o *v *
 
 REUBEN SPENCER, ESQ., J.P.
 
 I 
 
 A SURVEY 
 
 HISTORY. COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES 
 
 LANCASHIRE 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 EXTRACTS, REPRODUCED BY REQUEST, 
 
 FROM 
 
 "THE HOME TRADE OF MANCHESTER" 
 
 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF 
 
 REUBEN SPENCER, ESQ., J.P. 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 JUBILEE DEMONSTRATIONS 
 
 LONDON 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 1897
 
 LANCASHIRE. 
 
 "I Speak but in the Figures and Comparisons of it." Shakespeare 
 (Henry V., act iv. sc. vii.). 
 
 'N attempting to briefly outline the 
 position and importance at the; 
 present day of that most interesting, 
 and notable of English shires, the 
 County Palatine of Lancaster, it must 
 be our endeavour in these few intro- 
 ductory pag'es not so much to essay the 
 difficult task of a concise historical review 
 as to call special attention to those epochs and. 
 achievements of Lancastrian annals in which 
 the genius of the people of this county has been more; 
 particularly displayed. At the same time it will b el 
 consistent with the scope of such a work as this to 
 speak in some detail of the natural resources of the 
 county itself, which have enabled Lancashire men in 
 
 B
 
 general to find a congenial and profitable field for the 
 exercise of their well-known practical talents and 
 progressive spirit. It is a rather remarkable fact that, 
 rich as it is in associations of the past, and closely as 
 it has been connected with many of the most stirring 
 events of our national history, Lancashire life should 
 in modern times have betaken itself to a channel quite 
 at variance with the romantic tendency of its early 
 records. In this circumstance we have the keynote 
 to the character of the Lancastrian people, to whom 
 activity and movement are essentials of daily ex- 
 istence, and who neither could nor would subsist upon 
 the bread of idleness. In the old days of unenlighten- 
 ment (if we may use the word), when Science was 
 groping her way through the gloom of ignorance to 
 the great day of knowledge and discovery, and when 
 all the useful arts were either in a primitive con- 
 dition or in a state of gradual transition, the men 
 of Lancashire began to lay the foundations of their 
 county's prosperity; and as the years passed on, by 
 continuous exercise of those faculties of foresight and 
 shrewd perception which their descendants still pos- 
 sess in such a marked degree, they strengthened the 
 position they had taken up, and made for themselves 
 a name in the world of industry the renown of which 
 has not ceased to increase down to the present hour. 
 They thought constantly of the future, too, and foresaw 
 possibilities which have been realised to the fullest 
 extent in later times. What they did and what their 
 
 ( 6 )
 
 successors have since done in many new directions 
 has given us the Lancashire of to-day the "workshop 
 of the world," and England's premier county in wealth, 
 population, and magnitude of business undertakings. 
 
 Within the borders of Lancashire, as we know it 
 now, stand some of the largest and busiest towns in 
 the British Isles, including the second port of the 
 Empire, and the wonderful metropolis of the cotton 
 trade. Within the same boundaries there dwells a 
 vast population, the individual units of which are 
 trained by daily practice and ever-present example 
 in habits of thrift and industry, and the great majority 
 of whom continue to exhibit in a striking degree 
 those powers of energy and that aptitude in the 
 organisation and administration of large undertak- 
 ings which have made the name of Lancashire a 
 synonym for all that is expert and enterprising in 
 commercial effort. Genius has manifested itself in 
 this favoured county in many walks of life other than 
 that of business. Art has flourished in Lancashire, 
 and found munificent supporters and patrons among 
 the merchant princes of the county. Literature and 
 poetry, science and invention, have all fared well in 
 this land of industry, and the great natural talent of 
 Lancastrians in music is well known. In the arduous 
 labour of mechanical advancement and improvement 
 no English county has shone more brilliantly than 
 Lancashire ; such names as those of Hargreaves, 
 Arkwright, Crompton, and Cartvvright shed lustre 
 
 ( 7 )
 
 upon the industrial history of the whole nation. The 
 educational resources of Lancashire are as complete 
 as an inborn love of knowledge can make them ; and 
 the social and general condition of the many thriving 
 boroughs, towns, and cities that attract the attention 
 of the traveller in this part of England reveals a 
 special talent for the promotion of communal interests 
 and the management of municipal affairs. Thus, in 
 manifold aspects, does Lancashire present a subject 
 full of interest to the historian, the biographer, and 
 the student of those events which bear upon local and 
 national welfare ; and in some of its varied features 
 having a special relationship to the life and work of 
 its leading men, we may here briefly consider this im- 
 portant division of the Kingdom. In the first place 
 a few remarks concerning the history of the county 
 are almost indispensable in such a sketch as this, and 
 they may be appropriately introduced here before we 
 proceed further. 
 
 Of all the divisions of P^ngland there is none that 
 has a stronger claim to be regarded as a county of 
 to-day than Lancashire. The spirit of modern energy 
 and progress is so universally manifest here, and all 
 the busy centres of trade and population partake of 
 it so largely in the whole routine of their daily life, 
 that it becomes difficult to carry the mind back to a 
 period when Lancashire possessed few or none of those 
 attributes which constitute the basis of her greatness 
 at the present day. True, she has always had her 
 
 ( 3 )
 
 indomitable people and her wealth of natural re- 
 sources, but even a clever people may be improved 
 and educated, and the richest of nature's treasures 
 may lie hidden for ages pending the advent of the dis- 
 coverer and the processes of development that follow 
 in his train. Time was when the men of Lancashire 
 had little opportunity for the exercise of their higher 
 talents, and when the mineral wealth of their county 
 lay all unused, if not actually unknown. Wholly 
 occupied, as he is, in maintaining his forward position 
 in the " fierce competition of the important and im- 
 perative present," the average Lancastrian of to-day 
 has little inclination and less time to trouble himself 
 about the condition of his native county in ages gone 
 by. The fact remains, nevertheless, that Lancashire 
 has had a most interesting past, and the details of its 
 early history point to a very fascinating field for the 
 researches of the archaeologist, all the more fascinat- 
 ing, perhaps, because much of the remote record of 
 the county is very obscure. 
 
 Another notable point is the scarcity of what are 
 variously known as " ancient monuments " and " relics 
 of the past." Even that indefatigable antiquarian, 
 William Camden, writing in the Elizabethan period, 
 was forced to say that he could not make much out of 
 the vague ruins then existing in Lancashire ; and of 
 these very few indeed are now traceable. All this 
 might seem to point to a very high antiquity indeed 
 for this county, but at the very outset we are con- 
 
 (9)
 
 fronted with a " poser," so to speak, in the fact that 
 no mention of Lancashire occurs either in the old 
 Saxon Chronicles or in the record of the Domesday 
 Survey. However, the labours of able and zealous 
 historians, and the researches of the many scientific 
 and other societies that adorn the intellectual side of 
 Lancashire life, have done much to pierce the gloom 
 that envelops the early periods of local history in this 
 quarter of the Kingdom, and have enabled us to place 
 confidence in some important and well-supported 
 evidences. For instance, it is certain enough that a 
 portion of Lancashire was occupied in pre-Christian 
 times by a section of that powerful and warlike tribe 
 of Britons known as the Brigantes, who are famous 
 for their dauntless and uncompromising resistance of 
 the Roman invasion, and for their long-continued 
 refusal to submit to conquest by the legions of the 
 Caesars. Eventually, however, after many a fierce 
 conflict, these remote ancestors of the sturdy Lan- 
 castrian stock were forced to give up the unequal 
 contest, and to yield to the might and strategy of 
 Agricola and his disciplined troops. Then did eastern 
 and north-eastern Lancashire become a part of the 
 Roman province of Maxima Csesariensis. 
 
 For several centuries subsequent to this the mist of 
 obscurity hangs heavily over Lancashire, and it is not 
 until we approach the Saxon period that a little more 
 light is obtained. There are evidences to show that, 
 just as they refused to acknowledge the Romans, so
 
 the people of 1 Lancashire would have none of the 
 Saxon conquest, and they made a brave fight of it, 
 until about the year 680 A.D., when King Egfrid finally 
 vanquished them, and incorporated their territory in 
 the kingdom of Northumbria, which Ida had founded a 
 hundred and thirty-three j'ears previously. Doubtless 
 there was progress of a kind under the Saxon rule. 
 The great fact of that period was the establishment 
 of Christianity upon a firm footing in Britain, and 
 this implies a degree of moral advancement which 
 could not be without beneficial effect upon the general 
 life of the people. The Saxons also encouraged the 
 mechanical arts and fostered learning, but these pur- 
 suits of peace must have been sorely interrupted by 
 the ruthless and repeated incursions of the predatory 
 and piratical Norsemen, who literally made life " not 
 worth living " along the coasts of Britain in the tenth 
 century. The short period of absolute Danish rule in 
 this country, and the turbulence of the brief era of the 
 Saxon restoration, produced no other effect than that 
 of the reduction of England to a state of desperate 
 chaos. As Baines, the historian of Lancashire, 
 pointedly remarks : " Pierced by barbarian hordes, 
 torn by internal divisions, and ruled by foreign mas- 
 ters, the country was for a long time like a seething 
 cauldron, and the scene of overwhelming and crushing 
 calamity." 
 
 In this condition did William the Conqueror find 
 England when, after he had dealt the death-blow to
 
 the Saxon Heptarchy on the fateful field of Hastings, 
 he marched northward to subjugate a people who 
 had not for many a year had a clear and definite idea 
 as to who was or was not their rightful lord and 
 sovereign. The energ)*- with which he accomplished 
 this work is well known to the student of history, and in 
 the fulness of time the various administrative divisions 
 of England were parcelled out among puissant 
 Norman barons, who claimed the right of participation 
 in the spoils of conquest. Lancashire was doubtless 
 treated in this manner, and after the lapse of years we 
 hear of it coming under the domination of Roger de 
 Poictou, who was lord of Lancaster until the reign of 
 Edward I., when he appears to have incurred the 
 royal displeasure, and the penalty of banishment in 
 consequence. The title, Earl of Lancaster, appears 
 to have first been borne by a member of the reigning 
 house in 1267, when Henry III. bestowed it upon his 
 youngest son, Edmund Crouchback. The family of 
 Edmund retained the title for nearly a hundred years, 
 and in 1353 Henry Plantagenet, a member of that 
 family and a descendant of Edmund, became Duke of 
 Lancaster. His son-in-law, John of Gaunt, succeeded 
 him in 1361. John was the fourth son of Edward III., 
 and for his benefit that monarch elevated Lancashire 
 to the dignity of a County Palatine in 1376. Henry, 
 Earl of Hereford, and son of John of Gaunt, succeeded 
 to' the Palatine dukedom in due course, and as he 
 became King (under the title of Henry IV.) on the 
 
 { 12 )
 
 deposition of Richard II. in 1399, the Duchy of Lan- 
 caster then became merged in the Crown, and since 
 that time it has been usual for the reigning sovereign 
 to bear the title. The land revenues of the Crown 
 are much enriched by the Duchy of Lancaster. At 
 the time of the Queen's accession the revenues of 
 the Duchy, after deducting all expenses, amounted 
 to about ^30,000 per annum, and the payment to 
 Her Majesty at that period was ^12,000. Since then 
 they have increased very considerably, amounting in 
 1890 to ; 88,988 net, and the payment to Her Majesty 
 at this latter period was ,50,000. - The present Chan- 
 cellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is the Right Hon. 
 Lord James of Hereford. 
 
 From this brief statistical divergence we may now 
 return to the thread of Lancastrian history in the 
 Middle Ages, when much disorder prevailed through- 
 out the county, chiefly in' consequence of the frequent 
 incursions of the Scots, who, during the time of 
 Robert Bruce, often carried their depredations as far 
 south as Preston. Later on, in the time of Henry VII., 
 the cause of the pretender, Lambert Simnel, was sup- 
 ported here, and a great assembly of forces took 
 place in the Furness district, under the Earl of Lin- 
 coln and Lord Lovely who, with the assistance of the 
 local abbots and some of the influential -families of 
 this neighbourhood, sought to advance the claims of 
 Simnel to the throne. The somewhat ignominious 
 ending of this movement, and the eventual retire- 
 
 ( 13 )
 
 fnent of Simnel into the obscurity of a royal menial, 
 are too well known to need recalling. Presently 
 came the great crash of the Reformation, bringing 
 with it the complete bouleversement of religious affairs 
 and authority, and immediately Lancashire was again 
 plunged in turmoil. The Roman Catholic party was 
 very strong in the county, and staunch resistance was 
 opposed by it to the new order of things ecclesias- 
 tical, a resistance which was, of course, well sup- 
 ported by the many wealthy religious houses which 
 then abounded in the district. These latter, however, 
 were suppressed by the King (Henry VIII.), and 
 among them were the famous abbeys of Furness and 
 Whalley, erstwhile seats of great monastic power. 
 The Reformation then began to make great progress, 
 especially in the south-eastern part of the county, and 
 its development among the mercantile classes soon 
 became particularly marked. 
 
 To quote the words of Halley : " The busy traders 
 and manufacturers of Salfordshire, having formed 
 mercantile connections with Holland and Germany, 
 became acquainted with the great changes which had 
 been so wonderfully wrought in the religion of those 
 countries. Better educated than their rustic neigh- 
 bours, and having more money to spare and more 
 opportunity to spend it, they purchased books, con- 
 versed with foreigners, occasionally travelled to Con- 
 tinental fairs, knew more than their priests, prided 
 themselves on a sturdy independence of thought, and
 
 became, many of them, firm and zealous adherents of 
 the Reformation." It is at this period that we first 
 begin to note the formation of a commercial class 
 destined ultimately to become the most powerful 
 factor in Lancashire life. Despite the tumult of 
 political dissensions and the frequent conflicts of 
 warring factions in the affairs of the State, the germ 
 of business enterprise was beginning to expand into 
 real and growing activity, and various branches of 
 commerce and industry commenced to engage the 
 energy and attention of a people eminently adapted 
 by nature to carry all such undertakings to a pros- 
 perous issue. Fate had one more interruption to 
 place in the path of Lancastrian progress in the 
 seventeenth century, and this took the form of the 
 great Civil War, which was very severely felt 
 throughout the entire county. Particularly marked 
 were the direful effects of this unhappy conflict at 
 Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster, Preston and Bolton, 
 and many were the prodigies of valour performed 
 on both sides, by Royalists and Parliamentarians 
 alike. The supporters of the King displayed unex- 
 ampled bravery and devotion in championing the 
 royal cause, and among them none was more con- 
 spicuous for zeal and activity than the Earl of Derby, 
 one of the great landed proprietors of Lancashire. 
 We have all been thrilled by the story of the gallant 
 defence of Latham House by that nobleman's cour- 
 ageous wife, the Countess of Derby, who, with the 
 
 ( 15 )
 
 aid of a few gentlemen of the neighbourhood and a 
 small garrison of retainers, defended this family seat 
 for three whole months against the Parliamentary 
 forces under Sir Thomas Fairfax. This heroic and 
 successful achievement casts a lustre even upon such 
 a deplorable and fratricidal struggle as the Civil War 
 of that momentous period. 
 
 After the restoration of Charles II. peace came 
 upon Lancashire, with all its attendant blessings ; 
 and the prosperity of the county began rapidly to 
 increase. Trade and manufacture came promptly 
 under the benign influence of political quietude and 
 stability, and the commercial interests of the county 
 were soon established upon a firm footing: Of course, 
 this change for the better was not the work of a day. 
 In most cases it was quite gradual, but in some 
 instances the improvement was very rapid, and prob- 
 ably nowhere in England was the half -century 
 immediately following the Civil War marked by 
 more substantial progress in the useful arts than in 
 Lancashire. With the exception of a brief commo- 
 tion in the time of the Young Pretender and one or 
 two outbreaks of popular irritation wholly connected 
 with local industrial matters, the history of Lan- 
 cashire during the last two centuries and a quarter 
 has been uneventful in any other than a peaceful 
 sense. To attempt to chronicle in these few pages 
 the thousand and one achievements of science, prac- 
 tical skill, and commercial enterprise that have dis- 
 
 ( t6 )
 
 .tinguished this county during these two hundred 
 years (or even during the century now approaching 
 its close) would be a purely Quixotic undertaking. 
 These great works of many and varied kinds speak 
 for themselves in Lancashire's present greatness and 
 influence. Through them she has become the fore- 
 most among English counties in return of revenues 
 from all sources, and there is every reason to feel 
 confident that what Lancashire men have accom- 
 plished in past and present times will be used by 
 them and by their successors as stepping-stones to 
 the still greater achievements of the years that are 
 yet to come. With this we may drop the subject of 
 Lancastrian history, and glance briefly at some of 
 the natural causes that have influenced Lancastrian 
 prosperity. 
 
 In the first place, the situation of the county is one 
 of great advantage. Its position and its coast-line 
 formation make it the natural outlet for the trade of 
 north-western England, and its ports are the only 
 ones accessible to large vessels between Milford 
 Haven and the Clyde estuary. Lancashire lies 
 between Westmoreland, Cumberland, Yorkshire, 
 Cheshire, and the Irish Sea, and has an extreme 
 length of eighty-five miles, and an extreme breadth 
 of forty-six miles. The important district of Furness, 
 where iron is abundant, is in the north, and is cut off 
 from the main body of the county by Morecambe Bay 
 and a part of Westmoreland. Between Yorkshire
 
 and Lancashire lie moors, mountains, and rivers. 
 The interior is of a diversified character, hills and 
 valleys alternating with level or undulating areas of 
 considerable extent, and there are some fairly lofty 
 eminences in the hilly districts, such as the " Coni- 
 stan Old Man " and Pendle Hill, which are 2,640 and 
 1,850 feet above the sea-level respectively. The hills 
 and mountainous tracts all subside towards the coast, 
 which is remarkable for the absence of cliffs, and for 
 the size of the bays by which it is indented. More- 
 cambe Bay, and the estuaries of the Mersey, the 
 Ribble, and the Wyre are the chief of these inden- 
 tations. 
 
 Geologically considered, Lancashire is a very in- 
 teresting county, and in its mineral wealth we have 
 another important characteristic which is closely 
 connected with the general prosperity of the whole 
 district. In this respect coal holds the place of 
 honour, and iron is closely associated with it, both 
 being very largely produced in the county. The 
 Lancastrian coalfield, considered in its entirety, is 
 one of the largest in Great Britain, and has an 
 estimated area of nearly 225 square miles, situated 
 between the Rivers Mersey and Ribble, and com- 
 prising the several sub-sections of Burnley, Wigan, 
 St. Helen's, Bolton, Manchester, &c. Very great 
 enterprise and skill have been displayed in the de- 
 velopment of the collieries in these several districts, 
 and the magnitude of the coal-mining operations 
 
 ( 18 )
 
 carried on in Lancashire may be gauged from the 
 fact that, apart from the vast amount of coal worked 
 for local consumption, there are upwards of 1 1,000,000 
 tons per annum taken out of the county, of which 
 about 7,000,000 tons are shipped. During the last 
 forty years the total output of the Lancashire col- 
 lieries has more than doubled. In 1852 the amount 
 raised was 8,225,000 tons. In 1880 the amount was 
 no less than 19,120,000 tons, and in 1891 the total 
 output was not far short of 23,000,000 tons, pretty 
 evenly divided between the eastern and western coal- 
 fields of the county. The available coal supply of 
 Lancashire has been recently estimated at over five 
 billions of tons. The iron industry in this county 
 presents a subject much too large for discussion here, 
 but its importance is widely recognised and under- 
 stood, and it has presented many opportunities for 
 the advantageous display of Lancastrian enterprise. 
 
 We must not omit a word or two upon the agricul- 
 tural aspect of Lancashire, despite the preponderance 
 of commercial and manufacturing interests. The soil 
 of the county presents many varieties of quality and 
 character, but although one may meet with a great 
 deal of barren and rocky moorland in the higher 
 districts, there is much excellent land in the valleys 
 of the numerous rivers, and in the vicinity of the sea- 
 coast. In these regions, where farming has received 
 a due measure of careful attention, satisfactory results 
 have ensued. Improved methods and the aids of
 
 science have certainly done much for agriculture in 
 Lancashire in modern times, and, as a rule, all 
 ordinary crops show to advantage. Oats are the 
 principal corn crop, the climate being particularly 
 suited for the growth of this grain. In the southern 
 part of the county wheat is now a staple product of 
 the farm, and in this fact we note a sign of advance- 
 ment, for in former times only very small crops of 
 wheat, barley, peas, &c., were grown. The potatoes 
 of Lancashire have long maintained a high reputa- 
 tion, and in the neighbourhood of the large towns 
 market-gardening is a profitable pursuit. 
 
 As a result of its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, 
 the climate of Lancashire is humid, and this has been 
 said to beneficially affect the quality of the cotton 
 yarns so largely spun in the county. The -rainfall, 
 however, is not so disagreeable as is the case in the 
 districts along the East coast, where the influence of 
 the Atlantic is not felt ; and though Lancashire has 
 the reputation of being a moist, not to say wet 
 county, it is freer from heavy fogs than the greater 
 part of maritime England. 
 
 The rivers of Lancashire, interesting as they un^, 
 doubtedly are, can hardly be brought within the 
 scope of the present article ; but the chief stream, the 
 Mersey, must always command special respect, if 
 only for the manner in which it has been identified, 
 with the rise and growth of the mighty pprt of 
 Liverpool. In this connection, however, it may be- 
 
 ( 20 )
 
 asserted with some truth that the Mersey shines with 
 a reflected lustre, for in olden times its value as a 
 waterway was not very great, and its present use- 
 fulness in commercial matters is chiefly due to the 
 remarkable energy put forward by the people of 
 Liverpool, Birkenhead, &c., in improving its not very 
 promising resources, and in building up the wonder- 
 ful system of unrivalled docks that now line its banks 
 for miles, and provide accommodation for merchant 
 ships from every land under the sun. 
 
 When we come to consider the splendid railway 
 system of Lancashire, we are brought face to face 
 with one of the greatest agents working for the wel- 
 fare of this county. Nowhere in England are the 
 facilities of railway transport from point to point 
 more complete or more satisfactory than in Lan- 
 cashire, and the men and the corporate bodies who 
 have worked together in bringing this state of things 
 to pass have performed a public service which cannot 
 be too highly valued. There is, of course, an im- 
 mense demand for easy and convenient means of 
 rapid transit between the many busy towns of this 
 tremendously busy region, and the supply, it must 
 be confessed, is quite adequate to the requirement. 
 There are five great lines of railway whose systems 
 intersect this county, viz., the London and North- 
 Western, the Lancashire and Yorkshire, the Furness, 
 the Midland, and the Cheshire Lines ; and at the 
 present time a sixth line is in course of construction 
 
 ( 31 ) C
 
 (the Lancashire, Derbyshire, and East Coast Rail- 
 way), destined to afford through communication from 
 the Mersey to the North Sea. The London and 
 North-Western line issues from Cheshire at Runcorn, 
 and runs to Newton, Wigan, Preston, Lancaster, and 
 Kendal, sending out only a few branches along its 
 lengthy route one of these being from Warrington 
 to Liverpool. This latter branch follows the course 
 of the Mersey to Garston. At Ditton is the junction 
 with the main-line branch from Prestonbrook via 
 Runcorn, and the united traffic is taken from Gar- 
 ston to Liverpool by way of the important suburban 
 station of Edge Hill. The St. Helen's branch of the 
 London and North-Western Railway has a junction 
 at Widnes with the Lancashire Union line. Another 
 branch runs from Hest Bank to Morecambe ; while 
 the Longridge line and the line from Manchester to 
 Leeds are also under the control of this Company. 
 
 The railways of Lancashire have taken the lead in 
 England for many years past in efficient organisation 
 and ample resource for dealing with the vast traffic 
 they have to provide for. It must not be forgotten, 
 too, that this county is to some extent the cradle of 
 English railways, for the famous line opened in 1830 
 from Liverpool to Manchester (as a result of the 
 North-Western Company's enterprise) was the first 
 passenger line of any length in the kingdom, al- 
 though the short line between Stockton and Darling- 
 ton (opened for passengers in 1825) can claim a 
 
 ( 22 )
 
 slight priority. For local traffic in Lancashire the 
 Lancashire and Yorkshire line is pre-eminent. Its 
 chief routes are as follows: (i) From Liverpool to 
 Ormskirk, Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, and Colne, 
 with branches to Bootle and Southport, and to 
 Wigan, Bolton, Bury, and Rochdale ; (2) a cross line 
 from opposite Runcorn, by St. Helen's and Rainford, 
 to Ormskirk; (3) another cross line from Wigan to 
 Southport ; (4) Preston to Fleetwood (the Wyre Rail- 
 way), with branches to Lytham and Blackpool ; (5) 
 Manchester to Bolton, Chorley, and Preston, with a 
 branch to Wigan and Horwich ; (6) Bolton to Black- 
 burn, Whalley, and Clitheroe; (7) Manchester to 
 Bury, Haslingden, and Accrington, with branch to 
 Bacup and Rossendale. Manchester, Rochdale, 
 Todmorden, and Burnley have connecting lines, 
 from which branches go off to Middleton, Oldham, 
 and Royton. 
 
 Between Partington and Cadishead the Cheshire 
 Lines Railway enters the county, crossing the Mersey, 
 and running into Liverpool via Warrington. At 
 Grazebrooke Junction connections are effected with 
 the Manchester and the Lancashire Union Railways, 
 which lines traverse the coal-field and connect it with 
 the Mersey ports. Entering the county near Hornby, 
 and running down the Vale of Lune to Lancaster and 
 Morecambe, the Midland Railway sends off numerous 
 useful branches, and makes connection with the 
 Furness Railway. A word or two of special mention 
 
 ( 23 )
 
 riiust fall to the lot of the new line, the Lancashire, 
 Derbyshire and East Coast Railway. 
 
 The project for this great undertaking one of the 
 largest railway enterprises promoted during recent 
 years in England was brought before Parliament in 
 1890, and received sanction in July of that year. 
 About six months later arrangements were made 
 with regard to the lettering of the first contract, com-* 
 prising certain important works on the central section 
 of the road, viz., between Chesterfield and Lincoln. 
 A new Bill, introduced on behalf of the company, was 
 passed in May, 1892, and the "first "sod" was for- 
 mally turned at Chesterfield on June yth, 1892. This 
 railway will provide a straight route across the 
 country from east to west, starting at Warrington 
 and running eastward to Sutton, a port on the coast 
 of Lincolnshire. One very important section of the 
 line is that which will traverse the coal districts of 
 Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and there will be 
 valuable connections with the systems of the Great 
 Eastern and Great Northern Railway Companies. 
 At the port of Sutton, the eastern terminus, suitable 
 harbour and dock accommodation will be provided, 
 and the line will thus become a very useful com- 
 mercial factor. Its total length is about one hundred 
 and thirty miles for the main line, and there will be 
 upwards of forty miles of auxiliary lines. The capital 
 of the company is stated at 7,500,000. Thus in rail- 
 way enterprise, as in all other matters wherein capital
 
 and energy can be profitably employed, Lancashire 
 still comes to the front, and shows an undiminished 
 activity in promoting public convenience and com- 
 mercial welfare. Here, again, the prominent men of 
 the county play their part in various spheres of life, 
 and the result of their labours is one of which they 
 and their fellow-countrymen have every reason to be 
 proud. 
 
 Lancashire is the birth-place of the English canal 
 system for purposes of inland traffic. To be strictly 
 accurate, one would have to admit that the first 
 English canal was made in 1134 (temp. Henry I.), 
 when the Trent was joined to the Witham. But the 
 real inception of the canal system proper, by which 
 our facilities of internal communication were so vastly 
 improved in pre-railway days, can be traced to the 
 Sankey Canal, the Act of Parliament authorizing the 
 construction of which was obtained in 1755. This 
 canal is ten miles long, and was constructed for the 
 purpose of bringing coals from St. Helen's to Liver- 
 pool. It passes along the valley of the Sankey 
 Brook, from which it takes its name, and enters the 
 Mersey at Fidler's Ferry. Very soon after the 
 inauguration of the Sankey Canal work was com- 
 menced on the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal, autho- 
 rised by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1759. The 
 canal was originally intended to afford a means of 
 supplying Manchester with coal at a cheaper rate 
 than by the Irwell and Mersey navigation, and was
 
 to connect the Duke of Bridge-water's collieries at 
 Worsley with Manchester for this purpose. This 
 being accomplished, the Duke obtained leave to 
 extend his operations, and make a canal from the 
 neighbourhood of Manchester into the Mersey. This 
 he did, and soon afterwards the canal was extended 
 from its former commencement at Worsley as far 
 as the town of Leigh. In 1872 this important canal 
 was purchased by the Bridgewater Navigation 
 Company. 
 
 Another great Lancashire canal is the Leeds and 
 Liverpool Canal, projected about 1770 by Mr. Long- 
 bottom of Halifax, and subsequently completed under 
 the authority of several Acts of Parliament. It has a 
 length of about 130 miles, and on its course passes 
 by or near the busy towns of Burnley, Blackburn, 
 Chorley, Wigan, and Burscough, eventually reaching 
 Liverpool. The Lancaster Canal is about 70 miles 
 long, and connects Preston, Lancaster, and Kendal. 
 The Ashton Canal runs from Ashton-under-Lyne to 
 Manchester, Stockport, Oldham, and Dukinfield, and 
 connects these towns with the Huddersfield Canal. 
 There are also in Lancashire the Rochdale Canal, the 
 Ulverstone Canal, and the Bolton, Bury, and Man- 
 chester Canal. Despite the great increase of railway 
 facilities, canals still remain in great favour for trans- 
 port purposes, and it is estimated that there are 2,800 
 miles of canals in England alone a fact which fully 
 attests their importance, since in matters of this kind 
 
 ( 26 )
 
 necessity, or at least expediency, is generally the 
 prime motive. 
 
 Of course, it would be impossible to speak of the 
 canals of Lancashire without making some allusion 
 to that most gigantic and remarkable of all the canals 
 of Britain, the Manchester Ship Canal; and at this 
 point we may introduce a brief review of the incep- 
 tion and progress of what is not only a colossus 
 among artificial waterways, but also one of the 
 greatest engineering undertakings of the day. If 
 there is one thing in which the energy and perse- 
 verance of the business men in Lancashire is trium- 
 phantly vindicated, it is the carrying out of just such 
 enterprises as this enterprises in which difficulties 
 have to be encountered, obstacles overcome, and 
 ultimate success achieved in the face of discourage- 
 ment. The history of the Manchester Ship Canal 
 is simply the story of perseverance victorious, told in 
 a new way and upon a gigantic scale ; and from this 
 point of view the eventual prosperity of the under- 
 taking must be a " consummation devoutly to be 
 wished." That the Manchester Ship Canal will be 
 commercially successful few people can doubt who 
 have thoroughly studied its vast possibilities. In it, 
 moreover, the Manchester people hail the realisation 
 of j a great dream and ambition, and its opening 
 heralded the long-wished-for day when Manchester 
 had free and uninterrupted communication with the 
 sea, and now the ships of the world discharge 
 
 ( 27 )
 
 their cargoes at the very doors of her busy ware- 
 houses. With such advantages as these in view it is 
 not surprising that the people of the great "cotton 
 metropolis" should have supported the Ship Canal 
 with a resolute vigour that well deserves its antici- 
 pated reward. Apart from the manner in which 
 Manchester's relations with the outer world will be 
 altered and improved by this gigantic work, the 
 whole of the commercial interests of the district pro- 
 mise to be greatly advanced thereby ; and it is impos- 
 sible not to view with satisfaction the approaching 
 completion of a scheme which bids fair to result in 
 great and substantial material benefits to a very large 
 and important populative region. 
 
 It may not be out of place to briefly and succinctly 
 trace the principal events in the history of the Ship 
 Canal from the date of its inception to the present 
 day. The project was taken up in downright earnest 
 between eight and nine years ago, though it had 
 doubtless been in embryo for some time; and in 1885 
 (July), the promoters of the scheme succeeded, after a 
 well-contested struggle and a large expenditure of 
 money, in obtaining the sanction of Parliament for 
 the construction of the Ship Canal under certain con- 
 ditions. This was the signal for great rejoicings in 
 Manchester and throughout the whole district which 
 was likely to reap most benefit from the canal, and 
 many notable festivities marked the success of the 
 first great movement in the work. When, however, 
 
 ( 28 )
 
 the private preliminary prospectus of the Manchester 
 Ship Canal Company was issued (October 8, 1885), 
 the subscriptions received were not sufficient for 
 requirements, owing to the fact that the Company 
 had no power to pay interest out of capital during the 
 construction of the Canal. This power was subse- 
 quently obtained by an Act of Parliament passed in 
 June, 1886, and the subscription lists were opened July 
 2oth, 1886, and closed on July 23rd. The full amount 
 required was not, however, subscribed, and the issue 
 was withdrawn. In the face of this disappointment a 
 " Consultative Committee " was formed, comprising a 
 number of influential gentlemen largely interested in 
 the trade of the district. This committee, meeting 
 under the auspices of Mr. Alderman Goldschmidt, 
 then Mayor of Manchester, discussed the whole ques- 
 tion of the Ship Canal earnestly and seriously, with a 
 view to determining in the most exact manner pos- 
 sible the value of the various arguments for and 
 against the scheme. As a result of these delibera- 
 tions, the Consultative Committee arrived at the 
 tinanimous decision that, after leaving a margin amply 
 sufficient for contingencies not foreseen, the Canal 
 would, within two years of its opening, pay a divi- 
 dend of not less than 5 per cent., besides showing a 
 surplus equal to an additional i per cent. As a 
 matter of fact, the volume of business which the 
 Committee, after exhaustive enquiry felt justified in 
 assuming would be done, was sufficient to warrant 
 
 (29)
 
 anticipations of a dividend of 8 per cent., or 3 per 
 cent, more than that set down in their report. The 
 effect of this report (which was signed by the Com- 
 mittee in November, 1886), was to greatly increase 
 public confidence in the scheme of the Ship Canal, 
 and in March, 1887, the Company issued a private 
 circular in which they appealed to the inhabitants of 
 Manchester to subscribe one-half of the required 
 capital of ,8,000,000. This amount of ^4,000,000 was 
 subscribed without delay, and in April, 1887, at a great 
 public meeting in the Manchester Town Hall, a com- 
 mittee was formed to further influence subscriptions. 
 On June 8, 1887, the Manchester Ship Canal Prefer- 
 ence Shares Bill was read the first time in the House 
 of Commons, and in due course passed through both 
 Houses, receiving the Royal Assent on July 12, 1887. 
 The Bill had for its object the division of the share 
 capital of , 8,000,000 into ^ 4,000,000 of 5 per cent, 
 perpetual preference shares, and ^4,000,000 of ordi- 
 nary shares, ranking for dividend after the preference 
 shares, which latter were not to receive 5 per cent, 
 until after the construction of the Canal, and both 
 classes of shares receiving 4 per cent, alike until the 
 Canal should commence operations. Immediately 
 after the passing of this Bill subscription lists were 
 opened for the ^4,000,000 of perpetual 5 per cent, 
 preference shares. On August 4, 1887, the Board of 
 Trade duly certified that the Ship Canal Company 
 complied with the conditions of its Act, whereby it 
 
 ( 30 )
 
 was required to raise ^5, 000,000 of its share capital 
 and an additional 1,7 10,000 as purchase-money of the 
 Bridge-water Canal and the Mersey and Irwell Navi- 
 gation, within two years of the passing of the Act. 
 
