At a comparatively advanced age, Myddelton took to himself a wife; and the rank and fortune of the lady he married afford some indication of the position he had then attained. She was Miss Elizabeth Olmstead, the daughter and sole heiress of John Olmstead of Ingatestone, Essex, with whom the thriving goldsmith and merchant adventurer received a considerable accession of property. That he had secured the regard of his neighbours, and did not disdain to serve them in the local offices to which they chose to elect him, is apparent from the circumstance that he officiated for three years as churchwarden for the parish of St. Matthew, to which post he was appointed in the year 1598. But he had public honours offered to him of a more distinguished character. He continued to keep up a friendly connection with his native town of Denbigh, and he seems to have been mainly instrumental in obtaining for the borough its charter of incorporation in the reign of Elizabeth. In return for this service the burgesses elected him their first alderman, and in that capacity he signed the first by-laws of the borough in 1597. On the back of the document are some passages in his hand-writing, commencing with "Tafod aur yngenau dedwydd" [A golden tongue is in the mouth of the blessed], followed by other aphorisms, and concluding with some expressions of regret at parting with his brethren, the burgesses of Denbigh, whom he had specially visited on the

occasion.

On his next visit to the town he appears to have entered upon a mining enterprise, in the hope of being able to find coal in the neighbourhood. In a letter written by him in 1625 to Sir John Wynne, he thus refers to the adventure:-" It may please you to understand that my first undertaking of publick works was amongst my own people, within less than a myle of the place where I hadd my first beinge (24 or 25 years

since), in seekinge of coals for the town of Denbighe."1 Myddelton was most probably deceived by the slaty appearance of the soil into the belief that coal was to be found in the neighbourhood, and after spending a good deal of money in the search, he finally gave it up as a hopeless undertaking.

CHAPTER III.

HUGH MYDDELTON, M.P.-THE NEW RIVER WORKS BEGUN.

IN 1603 Hugh Myddelton was returned representative of his native town to the first parliament summoned by James I. In those days the office of representative was not so much coveted as it is now, and boroughs remote from the metropolis were occasionally under the necessity of paying their members to induce them to serve. Thus it was an advantage to the burgesses of Denbigh that they had a man so able to represent them as Hugh Myddelton, resident in London, and who was moreover an alderman and a benefactor of the town. His two brothers-Thomas Myddelton, citizen and grocer, and Robert, citizen and skinner, of London-were members of the same parliament, and we find Hugh and Robert frequently associated on committees of inquiry into matters connected with trade and finance. Among the first committees to which we find the brothers appointed was one on the subject of a bill for explanation of the Statute of Sewers, and another for the bringing of a fresh stream of running water from the river of Lea, or Uxbridge, to the north parts of the city of London.' Thus the providing of a better supply of water to the inhabitants of the metropolis came very early under his notice, and doubtless had some influence in directing his future action on the subject.

At the same time the business in Bassishaw-street was not neglected, for, shortly after the arrival of King James in London, we find Myddelton supplying jewelry for

1 'Commons' Journals,' vol. i. 262. 31st January, 1605.

Queen Anne, whose rage for finery of that sort was excessive. A warrant, in the State Paper-office, orders 2507. to be paid to Hugh Myddelton, goldsmith, for a jewel given by James I. to the queen; and it is probable that this connection with the Court introduced him thus early to the notice of the king, and facilitated his approach to him when he afterwards had occasion to solicit His Majesty's assistance in bringing the New River works to completion.

The subject of water supply to the northern parts of the city was still under the consideration of parliamentary committees, of which Myddelton was invariably a member; and at length a bill passed into law, and the necessary powers were conferred. But no steps were taken to carry them into effect. The chief difficulty was not in passing the Act, but in finding the man to execute the work. A proposal made by one Captain Colthurst to bring a running stream from the counties of Hertford and Middlesex, was negatived by the Common Council in 1608. Fever and plague from time to time decimated the population, and the citizens of London seemed as far as ever from being supplied with pure

water.

It was at this juncture that Hugh Myddelton stepped forth and declared that if no one else would undertake it, he would, and bring the water from Hertfordshire into London. "The matter," quaintly observes Stowe, “had been well-mentioned though little minded, long debated but never concluded, till courage and resolution lovingly shook hands together, as it appears, in the soule of this

"By order, 26th of February, 1604. To Hugh Middleton, Goldsmith, the sum of 2507. for a pendant of one diamond bestowed upon the Queen by His Majesty. By writ dated 9th day of January, 1604, 2507."-Extract from the Pell Records.' [The sum named would be equivalent to about 10007. of our present money. The Queen's passion for jewels may be in

ferred from the circumstance stated by Dr. Steven in his 'Memoir of George Heriot,' the King's goldsmith (founder of Heriot's Hospital, Edinburgh), that during the ten years which immediately preceded the accession of King James to the throne of Great Britain, Heriot's bills for the Queen's jewels alone could not amount to less than 50,000l. sterling.]

no way to be daunted, well-minded gentleman." When all others held back-lord mayor, corporation, and citizens-Myddelton took courage, and showed what one strong practical man, borne forward by resolute will and purpose, can do.

"The dauntless Welshman," says Pennant, in his excusable admiration for his distinguished kinsman of the Principality, "stept forth and smote the rock, and the waters flowed into the thirsting metropolis." Fuller is no less eulogistic in describing the achievement of this genuine English, or Welsh worthy. "If those," says he, "be recounted amongst David's Worthies, who, breaking through the army of the Philistines, fetcht water from the well of Bethlehem to satisfie the longing of David (founded more in fancy than necessity), how meritorious a work did this worthy man perform, who, to quench the thirst of thousands in the populous city of London, fetcht water on his own cost more than 24 miles, encountering all the way an army of oppositions, grappling with Hills, struggling with Rocks, fighting with Forests, till, in defiance of difficulties, he had brought his project to perfection!"'1

Myddelton's success in life seems to have been attributable not less to his quick intelligence than to his laborious application and indomitable perseverance. He had, it is true, failed in his project of finding coal at Denbigh; but the practical knowledge which he acquired, during his attempt, of the arts of mining and excavation, had disciplined his skill and given him fertility of resources, as well as cultivated in him that power of grappling with difficulties, which emboldened him to undertake this great work, more like that of a Roman emperor than of a private London citizen.

The corporation were only too glad to transfer to him the powers with which they had been invested by the legislature, together with the labour, the anxiety, the