Canal, joining it near Wolverhampton ; and one from Birmingham to Fazeley and thence to Coventry. By canals subsequently undertaken, a communication was formed between the Grand Trunk Canal and Oxford, and consequently with London, completing Brindley's magnificent scheme. In 1792, the Grand Junction Canal was begun, which runs in a pretty straight line from Brentford, on the Thames, a little above the metropolis, to Braunston in Northamptonshire, where it unites with the Oxford and other central canals. It is about 90 miles in length. There is also a direct water communication, by means of the river Lea navigation, the Cambridge Junction Canal, &c., between London and the Wash. In addition to these, an immense number of other canals, some of them of very great magnitude and importance, have been constructed in different parts of the country; so that a command of internal navigation has been obtained, unparalleled in any European country, with the exception of Holland.

In Scotland, the great canal to join the Forth and Clyde was begun in 1768, but it was suspended in 1777, and was not resumed till after the close of the American war. It was finally completed in 1790. Its total length, including the collateral cuts to Glasgow and the Monkland Canal, is 38 miles. Where highest it is 150 feet above the level of the sea. It is on a larger scale than any of the English canals. Its medium width at the surface is 56, and at the bottom 27 feet. Originally it was about 8 feet 6 inches deep; but recently its banks have been raised, so that the depth of water is now about 10 feet. It has, in all, 39 locks. In completing this canal, many serious difficulties had to be encountered. These, however, were all successfully overcome; and though unprofitable for a while, it has for many years past yielded a handsome return to its proprietors, the dividend having latterly been about 28 per cent. on the original stock. Swift boats on the plan of those subsequently described were established on this canal in 1832. (See Cleland's Statistics of Glasgow, p. 170, &c.)

The Union Canal joins the Forth and Clyde Canal near Falkirk, and stretches thence to Edinburgh, being 31 miles in length. It is 40 feet wide at the top, 20 at bottom, and 5 deep. It was completed in 1822; but has been, in all respects, a most unprofitable undertaking. Hitherto the proprietors have not received any dividend; and their prospects, we understand, are little, if anything, improved.

A canal intended to form a communication between Glasgow, Paisley, and Ardrossan, was commenced in 1807; but only that portion connecting Glasgow with Paisley and the village of Johnstoun has hitherto been finished. This part is about 12 miles long; the canal being 30 feet broad at top, 18 at bottom, and 44 deep. It was here that the important experiments were originally made on quick travelling by canals, which demonstrated that it was practicable to impel a properly constructed boat, carrying passengers and goods, along a canal at the rate of 9 or 10 miles an hour, without injury to the banks!(See post.)

The Crinan Canal, across the peninsula of Kintyre, is 9 miles in length, and 12 feet in depth, admitting vessels of 160 tons burden.

The Caledonian Canal is the greatest undertaking of the sort attempted in the empire. It stretches S. W. and N. E. across the island from a point near Inverness to another near Fort William. It is chiefly formed by Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy. The total length of the canal, including the lakes, is 60 miles; but the excavated part is only about 23 miles. At the summit it is 96 feet above the level of the Western Ocean. It is mostly constructed upon a very grand scale, being intended to be 20 feet deep, 50 feet wide at bottom, and 122 at top; the locks are 20 feet deep, 172 long, and 40 broad; and had it been wholly executed as was originally intended, frigates of 32 guns and merchant ships of 1,000 tons burden might have passed through it. It was opened in 1822, being executed entirely at the expense of government, from the designs and under the superintendence of Thomas Telford, Esq. The entire cost amounted, exclusive of interest, on the 1st of May, 1841, to 1,035,460l. 10s. Od. It would appear, however, to have been projected without due consideration, and promises to be a most unprofitable speculation. The revenue of the canal amounted in 1841-12 to only 2,7231. 78., being considerably under the ordinary expenditure incurred in keeping it open! But this is not all. Owing to a wish to lessen the expense and to hasten the opening of the canal, parts of it were not excavated to their proper depth, while others were executed in a hurried and insufficient manner. Hence the canal does not really admit vessels of above 250 or 300 tons burden; and owing to the want of steam tugs on the lakes, these are frequently delayed in making their passage across for a lengthened period. During 1837 and 1838, the works sustained considerable damage; and it has been gravely debated whether it would not be better entirely to break up and abandon the canal!