 We come now to the actual commencement of the 
 work of construction, which was signalised on No- 
 vember n, 1887, the formal ceremony of cutting the 
 first sod of the Manchester Ship Canal Works being 
 then performed at Eastham by Lord Egerton of 
 Tatton, in the presence of the Board and some of the 
 leading officials. From that time to this the work 
 has gone steadily on, and now that it is completed, 
 we are enabled to realise its magnitude and sig- 
 nificance, and the great effects it is likely to produce. 
 By this noble waterway the topography of one part 
 of Lancashire has been completely changed, and 
 Manchester has become to all intents and purposes a 
 seaport. The achievement is a great one, not second 
 even to that by which Ferdinand de Lesseps converted 
 Africa into an island. Indeed, the Manchester Ship 
 Canal is in several respects a greater and larger 
 undertaking than the Suez Canal, this being espe- 
 cially true in regard to the labour involved and the 
 nature of the difficulties contended with. What some 
 of these difficulties were in the case of the Man- 
 chester enterprise may be understood by any one 
 who surveys the country through which the canal 
 passes. Apart from the stupendous work at East- 
 ham, and the immensity of labour implied in some
 
 of the other cuttings and sections, there has all the 
 while been the established overland and other traffic 
 of the district to consider. These important points 
 are illustrated in the various bridges that have been 
 built to carry the public roads and railways across 
 the canal, and in the remarkable arrangements that 
 have been made for the Bridgewater Canal, which 
 crosses the river Irwell at Barton. The idea of shut- 
 ting up a portion of the water of a canal in an iron 
 tank, and turning it out of its course in such a way 
 as to admit of the passing-by of a ship in the great 
 waterway beneath, is indeed worthy of the engineer- 
 ing genius of the period. The Bridgewater Canal, 
 which the Ship Canal Company have purchased, and 
 which they wish to preserve in its full usefulness, 
 presented one of the greatest difficulties of the whole 
 undertaking, and it has been dealt with in a manner 
 most masterly and effective. It is very surprising to 
 note the rapidity with which the work of constructing 
 the Manchester Ship Canal has been performed. 
 Despite all difficulties, only a little over six years 
 were occupied in actual labour, and in that period 
 wonders of engineering skill were accomplished. It 
 is stated that about ^15,000,000 has been expended 
 on the Canal : certainly there is something to show, 
 even for this vast outlay of money. The Canal has a 
 length of 35 miles, and a depth throughout of 26 feet, 
 with a minimum bottom width of 120 feet, which is 
 increased to 170 feet for the 3! miles between Barton 
 
 ( 32 )
 
 and Manchester. There are five sets of locks, viz., at 
 Eastham, Latchford, Islam, Barton, and Manchester, 
 and commodious docks at Manchester, Salford, and 
 Warrington are also a part of the scheme. The 
 Manchester docks have been completed, and offer 
 ample accommodation for the shipping that will 
 doubtless throng them before the world is a year 
 older. The first lock of the Canal at Weston Marsh 
 (designed to take the traffic between the River 
 Weaver and the Ship Canal) was opened on April 
 1 6th, 1891. The first water was admitted into the 
 Eastham section, where the main channel of the 
 canal begins, on June i8th, 1891 ; and from Eastham 
 to Saltport (about 10 miles) the Canal has been 
 working regularly for some months. The passage of 
 the first boats from Ellesmere Port down the Canal 
 to the Mersey was made on July i2th, 1891. 
 
 The probable advantages of the Manchester Ship 
 Canal seem to be very great indeed, and make us 
 wonder that such an undertaking could ever have met 
 with serious and continued opposition. In this re- 
 spect, however, it has shared the lot of many another 
 scheme that has ultimately conferred inestimable 
 benefits upon mankind. The region influenced by 
 the Manchester Ship Canal may be said to comprise 
 something like 7,500 square miles, and to contain a 
 population of at least 9,000,000. It is hard to conceive 
 that anything but good can result from the bringing 
 of such a district as this into closer commercial 
 
 ( 33 )
 
 relationship with the great outer world. It is for the 
 future to decide all this, and for our part we can see 
 no reason to doubt the eventual prosperity of the whole 
 undertaking. At all events, the Manchester Ship 
 Canal will remain a striking tribute to the skill and 
 resource of its talented engineer, Mr. E. Leader 
 Williams, and a monument to the energy, zeal, and 
 courage of those representative Lancashire men who 
 have identified themselves with its history and cham- 
 pioned its cause so faithfully and so effectually from 
 first to last. The Manchester Ship Canal has, at 
 least, the possibility of a splendid future. Everything 
 just now points to the likelihood of its complete 
 success ; and our best wishes are for the full realisa- 
 tion of the many hopes that are centred in it to-day. 
 
 The roads of Lancashire, so greatly used by the 
 traffic of the factory districts, both in former times and 
 at the present day, are excellent. The principal coach 
 roads are the following: (i) The mail road between 
 Port Patrick, Carlisle, and Manchester, entering the 
 county at Stockport, and running by Manchester, 
 Chorley, Preston, Garstang, and Lancaster, and thence 
 passing away northwards through Westmoreland ; 
 (2) the Liverpool road, entering at Warrington, run- 
 ning by Prescot to Liverpool, and then on to Preston, 
 where it joins the Carlisle road; (3) a road from 
 Manchester through Oldham to Huddersfield and 
 Leeds ; (4) another northward to Bury, Haslingden, 
 and Clitheroe, whence it runs into the Yorkshire 
 
 ( 34 )
 
 mountain district. The coach road from Manchester 
 joins the London and Liverpool road at Warrington. 
 These are some of the principal highways of the 
 county, but, of course, there are countless other roads 
 and byways, and among them are several of those 
 wonderful Roman roads which have withstood the 
 wear and tear of centuries in such a remarkable 
 manner. Five or six of these radiate from Man- 
 chester ; one runs to Blackrod, one to Ribchester, two 
 into Cheshire, one to Stockport, and one to Stretford. 
 This latter is supposed by some archaeologists to be 
 that Fines Flo/vice to which reference is made by 
 Richard of Cirencester. 
 
 Before closing this necessarily concise topographical 
 survey of Lancashire, it may be well to glance at the 
 county from the official point of view, and to note some 
 of the important particulars set forth in the report of 
 the last census. For political and statistical purposes 
 there are two counties of Lancaster, the " Ancient " 
 or " Geographical " county, and the " Administrative " 
 county. The differences of boundary between these 
 are too minute to be entered into here, but, as the 
 greater contains the less, so does the " Ancient 
 County " contain the " Administrative County." The 
 former has four principal divisions, north, north-east, 
 south-east, and south-west Lancashire, and these four 
 are subdivided into twenty-three other divisions for 
 parliamentary purposes. The county also includes 
 the parliamentary boroughs of Barrow-in-Furness, 
 
 (35 )
 
 Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley, Bury, Liverpool, Man- 
 chester, Oldham, Preston, Rochdale, St. Helen's, 
 Salford and Wigan, and parts of Ashton-under-Lyne, 
 Stalybridge, Stockport, and Warrington. The city of 
 Liverpool has nine divisions, that of Manchester has 
 six, and the borough of Salford three. 
 
 In the "Ancient County" there are 730 entire 
 ecclesiastical parishes or districts, and parts of ten 
 others, and the whole is comprised in the dioceses of 
 Carlisle, Chester, Liverpool, Manchester, Ripon, and 
 Wakefield. The area of the "Ancient County" is 
 1,207,311 statute acres, and at the time of the census 
 of 1891 it contained 765,230 inhabited houses, 59,277 
 uninhabited houses, 5,205 houses in course of building, 
 and a population of 3,926,760, of which 1,889,926 were 
 males, and 2,036,834 females. 
 
 The "Administrative County" includes eighteen 
 municipal boroughs, has one Court of Quarter Ses- 
 sions, and is divided into 34 Petty Sessional divisions. 
 Twenty-five of the municipal and county boroughs 
 have separate commissions of the peace, and the 
 boroughs of Blackburn, Bolton, Oldham, Salford, 
 Wigan, and the cities of Liverpool and Manchester 
 have also separate Courts of Quarter Sessions. The 
 area of the " Administrative County," with the county 
 boroughs, is 1,202,726 statute acres, and in 1891 it 
 contained 760,379 inhabited houses, 58,710 unin- 
 habited houses, and 5,182 houses in course of build- 
 ing, the population being 3,906,721, divided into
 
 1,880,715 males and 2,026,006 females. Such is some 
 of the voluminous and interesting information sup- 
 plied by the Census Report of 1891 concerning what 
 may justly be termed England's "premier county," 
 for, though it is sixth in actual area, Lancashire 
 stands first among English counties in revenue from 
 all sources, and, with the one exception of London, it 
 has the largest population. The Lord Lieutenant of 
 Lancashire is the Right Honourable the Earl of 
 Sefton, K.G. 
 
 Of the trades and manufactures of Lancashire it is 
 not possible to speak with any degree of fulness in 
 the present article ; but though any exhaustive com- 
 ment upon the commercial aspect of the county is out 
 of the question here, we cannot refrain from a few 
 remarks upon those special departments of business 
 life in which prominent Lancastrians have figured 
 with so much distinction and success. Great, for 
 example, is the fame that some have won in connec- 
 tion with the chief industry of the county, the al- 
 together unequalled and unapproachable cotton trade 
 of Lancashire. Here, alone, is a subject for volumes. 
 In all the busiest districts of the county this trade is 
 omnipresent. Vast amounts of capital are invested 
 in it ; thousands of hands find in it their means of 
 livelihood ; its mighty mills and factories dot the 
 landscape far and near ; and the ceaseless hum of the 
 loom and the shuttle is heard on every side. 
 
 The rise and development of the cotton trade of 
 ( 37 ) ' o
 
 Lancashire must be regarded for all time as one of the 
 most remarkable instances of the rapid growth of a 
 great industry ever witnessed in this or any other 
 country. Indeed, the whole history of cotton manu- 
 facture in Lancashire presents a series of surprises, 
 and its advancement from the first has proceeded by 
 leaps and bounds. Prior to the time of Charles I. we 
 find no indication of cotton being imported into this 
 country for purposes of clothing; but about 1641 it 
 appears that fustian and velveteen were first made of 
 cotton. About a hundred years later it is estimated 
 that the entire manufacture of cotton in England did 
 not produce more than ,200,000 as the outcome of 
 capital invested and labour performed. At that time 
 the weavers were dispersed in cottages throughout 
 what are now the manufacturing districts, and it was 
 their custom to purchase their own materials, convert 
 them into cloth, carry the fabric to market, and sell 
 on their own account to the dealers. This, of course, 
 could not possibly last, for the resources of supply 
 would soon have been heavily overtaxed by the re^ 
 quirements of demand. The change began about the 
 year 1760, when the Manchester merchants com- 
 menced to directly employ the weavers, furnishing 
 them with materials, and paying for the labour of 
 weaving. Then came the birth of the "factory 
 system," caused by the invention of improved ma- 
 chinery of a character too complex to be worked in 
 the cottages of the weavers. Hargreaves brought out 
 
 (38)
 
 his carding-engine in 1760, and seven years later his 
 spinning-jenny multiplied many times over the pro- 
 ducts of the spinning-wheel, and effected as great a 
 saving in labour as it produced an increase of output. 
 By this time the trade was beginning to increase 
 greatly in volume and importance, and its advance- 
 ment was much accelerated when, in the year 1769, 
 Arkwright brought out his spinning-frame, the ad- 
 vantage of which was that it enabled yarn to be made 
 strong enough for 'warp. After a lapse of twenty 
 years, or nearly that, Samuel Crompton attracted 
 attention with his " spinning-mule," by which it was 
 found possible to produce a much finer and softer 
 quality of yarn than any previously turned out in this 
 country. The importance of this at the time may be 
 judged from the fact that Crompton sold some of his 
 finest yarns at twenty guineas per pound. Yarns of 
 similar fineness can be produced nowadays for a few 
 shillings the pound. Since the days of Crompton, 
 Arkwright, and Hargreaves the development in cotton 
 machinery has been wonderful ; indeed, in no branch 
 of mechanical science has British inventive genius 
 shone more brilliantly ; and Lancashire, as the chief 
 seat of the trade, can claim credit for the vast majority 
 of these remarkable improvements. Dr. Cartwright's 
 invention of the power-loom made weaving by power 
 a possibility, and after that the growth of the trade 
 began to be extraordinary. By the year 1787 the 
 value of English cotton manufactures rose to nearly 
 
 (39)
 
 I n 1832 it was estimated at 2 5, 000,000. 
 In 1841 Mr. Porter's estimate placed it at ,49,000,000. 
 At the present day the value may be placed at up- 
 wards of ^100,000,000. In Lancashire there are 
 nearly 1,800 spinning-mills and cotton factories in 
 operation, representing over 42,000,000 spindles and 
 610,000 looms, and giving employment to something 
 like 250,000 hands. The capital invested in the cotton 
 industry is estimated at upwards of ^ 100,000,000, 
 There can be no doubt that the stimulus of the cotton 
 trade has been felt throughout the whole of industrial 
 Lancashire, with highly beneficial results. Many 
 other trades, bearing relationship in some degree or 
 manner to this staple industry, have sprung up and 
 flourished greatly in the county. The making of 
 machinery and apparatus for cotton-spinners and 
 manufacturers is doubtless the chief of these kindred 
 industries, and it has been brought to a remarkable 
 state of perfection by the enterprise and progressive 
 zeal of the numerous firms that have engaged in it. 
 The largest manufacturers of cotton machinery in 
 the world are found in Lancashire, and their produc- 
 tions are universally famous. 
 
 The engineering industries of the county have 
 also been developed upon a very large scale, while 
 shipbuilding, iron and steel manufacture, glass 
 manufacture, the making of watches and clocks, 
 and the productions of hats, pottery, soap, chemicals, 
 leather, wire, brass goods, &c., &c., rank prominently 
 
 (40)
 
 among the many other manufacturing enterprises in 
 which Lancashire capital, energy, and labour are 
 employed. Manchester is the world's cotton mart, 
 and "Manchester goods" are famous the wide world 
 over. Whole nations are supplied with the multi- 
 farious manufactures of cotton, silk, and wool that 
 are gathered together in the warehouses of this busy 
 city ; and these various fabrics represent the many 
 diverse products of this county's enormous textile 
 industry, in the different branches of which the out- 
 put of novelties is maintained from year to year 
 with untiring energy and apparently inexhaustible 
 resource. Of the vast trade of Liverpool, and the 
 many great commercial interests centred in that city, 
 it is unnecessary to speak in detail here. The high 
 standing of this port is universally recognised, 
 and the importance of the part it has played for 
 many years in maintaining effective communication 
 between the manufacturing centres of Lancashire 
 and the markets of the outer world needs no in- 
 dication. 
 
 Having now in some measure reviewed the natural 
 resources of the county of Lancashire, and glanced 
 at some of the principal spheres of activity in which 
 those resources are turned to practical account, it is 
 time to direct our attention to the men whose lives 
 and works have in many cases left a deep and lasting 
 impression upon the condition of the county, and 
 have helped to place it in its present position of 
 
 ( 4' )
 
 distinction, not merely as a prosperous seat of trade, 
 but also as a region in which municipal, social, 
 educational, and artistic progress are all studied 
 with care and promoted with judgment and liberality. 
 Few counties have given birth to so many men of 
 mark in the different walks of life in which national 
 celebrity may be attained; and a biography of 
 notable Lancastrians, past and present, wauld 
 contain a remarkably large number of names 
 familiar to the general ear from their association 
 with achievements of special import. From this long 
 list it is difficult to make a selection for particular 
 mention here, but among the many who now rest 
 from their labours, and whose works live after them, 
 there are some whose names it would be impossible 
 to omit from any work dealing biographically with 
 Lancashire. 
 
 Who, for instance, could think of the county's 
 staple industry without remembering Richard Ark- 
 wright, James Hargreaves, and Samuel Crompton ? 
 the first the inventor of the spinning-frame, the second 
 the inventor of the spinning-'* jenny," and the third 
 the inventor of the " mule." These three men have 
 been justly said to have originated the cotton- 
 spinning trade as it is carried on to-day, and with 
 them must be associated Dr. Cartwright, whose 
 power-loom revolutionised the methods of the cotton 
 factories, and was the prototype of the wonderfully 
 ingenious weaving machinery now in use in all the 
 
 (42 )
 
 great cotton-works of Lancashire. Other names 
 appear in connection with the same trade, though 
 less prominently, such as those of John Kay, of 
 Bury, who invented the fly-shuttle ; Robert Kay, 
 the originator of the drop-box ; Horrocks, the im- 
 prover of the power-loom ; and William Lee, who 
 invented the stocking-frame as far back as the year 
 1589. Of the three or four great inventors identified 
 with the early history of cotton manufacture in 
 Lancashire, both James Hargreaves and Crompton 
 died comparatively poor. Arkwright seems to have 
 profited by his invention. He amassed a great 
 fortune, and received the honour of knighthood. 
 
 In quite another sphere of industrial activity we 
 find the name of Henry Cort. He was born in 1740, 
 and to him is due the practical application and 
 complete development of the process of converting pig- 
 iron into bar or malleable iron. He also introduced 
 the process of puddling. Among British travellers 
 the name of Captain James King is familiar. He 
 was a Lancashire man, and was the companion of 
 Captain Cook on his last voyage. George Romney, 
 the artist, is another Lancastrian whose reputation 
 is national. Born in 1734, he attained to great 
 eminence in pictorial art, and Flaxman pronounced 
 him " the greatest of all British painters in poetic 
 dignity of conception." 
 
 John Dalton, the originator of the atomic theory, 
 was a native of Lancashire; and so was William 
 
 (43 )
 
 Roscoe, whose name will ever be venerated in Liver- 
 pool, and whose voluminous writings are a monument 
 to his self-acquired learning as well as to his intel- 
 lectual powers. Another famous Lancastrian was 
 Dr. Whewell, the author of the " History of the 
 Inductive Sciences," and of whose name it was 
 jocularly said that it was easier to whistle it than to 
 pronounce it. 
 
 And so the list runs on, revealing, as we glance 
 down it, many another name known to fame, not the 
 least noteworthy being those that have gained distinc- 
 tion in literature and intellectual pursuits. Thomas 
 de Quincey, the author of that fascinating work, "The 
 Confessions of an Opium-Eater," was of this latter 
 number. So was Mrs. Hemans, the poetess ; Barn- 
 ford, the weaver poet ; and Mrs. Gaskell, whose 
 novels display such a remarkable power of observa- 
 tion and such marked talent for the delineation of 
 character. Richard Cobden, the great advocate of 
 free trade, though born in Sussex, became associated 
 at an early age with the Manchester cotton trade, 
 and he occupied for a long time a house at the 
 lower end of Quay Street, Manchester, which became 
 the first habitation of the now extensive and famous 
 Owens 5 College. 
 
 Mention of this important academical institution 
 reminds us of the educational advantages conferred 
 upon Lancashire by the beneficence of certain Lan- 
 cashire men. All over the county instances may be 
 
 ( 44 )
 
 met with, and in Manchester and Liverpool they 
 are particularly numerous. The Owens' College is 
 especially noteworthy in the former city, and origi- 
 nated in consequence of the bequest of Mr. John 
 Owens, a Manchester merchant, who, dying in 1846, 
 left the residue of his property after paying legacies 
 and charitable bequests, to trustees for educational 
 purposes. The college was formerly opened in March, 
 1851, occupying the house till then tenanted by 
 Richard Cobden. At the present day the college is 
 suitably accommodated in a handsome and spacious 
 edifice which is one of the architectural ornaments of 
 the city. The late Sir James Whitworth, Bart., whose 
 fame in the engineering and mechanical world is 
 international, was a large benefactor to Owens' Col- 
 lege ; and the late Mrs. Abel Hey wood left ; 10,000 
 free of legacy duty to form an endowment, " the 
 income arising from such endowment to be applied 
 for the purposes of making proper provisions for the 
 instruction of women in the said college, in such 
 manner as the governors of the said college shall 
 think fit." 
 
 Another Lancashire worthy was the benevolent 
 founder of Chetham's hospital and library at Man- 
 chester, which institution has one of the oldest and 
 most interesting free libraries in England; and yet 
 another of the same liberal-minded and far-seeing 
 type was Hugh Oldham, who, as long ago as 1515, 
 founded the Manchester Grammar School, so justly 
 
 (45 )
 
 esteemed for its excellent record and high standing 
 in the scholastic world. It must not be forgotten 
 that Lancashire can claim the honour of being the 
 birthplace of one of the most distinguished politicians 
 and men of letters of the century, the Right Hon. 
 W. E. Gladstone, who was born in Liverpool on 
 December 2 gth, 1809; and in the pages which here 
 follow we shall have opportunity of mentioning the 
 names of many other living Lancashire men who 
 are maintaining the traditions of the county in 
 enterprise, intellectual advancement and public spirit.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 MANCHESTER. 
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ENERALLY speaking, it may be remarked 
 of cities, as it has been of men, that 
 " some are born great, some achieve 
 greatness, and some have greatness 
 thrust upon them." Numerous instances 
 in point might be cited from ancient and 
 modern history in all parts of the world, 
 but our own country, especially in recent times, 
 has been peculiarly productive of towns and cities 
 pertaining to the second of these three classes 
 communities of men that have achieved great- 
 ness by the sheer force of their innate energies 
 and resources. Manchester has very strong claims 
 to be regarded as one of the brightest examples of 
 what may be accomplished in this direction. The 
 powers of enterprise and progress so strikingly 
 manifested at all times by the people of Lancashire 
 present an epitome of their results in the great civic 
 individuality of Manchester, where some of the 
 county's mightiest industrial forces are focussed, and 
 
 (47 )
 
 where the trade created by those forces finds a centre 
 from which its ramifications may be extended to 
 every quarter of the globe. This process of commer- 
 cial expansion has recently been enormously facili- 
 tated by an achievement of which not Manchester 
 alone, but the whole nation, is justly proud. Time 
 was when Manchester realised every ideal of a purely 
 industrial city, using the word " industrial " as 
 making a distinction from " commercial." Its huge 
 factories, its smoke-laden atmosphere, its turbid 
 river, its army of toiling artisans, all proclaimed the 
 extent to which the city and its people were involved 
 in labours of production. These conditions still 
 obtain, but they have been amplified, and the domain 
 of Manchester's activity has been enlarged. The 
 factories are still there, the " incense of industry " 
 still floats in clouds above the tops of countless 
 towering chimneys, the throngs of busy workers are 
 more numerous than ever, and the whirr of gearing 
 and the hum of machinery resounds in a hundred 
 streets, whence emanate a thousand different wares 
 for the use and benefit of the peoples of the earth. 
 But there is now something more than all this. A 
 new element has come into the city's life, and though 
 we are many miles from the " sounding sea," we 
 meet in the street bronzed and weather-beaten sailors, 
 we hear people talk of docks and shipping, and anon 
 we find ourselves face to face with the great fact that 
 Manchester is no longer dependent upon the " iron
 
 THE MANCHESTER TOWN HALL.
 
 horse " for her communication with the ocean. Of all 
 the greatness she has achieved in the long course of 
 her history there is none greater than this that she 
 has made herself a pathway to the sea, and established 
 for herself a direct intercourse with the markets of 
 other lands by which the whole of her vast commerce, 
 present and prospective, is placed entirely under her 
 own control. 
 
 Independence, then, as typified by the Ship Canal, 
 is the keynote of the new era in Manchester, the 
 watchword of that larger life in which she will figure 
 not alone as a producer but also as a universal dis- 
 tributor no longer looking to the good offices of 
 intermediary ports in her dealings with the great 
 world beyond the seas, but conducting her business 
 in proprid persona with every market in which there is 
 demand for her productions. Manchester, as a sea- 
 port, places an entirely new face upon the trade of a 
 very large area of Lancashire, and the facilities she 
 now affords for the cheaper transport of cotton (to say 
 nothing of many other materials hardly less impor- 
 tant) will extend the benefits of her enterprise to 
 many other manufacturing centres that have already 
 derived a large measure of ad vantage from the market 
 conveniences she has always provided. Indeed, there 
 is hardly any limit to the possibilities foreshadowed 
 by the auspicious completion and inauguration of the 
 Manchester Ship Canal. It opens up a new outlet 
 for many inland industries, and a new inlet for many 
 
 ( so)
 
 foreign products ; and, properly worked, as it is sure 
 to be, it should prove a factor of the very highest 
 potency in promoting the expansion of every branch 
 of commercial activity in northern and north-western 
 England. We have dealt especially upon this great 
 waterway and its capabilities for the reason that it 
 has become the dominant agent of progress in 
 Manchester, and one of the busiest districts of the 
 Kingdom, and also because it is a magnificent testi- 
 mony to the spirited energy and mercantile instincts 
 of the Lancastrian people. Her Majesty the Queen, 
 when she graciously honoured this gigantic achieve- 
 ment by her presence at the inaugural ceremony, was 
 pleased to say that she recognised in the Ship Canal 
 a "further evidence of the unceasing energy and 
 enterprise of her subjects " ; and all who have 
 acquainted themselves with the nature of the work, 
 and with the importance of the issues dependent upon 
 it, must surely feel a sincere admiration for the 
 courage that could conceive and support so tremen- 
 dous an undertaking, and for the skill and persever- 
 ance that have carried it to a happy completion. 
 Lancashire in general, and Manchester in particular, 
 teem with evidences of the power of hard work and 
 fixity of purpose ; and the Manchester Ship Canal, 
 the glory of the city and the county alike, bear 
 witness to the fact that these two attributes are as 
 actively existent in the Lancashiremen of to-day as 
 they were in their staunch and thrifty forefathers. 
 
 (Si )
 
 There is no necessity to go farther than the Ship 
 Canal for proofs of what Manchester men are able to 
 accomplish. It is recorded that when the Ship Canal 
 was on the point of completion, a resident in this city, 
 commenting upon the approaching triumph of his 
 fellow-citizens' enterprise, said : " What Manchester 
 means, Manchester will do." This seems to us to 
 sum up the whole character of the Lancashire Indus- 
 trial Metropolis in six words, and there we may well 
 be content to leave the matter, knowing from past 
 experience that what Manchester " means " will be 
 for the good of the nation, as far as the intelligent 
 promotion of commerce and the useful arts can con- 
 tribute thereto. 
 
 Some account has already been given in these 
 pages of the inception of the Manchester Ship Canal, 
 and of the circumstances under which the work of 
 construction was undertaken and proceeded with. 
 Now that the six years of labour (from the cutting of 
 the first sod in November, 1887, to the completion of 
 the entire work at the close of 1893) have borne their 
 full fruit, it will not be out of place to here record the 
 successful accomplishment of this gigantic piece of 
 engineering, and the realisation of many of the hopes 
 and expectations centred in the project of connecting 
 Manchester with the sea. The actual completion of 
 the Ship Canal may be said to coincide with the date 
 of the opening of the great waterway for traffic on 
 Monday, January ist, 1894. On that day, amid much 
 
 ( 52 )
 
 enthusiasm on the part of the people of Manchester, 
 and of the region through which the Canal takes its 
 course, the Directors of the Ship Canal Company, 
 with the Corporations of Manchester and Salford, and 
 several other public bodies, made a sort of triumphal 
 progress from Latchford Locks to Manchester, a 
 distance of about twelve miles ; and the presence of 
 many thousands of spectators from far and near 
 lining the banks all along the route, testified to the in- 
 tensity of the popular interest taken in this proceeding. 
 As the event was, in some measure, an historical 
 one, it may be well to note particularly a few of 
 its details. The procession through the Canal was 
 headed by the Norseman, the fine yacht of Mr. S. R. 
 Platt, a member of the board, bearing the Directors 
 of the Company. Following came the Snowdrop,vf\t\\. 
 the members of the Manchester Corporation, and in 
 her wake the large steamer Crocus conveyed many 
 of the relations and friends of that great civic body, 
 which had so liberally and courageously come to the 
 assistance of the Ship Canal in time of need. The 
 Great Britain was next in order, having the Salford 
 Corporation on board ; and after this came other 
 boats bearing the Warrington Town Council, the 
 members of the Manchester Conservative Club, the 
 Manchester Arts Club, and other institutions. A 
 press correspondent describes the scene as a pretty 
 and imposing one, the vessels steaming along, gaily 
 decked with bunting of many bright colours. Alto- 
 
 (53 ) E
 
 gether about twenty vessels joined in the procession 
 and as the day was gloriously fine there was nothing 
 to detract from the complete success of this interest- 
 ing and official function. Deafening cheers from 
 multitudes of people on the quays and docks at 
 Pomona and Salford greeted the arrival of the leading 
 steamers, and well might they cheer, for on that day 
 Manchester became a seaport for all practical purposes, 
 and the aspirations of years were fulfilled. Note- 
 worthy was the fact that vessels bearing all kinds of 
 merchandise followed in the train of the official pro- 
 cession, the stream of traffic being kept up until a 
 late hour in the evening ; and the future maritime 
 relations of Manchester and Salford with the great 
 outer world were foreshadowed in the arrival of the 
 Lamprey from Glasgow, with a general cargo ; of the 
 Bittern from Antwerp ; and of several vessels from 
 London and the Continent generally. Everybody 
 knows that prodigies of labour and marvels of 
 engineering skill attended the construction of this, 
 our greatest canal ; but the actual " facts and 
 figures " which so strikingly illustrate the stupendous 
 character may not be quite so generally familiar. 
 Here are a few. While the work of construction was 
 in progress there were sometimes as many as sixteen 
 thousand men employed, the average number engaged 
 throughout being about ten thousand. But if the 
 entire labour of excavation had been dependent upon 
 the efforts of these workers with pick and shovel, 
 
 (54)
 
 most of us would have been " very old ghosts " 
 indeed (as Dr. Wendell Holmes once said) ere the 
 Manchester Ship Canal became an accomplished fact. 
 The marvel of marvels in this huge undertaking was 
 the work performed by the " steam navvies " and 
 " excavators," of which ponderous engines no fewer 
 than one hundred were in operation along the route. 
 Each of these mighty machines (it is said on the 
 authority of Lord Egerton of Tatton) was capable 
 of doing the work of two thousand men. Obviously, 
 therefore, the labour of two hundred thousand men 
 was represented in this way alone. Only a limited 
 number of horses were at work at any time upon 
 the Canal, but an enormous horse-power was repre- 
 sented in the 176 locomotives, 194 steam cranes, 209 
 steam pumps, and 200 other steam engines almost 
 constantly kept at work for various purposes ; and 
 from first to last something like 725,000 tons of coal 
 were consumed in feeding the furnaces of these 
 different types of motors and mechanical agents. It 
 is estimated that the total quantity of earth and rock 
 displaced by the excavation was over fifty million 
 cubic yards, or about seventy million tons; and 
 statisticians have computed that this vast bulk of 
 material would form some sixteen monuments of the 
 size of the Great Pyramid, and would load a hundred 
 and fifty millions of wheelbarrows, which, placed end 
 to end, would encircle the earth about eight times. 
 From the fact that seventy millions of bricks were 
 
 (55 )
 
 used in the brickwork of the Canal, it has been 
 " figured " that these would build houses for three 
 thousand families, or make a wall six feet high for a 
 distance of 452 miles. What should we do without 
 statisticians ? Their labours may be " dry," but how 
 forcibly they illustrate truths that might otherwise 
 remain incomprehensible. 
 
 A rapid run through the Manchester Ship Canal, 
 from Eastham to the terminus at " Cottonopolis," may 
 serve to further indicate the importance of this re- 
 markable work. The once quiet little village ot 
 Eastham, with its ancient church and its pleasure 
 gardens, beloved of Liverpudlian excursionists, has 
 been vigorously roused from its lethargy by the 
 advent of Manchester's highway to the sea. It owes 
 this awakening to its position, which was found to be 
 suitable for the first locks on the great Canal. Enter- 
 ing here from the broad Mersey, we find that three 
 massive locks have been constructed, respectively 
 600 feet by 80 feet, 350 feet by 50 feet, and 150 feet 
 by 30 feet, besides two sluices, to help the filling 
 of the Canal. These three entrances to the Canal are 
 so contrived that vessels can be admitted at almost 
 any state of the tide. The wonderful -hydraulic ma- 
 chinery, supplied by Messrs. Armstrong, enables the 
 ponderous lock-gates to be swung open with the 
 utmost ease. Passing on, we come to Ellesmere 
 Port, three miles up from Eastham, where the Shrop- 
 shire Union Railway has its terminus, and the Canal 
 
 (56)
 
 connects with the London and North-Western system. 
 Here there is ample wharfage, a pontoon, and a ship- 
 repairing yard ; and here, too, we note the first tidal 
 opening to the sand flats of the Mersey, with a re- 
 markable weir-like structure, of vast extent, in which 
 thousands of timber piles have been driven. Another 
 engineering feat is the carrying of the little river 
 Gowie under the Canal by means of syphons one of 
 the many instances in which the constructors of 
 the great waterway have triumphed over natural 
 obstacles without appreciably disturbing the existing 
 order of things. For the next six miles or so the 
 Mersey skirts the Canal, with only a narrow strip of 
 land between, and then we come to a " new town," 
 something rarely seen in this old-established land of 
 ours. This is Saltport, appropriately named, for it is 
 the outlet of the Cheshire salt trade. Saltport is built 
 upon the marshes at the junction of the Ship Canal 
 with the River Weaver, and here also are the Weston 
 and the Runcorn and Weston Canals. A side-lock 
 at Weston Marsh enables vessels of considerable size 
 to proceed up to Nantwich. There are excellent 
 wharves and jetties at Saltport, and many ships of 
 large tonnage discharged cargoes here before the 
 Canal was completed at Manchester. Within the 
 next few miles, communication is effected with the 
 Shropshire Canal and the Bridgewater Canal, which 
 means, among other important commercial advan- 
 tages, that the Staffordshire potteries now have a
 
 THE MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL: UNDER THE RUNCORN VIADUCT.
 
 direct sea and canal route for the reception of Cornish 
 stone and clay, the two principal materials of the 
 ceramic industries of Stoke, Hanley, Longton, etc. 
 The noble viaduct of the London and North-Western 
 Railway at Runcorn is one of the " sights " en route, 
 and a little higher up, the Mersey begins to turn 
 off towards Warrington, having apparently " had 
 enough " of the society of its great rival. We next 
 notice the first of the several swing-bridges, by which 
 certain high roads are carried across the Canal. 
 These huge and weighty structures work with aston- 
 ishing ease another proof of the efficacy of Messrs. 
 Armstrong's hydraulic machinery. The last of the 
 Mersey tidal openings is soon passed, and we go 
 on towards Latchford. At the Vyrnwy Subway the 
 Liverpool water supply is carried elliptically under 
 the Canal. At Moore Lane we pass the second 
 swing bridge, and three others come in succession, as 
 well as the High Level Cantilever Bridge and several 
 viaducts, before we come to Latchford Locks. These 
 are the first locks above Eastham, from which they 
 are 21 miles distant. Their measurements are 600 
 feet by 65 feet, and 350 feet by 45 feet, the rise being 
 1 6| feet. On past Warburton and the viaduct of the 
 Cheshire Lines, from Warrington to Stockport, and 
 our next point of note is Partington, where the 
 arrangements for coal shipping are upon a very com- 
 plete scale. The basin has an area of about five 
 acres, and there are most extensive quays, with every 
 
 ( 60 )
 
 facility for loading. Presently we reach another 
 viaduct of the Cheshire Lines (Manchester and Liver- 
 pool route) ; and then in succession come Irlam 
 Locks, 28 miles from Eastham and 7 miles from 
 Manchester, with a rise of 16 feet; and Barton Locks, 
 two miles nearer Manchester, with a rise of 15 feet. 
 At Irlam, the Mersey and the Irwell meet. At Barton 
 the most remarkable contrivance on the whole Canal 
 comes before our notice, for here, by means of the 
 Barton Aqueduct, the Bridgewater Canal is carried 
 bodily over the Ship Canal, without disturbing the 
 operation of the latter, and with only a momentary 
 interruption of the course of the former. The plan 
 adopted is as bold as it is successful. When it 
 becomes necessary for a vessel to pass in the Ship 
 Canal, the pendent portion of the Bridgewater Canal 
 is simply shut up in a colossal sort of tank, and is 
 then swung easily upon a pivot until its transverse 
 position is changed into a parallel one. Then it is 
 swung back again, and traffic proceeds on the Bridge- 
 water Canal until the manoeuvre has to be repeated. 
 Nothing could speak more plainly for the resolution 
 of the Ship Canal authorities to carry their great 
 work through in the face of all difficulties, or for the 
 ingenuity they have displayed in the attainment of 
 their object. 
 
