Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub
[graphic][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]

THE DUKE'S PORTRAIT.

251

the operations of his workmen, and exacting from them that punctuality which he himself most rigidly respected. He built for them convenient cottages, and established wellregulated shops and markets, and, though so closely economical in his private habits, was liberal in everything that touched their welfare. He was also a warm patron of the benevolent institutions of the country, and when the Loyalty Fund was raised contributed the regal donation of 100,000%.

His

6. 'In person,' we are told, 'he was large and corpulent, and the slim youth on whom the bet had been laid that he would be blown off his horse when riding a race in Trentham Park, grew into a bulky and unwieldy man. features strikingly resembled those of George III. and other members of the royal family. He dressed carelessly, and usually wore a suit of brown-something of the cut of Dr. Johnson's-with dark drab breeches, fastened at the knee with silver buckles. At dinner he rejected, with a kind of antipathy, all poultry, veal, and such like, calling them white meats,' and wondered that everybody, like himself, did not prefer the brown. He was a great smoker, and smoked far more than he talked. Smoking was his principal evening's occupation when Brindley and Gilbert were pondering with him over the difficulty of raising funds to complete the navigation; and the Duke continued his solitary enjoyment through life. One of the droll habits to which he was addicted was that of rushing out of the room every five minutes, with the pipe in his mouth, to look at the barometer. Out of doors he snuffed, and he would pull huge pinches out of his right waistcoat pocket and thrust the powder up his nose, accompanying the operation with sundry strong short snorts.'

7. The Duke died in 1803, leaving behind him a strong claim to the gratitude of his countrymen, for he may be justly said to have laid the foundations of the surprising manufacturing prosperity of Lancashire, which has so largely contributed to augment the wealth, resources, and influence of the British empire. His career is a remarkable instance of what may be accomplished by a man who, working always with an unwavering purpose, absorbs his

252

HANWAY'S ADVENTURES.

entire powers in the achievement of one notable end. Lancashire has since produced many illustrious examples of successful commercial enterprise; but in none has been more signally displayed that combination of boldness, firmness, sagacity, and the faculty of work which is nowadays popularly understood to distinguish the 'Manchester man.'

JONAS HANWAY.

1. This enterprising merchant and noble philanthropist was born at Portsmouth, in 1712. His father perishing by an accident in the dockyard, when he was of tender years, his mother removed to London, and by dint of hard work and hard living contrived to educate her children respectably, and fit them, by the constant lessons of her example, to lead honourable and virtuous careers. At the age of seventeen Jonas obtained, through the kind offices of a friend, a position in a merchant's office at Lisbon, where he remained for many years, distinguishing himself by his habit of punctuality and fidelity to engagements, and amassing, by well-directed exertions and the exercise of a prudent economy, a moderate fortune. He was thus enabled, in 1743, soon after his return to England, to enter into partnership with an important firm at St. Petersburg, whose principal operations related to the Caspian trade. He set out for Russia to extend these operations; and, discovering that this could not safely be effected unless he first visited the chief seats of the trade, he ventured on a journey into Persia, then an undertaking of no ordinary peril. After encountering bands of robbers, and surviving the dangers of an insurrection which broke out during his stay at Astrabad, he reached Ghilan in safety, disposed at a profit of the English cloth he and his party had successfully carried so far, expended the receipts in the purchase of Persian silk, and returned to St. Petersburg,. where he soon got rid of his silk, and netted a satisfactory receipt. He remained in the capital of the Czars for five years, but, having accumulated a fortune sufficient for his desires, he returned to England in 1750, setting before himself the

HIS CEASELESS LABOURS.

253

noble object of 'doing as much good to himself and others as he was able.'

2. His fortune was not a large one, but, as he lived in a style of extreme frugality, it proved sufficient, wisely laid out, to effect a vast amount of good. The principal labours of his later life we can but briefly notice. He first took up the question of the condition of the metropolitan streets. We who now pass with such facility along the well-paved and well-lighted highways can form no conception of the miseries which our ancestors contentedly, or, at least, silently, endured. If two persons attempted to pass one another, one was sure to be jostled into the kennel. The traveller's head was endangered by the ugly projections which extended over almost every shop, and his attire by the dirty water which streamed from the housetops after every shower. By continual action, by speaking much and writing much, Hanway at length formed a powerful party, which forced from Parliament an inquiry into, followed by a vigorous improvement of, the condition of the streets of London.

3. The next subject which attracted the attention of this indefatigable man was the improvement of the merchant service, from which the royal navy was supplied with able seamen. He laboured long at this national object, but met with no response from those most interested in it. At last, he contrived to assemble a number of influential merchants and shipowners at the Royal Exchange, and urged upon them so impressively the advantages which must result to the country from the improved training of its marine, that they gladly cooperated in the establishment of a society for educating landsmen, volunteers, and boys for the royal navy. He found a powerful coadjutor in the active magistrate Sir John Fielding; and the result of their united labours was. the Marine Society, now in the one-hundred-and-seventh year of its existence. A number of poor boys were sent, in 1756, on board the line-of-battle ship 'Honfleur;' and by the close of the year 1763, 5,451 boys and 4,787 landsmen were added to the navy, or the East India service, at the expense of this society. About 540 boys

« ПредишнаНапред »