amidst toil, and disappoint- ments, and bodily suffering. He never lost hope or courage, but persevered through all. Writing to Colbert in April, 1667, he said, " I now know the strong as well as the weak points of my work better than I before knew them ; and I can assure you in all truth that it would not be easy to imagine a grander or more useful undertaking ; I have all the water-supply that I require, and the invention of my reservoirs will furnish me during summer with sufficient to render the navigation perpetual." .At another time he wrote to Colbert : " My enterprise is the dearest of my offspring : I look chiefly to the glory of it, and your satisfaction, not my profit ; for though I wish to leave the honour to my children, 1 have no ambition to leave them great wealth." And again "My object is not to enrich myself, but to accomplish a useful work, and prove the soundness of my design, which most people have hitherto regarded as impossible." * Three Letters from M. de Froidour to M. de Barillon, published at Tou- luuse in 1672. 310 APPENDIX. About the beginning of 1670, after three years' labour, part of the canal was opened, from Toulouse to Duperier, and used for the transport of materials. This was a comparatively easy section of the undertaking. But Kiquet was desirous of exhibiting the practical uses of the canal at the earliest possible period, not only for the purpose of mitigating the popular opposition, but of encouraging the king, Colbert, and the States-General, to support him with the necessary means to complete the remainder of the navigation from Trebes to Cette. Two years later, a further portion was finished and opened for public traffic. The Archbishop em- barked at Naurouse, and sailed along the new canal down to Toulouse. Four large barques ascended from the Garonne to Nau- rouse, and returned freighted with provisions and merchandise. The merchants of Gail lac, who had before been unable to send their wines to Bordeaux for sale, were now enabled to do so, and they established a packet-boat which regularly went between Naurouse and Toulouse three times a week. The remaining portions of the canal were in full progress. The basins, the conduits, the locks, were all well advanced as far as Castel- naudary, and Riquet was vigorously grappling with and successively overcoming the great difficulties \vhich occurred in the construction of the works between that place and the Mediterranean. Not the least among the number of his obstructions were the quarrels between the two Commissioners appointed by the king on the one hand, and by the States of Languedoc on the other, to superintend the execution of the undertaking. Each represented particular local interests, and whilst one desired to keep the canal to the north, the other wished it to proceed more to the south by way of Nar- bonne. Between their contentions, Riquet had sometimes a difficult course to steer. Thus, at Malpas, where it was necessary to carry the canal by a tunnel under the hill of Enserune, both Com- missioners pronounced the work to be impracticable, because the hill appeared to consist chiefly of a sandy stuff permeable to water, and apt to give way. But they were far from agreed as to the remedy, each urging upon Riquet the adoption of an opposite course, one that he should carry the canal northward by Maureillan, the other that he should carry it southward by Nissau and Vendres. They both wrote to Colbert, pointing out that Riquet's plan could never be carried out; that the scheme threatened to prove a total failure, because his work had run its head into a sand-hill, at a point where it had a lake on each side of it, from twenty- GRAND CANAL OF LANGUEDOC. 311 five to thirty feet below its level. In the mean time the Com- missioners gave Riquet orders to suspend the further prosecution of the works. Riquet put the orders in his pocket, and coolly resolved to carry out his own plan. To conceal his design, he pretended to abandon the trench leading to the mountain, and sent the workmen to that part of the canal which lay between Beziers and Agde. He then privily set a number of excavators to work upon the mountain-side near Malpas, and in six days he had vanquished the " impossibility," and cut a clear passage through it for his canal ! When the work was finished, he sent invitations to the Cardinal de Bonzy and to the two Commissioners to come and inspect what he had done. Greatly to their surprise, he led them right through his tunnel, lit up with flambeaux ; and his triumph was complete. It was not so easy to overcome the constantly recurring difficulties occasioned by the want of money. Nothing but money would satisfy his thousands of workmen and workwomen (for of the latter about six hundred were employed), and he was often put to the greatest straits for want of it. We find him, in 1675, writing to Colbert in very urgent terms. Unless supplied with funds, he represented that it would be impossible for him to go on. " People tell me," said he, " that I am only digging a canal in which to drown myself and my family." The king ordered a remittance to be sent to Riquet, but it was insufficient for his purposes. The costly harbour works at Cette were now in full progress, absorbing a great deal of money ; and Riquet's creditors grew more and more clamorous. Colbert urged the States of Languedoc to give him more substantial help, and they complied so far as to vote him a loan of 300,000 livres. But this money was only to be advanced at different and remote periods. Thus it did little to help him either in credit or in funds. " I am doing everything that is possible," he again wrote to Colbert, on the 21st of January, 1679, " to find persons that will lend me money to enable me to finish the canal in the course of the present year. But I am so overwhelmed with debt, that nobody will trust me, so that I am under the necessity of again having recourse to you, and informing you of my needs ; you will see what they are by the enclosed statement ; I venture to ask that you will state your wishes alongside of each item, so that I may be put in a position to bring my enterprise to a successful termination : it is my passion, and I shall be in despair if I cannot finish it. Time flies ; and once lost, it can never be recovered." 312 APPENDIX. Riquet had indeed reason to be apprehensive that he might not live to complete his work. The strain upon his mind and body for the fifteen years during which the canal was in progress had been very great, and he had more than one serious attack of illness. But still the enterprise went forward. The organization established by him was so perfect that his occasional absence from this cause was scarcely felt ; besides, his eldest son was now in a manner competent to supply his place. The third portion of the undertaking, consisting of the harbour and sea entrance to the canal at Cette, was being vigorously pushed on, and the canal was almost ready for opening throughout from one end of it to the other, when, worn out by toil and disease, Riquet breathed his last, without having the satisfaction of seeing his glorious work brought to completion. The canal was finished under the superintendence of his son, and was opened for public traffic about six months after Eiquet's death. The total cost of the canal was about sixteen million livres, equal to 1,320,000?. sterling. Riquet sank all his own means in it, and when he died it was found that his debts amounted to more than two million livres. To defray them, his representatives sold the principal part of the property he held in the concern, and it was not until the year 1724, forty years after the navigation had been opened, that it began to yield a revenue to Riquet's heirs. As in the case of many other great works, Riquet's merits have not been left undisputed. Thirty years after his death, a claim was set up on behalf of one of his assistants, M. Andreossy, as having been the designer of the canal ; while, more recently, a like claim has been made on behalf of M. Cavalier, the king's engineer. Although all contemporary witnesses had died hefore Riquet's merits, till then un- disputed, were thus called in question, happily the Archives of the canal as well as the Colbert correspondence survive to prove that, beyond the shadow of a doubt, Riquet was not only the inventor and the designer, but the constructor, of the Grand Canal of Languedoc. It must, however, be admitted that the genius of this great engineer has received but slight recognition