Part 16

_Churches._--Manchester is the seat of an Anglican bishopric, and the chief ecclesiastical building is the cathedral, which, however, was built simply as a parish church, and, although a fine specimen of the Perpendicular period, is by no means what might be expected as the cathedral of an important and wealthy diocese. In the course of restoration a piece of Saxon sculpture came to light. This "Angel stone" represents a winged figure with a scroll inscribed _In manus tuas Domine_ in characters of the 8th century. The bulk of the building belongs to the early part of the 15th century. The first warden was John Huntington, rector of Ashton, who built the choir. The building, which was noticed for its hard stone by Leland when he visited the town, did not stand time and weather well, and by 1845 some portions of it were rapidly decaying. This led to its restoration by James P. Holden. By 1868 the tower was almost completely renovated in a more durable stone. Further restoration was carried out by J. S. Crowther, and the addition of a porch and vestries was executed by Basil Champneys. The total length is 220 ft. and the breadth 112 ft. There are several stained-glass windows, including one to the memory of "Chinese Gordon." The recumbent statues of Bishop James Fraser and of Hugh Birley, M.P., should also be named. In the Ely chapel is the altar tomb of Bishop James Stanley. In the stalls there are some curious _miserere_ carvings. The tower is 139 ft. high, and contains a peal of ten bells, chiefly from the foundry of the Rudhalls. There are two organs, one by Father Smith, and a modern one in an oak case designed by Sir G. Scott. The parish church was made collegiate in 1422, and when in 1847 the bishopric of Manchester was created the warden and fellows became dean and canons and the parish church became the cathedral. The first bishop was James Prince Lee, who died in 1869; the second was James Fraser, who died in 1885; the third was James Moorhouse, who resigned in 1903 and was succeeded by Edmund Arbuthnott Knox. The church endowments are considerable and have been the subject of a special act of parliament, known as the Manchester Rectory Division Act of 1845, which provides £1500 per annum for the dean and £600 to each of the four canons, and divides the residue among the incumbents of the new churches formed out of the old parish.

[Illustration: Map of Manchester and Environs.]

Of the Roman Catholic churches that of the Holy Name, which belongs to the Jesuits, is remarkable for its costly decoration. The Greek Church and most of the Nonconformist bodies have places of worship. There are twelve Jewish synagogues. The meeting-house of the Society of Friends is said to be the largest of the kind in the kingdom and will seat 1200 persons.

_Public Buildings._--The Royal Infirmary, founded in 1752, having become inadequate for its purposes, a new building has been erected on the south side of the city near the university, from designs by Edwin T. Hall and John Brooke; it was opened in 1909 by king Edward VII. The central site in Piccadilly thus became available for other purposes, and the corporation gave instructions for plans to be made for a new library and art gallery. The art gallery already existing in 1909 was founded as the Royal Institution, but in 1882 passed under the control of the city council. The building was designed by Sir Charles Barry. The collection contains some fine paintings by Etty, Millais, Leighton and other artists. The sculpture includes casts of the Elgin marbles and a statue of Dr John Dalton by Chantrey. The most striking of the public buildings is the town hall, probably the largest municipal building in the country, but no longer entirely adequate to the increasing business of the city council. It was completed in 1877 from designs by Alfred Waterhouse, who selected as the style of architecture a form of Gothic, but treated it very freely as purposes of utility required. The edifice covers 8000 sq. yds., and includes more than two hundred and fifty rooms. The building consists of continuous lines of corridors surrounding a central courtyard and connected by bridges. The principal tower is 286 ft. high to the top of the ball, and affords a view which extends over a large part of south Lancashire and Cheshire and is bounded only by the hills of Derbyshire. The tower contains a remarkable peal of bells by Taylor of Loughborough, forming an almost perfect chromatic scale of twenty-one bells; each bell has on it a line from canto 105 of Tennyson's _In Memoriam_. The great hall is 100 ft. long and 50 ft. wide, and contains a magnificent organ built by Cavaillé-Coll of Paris. The twelve panels of this room are filled with paintings by Ford Madox Brown, illustrating the history and progress of the city. The royal exchange is a fine specimen of Italian architecture and was erected in 1869; the great meeting-hall is one of the largest rooms in England, the ceiling having a clear area, without supports, of 120 ft. in width. The exchange is seen at its best on market days (Tuesday and Friday). The assize courts were built in 1864 from designs by Waterhouse. The style is a mixture of Early English and Decorative, and a large amount of decorative art has been expended on the building. The branch Bank of England is a Doric building designed by C. R. Cockerell. There are separate town-halls for the townships of Ardwick, Chorlton, Hulme, Cheetham, Broughton and Pendleton. The Free Trade hall is a fine structure in the Lombardo-Venetian style, and its great hall will accommodate about five thousand people. It is used for public meetings, concerts, &c., and was built by Edward Walters. The Athenaeum, designed by Barry, was founded by Richard Cobden and others associated with him for "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge." The institution has, perhaps, not developed exactly on the lines contemplated by its promoters, but it has been very useful. The advantages enjoyed by members of social clubs, with the addition of facilities for educational classes and the use of an excellent news-room and a well-selected library, are offered in return for a payment which does not amount to a penny a day. The mechanics' institution has developed into the school of Technology, which now forms a part of the university. The Portico is a good specimen of the older proprietary libraries and newsrooms. It dates from 1806, and has a library. The Memorial Hall was built to commemorate the memory of the ejected ministers of 1662; it is used for meetings, scientific, educational, musical and religious. The Whitworth Institute is governed by a corporate body originating from the liberal bequests of Sir Joseph Whitworth. The Institute contains a valuable collection of works of art and stands in the centre of a woodland park. In the park, which has been transferred to the corporation, is a sculpture group of "Christ and the Children," executed by George Tinworth from the designs of R. D. Darbishire, by whom it was presented. The assize courts, built from designs by Waterhouse (1864), the post office (1887), and the police courts (1871) should also be named. Many fine structures suffer from being hemmed in by streets which prevent the proportions from being seen to advantage.