There is naturally, however, an extreme disinclination to destroy a work, which, how inexpedient soever originally, has been executed at an enormous expense; and various schemes have been suggested for relieving the public from the expense of keeping it up without involving its destruction. Among others it has been proposed

But hitherto to assign it to a joint stock company, on their agreeing to complete the works and keep them in repair; and an act authorising such transfer was passed in 1840. it has not been found possible to dispose of the canal in this way; and parliament has since voted 75,000l. for the partial repair of the works; but it is believed that it will require fully three or four times that sum to complete the canal according to the original plan, and to furnish it with the necessary steam tugs.

Some other canals have been projected and completed in different parts of Scotland. Of these the Monkland Canal, for the supply of Glasgow with coal, has been the most successful.

The following extract from the Trade List for the 27th of June, 1843, gives an account of the number of shares in the principal British canals, the cost or sum actually expended upon each share, the dividend payable upon it, with its selling price at the above-mentioned date, and the periods when the dividends are payable.

Canals.

Dividend per Share per Annum.

Price per
Share.

Number of Amount of
Shares.
Shares

Average Cost
per Share.

Dividend

payable.

(15.) Irish Canals.

Various canals have been undertaken in Ireland, of which the Grand Canal and the Royal Canal are the principal. The Grand Canal was begun in 1765, by a body of subscribers; but they could not have completed the work without very large advances from government. The canal commences at Dublin, and stretches in a westerly direction, inclining a little to the south, to the Shannon, with which it unites near Banagher, a distance of 85 statute miles, and thence on the west side of the river to Ballinasloe, 14 miles. But, exclusive of the main trunk, there is a branch to Athy, where it joins the Barrow, a distance of about 27 miles; and there are branches to Portarlington, Mount Mellick, and some other places. There is also a westerly branch, recently constructed, from the Shannon to Ballinasloe, about 14 miles in length. The total length of the canal, with its various branches, is about 164 Eng. miles. Its summit elevation is 200 feet above the level of the sea at Dublin. It is 40 feet wide at the surface, from 24 to 20 feet at bottom, has 6 feet water, and cost, in ali, above 2,000,000l. The tonnage and tolls on this canal for the eight years ending with

it

Two capital errors seem to have been committed in the formation of this canal, was framed on too large a scale, and was carried too far north. Had it been 4 or 4 instead of 6 feet deep, its utility would have been but little impaired, while its expense would have been very materially diminished. But the great error was in its direction. Instead of joining the Shannon about 15 miles above Lough Derg, it should have joined it below Limerick. By this means, barges and other vessels passing from Dublin to Limerick, and conversely, would have avoided the difficult and dangerous navigation of the Upper Shannon; the canal would have passed through a comparatively fertile country; and it would not have been necessary to carry it across the bog of Allen, in which, says Mr. Wakefield, "the company have buried more money than would have cut a spacious canal from Dublin to Limerick.”—(Account of Ireland, vol. i. p. 649.)

The Royal Canal was undertaken in 1789. It stretches westward from Dublin to the Shannon, which it joins near Tormanbury. Its entire length is about 92 miles exclusive of a branch of 5 miles from Kilashee to Longford; its highest elevation is 307 feet above the level of the sea. At bottom it is 24 feet wide, having 6 feet depth of water. It had cost, exclusive of interest on stock, loans, &c. advanced by government, in February, 1823, 1,421,954. The tolls produced, in 1836, 25,1484, the expenses of the canal for the same year being 11,9127., leaving only 13,2361. for the nett revenue of a work which must have cost, interest included, 3,000,000l. (Second Report on Railways in Ireland, p. 12.)

This canal seems to have been planned in the most injudicious manner. It has the same defect as the Grand Canal, of being extravagantly large; and throughout its whole course it is nearly parallel to, and not very distant from, the latter. There are consequently two immense canals, where there ought, perhaps, to be none. At all events, it is abundantly certain that one canal of comparatively moderate dimensions would have been quite enough for all the business of the district, though it were much greater than it is at this moment, or than it is ever likely to become.

Besides the above, there are some other canals, as well as various river excavations, in Ireland; but hardly one of them yields a reasonable return for the capital expended upon it. They have almost all been liberally assisted by grants of public money; and their history, and that of the two great canals now adverted to, strikingly corroborates the caustic remark of Arthur Young, that "a history of public works in Ireland would be a history of jobs.” —( Tour in Ireland, part ii. p. 66. 4to ed.) Those who wish to make themselves fully acquainted with the history and state of the canals of Ireland, may consult the Report by Messrs. Henry, Mullins, and M'Mahon, in the Appendix to the

Report of the Select Committee of 1830 on the State of Ireland, and the very valuable Report, referred to above, on Railways.

