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HISTORY OF

in 1766 this canal was begun by him,-called* the Grand Trunk Navi-gation, and conducted with great spirit and successi as long as he lived,.and was finished by his brother-in-law Mr. Henshall, who put thefinishing hand to it in May 1777, to the general satisfaction of the pro-prietors, and joyfulness of the whole country. This canal is ninety-three miles in length, and, besides a large number of bridges over it, hasfeventy-six locks, and five tunnels. The most remarkable* yf the tunnelsis the subterraneous passage of Harecastle, which is two thousand eight'hundred and eighty yards in length, and more than seventy yards be-low the surface of the earth. The scheme of this inland'navigation hademployed the thoughts of the ingenious part of- the kingdom for up-wards of twenty years before, and surveys had been made ; but Hare-castle Hill, through which the tunnel is constructed, could neither beavoided nor overcome by any expedient tfie ablest engineers could con-trive or devise. It was Mr.. Brindley alone who surmounted this, andsuch other difficulties arising from the variety of measures, strata, andquicksands, as no one but himself would have attempted to conquer.

Soon after the navigation from the Trent* to the .Mersey was under-taken, Mr. Brindley designed and executed a cabal from the Grand’Trunk at Haywood to the river Severn, near Bewdley, whereby theport of Bristol was united to the ports of Liverpool and Hull. Thiscanal is forty-six miles in length, and was completed in 1772. Mr.Brindley's next undertaking was the survey and execution of a canalfrom Birmingham to unite with the Staffordshire and Worcestershirecanal, near Wolverhampton. This navigation was finished in aboutthree years, and is twenty-six miles in length. The canal from Droit-wich to the river Severn, for the conveyance of salt and coals, was exe-cuted also by Mr. Brindley. He likewise planned the Coventry navi-gation, and it was a short time under his direction. But a disputearising concerning the mode of execution, he resigned his office, whichit is imagined the proprietors of that undertaking have since had causeto lament. Some little time before his death Mr. Brindley began the' 6 Oxfordshire