It is not easy to ascertain when the second of these periods commenced: but it is probable that few or no capitals of 3000l. or 40col acquired by trade, existed here before 1690. However, towards the latter end of the last century and the beginning of the present, the traders had certainly got money beforehand, and began to build modern brick houses, in place of those of wood and plaster. For the first thirty years of the present century, the old established houses confined their trade to the wholesale dealers in London, Bristol, Norwich, Newcastle, and, those who frequented Chester fair. The profits were thus divided between the manufacturer, the wholesale, and the retail, dealer; and those of the manufacturer were probably (though this is contrary to the received opinion) less per cent, upon the business they did, than in the present times. The improvement of their fortunes was chiefly owing to their economy in living, the expense of which was much below the interest of the capital employed. Apprentices at that time were now and then taken from families which could pay a moderate fee. By an indenture dated 1695 the fee paid appears to have been sixty pounds, the young man serving seven years. But all apprentices were obliged to undergo a vast deal of laborious work, such as turning warping mills, carrying goods on their shoulders through the streets, and the like. An eminent manufacturer in that age used to be in his warehouse before six in the morning, accompanied by his children and apprentices, At seven they all came in to breakfast, which consisted of one large dish of water-pottage, made of oat-meal, water, and a little salt, boiled thick, and poured into a dish. At the side was a pan or bason of milk, and the master and apprentices, each with a wooden spoon in his hand, without loss of time, dipped into the same dish, and thence into the milk pan; and as soon as it was finished they all returned to their work. In George the First's reign many country gentlemen began to send their sons apprentices to the Manchester manufacturers; but though the little country gentry did not then live in the luxurious manner they have done since, the young men found it so different from home, that they could not brook this treatment, and either got away before their time, or, if they staid till the expiration of their indentures, they then, for the most part, entered into the army or went to sea. The little attention paid to rendering the evenings of apprentices agreeable at home, where they were considered rather as servants than pupils, drove many of them to taverns, where they acquired habits of drinking that frequently proved injurious in after life. To this, in part, is to be attributed the bad custom of gilling, or drinking white wine as a whet before dinner, to which at one period a number of young men fell a sacrifice. When the Manchester trade began to extend, the chapmen used to keep gangs of pack-horses, and accompany them to the principal towns with goods in packs, which they opened and sold to shopkeepers, lodging what was unsold in small stores at the inns. The pack-horses brought back sheep's wool, which was bought on the journey, and sold to the makers of worsted yarn at Manchester, or to the clothiers of Rochdale, Saddleworth, and the West-Riding of Yorkshire. On the improvement of turnpike roads waggons were set up, up, and the pack-horses discontinued; and the chapmen only rode out for orders, carrying with them patterns in their bags. It was during the forty years from 1730 to 1770 that trade was greatly pushed by the practice of sending these riders all over the kingdom, to those towns which before had been supplied from the wholesale dealers in the capital places before mentioned. As this was attended not only with more trouble, but with much more risk, some of the old traders withdrew from business, or confined themselves to as much as they could do on the old footing, which, by the competition of young adventurers, diminished yearly. In this period strangers flocked in from various quarters, which introduced a greater propor tion of young men of some fortune into the town, with a consequent increase of luxury and gaiety. The fees of apprentices becoming an object of profit, a different manner of treating them began to prevail. Somewhat before 1760, a considerable manufacturer allotted a backparlour with a fire for the use of his apprentices, and gave them tea twice a day. His fees in consequence rose higher than had before been known, from 250l. to 300l.; and he had three or four apprentices at a time. The highest fee known as late as 1769, was 500l. Within the last twenty or thirty years the vast increase of foreign trade has caused many of the Manchester manufacturers to travel abroad, and agents or partners to be fixed for a considerable time on the Continent, as well as foreigners to reside at Manchester. And the town has now in every respect assumed the style and manners of one of the commercial capitals of Europe. • Some other anecdotes respecting the manners of the place in the last age