The railways, which we are now considering, resting with one extremity on the metropolis, extending thence by way of Birmingham, through Staffordshire to Liverpool, and by Liverpool connected with all the north of Ireland and west of Scotland, to the north of Birmingham sending off a branch through Manchester to Leeds and the West Riding of Yorkshire,—will connect all the greatest towns, all the greatest manufacturing districts with each other and with the metropolis; and on the other hand, will thus connect the metropolis with them; they will serve as the means of intercourse among a population, which was of FOUR MILLIONS, when the whole kingdom contained less than TWELVE, and this without any wide deviation from the most direct course. The distance by Birmingham is not more than three miles more than the distance in a straight line from London to Liverpool, not more than nine miles more than the direct distance between Manchester and London.
[He had much more to say, but had already trespassed so long upon their patience, that he would leave other topics to the many other well-informed gentlemen who were prepared to address them.]
THE END.
Printed by Richard Taylor, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.
FOOTNOTES.
[21] Grain consumed in 1814:—
| Quarters. | |
| Man | 18,750,000 |
| Animals | 11,829,000 |
| Beer and spirits | 4,250,000 |
| Manufacturing purposes | 171,000 |
| Making a total of | 35,000,000 |