CHAP. viii. TIII-: <U:ANI> TKUNK CANAL. 447 



cisdy tlic sniiir effect throughout the Pottery and other 

 districts of StalVonlshiru ; :m<l llieir joint action was not 

 only to employ, but actually to civilize the people. The 

 salt of riic'slmx; could now be manufactured in immense 

 quantities, readily conveyed away, and sold at a com- 

 paratively moderate price in all the midland districts of 

 I 1 ] upland. The potters of Burslem and Stoke, by the 

 same mode of conveyance, received their gypsum from 

 Northwich, their clay and flints from the seaports now 

 directly connected with the canal, returning their manu- 

 factures by the same route. The carriage of all articles 

 being reduced to about one-fourth of their previous 

 rates, 1 articles of necessity and comfort, such as had 

 formerly been unknown except amongst the wealthier 

 lasses, came into common use amongst the people. 

 Existence ceased to be difficult, and came to be easy. 

 Led by the enterprise of Wedgwood and others like 

 him, new branches of industry sprang up, and the 

 manufacture of earthenware, instead of being insigni- 

 ficant arid 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 Commons, that from 15,000 to 20,000 



1 The following comparison of the a ton; the canal reduced both to 

 rates per ton at which goods were 17. 10s Thus the cost of 



conveyed by land-carriage before the 

 opening of the Grand Trunk Canal, 

 and those at which they were sub- 

 sequently carried by it, will show 

 how great was the advantage con- 

 fenvd on the country by the intro- 

 duction of navigable canals : " The 

 cost of carrying a ton of goods from 

 Liverpool to Etruria, the centre of 

 the Station Ishire potteries, by land- 

 carriage, was 50s.; the Trent and 



inland transport was reduced, on the 

 average, to about one-fourth of the 

 rate paid previous to the introduction 

 of canal-navigation. The advantages 

 were enormous : wheat, for example, 

 which formerly could not be con- 

 veyed a hundred miles, from corn- 

 growing districts to the large towns 

 and manufacturing districts, for less 

 than 20s. a quarter, could be con- 

 veyed for about 5s. a quarter. These 



Mersey reduced it to 13s. 4'/. The ; facts show how great was the service 



land-carriage from Liverpool to \\'<>I- 

 verliampton was f>/. a tun: (lie canal 

 reduced it to II. 5s. The lan<l-car- 



conferred on the country by Brindley 

 and the Duke of Bridgewater." 

 l>ai lies' s * History of the Commerce 



fn>m Liverpool to Binning- I and Town of Liverpool.' 

 ham, and also to Stourport, was 57. ! 



