324 



UIMNDLKY AS MASTK1! WHEELWRIGHT 



TAUT V. 



of an immense water-wheel fixed in a chamber sonic 

 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 effec- 

 tive. The machinery was found fully equal to the emer- 

 gency ; 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 pro- 

 bable 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 1 >y 

 him for expenses, it is clear that he was satisfied to live in 

 the fashion of an ordinary labourer. What modern en- 

 gineers will receive ten guineas a-day for doing, lie, 

 with his strong original mind, was quite content to do 

 for two shillings. But eminent constructive skill seems 

 to have been lightly appreciated in those days, if we 

 may judge by the money value attached to it. 1 To tin's, 

 however, it must be added, that at the time of which 



1 Long before Brindley's time, Inigo 

 Jones was paid only eight shillings and 

 Iburpence a-day as architect and sur- 

 veyor of the Whitehall Banqueting 

 House, and forty-six pounds a-year 

 for house-rent, clerks, and incidental 

 expenses; whilst Nicholas Stowe, 

 the master mason, was allowed but 

 four and tenpence a-day. When the 

 Duchess of Marlborough was after- 

 wards engaged in resisting the claims 

 of one of her Blenheim surveyors, she 

 told him indignantly " that Sir Chris- 

 topher Wren, while employed upon 



Saint Paul's, was content to be dragged 



up to the top of the building three 

 times .-week in ;i basket, at the great 

 ha/ard of his life, for only 20()/. a- 

 year " the actual amount of his sa la ry 

 as architect of that magnificent Cathe- 

 dral. Brindley, however, tared worst- 

 still, and lor a long time does not seem 

 to have risen above mere mechanic's 

 pay, even whilst engaged in construct- 

 ing the celebrated canal for the Duke 

 of Bridgeware!', which laid the founda- 

 tion of so many gigantic fortunes. 