among his own country- men, there not being a single tolerable memoir of Riqiiet to be found in the whole range of French literature. To this, however, it might be rejoined, that only a few years since the same thing might have been said of our own Brindley. INDEX. AIRE and Calder navigation, 153, 281-2. Amwell springs, 53, 57, 67, 99. Ancient embankment and drainage works, 1-13. Andover Canal, 281. Andreas, Peter de, 17. Andreossy, French engineer, 312. Anlaby Springs, Hull, 54. Aude River, France, 301. Avon River, improvement of, 123. Axholme, Isle of, and district, 19, 20, 25. BANKSIDE, Lambeth, 6. Barton Aqueduct, 172-5 ; opening of, 184, 193. Bedford, Francis, Earl of, 29, 31, 44. Level in the Fens, 31, 37, 45. River in the Fens, 31, 33, 36, 42. Bennett, Ab., wheelwright, Brindley's apprentice-master, 130 ; neglects his apprentice, 131. Birmingham Canal, 277, 279. Bollin River, Cheshire, 200, 205. Boston, bieach in Witham bank, 17. Boswell, contractor, Dagenham, 107, 111. Boulton, Mat., Birmingham, 277. Brading Haven, reclamation, 83-91. Bridgewater, Duke of, his birth and childhood, 154 ; guardianship, travels, 155; sporting life, 156; love affair, 157 ; enters on active useful life, 158; his Worsley Collieries, 165 ; project of canal from Worsley to Manchester, 166 ; Acts obtained, 166-171, 199; Parliamentary pro- ceedings, 167, 170, 193-4, 198-9; employs Brindley, 168 ; his con- BRINDLEY. fidenee in Brindley, 173 ; extends canal to the Mersey, 184 ; boldness of the enterprise, 203 ; provides the Duke's Dock at Liverpool, 215 ; his financial difficulties, 217-22 ; his economical "establishment," 218; chased by the rector, 219; opinion on coals and canals, 224; his history, 203, 225, 228-37 ; his death, 237 ; his personal influence and the re- sults of his works, 238-40. Bridgewater Canal, first Act, 166 ; maps of, 168-69 ; second Act, 171 ; opposition to, 193 ; plan of locks, 201 ; payment of workmen on, 208 ; cost of, 225. -, Earl of, 182, 209, 226, 237. Brindley, James, birth and birthplace, 126-7; Brindley's Croft, 128; his father, mother, 129; boyhood, 130; is bound apprentice millwright, 131 ; considered a bungler, 132 ; outstrips in skill both master and men, 133-4 ; his excellent work ; feat with paper- mill machinery, 135-6 ; saves his mflster, and conducts his business, 137; commences business at Leek, 138; is a "schemer;" his me- moranda books, 139, 170, 184, 190-3, 198-9, 208-11, 258-9 ; em- ployed at Trentham, 140; at the potteries, 141 ; drains Clifton Col- liery, 142 ; finishes a large silk- mill, 144-5 ; erects mills at the Potteries, 146-8 ; erects steam- engine, 149-50 ; takes out patent, 151 ; his engine at Walker Col- liery, 152 ; surveys for Earl Gower, 154; first connection with the Gilberts, 167 ; engages with the 314 INDEX. Duke of Bridgewater, 168 ; survey and report, 170 ; purchase at Turn- hurst to London for the Duke, 171 ; his bold ideas, Barton Aque- duct, 172-5 ; his handling of run- ning streams, 176-7 ; his originality ; mechanical resources, 178-181 ; his temperament and habits, 182, 285 ; surveys Liverpool and Manchester Canal, 184-9 ; his various engage- ments in Staffordshire, &c., 189-90, 284-5; personal -expenses, 191-2, 226; goes to the play, 193; ex- amined by Parliamentary Com- mittees, 195-7; his long level reaches of canal, 201 ; his energy and fertility of resources, 203-8 ; quarrel with Gilbert, 209; his anxieties, 210; friendship with Earnshaw, 212-13; bold project of bridge across the Mersey, 215; evenings with the Duke and Gilbert, 220; inadequate remuneration for his services, 226-7 ; differences with the Duke, 228 ; the Grand Trunk Canal, 248-9, 257-60, 262-71 ; his idea of the use of rivers, 275 ; other canals constructed on his plans, 275-80 ; scarcity of records of his works, 280 ; canal projects on which his advice was taken, 281- 4; his pupils, 285; his habits, coui'tship, marriage, 285-6 ; his death, 288 ; his character, 288-94. Bristol, 186 ; project for canal, 122 ; want of canals, 240, 249. f Britain, early settlement of, 1-13. Burslem, 140-1 ; Potters' manners, 251 ; rejoicings at, 265 ; improved by canal, 272. C ALDER Navigation, 281. Cambridge Fens, 29. Cambridgeshire camels, 14. Canals in Holland and England, 18 ; canals and streams, 176 ; subter- raneous canal, 178, 224; canal locks, 197-8 ; canals in level reaches, 201 ; canal ballast-boats, 205 ; canal steam-boats, 233 ; rate of travelling on first English canal, 239 ; fears DAGENHAM, of traders ; opponents to canals, 261 ; canals and reduced cost of carriage, 272-3 ; canals in England by Brind- ley, 279; Grand Canal of Lauguedoc, 291, 301; objections to and uses of canals, 295 ; canal mania, 294-7 ; canals, extent of, 297; canal carrying troops ; canals and railways, 298-9 ; tonnage carriage on canals, 299. See Bridgewater; Brindley. Canvey Island reclaimed, 16, 23. Carr Dyke, Lincolnshire, 10. Cette, Languedoc Canal, 301, 305, 309-12. Chadwell springs, 53, 57, 67. Charles I. and drainage works, &c., 37-8, 41, 45 ; gives up New River shares, 81. Chatmoss, Lancashire, 158. Cheshire salt manufacture and car- riage, 249-50. Chester as a port, 186. Chesterfield Canal, 278-9. Child and Co., bankers, 221-2. Clifton Coal-mines, 142. Coaches in Lancashire, 188. Coal and canals, 271. Coalbrookdale, 150, 152. Coal mine ventilation, 181. supply and bad roads, 164, 165. Cobs, or water-carriers, 51. Colbert, minister, France, supports Riquet, 303-4, 308-12. Collieries, the Duke of Bridgewater's, 165, 167. Commonwealth party and the Fens, 28, 29. Conduits of old London, 48-9. Congleton, Cheshire, 191, 200, 208, 252. Coventry Canal, 276-7, 279; value of shares, 296. Cromwell, Oliver, opposes drainage works in the Fens, 28-9, 38-9. Croppenburgh, Joas, and Canvey Is- land, 16. Crowland, reclamations at, 12. Cwymsymlog Mines, 92, 95-6. DAGENHAM breaches, 19, 105-14. See Perry. INDEX. 315 DANE. Dane River, 135, 138. Darren Hill Mines, 92. Dartmoor, 2 ; water springs, 55. Dee River and navigation, 186, 258. Denbigh, N. Wales, 57, 64-5, 91, 97. Denge Marsh, 3-5. Denver Sluice, in the Fens, 43. Deptford in early times, 104. De Quincey's birthplace, 243. Derwent and Trent, 263. Don, the river, 23-5, 28. Douglas Navigation, 125, 153. Dove River, 266. Dover Harbour, 116, 121. Downham Eau, 42. Drainage, j See Fens and Vermuy- Drains, &c., / den. Drake, Sir F., 55-6. Droitwich Canal, 276-7, 279. Dungeness, changes at, 5. Dutch capital employed on English works, 22, 25, 28, 30. prisoners of war employed, 42. river in the Fens, 24, 28. settlers in the Fens, 22-3, 27, 36. , the, as mechanics and manu- facturers for England in early times, 16-18, 86. Dyke-reeves dykes, 12. EARNSIIAW, Lawrence, 212-13. Elers, the Dutch potters, 141. Ellesmere Canal profits, 297. , Earl of, 156, 158, 201, 221, 225-6, 233, 236. Ely, Isle of, 11, 43, 47. Engineering skill, payment for, 143. England's dependence upon foreign mechanics and skilled workmen in early times, 17. Epworth Common, 29. Erith Marsh, 6, 31, 42-3. Etruria, Staffordshire, 265. FEN-MEN'S hostility to drainage, 33, 35-6. Fens, reclamation of, 8, 10-11 ; map of, as drained, 32; population, 25, 31, 33 ; products, 34, 47 ; riots, 25 ; GREAT. salubrity of, 47. See Bedford Level ; Great Level ; Vermuyden, Sir C. Fenton Vivian steam-engine, 149-50. " Flash men," origin of, 126. Flemish character of old Fen towns, 26-7. workmen in the Fens, 16, 17, 25, 31. Flint-mills, 141, 146, 147-8. Fond, F. Saint, on Wedgwood's ware, 256. Food supply and bad roads, 163. Foreign workmen in England in early times, 16-17, 23. Forth and Clyde Canal, 281, 297. Freeston, a Fleming, reclaimed marsh near Wells, 16. Frisian settlers in England, 2-5. Fulton, the American, 232-3. GARONNE RIVER, France, 301-3. Gilbert, John, Duke of Bridgewater's agent, 158, 192, 220-1, 227, 209 ; the Duke's confidence, 234, 236 ; letter from Brindley, 258. , Thos., Lord Gower's agent, 167, 227; Staffordshire Canal, 258-9. Golden Hill Colliery, 286-7. Goods, cost of conveyance, 18th cen- tury, 119. Gower, Earl, 140, 154, 202, 215, 232, 237, 248, 259. Grand Trunk Canal, 257. Gf eat Level of the Fens ; locality and extent, 8-9; first reclamation by the Romans, 9-10; Isle of El}-"; monastery and nunnery ; monks re- claimers ; King Canute's visit, 11 ; other Fen islands ; Fen-lav/ and usages, 12; products and popula- tion, 13-14; climate; diseases; dangers, 14-15 ; King James under- takes the work; Commission to in- quire and report, 15; District Act for drainage ; Vermuyden employed, 16 ; he contracts to reclaim the