 The " beginning of the end " is reached at Mode 
 Wheel Locks, 33 \ miles from Eastham, for at this 
 point the extensive system of docks for Salford and 
 
 ( 62 )
 
 Manchester practically commences. The Salford 
 Docks have no less than 71 acres of water and 129 
 acres of quay space, the length of quays amounting 
 to 3f miles. Here, indeed, is a "harbour" calculated 
 to astonish the visitor ; but this is not all, for we have 
 yet to reach the docks of Manchester itself, where 
 there are 33 acres of water and 23 acres of quay 
 space, the length of quays being if miles. Both 
 at Salford and Manchester Docks there are several 
 navigable arms, and Ordsall Dock occupies a con- 
 siderable space by itself. The plan of the entire 
 docks is excellent, having been carefully thought out 
 with a view to affording the utmost possible con- 
 venience to each class of trade. All these arrange- 
 ments are now beginning to justify themselves, and 
 already the " argosies of commerce," which once 
 stayed their course at Liverpool, have become a 
 familiar spectacle to the people of the "cotton 
 capital." The completion of the Ship Canal is cer- 
 tainly a high honour to the City of Manchester and 
 the Borough of Salford, and we venture to think 
 that most people will agree with us in saying that 
 by the energy and determination with which this 
 gigantic enterprise has been carried out honour has 
 been done and renown added to the entire nation. 
 The individual names associated with the great work 
 are now too well known to need recapitulation. 
 Some of the most prominent men of Manchester and 
 Salford have actively interested themselves in the 
 
 (6 4 )
 
 project from the first, and have done their part to 
 secure its furtherance at every stage of its by no 
 means uneventful history. Surely nothing less than 
 Lancastrian perseverance and Lancastrian " pluck " 
 could have achieved such a triumph over tremendous 
 obstacles as this thirty-five miles of waterway 
 undoubtedly is. Lord Egerton of Tatton, the Chair- 
 man of the Board of Directors, has taken a deep and 
 active interest in the whole undertaking, loyally 
 supported by his colleagues, and by many local men 
 whom to name would be superfluous ; and Mr. E. 
 Leader Williams, the talented engineer of the Canal, 
 has assuredly left us no room or reason for comment 
 upon his share of the work, since the Canal itself 
 and its thousand and one interesting details form a 
 noble monument to his genius and ability. 
 
 As to what the Canal will accomplish for Man- 
 chester and a large part of Lancashire now that it is 
 actually in working order that is a matter which it 
 would be idle to discuss here. Time will show us 
 this, as well as many other things, and it is enough 
 for the present to say that the expressed opinions of 
 many experienced and far-seeing business men in 
 all departments of commercial enterprise encourage 
 lively hopes of ultimate success. Indeed, the Canal 
 can hardly fail to bring anything but large benefit to 
 the industries and trades of this district, if only on 
 account of the marked saving it effects in the cost of 
 transporting goods, as compared with the old system. 
 
 (66)
 
 Thus cotton now comes at 75. per ton freight, instead 
 of 135. 8d. as formerly via Liverpool, and there are 
 similarly striking reductions in connection with all 
 other important commodities. Manifest advantages 
 will accrue to many notable industrial concerns not 
 only along the route of the Canal and in the vicinity 
 of Manchester, but also at more distant points, which 
 now have a new and improved means of communica- 
 tion with the ocean ; and not the least noteworthy 
 item in the varied train of results that must un- 
 doubtedly follow the opening of the Ship Canal is the 
 great increase to be looked for in the population of 
 Manchester itself, where many new commercial and 
 manufacturing interests are certain to develop them- 
 selves, side by side with those already existing. It 
 will perhaps be interesting to state that the first 
 cargo of cotton to come direct to Manchester by 
 steamer, arrived on January i5th, 1894, by the 
 steamer Finsbury (1,909 tons register), which brought 
 4,170 bales, or 1,000 tons of cotton. The first cargo 
 of cattle brought via, the Ship Canal arrived from 
 Belfast on January 8th, 1894, the incident causing a 
 great amount of interest. 
 
 It now only remains to chronicle the crowning 
 event in the early history of the Manchester Ship 
 Canal an event long to be remembered with grati- 
 fication by all concerned in the enterprise itself, as 
 well as by the people of Lancashire in general. We 
 refer, of course, to the formal opening of the great 
 
 (68)
 
 waterway on May 2ist, 1894, when Her Majesty the 
 Queen was graciously pleased to honour this achieve- 
 ment of her loyal northern subjects by performing 
 the inaugural ceremony in person. Twice before the 
 Queen had visited Manchester, and on this her third 
 journey to the busy Lancastrian metropolis, she must 
 have noticed many evidences of the progress that has 
 been made in the city since Her Majesty's second 
 visit in 1857. On the arrival of the royal train at 
 London Road Station, the Lord Mayor of Manchester 
 (now Sir Anthony Marshall), with the Town Clerk, 
 the Reception Committee, the Lord Lieutenant, the 
 High Sheriff, and the General Officer in Command, 
 received Her Majesty on the platform, and the Lord 
 Mayor was presented to the Queen by Earl Spencer, 
 the Minister in attendance. In the streets a most 
 enthusiastic reception was accorded to the Sovereign 
 by the vast multitudes assembled from all parts of 
 the country, and, it may truly be said, from nearly 
 every quarter of the kingdom. Her Majesty received 
 loyal addresses of welcome from the Corporation and 
 from Owens' College, to which she returned gracious 
 replies. 
 
 Proceeding then to the scene of the day's function 
 at Trafford Wharf, the Queen was received in the 
 Royal Pavilion by Lord Egerton of Tatton (Chair- 
 man of the Ship Canal Company), and by the other 
 Directors and principal officers, the Chairman being 
 presented in due form by Earl Spencer. Her Majesty 
 
 (6 9 ) F
 
 then went on board the Admiralty yacht Enchantress, 
 in which she was to go to Mode Wheel for the per- 
 formance of the opening ceremony. The Chairman 
 of the Company, Lord Egerton, thereupon presented 
 the following address : " The work which your 
 Majesty is graciously pleased to inaugurate is one 
 of supreme importance not only to the great com- 
 mercial and manufacturing district of which Man- 
 chester is the centre, but to the nation, providing as 
 it does direct communication with all parts of the 
 world. The Manchester Ship Canal follows as nearly 
 as possible the ancient river boundary between your 
 Majesty's Duchy of Lancaster and the County of 
 Chester for a distance of 355 miles; its construction 
 has occupied a period of seven years, and it may 
 claim to rank as one of the greatest engineering 
 achievements of your Majesty's beneficent and pros- 
 perous reign. We rejoice to think that your Majesty's 
 reign has been coincident with the greatest extension 
 of scientific knowledge, expansion of commerce, and 
 development of the peaceful arts of which the world 
 holds record ; and we believe that this great work 
 will bring into closer commercial union the whole of 
 your Majesty's vast empire. We earnestly trust that 
 the future of this important enterprise may prove 
 to be worthy of the high distinction which your 
 Majesty's gracious presence has conferred upon it, 
 and that it may further promote the prosperity of 
 your Majesty's loyal subjects at home and abroad." 
 
 ( 70)
 
 The following reply was returned on behalf of the 
 Queen : " It is with great pleasure that I receive your 
 address and am able to be present at the opening of 
 the Manchester Ship Canal. I recognise in this great 
 and most important undertaking, and the admirable 
 engineering skill with which it has been constructed, 
 further evidence of the unceasing energy and enter- 
 prise of my subjects. I trust that the increased 
 facilities to be afforded by it for direct commercial 
 intercourse by sea with the trade of the world will 
 not fail to be of the greatest advantage to the busy 
 and industrial population of Manchester and the 
 neighbouring district, and I earnestly pray that, by 
 God's blessing, this work may contribute to the well- 
 being and happiness of all classes of my subjects in 
 the United Kingdom." 
 
 The Directors having been presented to Her 
 Majesty by Lord Egerton, Lord Carrington (the 
 Lord Chamberlain) summoned into the Royal pre- 
 sence the Lord Mayor of Manchester (Mr. Anthony 
 Marshall), and the Queen conferred upon him the 
 honour of Knighthood, a similar honour being sub- 
 sequently bestowed upon Mr. Alderman Bailey, the 
 Mayor of Salford. The Queen then proceeded in the 
 Enchantress to Mode Wheel, and, pressing a button 
 by which the hydraulic machinery opening the lock 
 gates was set in motion, said : " I have now great 
 pleasure in declaring the Manchester Ship Canal 
 open," whereupon a rocket signal was discharged, a
 
 salute of twenty-one guns was fired, and the ringing 
 cheers of the spectators proclaimed the accomplish- 
 ment of the gracious act by which the Sovereign of 
 England bestowed her Royal sanction upon an enter- 
 prise worthy of the great nation over which she rules. 
 Thus, with all the pomp and ceremonial of regal and 
 civic dignity, was inaugurated that mission of useful- 
 ness which the Manchester Ship Canal is designed to 
 fulfil. Its destinies are in good keeping, and it may 
 be confidently expected that the energy and ability, 
 the tenacity of purpose and businesslike vigour, 
 which have brought this remarkable waterway into 
 actual existence, will be so combined in the further 
 administration of its affairs as to secure to the people 
 of Lancashire and the kingdom generally the fullest 
 measure of benefit obtainable from its operation. 
 
 As to the city itself, every black spot and unsavoury 
 region within the municipal boundaries is being 
 rapidly purified and beautified. No people in Eng- 
 land are more ready to display a really generous 
 liberality in all matters concerning the condition of 
 their town than those of Manchester, and this is 
 amply proven by the internal aspect of the city, with 
 its well-kept streets and its stately public buildings 
 and commercial edifices. Manchester, at the same 
 time, is a city of paradoxes. It is at once the newest 
 and the oldest of English towns ; it is the centre of a 
 vast manufacturing district, and yet is not itself, 
 strictly speaking, a manufacturing town ; it is one of 
 
 ( 72 )
 
 the plainest, and at the same time one of the hand- 
 somest, cities in the kingdom ; it unites within itself 
 the acme of wealth and the depth of poverty ; it is a 
 cathedral city, yet a stronghold of Nonconformity ; it 
 has an enormous Roman Catholic population, but is 
 one of the most Protestant communities in England ; 
 and, finally, it has in proportion to its population 
 probably more teetotallers than any other British 
 town, and yet a vast quantity of strong liquor is con- 
 sumed within its limits. The wonders of Manchester 
 are inexhaustible, and the city stands as a mighty 
 monument to the vigour and energy of its people. 
 
 In his preface to " The Manchester Rebels of the 
 Fatal '45," the late Mr. W. Harrison Ainsworth 
 wrote : " Little of the old town is now left. The 
 lover of antiquity if any such should visit Man- 
 chester will search in vain for those black-and-white 
 timber habitations, with pointed gables and latticed 
 windows, that were common enough seventy years 
 ago. Entire streets embellished by such houses have 
 been swept away by the course of modern improve- 
 ments, but I recollect them well." At the same time 
 within the city of Manchester the number of factories 
 is yearly decreasing. There is still a forest of chim- 
 neys, and the atmosphere contains a full allowance 
 of smoke, but the fuliginous pall which overhangs 
 the place is an indispensable accompaniment of every 
 great and populous city, and does not now signify, 
 as it once did, the existence of a host of manufac- 
 
 (73)
 
 tories in the very heart of the town itself. The Cor- 
 poration of Manchester (whose administration of 
 local affairs is deserving of the highest commenda- 
 tion) have expended very large sums of money in 
 beautifying and improving the city, while private 
 enterprise and the public spirit of the inhabitants 
 have done almost, if not quite, as much in the same 
 direction. The change thus wrought within the last 
 thirty years has been something magical. In the 
 " sixties " the well-known Deansgate was little more 
 than a narrow, dirty lane, not at all prepossessing, 
 imposing, or attractive. To-day Deansgate is one of 
 the handsomest thoroughfares in England. The old 
 Town Hall has been replaced by a structure which is 
 hardly surpassed in beauty and majesty among the 
 municipal buildings of Europe. Manchester also 
 boasts Assize Courts and Police Courts such as are to 
 be found nowhere else in the country ; and the new 
 Royal Exchange ranks with the grandest and most 
 imposing edifices of its kind in England. 
 
 Manchester and Salford are, as we have said, 
 usually spoken of as one town, and this is justified by 
 the fact that they are connected by ties of the most 
 intimate kind. Each has its Mayor and Corporation, 
 its separate local administration, its own local rating, 
 and its own way of managing its affairs ; yet the 
 leading men in the two places are identical. The 
 manufacturer who has his mills or his works of any 
 kind in Salford has his offices in Manchester, and 
 
 ( 74)
 
 transacts his business on the Manchester Exchange. 
 Salford is, in fact, mainly the working-class suburb 
 of " Cottonopolis," and fulfils towards it much the 
 same function as that of Southwark to London. It 
 is also the seat of a Roman Catholic bishopric. 
 Between the two towns flows the turbid stream of the 
 river Irwell, once a very beautiful river, but now any- 
 thing but attractive owing to the prosaic and matter- 
 of-fact nature of its surroundings. On the high 
 ground above the Irwell stands the cathedral of Man- 
 chester, the " Old Church," as it is still familiarly 
 termed. The foundation of this fane is a very ancient 
 one, and it was made a collegiate church as far back 
 as 1422. Soon after 1830 the old collegiate founda- 
 tion, governed by a warden, was abolished, and the 
 Deanery was established, the first occupant of the 
 decanal stall under this new constitution being the 
 Hon. and Very Rev. W. Herbert. In 1847 the 
 bishopric was created, and the first bishop of Man- 
 chester was Dr. Prince-Lee. His successor, the late 
 Dr. Fraser, was a man of high scholarly attainments, 
 and was greatly beloved in the diocese. The present 
 bishop is the Right Rev. James Moorhouse, D.D., 
 and the dean is the Very Rev. Edward Craig Mac- 
 lure, D.D. The cathedral in its present form dates 
 only from a comparatively recent period and, except 
 a portion of the walls, there is very little left of the 
 edifice as it stood in the days of Henry VII. The 
 beautiful tower, which is an almost exact reproduc- 
 
 ( 76)
 
 tion of the old one, but in better material, is new from 
 foundation to pinnacles. New mullions have been put 
 in the windows, many of which have been refilled 
 with stained glass. New choir stalls have been 
 erected, a new reredos has been set up, and a large 
 amount of tasteful and ornamental work well carried 
 out. Altogether something like , 60,000 has been 
 expended on the restoration and beautifying of the 
 " Old Church," including the new tower, which was 
 completed in 1868. Of this large sum at least ,23,000 
 has been laid out within the last few years, and the 
 results have been highly satisfactory, the cathedral 
 being now in a condition worthy of so great and 
 wealthy a diocese, though it must be said that a still 
 larger and more magnificent edifice would accord 
 better with the status and position of modern Man- 
 chester. 
 
 Of the Assize Courts it may truly be said that they 
 are not surpassed in the kingdom for comfort, com- 
 modiousness, and excellent arrangement. Certainly, 
 in no other courts that we have seen is there such 
 ample provision for the accommodation of the public, 
 as well as for the convenience of all persons having 
 business to transact. The building consists of a 
 centre, with two wings, and is externally about 250 
 feet long by 1 50 feet deep. The architectural effect 
 is greatly enhanced by the wise liberality of the Cor- 
 poration, who have left an open space of more than 
 TOO feet in depth in front of the building. 
 
 ( 78 )
 
 The Town Hall is one of the most superb struc- 
 tures for the transaction of municipal business to be 
 met with in any part of the world, and was built to 
 replace the somewhat confined and inconvenient 
 buildings in King Street. It was opened in 1876, 
 and represents one of the noblest results of the policy 
 of improvement so long and so effectively pursued by 
 the modern " city fathers." 
 
 80
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER 
 
 AND 
 
 DEVELOPMENr OF COTTON INDUSTRY 
 
 DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 jfpQRING the nineteenth century, the manifold 
 T developments in the methods of production, 
 the means of distribution, and the facilities 
 ,p for intercommunication, have been so numerous 
 
 v" 
 
 : as to prevent the possibility of a further descrip- 
 tion than a brief summary of the influences 
 which, during the nine decades of this century, have 
 combined to make Manchester the next community 
 in rank to London in its metropolitan qualifications 
 Among these influences were the interesting labours 
 of Richard Trevethick, John Blenkinsop, William 
 Hedley, and Timothy Hackworth, which, with the 
 great triumph of George Stephenson the construc- 
 tion of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway 
 initiated an era of unexampled progress, which has 
 extended over a period exceeding half a century. 
 
 ( 82 )
 
 Simultaneously with the efforts of the persistent 
 and ingenious minds which had so vastly improved 
 methods of production and distribution, enlightened 
 statesmen had devoted their energies to the deletion 
 from our statutes of some of the impolitic restrictions 
 which had seriously hampered the legitimate progress 
 of industrial development. These legislative reforms 
 have greatly contributed to the expansion of our 
 world-wide commerce. Every agency which lessens 
 the difficulties opposed to the intercommunication of 
 mankind helps by so much the general progress of 
 the human race. In the enormous development of 
 the interests of this country generally, and of Man- 
 chester interests particularly, the varied applications 
 of the electric telegraph, and the postal reforms 
 initiated by Sir Rowland Hill, have contributed in 
 an immeasurable degree. The combined operation 
 of mechanical improvements, the inception of ocean 
 steam navigation, scientific research, moral reforms, 
 and improved means of internal communication, have 
 each played a material part in the developments 
 which have made Manchester the greatest workshop 
 of the world, and the commercial metropolis of a 
 population as great as that of Holland and Belgium 
 combined, inhabiting a considerably less area than 
 those countries taken together. No better register 
 of the growth of Manchester can be found than the 
 following figures exhibiting the increase of the com- 
 merce of Liverpool, which is simply a reflex of the 
 
 (83)
 
 prosperity of the great industrial area of which 
 Manchester is the commercial emporium. 
 
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIVERPOOL COMMERCE. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Number 
 of 
 vessels.' 
 
 Aggregate 
 tonnage 
 of vessels. 
 
 Mean 
 tonnage. 
 
 Dock rates 
 and 
 town dues. 
 
 1801 .. 
 
 5,060 
 
 459,719 
 
 .. 9 8 -. 
 
 ,28,365 
 
 1811 .. 
 
 5,616 
 
 611,190 
 
 JO9 
 
 54.752 
 
 1821 .. 
 
 7,810 
 
 . 839,848 
 
 .. H3 
 
 94.556 
 
 1831 .. 
 
 12,537 
 
 .. I,592,43 6 
 
 .. 12- .. 
 
 I 8 3.455 
 
 1841 .. 
 
 16,108 
 
 .. 2,425,461 
 
 .. 150 .. 
 
 1/5.506 
 
 18 5 I .. 
 
 21,071 
 
 .. 3,737,666 
 
 .. 177 .. 
 
 246,686 
 
 1861 .. 
 
 21,095 
 
 - 4,977,272 
 
 . . 236 . . 
 
 611,006 
 
 1871 .. 
 
 20,121 
 
 .. 6,131,745 
 
 . 305 
 
 789,031 
 
 1881 .. 
 
 20,249 
 
 . . 7,893.948 
 
 . . 390 . . 
 
 966,281 
 
 1889 .. 22,662 .. 9,291,964 .. 410 .. 990,552* 
 
 The Customs tonnage returns for the year i 
 are inward, 8,586,381 tons; outward, 8,307,442 tons; 
 total, 16,893,823 tons ; number of vessels entered and 
 clearing, 43,443. The weight of the traffic carried 
 would amount to 20,000,000 tons approximately. 
 
 The expansion of Manchester during the sixty 
 years of the railway era, which had its inception in a 
 practicable sense by the opening of the first Liverpool 
 and Manchester railway, on September i5th, 1830, 
 has been truly remarkable. This is evidenced by the 
 subjoined figures, giving the accretion of population 
 
 * The small increase in the amount of revenue, as compared with the 
 marked increase in the volume of tonnage, is referable to reductions in 
 the port charges made by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, these 
 reductions being mainly attributable to the moral influence of the Man- 
 chester Ship Canal having been made since the inception of the move- 
 ment in 1882. 
 
 (84)
 
 in the five poor-law districts of Manchester, Chorlton, 
 Salford, Barton, and Prestwich, which constitute in 
 the aggregate one homogeneous community. The 
 figures are taken from the census returns made for 
 the respective periods : 
 
 1831. 1851. 1871. 1891. 
 284,238 471,382 643,801 954,808 
 
 The progress of our nation in wealth and com- 
 mercial prosperity during the last fifty years is 
 marvellous. The population has increased by eleven 
 and a-half millions ; the imports of the country have 
 increased by ^ 300,000,000 ; the revenue has gone up 
 from 55,000,000 to ^ 90,000,000 ; and, as was proved 
 in the evidence of the Manchester Ship Canal ad- 
 vocates, the shipping has advanced from nine million 
 tons to more than sixty million tons. The postage 
 has made perhaps the most extraordinary leaps, 
 having now reached the prodigious figures : one 
 thousand five hundred million letters annually, five 
 thousand million newspapers and books, one thousand 
 eight hundred million post cards. The income of the 
 country has risen to over ^600,000,000, and is still 
 increasing, which in itself shows how greatly our 
 command of the comforts and conveniences of life has 
 increased. This is true as much, if not more, of the 
 labouring population as of the middle and higher 
 classes. The wider distribution of wealth, the cheap- 
 ness of food and clothing, better and more general 
 
 ( 85 ) o
 
 education, have all tended to bring within the reach of 
 every class comforts and enjoyments undreamed of 
 before ; increased longevity is one of the most marked 
 results, as may be seen from our insurance office 
 statistics. 
 
 Manchester has admittedly played its part in the 
 general progress. When the writer came to the town 
 in 1845, the population of Manchester was not more 
 than two hundred and fifty thousand, and that of 
 Salford about fifty thousand. In both boroughs the 
 growth has been remarkable, but especially in what 
 is now known as greater Manchester, which takes in 
 the population within a radius of four miles from the 
 Royal Exchange, which is mainly, one might almost 
 say entirely, dependent upon Manchester. The 
 population of this wider area is over eight hundred 
 thousand, and is constantly increasing. 
 
 About the time referred to (1845) Messrs. James 
 Brown, Son, and Co., were in Cannon Street ; Messrs. 
 S. and J. Watts and Co., in Fountain Street ; Messrs. 
 E. and J. Jackson, in Mosley Street, at the corner of 
 York Street, where the noble edifice belonging to the 
 Manchester and Salford Banking Company now 
 stands. At the opposite corner stood the old and 
 well-known linen house of Blackwell's. The latter 
 left the trade, but Messrs. Jackson occupied for some 
 "time the substantial building next to the Queen's 
 "Hotel, now in the occupation of the well-known firm 
 of Richardson, Tee, and Rycroft. Messrs. Kershaw, 
 
 ( 86 /)
 
 Lees, and Co., occupied the adjoining warehouse, having 
 removed from the building they had so long occupied 
 in High Street. Messrs. Barbour Bros., having built 
 their palatial warehouse in Aytoun Street, left their 
 old premises corner of Aytoun Street and Portland 
 Street, which Messrs. J. F. and H. Roberts purchased, 
 erecting on the site the substantial structure they 
 have since occupied. Within a short period of the 
 time we refer to, Portland Street had been occupied 
 very largely by a poor class of property. But shortly 
 after this date it rose in character almost at a bound, 
 and has become a great centre of the commercial 
 power of our city and has in it properties which would 
 be a credit to any town. 
 
 High Street is another thoroughfare which has 
 considerably improved, and, in addition to the three 
 piles of buildings occupied by Rylands and Sons, 
 Limited, it has in it other enterprising firms, and the 
 future of this street will be greater than the past. 
 
 Some large houses have continued to develop on 
 and around the ground they have for many years 
 occupied in Church Street. This street is still im- 
 proving in style of buildings, but there is room for 
 further progress in this direction. The writer hopes 
 to live to see the time when the whole length of the 
 street, from High Street to Ducie Street, will be 
 known as Church Street, and will be occupied by 
 strong concerns, which will do their share in the 
 further development of this vast centre for the distri- 
 
 ( 87 )
 
 bution of the varied and ever-increasing manufactures 
 of Lancashire and Yorkshire. 
 
 Another item is noteworthy, the change in our city 
 architecture generally being characterised by great 
 improvements. One would specially enumerate 
 among these the palatial Town Hall, the Assize 
 Courts, the Royal Exchange, the General Post Office 
 in Spring Gardens, which ranks next in the magni- 
 tude of its business to that of St. Martin's-le-Grand in 
 the metropolis, and includes in its function the postal 
 economy of over one hundred towns ; the Owens' 
 College, the seat of the Victoria University, the 
 Grammar School, the Exchange Station, the magnifi- 
 cent warehouses, and most recently numerous new 
 insurance and bank buildings. These all have done 
 much to elevate the character of the city, and impart 
 to it a picturesqueness which makes it attractive to 
 visitors from a distance, and a joy to those of us who 
 are proud to call ourselves citizens of Manchester. 
 The improvement in the Consolidated Bank Build- 
 ings, the erection of the new National Provincial 
 Bank in York Street, Manchester and County, Man- 
 chester Joint Stock, and the Lancashire and Yorkshire 
 Banks have added greatly to the architecture of King 
 Street, and indeed we might say of the city. 
 
 The story of the development of a great town is 
 always interesting and sometimes very remarkable. 
 Conversation with an old inhabitant frequently affords 
 both amusement and instruction. One is urged to
 
 reflect what circumstances have caused the current of 
 trade to flow in this or in that direction ; why the land 
 in one thoroughfare should be valued at 30 or 50 
 per yard, whilst in another street, which at a period 
 one can remember would have been considered by 
 many shrewd people as one of the best investments 
 for the future, it has actually gone down in value ; 
 why one side of a thoroughfare is so much more 
 valuable than the other, so that, in some instances, a 
 moderate shop worth ^300 on one side of the street 
 will be worth ^500 or more directly opposite. Or, 
 again, taking a given locality that is purely resi- 
 dential, but where by the increase of population a 
 necessity has arisen for shops, why does this or that 
 street take the preference apart altogether from any 
 desire or opinion of the landlord r It is interesting, 
 too, to notice how the extension of business premises 
 over a wider area diminishes the value of house 
 property up to a certain point, which we will call the 
 middle of the three zones in which the property of a 
 city is situate, so that houses formerly let at ^80 and 
 ^100 per annum fall in value till it becomes difficult 
 to let them at 30 or 40 ; but, in the course of fifteen 
 or twenty years, as the trade continues to grow, this 
 property rises again in value, being occupied for 
 manufacturing purposes or for sale-rooms, and so 
 recoups in large measure, if not fully, all past losses. 
 
 But citizens of our " no mean city " have grounds 
 for rejoicing in its prosperity not simply as regards
 
 its commercial importance, but also in its moral r 
 intellectual, and legal aspects. There is no need to 
 dwell upon the many philanthropic and kindly in- 
 fluences at work in our midst. The support given to 
 hospitals, to children's homes and refuges, and to 
 home and foreign missions, tells of many who are 
 striving each to fill the niche prepared for him in the 
 scheme of the world's uplifting. 
 
 The movement for the education of the people has 
 taken a deep hold of the sympathies of our citizens, 
 and our city has assumed a status in the educational 
 world second only to London and the ever-famous 
 centres, Oxford and Cambridge. Our own university 
 and colleges, schools of the higher grade for men and 
 women, together with our public and board schools, 
 are producing a change within all classes of society, 
 which will have a marked influence in all the varied 
 relations of our people. We have taken rank amongst 
 the largest cities in the empire as a publishing centre, 
 being exceeded in this particular only by Edinburgh 
 and London. 
 
 In medicine we stand high, and in the musical world 
 only London outshines us. 
 
 Our activity in legal matters will be touched upon 
 in a later chapter. 
 
 With reference to municipal administration, it needs 
 but little argument to enforce the truth of the state- 
 ment that economy is easier in a larger than in a 
 smaller town. With the administrative ability that a 
 
 ( 90)
 
 large corporation like Greater Manchester would fur- 
 nish, supplying gas, water, and public baths, and 
 maintaining streets, sewage, and police, under the 
 management of the various committees, saving would 
 be effected and advantages enjoyed which the writer 
 believes it impossible for minor local authorities to 
 secure. To those who are familiar with the manage- 
 ment of large concerns, it will be well known that a 
 manager with twenty assistants under him can, by 
 virtue of his developed capacity and extended ex- 
 perience, as easily direct forty as twenty men ; so, 
 too, in the collection of accounts, in the purchase of 
 land, the laying out of a new district in the neigh- 
 bourhood of new railways or a ship canal, arid in a 
 thousand and one ways, concentrated .action would be 
 both more, economical and more effective. The writer 
 has for a long time been an advocate of the amalga- 
 mation into' one municipality of the whole district 
 and population within, a four-mile radius from the 
 Man Chester Royal Exchange. All the people within 
 that radius practically depend upon the business 
 earnings of the city, and this is especially the case in. 
 the borough of Salford and the district .of Moss Side, 
 the two places which resolutely refuse to: join Man-: 
 Chester on grounds of economy. ~ j 
 
 (91)
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 MANCHESTER HOME-TRADE HOUSES. 
 
 HERE has been much discussion and corre- 
 spondence of late as to the wholesale home- 
 trader's prospects in Manchester. "An 
 exodus of merchant houses, such as was never 
 seen before," characterises the last few years in 
 the opinion of " Manchester Man," writing to the 
 Drapers' Record. He says, the effect of a walk round 
 the Infirmary is saddening: "To let," or "This ware- 
 house will be divided to suit tenants," meets the eye 
 at every turn. Another says, what is again and again 
 being reported, that " the old houses have ceased to 
 exist, and the trade is being absorbed by others." 
 And again, " the merchant must cease and only the 
 manufacturer remain ; all the old landmarks of the 
 town will be removed." The same facts are referred 
 to in an able letter to the Manchester City News 
 of November 3rd, 1888. The correspondent says: 
 " During late years an undue proportion of the whole- 
 sale home-trade houses, old and young firms, have 
 gone out of business or come to grief, and of those 
 existing now, a few only have increased their trade 
 
 (92 )
 
 considerably, . . . The change has been more of an 
 epidemic character than one of isolated cases of 
 disease. It has carried off old and young alike." In 
 three articles in the City News, of dates November 
 24th, December ist, and December 8th, 1888, the 
 same facts are re-stated : " That Manchester is 
 rapidly losing her supremacy as a distributing centre 
 will hardly be denied. The purchasing power of the 
 people has increased largely during the past thirty 
 years, but our home trade has certainly not increased 
 in the same ratio. On the contrary, appearances 
 indicate retrogression. Drapers from outlying dis- 
 tricts do not come to Manchester in the numbers or 
 with the frequency of former days. The fancy trade 
 is gravitating to London, and, unfortunately for us, 
 the heavy trade appears likely to follow. The pro- 
 vincial wholesale houses, who now go, as far as 
 possible, direct to manufacturers, are becoming more 
 formidable competitors, and are yearly securing a 
 larger share of the trade." 
 
 Now, to the writer the aspect of business matters is 
 decidedly more cheerful, and our home trade offers a 
 vastly better prospect for rising and industrious young 
 men in the future than some of the extracts quoted 
 imply. When the writer was a young man he, too, 
 was accustomed to see the old and honoured names in 
 Cannon Street, High Street, Church Street, Fountain 
 Street, Piccadilly, and latterly in Dale Street, Portland 
 Street, Parker Street, York Street, and Mosley Street ; 
 
 ( 93)
 
 to many of which reference was made in the~ last 
 chapter. These localities are to-day largely occupied 
 by what are known as the home-trade houses, firms 
 which at the present time have little or no connection 
 with the foreign or colonial trade. General shipping 
 houses are spread all over the district within three- 
 quarters of a mile from the Infirmary ; but there is no 
 need in the present connection to make any particular 
 reference to the shipping houses as such, except to 
 say that they have immensely increased during the 
 past twenty years, alike in number, importance, and 
 reputation, and now cover with their palatial build- 
 ings the most important parts of our city, and employ 
 directly and indirectly a very large portion of the 
 population in and around the city. 
 
 Returning to the home-trade houses, reference has 
 been made to the decay and removal of old and re- 
 spected firms. It would be as well, instead of dwell- 
 ing upon these changes, to look at the number of 
 rising firms that are to be found in the fancy trade, the 
 ready-made clothes, boots and shoes, and the mantle 
 trade, many of whom bid fair to rival, in the extent of 
 business and wealth, if not to excel, the magnates of 
 the past. In the list of new concerns, mention should 
 be made of the great co-operative institution in Balloon 
 Street, Manchester. The writer ventures to say that 
 the turnover in the houses now existing will be found 
 to exceed by some millions of pounds sterling the 
 returns made by the firms in the good old times ; and 
 
 (94)
 
 if the men of the present day were as unostentatious, 
 as attentive, and as industrious as the men of the past 
 generation, there would be a still larger and more 
 satisfactory business done. Referring to a letter of 
 the present writer in the same issue, a leader in the 
 City News of October 27th, 1888, says: " Our corre- 
 spondent is right when he says that substantial 
 reasons can be given for the disappearance of most 
 old concerns. It is a mistake to imagine that old firms 
 disappear from no fault of their own. Failure in 
 either an old or new concern is due in both alike to 
 inherent weakness. Nobody supposes that old con- 
 cerns are thrown into the shade or compelled to retire 
 when they have the same capital, business capacity, 
 and energy as their new rivals. Surely, if the latter 
 can hold their own, the former, with their old connec- 
 tion, should be able to do so likewise. In business, 
 as in everything else, it is the fittest which survives. 
 Unless old concerns adapt themselves to their con- 
 tinually changing environment, it is impossible for 
 them to survive. And why should they ? Why 
 should old firms be maintained by props of prejudice, 
 custom, or sentimental sympathies ? These supports 
 will never be of much use for any length of time to a 
 house struggling with a host of competitors. Those 
 firms prosper most which serve their customers best. 
 If a house will not spend money wisely in developing 
 its business, then its trade will go to other concerns 
 which comply with this requirement. If it refuses to 
 
 (95)
 
 deal liberally with its customers, its customers will go 
 where they are dealt with liberally. If the partners 
 in a concern are too big to welcome their customers, 
 the latter will find a welcome elsewhere. If principals 
 do not take an active part in superintending* the vari- 
 ous departments of their business, nor in encouraging 
 the enterprise and energy of those under them, they 
 will soon find themselves below those who do. If 
 capital is withdrawn by old partners and not replaced 
 by new ones, it is unwise to carry on business in the 
 same extensive w r ay ; and, if it is attempted to do so, 
 success is not possible. If we regret the ill success 
 of some old firms, should we not rejoice at the pro- 
 gress of others and at the growth of new ones r Why 
 should not the new men have our sympathy in their 
 struggle, and our admiration at their success ? Busi- 
 ness cannot stand still. It must either go backwards 
 or forwards. The fact that all the rewards of business 
 are not confined to a set of old concerns is a stimulus 
 to the energy of every new comer. The progress of 
 many concerns testifies that if people adapt them- 
 selves to the wants of the day, and pursue their 
 avocations with intelligence and energy, there is yet 
 room for prosperity." 
 
 It must be borne in mind that the textile and 
 kindred trades are very varied in their character, and 
 employ the highest talent we can find amongst de- 
 signers, artists, and manufacturers. It is difficult, 
 nay it is impossible, for any one to measure the pos- 
 
 (96 )
 
 sibilities in the different branches of these businesses, 
 between the plain article which satisfies the tastes 
 and desires of the West Indian coolie or the natives 
 of Iceland, to the beautiful and artistic article of dress 
 which would suit the taste of the young ladies of our 
 city. There is room to employ a diversity of talent in 
 the workshop, the mill, and the Manchester ware- 
 house, which latter is the saleroom for their various 
 products. The writer ventures to say that the skill 
 and capacity of individuals engaged in producing 
 goods for the home-trade houses have yet ample 
 space for development, and that, instead of there 
 being fewer warehouses wanted, there should be 
 more. 
 
