352 THE BPJPGEWATER CANAL PART V. 



Worsley had been actively pushed forward, and con- 

 siderable progress had been made by the time the addi- 

 tional powers had been obtained. That part of the canal 

 which lay between Worsley Mill and the public highway 

 leading from Manchester to Warring-ton had been made ; 

 the sough or level between Worsley Mill and Middlewood, 

 for the purpose of supplying water to the canal, was con- 

 siderably advanced ; and operations had also been begun 

 in the neighbourhood 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 embankment 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 head 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 manner 

 proposed ? Brindley was himself appealed to ; but he could 

 only repeat his conviction as to the entire practicability of 

 his design. At length, by his own desire and to allay 1 1 ie 

 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 



