OF THE LATE JOHN KENNEDY, ESQ. 149 



remember that the Roman Catholic religion* and all 

 others were alike, if you were sincere and acted up to 

 their precepts, and they were all equally efficacious to 

 salvation." With this sage advice and a new suit of home- 

 spun, he left his home mounted on a pony, full of the 

 events of his future prospects in life. After two days 

 travelling he reached Carlisle, where he was met \)j his 

 master's partner, Mr. Smith, who was employed in start- 

 ing a carding-engine and one of Hargreaves' jennies, 

 which were placed in different rooms, as there were no 

 cotton mills at Carlisle at that time. From Carlisle he 

 proceeded, in company with Mr. Smith, through Penrith, 

 Kendal, and Preston, and on the sixth day reached his 

 destination. At Preston he had an opportunity for the first 

 time of hearing a lecture of Mr. Banks on Natural Philo- 

 sophy, with which he seems to have been much interested, 

 and which laid the foundation of his future tastes and 

 desires in these pursuits. Immediately on his arrival at 

 Chowbent he commenced work as a machine maker, and 

 in a short time became an expert workman. The 

 machinery made at that time was limited to carding 

 machines, Hargreaves' jennies and Arkwright's water 

 frames, including drawing and roving, then very imper- 

 fectly constructed. 



At the close of his apprenticeship, which lasted seven 

 years, he came to Manchester on the i8th of February 

 1791. Here he joined in partnership with Benjamin and 

 William Sandford — who were fustian warehousemen — 

 and Mr. James McConnel, under the firm of " Sandford, 

 McConnel and Kennedy," and commenced business with 

 them as machine makers and mule spinners. This was 

 shortly after Crompton's invention of the mule, and the 

 firm was for many years almost the sole makers of 



* It is supposed that Mrs. Kennedy, a descendant of the old chevaliers 

 and Catholic families, had some predilection for that form of worship. 