 Take, for instance, the fancy business as under- 
 stood in the home trade. This has not by any means 
 secured the high position which the population of the 
 North of England warrants. Then the ready-made 
 trade, the boot and shoe trade," though there are some 
 enterprising firms in these branches in the city, no 
 one will say they fully meet the buying powers of the 
 business men who visit this market. They also can 
 be still further and largely developed. The same 
 remarks apply to the mantle trade, a business which 
 requires great skill and ingenuity, and which is yet 
 in its infancy. Then, the carpet and furnishing busi- 
 ness. This is a large and ever-increasing branch, but 
 is neglected in this city. 
 
 The writer would call the attention of manufao 
 
 ( 97 )
 
 turers to the want of more novel and beautiful designs 
 in counterpanes and quilts. In eider-downs the de- 
 velopment has been wonderful, and met with the 
 success which the artistic taste displayed has well 
 merited. Strange, while all other goods used in 
 domestic furnishing have been improving in design, 
 style, and utility, quilts have hot received the atten- 
 tion which an article of such large consumption de- 
 mands, and which it would pay to bestow. We hear 
 from the Black Country of great progress in the pro- 
 ducts of the sheet-iron makers; that they are able to 
 make sheets so fine and pure, and capable of being 
 folded, that addresses presented to Mr. Gladstone 
 were written upon them. Is there any genius 
 amongst the sheet and quilt manufacturers of this 
 manufacturing district who can strike out a new idea, 
 and develop this vast industry, bringing beauty and 
 attractiveness of design into an article of such con- 
 stant and all-round service ? 
 
 Notwithstanding the possibilities of further pro- 
 gress and development in different branches, any 
 person who will count up the comparatively new but 
 successful firms, which are to be found in the locality 
 occupied by home-trade houses, will find cause for 
 rejoicing rather than sadness. The extreme, and one 
 might say interesting, variety of goods, which are 
 sold in our various warehouses, will employ a great 
 diversity of skilled labour, and capable men as 
 -masters and servants. It is not possible for any half
 
 dozen firms to meet the wants of traders and their 
 customers, the millions who populate England and 
 her colonies. 
 
 Let us dwell for a moment upon the variety of 
 goods which are sold to-day in home-trade ware- 
 houses. Formerly, any of us wanting a coat or a suit 
 of clothes went to the woollen draper, and bought the 
 needed quantity of cloth, then took it to the tailor to 
 be made up. If we or our wives and children wanted 
 a pair of boots, we went to get measured at the shoe- 
 maker's. If we wanted a bag, a purse, or fancy 
 article, they had to be sought away altogether from 
 the draper, and still more, if an article of furniture 
 was required for our home, the cabinet-maker must 
 be visited. All this is altered. Stocks of all these 
 goods can now be found on the premises of our large 
 drapers, and yet we find most of the large wholesale 
 houses in the city jogging along on the old lines. 
 Why do they not follow the changed habits and con- 
 ditions of modern life, and provide, so far as their 
 means will allow, what is required by their clients ? 
 If any one asks, "Where will you draw the line ? " the 
 writer would reply, " In dry goods." Any articles 
 excepting, of course, such bulky articles as coals 
 which can be required by man, woman, or child, from 
 birth to death, for their persons or their homes, 
 should be supplied, but not soft goods, that is, pro- 
 visions. We may rest assured that there will always 
 be a large number of merchants required to conduct 
 
 (99)
 
 so large and varied a business. The centres of textile 
 manufacturing industry, which must be visited by the 
 wholesale buyers of our warehouses, exist in various 
 parts of our own country, in Scotland, Ireland, and 
 Wales, and also in Germany, France, Italy, Switzer- 
 land, Austria, and Russia. The goods selected from 
 all these centres, together with the articles of our own 
 manufacture, are distributed from Manchester over 
 the whole of Britain, our colonies, and to the con- 
 tinents of Europe and America we may say the 
 world. The great and almost immeasurable diversity 
 of taste and culture, and the corresponding variety of 
 requirements to be found within so wide an area of 
 distribution, will necessitate a large number of dis- 
 tributors, who possess capital and ability men and 
 women who carefully study the wants of their clients, 
 and who can stock their warehouses with suitable 
 materials for meeting their demands. It is absurd to 
 say, as some do, that the trade will be swallowed by 
 a few houses. Of course, the best-managed houses, 
 and the most capable and industrious men who have 
 capital, will rise above others, and secure a larger 
 trade. But that three or six men or firms in Man- 
 chester do or ever can possess all the genius and 
 force necessary to absorb and conduct the whole of 
 the textile branch, and satisfy the tastes of the thirty 
 thousand to fifty thousand merchants and drapers, 
 who deal with Manchester houses, is beyond any 
 intelligent man's belief. Take, for instance, mantles,
 
 ready-mades, furniture, prints, haberdashery, fancy 
 goods, or almost any branch : a moment's reflection 
 will show that there is both room and need for a large 
 number of merchants and general dealers, persons 
 or firms, who devote themselves to one, two, or three 
 special articles, apart altogether from the manufac- 
 turers. There are at present forty thousand com- 
 mercial travellers. Now, suppose that, instead of 
 these travellers working from given distributing 
 centres, the whole of the manufacturers from 
 Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Northampton, Lough- 
 borough, Hinckley, Belper, Luton, London, Bolton, 
 Bury, Wigan, Preston, Colne, Clitherhoe, Blackburn, 
 Haslingden, Bacup, Accrington, Heywood, Rochdale, 
 Hebden Bridge, Halifax, Bradford, Dewsbury, Batley, 
 Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield, Barnsley, Heck- 
 mondwike, Sowerby Bridge, Todmorden, Stockport, 
 Ashton, Denton, and a score of other towns in this 
 country, where textile goods are made, together with 
 towns in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, as well as in 
 the numerous continental centres of textile manufac- 
 ture, let us suppose that all these were to send their 
 own travellers to the drapers in the cities and towns 
 of this, not to say of other countries, the loss of time 
 and the annoyance to the retail trader would only be 
 exceeded in foolish impracticability by the wasteful 
 expenditure that would be incurred, and for which 
 the people, the real consumers, must pay. 
 
 The reader will thus see the necessity there is for
 
 wholesale warehouses and fixed centres for distribu- 
 tion. They must exist ; and, for economy in time, 
 labour, and expense, the fewer general centres the 
 better. The writer, for one, believes there are men 
 possessing the requisite talent, if they had the con- 
 fidence, to establish new departments and new firms 
 or companies, and that the enlargement which has 
 taken place within the past few years is but the 
 beginning of greater and better things for Man- 
 chester. Men who begin now will be free from the 
 demoralising influence attending the prosperity of 
 1862 and 1870 to 1874, which stifled the energy and 
 almost destroyed the ability that had up to that date 
 made Manchester merchants and manufacturers the 
 best-known and respected men in the country. The 
 high prices which ruled during the American war, 
 followed as it was so quickly by the Franco-German 
 war, started traders in habits of living, lifted them 
 and many of their men into spheres or positions, 
 from which it is hard to descend. Many date their 
 trade troubles from those periods. Long may it be 
 before such a time of commercial demoralisation is 
 experienced again. 
 
 There can be no doubt that all the suffering re- 
 ferred to by other writers has been greatly aggravated 
 and intensified by the great depression in our agricul- 
 tural districts. This, however, seems now to be 
 giving place to better times. Our farmers are more 
 hopeful and buoyant, and certainly many branches 
 
 ( 102 )
 
 of industry throughout the midland and northern 
 counties are improving. There is more hope and 
 confidence, and better profits all round are to be 
 expected. 
 
 Further, if the outlook from the present aspect of 
 business matters were as dark as some would picture 
 it, what is the answer to the question of fact that 
 several of the largest concerns have so greatly in- 
 creased their business and the size of their premises ? 
 They are labouring in the same neighbourhood, 
 breathe the same atmosphere, buy in the same mar- 
 kets, and they are not sons of that man of great 
 stature, named in the Book of Chronicles, whose 
 fingers and toes were four-and-twenty six on each 
 hand and six on each foot. " No one," says the 
 writer of the leader in the City News, already quoted, 
 " surely will venture on the bold statement that new 
 concerns prosper by reason of adopting improper 
 business methods. If improper business practices 
 injure the old concerns, how can it be imagined that 
 the same practices will not injure the new concerns ? 
 Is it not to be feared that new departures which men 
 make in business, because of their foreseeing likely 
 changes amongst customers, are often described with- 
 out reason as unsound or unfair methods r Many of 
 them are nothing of the kind, and this is seen by the 
 fact that departures at first denounced become in a 
 short time very general, and at last the prevailing 
 custom. If the men who were once the chief ware- 
 
 ( 103 )
 
 housemen in Manchester were to look to-day into 
 some of the large Manchester warehouses, they would 
 be simply bewildered at the enormous number of 
 articles dealt in, many of which were, in their day, 
 foreign to their business; some did not even exist. 
 It is more than probable that those gentlemen would 
 not hold the position they once had in business if 
 they lived now and adhered to their old principles 
 and modes of working. . . . During the past 
 twenty years, coincidently with the change that has 
 been taking place in the wholesale and retail drapery 
 houses at home, hundreds of thousands of our country- 
 men English, Irish, Scotch, and Welsh have gone 
 out to the different countries abroad. They have 
 taken British notions, British industry, and business 
 capacity with them to the East and West Indies, 
 to America, Canada, Scandinavia, to Africa, South 
 America, and some parts of China. They are trading 
 on much the same lines that are being followed in 
 this country ; many of them come over to England to 
 buy their wares just as regularly and even more fre- 
 quently than our customers from remote parts of our 
 own land. And yet, with a few notable exceptions, 
 amongst the home-trade houses they fail to find the 
 goods required for their various markets, notwith- 
 standing that Manchester is the centre of our various 
 industries. It is notorious that the colonial trade is 
 the backbone of the Glasgow home-trade houses. 
 Taken all round, the colonial business is the most 
 
 ( "H )
 
 rapidly increasing and prosperous that England 
 possesses, and the goods used are the reflex of 
 what are sold in the home-trade. There was, there- 
 fore, no reason why Manchester, had she exerted 
 herself, might not have had a larger share of this 
 trade." 
 
 Assuredly, commercial wisdom does not reside in 
 apathy, or in holding aloof from the demands which 
 the altered conditions of trading impose. The fact 
 of " a modern drapery establishment bearing a greater 
 resemblance to an American dry goods store than 
 to an old English shop " should in itself decide the 
 course for the wholesale trader to adopt. The house 
 that suits itself to the draper's requirements will 
 naturally secure his custom. Why should not this be 
 true of the Manchester wholesale houses r Situated 
 in the very heart of the most important manufactur- 
 ing district in the world, whose products are in uni- 
 versal demand and with the extension of civilisation 
 an increasing demand Manchester is and must be 
 the great centre for distribution. Within a radius of 
 forty miles of the Manchester Exchange we have 
 seven millions of people, and when Salford realises 
 the importance of her amalgamation with Manches- 
 ter, and the accruing advantages begin to be felt, 
 then, as the centre of this vast population and the 
 second city in the empire, we shall, if the home-trade 
 houses will rise to the position and the opportunity, 
 take our proper place as a trading community. Our 
 
 ( 105 )
 
 facilities for producing, arising from our easy access 
 to coal and iron, the nerve and sinew of manufacture, 
 and for distributing, arising from our central position, 
 should not only encourage the further development 
 of existing firms, but be an incentive to energetic 
 young men who desire to make their mark and to 
 rank amongst the merchants of our city. The modern 
 facilities for travelling enable our buyers to visit any 
 market, at home or abroad, on equal terms with 
 buyers from any other place in the kingdom ; and 
 the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal will 
 give us still further advantages in this respect ; cotton, 
 wool, and other raw materials will soon be laid almost 
 at our mill doors from the vessels which bring them 
 from all parts of the world. 
 
 The importance of the Ship Canal to Manchester 
 as a trading centre it would be difficult to exaggerate. 
 The very fact of the passing of the Act, " after the 
 most prolonged struggle in the history of private Bill 
 legislation," speaks for itself. The commercial evi- 
 dence before six committees of the two Houses of 
 Parliament was so convincing as to secure the verdict 
 of the most competent men in Westminster in its 
 favour. The importance to the future trade of the 
 country of opening up direct intercourse between the 
 centre of such large manufacturing and mercantile 
 operations and other nations was clearly recognised, 
 and should be recognised by all who are interested 
 in the future of Manchester as a trading centre. The 
 
 ( 106 )
 
 effect of the inland water-carriage will be to facilitate 
 and cheapen the moving of raw materials cotton, 
 corn, timber, wool, fur, &c., which, being bulky, have 
 seriously suffered from the burden of the railway 
 charges. Great loss of time in transhipping and 
 extra expense result from unloading in Liverpool 
 goods for the greater part of which Manchester is 
 the natural centre of distribution. The continuation 
 of the ocean voyage of a vessel a few hours' steam 
 inland is so inappreciable in relation to the whole 
 distance traversed, that vessels would only require 
 the same freight to Manchester as required to Liver- 
 pool. An illustration is given by the parallel case of 
 Havre, at the mouth of the Seine, and Rouen, sixty 
 miles on that river above Havre, the freight of ocean- 
 going vessels to either port being equal. This clearly 
 does away with the whole cost of the railway carriage 
 between Liverpool and Manchester. Owing to this 
 important fact, the maximum tariff fixed by the Man- 
 chester Ship Canal Act, 1885, which the company 
 may charge, is fixed at exactly one-half of the com- 
 bined port and railway charges as they stood at the 
 time the Act was obtained, in other words, a reduction 
 of fifty per cent. With these increased facilities trade 
 will naturally expand ; the volume of traffic will 
 be greater; and the railways, and even Liverpool 
 itself, will not be injured, but benefited. There is no 
 doubt that we have suffered severely from the effects 
 of the high rates of transit, both import and export. 
 
 ( 107 )
 
 For years past everything has been done to reduce 
 the cost of production ; the energies of the proprietors 
 of our various manufactories have been devoted to 
 this end in the speeding and development of machine 
 power, the reduction of wages, and of general stand- 
 ing expenses. Every decrease in the cost of pro- 
 duction to the manufacturer means, in the long run, 
 increased ability for the trader buying from him to 
 compete in home or foreign markets. When the 
 Canal is in active operation, we shall be materially 
 helped in our efforts to contend with strong competi- 
 tors in foreign markets by the minimising of the 
 charges for carriage to the sea. There is every prob- 
 ability, too, that ships, which now load exclusively 
 in London, will come up to Manchester, part loaded, 
 to complete their cargoes, in the same way that ships 
 now load partially in Glasgow and fill up at Liver- 
 pool. This will again effect a very large saving, 
 which will tell in favour both of manufacturers and 
 merchants in the race of competition. 
 
 Moreover, what is to prevent a large business 
 coming through the port of Manchester from Hud- 
 dersfield, Batley, Dewsbury, Leeds, Sheffield, the 
 Potteries, and Birmingham district, and from the 
 coalfields of Lancashire, South Yorkshire, and North 
 Staffordshire ? In that case not only would Man- 
 chester be benefited, but the industries of these dis- 
 tricts would be largely developed. The establishment 
 of works along the banks of the new Canal cannot 
 
 ( 1 08 )
 
 fail to add to our prosperity. It was the prospect of 
 this new field of labour for the increasing population 
 that largely helped to secure the sympathy and gain 
 the strong and hearty approbation of the industrial 
 classes of this city and district. It was the deep 
 immovable conviction that the sons and daughters of 
 the present generation would have a future in their 
 own country, and not the outlook of a miserable 
 pittance here or life on a foreign and unknown shore, 
 that led fifty thousand men to assemble on common 
 ground on Saturday, June 2ist, 1884, to say, so far as 
 their means and strength could say, that the Canal 
 should be made. The writer will not forget a working 
 man coming up to him after one of the many meet- 
 ings he attended in support of the scheme, who 
 addressed him by name, and said, " God bless you, 
 and all the other gentlemen that are working so hard 
 in this great scheme ! It will do us all good, and our 
 children, too." It was but the voice of thousands, who 
 thought and felt as he did, but did not express it in 
 the same homely way. 
 
 With the immediate prospect on the completion of 
 the Canal of saving Lancashire alone more than 
 ,1,000,000 per annum; with a present business 
 aspect not by any means so gloomy as some would 
 picture it ; with the opening up of new industries on 
 and around the Canal, is there not every likelihood of 
 improved business in every department ? With 
 industries localised around us, a population born and 
 
 ( 109 )
 
 reared under the noise of loom and spindle, inhaling 
 the atmosphere of bleach and dye works, learning 
 from earliest life to manipulate the raw materials, 
 driven not only by the necessities of family life, but 
 also by what might be called an industrial instinct, 
 to an acquaintance with the various processes of 
 manufacturing and finishing goods, so that in 
 mechanism, in experience, and in habits of industry 
 the population of this district is not excelled in this 
 or in any country in the world, we have a right to 
 say that this is and ought to be a grand centre for 
 mercantile operations, and to look forward to our 
 future with hope and confidence. 
 
 Returning to the business of the warehouse, so far 
 nothing has been said on the subject of dating 
 forward. It is a vexed question, and a brief state- 
 ment of opinion, with the reasons for it, is all that 
 would be in place here. As the reader will know, 
 there are many, including the correspondent, " Man- 
 chester Man," already referred to, who trace all the 
 troubles of the home trade to this source. " The 
 merchants here have never recognised the force of 
 the fact that there is a competition of terms as well 
 as of prices, and that the former is often the greater 
 factor of the two." "Town Traveller," in the issue of 
 May nth, 1889 {Drapers' Record*), says, "The dating- 
 forward system is increasing amongst the London 
 houses and that continuously. I venture the opinion 
 that until Manchester and other centres adopt the 
 
 ( no)
 
 same system, nearly all the buyers, especially those 
 who do their own counting-house work, will favour 
 the London houses." A " South of England Draper," 
 writing in the next issue, May lyth, is of the same 
 opinion : " The ' dating forward ' may be a rotten 
 system, I am not arguing on that, but as long as it is 
 a recognised system of the trade, as it now is, and 
 Manchester refuses to recognise it, so long will 
 Manchester have cause to complain of the transition 
 of its trade." 
 
 The practice indicated as necessary to the salvation 
 of the Manchester home trade is the giving of two or 
 three months' extra credit on special occasions. The 
 slowness of Manchester wholesale houses to adopt 
 this practice is said to account for the progress other 
 firms are making in competing with them for the 
 draper's custom. Now, long experience and observa- 
 tion have convinced the writer that the drapers are 
 amongst the shrewdest and most capable traders in 
 the country, and the best of them, who have means 
 and are judges of the goods they buy, will not be 
 long in finding out the different values offered by the 
 various houses. All intelligent men in the wholesale 
 trade know pretty nearly the average profit, and can, 
 therefore, say whether it is paying a house to sell at 
 the ordinary profit, and give other facilities which they 
 cannot afford. Extra dating and discount must be 
 made up in price, and the safest and most reliable 
 men know this and buy accordingly. It would be
 
 Well for every house to decline dating forward any 
 plain cotton goods, which have to be paid for quickly, 
 and on which there is a very small margin of profit, a 
 fact well known to all buyers. Dating of season 
 goods and an exceptional sale are necessities for 
 which all can make allowance. 
 
 The evils of the system, in the view of the writer, 
 can be best illustrated by an example. Suppose a 
 respectable young firm, wholesale, does ,120,000 per 
 annum. One extra month's terms means a further 
 credit of ; 10,000 in their books. This capital cannot 
 be added in the year from profits, and must therefore 
 be borrowed, or the time given must be brought back 
 by an extra discount for cash or bills, or it must be 
 taken from the manufacturer in extended terms 
 under certain conditions ; this means at least full 
 one-half per cent, loss, or addition to expenses ; and 
 this is not all, as we will presently show. Now, the 
 wholesale trade is competed for so keenly that a 
 difference like this takes a very important part of the 
 profit. What is the inevitable result ? Naturally, 
 the expenses being increased the price must be 
 raised to recoup the loss. But a trader replies, " Few 
 men can tell to one-half or one per cent." Yes, but 
 this is not all. The merchant finds that a number of 
 unscrupulous traders have started business in various 
 towns. The fact of their taking the extra time is not 
 the whole nor the end of the evil. The trade of the 
 place in which they have commenced business will
 
 only support a certain number of dealers, and the 
 effect often is that the old, respectable, reliable cus- 
 tomer of many years' standing is so beaten in the 
 race that he fails, and the wholesale house has to 
 accept ten shillings in the pound. Or, if the old 
 trader is too strong and beats his new rival, which 
 frequently happens, then the last comer succumbs ; 
 but, instead of receiving ten shillings in the pound, 
 you find his trading has all been on the capital of the 
 creditor. He has little or no capital of his own, and 
 when the winding-up comes under an assignment, it 
 is five shillings, or, if in the court, perhaps three 
 shillings or three shillings and sixpence. Taking in 
 these losses, there is a larger percentage to be added 
 to expenses. The trader would find, by analysing 
 the facts, that he has to pay more than one-half or 
 one per cent, for the gratification of his desire for 
 dating forward. It is a pernicious system which- 
 ever way one looks at it, and is productive of 
 untold trouble and evil to wholesale and retail 
 traders alike.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 RETAIL TRADE IN MANCHESTER GOODS. 
 
 RETAIL TRADERS. 
 
 HE writer does not believe that any 
 fixed plans and regulations can, of 
 themselves, make a man successful, but 
 if he has intelligence, industry, and 
 tact, combined with a technical know- 
 ledge of the various goods he buys, and 
 the necessary capital, then method and 
 rules will help him. He will see for 
 himself the importance of following certain 
 fixed principles. 
 As to his stock, the character of it must depend 
 upon the town and the district in which he is located. 
 The size or value of his stock will depend largely 
 upon the population he has to work upon. If he is in 
 a large town of more than two hundred thousand 
 people, he needs a less stock in proportion to his 
 turnover than he would in a smaller town ; in fact, 
 the result of experience is proof to the writer that 
 from the small place, say of two thousand inhabitants, 
 where the trader has to keep almost everything, to
 
 the city of half a million ot people, the average stock 
 will vary from twelve weeks' turnover in the larger 
 town to thirty or thirty-six weeks' turnover in the 
 smaller. The following statement may be taken as 
 a guide : in towns of from two thousand to five 
 thousand inhabitants, a draper may hold a stock 
 equal to thirty to thirty-six weeks' turnover ; in towns 
 of from five thousand to ten thousand inhabitants 
 twenty-six to thirty weeks' turnover. 
 
 10,000 to 20,000 inhabitants, 24 to 26 weeks' turnover. 
 
 20,000 to 50,000 ,, 20 to 24 ,, 
 
 50,000 to 100,000 ,, 20 to 22 ,, ,, 
 
 100,000 to 200,000 ,, 1 8 to 20 ,, ,, 
 
 200,000 and upwards ,, 1 6 to 20 ,, ,, 
 
 When this population is reached (two hundred thou- 
 sand and upwards) it greatly depends upon the head 
 of the business as to the amount and character of the 
 stock he keeps. If he decides upon keeping rich and 
 valuable goods, together with carpets and woollens, 
 then the proportion changes. 
 
 One matter is of the utmost importance to all small 
 traders. Fresh and clean stock is essential to pros- 
 perity. The increased expense of carriage, caused by 
 more frequent purchases, whether at the wholesale 
 house or through the travellers, will be far more than 
 counterbalanced by the smaller stock that is required 
 to be kept, and the quicker payment of accounts that 
 can be made, thereby saving discount. The old habit 
 of buying largely twice a year has quite gone out of 
 
 ( "5 )
 
 fashion; smart, successful drapers are buying or 
 ordering weekly, many daily. The great variety of 
 fancy goods new things being constantly brought 
 into the market makes it a necessity to be always 
 ready to take up new productions. This cannot be 
 done if the stock is filled up. The great danger is of 
 buying too much, especially in these times when 
 credit is so cheap and parcels are continually being 
 dated forward. Young tradesmen often get the 
 impression, when they buy on forward date, that the 
 pay day is so far ahead that no disaster can occur ; 
 but they find very soon to their cost that dated goods 
 are not only not the cheapest, but that the due date 
 of their bills comes much sooner than they expected. 
 Repeatedly, when being interviewed, young men 
 give their liabilities at, say,^ 1,200, omitting altogether 
 dated-forward parcels, which, when added, bring up 
 the amount to ; 1,500 or ,1,600. If traders, in 
 addition to the above regulations as to the amount 
 of stock they should hold on an average, would lay 
 down the following golden rule, they would be bene- 
 fited to an extent they cannot at present comprehend ; 
 only experience can sufficiently impress their minds 
 with its importance. Assuming that a trader is doing 
 for the most part a cash trade, he should never allow 
 his liabilities to trade creditors to exceed two to two and 
 a-half-times his capital. 
 
 If a tradesman's capital is ,500 and he owes 
 ^1,250, this gives a total working stock of ; 1,750. 
 
 ( "6 )
 
 On a stock of this amount he can, according to the 
 size of the town, turn over, say, ,3,500, in a large 
 centre 4,000, or in a great population 5,000 per 
 annum. 
 
 We will take the moderate-sized town, and say he 
 does 4,000 per annum or about 330 per month ; 
 with this turnover he can pay in four months, that is, 
 he can pay within net terms, and have a small 
 margin. Before long economy in the working of his 
 business should place him in a position to take full 
 advantage of discounts, and of special lines and cheap 
 parcels, which are always being placed in the way of 
 a cash man, which but seldom reach the hands of a 
 slow payer. 
 
 Where the draper's trade is largely on credit terms, 
 his difficulties are greater ; his capital and credit are 
 being put largely into his books, and he has to be 
 content with a smaller stock and a less turnover. 
 His aim must be to restrict, so far as possible, the 
 credit part of his business ; buyers will not pay the 
 prices they did formerly to compensate for long 
 credits, and the various organisations for promoting 
 cash business throughout the country are so strong 
 that the shopkeeper must have well-ordered stocks 
 and must sell cheaply. The tendency of legislation 
 for some years past has been to do away with all 
 facilities which foster the credit system, and to force 
 people to do a cash business, and certainly the civil 
 service, co-operative societies, &c., all help to educate
 
 the people to this system. If traders generally would 
 more resolutely follow in the same direction great 
 good would be effected, a healthier state of trade 
 would exist, and less anxiety both for the retail and 
 wholesale houses of the country. 
 
 In good times, when money is plentiful and people 
 can afford to buy easily and freely, they do not run 
 about so much from one place of business to another 
 to find out the cheapest article ; if they see goods they 
 like, they buy them. 
 
 As a rule, a draper will be successful if he has a 
 fair, all-round acquaintance with his class of goods, 
 good taste in selection, and the ability to dress his 
 windows attractively a most important element in 
 the prosperity of any retail concern. 
 
 The six points in the draper's charter are : 
 
 1. Capital, consistent with his business require- 
 ments. 
 
 2. Well-assorted and well-kept stock. 
 
 3. Capable and obliging salesmen and assistants. 
 4 Well-dressed windows. 
 
 5. Untiring industry. 
 
 6. Economy in every department and good man- 
 agement. 
 
 The folio wing paragraphs from the Colonial Drapers' 
 Journal, on " Going into Business/' are worth quot- 
 ing: 
 
 Great and ambitious designs are natural to the period of early manhood, 
 when a limited knowledge of the business of life gives confidence and an 
 
 ( "8 )
 
 earnest longing for future success. So the young man looks forward to the 
 time when he will be " master in his own house," with a position in the 
 world. Buoyed by such hopes, he collects his savings and his portion for 
 a start upon the all-important road the road to fortune. This is the 
 flood-tide to the average young man ; for him there appears no other road 
 but that which leads right on to success. He pictures to himself his saving 
 habit and temperate disposition, that he is not afraid of any amount of hard 
 work, and so, filled with economic principles and determinations, he looks 
 round to see what others are doing ; seeking information of this friend or that, 
 but, after all, it too often happens that " pictures of imagination " hide many 
 a harsh fact, leaving hard lessons to be learnt by a trying experience. 
 
 Some people there are who, full of sympathy for the young beginner, 
 will point to numerous instances of success with an air of confidence (as 
 though they had been behind the scenes), detailing the wonderful gifts of 
 this man or that, their peculiarities, and extraordinary business capacity ; 
 and when asked about the reverse side will be just as ready to attribute this 
 man's want of success to thoughtless extravagance, another's to reckless 
 buying or unsteady habits, &c., and thus reasoning on the most convenient 
 lines, these great advisers will conclude by saying, " You go to work 
 economically and carefully, and you are bound to succeed ;" forgetting that 
 " 'Tis not in mortals to command success." . . . To fit up a shop in 
 a style unsuited to a neighbourhood is to ensure certain failure ; fitting and 
 stock adapted to a low-class trade being introduced into a high-class 
 neighbourhood will not attract, while the reverse will have the effect of 
 frightening poor people altogether. Amongst early failures, one of the 
 greatest causes may be included under this head a young man goes into 
 business from a high-class establishment, where he has been accustomed 
 to " feather-bed trade," experience unfitting him for the rough-and-ready 
 system which his limited capital suggests ; the whole of his arrangements 
 are made upon the most extravagant scale; both household and shop 
 fittings must be in first-class style ; and so the capital is absorbed, for his 
 "white elephants" will not realise when the quiet season comes round. 
 Overbuying is a fearful snare to young men at the present day, although 
 everything should warn them rather to err in the opposite direction. 
 Fashion is entirely opposed to it. 
 
 It is always best to calculate the chances of waiting for a trade, and the 
 daily wants which must arise in a new business ; for where a man invests his 
 whole capital on the chance of an immense return in six months, dis- 
 appointment often follows ; he finds there are hundreds of things which 
 he has forgotten to buy. 
 
 ( "9)
 
 The writer has frequently been asked, when dis- 
 cussing the question of expenses in the management 
 of business, what proportion the rent of premises 
 should bear to the total ? Our opinion is that in the 
 drapery trade in large towns, on a business of 
 
 ^15 to ^"25 per week, the rent should not exceed ^40 per annum. 
 
 ^"25 to ^35 ^50 
 
 ^"35 to & ,60/70 
 
 ^50 to ^"70 80/90 
 
 70 to^ioo ,, ,, ,, ,100/120 ,, 
 
 By the time the returns exceed ^100 per week, the 
 character of the business is often changed, and the 
 rules which hold good on the smaller turnover have 
 to be varied according to the altered, enlarged, or 
 changed position of the premises, the character of the 
 business, and according to the widening experience 
 of the proprietor. Rents in smaller towns are less 
 in proportion, but interest on the additional stock it 
 is requisite to keep fully balances this advantage. 
 
 120 )
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE LIFE AND DUTIES OF BUSINESS MEN. 
 
 i> 
 
 |fj[-T is a remark one frequently hears in certain 
 
 society, and often made by professional 
 men, that the life of a business man is a 
 " hum-drum sort of existence," that little or no 
 purpose is served by it other than that of 
 making money. Now, this is altogether at 
 variance with facts. There is a very wide field for 
 thought, energy, and skill in the commercial calling, 
 and associated with it. Trade in its manifold aspects 
 itself affords scope for the highest capacities. It is 
 anything but hum-drum to the intelligent man; ever 
 fresh problems arise which must be solved, contin- 
 gencies must be provided for, enterprises well directed, 
 and losses made good. Banking, insurance, buying 
 at value, and selling at a profit are practical matters 
 demanding very thoughtful and skilful handling. 
 Then the business man has his duties with various 
 institutions established for the help of the unfor- 
 tunate ; there is ever present with him the moral 
 duties of his situation, his word and example affect 
 not only his own honour, but the lives and characters
 
 ot all around him ; the younger employ6s and ap- 
 prentices have to be taught the technical niceties and 
 mercantile principles pertaining to the soundest in- 
 dustrial operations ; the providing of technical and 
 general schools for the children likely to occupy 
 spheres in the business world of the next generation 
 is but an extension of the same duty ; besides that the 
 consideration of all public matters affecting trade 
 directly or indirectly, such as parliamentary measures, 
 municipal restrictions or development, are well within 
 the sphere of the attention and in large measure of 
 the control of business men. 
 
 Take the manufacturer as an example of these facts. 
 A manufacturer needs to be a man of mental capacity 
 and ingenuity ; he must buy or construct machinery 
 suitable for a certain class of work, and must maintain 
 the same in efficient condition, but to do this requires 
 a mind of no mean order. He must have skill and 
 taste in devising new makes of cloth ; goods must 
 be made in new designs, which shall not only meet 
 the taste of society, but which shall positively create 
 taste. 
 
 The goods once made, he must find or make a 
 market for them. Then arises the necessity for the 
 proper man to sell the production of his looms and 
 spindles, and immediately the way is opened up to 
 that wide field of commercial relation which includes 
 within its area the traders in the shires of his own 
 pountry and the people of distant nations. Then steps
 
 in the question of insurance by land and sea, fire and 
 marine insurance, and banking arrangements, to 
 facilitate the operation of buying raw products of 
 foreign lands, and the re-shipping of the manufactured 
 goods. These operations of buying and selling in- 
 volve the employment of capable and industrious men, 
 both at home and abroad, of clerks and assistants 
 who have to be familiar with the rates of exchange, 
 as they affect his foreign trade, and with the rates for 
 discounting in their own country. So far, we view the 
 manufacturer in a purely commercial aspect. 
 
 But his life and life- influence cover much broader 
 ground. He is in a position in which many depend 
 upon him for employment, and he is familiar with the 
 fluctuations of trade and the vicissitudes arising from 
 times of dulness and depression in the lives of the 
 workers ; as a wise and humane leader of the people's 
 industry, he cannot but see the need of their being 
 helped to provide for adverse times ; the various 
 benevolent and provident societies claim his interest 
 and support ; so that in questions of maintenance, 
 providence, and social and domestic well-being, he, 
 in some measure almost of necessity, co-operates with 
 those who, in his industrial operations, co-operate with 
 him. It was entirely without affectation that such 
 large employers of labour as Sir Titus Salt and the 
 late Mr. John Rylands said that they felt upon their 
 shoulders the responsibility of the lives and comforts 
 of the thousands they employed. 
 
 ( 123 )
 
 True of all men, it is specially true of the business 
 man who comes into close and hourly contact with so 
 many, that " no man liveth unto himself." Every man 
 is influenced by the stronger mind as unfailingly as 
 the needle by the magnet ; the presence of the weakest 
 has its weight. On all sides we are touching our 
 fellow-beings, and they are affected for good or evil 
 by what we are, by what we say and do, even by what 
 we think and feel. Some are built up and strength- 
 ened by the unconscious force and influence of others, 
 others are wrenched out of their places and thrown 
 down. Only by strictest integrity, by habits of 
 personal industry and punctuality, can an influence 
 for good be assured. The order and regularity of the 
 work in a large factory or warehouse, the quiet in- 
 telligence with which the whole is conducted, reflect 
 the character of the head of the whole and of the 
 several departments. If a man takes care of his 
 character, his personal influence will take care of 
 itself. 
 
 Were business men not predisposed to take in hand 
 the question of general and technical education, the 
 force of circumstances would make it imperative. 
 The competition of the manufacturers of foreign 
 countries, combined with the rapidly developing 
 tastes and corresponding demands of the people, alike 
 force on us the consideration how the capacity for 
 doing good and better work can be developed and 
 increased. The workers must be trained ; and this is 
 
 ( 124)
 
 a necessity which grows upon us perceptibly with 
 every decade. The broad question of general educa- 
 tion, which of course has its due and direct relation 
 to technical education, and to the efficiency of the 
 worker, is happily taken up by the nation and made 
 compulsory. We have abundant evidence of the value 
 and importance of this in the fact that as education 
 extends juvenile crime decreases, and with it the 
 expenses of the police court ; and what is still more 
 cheering the homes of our poorer class of working 
 people are by the direct influence of the children 
 becoming more and more cheerful. 
 