Level ; outcry ; the contract abro- gated ; the Earl of Bedford under- takes the work, 30-1 ; map of the Fens, 32 ; the drainage works ; 316 INDEX. " Fen-slodgers," 33 ; opposition to the works; local poems and ballads; " The Powte's Complaint," 35-6 ; defects of plan, 37 ; King Charles undertakes reclamation ; works op- posed by the Parliamentarians, 38- 9 ; works destroyed and again re- sumed, 40-1 ; the new works, 42-3 ; completion ; public thanksgiving, 44 ; improvements in climate, pro- ducts, &c., from the drainage, 46-7. Great Bedford Level, 9-16, 31, 37, 40-1. Greenwich, East, Marsh, reclaimed, 17. Gresham, Sir Thos.j 61. Guilds, London, 60. Guild ford Marsh, 3-5. Guyhirne, 33, 42-3. HAKES, Matt., Flemish engineer, 17. Harecastle Tunnel, Grand Trunk Canal, 248, 263, 265-8, 271, 286-7. Hatfield Level drainage, 19-20; water battue; extent of the Level, 21; Vermuyden employed to reclaim, 22 ; Dutch capital and workmen employed, 22-3 ; map of the Chase ; the works, 24 ; riotous opposition to reclamation, 25 ; Dutch settlers in the district, 26- 7 ; the works destroyed, 28 ; Colonel Lilburne's appropriation, 29 ; Perry's drain, 117. Henshall, Briudley's relative, 129, 171, 227, 285, 291. Holland, Lincolnshire, in early times, 10, 14. Hull water-supply, 53. and Liverpool Canal, 154. Hythe, Komney Marsh, 5. IDLE, the River, 23. Inland navigation, importance of, 120- 3. See Canals. Irwell River, 125, 142-3, 153, 165, 170, 172. Isle of Dogs, 104. JAMES I. and fen drainage, 15 ; Act for water-supply, 53, 66; his liberal MACCLESFIELD. and enterprising spirit, 74 ; assists Myddelton, 75-6; falls into the New River, 78; is half proprietor of the New River, 80. Johnson, Joas, Dutch engineer, 17. Jones, Inigo, his low remuneration, 143. KING'S Delph (Canute's), 11. Knutsford, Cheshire, 189. LAMBETH Marsh, 6. Lancaster Canal, 281. Languedoc Grand Canal, 155, 290, 301 ; plans submitted, 303 ; work commenced, 305 ; Riquet's financial plan, 306; labourers employed, 307; tunnel at Malpas, 310-11; cost of the whole work, 312. Lead-mines in Wales, 93-97. Leeds and Liverpool Canal, 281. Leek, Staffordshire, J 38. Leicester Canal profits, 296. Leigh, Lancashire, 201, 224. Lilburne, Colonel, and Ep worth Com- mon, 29. Lindsey Level drainage works de- stroyed, 39. Liverpool; communications with Man- chester, 125, 153-4, 165, 184-6, 200-3, 215; Liverpool a village, 186; Liverpool in 1560, 187; stage - coaches, 188-9 ; Duke's Dock, 216 ; Railway survey, 219 ; benefits from canal, 240 ; Grand Trunk Canal, 248-9 ; opening of canal to Wigan, 282. Locks on canals, 197-8. London, early settlements, 6-7 ; de- scription of, and water-supply, 48- 68 ; food supply of, 118 ; as a sea- port, 186. "Londoner's Lode" in the Fens, 16. Longford Bridge, 172, 176, 184, 200, 204, 210-11, 222, 225. Lydd, Romney Marsh, 5. Lymne Castle and Roman Port, Romney Marsh, 4-6. MACCLESFIELD, 127; silk-trade at, 133, 144. INDEX. 317 MANCHESTER. Manchester, water-carriage to Liver- pool, 125, 153 ; paper-mills near Manchester, 135 ; Clifton Colliery drained by Brindley, 142-3; Bridge- water Canal Acts, 153 ; trade in the last century, 160; life of an eminent manufacturer, 160 ; Man- chester in 1740 ; mode of carrying on trade, 161-2; social life, 163; state of the roads, 163 ; food riots, 164; Mersey and Irwell naviga- tion; cost of carriage, 165-6 ; works on the Duke's canals; Barton Via- duct, 172-7 ; coal-yard, Castle Hill, 180; coals cheapened by canal, 183; communications with Liver- pool, 184-5; by stage-coach, 188- 9; Old Quay navigation, 202; railway survey, 219 ; benefits from the Duke's Canal, 239-40; growth of Manchester, 241 ; description ; improvements, 242-3. and Liverpool communica- tions, 165. 184-5. Marshes on the Thames, 104. Marshland in the Fens, 10, 44. Matthew, F., and Bristol Canal, 122. Merchant Adventurers, 60, 63. Mersey, River, 125, 153, 165, 200, 202 ; Mersey and Irwell navigation, 95, 166, 184-5, 193-4; Mersey and Trent, 167, 215, 248-9, 260, 266. Middlewich, Cheshire, 189. Middle Level, 43-4, 46. Millwrights earliest "engineers," 131. Mines Royal Company, 92-4. Monks the first drainers, 11, 12. Moorfields Marsh, 7. Morice, P., pumping-machines, 17, 51. Myddelton, Sir Hugh, M.P., his birth and- birthplace, 57 ; his parentage and family, 58; family burial- place, 59 ; apprenticed to Gold- smiths' Company, 60 ; his shop in Bassishaw Street, 61-2; Alderman of Denbigh ; Citizen of London ; merchant adventurer; cloth-maker, 63; his marriage; churchwarden; elected M.P. for Denbigh ; sinks for coal at Denbigh ; appointed Re- OGLANDER. corder, 64 ; Member of Parliament ; Committee on Sewers, 65; under- takes to supply London with water, 66 ; testimonies of Stow and Pen- nant to his work ; his character and surveys; indenture for waterworks executed, 67 ; description of the New River works, 68-70 ; opposi- tion to the works, 70-3 ; time for completing the works extended, 73 ; is assisted by James I., 74-5; open- ing of the New River, 77 ; obtains a loan of 3000J. from the Corpora- tion of London ; sells part of his shares ; the New River Company, 80 ; is appointed Governor, 81 ; re- clamation of Brading Haven, 85- 91; his patent for draining, 86-7; his mining operations in Wales, 92-7 ; patent of baronetcy, 94 ; profits from the mines, 96-7; Tre- madoc ; letter to Sir John Wynn , 97-8 ; his death, 99 ; pecuniary cir- cumstances, 100 ; his children and will, 101 ; his character, 97, 99, 102. Myddelton, Capt. Wm., 58-60, 62. , Lady, 100-2. NANTWICH, Cheshire, 260. Nauronse, France, 301, 305, 307. Nene River, the Fens, 9, 10, 43, 46. Newcastle-under-Lyne, 170, 250-1, 256. Newcomen's engine, 149. New River Water- Works, 57 ; inden- ture executed, 67 ; description of the works and their execution, 68-76 ; opening of the New River, 77 ; opposition to the works, 72, 73; Company formed, original shares, 80 ; its great benefits, 78 ; value in cases of fire, 79 ; dividends and value of shares, 81 : shares and works, 99. See Myddelton, Sir Hugh. North Level, in the Fens, 44. Northwich, Cheshire, 153, 251. OGLANDER, Sir John, account of the drainage of Brading Haven, 88-91. 318 INDEX. OLD. Old Quay Navigation, 202. Ouse River, in the Fens, 9, 15, 24, 31, 33, 42, 43. Oxford Canal, 279. PACK-HORSES, 161-3, 261. Perry, Captain John ; his birth, 107 ; enters the Navy ; engaged by the Czar Peter, 108 ; his canal and dock-yard works in Russia, 109 ; returns to England, 110; under- takes to stop Dagenham breach, 111 ; description of the works, 112-14; employed in harbour works, 116 ; and fen drainage ; his death ; inscription on tombstone, 117. Peter, Czar of Russia, and Capt. Perry, 107-110. Peterborough, 11, 42. Pikein the^Witham, 13. Plague in London, 57. Plumstead Marshes, 6, 104. Plymouth water-supply, 55-6. Po-Dyke, Roman bulwarks, 10. " Popham's Eau," in the Fens, 16, 43. Potteries, the, and pottery-ware in the 18th century, 119; improvements in pottery, 141 ; potteries and Brindley, 170 ; cost of carriage, 249 ; trade of district, 251 ; Wedgwood's im- pro^ements, 254-5 ; improvements by canals, 272-3. " Powte's Complaint," the, 35. Preston, "Proud," in the 18th cen- tury, 162. ., Cheshire, 258, 262, 266-7. Puddling in canals, 174, 196, 293. RALEIGH, Sir Walter, and Hugh Myd- delton, 62. Ramsey, reclamations at, 11, 12, 43, 47. Riquet de Bonrepos ;"*his family and property, 302 ; his instruments, survey for canal, 303-4 ; corre- spondence with Minister Colbert, 304-5, 308-12 ; commences the work, 305 ; his bold offer as to terms, 306 ; organisation of work- men, 307 ; his adroit use of Colbert, SYMINGTONS. 308 ; opposition he meets with ; his zeal and perseverance, 309-10 : cuts an "impossible" tunnel, 311 his money difficulties, 307-8, 311- 12 ; his death, 312. Rivers, Brindley's uses for, 275. Roads in the 18th century, 118, 162. Romans, their works at Po-Dyke, 10. Romney, Old and New, 5. Marsh, reclamation of, 3-5. Runcorn and Runcorn Locks, 201, 215, 111, 222-3, 266. Russia, Canals of, 108-110. Rye Harbour works, 116. SALE MOOR, Manchester, 191, 200 205, 210. Salisbury and Southampton Canal 281. Salthouse Dock, Liverpool, 216. Sankey Navigation, 125, 153. Sedgemoor, 30. Severn, River, and tributary naviga- tion, 248, 263, 265, 294. Shire Drain, 33, 38. Silk-mill machinery and Brindley, 133, 144-5. Silver-mines in Wales, 93, 96-7. Smeaton, John, engineer, 173, 191. 