may prove amusing from comparison, however trivial in their own nature. About the year 1690 there was a great quarrel between the master and scholars of the grammar-school. The boys locked themselves in the school, and were supplied by the town's people with victuals and beds, which were put in at the windows. They even got fire arms and ammunition, which they employed in firing at the legs persons who attempted to get in. This petty rebellion continued a fortnight, somewhat to the disgrace of those who ought to have exerted a better difcipline. of In 1693, a manufacturer, being in London, learned that one of his customers, a mercer in Manchester, was bound in a large sum for a Londoner who was expected to break: he thereupon prudently wrote to his wife to go and dun the mercer, adding, "if thou canst not get money, take goods thou mayst buy thyself a silk manteau and petticoat." For a sensible and frugal man, who set out with very little capital, to send such an order to his wife, proves that those articles of finery were not at that time very uncommon. In a manufacturer's private expense-book, under the date 1700, are different sums paid for two of his daughters who were at London in the house of a person who managed a warehouse for him. Among the rest is paid for a spinet 51. 35. od. In the same book, in 1701, is paid 261. 185. 9d. for a journey to Scarborough, and hire of a coach 13. 6s. 2d. This was the sea-bathing place of the time, for the journey was on account of a child five years old who died there; and 13 لة ! at her funeral, though so young, there was paid for gloves 21. 55. When this reputable person went to London, his constant annual luxuries were Brunswick mum, beer, and tobacco. In the expenses for 1702, there is a charge, for the first time, of ten shillings for coffee and tea. His house rent was forty pounds per annum, perhaps including his warehouse. For several years, ten shillings a quarter is put down for chapel wages, or his subscription to the dissenting meeting-house. In 1704 is five pounds for an ass; an enormous price for the time, from which it is probable that few were then bred near Manchester. For the same year is 27. 10s. od. for a perriwig, but this was preparatory to a wedding, and double the price of those charged before. This was an expensive piece of finery for such frugal times. A proof of the early hours then kept appears in the following fact: in 1705 a manufacturer married a physician's daughter who had been genteelly educated and kept a good deal of company. The hour of afternoon visiting was then two o'clock, so that for some years after her marriage, she had always finished her visit soon enough to go to the Old Church prayers at four. They then dined at twelve; and there being no such thing as a hair-dresser, is was easy to be ready for visiting at two.’ Wealth naturally displays itself in some form or other; and in communities, as with individuals, it is manifested in neatness and magnificence of habitation, the splendour of equipage, and the introduction of a more refined and luxurious mode of living: but those rigid moralists, who are fond of censuring the luxury, vanity, and ostentation of mankind, would do well to consider that a never-failing accompaniment of the increase of riches in a country is an extension of that brightest virtue in the christian character, charity, with a benevolent attention to relieve and mitigate the miseries of life, and the distresses of our fellow-creatures. Of the truth of this remark Manchester affords a noble proof. To use the words of our author; no town in England has been more exemplary in the number and variety of its charitable institutions, and the zeal by which they have been supported,—a zeal in which all ranks and parties have been united.' This observation is followed by an enumeration of public charities; which, we are happy to say, are too long for insertion in a review.-Dr. Aikin concludes his account of this great town with a short history of the ingenious Mr. Byrom, commonly called Dr. Byrom, well known for his pastoral song (in the SPECTATOR) of Colin and Phoebe; for his famous book of Short-hand; and for the innocent peculiarity of his manners and conduct through life. The following observations on the cotton-mills deserve serious attention, and are a proof, among many others, of that good good sense, humanity, and true patriotism, which characterise the work before us: The invention and improvements of machines to-shorten labour*, has had a surprising influence to extend our trade, and also to call in hands from all parts, especially children for the cotton mills. It is the wise plan of Providence, that in this life there shall be no good without its attendant inconvenience. There are many which are too obvious in these cotton mills, and similar factories, which counteract that increase of population usually consequent on the improved facility of labour. In these, children of very tender age are employed; many of them collected from the workhouses in London and Westminster, and transported in crowds, as