Excelling all other spinners in the quality and fineness of his yarn, Crompton continued to obtain a high price for all he could produce, but his production was restricted to the work of his own hands, (an increasing family having deprived him of the aid of his wife); for whenever he commenced to teach any new hands to assist him in his work, no matter how strictly they were bound to serve him by honour, by gratitude, or by law, as soon as they acquired a little knowledge and experience under his tuition, they were invariably seduced from his service by his wealthy competitors; so that he was ultimately compelled to renounce the use of his mules, and betake himself to his original occupation of weaving, or at least to spin only such yarn as he could employ in his own looms as a small manufacturer.
In 1800 some gentlemen of Manchester, among whom ought to be mentioned Mr. George Lee and Mr. Kennedy, sensible that Mr. Crompton had been illused and neglected, agreed, without his knowledge, to promote a subscription on such a scale as would result in a substantial reward for his labours. But this scheme, although generous and noble in its intention, in a great measure failed. Before it could be carried out, the country suffered severe distress from a failure in the crops; in addition to this the horrors of the French Revolution approached their crisis; war broke out, and trade was all but extinguished. Ultimately, all that could be realized amounted to about 450l., and this was handed over to Crompton to enable him to increase his operations in spinning and weaving.
In October, 1807, Mr. Crompton, in the hopes of gaining the patronage of Sir Joseph Banks, wrote a letter to him, but unfortunately addressed it to Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Society of Arts, and it is probable that Sir Joseph never read the letter, but transmitted it to the Society to which it was addressed; in any case, no notice was taken of this letter, and Crompton's too morbidly sensitive mind thus received an additional wound.
Two or three years after this, his family circumstances became very precarious, and in the undefined hope of yet obtaining some recompense for his labours which might better his position, Crompton, in the year 1811, commenced a statistical investigation into the results of his invention. For this purpose he visited the various manufacturing districts of Great Britain, and, from the information he obtained, calculated that between four and five millions of mule spindles were then in actual use. But this estimate was afterwards found to be much too low, as it did not include any of the numerous mules used in the manufacture of woollen yarn.
A story is told of Mr. Crompton, that, when at Glasgow engaged in collecting this information, he was invited to a complimentary dinner, but his courage was unable to carry him through so formidable an ordeal; and so when the time came for going, to use his own words, "rather than face up, I first hid myself and then fairly bolted from the city."
Mr. Crompton laid the result of his investigation before some kind friends[14] at Manchester, who undertook to draw up a memorial to Parliament on his behalf. But in this matter Crompton's continued ill-fortune was singularly displayed. When the time came for the grant to be proposed to Parliament (May 11, 1812), Mr. Percival, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who had intended proposing 20,000l. as the sum to be awarded, was assassinated while entering the lobby of the House of Commons. Crompton's petition was consequently postponed, and ultimately 5000l. was all that was awarded to the Inventor of the Spinning-Mule; and thus, after having haunted the lobby of the House of Commons for five wearisome months, Samuel Crompton went back to Bolton with this shadow of a national reward.
Late in life Mr. Crompton's family became dispersed, and as old age crept on he became less and less fitted for business, and now for the first time sank into actual poverty.
A noble effort was, however, made by some of the inhabitants of Bolton to rescue him from his distressing position, and by their efforts an annuity of 63l. per annum was secured to him for the remainder of his life.
In the year 1827 Samuel Crompton's melancholy life came to an end. He died at his house in King Street, Great Bolton, aged seventy-three, of no particular complaint, but by the gradual decay of nature. His body was placed in a grave near the centre of the parish churchyard, underneath a flagstone with the following inscription:—"Beneath this stone are interred the mortal remains of Samuel Crompton, of Bolton, late of Hall-i'-th'-Wood, in the township of Tonge, inventor of the spinning machine called the Mule; who departed this life the 26th day of June, 1827, aged seventy-two years."[15]—The Life and Times of Samuel Crompton, &c., by Gilbert J. French, F.S.A., &c. Manchester and London, 1860.