CHAI-. vii. <;i;o\YTii or MANVIIKSTKK. 



of liis rough words niul liis kindly acts, his business 

 and liis indomitable courage. He was the first 

 " ManrhrstiT man." His example deeply penetrated 

 tlic Lancashire character, and his presence seems even 

 yet to hover about the district. The Duke's canal still 

 carries a large proportion of the merchandise of Man- 

 el irstrr and the neighbouring towns ; the Duke's horses 1 

 still draw the 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 

 t<> learn that they owe so much to a Duke, or that the old 

 blood has helped the new so materially in the develop- 

 ment of England's modern industry. But it is never- 

 theless true that the Duke of Bridgewater, more than 

 any other single man, contributed to lay the founda- 

 tions of the prosperity of Manchester, Liverpool, and the 

 surrounding 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 ab- 

 solutely 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. 2 



be employed ; and that the Duke con- 

 sequently dodged the provisions of 

 the Acts by employing mules. But 

 this is not the case, there being no 

 clause in any of them prohibiting the 



1 The Duke at first employed mules 

 m hauling the canal-ln.ats, because of 

 the greater endurance and freedom 

 I'rom disease of those animals, and 

 also because they could cat almost 

 any description of provender. The 

 Duke's bleed of mules was tor a long 2 The cotton trade was not of 



time the finest that had Urn known much im]ortance at first, though it 

 in Kngland. The popular impression rapidly increased when the steam- 

 in Manchester is, that the 1 hike's engine and spinning-jenny had Ix.'- 

 Acts of Parliament authorising the come gem-rally adopted. It may be 

 construction of his canals, forbade the interesting to know that sixty years 

 u*' of horses, in order that men might since it was considered satisfactory if 



