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the accomplishment of the work. The man, however, was more difficult to obtain. Elizabeth died without having witnessed the slightest progress made in the matter. King James confirmed the grant; and then it was that, after all else had refused to undertake so vast an affair, the "citizen and goldsmith" came forward with the offer of his wealth, skill, and energy. The arrangements were soon concluded, and Middleton set off into the neighbouring counties to find a fitting steam. After long search and deliberation he fixed upon two springs rising in Hertfordshire-one at Chadwell near Ware, the other at Amwell. The first positive commencement of the work took place on the 20th of February, 1608. Owing to the circuitous route he was obliged to follow, partly from the inequalities of the surface, and partly, perhaps, from the excessive opposition he met with from the owners, the entire distance amounted to about thirty-nine miles, whilst the ordinary road measured but nineteen. Stow, who writes with an honourable enthusiasm both of the work and the author, rode down "divers times to see it; and diligently observed that admirable art, pains, or industry were bestowed for the passage of it, by reason that all grounds are not of a like nature, some being oozy and very muddy, others again as stiff, craggy, and stony. The depth of this trench in some places descended full thirty feet, if not more; whereas, in other places, it required a sprightful art again to mount it over a valley in a trough, between a couple of hills, and the trough all the while borne up by wooden arches-some of them fixed in the ground very deep, and rising in height above twenty-three feet."* Bridges, drains, and sewers innumerable had also to be made. And all this, it must be remembered, was accomplished when engineering science was in a very different state to what it is at present. But, after all, these were the least of the difficulties he had to encounter. Little friendship, but a great deal of enmity, and a world of ridicule, attended him through all his labours. The opposition, indeed, raised against him was so serious, that he was unable to complete the work within the allotted time. The Corporation, however, set his mind at rest upon this point. But a more appalling danger was behind-want of funds. He had already sunk a splendid fortune in the undertaking; he had, in all probability, also used to the utmost whatever resources he could command among his friends and connexions. He applied to the City of London for assistance, and was refused. And now he must have been utterly ruined but for the assistance of the King. James did many foolish things, and some that deserve a much harsher epithet; let this, however, always be remembered to his honour-he was wise enough to appreciate a great work and a great man; he was generous enough to risk something for their safety when no one else would. On the 2nd of May, 1612, James covenanted with Middleton to bear an equal share of the expense, past and future, in consideration of being entitled to half the property. In a twelvemonth from that time the New River was in existence. The cistern by Islington was built to receive its waters; and splendid was the ceremony attending their first admission into it. This was a proud day for Middleton; it was rendered more gratifying by the presence of his brother, elected on that same day Lord Mayor. The procession was begun by “a troop of labourers, to the number of sixty or more, well appareled, and wearing

*Stow, b. i. p. 24.

green Monmouth caps, all alike, who carried spades, shovels, pickaxes, and suchlike instruments of laborious employment, and marching, after drums, twice or thrice about the cistern, presented themselves before the mount where the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and a worthy company beside, stood to behold them; and one man, in behalf of all the rest, delivered a poetical address, more clever and more true than such compositions generally are:

'Long have we labour'd-long desir'd and pray'd
For this great work's perfection; and by the aid
Of Heaven, and good men's wishes, 'tis at length
Happily conquer'd by Cost, Art, and Strength:
And after five years' dear expense in days,
Travail and pains, beside the infinite ways
Of malice, envy, false suggestions,
Able to daunt the spirits of mighty ones
In wealth and courage, this, a work so rare,
Only by one man's industry, cost, and care,

Is brought to bless'd effect,' &c.

After some further observations the speaker desired the Clerk of the Work to reach him

-the book to show

How many arts from such a labour flow.
First, here's the Overseer, this tried man,
An ancient soldier, and an artisan;
The Clerk next him, mathematician;

The Master of the Timber-work takes place
Next after these; the Measurer; in like case
Bricklayer and Engineer; and after those
The Borer and the Pavior. Then it shows
The Labourers next; Keeper of Amwell Head;
The Walkers last: so all their names are read.
Yet these but parcels of six hundred more
That at one time have been employ'd before.
Yet these in sight, and all the rest, will say
That all the week they had their royal pay.
Now for the fruits then: flow forth, precious spring,
So long and dearly sought for, and now bring
Comfort to all that love thee. Loudly sing;

And with thy crystal murmurs strook together,
Bid all thy true well-wishers welcome hither.'

At the last words the floodgates flew open, the stream ran gallantly into the cistern, drums and trumpets sounding in a triumphal manner, and a brave peal of chambers gave full issue to the intended entertainment." In 1622 James knighted Middleton: would that his history ended here! It is to be hoped that, when Middleton ventured into the undertaking, he was prepared to pursue his object as a public benefactor from higher motives than mere gain; otherwise the result must have been lamentable indeed. For eighteen years after the completion of the New River there was no dividend whatever; and, in the nineteenth, it amounted but to 117. 19s. 1d. each share. A share has been sold since that time for 14,000l.! Whether he lived to participate in the prosperity that attended the undertaking after this time is uncertain; if so, it could only have been for a brief period. Such was the fate of the founder of that gigantic system which rendered conduits useless, and is now incessantly occupied in ministering to our wants,

pouring daily its twenty or thirty millions of gallons of water, through its innumerable channels, into the still thirsty and ever-craving monster City.