248, 278. South Holland, 10. Stafford, Marquis of, 237. See Gower , Earl. Staffordshire Canal, 171, 248. and Worcester Canal, 276. Potteries and Brindley, 138, 140-1, 146. Stamford, Earl of, 203. Steam-engine improved by Briudley, 148, 152. Steelyard Company of Merchants', 63. Stephenson, George, and Brindlev, 278. Stour River and Stourbridge, 123-24. Stow and the New River works, 43, 67, 73, 79. Strange, Lord, 194, 199. Stretford, Manchester, 182, 184, 190. Stukely, Dr., Manchester, 160. Symington's steamboat, 233. INDEX. 319 TELFORD, Thos., engineer, 267, 278. Thames River in ancient times ; ex- tensive marshes ; embankments, 6-7, 51 ; artificial embankments, 103 ; inundations, 103 ; a great water- highway, 115; navigation of, 120; improvement at Oxford, 123 ; Brindley and the navigation, 283. Thelwall, Sir Bevis, 85/87-91. Theobalds Royal Park, 74-5, 78. Thome, 23 ; to Hatfield by water, 20. Thorney, reclamations at, 11. Tiverton water-supply, 54. Tobacco, introduction of, 62. Toulouse, Languedoc Canal, 301, 310. , Archbishop of, befriends Riquet, 303-4, 310. Trade in the 18th century, 1 18, 119. Trafford Moss, 176. Trent River, 23, 154, 275, 278. See Mersey. Trentham, Lord, 155. Park, 140, 156, 203, 232. Trew, John, Exeter, 120-1. Tudwbrth to Thome by water, 20. Turnhurst, Staffordshire, 171, 286-7. VALKESTBURG family, the, 22, 27. Vanderwelt, Cornelius, 17. Vermuyden, Sir Cornelius, employed by King James to reclaim the Fens, 16 ; is first em ployed to stem Dagen- ham breach ; his birthplace and family; drains Windsor Park, 19; contract for Hatfield Manor drain- age; his character and resources; forms company of Dutch capitalists, 22 ; employs Dutch and other foreign workmen, 23; opposed by the inhabitants ; riots, 25 ; is sup- ported by the crown ; is knighted ; continued popular opposition to his works, 26 ; the Lord President de- cides against him ; he withdraws from the work, 27 ; the works de- stroyed, 28 ; would drain Cam- bridge Fens ; contracts to purchase Malvern Chase, 29 ; takes land on Sedgemoor, and leases a lead-mine ; legal troubles ; imprisoned ; eng-as;ed with the drainage of the Great WEDGWOOD. Level of the Fens; offers to find funds, and carry out the works; contracts, 30 ; contract abrogated ; starts again with the work under Earl of Bedford ; money difficulty ; his energy, 31 ; the principal works, 32-3, ; opposition of the Fen-men, 33-6; defects of his system, 37; King Charles undertakes the work, and employs Vermuyden; his new- design, 38 ; Cromwell's opposition, 38-9 ; the works destroyed ; he re- mains undaunted, 40 ; he again resumes the work, 41 ; employs Scotch and Dutch prisoners; the new works, 42-3; the works com- pleted, 44; all his property swal- lowed up ; dies in poverty and ob- scurity, 45; works on the Thames, 105. Vermuyden, Cornelius, jun., Colonel, 40. Vernatti, F., Dutch capitalist, 22, 25, 27. WAGES of workmen, 208. Waldersea County Drainage Act, 16. Walker, author of ' The Original,' 1 61. Colliery, Newcastle, engine at, 152. Wallend Marsh, 3-5. Walloon immigrants, 23. Walpole, Horace, letters, 155, 157-8. Wapping Marsh, or High Street, 17. Ware, New River Head, 68. Warrington, Lancashire, 125, 153, 165, 184, 188-200. Wash, the Great, 9-10. Water as an agent, and in engineering, 48-53. Water-carriers of old London, 79. Weaver Navigation, 125, 153, 249, 258, 262. Wedgwood, Josiah; his character; early life; infirmity, 253; commences business ; Ivy House, 254-5 ; ex- tension of his trade, 256; promotes the Grand Trunk Canal scheme 257, 259 ; cuts the first sod, 265 ; evidence as to advantages of canal, 273, ^77. 320 INDEX. WELL AND. Welland River, in the Fens, 9, 42. Wells of old London, 48-50. Wesley, John, at Burslem, 251-2, 274. Westerdyke, Dutch engineer, 31, 41. Whittlesea Mere, 11, 33, 43, 47. Whitworth, Sir R., 250, 261, 293. , Brindley's pupil, 278. Wiches, the Cheshire, 258, 262. Wigan, canal to, 153. Wight, Isle of, 83. Wilden, Derby, 248, 260, 263, 266, 270. Winchelsea, Romney Marsh, 5. Windsor Royal Park drained by Ver- muyden, 19. YOUNG. Wisbeach, 23, 33, 38, 43. Withara breach repaired, 17. River, in the fens, 9, 10 ; floated ships to Lincoln, 11. Wolverhampton Canal, 275-6, 279. Worsley Basin, 177-9. Mill, 166, 172, 177, 191. Old Hall, 170, 218-9. Wren, Sir Christopher, low remunera- tion of, 143. YARMOUTH HAVEN constructed, 17. Yarranton, Andrew, his projects, 12:2. Young, Arthur, extracts from, 177, 181, 182, 203, 252. THE END. LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET, AND CHARING CROSS. A COMPANION J/OLUME TO 'SELF-HELP.' Now Ready, 15th Thousand. Post 8vo. 6s. INDUSTRIAL BIOGRAPHY: IRON WORKERS AND TOOL MAKERS. BY SAMUEL SMILES, AUTHOR OF LIVES OF BRITISH ENGINEERS,' ETC. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. ' Mr. Smiles has hit upon a rich vein of ore, and works it with great success. He has the art of biography, which is by no means so easy of attainment as, judging from the number of persons who attempt this species of composition, one would imagine it to be. Memoirs are countless, but the number of biographies that can be accepted as successful works of art are very few indeed. Mr. Smiles is not only a skilful workman, but he has chosen a new field of work. Hitherto the great biographies have been written of soldiers and sailors, states- men, poets, artists, and philosophers. It would seem as if these only were the great men of the world, as if these only were the benefactors of mankind, whose deeds are worthy of memory. The suspicion has arisen that, after all, there may be other heroes than those of the pen, the sceptre, and the sword. There are, indeed, men in various walks of life whose footsteps are worthy of being traced ; but surely, considering what England is, and to what we owe most of our material greatness, the lives of our engineers are peculiarly worthy of being written. " The true Epic of our time," says Mr. Carlyle, " is not Arms and the man, but Tools and the man an infinitely wider kind of Epic." Our machinery has been the making of us ; our ironworks have, in spite of the progress of other nations, still kept the balance in our hands. Smith-work in all its branches of engine-making, machine-making, tool-making, cutlery, iron ship-building, and iron-working generally, is our chief glory. Eng- land is the mistress of manufactures and the queen of the world, because it is the land of Smith ; and Mr. Siniles's biographies are a history of the great family of Smith. . . . Many of tho facts which he places before us are wholly new, and are derived from the most likely sources. Thus, Maudslay's partner, Mr. Joshua Field, and his pupil, Mr. Nasmyth, supplied the materials for his biography. Mr. John Penn supplied the chief material for the memoir of Clement. And so of the other memoirs; though they necessarily go over much well- trodden ground, they contain also much original information, expressed with great clearness, and with a practised skill which renders the reader secure of entertainment in every page.' Times. 1 it is impossible to close this book without a feeling of exultation in being an Englishman one of the race that has wielded, as no other has, the power of Nature for the service of men, and asserted the dominion of the human brain and hand over her choicest stores, hidden in her most secret chambers. As you read page after page of these records of the mechanic triumphs of your kith and kin, once pitied as " Labourers that have no land To lyve on but hire [their] handes," your heart swells with admiration, no less at the inventive power and exhaustless fertility of resources they have displayed, than at the manly bravery and resistless perseverance with which many of them have met the bitter hardships of their early life, and forced themselves up from the lowest strata 'to comfort and independence. From the plough, the mine, the quarry, they come, eager to shorten the processes of labour, to make that which was tedious short, and that which was complicated simple to do, like Nasmytb, in one hour the old work of eighteen hundred hours ; and it will be hard, indeed, if the country that has so benefited by their toil refuses them a meed of honour and of praise. Mr. Smiles, in his well- known sensible, straightforward way, has given us in this Industrial Biography, first, a rapid sketch of the history of iron and the smith in Britain, then of the beginnings and progress of the iron manufacture here, and the " mynurs " who perfected it, and, lastly, of the mechanical inventions, and the inventors that turned into tools and machines the metal which the manufacturers produced. The book is a history of iron in Britain, in the mosi interesting form that such a history