 The other sphere of activity, in which the welfare of 
 all business men is brought forward in discussion, and 
 where necessary action taken, has been referred to 
 in the chapter on the home-trade and kindred asso- 
 ciations. Whether, therefore, the business man's life 
 and action be considered from the commercial, the 
 philanthropic, the moral, the educational, the indus- 
 trial, or the social side, it is, if rightly regarded, a 
 noble life, and in it may be developed the highest 
 forces and capacities of a great mind. This may be 
 said, of course, without depreciating in the slightest 
 possible degree the grand callings of ministers of state 
 and of professional men of every grade. 
 
 Many of the most capable men of business do yet 
 another kind of service in undertaking the duties and 
 responsibilities of municipal life, serving their fellow- 
 citizens in the management of the affairs of the corpo-
 
 ration. The importance of such services, gratuitously 
 and often lavishly rendered, it would not be easy to 
 over-estimate, the health and very much of the well- 
 being of all the inhabitants of the town or city which 
 they serve being the object of their labours. It is, 
 perhaps, the culminating honour in the life of business 
 men that their conduct, liberality, and intelligence 
 should have so won the respect and confidence of a 
 constituency as that they should be asked to be their 
 representative in the national council at Westminster. 
 But to him who has the fitness for the work and the 
 time at his command it is only second to the parlia- 
 mentary seat to have a place in the local parliament 
 or council chamber. The duties of a town councillor 
 are of such a character as to benefit the whole of the 
 population within the range of the council's autho- 
 rity. To provide lighting, water, good and well-kept 
 streets, a good sewage system, baths, public parks, 
 and whatever else may minister to the health and 
 happiness of the people, represents a large amount of 
 labour and wise counsel. The first and important 
 duty of the council is not, as some thoughtless people 
 say, to levy rates and taxes ; it is far higher, being no 
 less than the devotion of the fruits of a vigorous life 
 and ripened experience to the w r ell-being of the 
 people in the midst of whom life has been spent, and 
 I don't hesitate to add that many members of our 
 council bequeath to the City in value of labour and 
 experience a sum equal to the gentleman who leaves
 
 or ^20,000 to various charities, and are 
 equally worthy of the esteem of their fellow citizens. 
 As a rule our town councillors and aldermen are 
 men who through life have satisfied the demand 
 Cromwell made in lieu of his decayed serving men : 
 " Give me men who make some conscience of what 
 they do." 
 
 Turning to another aspect of the life of the business 
 man, it will hardly be disputed that his surroundings 
 and duties afford scope for the display and develop- 
 ment of moral qualities in a very marked degree. 
 He must for many a juncture and business crisis be a 
 man of courage and resolution. There is often risk, 
 sometimes adventure, and almost always enterprise 
 to call his more daring aptitude into play. There is 
 a constant making towards a goal, a fixed object of 
 endeavour, in which he can find inspiration, and 
 which kindles his enthusiasm. J. R. Lowell says of 
 General McClellan that he had many excellent quali- 
 ties, but he lacked enthusiasm. He had caution but 
 no ardour. Caution in a business man is one of the 
 most needful qualities, but no less in the warehouse 
 than on the battle-field there is need for the head of a 
 firm, of a department or of an office, to have the 
 power of inspiring to effort those under his care and 
 direction. He must feel and be able to make those 
 about him feel that the business of his department 
 and of the house he represents must be in the front 
 rank by merit, giving his highest and best thought 
 
 ( "7 )
 
 to making the opportunities which sometimes dis- 
 appoint those who wait for them. Business men 
 must be aggressive ; they must be leaders, and not 
 followers. 
 
 That enterprise may be and should be combined 
 with caution, however, goes without saying. In 
 business life, as in all other, discretion is the better 
 part of valour ; indeed, the courage of confidence and 
 assurance can only be his who acts upon conviction 
 and well-grounded expectancy. Such associations 
 as the Manchester Trade Protection Society, and all 
 other movements to secure a safe trade, only tend to 
 foster the spirit of enterprise, and to distinguish it 
 from risky speculation. The Trade Protection Society 
 has for its membership a number of gentlemen repre- 
 senting the different branches of the trade of Man- 
 chester, who watch legislation in all matters affecting 
 the trades of the district, taking action therein as 
 circumstances seem to warrant. 
 
 The business world is ever testing the strength of 
 the more personal moral qualities. No day passes 
 without furnishing its opportunity of connivance with 
 something wrong, until the principles of a man are 
 fully understood and his integrity beyond attack, 
 The man that connives at wrong will in his own 
 character, and not unfrequently in his own circum- 
 stances, pay dearly for it. Reliability and trust are 
 based upon integrity, and it is not difficult to see that 
 the upright man stands in a position of command in 
 
 ( 128 )
 
 the keen strife of the commercial life of to-day, the 
 man whose " word is his bond." Scrupulous integrity 
 is strength. " There is no mistake greater," says a 
 writer, " than to suppose the conscience can do a 
 little sin and not suffer; that little sin is the one 
 weak point." It is the point of insecurity ever after- 
 wards ; it is the very prolific source of more sins. 
 
 It should be an axiom amongst all in positions of 
 authority, that no man is fit to command who cannot 
 command himself. Adam Smith says "self-command 
 is not only in itself a great virtue, but from it all 
 other virtues seem to derive their lustre." Retalia- 
 tion often violates propriety, and leaves a twofold 
 wrong in the place of one : the mistake or wrong of 
 the offender, and the wrong done to oneself by hasty 
 and ungoverned action. It is the vain and the weak 
 man who has little self-control, and who thinks that 
 a bullying manner shows spirit. " It should never be 
 forgotten that we ought to show to those who happen 
 to be placed within our power or who deperrd on us, 
 forbearance, lenity, and reserve in using their ser- 
 vices, and mildness in delivering commands. Each 
 one should feel that he is forbidden to diminish the 
 sum of human happiness, by enforcing unnecessary 
 labour and confinement, or to insult his servants by 
 harsh, scornful, or opprobrious language ; nor ought 
 harmless pleasures to be refused ; and by the same 
 principle of not diminishing the sum of human happi- 
 ness, we are forbidden causeless or inconsiderate 
 
 ( 129 )
 
 anger, habitual peevishness, and groundless sus- 
 picion."* 
 
 There is one other manly quality which business 
 life is specially calculated to foster, and that is 
 honourable emulation without envy or jealousy. 
 Men who, by dint of hard work and continuous effort, 
 have raised themselves to high positions in the world 
 of commerce or in the firm to which they belong, are 
 able to appreciate the like success in others, knowing 
 its cost. Bitter feelings are sometimes engendered 
 by a too-conscious rivalry ; but the true state of 
 mind and heart for a successful and happy business 
 life is quite opposed both to such feelings and to any 
 exhibition of them. There are many opportunities 
 afforded of ruling down such unworthy impulses, and 
 replacing them by manlier and more generous ones. 
 Amidst all the discords and jealousies of this com- 
 petitive age, when every man must sometimes feel 
 impelled to join in Wordsworth's invocation to 
 Milton 
 
 We are selfish men, 
 Oh, raise us up, return to us again, 
 And give us manners, virtue, freedom, powers, 
 
 it is still possible to remain united and calm in the 
 consciousness of power and rectitude ; and the success 
 which has placed others on a high pedestal will only 
 evoke our esteem and minister to the spirit within us 
 of true and noble emulation. 
 
 * Paley, in his chapter on Moral and Political Philosophy. 
 ( 130 )
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 f^N entering the business world, you are 
 entering a school in which the lessons to 
 be learnt are of the most broadening and 
 absorbing character. Its teachings are on 
 finance, law, politics (i.e., the art of governing 
 and administering), geography, specified industries, 
 and, by no means least in importance, human nature. 
 It is a school equally for moral training ; men are 
 born to greater aspirations and larger life by its 
 discipline ; they learn to bear and to forbear, to be 
 patient under annoyance, to keep down wrath, to 
 look mercifully on a poor, suffering, but honest 
 debtor; to cheer the needy with timely encourage- 
 ment and help, to inspire the desponding to effort. 
 It is a capital school, if a man is true at heart, and 
 has faith in himself and in a helping God. 
 
 Each new generation sees the intellectual life of 
 the business world of a higher order. There is more 
 to be learnt and known ; new departments, new 
 developments, new tastes bring with them not only 
 more to be understood and grasped, but are ever
 
 introducing fresh problems for solution, the weighing 1 
 of principle against principle and method against 
 method, demanding the most careful and thoughtful 
 attention. But when once this intelligent zeal is 
 thrown into the various business operations of our 
 city, there will be a restoration of the prestige which 
 has for so many years attached to the name of the 
 Manchester man of business. 
 
 A gentleman once remarked to the writer : " I don't 
 see why a young fellow with means should put him- 
 self into a warehouse, and be shut up day by day 
 dealing with a lot of nobodies, passing by oppor- 
 tunities for pleasure and intellectual culture in a. 
 better atmosphere and in better society." We grant 
 it would not be difficult to find a more cheerful 
 climate, and if a youth be fond of science, or study of 
 any kind, he may do well by devoting himself to it ; 
 yet one would hardly say that the life of the commer- 
 cial man, conducting a large home and shipping 
 business, is such as to leave his mind uncultivated 
 and unexpanded. He must be acquainted with the 
 raw and manufactured products of almost every 
 country, and must know the time to buy, and the 
 requirements of his own customers in this and other 
 countries before he enters upon his purchases. He 
 has financial and banking arrangements with the 
 various parts of the world to which he exports or 
 from which he imports. He must be familiar with 
 the rates of exchange, government regulations, and 
 
 ( 132 )
 
 custom duties, and with modes of conveyance and 
 freights. He must exercise constant supervision over 
 the bleaching, dyeing, and finishing of goods. He 
 must watch that the trade marks of his firm are not 
 used by unscrupulous or innocent traders, be con- 
 stantly in contact with men of real power, who have 
 an intelligent grip of their business, and will have, 
 in his capacity of trader, to deal with commodities in 
 so many shapes and forms and in such varied opera- 
 tions. We say it is an honourable and useful life, 
 however regarded; trade and commerce afford em- 
 ployment to the millions, revenue to the state, develop 
 taste, extend and perfect civilisation, and give that 
 knowledge of the world and of each other that the 
 experience gained is of value in numerous ways 
 amongst one's own countrymen or fellow-citizens. 
 
 Excellence is therefore worth attaining ; aim at it. 
 We shall never succeed in what we undertake unless 
 we have high thoughts of its worth, and take pleasure 
 in it. There is one practice or habit amongst youths 
 and young men against which we would speak a 
 word of warning. It is a common remark, and ex- 
 presses a too common state of feeling : " I don't care ; 
 I do as much as my share," or " as much as I am 
 paid for; and if my master will not allow me this or 
 permit that, then I shall not do any more ; I shall 
 not trouble about saving him anything in any way." 
 Now, nothing can be more contrary to your interest, 
 from whatever point you view the matter. It is wrong 
 
 ( '33 ) K
 
 in principle, and hazardous in practice. It is pos- 
 sible that your employer may be thoughtless and 
 ungenerous, or that a fellow-servant may rise in 
 favour by unfair means and beat you in the race ; in 
 either case nothing is gained by you by your assump- 
 tion of carelessness. You are the loser in forfeiting 
 the satisfaction and enjoyment of having done your 
 duty, of having used every faculty and power you 
 possess in your work. The evidence of a thousand 
 records and the experience of thousands more point 
 to the reward, and prove it to be as certain as any- 
 thing human that toil and patience will win at last. 
 The old saying is a good one, " Two blacks do not 
 make a white" they are but two blacks in the end. 
 As a point of honour, as a point of prudence, regard 
 your duty as sacred ; discharge to the full extent oi 
 your mental and physical powers the work that you 
 have undertaken ; it is worth doing well ; excellence 
 is worth attaining ; and no one ought to expect to 
 reap where he has not sown. In speaking of success 
 and aiming at it, it is well to remember the truth 
 illustrated by Emerson in his Conduct of Life, that 
 " Concentration may be made very greatly the source 
 of energy with many. Concentration stops all mis- 
 cellaneous activity, and directs our force on one or a 
 few points, as the gardener, by severe pruning, 
 forces the sap of the tree into one or two vigorous 
 limbs, instead of suffering it to spindle into a sheaf 
 of twigs . . < the one prudence, therefore, in life is 
 concentration ; the one evil, dissipation."
 
 To win success in business, as in everything else, 
 you must be strong as men. The man is the thinker. 
 Our power to think is our power to know, and " know- 
 ledge is power." We must bend to the laws that 
 environ us. Bend to Nature's laws, and she will 
 rejoice your heart ; bend to moral laws, and your 
 reward will be greater still. The price must be paid 
 for strength of life and success in it. " Grudge not 
 labour, grudge not pain, sorrow, disappointment, or 
 distress of any kind ; all is for your good if you can 
 endeavour and endure." .Better counsel was never 
 given than this of Carlyle's to a young aspirant to 
 literary fame. If success is to be ours, we must win it, 
 and often wrest it from adverse circumstance. The 
 truest life is that which is itself a growth ; which grows 
 by pain and learns from disappointment to endeavour 
 and endure. Nothing can be said of a man more 
 hopeful and inspiring than that he is growing ; nothing 
 more dispiriting and hopeless than that he has ceased 
 to grow. Whatever our business circumstance, we 
 should see to it that we are growing as men ; there is 
 eternal promise in that, and we shall be ready, fortified 
 in spirit and in wisdom, to seize the golden opportunity 
 when it presents itself. There can be no more doubt- 
 ful commendation of a man than to say he is contented. 
 Rest and content are not for man. Restlessness, i.e., 
 with regard to ourselves and our progress, is divine 
 evidence that we are born for immortality. A growing 
 manhood is not attained by merely furnishing a favour- 
 
 ( 135 )
 
 able environment ; surroundings minister to it ; but the 
 birth and growth of a higher manhood of courage, 
 rectitude, and love, go on within the man. Grow your- 
 self, and your circumstances will grow with you ; if 
 they do not, you are not the less ; if your circum- 
 stances grow and you do not, you will present an 
 anomaly comparable to the state of manhood's " sixth 
 age," whose " hose " are " a world too wide for his 
 shrunk shank." 
 
 All men need recreation, but none so much as 
 youths and young men ; your physical frame and 
 mental powers are growing, and both must have exer- 
 cise for their healthy development. If your work is 
 manual, you need mental recreation ; if your work is 
 mental, you need physical recreation. Manly pastimes 
 are to be found of both kinds. Amongst the former 
 are chess and some games with cards ; amongst the 
 latter, such outdoor sports as cricket, football, lacrosse, 
 cycling, and the gymnasium. Early manhood requires 
 the moral aid of absorbing pastimes, especially such 
 as give vent to the animal spirits of youth, and help 
 to subdue its passions. 
 
 Let us put to you concisely and frankly what we 
 desire to advise : 
 
 I. Young men should find one or more smart, manly 
 young fellows with whom to associate for purposes of 
 society and recreation. Above all, be judicious in 
 your choice of a girl companion ; a good wife is the 
 highest prize a man can win ; but do not be led away 
 
 ( '36)
 
 by the fascinations of a dressy, giddy girl, who has no 
 backbone of character. Such a one will soon cease to 
 be a companion ; you would then crave and seek other 
 society ; habits of drinking and gambling and worse 
 often ensue ; and we have seen again and again manly 
 and honourable young men fall step by step, until 
 at last they stand before the magistrate for disor- 
 derly conduct or neglect of home. Noble friendships 
 strengthen the heart in virtue, i.e., in valour or man- 
 liness : evil friendships corrupt the soul. 
 
 II. Find time to read useful and good books ; make 
 companions of them. They will be an unfailing source 
 of strength to you in any position of life you may be 
 called to occupyc 
 
 III. Be scrupulous in all points of honour. Never 
 do a girl a wrong, nor trifle with her affections ; be 
 true and loyal in friendship ; honourable in all your 
 service, industrious and truthful. In business, be 
 accurate in your statements, do not exaggerate with 
 regard to anything you may have to sell. We have 
 always said that a man who tells a lie is wanting in 
 brain power ; if he cannot conduct a case in court, 
 transact business in the office, or sell goods at the 
 counter without telling falsehoods, he is not possessed 
 of the qualifications needful for the position he holds ; 
 there should be no dallying with the question of 
 truth. To resort to falsehood is to make a confession 
 of weakness. Take the case of a young man of moder- 
 ately good education, who does not read a good
 
 solid book in twelve months, and who consequently 
 is doing little to mature his mind, widen his judg- 
 ment, and increase his knowledge of men and things. 
 He is placed by the side of a well-educated young 
 fellow who is constantly developing his intellectual 
 powers. The latter carries through his work with 
 success and confidence ; the former, however, is con- 
 scious of comparative failure ; he is anxious to be the 
 equal of the man of trained mind, and resorts to lying 
 and deceit, making the excuse that he is driven to it 
 in order to do his trade and maintain his position. 
 The fact is, and it is a fact which will sooner or later 
 be made manifest, that he is wanting in capacity or 
 administrative ability, and he is left behind in the 
 race not only by the man \vho, like himself, had the 
 advantage of education, but by the man who has not 
 many words in his vocabulary, and who is painfully 
 conscious of the want of early education, yet who is 
 so sterling in character and so reliable in every way 
 that he commands the admiration of his customers 
 and of his employers and wins for himself a good 
 position. Of course, where education and ability 
 are combined with integrity, the man possessing all 
 these qualities rises to the highest position ; but it 
 is wisdom for every man, whatever his capabilities 
 and advantages, to be strictly truthful and honest, 
 remembering that honesty includes punctuality, faith- 
 ful service, and the use only of one's own and not 
 of another man's goods or time, and that truthfulness
 
 means saying what is strictly correct, and in the 
 clearest language you can command. The advice 
 said to have been given by an Oldham man to a 
 friend will bear repetition : " I have tried both sorts, 
 but I have found out that honesty is the best policy." 
 IV. Do not be carried away by false ambition. 
 There is a weak ambition, founded on conceit, which 
 greatly ensnares some young men. Many are exceed- 
 ingly anxious to be thought something they are not ; 
 they ape their superiors in habit and style of living. 
 From our own observation and frequent conversations 
 with men of experience, we have learned that disaster 
 often arises from this source. A young man gets into 
 a warehouse or office, and, after being there a few 
 years, is receiving a salary of, say, ^120 per annum. 
 He is acquainted with another young man in the 
 same house, perhaps a year or two his junior, receiv- 
 ing, it maybe, ^150 per annum. He feels himself 
 quite the latter's equal, possibly is so, and could have 
 filled the better position quite as ably if it had been 
 his good fortune to secure it. He is quite as popular 
 in the club, in the cricket or football field, and he is 
 desirous to appear just as well as the other; so he 
 must pay to this and subscribe to that, live in as 
 good apartments, smoke the same cigars, undergoing 
 all the expenses with his income of ^ 1 20 which cost 
 the other nearly the whole of his ^150. Instead of 
 studying the rule of three to find out what must be 
 the result, he only studies the rule of two, viz., his
 
 Wants and the source from which they are to be sup- 
 plied. He is not long before he finds a source of supply 
 in trifling thefts. His master will not voluntarily give 
 him more money ; he cannot borrow, and we believe 
 it is often under a sense of disappointment, and the 
 feeling that he has a right to a larger remuneration, 
 that the first robberies are committed. He grows in 
 boldness as he remains for a time undiscovered, only 
 to wake up to the discovery that there is a rule of 
 three, the third factor being the apportionment of 
 justice by the magistrate. Have patience and wait. 
 Keep company with young men of intelligence and 
 character, whose pleasure is in reasonable and inex- 
 pensive recreation. By all means seek recreation ; 
 take part in athletic games, which will help to make 
 better men of you in every sense ; but live within your 
 position and means. Don't ape the great, but aim at 
 it ; and if you have brain-power, tact, and energy, 
 you will reach your goal. It would be well if every 
 young man in this city would honestly consider his 
 position. If you are the son of a merchant or pro- 
 fessional man, and have the capacity of your father, 
 do you labour as he laboured ? Do you give the time 
 and attention, and bestow the amount of thought 
 upon your calling that he has done ? If so your 
 future is secure. But if you have less ability, are 
 morose, wanting in urbanity, are given to tall talk, 
 and give three or four hours a day to your duties 
 where your father gave ten, then the result will be 
 
 ( 140 )
 
 the want of success, which it is fair and just to 
 expect. There are always about you industrious, 
 aspiring young men, fired by a worthy ambition 
 to excel, who are capable of stepping into your 
 place. You have the start of them, and if you 
 avail yourselves ot it, you will retain the lead 
 and win the regard of all ; but if you throw the posi- 
 tion away, do not blame your successor, the fault is 
 your own. 
 
 The only safe course is to accept cheerfully your 
 present position, and determine that you will only 
 move out of it by dint of industry and application. 
 Happiness is the lot of the man who lives within his 
 income and manfully accepts his position in life, seek- 
 ing to improve himself that he may be ready for the 
 day of greater things. There are thousands of men 
 in this city earning from twenty-five to fifty shillings 
 a week, who have more real domestic and personal 
 enjoyment, who are more respected and have a higher 
 reputation amongst their equals and amongst men in 
 higher stations than themselves, than the thousands 
 who receive larger incomes and make the spend- 
 thrift's use of them. We do not say, of course, that 
 poverty is a blessing, but integrity and moderation 
 are. He has not touched the first rung of the ladder 
 which leads to an honourable position and to a 
 strong and manly life, who speaks to his fellow- 
 salesman or clerk as a member of the goody-goody 
 class because he prefers to go to a lecture or to class-
 
 work, instead of to the club to play billiards or to the 
 theatre or hotel for the evening. 
 
 V. There is a pride which is a serious hindrance 
 to many youths. Fresh from successes at school or 
 indulgence at home, they think their capacity is con- 
 siderably above the average, and that they should not 
 be called upon to do any work that seems drudgery 
 to them. Now, this drudgery is part of the training 
 for business life, and an essential part. Nobody can 
 fill the higher positions well who has not learned to 
 fill the lower. He cannot understand with the same 
 clearness how the work of the subordinates should be 
 done, nor can he confer on them the benefit of raising 
 them to great proficiency. 
 
 The same kind of pride impels some to seek posi- 
 tions for which they are totally unqualified. One 
 would not stifle any true, energetic purpose ; but 
 many young men do seriously miss their calling, and 
 fall into grievous trouble, in which unfortunately 
 others are involved. It is a mark of instability and 
 must end in ruinous consequences for a youth to 
 decline to take the advice of those who have experi- 
 enced the arduousness of life, and seen the inevitable 
 fate of vain, incompetent men. 
 
 A true magnanimity can only grow up in the 
 modest, self-contained man. To over-rate one's self 
 and under-rate one's fellow- worker greatly mars a life, 
 and it is a source of blindness as to elements of weak- 
 ness in one's self and strength in others. The failure
 
 to see another's merit is blindness to merit ; failure 
 to recognise one's own defects is one of its most 
 baneful results. 
 
 VI- Allow us now to indicate one or two of the 
 dangers which arise from the temptations besetting 
 the lives of the young men of to-day. We refer to 
 smoking, drinking, and gambling. All young people 
 should abstain from intoxicating drinks and from 
 tobacco, at least until they are matured both in 
 physical powers and in judgment say, until they 
 are twenty-three or twenty-four ; after that period 
 everyone should be able to exercise restraint over him- 
 self, and probably will be able if untainted by early 
 habit. We have not the slightest desire to dictate, 
 being in no sense a fanatic, and having no wish to 
 curtail young men's legitimate pleasures ; but to our 
 certain knowledge many young men indulge in these 
 habits who cannot afford to do so, and who have to 
 deny themselves the means of education, decent 
 clothing, and in some cases even proper food. These 
 habits often lead on to other modes of expenditure 
 quite inimical to their interests, and many have con- 
 fessed to us that they have started on a downward 
 path by smoking and just taking a glass with a friend. 
 Again and again we pass in the streets the wrecks of 
 once respectable young people whom we have known 
 in business. 
 
 The following figures are very striking, showing 
 the number of years men of given ages are expected
 
 to live according as they are temperate or intem- 
 perate : 
 
 Years of age. Temperate. Intemperate. 
 
 20 . . . 44 . . .15 
 
 30 . . . 36 . . .13 
 
 40 . . . 28 . . .II 
 
 5O . . . 21 . . .IO 
 
 60 . . . 14 . . .6 
 
 A question on which we feel very strongly is that 
 of gambling and its increasing prevalence. Again, 
 the writer would say, in order that he be not mis- 
 understood, that he believes in the necessity for 
 amusement and exercise as a means of recreation for 
 young people. It has come under our observation 
 for some years that a good athlete generally turns 
 out a good man in whatever calling ; and one of our 
 medical men once said, " Let us see what sort of hips 
 and thighs a lad has, never mind his head ; I want to 
 see physical power." It is no less true that the 
 young of both sexes need games for their employment 
 during winter evenings ; some prefer billiards, others 
 chess, others dice, dominoes, draughts, or cards. 
 One can have no objection to these as games, but 
 there is much that is to be condemned in playing for 
 money. Why the first question, when a game is 
 decided upon, should be, " What shall we play for ? " 
 and why the remark should be so often heard, " I 
 cannot play well unless I have something at stake," 
 we cannot understand. It is simply a habit, and one 
 that often leads to great mischief. We regard gam-
 
 bling in every form as unmanly, unreasonable, and 
 ungodly. We regard gambling as unmanly, because 
 it is necessarily enfeebling in its effects upon the will. 
 "The man who 'has a bet on ' is, in many cases, a 
 purely passive spectator of the rise and fall of his 
 fortunes, so soon as ever his bet is made. Unless he 
 descend to dishonourable practices a possibility too 
 mean to be now entered into he has nothing to 
 do but to await the issue and accept it. Nothing 
 can be more enfeebling to the will than this self- 
 imposed passivity. The man is teaching himself to 
 depend on luck, whereas the active pursuit of ends, 
 whether by plodding or pushing, is the mark of the 
 energetic will. A strong man always has a strong 
 hand in the determining of his own fortunes. A dis- 
 tinction holds in some sense between games of skill 
 for chance and mere speculation, but in so far as 
 gambling leads men away from the paths of labour 
 which support themselves, minister to their strength 
 of character and serve others, the practice is un- 
 manly." 
 
 Mr. S. Laing, in his work on Modern Science and 
 Thought, says : "Perhaps the commonest of all delu- 
 sions is that of being born under a lucky star. A 
 man gambles, bets, or speculates because he thinks 
 he is lucky and sure to win. Now, there is in reality 
 no such thing as luck; it is all a question of averages. 
 The only approach to what may be called luck is that 
 a fool will probably have more of it than a wise man, 
 
 ( '45 )
 
 for as the fool foresees nothing, whenever fortune's 
 die turns up in his favour, he sets it down to luck; 
 while the wise man, who has schemed and worked 
 for the event, calls it foresight. But the actual aver.- 
 age of events which depend entirely on chance will 
 be the same. 
 
 " If a man plays at rouge et noir, with one chance in 
 a hundred in favour of the bank, it is certain that if 
 he plays often enough he will lose his capital once 
 at least for every hundred times he plays ; or if he 
 speculates on the Stock Exchange, the turn of the 
 market and brokers' commission will in the long run 
 certainly swallow up his original capital. And yet 
 men will gamble and speculate because they cannot 
 resist the pleasing illusion that they are lucky, and 
 that it would be very nice to win a large stake with' 
 out having had to work for it." 
 
 Betting on horses is the most serious form of gam- 
 bling that comes under our observation. We have 
 seen and heard so much of this practice and its effects, 
 that our horror of it exceeds anything that we can 
 express in words. If we could reach the eye, or ear, 
 or the understanding of the young men of this city, 
 we would earnestly appeal to them to avoid it ; the 
 way of the gambler is bestrewed with sorrow and 
 anxiety, and generally ends in great distress to him- 
 self and family. We could give numerous instances 
 of a most painful character where young men, feeling 
 themselves bound by this so-called " debt of honour," 
 
 ( H 6 )
 
 have robbed their employers, lost character and situa- 
 tion, and blasted the proud hopes of good parents. 
 We know there are some men who indulge in the 
 practice in a small and comparatively innocent form 
 and get no particular harm, but these are the excep- 
 tions ; and the great fact holds that we have no right 
 to get another person's money without giving that quid 
 pro quo in some shape, and the cultivation of the habit 
 leads in numberless cases to ruin. This in itself 
 proves the unreasonableness of the practice ; but the 
 very basis of gambling, and especially of betting, is 
 an irrational one, and this because a profit is made^ 
 when it is made, not out of knowledge but out of 
 ignorance. In all rational pursuit of wealth the 
 chances for all increase as the knowledge of all 
 widens. Though the capitalist and labouring classes 
 are often regarded and spoken of as competing the 
 one against the other for their share of the produce 
 of industry, it is none the less true that each is richer 
 by the other's knowledge. The wider the information 
 of the master, the keener his foresight, and the surer 
 his grasp of manufacturing and commercial principles, 
 the better captained and the better paid his men. 
 The more thorough the education, both general and 
 technical, and the greater the knowledge and mental 
 powers of the employe, the higher is his value to his 
 master. In every rational and healthy pursuit of 
 wealth, the knowledge of one becomes the benefit of 
 all. In gambling, the reverse is the case. Ignorance 
 
 ( M7 )
 
 is capitalised. What the bookmaker or private 
 betting man depends upon is not the knowledge, but 
 the ignorance of his client or victim, as one may 
 prefer to call him. Of course, there are two parties 
 to a bet, each willingly entering into it ; and the 
 same is true of either party, each is hoping to profit 
 by the other's ignorance. The fact that most bets 
 take the form of " odds against," offered and taken, 
 shows that a certain quantity of ignorance in one 
 mind is pitted against an equal, less a greater quantity 
 of ignorance in another mind. Ben Brierley, writing 
 in the Manchester Guardian upon " gradely folk," 
 gives a definition of " lump-yeads." This " term/' 
 he says, "was wont to be applied to young bar-parlour 
 men who read nothing but sporting papers, who pre- 
 tended to know everything, but knew nothing except 
 how to silence modest intelligence by the offer of a 
 bet." The term " lump-yead," coupled with the 
 definition of it, shows that Ben Brierley regards the 
 practice as irrational. 
 
 Certainly the practice is ungodly, for it is intensely 
 selfish. The winner only profits by another's loss. If 
 life seems slow, look around you, and, in addition to 
 many healthy modes of physical enjoyment, you will 
 find opportunity for the exercise of your mental 
 powers, and perchance in some such noble form as 
 the help of your fellows, instead of ministering to 
 their ruin. Learn, at least, to possess yourselves in 
 patience. Do not seek another's wealth. Toil man-
 
 fully for your living, and endeavour to improve your 
 circumstances. Hold yourselves independent of pity, 
 by being men of will and not creatures of chance. 
 Command respect by the creation of wealth rather 
 than the wresting it from another. 
 
 We only speak of young men's dangers in order, if 
 possible, to awaken your desires for a true and worthy 
 life. We would create an enthusiasm for great and 
 good things. Each man that is true in all his deal- 
 ings, magnanimous and unselfish, is a power for good 
 amongst his fellows. u A man," said Isaiah, " shall 
 be as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." 
 And any man who yields to the better impulses within 
 him may live nobly, doing his part in the world's up- 
 lifting. 
 
 No life 
 
 Can be pure in its purpose and strong in its strife, 
 And all life not be purer and stronger thereby. 
 
 Some time ago a gentleman called at a large house 
 in this city, asking if he could be supplied with goods 
 and could have credit for a certain amount, on the 
 usual trade terms, stating he was in business in such 
 a city, in a country far away across the waters which 
 it takes weeks to reach. Questions were put to him 
 as to his family connections, early training and ex- 
 perience, financial position, and the reasons why he 
 had left his native land and adopted the place in 
 which he now resides. He replied, "This is rather a 
 new experience you are putting me through, but it 
 
 ( 149 ) L
 
 will afford me pleasure to answer all your enquiries, 
 and I will give you a short narrative of my life, espe- 
 cially that part of it which has been spent abroad. 
 Not succeeding in this country as one would desire, 
 the ground being too well covered and occupied by 
 intelligent, pushing young men, who were like myself, 
 anxious to make a position. I had served my time to 
 the dry goods trade, and felt competent to take a 
 responsible situation. Finding the way difficult here, 
 I resolved to try my fortune on another shore. After 
 casting about and making enquiries I decided that 
 the country where my business is now conducted was, 
 on the whole, the best I could select. I bade adieu to 
 my family and friends and crossed the ocean, landing 
 at a large seaport town. Was in good health, had a 
 little money in my pocket, possessing fair average 
 abilities for the business in which I had so far been 
 engaged, called upon the various wholesale and retail 
 dealers, offering my services at a moderate salary. 
 Weeks passed by and no probability appeared of 
 finding occupation ; whatever report was given of 
 my experience, however low the salary offered to 
 be accepted, all seemed in vain. My patience was 
 severely tried ; my funds were getting smaller, but I 
 was determined not to return home. I started out one 
 morning resolute upon finding something, even if it 
 was carrying coals or wheeling a barrow. I had not 
 been out long before a paper in a window caught my 
 eyes, on which was written ' A bottler wanted.' 
 
 ( 'So)
 
 tittering the office I asked what kind of work a 
 bottler had to perform. The reply was prompt and 
 decisive, ' Bottling ale.' 'Can I see 'the Work, sir ?' 
 Reply: 'Yes, if you open the door before you.' 
 Opening the door, saw a number of men and youths 
 all vigorously engaged bottling ale. Then immedi- 
 ately returned to the office, and said to the gentleman 
 * I have seen the work. What are the wages ? ' He 
 replied, 'Twenty-four shillings per week.' I expressed 
 my willingness to accept the situation, feeling sure I 
 could do it well, after a day's practice. An engage- 
 ment was made, and for some months I diligently 
 followed my new occupation. One day a junior was 
 larking, and threw a half-pint bottle at another youth. 
 It missed him and passed through the window. It 
 was soon arranged that the square must be replaced. 
 A plumber was sent for, and I watched the operation 
 of taking out the remaining part of the old glass and 
 the putting in of the new square. When it was done, 
 enquired of the man what he would charge. He 
 named the price, and I then asked what was the cost 
 of the diamond with which he cut the glass. He told 
 me, and also the cost of the glass and putty. The 
 profit seemed to me very large. It was quite clear, 
 if a fair amount of work could be found it was a 
 vastly better - paying business than bottling ale. 
 Having thought this over a few days, I called upon 
 a large plumber and got all particulars as to the cost 
 of the glass, putty, diamond, &c., which would be
 
 required to start a man in a small way. After a good 
 many experiments, became confident I could do the 
 work satisfactorily, and having money enough in my 
 possession to enable me to make the start, I left my 
 situation, determining to leave the coast and work up 
 country, calling upon shopkeepers, at private houses, 
 and farmhouses, putting in squares, where they had 
 broken ones, at a moderate price. My stock was 
 soon used up, and had to be replenished on a rather 
 larger scale. This was repeated again and again, 
 until I found myself a little better off. Then I thought 
 if I could find a decent town where there was room 
 for a new trader, it would be well to see if I could not 
 make a start in business premises of my own instead 
 of tramping the country. Shortly after that I met 
 with a place which seemed everything I could desire. 
 Returned to the city, stated to a large wholesale 
 store what I had seen, named the extent of my 
 capital, and asked if they would supply me with 
 sufficient goods to open the store, on which they 
 could have any security they liked, and I would see 
 them with full particulars at fixed times, and feeling 
 sure they would find me a good customer. The pro- 
 posal was considered. In due time I was allowed to 
 select the necessary stock, and I returned to my new 
 home, which was to be my centre of action for the 
 future. Then I opened the store, and succeeded in 
 winning the confidence of the people in and around 
 the town. I gradually extended the size of the store, 
 
 ( 152 )
 
 increased the quantity and variety of goods, and now 
 I am free from all liability; have a large, general 
 stock ; and (taking a book out of his breast pocket) 
 now have that amount to my credit, in my bankers' 
 hands, viz., 10,000, which I should like you to get 
 confirmed by writing to my bankers, or their agents 
 in London." The statement as to capital and char- 
 acter was fully endorsed. To the mind of the present 
 writer this is an interesting record of what can be 
 accomplished by a man who is resolute in working 
 his own way and fighting his own battle in life.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF MR. JOHN WADE. 
 
