influence upon the Corporation of London in obtaining the requisite powers from Parliament to enable them to bring the springs of Chadwell and Amwell to the thirsty population of the metropolis; but unhappily they had as yet no Drake to supply the requisite capital and energy. In March, 1608, one Captain Edmond Colthurst petitioned the Court of Aldermen for permission to enter upon the work;' but it turned out that the probable cost was far beyond the petitioner's means, without the pecuniary help of the corporation, and that being withheld, the project fell to the ground. After this, one Edward Wright is said to have actually begun the works; but they were suddenly suspended, and the citizens of London were as far from their supply of pure water as ever. At this juncture, when all help seemed to fail, and when men were asking each other "who is to do this great work, and how is it to be done?" citizen Hugh Myddelton, impatient of further delay, came forward and boldly said, "If no one else will undertake this work, I will do so, and execute it at my own. cost." Yet Hugh Myddelton was no engineer, not even an architect or a builder, but only a goldsmith; possessing, however, an amount of energy of character and enterprising public spiritedness, in which the Londoners of those days seem to have been generally wanting. Records of the City of London,' 6th James I. 6 2 Art. ' Canal,' in Addenda to Hutton's Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary.' Mr. Wright was the author of a celebrated treatise on Navigation, entitled "Certain Errors in Navigation Detected and Corrected,' originally published in 1599, and reprinted, with additions, in 1657. CHAPTER II. HUGH MYDDELTON, GOLDSMITH AND MERCHANT ADVENTURER. THE Myddeltons are an ancient family in North Wales, and have at various times held large possessions in the vale of Clwyd and the neighbourhood. They trace their origin to a noted chieftain of the twelfth century, one Blaidd, lord of Penllyn, from whom also descended the Mostyn family, the Vaughans of Nannau, and the Salusburies of Llanrwst. One of Blaidd's descendants married Cecilia, the daughter and heiress of Sir Alexander MYDDELTON'S NATIVE DISTRICT. [Ordnance Survey.] Myddelton of Myddelton, Shropshire, whose name he assumed, and various branches of Myddeltons sprang from the union. Those of Gwaenynog, near Denbigh, are the elder branch, and the estate is still held by their lineal descendant. Ystrad was another patrimony of the Myddeltons in the time of the Tudors, and there are monuments of the family still to be seen in Llanrhaiadr church. Nearer Denbigh is a third estate which belonged to the Myddeltons, called Galch-hill: it is situated between Gwaenynog and the town of Denbigh, within sight of the old castle, which commands a view of one of the richest and most beautiful valleys in the kingdom. Three brothers held the several estates of Gwaenynog, Ystrad, and Galch-hill about the end of the sixteenth century-Robert, John, and Richard;' the last being the father of Sir Hugh Myddelton, the subject of our present memoir. Richard Myddelton, of Galch-hill, was governor of Denbigh Castle in the reigns of Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth. He seems to have been a man eminent for uprightness and integrity, and is supposed to have been 1 Williams's Ancient and Modern Denbigh.' From this book we take the following incident relating to the Myddelton family in early times :"David Myddelton, Receiver of Denbigh in the 19th Edward IV., and Valectus Coronæ in the 2nd Richard III., paid his addresses to Elyn, daughter of Sir John Donne, of Utkinton, in Cheshire, and gained the lady's affections. But the parents preferred their relative, Richard Donne, of Croton. The marriage was accordingly celebrated; but David Myddelton watched the bridegroom leading his bride out of church, killed him on the spot, carried away his widow, and married her forthwith. So that she was maid, widow, and a wife twice in one day. From Roger, the eldest son of this match, the Myddeltons of the above branch are descended." 2 The old-fashioned whitewashed house, the back of which is represented in the above engraving, is said to have been the house in which Hugh Myddelton was born. It has, however, undergone numerous alterations since his time, though some portions of it, on the lower story, are very ancient. the first member who sat in Parliament for Denbigh.' His wife was one Jane Dryhurst, the daughter of an alderman of Denbigh, by whom he had a very numerous family. He was buried, with his wife, in the parish FAC SIMILE OF THE MYDDELTON BRASS IN WHITCHURCH PORCH. church of Denbigh, called Whitchurch or St. Marcellus, where a small monumental brass placed within the porch, represents Richard Myddelton and Jane his wife, with their sixteen children, all kneeling. Behind him are nine sons, and behind her seven daughters. He died in 1575; she in 1565. The tablet rehearses his virtues in the quaint lines inscribed underneath." The privilege was first granted about the year 1536, in the 27th Henry VIII. The first name in the list of representatives of the borough which has been preserved, is that of Richard Myddelton, 1542, in the 33rd Henry VIII. But it is also probable that he represented the town in the preceding Parliament, which sat only forty days.-Williams's 'Records of Denbigh.' 2 In vayn we bragg and boast of blood, in vayne of fame we vaunte, The epitaph was more truthful than epitaphs usually are; and as respects the fame of Richard Myddelton's offspring, it might even be regarded as prophetic. The third son, William, was one of Queen Elizabeth's famous sea captains. He was educated at Oxford, but, inflamed with a love of adventure, he early went to sea, and eventually rose to distinction. In 1591 we find him with the small English fleet sent to intercept the Spanish galleons off the Azores. Philip II., having received intelligence of the design, had equipped and sent to sea a much more powerful squadron for the purpose of effectually frustrating it. Captain Myddelton first sighted the enemy, and kept company with them for three days, until he had obtained full intelligence of their strength, when he rejoined the fleet under Admiral Howard. The vigilance of Myddelton on the occasion is said to have saved the English squadron, though Sir Richard Greville, the Vice-Admiral, got entangled with the enemy, and his ship (the only one taken) was captured by the Spaniards, after resisting their whole force for twelve hours, and repulsing their boarders fifteen times. While engaged on his various cruises, Myddelton occupied his leisure hours in translating the Book of Psalms into Welsh. He finished the work in the West Indies, and it was published in 1603, shortly after his death. He was also the author of 'Barddoniaeth, or the Art of Welsh Poetry,' a work for some time held in considerable estimation. The fourth son of Richard Myddelton was Thomas, an eminent citizen and grocer of London. He served the office of sheriff in 1603, when |