can take a series of the biographies of the men whose brains invented the successive improvements in the treatment of the ore and metal ; and the lives are told in the style fitted to them- plain, vigorous, untricky English, fit for man and boy to read.' Reader. INDUSTRIAL BIOGRAPHY. ' The present work is a continuation, in a more accessible form, of the memoirs of industrial men introduced in Mr. Smiles's former more extensive volumes. In some measure, too, it may be considered as a supplement to his Self -Help, a work which, by its illustrations of character and conduct, and by the sound moral principles set forth in its pages, may be described as invaluable. The circulation which it has obtained is immense, and it is fully merited, in all Mr. Smiles's writings there is the evidence of much care and much industry. They show not only extensive reading, but the garnering of knowledge from original sources, both oral and written. The style in which Mr. Smiles writes is plain, yet vigorous perspicuous, rather than ornate so that the facts which he narrates, the inferences which he draws, the principles which he enunciates, and the opinions which he expresses, impress themselves upon the mind with strong power to ensure their retention.' Leeds Intelligencer. ' Mr. Smiles is the prose Homer of the iron age, and his heroes are the renowned inventors, railway-makers, engineers, shipbuilders, and artificers in brass, iron, and steel, those mighty men of valour who have subjugated the material forces of nature, and have placed, within the last hundred years, more power into the hands of men than ever they had before. This field of biography was almost unknown before Mr. Smiles began to labour in it a few years ago ; and few, we daresay, had any idea that it was so rich till the Lives of the Engineers appeared That work immediately became popular, and showed that the author had hit upon a new vein in the literary mine, which it was at once seen would be eminently productive. In the hands of Mr. Smiles the engineers received ample justice, and now he has taken upon himself the task of doing the same for some of the prominent iron-workers and tool-makers, and it is almost needless to say that he has succeeded admirably. Mr. Smiles's biographies are models of neatness, conciseness, and simplicity. He has the happy art of not saying too much, and of always saying that which is really interesting, which so few biographers possess ; and we do not know of any one, since Carlyle gave up writing his short biographical essays, who is so successful in placing a real living personage before his readers as our author. He has a clear steady eye for the great distinguishing features of his engineers and inventors, and a firm hand in reproducing these. All that is trivial, inconsequential, and merely accidental about their lives is quietly set aside, or placed far in the background, while the men and their works are brought prominently before us. This is the true method of writing biography, for it is after the same fashion that Time uses the lives of the greatest men. Mr. Smiles's memoirs of Bramah, Henry Maudslay, Joseph Clement, Fox of Derby, Murray of Leeds, the Whitworths of Manchester, James iNasinyth, and William Fairbairn will be found as entertaining reading as his Lives of the Engineers. We have no doubt that the present work will rival in popularity the previous books by the same eminent author.' Glasgow Daily JVeas. ' Mr. Smiles offers in this volume a popular and valuable continuation of the series of industrial biographies which has attracted so much attention under the title of Lives of the Engineers. The design of that work was a happy thought in this practical age, and its success has demonstrated the eminent ability with which the design was executed. The present volume rescues from fust-coming oblivion the mines of many to whom the industry of our country is indebted for the methods and appliances \yhich have given it a decided pre- eminence over that of other countries. The volume is a prose epic upon Mr. Carlyle's suggestion, " Tools and the Man," or rather the men he commemorates, whose magic labours gave to tb.e feeble arm of man a force immeasurably greater than any with which Arabian fable ever endowed the genii of the lamp or the ring. The history of the invention of some of these tools and implements is of deep interest, and illustrates in a surprising manner the mastery of mind over matter. It is indeed " a fairy tale of science." And although it tells the mournful story of Henry Cort, it tells us also of many whose efforts were crowned with distinguished success, it is impossible, for example, to read the story of Joseph Clement, the slater's boy, before whom all material difficulties seemed to vanish as by enchantment, without feeling whatever there is of enterprise or self-reliance in one stined up; or to follow the career of James Nasmyth, who seemed equally at home in investigating the course of the stars, in the use of his mighty steam-hammer, and in his knowledge of antiquity, without glorying in the power of intellect. It is hardly necessary to say that Mr. Smiles's new work breathes the same manly self-reliant spirit, that characterises all his previous publications. He obtrudes no advice upon his readers, but if th^y are capable of any noble aspirations, or any feeling of self-respect, he here sets before them examples that will assuredly enkindle and sustain these emotions.' Daily Xetvs. ' Mr. Smiles has become the biographer of our profession. Only the other day the world knew little or nothing of the Lives of the Engineers, whether of this century or the last. There were none who, as author.-;, attempted to blend with general biographical portraiture that popular reference to constructive and mechanical details, without which the life of an engineer or an inventor would be either a chapter of naked facts or of indiscriminate eulogy. In his Life of George Stephenson, Mr. Smiles showed that practical appreciation of the strong points of engineering life which, with his skill and industry as a biographer, has INDUSTRIAL BIOGRAPHY. given ns a new department of literature. The great success of that book proved that there were many thousands who were not only willing but desirous to know something of our railway makers and mechanicians. Mr. Smiles has since done much in this branch of biography, and in his present book he has grouped together the leading incidents of the professional lives of Dud Dudley, Andrew Yarranton, Abraham Darby, Richard Reynolds, Benjamin Huntsman, Henry Cort, Dr. Roebuck, David Mushet, J. B. Neilson, Joseph Brainah, Henry Mauds! ay, Joseph Clement, Fox of Derby, Matthew Murray, Richard Roberis, Joseph Whitworth, James Nasmyth, and William Fairbairn. A few of the subjects of these memoirs are still living, but this, certainly, does not render the more important part of their history already accomplished as we may believe the less interesting.' Engineer. 1 The chief names which figure in Mr. Smiles's pages are those of Dud Dudley, famous for his success in smelting iron with pit-coal; of Andrew Yarranton, an ingenious schemer in many ways, especially in respect of tin manufacture and iron-mining; of the Darbys and Reynoldses, of whom one invented cast-iron pots, another cast-iron rails, another constructed the first iron bridge, and another was the first to employ inclined planes for connecting and working canals of different levels; of Benjamin Huntsman, inventor of cast-steel; of Henry Cort, the founder of the fortunes of our "iron aristocracy," though he himself died unrewarded ; of Dr. Roebuck, the now-forgotten metallurgist ; of David Mushet, the discoverer of the Black Band ironstone ; of James Beaumont Neilson, the inventor of the hot blast ; of Joseph Brarnah, whose lock remained for years unpicked, and took Hobbs, the American, sixteen days to pick it, whose cunning hand wrought many in engine, and whose hydraulic press is his monument for ever ; of the Maudslays and Brunei ; of Joseph Clement, the various inventor and various improver; of Fox of Derby, and Murray of Leeds, and Roberts and Whitworth of Manchester ; of James Nasmyth, whose steam- hammer makes his family name sound like a paradox ; and last, but not least, of William Fairbairn. One great advantage of the book is that it may be taken up at any time with profit ; for, whilst it excites admiration and wonder at the powers which have been given to " inventive men," it either teaches the reader who is