 I MONGST the many remarkable men we have 
 met, during our sojourn in this city, was a 
 Mr. Wade. His first entry into Manchester 
 was made as a drover, bringing a number of 
 cattle from Yorkshire to a butcher in this city. 
 Something in his manner arrested the attention 
 of the butcher, who said to him, as he was about to 
 return, " Young man, have you engaged to go back 
 immediately r " " No, sir, I am in no hurry," was 
 the reply. " Well, then, stop here a few days ; I 
 am in need of a helper, and have work to do for 
 which I think you are well fitted." 
 
 He remained, and did his work so well that at the 
 close of the first week his master said to him, " I see 
 you will suit me, and should like you to stay awhile. 
 I will give you so much wages." The offer was 
 accepted and the work entered upon at once. During 
 the first week, the master spoke to his new employe 
 about his interest as a sabbath school scholar, and 
 said, "I see you are a steady young man, and I 
 should like you to go to the chapel we attend and
 
 also to the Sunday school, in which my daughter and 
 I take a deep interest." 
 
 John Wade replied, "I am sorry to say I can 
 neither read nor write." 
 
 " Never mind, you can go to the young men's class, 
 and you will find the teacher a very kind and agree- 
 able man." 
 
 He consented ; but on entering the school the 
 superintendent, seeing he was a fine, manly fellow 
 (he stood five feet ten or eleven inches, and was well 
 built), at once asked him to take charge of a class ot 
 which the teacher was unavoidably absent that after- 
 noon. This was more that the young man had 
 expected. 
 
 " Oh," said he, " you must excuse me, I am not 
 used to teaching." 
 
 " Never mind, you will easily manage a lot of nice 
 little fellows like these." 
 
 The young man was too proud to expose his 
 ignorance, and determined to try and do his best. 
 He would watch the next teacher's movements, and, 
 .as far as possible, would copy them ; besides, he 
 remembered that his master had explained to him 
 how the class in which he was to have been placed 
 was conducted, so he sat down among the boys. One 
 of the lads remarked, " Our teacher is going through 
 the gospel of St. John, and we are at such a chapter;" 
 and they all turned at once to the place. Meantime, 
 John had opened his testament, but unfortunately at 
 
 (.155 )
 
 the wrong part, which the nearest lad saw in a 
 moment, and called attention to the fact. "Yes, yes," 
 he said, " you are younger than I, I will take your 
 book." The exchange was made, and they began to 
 read. The third boy stumbled at a word and looked 
 to the teacher for assistance. Without exhibiting for 
 a moment his incapacity, he at once realised his 
 position, and turning to the fourth boy said, in a 
 cheerful voice, " Now, my lad, always be ready to 
 help your neighbour." By adopting this plan the 
 whole of the chapter was safely got through, but not 
 in much comfort on John's part. Every moment he 
 had been growing warmer, a fact which became 
 plainly visible in his face ; his discomfort being, no 
 doubt, intensified by the unusual confinement in a 
 well-filled room, and by his attire, so very different 
 from that to which he was accustomed. Part of this 
 had been provided for him from his master's ward- 
 robe, and part bought at a second-hand clothes shop. 
 In spite of his misery, however, John tried to follow 
 the example of the teachers round him, and talked to 
 the boys until the bell rang and teaching ceased. 
 An address was then delivered, after which the 
 school closed, very much to the joy of the new 
 teacher, who had more than once promised himself, 
 " no one should catch him there again." 
 
 Being questioned on his return as to his success, 
 he told them his experience, and the torture he had 
 gone through, adding, " I shall never be caught in
 
 that position again ; I will go to the chapel, but no 
 more school for me, thank you ; at any rate, not at 
 present." " Oh, don't say so," returned the master. 
 " I will tell you what we can do. We shall know the 
 chapter to be read in the young men's class, and we 
 will read it over every morning and night this week ; 
 when I cannot afford the time, my daughter shall 
 read it with you, and explain as much as possible. 
 In a week you will have nearly learned it by heart, 
 and know it quite well enough, at any rate, to take 
 your place in the class. Do, I beg, go again ; if not 
 in a week, say, in a fortnight." The latter was 
 promised, the effort was made, and he acquired 
 sufficient confidence to continue. The reading and 
 explanation at home went on for some time, the 
 progress being so marked that he was soon able to 
 render considerable help, both at the chapel and as 
 a teacher in the school, to both of which he gave 
 generously out of his earnings. Meantime, his mani- 
 fest business ability had secured the warmest approval 
 of the master and his wife. It was soon discovered 
 by the former that the teaching and reading of his 
 daughter were more appreciated than his own, and 
 that she, on her part, never found the time devoted 
 to it too long or the task inconvenient, but was 
 always ready each evening to give the required assis- 
 tance. So one day John called his employer aside, 
 and said that " his daughter Sarah had not only been 
 very successful in giving him lessons for the school, 
 
 ( 1 S7 )
 
 but had also, at the same time, won his affections, 
 and they had mutually agreed that, with her father 
 and mother's approval, they should be married." 
 After due consideration, the consent was given, and 
 the two were very soon united. They had not been 
 married long before John saw that his father-in-law 
 was in difficulties. He could not, as in days gone by, 
 go into the market, and buy, paying ready money for 
 his cattle. Being questioned on the matter, he dis- 
 closed to his son-in-law the fact of his insolvency. 
 John replied, " Don't say a word to anyone. I have 
 saved 120 since entering your service, and that, it 
 properly managed, will be quite sufficient to restore 
 your position in the market. I will take charge of 
 the business, only give me your confidence, let me 
 take my own way, and we will soon put all right 
 again." This was agreed upon, and then John, 
 whom in future we must call Mr. Wade, went to his 
 wife, told her what had passed, and said, " Now, we 
 must for a few years exercise the strictest economy. 
 What do you think we can manage the house upon, 
 to cover all expenses, except rent and rates r " She 
 thought the matter over carefully and named an 
 amount. " Very well," he said, " you shall have 
 that sum weekly." Mr. Wade continued persever- 
 ingly and energetically to push the business, which 
 increased every year, and the father lived to see and 
 enjoy not only the old position of financial ease and 
 comfort, but to see his son-in-law accumulating a 
 
 ( 158 )
 
 fortune. During these few years, the thrifty young 
 wife, who had all along silently borne the grief, which 
 a true child was sure to feel at the reverse of fortune 
 which had overtaken her parents, had been saving 
 every shilling she could, until she had accumulated 
 120. One morning she came into the sitting-room, 
 saying, "John, see!" at the same time pouring out 
 of a bag ;i20 in gold, with the remark, "I have 
 saved this out of the money you have given me for 
 housekeeping ; this pays my father's debt, does it 
 not ? " He looked at her, but his heart was too full 
 to speak. Years after, when he was advanced in life, 
 the strong man wept as he related this to me. On 
 Sunday, he and his wife and servant always went to 
 chapel, locking up the house. Having money always 
 on the premises, he felt it was his duty to give any 
 person, who might break in, as much trouble as 
 possible to find it. Therefore, every Saturday night, 
 he put the notes and loose cash in a bag, one week 
 placing this under a mattress, the next in a wardrobe, 
 so varying its hiding-place every time. On one occa- 
 sion he thought he would conceal it under the fire- 
 place, as far back as possible. It so happened, that 
 particular evening, there was an extra service at 
 chapel, to which Mr. and Mrs. Wade remained, the 
 latter telling the servant to go home and light a fire 
 in the sitting-room, as it was rather cold. She did 
 so. On their return, Mr. Wade at once caught sight 
 of the fire, and, remembering the money, he rushecj 
 
 I J 59 )
 
 to the grate, and dragged from beneath the still 
 unburnt bag, all safe. Shortly after this, to his great 
 sorrow, his beloved wife was prostrated by a severe 
 and fatal illness. After her death he retired from 
 business, investing his capital in various ways, in- 
 cluding house and shop property. He made his will, 
 appointing several well-known gentlemen in the 
 city as executors, and, having no children of his own, 
 left his property, which was very considerable, to 
 various charities and educational institutions. Shortly 
 after he sent for me, and expressed his extreme annoy- 
 ance at the treatment he had received from a gentle- 
 man connected with one of these institutions, who 
 ought not to have been guilty of such indiscretions as 
 were repeated to me. The result was, the first will 
 was destroyed, and' another made, leaving the pro- 
 perty to a large number of nephews and nieces, 
 many of whom he had never seen. . 
 
 Though uncultured, not having had the blessing of 
 a good education and training, such as many have, he 
 was, nevertheless, as fine in spirit and purpose as in 
 personal appearance, and though in common with 
 all human beings he had faults, he had many high 
 qualities. He was keen, shrewd, and far-seeing, yet 
 at the same time generous and helpful to many. Mr. 
 Wade had one peculiarity, he would never have re- 
 course to legal measures ; if his debtors would not 
 pay without the intervention of the law, the accounts 
 remained unpaid. From the day he entered Man- 
 
 ( 160 )
 
 Chester, without a decent coat or pair of shoes, to the 
 time of his death, when he was in comparatively 
 affluent circumstances, we never heard of his owing 
 any man a debt. He would keep no books, his busi- 
 ness was a cash one, and whatever advantages could 
 be secured by cash payments he was always prepared 
 to take. His career was in many respects a pattern. 
 Would that we had more young men like him ! Where 
 now are those who would be found willing to endure the 
 ordeal he passed through in his early Sunday school 
 labours ? He was a hero in his position, putting pride 
 completely aside, when by so doing he could secure 
 the improvement of his mind and the good of others. 
 One cannot but admire his action, when his father-in- 
 law's position became known to him, in laying down 
 his hard-earned money, and resolutely determining 
 by his own efforts to maintain the family honour, and 
 return in no stinted form the kindness the old gentle- 
 man had shown him, when he was a poor and com- 
 paratively destitute lad ; nay, the very opportunity, 
 as he told me, gave him great delight. We would 
 not conclude without one further word of praise for 
 his thrifty wife, who with pardonable pride desired to 
 save her father's good name by paying his debt out of 
 her own careful savings, the result of frugal manage- 
 ment.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 ADDRESSES. 
 
 RAILWAYS A CIVILISING FORCE. 
 
 -tiSlllf- WOULD remind you that you are living in 
 a town which is now widely known. The 
 rapid growth of the population of Crewe 
 during the last twenty or thirty years has 
 been remarkable, and it was only in just recog- 
 nition of its position amongst the thriving and 
 populous towns of the country that it was placed 
 on the list of municipal boroughs. The way in which 
 the members of the corporation had discharged the 
 important and responsible duties of their position had 
 shown the wisdom of this arrangement, and had re- 
 sulted in a new and improved state of things in the 
 borough. We are favoured this evening with the 
 presence of your chief magistrate, and you will, I am 
 sure, join with me in giving him a hearty welcome. 
 The great railway company which gives employment 
 to so large a portion of the population of Crewe is 
 deserving of our highest appreciation ; but we must 
 not forget the other firms and companies who, seeing 
 the character of the Crewe people, and knowing that 
 there was a large number of unemployed females, 
 
 ( 162 )
 
 had come and established places of business in their 
 midst, finding occupation for those who would other- 
 wise have led comparatively useless lives, and in 
 many cases have been a burden to their parents and 
 families. It is also pleasing to hear from those 
 amongst you who are capable of forming an accurate 
 judgment that, apart from trade and its immediate 
 surroundings, there are many signs of progress to be 
 found in your institutions, both literary, scientific, 
 and political, and, I may add, religious also. This 
 development will, I hope, be more manifest as years 
 roll on ; and I trust that you will rise still higher in 
 the social scale, and become a centre of light and 
 power in the county of Chester. You will pardon me 
 now if, for a short time, I refer to a matter which 
 affects the trades, both wholesale and retail, of all 
 towns, namely, the carriage of parcels by post and by 
 passenger trains. Your worthy mayor will at once 
 see the importance of the effort we are making to 
 secure a postal service to all parts of the empire, 
 taking parcels up to four pounds weight for a small 
 charge. Some say we should press for seven pounds, 
 but at present we are aiming at four pounds only ; 
 and if this is secured it will be found an immense 
 boon to all parties. Then we shall go to the railway 
 companies and ask them to grant a concession, and 
 allow parcels up to twenty-eight pounds to be sent by 
 passenger trains at a low charge, according to dis- 
 tance. From careful inquiry, we feel convinced that 
 
 ( 163 )
 
 the result will be a great advantage to the railways, 
 and a great help to traders throughout the kingdom. 
 We appeal to the railway companies to meet this just 
 and business-like request. We must remember that 
 railways are in a sense a monopoly. They 'are not 
 simply to be looked upon as dividend-making institu- 
 tions. They are great factors in the development of 
 our national life. They are essential to our position 
 if we are to maintain our commercial standing. Nay, 
 more, the supplying of the very needs of the people, 
 socially and mentally, depends largely upon them. 
 The changes which the introduction of the railway 
 system has wrought in this country cannot be stated 
 or estimated. The current of thought is changed, the 
 habits and customs of the people are improved, the 
 style of dress, aye, and even the very language of our 
 rural population have been materially altered. Now- 
 a-days you do not ask men how they can move this or 
 that weight of material ; but what it will cost, and 
 which is the best company to send it by. You do not 
 ask the distance from town to town ; but how long 
 will it take by such a train. We do not discuss about 
 the time when we shall be able to see such and such a 
 book or paper ; but it is ordered to be here or there in 
 the morning'. The railways are in this and also in 
 other ways a great civilising force. They have done 
 in large measure in India what all the talking of 
 sages and good men could not have effected in a 
 century, they have helped to break down caste. Men 
 
 ( 164 )
 
 of different castes, who used to walk apart from each 
 other, as far apart as the width of the street, and 
 would not meet in any room, now rub together as 
 they get their railway tickets, and, to save the differ- 
 ence between first and third class fares, will all ride 
 together third class. They have found out that it 
 makes no difference to them morally or physically ; 
 that they are just the same whether they touch each 
 other or not ; and so, in a while, it is to be hoped 
 that they will, by receiving further light, discover 
 that they have one common father and one common 
 home above. Much more might be said if time would 
 permit, but I will not detain you further. The rail- 
 ways should be deemed to be on a higher platform 
 than ordinary business ventures; the public wants 
 should be consulted, every convenience consistent 
 with justice and reason should be afforded, and the 
 request now put forward is certainly within their 
 power to grant ; and the granting the same would 
 add one more-to the many wise and prudent changes 
 that have been made for the general good. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 NANTWICH AND ITS BATHS. 
 
 My friends, In the name of Messrs. Rylands' firm, 
 I have again the pleasure of wishing you a happy new 
 year. Another point in our history has been reached, 
 
 ( I6 5 ) M
 
 and if we look back upon the year past it must be to 
 find out the weak points and see how and where we 
 can improve them. At the commencement of the year 
 many promises were made and many hopes cherished, 
 and we confess some of them have not been realised ; 
 still if we were individually brought to the test, though 
 we should speak of some dark days, we should also 
 remember we have had "joys." If there have been 
 fierce fightings, there has also been a season of peace 
 and rest ; and as we turn our faces now to the future, 
 let it be with good heart. Let us play the man, and 
 go on in hope and confidence. I have twice had the 
 pleasure of visiting your neighbouring town of Nant- 
 wich, on the last occasion in company with a gentle- 
 man who, like myself, had a desire to know more of 
 the town and district, and also to ascertain, if possible 
 by personal experience, the effects of the brine baths, 
 about which we had heard and read much. Before 
 referring more definitely to the baths, allow me to say 
 a few words about the town. Nantwich has a popula- 
 tion of about seven thousand, and is situated on the 
 banks of the Weaver, four miles from Crewe, on the 
 Shrewsbury line of the London and North-Western 
 Railway. It is the centre of an interesting group of 
 fine old family mansions occupied by persons of dis- 
 tinction. These are Crewe Hall, Beeston Castle, 
 Peckforton Castle, and Combermere Abbey. The 
 latter has become famous in recent years by its having 
 been made the residence during the hunting season 
 
 ( 166 )
 
 of the Empress of Austria. Leland says : " In the 
 reign of Henry VIII. there were three hundred salt 
 mines open in Nantwich, but in the early part of the 
 seventeenth century they were greatly reduced in 
 number. Other and superior pits were opened in the 
 vale of the Weaver, and having the advantage of 
 water carriage, caused a continuous decline of the 
 Nantwich pits, and ultimately they were abandoned." 
 In reading the history of Cheshire, I was much sur- 
 prised to find that in the reign of Henry I., in 1113 
 the town was laid waste by the Welsh ; and again, in 
 1282, King Edward had necessity laid upon him to 
 protect the corn and provisions of the inhabitants 
 against a further approach of the Welsh army. In 
 1438 the town was consumed by fire, and again in 
 1583. On the loth December it chanced, as it is 
 expressed in the parish register, " that a most terrible 
 and vehement fyre, beginning at the Water Lode 
 about six of the clock at night, in a kitchen by. brew- 
 ing, the wynde being very boysterouse increased the 
 said fyre, which verie vehementlie burned and con- 
 sumed in the space of 1 5 hours six hundred bayes of 
 buildings, and could not be stayed neither by laboure 
 nor pollice, which I thought good to commend tc 
 posterity as a favourable punishment of the Almightie 
 in destroying the buildings and goods onlie ; by God's 
 mercie but onlie two persons perished by fyre." In 
 the year 1585 another entry was. made in the parish 
 register, which runs thus: "This year "passed youre 
 
 ,/ id- )
 
 most noble Queen Elizabeth (whom God long pre- 
 serve), of her royal and princelie bountie, granted a 
 commission under her own hand to make a general 
 collection throughout all the realm of England for 
 the re-edyfying of this town of Nantwich, which 
 liberalise was collected in the year aforesaid, and this 
 year folio winge, the Queen contributing ,2,000 
 herself, together with the necessary timber from the 
 Delamere forests, and a number of the houses then 
 erected remain to this day." I wonder whether any- 
 one in the year 2184, speaking about Crewe and its 
 past history, will be able to point to houses erected at 
 this date 1885 as still existing. I trow not. In 
 1587 the town was visited with a kind of " frenzie or 
 mad ague." The old town seems to have had a series 
 of troubles in the shape of plague, fire, and pestilence, 
 but it survived them all. At one time it was an im- 
 portant garrison, and was always loyal and firm in 
 its devotion to Parliament. There are a number of 
 interesting old buildings which I cannot stay now to 
 describe, but I must make reference to the grand old 
 church. It is a structure in the Gothic-Decorated 
 style of architecture, with a fine octagonal tower 
 rising from the centre. Passing some good business 
 premises, which would do credit to many principal 
 streets in our large towns, we came to High Street, 
 and at the lower and extreme end adjoining the river 
 we found the Town Hall a large and somewhat 
 handsome building, at the back of which the brine 
 
 ( 168 )
 
 baths are situated. Going through the hall, which 
 seems to be used for a variety of purposes, we entered 
 the bath buildings. The town, as I have already 
 stated, is pleasantly situated, surrounded by many 
 places of interest easily reached on foot by pedestrians 
 or visited in short drives, and would, therefore, to our 
 minds, warrant an effort being made to accommodate 
 individuals or families wishing for temporary resi- 
 dences to secure the benefit of the baths. The building 
 known, as the town hall could be adapted to the 
 purpose with a moderate outlay, and if I may be 
 pardoned for making a suggestion, it would be that 
 the company should enlarge with the understanding 
 that after all proper expenses are paid and five per 
 cent, per annum given to the shareholders, the residue, 
 if any, should be handed over, under the direction of 
 the shareholders through the board of directors, to the 
 various charities of the town such as now exist or may 
 hereafter be established for the education and the 
 moral and social improvement of the people. Of 
 course, I am assuming it would be a fully-licensed 
 hotel, but it being no profit to the proprietors to push 
 the sale of wine and spirits, I apprehend they would 
 be little used. As to the effect of the brine baths I 
 cannot speak from personal experience, but if I may 
 express an opinion formed upon what I have read of 
 the Nantwich, Droitwich, and other brine baths, their 
 curative qualities must be very unmistakeable. One 
 of our medical gentlemen says we have only to turn 
 
 ( 169 )
 
 over the leaves in the book of nature, and there we 
 shall find a remedy for every ailment, an antidote for 
 every poison. The time, he says, is fast approaching 
 when the use of drugs will almost die away, "and the 
 various medicine given for different diseases will be 
 to a great extent supplanted by the use of brine baths, 
 diet, and hygiene. These baths, they say, will cure 
 almost all diseases to which poor humanity is liable. 
 In his extreme anxiety to enforce this fact, one doctor 
 in a pamphlet which I read cries out in a sort of 
 agony, "Oh, that the muse of some departed orator 
 would inspire my pen so that the emphasis I lay upon 
 the great value of Nantwich brine might be accepted " ; 
 and then he goes on to say in reference to cholera, 
 the frightful disease which has been so devastating 
 the Continent during the year just closed, "When I 
 have tried almost every medicine and failed, so surely 
 dp tepid brine baths act as an almost certain cure." 
 It was the extraordinary cures effected by taking 
 several cholera cases to the saltworks and placing the 
 patients in the hot brine that led to the establishment 
 of brine baths at Droitwich, which have been of 
 gradual but sure growth since that period. A cor- 
 respondent of the Daily Chronicle writing on this 
 subject says, " It is much too simple for some of the 
 medical men to believe in it ; when their medicine 
 fails they send their patients to Homburg and Weis- 
 baden. Why, are not the waters of Abana and 
 Pharpar far better than Jordan ? " Of course, they
 
 must go to Germany and France. Nantvvich and 
 Droitwich are only a few hours from London, and less 
 from the great centres of Lancashire and Yorkshire. 
 But the friends at Nantwich and Droitwich must not 
 be disheartened. They will gain popularity and 
 success by the report of those who have found relief 
 from their afflictions. There remains one other and 
 the crowning virtue of brine baths which you people 
 of Crewe and we of Manchester will find the most 
 important addition to our present character, influence, 
 and future usefulness. One good doctor says they 
 strengthen the backbone. I don't know whether 
 your friends at Crewe suffer much from want of 
 backbone, but I tell you unhesitatingly there are 
 many in our city who do, and I urge them one and 
 all to visit the Brine Baths at Nantwich at the earliest 
 possible period, for depend upon it if the present 
 competition continues we shall not only want a new 
 stimulus to our frames, but we shall also require more 
 moral backbone, and I may add a wider and better 
 knowledge of geography to discover new fields for 
 our enterprise, and more genius to devise new and 
 beautiful goods which shall win their way into the 
 various markets of the world against foreign competi- 
 tion. It has always been and I hope will continue a 
 characteristic of our firm that we keep abreast of the 
 times and meet the requirements of the trade in all 
 matters pertaining to textile manufacture and cloth- 
 ing. We have hitherto held the foremost position as
 
 cotton manufacturers. We own what we believe to 
 be the largest bleaching and finishing works in Great 
 Britain, probably in Europe. We could in a few days 
 encircle the globe with our productions. In calico, 
 in clothing, our output is very large ; in shirt fronts 
 and shirts almost incalculable. Altogether our em- 
 ployes number upward of eleven thousand. We say 
 to-night to you workpeople of Crewe, as to all our 
 assistants in London and elsewhere, "Work on cheer- 
 fully, as you have hitherto done, and help us in the 
 battle of competition, and enable us to maintain the 
 ground we have now and have so long and honourably 
 held in the front rank of the great commercial army." 
 Our two great mottoes and trade marks are u Hard to 
 beat," " Not the last." The latter of these is, as you 
 know, taken from Mr. Rylands' family crest, and 
 surely no words could be more appropriate as a 
 commercial motto ; but in other respects it is most 
 inappropriate, for he is the last surviving merchant 
 and manufacturer of the long list who started the race 
 with him. He has not only outrun them in the extent 
 of his business, but also in the length of days, and in 
 this he is a living example to us all to work hard and 
 live prudently. You will join me, I am sure, in wish- 
 ing he may be spared for some years yet. 
 
 < '72 )
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PRIZE DAY AT CHEADLE HULME ORPHAN SCHOOLS. 
 
 Mr. Spencer, after handing the prizes to the 
 scholars, gave a short address. He said he assumed 
 that the ladies and gentlemen present that afternoon 
 were very closely connected with this city. The 
 directors and managers of these noble schools were 
 all Manchester men. He was happy to state that the 
 movement for the education of the people had taken 
 a deep hold on the sympathy of our citizens. As a 
 father of a number of sons, he knew from experience 
 the cost of education in public schools, and, judging 
 from the excellent report, which showed the success 
 of many of the children of this great institution, he 
 took it that they would not be afraid to be tested 
 against most of the schools of front rank. He rejoiced 
 in their prosperous condition and healthy surround- 
 ings, but he could not refrain from the expression of 
 regret that there should be one person among the 
 higher class of Manchester warehousemen or clerks 
 who should be so forgetful of his important duty as to 
 neglect this grand opportunity for procuring at a 
 small cost the inestimable boon of education and pro- 
 tection here provided for his children should they 
 require them. He would remind the company and 
 all other people that the future of this country was 
 going to be very different to the past. The young 
 fellows who were now enjoying the wealth of their 
 fathers, and using their time for no practical purpose,
 
 would find society in a very altered condition twenty 
 or thirty years hence, and unless they realised their 
 responsibilities they would have to stand aside and let 
 the new life, the well-educated youth of to-day, go to 
 the front. The next generation or two would make 
 the ground very hard for idlers. He esteemed very 
 highly the intelligent men in all professions, but the 
 young people in these schools would for the most part 
 be thrown into the business world. He did not mean 
 Manchester warehouse life, about which there was a 
 foolish mania, but the various branches of business. 
 What was meant by being devoted to business ? Was 
 it, as some said, a hum-drum life ? He replied no. 
 Every intelligent faculty a man possessed could find 
 full scope in a business career, every truly philan- 
 thropic spirit, every moral instinct, every impulse of a 
 manly soul, could there find ample room for exercise. 
 Young people should have plenty of time for play, 
 and a fair time for the use of the tools in the shop of 
 the joiner or mechanic. He wished to warn them 
 with special reference to two things. In the first, he 
 would impress upon them the paramount importance 
 of truthfulness, and in the second to avoid gambling. 
 His opportunities for observation amongst young 
 people were very considerable, and he assured them 
 that the most horrible thing he knew of in connection 
 with Manchester was the habit of gambling, which 
 was carried on to an extent no one present had any 
 conception of. 
 
 ( 174 )
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 AFTER FIFTY YEARS. 
 
 ERCANTILE jubilees are not events of 
 !!& common occurrence in this strenuous and 
 exhausting age. Few men survive the 
 wear and tear of half a century's labour in the 
 fields of modern commerce, and most of those 
 upon whom fortune has smiled are well content 
 to lay aside ambition and seek the repose which 
 comes as" the acceptable reward of prosperous toil 
 long ere the span of their active business life has 
 compassed fifty years. The semi-centennial of a 
 commercial career in such a large and busy centre as 
 Manchester implies so much in the way of long-con- 
 tinued and arduous effort that it may well be termed 
 an almost unique experience ; and such an experi- 
 ence it is now our duty and our privilege to record in 
 connection with one of Manchester's most esteemed 
 and most successful merchants, Mr. Reuben Spencer, 
 whose career is biographically treated at the close 
 of this book. 
 
 Mr. Spencer entered the house of Messrs, Rylands 
 & Sons in 1847, a youth in his seventeenth year, and 
 there and then began that faithful and capable dis-
 
 charge of the duties assigned to him which gained 
 the approbation of his employer and secured his 
 steady and .continuous promotion. Step by step he 
 advanced from one position to another, until he was 
 at length invested with a power of attorney to act on 
 behalf of the firm. From this stage in his career, in 
 which he was for all practical purposes a partner, to 
 the next, in which he attained the full rights and 
 interests of partnership, was a natural and easy pro- 
 gression ; and later still we find him taking his place 
 among the Directors of Rylands & Sons, Limited, of 
 which Company he is the present Chairman. He 
 continues to take the liveliest interest in all the affairs 
 of this great concern, and it is a remarkable fact that 
 now, after fifty years of active and unremitting effort, 
 accompanied in an exceptional degree by material 
 prosperity and its attendant honours, Mr. Spencer 
 shows no relaxation of zeal, no failure of mental or 
 physical powers, no tendency to alter in any way 
 his mode of life or habits of industry. His punc- 
 tuality in business remains, as always, a striking 
 characteristic of his methods, and he can boast, as 
 few can do, that he has not deviated from his regular 
 time of daily attendance at his office, even in these 
 later years when the claims of nature and the de- 
 mands of social and public duties might easily furnish 
 excuses for some loosening of the reins of self-im- 
 posed discipline. Mr. Spencer has been favoured 
 with the health and strength essential to one who
 
 sets an example of constant application to work, and 
 the only occasion upon which he was absent from 
 business for any appreciable length of time through 
 illness occurred nearly forty years ago, when an 
 attack of English cholera confined him to the house 
 for the brief space of a day and a-half. The youth of 
 1847 has thus passed through all the stages of pro- 
 gress appertaining to a great commercial house, and 
 the other day, as head of the immense concern in 
 which he once served as a subordinate, he had the 
 pleasure and satisfaction of fitly commemorating his 
 " Golden Jubilee " by entertaining eleven hundred 
 employes of the house of Rylands, which employed 
 less than one hundred assistants in its warehouse at 
 the date of his entering the establishment. 
 
 On the occasion of the memorable gathering just 
 referred to, Mr. Spencer's friends had the gratifica- 
 tion of hearing from his own lips the statement that 
 he still felt physically equal to the discharge of any 
 duty, and mentally more capable than ever of meeting 
 the demands made upon his powers by the gigantic 
 business over which he at present presides. At the 
 same time having attained the distinction of a com- 
 mercial jubilee, and fulfilled his destiny as one of the 
 leading spirits in the business life of modern Man- 
 chester Mr. Spencer may now be more ready to see 
 the force of the advice tendered him from time to time 
 by his colleagues and other friends, that he should 
 husband his strength, and avail himself more liberally
 
 of the means of maintaining his bodily health and 
 vigour* Though to such a man as the Chairman of 
 Messrs. Rylands & Sons, Limited, there is a peculiar 
 force in Cowper's line, " Absence of occupation is 
 not rest " ; yet a manner of repose is the most fit- 
 ting crown and sequel to all good and honest work, 
 and there are many who think that such repose has 
 been splendidly earned by Mr. Reuben Spencer. In 
 his own interests, as well as in those of the house 
 which owes so much to his fifty years of unwearying 
 labour, he might, with the fullest justification, begin 
 at this auspicious time to relax in some degree the 
 efforts by which he has, raised himself to his present 
 eminence, sustained in his own person and firm the 
 prestige of the Manchester trade, and made his 
 career in this great city a pattern to all who have 
 'the spirit to emulate and the resolution to follow and 
 copy so worthy an exemplar. 
 
 ( 178 )
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 MR. REUBEN SPENCER'S JUBILEE. 
 
 | HE directors of Rylands & Sons, Limited, are 
 becoming noted for their jubilee celebrations. 
 Mr. Reuben Spencer, the esteemed chairman of 
 the board, completed his fiftieth year with the firm 
 on the loth of this month, and the event was 
 celebrated on Saturday, when Mr. Spencer entertained 
 the male employes of the Manchester warehouse and 
 the managers, and the heads of departments of the 
 various mills and works at the Belle Vue Gardens, on 
 Saturday, February i3th, 1897. There were about 
 1,100 persons present, and the proceedings were of 
 an enthusiastic character. In the afternoon there was 
 a football match between the employes of the various 
 establishments of the firm, and during the evening 
 Mr. and Mrs. Spencer were the recipients of a gift to 
 commemorate the jubilee. The female employes 
 were received by Mrs. Spencer at her residence, 
 Darley Hall, Whalley Range. Amongst those pre- 
 sent at Belle Vue on Saturday were Mr. W. Car- 
 nelley, Mr. W. D. Gloyne, Mr. T. Harker, Mr. W.
 
 Linnell, and Mr. J. Wright (directors), Mr. Norman 
 Spencer, Mr. Douglas Spencer, the Rev. Allen 
 Spencer, Mr. J. E. Yates, Mr. Arnold Linnell, Mr. 
 B. Goodfellow, and all the buyers and heads of 
 departments from the warehouse and works in Man- 
 chester. 
 
 The presentation consisted of a handsome silver tea 
 and coffee service, chased in the Renaissance style, 
 with a kettle to match and a massive tray, which was 
 engraved as follows : " Presented, with the accom- 
 panying silver service, to Reuben Spencer, Esq., J.P., 
 by the employes in the Manchester warehouses, also 
 the mills and works, of Rylands & Sons, Limited, as 
 a mark of their esteem, and in celebration of his 
 jubilee in connection with the firm. Manchester, 
 February i3th, 1897." The whole service, which had 
 been specially manufactured by Messrs. Elkington & 
 Co., Limited, of Manchester, was contained in a 
 handsome oak case. There was also a facsimile of 
 the tea service on a smaller scale for Mrs. Spencer. 
 This, with a charming silver hot-water jug, was con- 
 tained in a morocco case richly lined with velvet. 
 
 Mr. H. Ashcroft asked the acceptance by Mr. 
 Spencer of an illuminated address and service of 
 silver from the employes as a token of their high 
 regard for him personally, and to show~their appre- 
 ciation of his character as a business.,, man. Mr. 
 Spencer's wonderful energy, prompt action, perse- 
 verance under difficulties, and undeviating punctuality 
 
 ( 182 )
 
 were well known to them. He had subordinated 
 personal ambition to the interests of Rylands & Sons. 
 Municipal and parliamentary honours had been 
 offered and declined. Had he been so disposed he 
 might have been to-day the president of the Man- 
 chester Chamber of Commerce, a position only given 
 to gentlemen of acknowledged ability and position. 
 This was the eighth half-century celebration in con- 
 nection with the firm. The first was the jubilee of 
 Mr. Rylands in 1873, Mr. Meadows in 1884, Mr. 
 Robert Davies in 1886, Mr. Carnelley in 1890, Mr. 
 Hoggan in 1895, and Messrs. Harker and Knott last 
 year. Four of the eight were present at this gathering. 
 This was a record unprecedented in the history of any 
 commercial house in the world. The length of service 
 to the firm of the committee who had the presentation 
 in hand averaged thirty six years. He could readily 
 find fifty others whose connection with the firm was 
 equally as long. This was a remarkable proof of the 
 spirit of brotherhood which characterized the members 
 of the staff, and which added much to the success of 
 the vast concern with which they were all identified. 
 Mr. Ashcroft read the following address, signed by 
 the members of the committee and 1,100 contribu- 
 tors : 
 
 "We the buyers, managers, salesmen, clerks, and others 
 employed by Messrs. Rylands & Sons, Limited, in the Manchester 
 warehouse, New High Street ; Dacca Twist Company, Faulkner 
 Street, Manchester, also at Gorton, Wigan, Bolton, and Swinton 
 Mills, Gidlow Collieries, and Longford, Medlock, Heapey, Chorley 
 
 ( 184)
 
 and Crewe works, desire to offer to you our united and hearty 
 congratulations on the occasion of ycur completion of fifty years' 
 faithful service in the great firm with which it is also our pleasure 
 to be identified. We sincerely trust that you may continue to 
 enjoy that measure of health and strength which will enable you 
 for many years yet to come to occupy the important position 
 you have so long and honourably filled, and thus to contribute, as 
 hitherto, to the steady and most satisfactory management which 
 has consolidated the company, and raised it to such an eminent 
 position among the many colossal enterprises of which our country 
 justly boasts. As a further recognition of this, your ' commercial 
 golden wedding,' and as a tribute of our respect, admiration, and 
 esteem, we beg your acceptance of the accompanying pieces of 
 silver, which, however, merely reflect the spontaneous good-will 
 of each contributor. We hope that this memento may prove 
 a source of life-long satisfaction and pleasure to Mrs. Spencer, 
 yourself, and each member of your family." 
 