_Monuments._--In Piccadilly are bronze statues of Wellington, Watt, Dalton, Peel and Queen Victoria. Another statue of the Queen, by the Princess Louise, is placed on the new porch of the cathedral. A bronze statue of Cobden occupies a prominent position in St Ann's Square. There also is the South African War Memorial of the Manchester Regiment. The marble statue of the Prince Consort, covered by a Gothic canopy of stone, is in front of the town hall, which dwarfs what would otherwise be a striking monument. In Albert Square there are also statues of Bishop Fraser, John Bright, Oliver Heywood and W. E. Gladstone. A statue of J. P. Joule is in the town hall, which also contains memorials of other worthies. The Queen's Park has a statue of Benjamin Brierley, a well-known writer in the Lancashire dialect. The most picturesque is Matthew Noble's bronze statue of Cromwell, placed on a huge block of rough granite as pedestal. It stands at the junction of Deansgate and Victoria Street, near the cathedral, and was presented to the town by Mrs E. S. Heywood.

_Education._--There are many educational facilities. The oldest institution is the grammar school, which was founded in 1519 by Hugh Oldham, bishop of Exeter, a native of the town. The master and usher appointed by the bishop were to teach freely every child and scholar coming to the school, "without any money or reward taken"; and the bishop forbade the appointment of any member of the religious orders as head master. Some corn mills were devised for the maintenance of the school, which was further endowed at both the universities by Sarah, duchess of Somerset, in 1692. The school has now two hundred and fifty free scholars, whilst other pupils are received on payment of fees. Among those educated at the grammar school were Thomas De Quincey, Harrison Ainsworth and Samuel Bamford the Radical. After the grammar school the oldest educational foundation is that of Humphrey Chetham, whose bluecoat school, founded in 1653, is housed in the building formerly occupied by the college of clergy. This also contains the public library founded by Chetham, and is the most interesting relic of antiquity in the city. The educational charity of William Hulme (1631-1691) is administered under a scheme drawn up in 1881. Its income is nearly £10,000 a year, and it supports a grammar school and aids education in other ways. There are three high schools for girls. The Nicholls hospital was founded in 1881 for the education of orphan boys. Manchester was one of the first places to adopt the powers given by Forster's Act of 1870, and on the abolition of school boards the educational supervision was transferred to a committee of the corporation strengthened by co-opted members. In addition to the elementary schools, the municipality provides a large and well-equipped school of technology, and a school of art to which is attached an arts and crafts museum. There are a pupil teachers' college, a school of domestic economy, special schools for feeble-minded children, and a Royal College of Music. The schools for the deaf and dumb are situated at Old Trafford, in a contiguous building of the same Gothic design as the blind asylum, to which Thomas Henshaw left a bequest of £20,000. There is also an adult deaf and dumb institution, containing a news-room, lecture hall, chapel, &c., for the use of deaf mutes.

The Victoria University of Manchester has developed from the college founded by John Owens, who in 1846 bequeathed nearly £100,000 to trustees for an institution in which should be taught "such branches of learning and science as were then or might be hereafter usually taught in English universities." It was opened in 1851 in a house which had formerly been the residence of Cobden. In 1872 a new college building was erected on the south side of the town from designs by Waterhouse. In 1880 a university charter was granted, excluding the faculties of theology and medicine, and providing for the incorporation of University College, Liverpool, and the College of Science, Leeds. The federal institution thus created lasted until 1903, when the desire of Liverpool for a separate university of its own led to a reconstruction. Manchester University consists of one college--Owens College--in its greatly enlarged form. The buildings include the Whitworth Hall (the gift of the legatees of Sir Joseph Whitworth), the Manchester Museum and the Christie Library, which is a building for the university library given by R. C. Christie, who also bequeathed his own collection. Dr Lee, the first bishop of Manchester, left his library to Owens College, and the legatees of Sir Joseph Whitworth bought and presented E. A. Freeman's books. The library has received other important special collections. The benefactions to the university of Thomas Ashton are estimated at £80,000. There are in Manchester a number of denominational colleges, Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, Unitarian, Baptist, &c., and many of the students preparing for the ministry receive their arts training at the university, the theological degrees of which are open to students irrespective of creed.

