5 8 RISEN B V PERSE VERANCE. 



Clyde, in the northern part ot the kingdom; but the idea 

 was abandoned, from the difiSculty ot procuring the requisite 

 funds. A very general impression, too, seems to have been 

 felt, in the earlier part of the last century, as to the desir- 

 ableness of effecting a canal navigation between the central 

 English counties and either the metropolis or the eastern 

 coast 



The first modern canal actually executed in England was 

 not begun till the year 1755. It was the result of a sudden 

 thought on the part of its undertakers, nothing of the kind 

 having been contemplated by them when they commenced 

 the operations which led to it They had obtained an Act 

 of Parliament for rendering navigable the Sankey brook, in 

 Lancashire, which flows into the river Mersey, from the 

 neighbourhood of the now flourishing town of St Helens, 

 through a district abounding in valuable beds of coal. Upon 

 surveying the ground, however, with more care, it was con- 

 sidered better to leave the natural course of the stream 

 altogether, and to carry the intended navigation along a new 

 line ; in other words, to cut a canal. The work was 

 accordingly commenced ; and the powers of the projectors 

 having been enlarged by a second Act of Parliament, the 

 canal was eventually extended to the length of about twelve 

 miles. It turned out both a highly successful speculation for 

 the proprietors and a valuable public accommodation. 



It is probable that the Sankey canal, although it did not 

 give birth to the first idea of the great work we are now about 

 to describe, had at least the honour of prompting the first 

 decided step towards its execution. Francis, Duke of 

 Bridgewater, who, while yet much under age, had succeeded, 

 in the year 1748, by the death of his elder brothers, to the 



