in 1758, was the great promoter in this line of industry at this period. These were the brilliant days of John Smeaton, civil engineer and improver of hydraulic machinery. Born near Leeds in 1724, he achieved perhaps his most celebrated success in 1759, by the completion of the Eddystone lighthouse. His other famous works were building Ramsgate Harbor and the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland; this work, first proposed by Charles II, was completed in 1789, according to Smeaton's plans. It is thirty-five miles in length, passing over a summit level of one hundred and sixty feet, by means of thirty-nine locks. In Ireland the Grand Canal from Dublin to Ballinasloe, with a total length of one hundred and sixty-four miles, was built in 1765. In 1792 the Royal Canal leading from Dublin to Tormansburg, ninety-two miles, was completed. Nearly five thousand miles of canals have been built in Great Britain.
It was natural that an echo of the awakening of internal improvements in England should have been heard in her American colonies where such a vast field for such enterprise lay awaiting a similar awaken-