conscious of no such gifts humility, or urges him to examine himself and see whether there be not in himself, too. latent faculties not of invention, perhaps, but of some other order whereby he may benefit his fellow-men.' Illustrated News. ' The book is a history of iron and the progress of iron manufacture in Great Britain, from the time that the smith sat in the great hall with the king and queen at the Royal Court of Wales, down to our own age, when iron navies sweep the ocean and iron highways encircle the earth when iron has become monarch of the gl^be. The work, like Mr. Smiles's books, is Wonderfully attractive reading, as much on account of the simple and pleasing style of the author, as because the biographical and strictly human interest abounds over the purely historical. Though iron be the basis of modern civilization, a mere dry history of iron and the progress of iron manufacture would, probably, satisfy but few literary appetites ; yet the matter becomes at once of different aspect if the human beings whose brains and hands shaped and moulded the bountiful ore get into the foreground, and their history is connected with the history of the great metal. What makes Mr. Smiles's new work still more interesting is, that the biographies of the " iron-workers and tool- makers" are entirely novel, and drawn from private and hitherto unpublished sources. Companions of work, friends, and relations have furnii-hed the materials of the lives now given to the world, and which, in all probability, would have otherwise been entirely lost.' Spectator. This is not a very large book, but It is astonishing how much individual, conscientious, and thoroughly original research, has been required for its composition, and how much interesting matter it contains which we possess in no other form. Mr. Smiles rescues no name, but many histories, from oblivion. His heroes are known and gratefully remembered for the benefits they have conferred on mankind, but our knowledge of our benefactors has hitherto been mostly confined to our knowledge of the benefit. It was reserved for Mr. Smiles to di.-cover in the workshop heroes as true as ever hurled their battalions across a battle-field, and to present us with much-enduring, much-endeavouring, and brave men, where hitherto we had been content with disembodied, almost meaningless names. The present work is farther distinguished, not indeed from its predecessors, but from much of the current literature, by the exquisitely pellucid English, the vigorous but unobtrusive style, in which the narratives are conveyed. The value of the work before us is doubled, and the time required for perusing and especially for consulting it halved, by the full and minute index in which its contents are tabulated.' Edinburgh, Daily Review. 'As we read the narrative of the progress of iron-manufacture in Mr. Smiles's volume we feel more and more proud of the country that has given such men birth, and who have added to the greatness of its prosperity and fame. Even although there are many instances exhibited where failure was the only reward of the inventor in his day and generation, because of the time in which he lived not being ripe enough to permit its denizens to grasp improvement and give It form and presence, yet it is clearly enough instanced that their INDUSTRIAL BIOGRAPHY. labours were not in vain. Although other men entered into those labours, yet all honour is due to the original thinker and practical worker, who, at the cost of loss to his own fortunes, yet persevered in his assurance that he had caught at a great truth, and would not let it die, although his own ruin and abject poverty might be, as it often was, the only consequence to himself. If success were not always won, Mr. Smiles proves, indeed, that it was well deserved. His book is one especially for the rising generation. Never may he know how the pursuit of his well-spent leisure hours may act; but of this we are confident that pursuit will form many a young man's character, give encouragement under trial, and induce him never to give in, whilst there is a chance before him of doing service to his fellow men by means of his own inventions and exertions.' Sell's Weekly Messenger. ' It is scarcely possible to exaggerate the usefulness or the attractiveness of the volume which Mr. Smiles has just published. It has all the interest of a romance, it is as full of instruction as the dullest and driest scientific treatise can be. It is a book which will be a favourite with our schoolboys, and it requires no gift of preternatural foresight to enable us to predict that many a future James Nasmyth, many a Henry Maudslay in times to come, will derive that healthy stimulus which is needed to quicken the inventive genius, from the fascinating pages of this most delightful volume. No library for working men, no good collection of reading books in our schools will be complete without this volume of Industrial Biography. For ourselves we own that, much as we have been instructed and delighted with the record of inventive skill and of indomitable perseverance and industry which we have found in Mr. Smiles's earlier works, there is none of them which exceed we had almost said which equal in interest this history of the iron trade and the biography of our iron- workers and tool-makers.' John Bull. ' The volume before us bears little evidence of the heterogeneous mass of papers from which it has been built up with a prudent and skilful hand. Traces of the original material, it is true, start out here and there in bold relief, through its pages ; but they only serve to impart a quaint tone of truthful simplicity to the whole, which is very pleasing. Mr. Smiles treats of men who have risen to fame by a life-long struggle, indomitable energy, and a thorough reliance on their own powers. To write the biography of men like Dud Dudley, Andrew Yarranton, Henry Cort, or Joseph Clement, must constitute a pleasure in itself; while to read it, as Mr. Smiles has put it before us, conveys a feeling of something more than pleasure. To do full justice to the book in a short article, is beyond our power ; the public must read and enjoy for themselves.' Mechanics' Magazine. ' To comment upon the attractive style of writing in a work by the author of such well- read and generally admired books as Self -Help and The Lives of the Engineers, would, indeed, be superfluous ; more especially when the subject treated is a kindred one, and the author's means of obtaining materials are in every way similar. Industrial Biography is undoubtedly calculated to make quite as favourable an impression upon the reader as either of Mr. Smiles's preceding works, concerning which we have already expressed a high opinion, whilst its popular character cannot fail to receive extensive patronage, and thus add to the gratification of those who have the honour of being mentioned in its pages.' Mining Journal. ' This is one of the most delightful books we have ever read. It is at once practical, instructive, and suggestive. Whoever wishes to benefit his young friends will present them every one with a copy of this book. Whatever struggling mechanic who, feeling that there is something beyond what he now knows or can execute, yet hesitates or fears, let him read this book. It is a sovereign panacea for doubt or cowardice. Whoever takes delight in watching the development of knowledge and in ascertaining the sources of the privileges which surround him, let him possess himself of this book, and we can promise him a treat of no ordinary character.' Sheffield Daily Telegraph. ' Mr. Smiles has a fluent pen, and a simple, elegant, captivating style, which lends to his narrative the greatest possible charm. Altogether, unpretending in itself, the book is one of the most valuable of recent contributions to our literature. It does not profess to be exhaustive of the subject of which it treats ; but it will be far more widely read, and much more valuable to the student, than many a much more pretentious production. It is, indeed, impossible to read it without profit ; and we are disposed to class it, without disparagement of others, as the best and most interesting of the valuable books which Mr. Smiles has written.' Morning Star. ' We may safely leave Mr. Smiles's work to the curiosity and good will of our readers, with undoubting expectation that they will approve it, not only as the narrative of personal achievements of ingenuity, skill, energy, and perseverance, but as the worthy record of the