LS00.] On the Surry Canal: 185

preſent, pay as much, if ſpent in canals at home; and the future increaſe of trade and wealth would be in immediate proſpe, But canals. near London, have alſo been prevented by the very circumſtance, which would enſure their produfiveneß if com- pleted; by the immenſe population, and conſequently, nume- rous houſes and gardens which fill the environs. The expence of the purchaſe of theſe is at’ firſt heavy, but finally advanta- geous,' as inſuring vaſt buſineſs from the population, and con- ſequent conſumption of the remainder: the miſchief ſprings from the numerous petty interets of individuals; who wiI] not, or cannot, ſee the immenfity of the public benefit, and raiſe a clamour too often ſucceſsful againſt the public good. Howeyer, after the moſt ſtrenuous oppolition from ſordid minds, we at length ſée ſome tokens of national improvement on the[fle of Dogs, and we may hope, that London will be no longer no=

torious for being at the ſame time the moſt important, and the molt ¿nconvenient, port in the world. Mr. Pitt, ſeems hitherto uniform in his wiíhes, to forward the execution of the wet docks and canals, Pofſterity will thank him, that in

07

; LP CNIS 10 ſtance, he has attended to ſomething of a leſs dubious nature, than the temporary cares of warfare and finance,

Under theſe impreſſions, I was eager to ſée the more finiſhed report of Mr. Dodd, on the Grand Surry Canal. Having ob- tained this“ report,” by favour of a friend, I peruſed it with ſome attention, and am pleaſed to hear, that it is likely to pro- ceed. But, I could not help making certain remarks, which[ hope your candour will communicate to Mr. Dodd and the public, through your Commercial Publication: I obſerve then, that Mr, D., ſeems to have taken à peculiar antipathy to favour- ing the public with any thing of bis own produétion; infomuch, that in theſe few pages, he has been unable to refrain from aß ing the literary plagiarift. At Þ. 12, for inſtance, he has con- deſcended to tranſcribe part of the preface of Mr. J. Philip's Hiſtory of Inland Navigation. As to that part of his canal pang from Deptford to Vauxhall, it does‘not differ from a plan publiſhed laſt year by W. Fatham, except thât inſtead of a praétical aſcertained line, Mr. D.(by the aid of his ruler) has accommodated the public eye with an impoſſible ſtraight Tf this eſkential plagiariſm of the plan'of Mr. Tatcham(publif laſt year in a quarto, by Faulder, p. 364) is doubted, le 1 half-eraſed line be inſpe@ed, which extends from Batterſea t the North Weſt.- This line, with* the damning teſtimony of double evidence, aſcertains, that the notorious name of À Dedd. is about to ſupplant the leſs known name of Mr. Tatham in theſe projected improvements of the metropolis. The public

mind is not deñcient in gratitude; but unhapppily, it is too often

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