The quantity of water daily supplied by the eight different water-companies of London in 1833-4 was 21,110.555 imperial gallons. By far the greatest portion of this was drawn from the Thames, a small quantity from Hampstead, and the remainder from the Lea River and the New River. The capital expended on the works of these companies then amounted to 3,170,000.; their gross rental to nearly 300,000. The number of houses or buildings supplied by them was nearly 200,000, each of which had an average supply of about 180 gallons, at a cost also, on the average, of about 30s. yearly. These results are, of course, given but as approximations to the truth, and require some modification. Thus, for instance, the average daily supply to private houses is much less than is here stated; the nominal average being considerably enhanced by the demands of large manufactories. Making, however, every allowance of this kind, still, how extraordinary is the amount of the general supply remaining! What other city in the world has provided for the comfort, direct or indirect, of each individual of its population, a daily supply of about ten gallons of this chief article of life? The contrast is indeed striking between this state of things and the

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XIV. SUBURBAN MILESTONES.

JEDEDIAH JONES (he was called Jedediah in consequence of the admiration his father cherished for the character of Jedediah Buxton, the great calculator) was a schoolmaster at Barnet. His delight in his occupation was hereditary; for the elder Jones had properly impressed his son with a sense of the high responsibilities and privileges of his calling, and had shown him how superior a schoolmaster was to any of the other mighty functionaries of the land-to a judge, or a minister of state, or even to a bishop. Jedediah grew, in time, to be somewhat of an important personage, especially as his love of learning branched out into sundry matters of abstruse inquiry, by his knowledge of which he not only puzzled his wondering pupils, but occasionally perplexed the most sagacious of his neighbours. He was not a philosopher in the ordinary sense of the word, for he did not busy himself with any of the sciences as they exist in the present day; but he contrived to know something about the theories of these matters as they were received two or three centuries ago, and was always reflecting and experimenting upon propositions that all mankind have agreed to reject as absurd or impracticable. He was acquainted with the past existence of many vulgar errors; but he by no means acknowledged the propriety of that sweeping condemnation of certain opinions which was contained in the title of Sir Thomas Brown's folio. He had considerable faith that he should some day meet the Wandering Jew on

T

the great Holyhead Road: he turned up his nose at the belief that a griffin had not existed, for why should people have them painted on carriages if their ancestors had never seen such things: he was almost certain that he had himself heard a mandrake shriek when he pulled it up-(on purpose to hear it): and he was quite sure that there were only three Queen Anne's farthings coined, and that he had got one of them. As the old alchymists obtained some knowledge of chymistry in their search after gold, so our schoolmaster obtained a smattering of history and philosophy in his search after those crotchety points of learning which history and philosophy have determined to throw overboard; and thus, upon the whole, he managed to pass with the world as a very wise man, and his school flourished.

There were some matters, however, with all his learning, which puzzled Jedediah Jones exceedingly. One of these dark and important questions was a source of perpetual irritation to him. He took long walks on half-holidays, and generally his face, on these occasions, turned towards London; for he had a secret conviction that his ultimate vocation was to be in that mighty metropolis, and that he should be summoned thither by a special decree of the Royal Society, or the Society of Antiquaries, and be humbly requested to solve some great enigma, of which all mankind, except himself, had missed the solution. In these long walks he was constantly reminded by the milestones that there was one point of learning as to which he still remained in absolute ignorance. This was grievous. These milestones had proclaimed to him, from the days of his earliest recollections, that it was seven miles, or six miles, or five miles, or four miles, or three miles and a half, "from the spot where Hicks's Hall formerly stood." Now in all his books he could find not an iota about Hicks, or Hicks's Hall. For ten tedious years had he been labouring at this riddle of Hicks's Hall. It was his thought by day, and his dream by night. Who was Hicks? How did Hicks obtain such a fame that even the milestones were inscribed to his memory? What was his Christian name? Was he General Hicks, or Admiral Hicks, or Bishop Hicks, or Chief Justice Hicks? Or was he plain Mr. Hicks? and if so, was he M.P., or F.R.S., or F.A.S., or M.R.I.A.? Why did Hicks build a hall? Was it a hall like "the colleges and halls" of Oxford and Cambridge, or like the Guildhall in King Street, Cheapside? Perhaps it was a hall for public entertainments,— perhaps Hicks was a member of one of the City companies, and built a hall which the company in gratitude called after his name. How long ago was Hicks's Hall built? Was it in the Gothic or the Roman style of architecture? Was it of brick or stone? Had it a carved roof? When did Hicks's Hall cease to exist? Was it burnt down? Was it pulled down by the mob? Was it taken down to widen the street? Was it suffered to go to decay and fall down? Was anybody killed when it fell down? Are the ruins still to be seen? Has anybody written the History of Hicks's Hall? Has anybody written the Life of Hicks? Shall I, Jedediah Jones, write this work which the world must be so anxiously looking for?

Such were a few of the perplexing and yet inspiriting thoughts which had for years passed through Jones's mind, as he walked from Barnet, Highgate-ward. His difficulties at last became insupportable. He took up his resolution, and he was comforted. A week still remained of the Christmas holidays. He would

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