 H. ASHCROFT (Chairman). 
 
 H. A. SOUTHWORTH (Treasurer). 
 W. F. BEWLEY. NATHAN MEADOWS. 
 
 HENRY BRIGHTMORE. J. PONTEFRACT. 
 J. W. CLEGG. ROBT. H. POTTER. 
 
 THOS. B. COOPER. NICHOLAS H. SIBLY. 
 
 CHARLES DERNALEY. MATTHEW TOMLINSON. 
 
 JNO. EDWARDS. THOS. B. WALTON. 
 
 J. JOHNSON. 
 
 THOS. KENDALL and j 
 
 Hon, Secretaries. 
 
 S. J. TENANT j 
 
 Messrs. Nathan Meadows and T. B. Cooper, old 
 servants of the firm, also spoke a few words of con- 
 gratulation to Mr. Spencer. 
 
 Mr. W. F. Bewley said he had much pleasure in 
 asking Mr. Spencer to receive, on behalf of his wife, 
 a silver afternoon tea-service. They ventured to hope 
 she might find in that little token of regard an abiding 
 memento of a happy celebration. (Applause.) 
 
 Messrs. H. A. Southworth and J. W. Clegg having 
 also offered their congratulations, 
 
 ( 186 )
 
 Mr. Spencer, in reply, said : " This is a moment of 
 extreme joy the foundation of a permanent pleasure 
 to me and my children to the third generation. 
 These emblems of beauty in design and of usefulness 
 in the home will be a perpetual remembrance of kind- 
 ness felt and expressed towards me, showing you can 
 forget little irritations occurring through life, and 
 courteously and generously acknowledge the services 
 I have been able to render during a period of fifty 
 years in the house of Rylands & Sons. I have been a 
 youth, a young and middle-aged man amongst you, 
 and I have now to acknowledge advancing years. 
 At no time, whether in youth or manhood, whether 
 as servant, partner, or director, have I been charged 
 with want of attention to business, with want of 
 punctuality, or with a desire to shirk responsibility. 
 This is the negative side of my business character. 
 The affirmative you have appreciated, and in word 
 and deed have been kind beyond my expectation 
 and my deserts. Young men, allow me to take this 
 opportunity to offer a few words of advice and kindly 
 admonition. I never allowed my expenditure to 
 exceed my income ; never gave myself to gambling 
 or trying to secure another man's money without 
 giving labour of some kind for it, and never since 
 I left my home did I forget the duties of a child to 
 a parent, or, according to my light and my under- 
 standing, the duties of a parent to a child. I was 
 blessed with a noble, courageous, and loving mother, 
 
 ( 188 )
 
 and still more with a tender, affectionate, and wise 
 woman as a wife, nor will I omit to mention my deep 
 obligation to Mr. Rylands, near to whom I worked 
 for many long years, and to whose inspiring words 
 and fine business example my indebtedness is greater 
 than I can express. He has gone, leaving a great 
 mark behind. My time will soon expire, my work 
 will be finished, and my desire is to leave some little 
 mark upon the institutions and the commerce of my 
 adopted county. (Applause.) After saying all this, 
 do not suppose I have made no mistakes or blunders 
 in my life. I have made many, and some very foolish 
 ones. A number of things I could improve. The 
 trouble and annoyance which have arisen from some 
 mistakes I could avoid, but yet such are the varied 
 influences at work, and in so many ways are the 
 physical and mental powers affected, that I am afraid 
 I, and all others, would make equally great irregu- 
 larities if we had a similar period to pass through 
 again. I will try to feel thankful that I have passed 
 through so many years with such an average of plea- 
 sure and success. We are all more or less wise from 
 experience, and see matters in a very different light, 
 but human nature continues to be liable to errors and 
 slips, and so it will be to the end of time. You have 
 to-day made a lasting mark upon my family record, 
 which will endure in memory and in gratitude, for a 
 time beyond which any of us can live. I came into 
 this city more than fifty years ago. I had no extra- 
 
 ( 190 )
 
 ordinarily favourable surroundings. It was not my 
 lot to be born in a noble or wealthy house. I was 
 not helped by wealthy friends or parents. My special 
 wealth was a fair education and a sound mind in a 
 healthy body. I never ill-used the latter by bad 
 habits, except it be those of working very long hours 
 and for many years in a terribly bad atmosphere. I 
 am glad to say my health to-day is as good as ever it 
 was, and though I cannot join you in a game of foot- 
 ball or cricket or tennis, I can rejoice with you in 
 witnessing the games. In all that pertains to the 
 administration of this business concern, and helping 
 to make it profitable and useful, I will take my place 
 by your side, whether that place be at the top, the 
 middle, or the bottom of the ladder, and I will try in 
 future to make my influence felt for good, as by your 
 testimony you acknowledge I have done in the past. 
 Possibly someone in the audience is asking, ' Mr. 
 Spencer, what was the house like when you first 
 knew it?' Well, it was comparatively small. We 
 had then less than a hundred employes in the ware- 
 house. We have now 1,200 in the Manchester ware- 
 house, and about 1,000 in London and Liverpool, 
 with 10,000 in our various works, or a total of about 
 12,000. We had at that time three or four travellers. 
 Now we have seventy at least, beside our foreign 
 agents. We had then fewer than ten departments. 
 At present we have forty in Manchester and the same 
 in London. Our turnover was then measured by 
 
 ( 192 )
 
 scores of thousands of pounds per annum, plus the 
 output of our two mills and bleach-works ; now it is 
 many millions of pounds every year. We then dealt 
 only in heavy goods. We now furnish a house with 
 everything required, and supply men, women, and 
 children with every article needed for personal adorn- 
 ment, even to the watch and chain, gold links, studs, 
 cycles, and the most delicate articles of ladies' attire. 
 We then had two mills and a small bleach works. 
 We have now the largest bleach works in the country, 
 and sixteen mills, works, and warehouses devoted to 
 the production and distribution of cotton, woollen, 
 and other goods in almost endless variety. We go 
 down into the dark chambers below the surface of the 
 ground and bring up the black diamonds which illu- 
 mine the hearth at home and produce steam to move 
 the machinery in our works. We make some and 
 repair most of our machinery ; we make our own 
 boxes and cases for packing purposes and for our 
 own use in the salerooms ; we do our own printing 
 and make our pattern cards ; and we make first-class 
 buyers and travellers, clerks, and salesmen not the 
 ordinary sort, but men of excellence alike in character 
 and capacity, without whom we should not be what 
 we are to-day. (Applause.) What more can I say? 
 We have accomplished great things in the last fifty 
 years. Some of your directors have been at the helm 
 all the way, and some have come to these high duties 
 later. We have all done our level best, and the result 
 
 ( 193 )
 
 is something which warrants the directors, buyers, 
 travellers, agents, clerks, salesmen, and each one of 
 you, in feeling some degree of satisfaction, if not of 
 pride, in having brought the concern to its present 
 position. We can say our turnover exceeds that of 
 any firm in the textile trade, with a profit which satis- 
 fies all our shareholders. As civilisation extends, and 
 the population increases, so by an unalterable law of 
 authority in human existence the wants and needs of 
 the people will increase in a still larger proportion, 
 and in some measure there should be an increase in 
 business in every well-organized and wisely-ad- 
 ministered concern. When I cease to feel the power 
 to meet the new demands, to show signs of decreasing 
 capacity or indisposition to increase, then I must, and 
 will, move from the front form. This may come 
 sooner than some of us expect, but I trust you will 
 allow me to take a side seat with less to do, so that 
 I may not rust out. We are, I believe, to-day the 
 greatest textile house in the world. I claim to have 
 had a modest influence and share in the building of 
 it. I had a magnificent example. I exercised my 
 eyes, my heart, and my hands, and I rejoice to find 
 you willing to acknowledge that my labour has not 
 been in vain. Excuse me rejoicing in the manifest 
 approval of my services expressed in your kindly 
 words and deeds. If ever in my heart I felt I could 
 say a kind word to the men of Rylands and Sons, it 
 it to-day. To anyone to whom I have in time past 
 
 ( 194 )
 
 said an unkind word, I tell you it was not from an 
 unkind heart, but from a good motive, though it may 
 have appeared otherwise. Never from malice afore- 
 thought have I spoken or done you a wrong inten- 
 tionally. In the administration of a large business 
 and the guidance of a number of men differences 
 must arise, but in this I feel as I do about travelling. 
 I hate the sea, but I would go to Australia to-mor- 
 row if duty called me. I hate wrangling and hard 
 words, but I will boldly and fearlessly speak to any 
 man and tell him my thoughts, not in malice, but 
 according to the depth and strength of my con- 
 victions and the light I possess. One and all, I 
 thank you again from my heart for the noble present 
 you have made to me and my good wife and family." 
 (Applause.) 
 
 The Rev. Allan Spencer spoke on behalf of his 
 mother, and thanked them for the gifts. This day's 
 proceedings, he said, would be one of the landmarks 
 in their family history. (Applause.) 
 
 The remainder of the evening was devoted to songs 
 and music by the members of the Rylands' Brass 
 and String Bands (under the conductorship of Mr. R. 
 Jackson), the Orchestral Society (under the conductor- 
 ship of Mr. G. H. Johnson), and the Memorial Club 
 assisting in the evening's entertainment. Mr. W. 
 Ashton and his glee party also added to the harmony. 
 
 The testimonial to Mr. Spencer is engrossed on 
 vellum, the illumination being in the quaint Celtic 
 
 ( 95 )
 
 style, the opening pages being especially rich in 
 design and colour. It contains four pages of text, to 
 which are appended the signatures of the presenta- 
 tion committee and the names of 1,100 subscribers 
 connected with the various departments of Messrs. 
 Rylands & Sons' offices, warehouses, mills, and 
 works. Mr. Spencer's portrait, carefully drawn in 
 sepia, forms a pleasing frontispiece, and opposite the 
 text pages appear eleven sepia views of the chief 
 buildings of the firm. The address is bound in rich 
 scarlet levant morocco with a special Celtic border 
 inlaid, and a sunken vellum panel containing mono- 
 gram " R. S." in the centre of the front cover, richly 
 illuminated in blue, terra-cotta, and gold ; the volume 
 is enclosed in a purple morocco padded box, forming 
 a magnificent work of art, the production of Messrs. 
 Palmer, Howe & Co., Manchester. 
 
 ( 196
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 THE LIVERPOOL BRANCH'S TRIBUTE. 
 
 i 
 I 
 
 R. Reuben Spencer's jubilee was celebrated 
 in a similar manner at the Liverpool Branch 
 on Monday last, when Mr. Milne presided 
 over a large gathering of the staff. The 
 Chairman made some complimentary remarks 
 as to Mr. Spencer's commercial and public 
 character, and spoke feelingly of his close connexion 
 with the house, and of his courtesy and healthy influ- 
 ence over all the men since its commencement up to 
 the present, his oversight and management of the old 
 warehouse, and the purchase and transfer to the 
 present new eligible premises, which were a credit to 
 the firm to own and to occupy, thoroughly equipped 
 and furnished as they \vere for a large business. 
 
 Mr. Stephenson then rose, and after stating the 
 circumstances under which he was first engaged (now 
 twenty-three years ago) by Mr. Spencer, he referred 
 to the happy relations which existed between the 
 employes and the directors, and of Mr. Spencer in 
 particular, and of his own pleasant position as the 
 oldest representative the firm had in Liverpool. He 
 
 ( 197 ) o
 
 then uncovered a beautiful and chaste silver bowl and 
 a richly illuminated address bound in elegant form. 
 He read the address and the names of the employes, 
 and presented them to Mr. Spencer. He said the 
 bowl could not be said to be the flowing bowl ; it was 
 not filled with liquid often referred to in such articles, 
 but he could assure Mr. Spencer it was filled to over- 
 flowing with the highest sentiment and the best 
 wishes of every man in the house. They all wished 
 him long life, and that he would continue to exercise 
 his ripe judgment and valuable experience in the 
 interests of the firm with which he had been so long 
 and so honourably connected, and of which he is the 
 present chairman. 
 
 Mr. Spencer, in responding, said : " Many of your 
 remarks are too kind, but I know you are sincere, 
 and this evidence of your feeling in the present before 
 me is most gratifying. A considerable number of 
 you have been with the firm many years, and we have 
 been in close contact all through, and have enjoyed 
 mutual confidence and support. It is true this is the 
 last established of the three houses, but this is not 
 your fault or the firm's. It is the circumstances which 
 we could not control ; we could have done more on a 
 wider field of operation, but this we can and will say 
 emphatically, we have done our best where we are, 
 and I am conceited enough to think and to say few, if 
 any, could have done more or better. We are in the 
 front, and there we mean to stay. Liverpool is a 
 
 ( 198 )
 
 grand city, and has a greater future before it, and we 
 hope to be still more worthy of our position and to 
 enjoy a greater share of the business done in the 
 city and district. Our premises are as complete 
 and well equipped, and in as good a position as 
 it is possible to find. Our stock, both in value and 
 quantity, will be maintained according to the neces- 
 sities of the place. We may truly use the phrase, 
 " We have the men and the money too." Only 
 demand and your requirements shall be promptly 
 met. Much has been said about years of service, 
 and, of course, special reference has been made to my 
 own. This has given rise, in my mind, to reflection 
 as to the mode of measuring time which is very 
 interesting. Strictly interpreted, a year is a measure 
 of time definite and fixed, but the term has a signi- 
 ficance far beyond the rigid interpretation. When 
 you speak of a child three years of age you feel, and 
 you desire it to be understood, the child has passed 
 beyond infancy, and has become interesting and 
 observant, and so on as he or she advances to eight, 
 twelve, or eighteen ; if a male, by that age he 
 generally matures so fast that in his own estimation 
 he could rule the British Squadron as easily and con- 
 fidently as he tries to teach and direct the thoughts ot 
 his parents. If a girl, then she assumes some aspects 
 and characteristics of a woman, but with all the grace 
 and beauty of carriage of demeanour of a lady, and 
 charms any circle into which she enters ; but it is not
 
 so much the meaning of the word (( year " as applied 
 to youth to which I desire to call your attention ; it is 
 to men of mature years, say fifty and upwards. When 
 you speak of the age of such a person you have the 
 thought of a man of experience, of capacity, of some 
 power or force of character which could not be 
 obtained except by long labour, and of course there 
 is much truth and propriety in the feeling, but the 
 word " year " means vastly more than this. A man 
 to-day, aided by the various modern appliances and 
 his increased intellectual power, can do as much real 
 work in one day as his predecessor, say sixty or 
 seventy years ago, could have performed in three or 
 four days. Yea, in some departments of life he could 
 accomplish in a week as much for the general help 
 and benefit of mankind as fifty men could have per- 
 formed in the same period in the last century, and so 
 when you speak of a man of years you mean much 
 more than is generally understood. You mean all 
 that experience and power which comes from natural 
 genius and high gifts from varied reading, and the 
 great capacity which some possess of appropriating 
 and applying the good and ripe thoughts and dis- 
 coveries of other men. I must now bring my remarks 
 to a close, and again thank you very sincerely for 
 your kind words, and in the name of rny family for 
 your handsome present. I can assure you they will 
 be highly and deservedly appreciated by us all. I 
 must say here as to the larger gathering of something 
 
 ( 200 )
 
 near 1,200 who met me a few days ago from our 
 parent house in Manchester, " God bless us all, and 
 preserve us in unity and in successful labour for many 
 years to come." 
 
 Mr. Carnelley, one of the directors, was present, and 
 spoke a few cheering words to the young men, show- 
 ing what had been done in Manchester, in London, 
 and lastly in Liverpool, and said as these celebrations 
 must come to an end, so his period of service, as 
 well as those of Mr. Spencer and others, must come 
 to an end, and it was for them to see which could 
 use their experience to advantage, having regard to 
 their future positions. 
 
 ( 201 )
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 MR. REUBEN SPENCER'S JUBILEE. 
 
 PRESENTATION BY HIS CO-DIRECTORS. 
 
 further commemoration of Mr. Spencer's 
 Jubilee, he was entertained at dinner on 
 Saturday, February 20, at the Albion 
 Hotel, Manchester, by his colleagues on the 
 directorate of Rylands & Sons, Limited. 
 
 Mr. Carnelley, who presided, spoke in 
 affectionate terms of the long friendship which he 
 and Mr. Spencer had enjoyed in the service of the 
 same firm, he having been with the house since 
 1840, when it consisted of four departments and 
 only twenty-eight employes, and now Mr. Spencer 
 had completed his fifty years of service. They were 
 met that day to honour him and to give him some 
 lasting token of their esteem ; they also desired to 
 give expression to their high appreciation of Mrs. 
 Spencer, and to offer her their sincere congratulations 
 on this happy occasion. Mr. Carnelley then asked 
 Mr. Spencer's acceptance of a drawing-room clock 
 and sidepieces, a pair of vases, and a silver entree 
 
 ( 202 )
 
 dish; and also handed to Mr. Spencer a pair of 
 bracelets for Mrs. Spencer, with a hope that she 
 might long wear them, and that they might be 
 handed down as heirlooms for many years to come. 
 
 Mr. Dunford said although he had not the privi- 
 lege of the long acquaintance with Mr. Spencer that 
 others present could claim, still he might say that 
 he was known to him by repute for some few years 
 before he entered the company's employ. It afforded 
 him the greatest pleasure to offer him his hearty 
 congratulations on completion of fifty years' service 
 with Rylands & Sons, Limited, whom he had served 
 so faithfully and with such distinction, and he sin- 
 cerely trusted that for many years they might have 
 the benefit of his valuable experience. 
 
 Mr. J. Edmondson expressed his pleasure at being 
 present on such an occasion, and his still greater 
 pleasure at seeing Mr. Spencer apparently as full of 
 energy and determination to go ahead as ever. He 
 remembered that at the general meeting of the com- 
 pany, held a few weeks previously, in response to 
 some remarks by a shareholder about his coming 
 jubilee, Mr. Spencer then said that he felt almost as 
 good a man as ever, and capable of a few more years 
 of active service in the firm. He earnestly hoped 
 this might be the case, and that they might long 
 continue to have the benefit of his great experience, 
 close application to business, and undoubted capacity. 
 
 Mr. Gloyne said that the keynote of the day's pro- 
 ( 203 )
 
 ceedings had been given him by one of their London 
 friends in the earlier part of the day. He had said 
 that he came from London to render " honour to 
 whom honour was due." It was with this idea that 
 they had assembled and endeavoured to do honour to 
 their guest, asking his acceptance of the articles now 
 presented to him as a token of their regard and 
 esteem. It was now more than forty years ago since 
 he first made Mr. Spencer's acquaintance, and it was 
 a very rare occurrence to find a man with such energy 
 left in him and used for the conduct and improvement 
 of such a concern after so long a period spent in its 
 service. He did not intend to say that others present 
 had not worked in the interest of the firm, but that 
 was not the point for them to consider. All they 
 were doing at present was to present their feelings of 
 respect and admiration for the amount of good work 
 done in that direction by their guest. He could wish 
 that Mr. Spencer would take things more easily 
 sometimes take more time for rest and recreation 
 but trusted that he would be long spared to throw the 
 same energy into the business, and that Mrs. Spencer 
 and family might, with him, have many years in 
 which to enjoy the different manifestations of regard 
 and esteem now being made to them. 
 
 Mr. Harker said it gave him great pleasure to be 
 here on that occasion to congratulate Mr. Spencer 
 on having completed fifty years of valuable service 
 in connection with the firm of Rylands & Sons, 
 
 ( 204 )
 
 Limited. He also shared the pleasure it afforded 
 them in handing to Mr. Spencer what they thought 
 would be accepted as a token of regard which might 
 be handed down from generation to generation. He 
 trusted Mr. Spencer might long be spared to the firm 
 with which they were connected, and that the energy 
 and perseverance which had marked Mr. Spencer's 
 life in business might be his for years to come. 
 
 Mr. Linnell said : It is a great pleasure to me to 
 join my colleagues in expressing to you our apprecia- 
 tion of the efforts you have bestowed so lavishly in pro- 
 moting the prosperity of Rylands & Sons (Limited], 
 and I congratulate you that after fifty years wear and 
 tear of active business life, to-day finds you in good 
 health both physical and mental, and we are glad to 
 know that your heart is now as true and loyal to the 
 best interests of Rylands & Sons, Limited, as ever it 
 was. The testimonials you received last Saturday 
 and last Monday, and those which you have received 
 to-day, cannot but affect you deeply, and chiefly 
 because they are the freewill offerings of fellow- 
 workers, who, knowing your long and arduous labours 
 during the fifty years you have been connected with 
 the company, desire to express to you their apprecia- 
 tion of those labours not in words only, but in forms 
 which we hope will be pleasant reminders for many 
 years to come, both to you and those near and dear 
 to you, of the esteem in which you are held. And I 
 feel sure you will value the gifts so much the more by 
 
 ( 205 )
 
 the knowledge of the motives which prompted them. 
 If Mrs. Spencer had been with us to-day it would 
 have been a great pleasure to her to see how high 
 you stand in our esteem, and if you carried into your 
 home life some of those cares and anxieties which 
 are inseparable from the position you occupy, and 
 thereby interfered somewhat with her own pleasure 
 and enjoyment, she would now feel some satisfaction 
 in knowing that her patience and self-denial, and 
 your laborious days spent in the discharge of impor- 
 tant duties, have won the appreciation of those who 
 know how to value the sacrifices you have both made. 
 A jubilee is a time when it is convenient and instruc- 
 tive to look back on past failures and successes and 
 review our own work and that of past colleagues. I 
 shall not attempt this, because there are some here 
 who can go back much farther than I can. They can 
 trace the progress of the concern from small begin- 
 nings and tell of its numerous struggles, successful 
 ventures, and departed men, who bore bravely the 
 heat and burden of the day, and to whom we, and the 
 company we represent, are greatly indebted for the 
 proud and honourable position we now occupy. John 
 Rylands, Robert Beveridge Hoggan, and James 
 Horrocks are three honoured names in the history of 
 Rylands & Sons, Limited. It has been our privi- 
 lege to work by their side. They were men of strong 
 convictions, enduring capacity for work, impelled 
 by irresistible energy and determination, and having 
 
 ( 206 )
 
 confidence in themselves they inspired the confidence 
 of others. And although the last-named did not 
 reach the unique position of having a jubilee, we can, 
 all the same, speak to his worth. He laboured with 
 a constancy and devotion worthy of the highest 
 praise. T join heartily and sincerely in the expres- 
 sions of good-will which have been conveyed to you 
 to-day, and share the hope that you will long con- 
 tinue to discharge the duties of your position, and 
 retain that appetite for work and determination to do 
 it, which have distinguished you in the past. 
 
 Mr. Mitchener also spoke in a very kindly manner, 
 and referred at some length to the growth of the 
 London business. ' 
 
 Mr. Wright expressed the pleasure it afforded him 
 to be present on that most interesting occasion, and 
 to add his words of congratulation with those of his 
 brother directors to Mr. Spencer on the attainment of 
 his jubilee with their grand old firm. It was not 
 given to many men to see such a term of service in 
 fact it was unique and this he said in face of the fact 
 that they in Rylands & Sons, Limited, had celebrated 
 no less than eight of such terms of service in late 
 years, for in these jubilees their firm stood almost 
 alone. How proud their late governor, Mr. Rylands, 
 would have been had he been spared to see such 
 gatherings as the one now held to commemorate fifty 
 years' faithful services of gentlemen he had chosen in 
 their youth to serve him in building up the business 
 
 ( 207 )
 
 they have now to direct, and what a feeling of pleasure 
 it must give Mr. Spencer, and those left on the board 
 who had been connected for so long a time together, 
 to look back and remember how from small begin- 
 nings it had become the great concern it is to-day 
 from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, and 
 from hundreds of thousands to many millions in turn- 
 over. Mr. Wright said it was now approaching thirty 
 years since he became acquainted with Mr. Spencer 
 in Rylands & Sons, Limited, and well remembered 
 his introduction to him, and added he had only one 
 regret in coming to the firm, and that was that he 
 had not the opportunity fifteen years earlier of joining 
 it, for he felt sure it would have. been to his great 
 benefit ; and, more than that, he would have been so 
 many years nearer his own jubilee. Mr. Gloyne stood 
 the next on the list, with about ten years yet before 
 him before that event would be accomplished, which 
 he (Mr. Wright) trusted it would be, and he himself 
 intended to do all in his power to see his own, 
 although so much more distant. Mr. Wright con- 
 cluded his remarks by again warmly congratulating 
 Mr. Spencer. 
 
 Mr. Spencer, in reply, said : Mr. Carnelley and 
 Brother Directors, Before replying to the kind words 
 which have been addressed to me, I must first grate- 
 lully and heartily acknowledge your kindness in 
 again electing me to the position of chairman of the 
 company. It is evidence at once of your good-will 
 
 ( 208 )
 
 and of your confidence that I shall devote my best 
 energy and capacity to the service of the firm, and 
 shall try to avoid any action which should imperil the 
 traditions of the office or the honour and fame of the 
 great company whose affairs we have to administer. 
 I am greatly pleased on behalf of myself and family 
 to receive this unexpectedly munificent gift from the 
 board in conjunction with Mrs. Rylands. To say the 
 clock and ornaments for the mantel are great in value, 
 artistic in design and form, that the bracelets are 
 handsome and suitable for any lady, and the silver 
 dish most appropriate for the purpose it is intended to 
 serve, is to use words that are not fully representative 
 of my feeling. You and I know there is an unwritten 
 and unwriteable expression of feeling which words 
 cannot convey, but which kind and generous hearts 
 can interpret and understand. It is through this 
 medium I must express my gratitude to you. Gentle- 
 men, it is true some of us have been very closely 
 associated with the firm for fifty years, and others for 
 a shorter period, but, sirs, service is not only measured 
 by years, but by capacity, ability, and willingness to 
 discharge the onerous duties devolving upon men in 
 our position, who have to administer a great concern 
 employing 12,000 people, and managing a property 
 which in various forms amounts to ,4,000,000 sterling. 
 We have all done our best, and the result is before 
 the commercial world, and I say with something 
 more than satisfaction that the pleasant relations 
 
 ( 209 )
 
 which exist between us and our army of workpeople, 
 with the 2,000 assistants in the various warehouses, 
 the 20,000 customers on our books, and the share- 
 holders in the company, all combine to give us a 
 unique position in this great commercial nation, and 
 in Europe. It is true our capital is large, our clientele 
 a great one ; and these give us large power and 
 authority in the markets. All the more credit to us, 
 and to the staff as a whole. But, brother directors, 
 we have not done yet. All this experience and 
 acquired power should be aids to further achievements, 
 and this not necessarily to the disparagement of other 
 good and true men. It is estimated that the world 
 has a population of about 1,500 millions of human 
 beings, who want food and clothing, and the propor- 
 tion of comforts demanded by the increasing popula- 
 tion of civilized people is greatly in excess of the 
 number in their old conditions. A million of educated 
 and industrial people want five or ten times the 
 quantity of material that a million of uncivilized 
 people require. There is a great deal of room in the 
 business world, and our plan should be to do our 
 best, and find no fault with others who do the same, 
 if they do it honestly. I will say no more. I thank 
 you most heartily and sincerely on behalf of my 
 family, who I know will highly appreciate this mag- 
 nificent and valuable gift, which will give untold 
 pleasure to us all. If I wanted an incentive this 
 certainly would put new life and purpose in me. 
 
 ( 210 )
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 MR. REUBEN SPENCER'S JUBILEE. 
 
 FURTHER PRESENTATIONS. 
 
 AST week in Manchester and Liverpool the 
 celebration of Mr. Reuben Spencer's jubilee 
 was commemorated that is to say, his 
 completion of fifty years' service with Messrs. 
 Rylands and Sons, Limited. Since then, the 
 festivities have been continued in London, and on 
 Wednesday, February 24th, an address and a gold 
 watch and chain were presented to Mr. Spencer by 
 a number of his old friends in the London house. 
 The ceremony took place at the Cannon Street Hotel 
 after tea, to which the subscribers had been invited. 
 In the course of the proceedings a letter was received 
 from Mrs. Rylands, in which she expressed her desire 
 to join with those present in expressing her con- 
 gratulations to Mr. Spencer, and wishing him many 
 years of active life in connection with the firm. The 
 chair was taken by Mr. G. W. C. Kirkham, the oldest 
 buyer in the London house. He was supported by 
 Mr. Carnelley and Mr. Harker (themselves famous, 
 
 ( 2" )
 
 " jubileers "), and Mr. Mitchener and Mr. Dunford, 
 London directors. Nearly the whole of the subscribers 
 were present. Tea having been partaken of 
 
 The Chairman said : It is only right that I should 
 tell you that I am not in this position to-night of my 
 own seeking, but because the committee have done me 
 the great honour of asking me to preside for the fourth 
 time at a director's jubilee. This position would have 
 been better filled by one of those who have been asso- 
 ciated with Mr. Spencer longer, for though his name 
 has been a household word since his manhood, still I 
 have only been with him in this great business of 
 Rylands and Sons, Limited, some twenty-four years. 
 I will, however, yield to none in high appreciation of 
 the gentleman whom we have met to-night to honour ; 
 and we have done right in being determined to 
 honour him, for has he not filled up the whole of this 
 fifty years with credit, and this being the year of 
 Jubilee, how could we do otherwise than show him 
 how high he stands in our esteem. Then does he not 
 hail from what, to many of us, is our native city, a 
 city that is known and respected wherever trade and 
 commerce, or the English language has gone, and 
 that great business city has done him great honour. 
 Amongst its financiers, amongst its merchants, 
 amongst its manufacturers, and amongst its men of 
 progress, it has always placed him in the first rank. 
 Having already said so much about the jubilee pre- 
 viously, it is a difficult matter to go over the ground
 
 without repeating myself. But let us fof a few 
 moments just hark back and try to think what this 
 fifty years of service means, and we see Mr. Spencer 
 entering the warehouse as a boy, and for many years 
 we see him- laying hold of its various details, one at a 
 time just as a man putting a warp into a loom, one 
 thread at a time, so he took them up and, when he 
 had mastered it and his hands were full, how, when 
 he was still a very young man, our grand old founder, 
 Mr. John Rylands, made him joint master of what 
 was one of the largest businesses of its kind ; and I 
 need hardly tell you how he and his able colleagues 
 have since carried it forward, until to-day it is the 
 envy of the textile world. I noticed that the American 
 Ambassador said the other evening, at a banquet 
 given previous to his departure, " That it had ever 
 been his aim to try and knit together the two great 
 peoples of England and America " a grand object ; 
 and no doubt this will go down with his name to 
 posterity. And thus it ever is. A general returns 
 from a short, successful campaign ; a traveller returns 
 from his travels ; this man and that returns from 
 various expeditions ; and they are banqueted, and 
 feasted, and lionised. But, gentlemen, our company 
 is returning from a campaign that has lasted not two, 
 or ten, or twenty, but for fifty years ; and it is right 
 and proper that we should rejoice and be glad, and 
 that we should come with flags and banners flying, 
 and drums beating and trumpets sounding, for we are 
 
 ( 213 ) t
 
 returning from a successful campaign of many battles 
 and dangers overcome, without wounded in the van, 
 and with our captain unscathed at our head. I would 
 not detract for one moment from the honour that 
 belongs to our great men, be they soldiers, sailors, 
 professors, merchants, or others, for it must be grand 
 to be a great man, to have gained by energy and 
 perseverance the topmost step of the ladder to which 
 we had put our hand and foot. But how much 
 grander must it be to a good and a great man to 
 be able, from the pinnacle to which that man has 
 climbed, to look back and feel honestly that he is 
 leaving the world better for having lived therein ! 
 Kirke White sums up both positions thus 
 
 " Where are the heroes of the ages past ? Where 
 the brave chieftains ? Where the mighty ones that 
 flourished in the infancy of years r All to the grave 
 gone down : on their fallen fame, exultation, mock- 
 ing at the pride of man, sits grim forgetfulness. 
 The warrior's arm lies nerveless on the pillow of its 
 shame, hushed is his stormy voice, and quenched the 
 blaze of his red eyeballs. Yesterday, and his name 
 was mighty on the earth : to-day, 'tis what ? The 
 meteor of the night that flashed unnoticed. Where 
 are concealed the days which have elapsed ? Hid in 
 the mighty caverns of the past, they rise upon us 
 only to appal, with indistinct and half-glimpsed 
 images, misty, gigantic, huge, obscure, remote. But 
 the good man's hope lies far, far beyond the sway of
 
 tempest or the furious sweep of mortal desolation". 
 He beholds, unapprehensive, the gigantic stride of 
 rampant ruin, or the unstable waves of dark vicissi- 
 tude." 
 
 Sir, I trust when the annals of this colossal under- 
 taking of Rylands and Sons, Limited, are written, that 
 the historian will be able to write of you, and each 
 of your able colleagues, and of us the rank and file 
 
 " Their work well done, their race well run, their 
 crowns well won ; here let them rest." 
 
 THE ADDRESS. 
 
 Mr. J. C. Later, buyer of the muslin department, 
 who has served the house in London and Manchester 
 for a period of thirty-three years, was asked to read 
 the address, which runs as follows : 
 
 "To REUBEN SPENCER, ESQ., J.P. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, The Buyers, Chief Clerks, and Representatives 
 of the London House of Rylands & Sons, Limited, whose names 
 are written opposite, desire most heartily to congratulate you on 
 the occasion of your Jubilee, and ask you to accept a Gold 
 Watch and Chain as a Souvenir of this interesting event. We 
 greatly admire the wisdom, dignity, and power with which you 
 have for so many years assisted to direct and control the affairs 
 of the great mercantile concern to which we have the honour to 
 belong, as well as in the promotion of the general interests of 
 British commerce. We also highly appreciate your efforts in the 
 sacred cause of Charity, your interests in the great work of 
 Education, and your desire to promote healthful recreation and 
 thrift amongst the employes of our famous House. That the 
 years to come may bring you continued prosperity, good health, 
 and long life is our most earnest prayer. February, 1897." 
 
 The names of the subscribers are as follow : -
 
 Messrs. J. J. Ablett, W. Armstrong, P. Burgess, P. A. Brooks, 
 J. W. Booth, W. R. Co way, H. Coles, W. J. Cooke, J. Bakers, 
 J. Durant, C. W. Edwards, G. C. Fisher, T. Gow, R. Greenhalgh, 
 J. M. Gindell, R. Hartshorn, S. R. Hallam, W. Harrold, W. 
 Hoggan, J. Humphries, J. Hunter, T. N. Hubble, R. J. Jackson, 
 H..F. Jones, .W. Keen, S. W. C. Kirkham, J. W. Kirkham, 
 F. R. King, F. King, J. C. Knight, C. Langridge, J. Lawson, 
 S. T. Liddiard, J. C. Later, R- A. Martin, H. McLean, E. C. 
 Morgan, J. S. Murison, K. Nicholas, J. Pettit, F. R. Pateman, 
 
 E. P-escott, J. W. Pinkerton, D. Rayner, J. A. Scott, F. Swallow, 
 
 F. Smith, W. Snell, J. W. Snupe, A. Tawell, J. Williams, A. E. 
 Wells, R. Whittaker, J. L. Wilson. 
 
 THE PRESENTATION. 
 
 Mr. S. Barratt, in making the presentation of the 
 gold watch and chain, remarked that the total length 
 of service of the 55 subscribers amounted to- 929 
 years. Four of them had served the house for a 
 period of over 30 years each, while twenty of the 
 others could show a service of over 20 years each. 
 He begged Mr. Spencer to wear the watch on State 
 occasions in honour of the subscribers, and in due 
 course to leave it as a precious heirloom to his family. 
 He also read the following jubilee ode in honour of 
 the occasion : - 
 
 B emember not the years of toil and strife, 
 E ach loving heart should learn the joy of life ; 
 TJ nto the good and pure sweet days are given, 
 B est fitted to prepare the soul for Heaven ; 
 E ach future year may joy and blessing .bring, 
 N or will we cease your noble fame to sing. 
 