apprentices to masters resident many hundred miles distant, where they serve unknown, unprotected, and forgotten by those to whose care nature or the laws had consigned them. These children are usually too long confined to work in close rooms, often during the whole night: the air they breathe from the oil, &c. employed in the machinery, and other circumstances, is injurious; little regard is paid to their cleanliness, and frequent changes from a warm and dense to a cold and thin atmosphere, are predisposing causes to sickness and disability, and particu larly to the epidemic fever which so generally is to be met with in these factories. It is also much to be questioned, if (whether) society does not receive detriment from the manner in which children are thus employed during their early years. They are not generally strong to labour, or capable of pursuing any other branch of business, when the term of their apprenticeship expires. The females are wholly uninstructed in sewing, knitting, and other domestic affairs, requisite to make them notable and frugal wives and mothers. This is a very great misfortune to them and the public, as is sadly proved by a comparison of the families of labourers in husbandry, and those of manufacturers in general. In the former we meet with neatness, cleanliness, and comfort in the latter with filth, rags, and poverty; although their wages may be nearly double to those of the husbandman. It must be added, that the want of early religious instruction and example, and the numerous and indiscriminate association in these buildings, are very unfavourable to their future conduct in life. To mention these grievances, is to point out their remedies; and in many factories they have been adopted with true benevolence and much success, But in all cases "The public have a right to see that its members are not wantonly injured, or carelessly lost." The parish of Rochdale, and its vicinity, Dr. Aikin observes, may be considered as the centre of the genuine Lancashire dialect; a variety of the English tongue which, though uncouth to the ear, and widely differing in words and grammar The late Mr. Bentley, partner with Mr. Wedgwood, wrote an ingenious little tract in defence of such machinery, in answer to those who have entertained prejudices against them, as hurtful to the poor; see Rev. vol. xii. p. 225. from from cultivated language, is yet possessed of much force and expression. Its peculiar aptness for humourous narrative has been displayed in the noted dialogue containing the adventures of a Lancashire clown, of which this district is the scene, written by a Mr. Collier under the name of Tim Bobbin. We are here presented with memoirs of this extraordinary man, who appears to have been rather singular than estimable. His humour, of which he had a large portion, was of that sort which delights in caricature; and it was accompanied with a capriciousness of temper which rendered all the endeavours of his friends to enable him to support his family, with credit and reputation, of no avail. We now come to LIVERPOOL, termed with great propriety by Dr. Aikin the other eye of Lancashire. This town, though Antiquaries may carry back its existence to the time of William the Conqueror, and may boast of charters granted to it by Henry I., John, and Henry III., appears for many centuries to have been very inconsiderable; in 1565 we are told that there were in Liverpool only 138 householders and cottagers, and all the shipping of the place consisted of ten barks, and two boats, the whole making but 223 tons, and navigated by seventy-five men. Even in the succeeding century, it gave no other proof of its importance than its obstinate defence in 1644 against the arms of Prince Rupert: In 1710 the increase of trade had suggested the necessity of a dock, and an act passed for the purpose of empowering the inhabitants to construct one. About this time the first ship is said to have sailed from Liverpool to Africa; and not much earlier their direct traffic to the West Indies must have commenced. From this period, the increase of the town in wealth and population has been very rapid. The number of inhabitants in 1720 was.computed at 10,446; being more than doubled since the first year of the century: in 1740 the inhabitants were augmented to more than 18,000 in 1773 they amounted to 34,407; and, in 1789 to upwards of 51,000. This quick advancement of a town in wealth and population cannot be contemplated without astonishment, and admiration; and a reflecting mind is naturally led to inquire into the causes of such extraordinary effects; of which the principal, perhaps, may be its favourable situation for commerce, near the mouth of the Mersey which falls into the Irish Sea; the number of navigable rivers and canals with which all the country round it to a great extent is intersected; its neighbourhood to the manufacturing towns in Lancashire; and, above all, the industry and enterprising spirit of the inhabitants. It is with great satisfaction that we observe that charity, which we have considered as a con |