(16.) American Canals. - The United States are pre-eminently distinguished by the spirit with which they have undertaken, and the perseverance they have displayed in executing, the most magnificent plans for improving and extending internal navigation. Besides many others of great, though inferior, magnitude, a canal has been formed connecting the Hudson with Lake Erie. This immense work is 363 miles in length, the rise and fall along the entire line being 692 feet. It was originally 40 feet wide at the surface, 28 feet at bottom, and 4 feet deep. But these dimensions being found, from the rapidly increasing traffic and importance of the canal, to be far too limited, an act was passed in 1835, providing for its enlargement. Under this act the canal is to be increased, so as to be 70 feet wide on the surface, 42 feet wide at the bottom, and 7 feet in depth, the locks being of corresponding dimensions. The original cost of the canal was 9,027,456 dollars; and the cost of the enlargement has been estimated at from 23 to 24 millions of dollars, or at nearly three times its first cost. — (Art. on the Erie Canal in the New York Register for 1843, p. 189.) The undertaking is already considerably advanced, and, when completed, the new canal will be one of the greatest and most important works of its kind in the world. The Erie canal is the property of the state of New York; and, notwithstanding the contracted scale on which it was constructed, has completely verified the predictions of its projector, De Witt Clinton, having been at once profitable as a mercantile speculation, and of singular advantage in a public point of view to the state of New York and the Union generally. We subjoin a Statement exhibiting the Length, original Cost, and Revenue of the principal Canals belonging to the State of New York.

N. B. It is to be observed that the tolls have been considerably reduced since 1830. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal would, had it been completed, have been a great and useful work. It begins at the tide water of the Potomac River above Georgetown in the district of Columbia, and is intended to terminate at Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, a distance of 341 miles. Its dimensions are nearly identical with those of the new Erie Canal; its breadth at the surface being from 60 to 80 feet, ditto at bottom 50 feet, with a depth of water varying from 6 to 7 feet. Several tunnels occur in the line which crosses the Alleghany ridge. The cost of this work was estimated at 22,275,000 dollars, which were to be subscribed partly by individuals, and partly by the United States and the States of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Owing, however, to the inability, or rather disinclination, of the two last mentioned states to make good their engagements, the works on the canal have been suspended, after about 10 millions of dollars have been expended upon them. But the probability is that they will be resumed and completed at some future period; their completion being the only means by which the capital already expended upon them can be made to yield any thing.

A great many other canals have been completed, and are in progress in different parts of the Union. Of the former, the Ohio Canal, uniting the Ohio with Lake Erie, is by far the most important, and is, if at all, only less advantageous than the Erie Canal. Cleveland, where the canal unites with Lake Erie, promises at no distant period to be one of the greatest emporiums on the lakes.

(17.) Canadian Canals. The British government has expended a very large sum upon the Rideau River and Canal, stretching from Kingston, on Lake Ontario, to Bytown, on the Ottawa, or Grand River, an affluent of the St. Lawrence. But this work was undertaken as much in the view of improving the military defences of Canada, as of protecting its commerce, though in the latter respect it has been of considerable utility. The British government has, also, constructed the Welland Canal, uniting Lakes Erie and Ontario, the navigation between which by the river is interrupted by the falls of Niagara. This canal has become a well-frequented commercial channel, and is every day rising in importance.

(18.) Utility of Canals.-The utility of canals, when judiciously contrived, and opening an easy communication between places capable of maintaining an extensive intercourse with each other, has never been better set forth than in a work published in 1765, entitled "A View of the Advantages of Inland Navigation," &c. But the following ex