 ' - f '--". .... .,..., 
 
 S ing, joyous Muse ! the praises of our Chief, 
 
 , o , P roclaim aloud the banishment of grief; 
 Each noble voice join in the happy song, 
 N ight unto night the welcome strain prolong ; 
 C hant forth a sweet and merry note of glee, 
 E ach welcome guest rejoice and happy be : 
 B ejoice ! it is the year of Jubilee. 
 
 (216)
 
 Mr. J. A. Scott, speaking 1 on behalf of the buyers,- 
 said : It gives me great pleasure to add my quota to 
 what has already been so ably expressed by the 
 friends who have preceded me. The very fact alone 
 of our honoured guest and host being associated with 
 the firm for the long period of fifty years, it is needless 
 to say, gives him an enviable reputation. In Mr. 
 Spencer we recognise a man of many part?, not only 
 as author of some most useful and instructive books, - 
 but to him are we in great part indebted as being 
 one of the prime movers in our recreation and thrift 
 fund, institutions, gentlemen, which, permit -me to 
 say, are far-reaching in their effect for good, extend- 
 ing and diffusing as they do to the healthful exercise 
 and social enjoyment of the employes generally. 
 Gentlemen, the student of history may go back to the 
 ancient times of Pericles, wade through history's 
 pages right down to the Elizabethan period, and still 
 on to the Victorian era, and even there I venture to 
 say he will not find a parallel case with our own. He 
 will not find in , the textile trade a house whose suc- 
 cessful history and volume of business will compare 
 with Rylands & Sons' ; and surely it is to the able 
 administrations of this grand old firm that we are 
 indebted for this splendid monument, men whose 
 devotion to duty and example will stand out as 
 beacon lights to the generations that follow. It is in 
 the association of men who are wiser and more expe- 
 rienced than ourselves that we become inspired and
 
 invigorated, for they enhance our own knowledge, 
 enlarge our field of wisdom, and we profit by their 
 experience. (Addressing Mr. Spencer.) In mingling 
 my hearty congratulations on this very happy and 
 unique occasion, the celebration of your jubilee, per- 
 mit me to express the hope that you may be blessed 
 with a goodly store of health, so that you may 
 enjoy to the full the rich fruits of your long and 
 honourable career. 
 
 Mr. John Humphreys, the veteran town traveller, 
 congratulated Mr. Spencer on behalf of the travellers, 
 and said that there were no men more loyal to the 
 firm than the buyers, clerks, and travellers of the 
 London house. 
 
 Mr. Carnelley was proud to be present to hear the 
 speeches. He warmly praised the spirit of unity 
 amongst the directors and buyers, which was one 
 great cause of their strength. He hoped Mr. Spencer 
 would be long spared to serve the house. 
 
 Mr. Harker warmly eulogised Mr. Spencer, remark- 
 ing that they had been boys together. 
 
 Mr. Mitchener remarked that this was a unique 
 occasion. There were three gentlemen present who 
 had each served fifty years with the firm. They had 
 been as good trees planted in good soil. 
 
 Mr. Dunford paid a hearty tribute of praise to the 
 character of the gentleman they were met to honour. 
 
 218
 
 MR. SPENCER'S SPEECH. 
 
 Mr. Spencer replied as follows : In reply to your 
 various kind remarks much too kind I can only say 
 I value very highly the beautiful gold watch, chain, and 
 address which are before me, and sincerely appreciate 
 the generous spirit which has prompted you to make 
 this handsome present, and for the courtesy and 
 good feeling which breathes through every speech 
 and every line of the address. Gentlemen, this is an 
 incentive and encouragement to all to do their part 
 in life's work in the best way they can. In reference 
 to my service to the company, I can truly say that 
 the duties which have fallen to my lot have been 
 discharged to the best of my ability. I found as 
 years rolled on my responsibilities increased, and I 
 also soon discovered that the office of administrator 
 in an ever-growing concern was an onerous one, and 
 had associated with it hours of great labour and 
 anxiety not the labour ol the hand, but of the 
 mind ; not in the selection of goods and materials, 
 highly valuable as that duty is, but in the selection 
 of men who had brains and capacity equal to the 
 demands made upon ^them in their various positions. 
 I soon learnt an important lesson, which I commend 
 to every responsible man here, viz., that if I could 
 not forgive a little in other words, if I could not 
 pass by or be blind and deaf to many actions and 
 sayings of unkind or thoughtless people, not alone 
 those in our employ 1 should be worried and dis- 
 
 ( 219)
 
 abled for the duties required from a director in a 
 large manufacturing and mercantile house, and so I 
 set myself to cultivate self-restraint, and a more 
 difficult task no man can enter upon, who has a will 
 and any force of character. Unkind words or deeds, 
 unhappy manners of those around you or those you 
 have to do business with, are of frequent occurrence. 
 Many men are so constituted that they cannot 
 help it ; they are angular and left-handed in every- 
 thing they do. It is nothing extraordinary. Many 
 are afflicted with the power and disposition of seeing 
 and doing things the wrong way. Friends, we must 
 be firm and kind in our conduct, and remember it is 
 not possible to run all men in the same mould. 
 Your exercise of this power of forbearance and 
 forgiveness is very largely the measure of your own 
 capacity and manliness. I don't forget it is equally 
 incumbent upon the employer to be thoughtful, con- 
 siderate, and helpful as it is upon the employed, but 
 the demands upon the men in the various positions 
 are very different. In no case, however, can the 
 necessity for courtesy and consideration be abrogated. 
 As I said a few days ago, this is a period of great 
 pleasure to me, but not unmixed with other feelings. 
 I have entered upon my sixty-seventh year, and 
 though I feel to-day as well in health as ever I did, 
 yet the fact is there, that however buoyant I may be 
 in spirit, however conscious I may feel as to my 
 powers to assist in the administration of this gigantic 
 concern, and with your co-operation to help it on to 
 
 ( 320 )
 
 a greater position than it has yet attained I say, 
 notwithstanding all this, the machinery of the con- 
 stitution has been in active service for a long period, 
 and in the later years has been worked at a higher 
 speed, greater pressure being required ; and though 
 many surrounding facilities can and have been 
 obtained to sustain the machine, yet we have each 
 only so much power and so much phosphorus in the 
 brain, and when these are exhausted the work must 
 cease. How near that period is I cannot by any 
 means find out. It cannot be very far off. I cannot 
 sit down without making kind reference to my late 
 colleague your late leading director, Mr. Hoggan 
 under whose guidance, joined with his best and truest 
 of friends, Mr. Carnelley, assisted by Mr. Mitchener, 
 your concern has grown to a magnificent house. The 
 buyers and managers in the offices, and the travellers, 
 including our recently-appointed director, Mr. Dun- 
 ford, have done their work nobly. You have good 
 men through the house ; you have a magnificent field 
 for operation a grand name attached to it, and 
 ample means. These are powers which can and will 
 make the firm take a higher position ; and, while 
 doing so, we wish success to all our neighbours who 
 are equally industrious and equally worthy. I con- 
 clude by again thanking you very sincerely for your 
 great kindness. 
 
 After a vote of thanks to the chairman the company 
 adjourned to the Grand Hall to listen to the concert 
 of the Longford Musical Society. 
 
 1
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 TRAVELLERS' AND FOREIGN AGENTS' 
 PRESENTATION. 
 
 T a special meeting of the Travellers and 
 Foreign Agents, Mr. Kemp being in the 
 chair, the following address was read and 
 presented to Mr. Reuben Spencer :- 
 
 "To REUBEN SPENCER, Esquire, J.P. 
 
 '< Rylands & Sons, Limited, Manchester. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, We the Representatives and Agents of the 
 Home and Foreign Department of Rylands & Sons, Limited, Man- 
 chester, most gladly present you our hearty good wishes on the 
 occasion of your Jubilee. We desire to express our satisfaction 
 for the robust health with which you have been enabled, almost 
 without a break, to discharge the duties of your position for the 
 long term of fifty years. We congratulate you upon your bril- 
 liantly successful career, and admire your many remarkable 
 qualities. 
 
 " While we confirm all that has been said in your favour by 
 other sections of the Company, we desire especially to refer to 
 the ability you have always displayed in making plain the vari- 
 ous difficulties which environ the path of a traveller, and the 
 kindly interest you have always evinced in their welfare, also the 
 generous consideration and sound judgment you have displayed 
 in giving preference to the rising young men of the house who have 
 aspired to become travellers, rather than yield to applications 
 from without. 
 
 "We would respectfully record our appreciation of the confi- 
 dence you repose in us as a body, leaving much to our discretion 
 and relying upon our probity ; the firm but kindly wisdom of your 
 
 ( 222 )
 
 decisions, whereby we cannot fail to recognise the high regard in 
 which you hold the paramount interests of the firm. 
 
 *' We have watched with pride the remarkable success which 
 has attended your efforts, in conjunction with the Directorate, in 
 promoting the Company's business, and especially in the exten- 
 sion of the Export Trade, resulting in developments which are 
 the surprise and wonder of the mercantile community, and far 
 exceeding the highest expectation of the most sanguine. We 
 trust you may long be spared to occupy the honourable post you 
 now so ably fill, and continue to contribute to the successful 
 guidance of the multifarious and important affairs of the colossal 
 business of Rylands & Sons, Limited. 
 
 " We ask your acceptance of this illuminated Address and of 
 the Album containing portraits of the Travellers, and, on Mrs. 
 Spencer's behalf, of the accompanying Silver Dessert Service, 
 which we trust will serve as a lasting memento of the respect and 
 high esteem in which you are held by the Representatives and 
 Agents of the firm. 
 
 " For the Representatives and Agents of Rylands & Sons, 
 Limited, Manchester : 
 
 " JAMES KEMP. 
 
 " H. H. HARTSHORNE. 
 
 " THOS. SCHOLES. 
 
 " DAVID THOMAS. 
 
 "SAMUEL COLLIER. 
 
 " GEO. FLANNAGAN, Hon. Sec." 
 
 Mr. Reuben Spencer made the following reply : 
 " Mr. Kemp, Mr. Collier, Mr. Hartshorne, Mr. Flan- 
 nagan, Mr. Thomas, and Mr. Scholes, you have been 
 appointed to represent the honoured band of travellers 
 and agents in arranging for the dinner which you 
 propose to give a short time hence ; the writing ot 
 the address, the preparation of the album, and the 
 purchase of the magnificent silver dessert service, 
 which, for richness of design, beauty, and value, is 
 worthy of you and far in excess of my expectation, 
 I am sure the buyers, chief clerks, salesmen, and 
 
 ( 22 3 )
 
 others, who have before joined together in making 
 presents to Mrs. Spencer and myself, will excuse me 
 saying I think you have acted kindly in thus holding 
 a special meeting. Gentlemen, I cannot refrain from 
 the expression of my high appreciation of your 
 valuable services in assisting to raise this grand 
 concern ; whilst I think of you I cannot but recall our 
 old friends, Mr. Search, Mr. Williams, Mr. Criddle, 
 Mr. Mellor, Mr. Donald, and Mr. Kirrelly, to whom I 
 shall make further reference ; they were men of the 
 highest mark, and, like you, contributed largely to 
 raise the house to its present proud position. I 
 notice that you six gentlemen forming the committee 
 represent a period of close upon two hundred years' 
 service with the firm, and it reminds me of another 
 gathering of a similar kind when four of us sitting 
 together represented a total service of two hundred 
 and twenty-five years. 
 
 " Gentlemen, these are remarkable facts and figures, 
 perfectly unique and probably unmatched- in any 
 commercial house ; and, what is more, we .none, of us 
 say or feel we are fossilised or exhausted either in 
 body, mind, or heart ; we have life and energy yet to 
 do yeoman service. We feel bound to you and to the 
 old house ; it is not the bond of the merely mercenary 
 selfish man, but a bond of friendship, and of united 
 cheerful attachment to each other, inspired by one 
 desire to seek the prosperity of the concern which 
 includes and involves the good of each and all. You 
 
 ( 224 )
 
 are quite justified, and it is pleasing to. the director's 
 to see you recognise and appreciate the principle 
 which has guided us in our management of the firm's 
 business, viz: to watch for the young man who 
 shows capacity, industry, and integrity, and place 
 him in a situation of an - improving character. I 
 might ask whence came our buyers, our chiefs in the 
 various departments, and conspicuously our travel- 
 lers ? They came from the body of men who were 
 of our own training, and if there is a class of men 
 amongst us to whom I have given special thought 
 and consideration, it has been our travellers. My 
 brother directors and I feel no small measure of pride 
 in raising such men nay, I will rather say in being 
 able to give free scope to men who have shown such 
 spirit, ability, and indomitable will. You call me a 
 friend, and so I have tried to be to you all, however 
 unfortunate my manner of exhibiting the feeling has 
 sometimes been. Feltham says, 'The noblest part of a 
 friend is an honest boldness in the notifying of errors. 
 He that tells me of a fault aiming at my good, I must 
 think him wise and faithful : wise in spying that 
 which I see not, faithful in a plain admonishment not 
 tainted with flattery.' 
 
 " Gentlemen, in each instance where, through the 
 
 kindness and generosity of my friends in various 
 
 parts of our business, it has been determined in some 
 
 ' practical and kindly form to recognise my jubilee, I 
 
 have endeavoured to say a few words appropriate to 
 
 (225 )
 
 the occasion. In addressing you, allow me to say 
 you are undoubtedly representative men ; and in a 
 far higher sense than is generally attached to that 
 word, the graphic form adopted in our grammar- 
 books as to value viz., good, better, and best is 
 most appropriate to you. 
 
 " We have a large staff all good, not a few better, 
 and a number of whom I may say that the word best 
 does not convey the full breadth of my feeling. They 
 are men whose social and commercial influence is 
 very great, and it arises from various causes. In 
 some, ripened experience combined with energy of 
 character and good-will ; in others, with indomitable 
 energy, enthusiasm, and courage ; in others, with 
 persuasive power and with tact that ever succeeds ; 
 and with all a manly bearing and a conviction that 
 they know their business and are the right men with 
 the right firm, with whom it is a pleasure to be asso- 
 ciated. And here I must, by your permission, refer 
 to the six representatives I had in my mind when 
 addressing the audience before me a few days ago at 
 Belle Vue. Mr. Search, who was accustomed to 
 wear a blue coat of the finest texture and value, 
 with gold buttons and a frilled shirt, every inch an 
 English gentleman, highly esteemed and successful. 
 Mr. Griddle, a good and true man of the highest 
 stamp of a commercial traveller, whose integrity of 
 character and purpose could never be questioned, 
 esteemed by all his customers, and also respected 
 
 ( 826 )
 
 by his employers. Mr. Williams, who was so well 
 known and respected in South Wales that it was 
 a common remark to hear, when his address was 
 asked for at any time, ' Oh, Mr. W. Williams South 
 Wales is quite sufficient, he is known everywhere,' 
 and certainly there was some truth in the statement. 
 He was widely known and respected, and eminently 
 successful. Then came the able, cultured, and 
 thorough gentleman, Mr. John Mellor, a man who 
 was admired by all in the house, and by all the 
 friends on the ground on which he was accustomed 
 to travel. His influence was marked, and hundreds 
 of traders of his day and of this day willingly accorded 
 to him their thanks for his advice and direction, alike 
 in their business and social relations. He was a man 
 of high character and of great industry. He was 
 appointed to the position of Director of the Company, 
 from which he retired some years ago, and there is 
 not a man left who does not wish him to be spared 
 for many years to enjoy the rest he has well earned. 
 I make similar remarks as to the character of Mr. 
 Donald and Mr. Kirrelly. I cannot but feel that at a 
 date somewhat distant I hope many meetings for 
 different objects will be held amongst our successors, 
 when pleasant reference will be made to not a 
 few of those whose names appear on this address, 
 and whose portraits I am proud to possess in this 
 album. 
 
 " There are few positions in which an intelligent, 
 ( 227 )
 
 observant man, with a healthy constitution, can find 
 greater scope for his energy and capacity, and in 
 which he can exercise a more helpful and generally 
 beneficial influence, than a commercial traveller repre- 
 senting a good house. He can secure and enjoy at the 
 same time the confidence and respect of his customers 
 and of the house he represents. If ever there was a 
 band of capable and true men, who watched the 
 interest and supported the character and dignity of 
 any large commercial firm, it surely is the band of 
 men who occupy the position of travellers and repre- 
 sentatives in Rylands & Sons, Limited. Amongst 
 you there is as much variety of character as it is 
 possible to find among a hundred leading men in 
 any place or community. Gentlemen, I gladly and 
 willingly admit you have much to do with the 
 
 - destiny of the house ; but, happily for you, you have 
 not to bear the burden and responsibility of those 
 who have to deal with the official and financial duties 
 of the house, or with the manufacturing portion of 
 the business in which are engaged such a great staff 
 of servants and such a large portion of the capital of 
 the Company. 
 
 " You can and do give the directors very valuable 
 assistance in many ways, and as Chairman of the 
 
 ' Company I know I am voicing the feeling of my co- 
 directors when I say we appreciate your services 
 most highly, and are pleased to have this opportunity 
 
 - of expressing our esteem arid sense of obligation to 
 
 ( 228 )
 
 you. I claim to speak with authority on this matter, 
 I have known every one of you from the commence- 
 ment of your services in the firm. Speaking for 
 myself and my wife, I thank you most heartily for 
 your magnificent present as an expression of your 
 good feeling on the attainment of my jubilee. 
 
 " I hope that we all may be spared some time to 
 work in support of the grand old firm we have so 
 long served, and that we may see greater things 
 achieved than have yet been accomplished." 
 
 ( 229 )
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 REUBEN SPENCER, ESQ., J.P. 
 
 N 
 
 HE annals of public and commercial life in 
 ^ Manchester are singularly rich in examples 
 of genuine devotion to the duties of citizen- 
 ship on the part of men who have achieved per- 
 sonal distinction and eminence of position, not 
 by any fortuitous combination of lucky circumstances, 
 but by the union of natural talents and abilities with 
 steady perseverance and unceasing industry. The 
 records of such men, wherever they are found, furnish 
 abundant proof of the incontestable fact that those 
 who of necessity labour most arduously in the ad- 
 vancement of their own affairs are frequently the first 
 to consecrate their brief moments of leisure to the 
 public service. Having regard to Manchester in par- 
 ticular, where hard work has always been recognised 
 as the sine qua non of material prosperity, it would be 
 impossible to name a city whose leading men in 
 various spheres of activity have displayed a more 
 striking esprit de corps as citizens, or manifested 
 greater unanimity in their desire for the welfare of 
 the community, and in their efforts to secure the 
 
 ( 230 )
 
 same. This highly commendable spirit has been par- 
 ticularly conspicuous among the great merchants of 
 the city a fraternity of which the subject of our pre- 
 sent sketch is one of the most prominent, energetic, 
 and respected members. 
 
 Though not a Lancastrian by birth, it has been the 
 fortune of Mr. Reuben Spencer to become peculiarly 
 and specially identified with Manchester. His name 
 is, indeed, widely familiar in commercial circles 
 generally, and especially in connection with the tex- 
 tile trade ; yet it is in the city of Manchester that the 
 effect of his life-work has been most noticeable and 
 noteworthy, and it is by the people of this city that 
 he himself is now honoured in an exceptional degree. 
 Coming here in the days of his youth from the hill- 
 sides of a neighbouring county, associating himself 
 with the greatest house in the Manchester trade, be- 
 coming gradually a recognised leader in the commer- 
 cial and social advancement of the place, and taking 
 a part of ever-increasing activity in the work of many 
 of its principal institutions, there is hardly a depart- 
 ment of life in Manchester in which Mr. Reuben 
 Spencer has not figured prominently, or in which he 
 has not proved himself in some measure a pioneer of 
 progress. 
 
 Mr. Spencer is a native of Derbyshire, and was 
 born at Belper on September i8th, 1830. At an 
 early age he came to Manchester, after receiving a 
 useful education at his native place, and forthwith 
 
 ( 231 )
 
 entered upon a career of commercial activity which 
 has now extended over half a century. His first 
 post in Manchester was in an accountant's office, 
 where he remained twelve months. At the expira- 
 tion of that period, by the assistance of his then 
 employer and an old friend, he obtained a situation 
 in the great firm of Rylands & Sons, with which he 
 has ever since remained associated. In the service 
 of that famous house, young Reuben Spencer was 
 speedily brought under the influence of that very 
 remarkable man, the late John Rylands, who will go 
 down to history as one of the greatest commercial 
 administrators of any age, and as the founder and 
 organiser of the most gigantic of the many vast 
 businesses that have grown up and flourished in 
 Lancashire. 
 
 As an indication of Mr. Spencer's regard for, and 
 high opinion of his former chief, we may here recall 
 a few words on that point which he used not long ago 
 in an address to young men : " I do not hesitate to 
 say that, next to the powerful influence of my mother, 
 I received my most healthy and manly inspiration 
 from Mr. Rylands. He was a capable man, an able 
 administrator, and by his side I learnt much that has 
 been of great I had almost said invaluable service 
 to me in my commercial life." The address from 
 which the above sentences are taken was in many 
 respects a notable one, embodying thoughts and 
 comments well calculated to impress an audience of 
 
 ( 232 )
 
 young men with the duties and labours of life all 
 before them. In the course of its delivery, Mr. 
 Spencer took occasion to speak of the institutions 
 connected with the house of Rylands (one of them a 
 tribute to the memory of the deceased founder of the 
 firm), and as his remarks thereupon afford a glimpse 
 of what is being done, and has been done, to promote 
 the general well-being of the whole staff of this great 
 concern, they may appropriately be quoted here, 
 particularly as they reveal the depth of Mr. Spencer's 
 personal interest in the institutions to which he refers, 
 and which he has himself done so much to foster. 
 These are his words : " However much I may feel 
 interested in the various educational and charitable 
 institutions of our city, none can command my sym- 
 pathy so much as the two great and useful societies 
 or institutions we have in connection with the firm of 
 Rylands & Sons, Limited, viz., the Rylands Packers' 
 and Porters' Benevolent Fund, specially confined to 
 them), and the Rylands Memorial Club, which em- 
 braces the buyers, travellers, salesmen, and clerks^ 
 together with the leading men engaged in our seven- 
 teen factories and works. The objects of this club 
 are almost as far-reaching in their influence as are 
 the various branches of trade represented by the 
 members. I had the pleasure of presiding at the first 
 meeting and making a statement as to the objects of 
 the club, the number of which has, however, since 
 been extended. It was founded to do honour to the 
 
 ( 233)
 
 memory of the late John Rylands, whom we all ad- 
 mired as a noble example of business capacity. The 
 club embraces the following branches : A * thrift 
 fund,' to which all can make monthly contributions, 
 securing, in addition to five per cent, interest allowed, 
 a considerable bonus, which is added every five years, 
 thus comprehending in some measure the purposes 
 of a life insurance, and also of an important provision 
 for old age. Then we have a fire brigade for the 
 protection of our own property, which is thoroughly 
 equipped, and would be found of great service if 
 called to duty. We have also an orchestral society, 
 brass and string bands, chess, cricket, football, and 
 rowing clubs, and last, but not least, a special fund, 
 supported by the company, to meet any exceptional 
 case "of distress or trouble occurring to any of the 
 members, which fund is under the care and direction 
 of the directors." 
 
 Many years elapsed between the eventful day upon 
 which Mr. Spencer first entered the house of Rylands 
 & Sons in a subordinate capacity and that upon 
 which he ultimately became a partner in this colossal 
 concern ; but those who know the man and his 
 methods will require no special assurance of the fact 
 that the whole of that long intervening period was 
 employed by him in the conscientious discharge of 
 every duty '.hat fell to his lot, and in the steadfast 
 pursuit of a ine of action which could hardly lead to 
 any other result than his own continuous promotion 
 
 ( 234 )
 
 and the equally constant advancement of the firm's 
 interests. It may be unhesitatingly averred that, 
 next to its late head, no one has contributed more 
 largely to the prosperity of the house of Rylands & 
 Sons than Mr. Reuben Spencer, and his admission to 
 the partnership upwards of twenty years ago was 
 a practical recognition of and tribute to his great 
 services to the firm. Ultimately, on the formation of 
 the limited liability company by which this great 
 business (or rather group of businesses) is now con- 
 trolled, Mr. Spencer became a director, and he 
 continues to discharge the functions of this post with 
 undiminished energy and assiduity. 
 
 To a man of Mr. Spencer's character and capacity 
 invitations to participate in the active labour of mu- 
 nicipal life are inevitable, and we shall presently see 
 that his strong sense of public duty has constrained 
 him to take up a vast amount of work which a less 
 public- spirited man would willingly avoid. There 
 are, however, limits to the human capacity for exer- 
 tion, and Mr. Spencer has been obliged in some cases 
 to acknowledge this. Frequently he has been asked 
 to accept positions which the manifold nature of his 
 other engagements would absolutely preclude his 
 filling. Requests to contest Manchester for the office 
 of City Councillor, and to " stand " for various parlia- 
 mentary constituencies, have been forthcoming on 
 more than one occasion, but all these he has been 
 compelled to decline, because he felt that he could 
 
 (.235 )
 
 not discharge the duties they involved and at the 
 same time maintain the efficiency of his work in other 
 connections, particularly in relation to the great com- 
 mercial concern over which he exercises exceptional 
 influence. 
 
 This is not the place to enter into descriptive 
 details concerning the industrial and mercantile 
 operations of Rylands & Sons, Limited, but when we 
 consider the unparalleled magnitude to which this 
 company's undertakings have now attained in their 
 particular line utilising a share and debenture capital 
 of ^2,900,000, with land, buildings, and machinery 
 valued at over ,1,000,000 sterling, and employing 
 upwards of twelve thousand hands, the majority of 
 whom work in some seventeen mills, factories, and 
 warehouses it must be admitted that the administra- 
 tive routine of such a concern calls for a display of 
 energy that might well constitute a good and suffi- 
 cient excuse for any member of the Board for com- 
 plete abstention from any public work whatever. 
 For the latter, however, Mr. Spencer manages to find 
 a surprisingly large amount of time, and this is due 
 to the fact that he neglects no opportunity which even 
 the briefest spell of leisure affords. Whatever time 
 he contrives by systematic methods to snatch from 
 the daily round of business labour, he apportions with 
 strict fairness among a variety of public avocations 
 which, in themselves, strikingly attest his versatile 
 powers. Perhaps the first place is occupied by his 
 
 ( 236)
 
 functions as a magistrate, which he discharges with 
 scrupulous care and diligence ; and the rest of his 
 work, in connection with a multitude of commercial, 
 educational, and philanthropic institutions, assuredly 
 affords occupation for many more days and hours of 
 leisure than the majority of men would care to resign 
 even to the most deserving causes. 
 
 There are few institutions and movements of recent 
 years bearing a close relationship to life in Man- 
 chester that have not engaged in some useful and 
 beneficial degree the personal interest of Mr. Reuben 
 Spencer. Perhaps in none of these notable under- 
 takings have his services been more conspicuous or 
 fruitful in good results than in the great work of 
 rousing public interest in the Manchester Ship Canal, 
 and securing support for that gigantic work, fraught 
 with such great consequences, and pregnant with so 
 many possibilities for the welfare of the vast popula- 
 tion inhabiting the district through which its course 
 has at last been triumphantly carried. 
 
 We might fill several pages in recounting the occa- 
 sions upon which Mr. Spencer has publicly cham- 
 pioned the cause of the Ship Canal, and reports of 
 the many earnest and trenchant speeches he has 
 delivered in its favour from time to time would fill 
 many more. All his work in this connection was 
 characterised by the utmost zeal for the object in view, 
 as well as by a manifest confidence in its ultimate 
 success which, we doubt not, frequently inspired a 
 
 (237 )
 
 similar confidence in others. He even went so far as 
 to organise and act as-treasurer of a committee formed 
 in the warehouse of Rylands & Sons to arrange and 
 carry out a scheme for raising funds to assist the Ship 
 Canal enterprise, and the result of which was a very 
 valuable addition to the financial resources of the 
 great undertaking. , Future years will doubtless justify 
 the hopes and realise the anticipations of those who 
 have laboured in behalf of the Manchester Ship Canal, 
 now auspiciously completed and fairly in working 
 order ; and when the services of its promoters and 
 supporters come to be reckoned up and appraised, 
 those rendered by Mr. Reuben Spencer will certainly 
 not stand lowest in value nor least in estimation. 
 The support accorded by him to the Ship Canal in 
 the early stages of its eventful career was especially 
 useful as coming at a critical period, and he received 
 the express thanks of the Provisional Committee for 
 his evidence in favour of the Canal Bill when it came 
 before the Select Committee of the House of Lords in 
 1885. He also participated in the congratulations 
 conveyed by the Provisional Committee of the Ship 
 Canal to the various societies and gentlemen who 
 assisted in the promotion of the very successful de- 
 monstration held in favour of the Canal at Pomona 
 Gardens in June, 1884, and we may add he is the 
 President of the " Ship Canal Shareholders Associa- 
 tion." 
 
 Everybody who has studied the home trade of 
 ( 238 )
 
 Manchester and its progress in recent years will be 
 familiar with the nature and importance of Mr. 
 Reuben Spencer's work in this connection : and will 
 remember how largely instrumental he was in secur- 
 ing the due recognition of this great branch of the 
 city's trade by the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. 
 The ultimate result of the efforts made by himself 
 and colleagues in this direction was the appointment 
 by the Chamber of Commerce, in November, 1890, of 
 a new committee, styled the " Home Trade Sectional 
 Committee." Of this committee Mr. Spencer was 
 unanimously elected Chairman, a post he continues 
 to hold, and he has since been chosen Vice-President 
 of the Chamber, from which fact may be inferred his 
 probable occupancy of the chair, if matters take the 
 usual course in the coming year. Again, he has been 
 most active and zealous in promoting the growth and 
 influence of the Manchester Guardian and Trade 
 Protection Society, of which he is Vice-President, 
 and which now numbers upwards of five thousand 
 members. 
 
 Among the many charitable and benevolent insti- 
 tutions in which Mr. Spencer has taken an active 
 interest, perhaps the most important is the Ware- 
 housemen and Clerks' Schools, of which he is a Vice- 
 President, and the Warehousemen and Clerks' Provi- 
 dent Association, of which he is President, a great 
 organisation, with no less than four thousand five 
 hundred members ; President of the Manchester and 
 
 ( 239 )
 
 Salford Penitentiary ; Trustee of Nicholl's Hospital, 
 and of the Dental Hospital ; a member of the Com- 
 mittee of the Lancashire Independent College ; and 
 an active participant in the support and administra- 
 tion of many miscellaneous charities. Formerly Mr. 
 Spencer was President of the Commercial Travellers' 
 Association, but was obliged to retire from that office 
 in consequence of excess of other work. The public 
 press of Manchester and Lancashire, for a good many 
 years past, has placed on permanent record many 
 other phases of his activity as a citizen animated by 
 a constant and lively desire for the promotion of civic 
 and social welfare. Time and again he has presided 
 at meetings convened to further movements tending 
 in this direction, and his many speeches and letters 
 to the press abound with thoughtful and practical 
 suggestions, such as might be expected from one who 
 has repeatedly proved himself a sound man of busi- 
 ness, a shrewd student of events, and a sympathetic 
 observer of life in the varied aspects in which it pre- 
 sents itself in such a city as Manchester, and in such 
 a district as that of the county of Lancaster in 
 general. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Spencer is a Liberal, and has un- 
 dertaken a fair share of labour and responsibility in 
 furthering the principles he holds. In religion he 
 adheres to the Congregational body, and in various 
 capacities connected with that denomination, such as 
 college committee work and church and school build- 
 
 ( 240 )
 
 ing associations, he has rendered services none the 
 less valuable because they have been perfectly un- 
 ostentatious. 
 
 Finally, in the sphere of literary labour Mr. Spencer 
 has been more prominent than most business men, 
 and has shown himself a thoughtful and lucid writer 
 upon topics which enlist his interest and sympathy. 
 To many his most important work is that entitled the 
 " Home Trade of Manchester," a volume dedicated to 
 the members of the Rylands Memorial Club, and 
 originally published under the nom de plume of 
 " Home Trader." However much Mr. Spencer might 
 have wished to preserve his incognito in this matter, 
 the authorship of the book soon became an open 
 secret, and in subsequent editions (of which there 
 have been several) his name duly appears upon the 
 title-page. The work is a really masterly disquisition 
 upon a subject which is particularly congenial to its 
 author, and upon which he is entitled to discourse 
 with authority. It contains a great store of historical 
 and mercantile lore, equally accurate and instruc- 
 tive, and adds to this a fund of anecdotal interest in 
 the shape of personal reminiscences extending over 
 the lengthy period covered by Mr. Spencer's personal 
 association with Manchester. Such a volume is a 
 distinct acquisition to the literature of our national 
 commerce, and can be read with pleasure and profit 
 by anyone in the least degree interested in the im- 
 portant subject of which it treats. 
 
 ( 241 )
 
 Another notable work from Mr. Spencer's pen is 
 the volume entitled, " To Young Men going out into 
 Life," in which the author endeavours, with marked 
 success, to place at the disposal of young men enter- 
 ing upon the responsible work of life .the results of 
 long experience and close observation, and to assist 
 his readers with knowledge which could only be 
 acquired in such a position as that which he himself 
 has filled. In these pages many valuable hints are 
 conveyed to young business men concerning the 
 application of their capital and the advantageous 
 employment of their powers and resources generally, 
 and these hints are followed up with others intended 
 to assist the reader at a more mature period of life 
 in the further development of his business, whether it 
 be wholesale or retail, home or export. Our author 
 likewise seeks to show that commercial life, properly 
 lived, has higher and nobler aims than the mere 
 acquisition of wealth ; and, consistently with the 
 salient features of his own exemplary career, he 
 points the way to many paths of usefulness that open 
 themselves to the business man gifted with intelli- 
 gence, energy, and the desire to benefit his fellows 
 and leave the world a little better than he found it. 
 The whole tone of the book is healthy. It breathes a 
 spirit of encouragement from first to last, and it will 
 prove helpful and instructive to every young man 
 who reads it in thoughtful earnest. For those em- 
 barking in the textile trade it may stand as a text- 
 
 ( 242 )
 
 book, not alone of the broad principles of successful 
 commerce, but also of the many lesser details which 
 must engage the serious attention of the young- mer- 
 chant who hopes to prosper. 
 
 Mr. Spencer also produced for the use of the Man- 
 chester trade an excellent "Telegraphic Code," and 
 a very comprehensive " Ready Reckoner." We 
 imagine that his moments of recreation must be few 
 and far between. Nevertheless, he thinks (and we 
 agree with him) that every man should have a hobby, 
 and his own has been the collecting of ancient and 
 modern coins, medals, c., in silver, gold, and bronze. 
 Of these numismatic treasures he has amassed a 
 goodly and representative collection, which he has 
 now, with characteristic generosity, presented to the 
 Museum of the Victoria University, Manchester. 
 
 Though he has entered upon his sixty- seventh year, 
 Mr. Reuben Spencer preserves unimpaired the physi- 
 cal and mental vigour that has served him so well 
 throughout his exceptionally active and useful career. 
 Of his personality we need not speak. The kindly 
 face and genial manner are familiar to scores of 
 friends who will join us in wishing him many more 
 years of health and strength in which to sustain 
 his part, and continue his services as an upright 
 and enterprising merchant and a public-spirited 
 citizen. 
 
 The records of many brilliant individualities will 
 come under the consideration of future historians of 
 
 ( 243 )
 
 Manchester ; few of these, it may safely be asserted, 
 will command a larger amount of attention than that 
 of Mr. Reuben Spencer ; and none, we are confident, 
 will prove richer in that encouragement to others 
 which is always embodied, to some extent, in distin- 
 guished and successful careers. 
 
 PRINTED BY J. S. VIRTUE AND CO., LIMITED, CITY ROAD, LONDON. 
 ( 244 )

 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
 JAN 1 3 2003 
 
 Series 9482