great industrial advance made by this country during the last half-century.' Nonconformist JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. Lately published. By the same Author. Vols. I. and II., 8vo., 42s., with 5 Steel Portraits, and 200 Illustrations on Wood. LIYES OF THE ENGINEERS; WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR PRINCIPAL WORKS, AND A HISTORY OF INLAND COMMUNICATION IN BRITAIN. FIRST SERIES. Opinions of the Press, &c. There may be many here who have made themselves acquainted with a hook that .cannot be too widely brought into public notice I mean the recent publication of a popular author, Mr. Smiles, entitled The Lives of the Engineers. There may be those here who have read the Life of Brindley, and perused the record of his discouragement in the tardiness of his own mind, as well as in the external circumstances with which he determined to do battle, and over which he achieved his triumph. There may be those who have read the exploits of the blind Metcalfe, who made roads and bridges in England at a time when nobody else had learnt to make them. There may be those who have dwelt with interest on the achievements of Smeaton, Rennie, and Telford. In that book we see of what materials Englishmen are made. These men, who have now become famous among us, had no mecha- nics' institutes, no libraries, no classes, no examinations to cheer them on their way. In the greatest poverty, difficulties, and discouragements, their energies were found sufficient for their work, and they have written their names in a distinguished page of the history of their country.' The Eight Hon. W. E. Gladstone at Manchester. I have just been reading a work of great interest, which I recommend to your notice I mean Smiles's Lives of the Engineers. No more interesting books have been published of late years than those by Mr. Smiles his Lives of the Engineers, his Life of George Stephenson, and his admirable little book on Self Help a most valuable manual.' Sir Stafford Northcote at Exeter. 'We cannot but refer in passing to the captivating and instructive volumes which Mr. Smiles has devoted to the Lives of the Engineers, a record not before attempted of the achievements of a race of men who have conferred the highest honour and the most exten- sive benefits on their country. " Who are the great men of the present age ?" said Mr. Bright a few nights ago in the House of Commons, " Not your warriors not your statesmen ; they are your engineers." ' Edinburgh Review. ' A chapter of English history which had to be written, and which, probably, no one could have written so well. Mr. Smiles has obtained a mass of original materials. It is not too much to say that we now have an Engineers' Pantheon, with a connected narrative of their successive reclamations from sea, bog, and fen ; a history of the growth of the inland com- munication of Great Britain by means of its roads, bridges, canals, and railways ; and a survey of the lighthouses, breakwaters, docks, and harbours constructed for the protection and accommodation of our commerce with the world.' Times. ' Happy alike in the choice of his subject and In the treatment he has bestowed upon it, Mr. Smiles has in these two delightful volumes made another sterling addition to our standard literature. The history of English engineering, which he has here traced from the beginning, forms an essential part of the history of English civilization, but one which had hitherto remained unwritten. The men whose lives he has narrated were all men of singular genius, and indomitable energy and perseverance; self-taught and self-made for the most part, and impelled by the force of their constructive instincts to the accomplishment, without precedents or guides, of works of inestimable national importance.' Daily Neus. LIVES OF THE ENGINEEKS. FIRST SERIES. ' In two handsome volumes, richly illustrated and luxuriously printed, Mr. Smiles begins what is in fact a History of the results of Engineering Science in thts country. He puts his history into the most interesting form by developing it through successive stories of the Lives of the Engineers. Although his subject is one of the most curious and important in the whole history of civilization, and abounds in details that are known to delight even our boys, the ground Mr. Smiles traverses is to a remarkable degree his own peculiar possession. . . . We have here the best extant history of the Bridgewater Canal, and the establishment of the Canal system, in a full memoir of the Life of James Brindley, that almost inspired mechanic, who early in his career was at once engineer and mechanic, and gave his brains with his hands to labour for three-and- sixpence a-day. The story of this man, enriched with new and most curious information and odd transcripts from the jottings in his pocket-book, extends over ten chapters, or almost a third-part of Mr. Smiles's first volume, which it also closes The second contains three biographies, those of Smeaton, the builder of the Eddystone Lighthouse ; of Rennie, with whose name are associated many works, Govern- ment .Dockyards, the London Docks, Southwark and new London Bridges, the Bell Rock Lighthouse, Plymouth Breakwater ; and the Life of Telford, architect of the Menai Bridge, that son of a poor herdsman, whose advance from his birthplace in one of the most solitary nooks of the narrow valley of the Esk, to the first place among the engineers who were so wonderfully building up the material prosperity of this country, is now told as it should be told, with all that sense of the significance of life and action which gave to the same author's Life of Stephenson its well-earned place in our biographical literature.' Examiner. ' The biography of Vermuyden the Dutchman forms perhaps the quaintest and most pic- turesque section of the whole history. Nothing can be more full of grotesque interest than the wild, obsolete life and scenery of the fens two hundred years ago. Their wild waste sheets of gloomy, inhospitable water, more chilly even than in their reality, by their mani- fold suggestions of ague and rheum, howling winds, drifting rains, fog, monotony, and fever ; above, their myriad flocks of waterfowl ; below, their hordes of mud-fed fishes ; between wind and water, their population of half-human " fen-slcdgers," bent and twisted with ague and rheumatism, who hopped at all seasons with a few less painful contortions perhaps in summer than in winfer hither and thither through the silt and sedge, amongst the fearless and commiserating eels, and to the amusement more than to the terror of the more nimble wildfowl. And far away hither and thither, dotted over the gray surface of the water, and looming unhealthily through the pestilent mists, the dank villages and draggled church- towers which these poor crab-trees of human creatures called their homes ; all these, together with the moral element of morose resignation, which only underwent a change to flash Into ferocity when its wretched entourage was to be interfered with, go to make up, in a few pages, as queer a cabinet picture of the past as a man could well manage to meet with in the domestic history of England.' Church a'nd State Review. ' The Lives of the Engineers are written in a clear and flowing style, marked by good sense and enlivened by humour ; they are full of curious information, conveyed in a most lucid and easy description ; and each successive hero is drawn with an appreciation of character, and a minute exhibition of personal traits, which sets the man almost visibly before us in his distinct individuality, and lends to the history of his struggling genius a touch of almost dramatic interest The history of the engineers is not only the history of great conquests over nature, but also of the triumphs of industry and genius over the artificial obstacles of social rank. It presents the most striking instances of that Self-help which Mr. Smiles has elsewhere chronicled. The full merits of these two charming volumes can be learned only from a perusal of them.' Guardian. ' Mr. Smiles may fairly claim the merit of having produced one of the most interesting and instructive works. He has discovered almost unbroken ground, and has worked it with so much skill and success that his readers will recognize in his volumes an illustration of the truth of Lord Macaulay's saying, that history, personal or national, may, when properly written, be rendered as interesting as any novel.' London Review. Recently published. Vol. III., 