tract from Macpherson's Annals of Commerce (anno 1760) contains a brief, and at the same time eloquent, summary of the principal advantages resulting from their construction. -66 "They give fresh life to established manufactures, and they encourage the establishment of new ones, by the ease of transporting the materials of manufacture and provisions; and thence we see new villages start up upon the borders of canals in places formerly condemned to sterility and solitude. They invigorate, and in many places create, internal trade, which, for its extent and value, is an object of still more importance than foreign commerce, and is exempted from the many hardships and dangers of a maritime life and changes of climate. And they greatly promote foreign trade; and consequently enrich the merchants of the ports where they, or the navigable rivers they are connected with, terminate, by facilitating the exportation of produce from, and the introduction of foreign merchandise into, the interior parts of the country, which are thus placed nearly on a level with the maritime parts; or, in other words, the interior parts become coasts, and enjoy the accommodations of shipping. The price of provisions is nearly equalised through the whole country; the blessings of Providence are more uniformly distributed; and the monopolist is disappointed in his schemes of iniquity and oppression, by the ease wherewith provisions are transported from a considerable distance. The advantages to agriculture, which provides a great part of the materials, and almost the whole of the subsistence, required in carrying on manufactures and commerce, are pre-eminently great. Manure, marl, lime, and all other bulky articles, which could not possibly bear the great expense of cartage, and also corn and other produce, can be carried at a very light expense on canals; whereby poor lands are enriched, and barren lands are brought into cultivation, to the great emolument of the farmer and landholder, and the general advantage of the community, in an augmented supply of the necessaries of life and materials of manufactures; coals (the importance of which to a manufacturing country, few people, not actually concerned in manufactures, are capable of duly appreciating), stone, lime, iron ore, and minerals in general, as well as many other articles of great bulk in proportion to their value, which had hitherto lain useless to their proprietors by reason of the expense, and, in many cases, impossibility, of carriage, are called into life, and rendered a fund of wealth, by the vicinity of a canal; which thus gives birth to a trade, whereby, in return, it is maintained. The cheap, certain, and pleasant conveyance of travellers by the treckschuyts in Holland, has been admired by all who have been in that country; and it must be owing to the universal desire in this country of flying over the ground with the greatest possible rapidity that a mode of travelling so exceedingly easy to the purse and the person is so little used here. Neither ought we entirely to forget, among the advantages of canals, the pleasure afforded to the eye and the mind by a beautiful moving landscape of boats, men, horses, &c. busied in procuring subsistence to themselves, and in diffusing opulence and convenience through the country. And, in a word, we have now the experience of about 40 years to establish as a certain truth, what was long ago said by Dr. Adam Smith, that navigable canals are among the greatest of all improvements.'"

(19) Increased Speed of Travelling by Canals, - Great, however, as have been the advantages derived from the formation of canals, their progress has been to a considerable degree checked by the formation of RAILROADS (which see). We believe, however, that canals will always be preferred for the conveyance of coal and other bulky and heavy products; and even passengers are now conveyed along them with a rapidity that would previously have been supposed impossible. This new system was introduced on the Paisley and Glasgow Canal, by Mr. Houston, in June, 1831. results are described in the following statements, to which it is unnecessary to call the reader's attention.

The

Mr. Thomas Grahame, civil engineer, in his "Letter to Canal Proprietors and Traders,” says, “The experiments of great velocity have been tried and proved on the narrowest, shallowest, and most curved canal in Scotland, viz. the Ardrossan or Paisley Canal, connecting the city of Glasgow with the town of Paisley and village of Johnstoun, a distance of 12 miles." The result has disproved every previous theory as to difficulty and expense of attaining great velocity on canals; and as to the danger or damage to their banks by great velocity in moving vessels along them.

"The ordinary speed for the conveyance of passengers on the Ardrossan Canal has, for nearly 2 years, been from nine to ten miles an hour; and, although there are fourteen journeys along the canal per day, at this rapid speed, its banks have sustained no injury. The boats are 70 feet in length, about 5 feet 6 inches broad, and, but for the extreme narrowness of the canal, might be made broader. They carry easily from 70 to 80 passengers; and, when required, can and have carried upwards of 110 passengers. The entire cost of a boat and fittings up is about 1254. The hulls are formed of light iron plates and ribs, and the covering is of wood and light oiled cloth. They are more airy, light, and comfortable than any coach. They permit the passengers to move about from the outer to the inner cabin. and the fares per mile are one penny in the first, and three farthings in the second cabin. The passengers are all carried under cover, having the privilege also of an uncovered space. These boats are drawn by 2 horses (the prices of which may be from 507. to 607, per pair), in stages of 4 miles in length, which are done in from 22 to 25 minutes, including stoppages to let out and take in passengers, each set of horses doing 3 or 4 stages alternately each day. In fact, the boats are drawn through this narrow and shallow canal, at a velocity which many celebrated engineers had demonstrated, and which the public believed, to be impossible.

"The entire amount of the whole expenses of attendants and horses, and of running one of these boats 4 trips of 12 miles each (the length of the canal) or 48 miles daily, including interest on the capital, and