8vo., 2ls., with 2 Portraits and 70 Illustrations. LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS, ETC. ETC. SECOND SERIES. Opinions of the Press. ' Mr. Smiles's third volume of The Engineers contains the biographies of George Stephenson and his son Robert. The life of George Stephenson is a revised edition of the author's previous excellent work on the same subject, but it is much more complete, from the cir- cumstance that the history of George's son and life-long colleague is interwoven with his own. It is impossible fully to comprehend either without the other. Father and son under- stood one another better than any other person could have understood either of them. Their ambition was alike, and they perfectly coincided as to the means by which its objects were to be accomplished. They were equally kindly and generous, and there never was a shadow of reserve or estrangement between them. It is delightful to contemplate these two great men in their intercourse with each other, their mutual and perfect confidence, the laborious paths of discovery which they trod together, and the brilliant combinations of their genius hallowed by their strong affection. . . . This volume brings down the subject of British engineering to the establishment of the railway system, in which, as the author justly observes, "British engineers have disphiyed their highest skill and achieved their greatest triumphs." Mr. SmileS's Life of George Stephenson is so well and so favourably known that we confine ourselves to the simple announcement of its {ippearance in the 'Engineers' series in a greatly improved form, and perfected by being blended with that of Robert Stephenson. . . '1 his volume is a monument to truth, honour, and integrity, as the deepest and most solid foundations of human renown.' Daily A~eics. ' The Biographical History of British Engineering would be very imperfect without the lives of the Stephensons, and we must thank Mr. Smiles for a third volume containing the story of the famous father and son, George and Robert. The career of George Stephenson, indeed, is already familiar to us through the earlier publication of Mr. Smiles, and the greater p.irt of the present volume may be looked upon as a new and enlarged edition of that work; but, in the life of Robert, Mr. Smiles enters upon new ground, and he has produced a biography little inferior in interest to his former narrative. As interesting it can scarcely be called; for the difficulties which George Stephenson had to encounter were, by his care- fulness, removed to a great extent from the path of his son, and we are not absorbed in the story of a single-handed battle with innumerable obstacles. The career of Robert Stephenson is, moreover, so much nearer to us than that of his father, that it was probably impossible to write its history with that fulness of biographic detail which presented the very man, George, before us, and gave such a charm to the story of his life.' London Review. ' It was almost necessary that the life of George Stephenson as an engineer should combine itsolf with that of his son, so closely were the two mixed up in the most remarkable project of their lives. Robert Stephenson has been removed by death since his father's biography was first given to the world by Mr. Smiles, and the author has acted very judiciously in adding to his work those special details which are required to furnish forth a complete biography of the pair. The keen, bluff, intelligent features of the younger Stephenson are finely engraved among the illustrations of this volume from a photograph by Claudet. Much is recorded respecting the man that is of great interest over and above the information given us as to the achievements of the engineer. . . . This book will be a sterling addition to our libraries adding to its literary and human interest the merits of excellent typography and fine ornament in the engravings with which it is enriched.' John Bull. LIVES OF THE ENGINEEKS. SECOND SEKIES. ' Greater men than the Stephensons have doubtless lived and thought, and have acted out their speculations, but the practical effect upon the world has seldom or never been as great. It is hardly too much to say that locomotive science has been more remarkable for the rapid production of consequences than any other of the sciences, and in the whole range of this science the Stephensons have been the grandest creators and the boldest inno- vators. . . . There is something unusually pleasant in the picture of a father and son rising from the very lowest grade together, each somewhat by the other's aid, while the peculiar qualities of each went to make the complement of the genius of the other. It is preemi- nently touching to see, on the one side, George Stephenson, the illiterate, unscientific, but inventive collier, conscious of the great drawback to his own promotion, saving his weekly wages to send his son to college ; and on the other, that son returning to teach his father and to aid him in the expression of his inarticulate conceptions. They lived and worked together and they rose in turn, with an equality of fortune and success that would have left no room for jealousy between them, even if their relationship and the generosity of their natures had not precluded it. The precise direction of the greatest achievements of each, wherever they were not associated, was sufficiently dissimilar to preclude a nice comparison ; and as, while they lived and worked together, it was difficult to distinguish their respective shares in their joint toil and its results, so now they are both dead it is happily impossible to apportion between them the great measure of their renown.' Chuich and State Review. ' A book which has at once the conciseness necessary to render it valuable to the profes- sional man, and the interesting character which makes it acceptable to the general reader. . . The information is so interspersed with anecdotes and interesting notes, that the work will be read with pleasure by everybody. . . . Mr. Smiles has enjoyed the active co-operation of those who were able to throw a light upon the subject, including Robert Stephenson himself.' Mining Journal. ' The third volume of this admirable work and whether we regard the interesting nature of its contents or the manner in which it is printed and illustrated, it is equally an admirable work may be called a monograph of the Stephensons. It is entirely occupied by those two remarkable men, George and Robert, father and son, to whom, more than to any other men, the invention and perfection of the Railway System are due. Well may they be thought worthy to fill the entire of one of Mr. Smiles's ample and splendid volumes, when, by the prolific vigour of their mechanical genius, the fertile ingenuity of their skill, and the untiring enerpy of their industry, they have succeeded in pervading, not only this country, but the whole world, with memorials of their existence ! ' Critic. ' The whole story, so well told by Mr. Smiles, is one of rare romance ; and never were truer knights created than those of King Leopold, who nobly won their spurs by achieve- ments which have raised them to the foremost place in the annals of the locomotive engine and the railroad. Remarkable is the career that was run in the eight-and-seventy years between the birth of George in the clay-floored room at Wylam and the burial of Robert in the Abbey at Westminster ; and the present biography most fitly completes the " Life " already known so well. It has not the fault that too commonly accompanies such performances: it is not painfully spun out, but is compressed within reasonable compass. The value of the work is greatly enhanced by an Appendix, comprising a narrative from the pen of Robert Stephenson, of his father's inventions, &c., and a paper on the invention of the steam blast. . . . Having attractions for readers everywhere, this volume has peculiar charms for the men of Newcastle and the North, and must make its way to all their firesides.' Newcastle Chronidf. ' The Life of Robert Stephenson, which is contained in this volume, forms in the author's hands a narrative scarcely less engaging than the main memoir. Standing alone, it would command primary attention.' Dublin University Magazine. STREET, LONDON. January, I860. MR, MURRAY'S GENERAL LIST OF WORKS. ABBOTT'S (REV. J.) Philip Musgrave; or, Memoirs of a Church of England Missionary in the North American Colonies. Post 8vo. 2s. 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