_Libraries, Museums and Societies._--Manchester is well provided with libraries. The Chetham library, already named, contains some rare manuscripts, the gem of the collection being a copy of the historical compilation of Matthew Paris, with corrections in the author's handwriting. There is a large collection of matter relating to the history and archaeology of Lancashire and Cheshire, including the transcripts of Lancashire MSS. bequeathed by Canon F. R. Raines. The collections of broadsides formed by Mr J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps, and the library of John Byrom, rich in mystics and shorthand writers, should also be named. The Manchester Free Libraries were founded by Sir John Potter in 1852. There is now a reference library containing about 170,000 volumes, including an extensive series of English historical works, a remarkable collection of books of political economy and trade, and special collections relating to local history, Dr Thomas Fuller, shorthand and the gipsies. The Henry Watson Music Library, and the Thomas Greenwood Library for librarians were presented to the reference library, and the Foreign Library was purchased. Affiliated to the reference library there are nineteen libraries, each of which includes a lending department and reading rooms. The municipal libraries contain in the aggregate over 366,000 vols. There are also libraries in connexion with the Athenaeum, the School of Technology, the Portico, and many other institutions. The most remarkable of the Manchester libraries is that founded by Mrs Enriqueta Rylands, and named the John Rylands Library in memory of her husband. The beautiful building was designed by Basil Champneys; the library includes the famous Althorp collection, which was bought from Earl Spencer. Mrs Rylands died in 1908, and by her will increased the endowment of the library so that it has an income of £13,000 yearly. She also bequeathed her own library.

Manchester possesses numerous literary and scientific associations. The oldest of these, the Literary and Philosophical Society, founded in 1781, has a high reputation, and has numbered among its working members John Dalton, Eaton Hodgkinson, William Fairbairn, J. P. Joule, H. E. Roscoe and many other famous men of science. It has published a series of memoirs and proceedings. The Manchester Statistical Society was the first society of the kind established in the kingdom, and has issued _Transactions_ containing many important papers. The Field Naturalists' and Archaeologists' Society, the Microscopical Society, the Botanists' Association, and the Geological Society may also be named. Manchester is the headquarters of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society and of several printing clubs, the Chetham, the Record, the Lancashire Parish Registers societies. Seven daily papers are published, and various weekly and other periodicals. The journalism of Manchester takes high rank, the _Manchester Guardian_ (Liberal) being one of the best newspapers in the country, while the _Manchester Courier_ (Unionist) has an important local influence. The _Manchester Quarterly_ is issued by the Manchester Literary Club, which was founded in 1862. The success of the Art Treasures Exhibition in 1857 was repeated in the Jubilee Exhibition of 1887. The Manchester Academy of Fine Arts is a society of artists, and holds an annual exhibition in the city art gallery.

_Parks and Open Spaces._--There are fifty-three parks and open spaces. The Queen's Park, at Harpurhey, is pleasantly situated, though surrounded by cottages and manufactories. Philips Park is also attractive, in spite of its close proximity to some of the most densely populated portions of the town. The Alexandra Park has very good ornamental grounds and a fine cactus house with a remarkable collection presented by Charles Darrah. Some of the open spaces are small; Boggart Hole Clough, where great efforts have been made to preserve the natural features, is 76 acres in extent, and was the largest until 1902, when Heaton Park, containing 692 acres, was purchased. It was formerly the seat of the earls of Wilton, and includes Heaton House, one of Wyatt's structures. In the Queen's Park there is a museum, and periodical exhibitions of works of art are held. The total area of the city parks is 1146 acres. The corporation are also responsible for four cemeteries, having a total area of 228 acres.

_Recreation._--There are nine theatres, mostly large, and eight music halls. The Theatre Royal was established as a patent theatre. When the bill for it was before the House of Lords in 1775 it was advocated as an antidote to Methodism. The Bellevue Zoological Gardens is a favourite holiday place for working people. The Ancoats Recreation Committee have since 1882 had Sunday lectures, and occasional exhibitions of pictures, window gardening, &c. The Ancoats Art Museum was founded to carry out the educational influences of art and culture generally. In addition to works of art, there are concerts, lectures, reading circles, &c. The museum is worked in connexion with a university settlement. The German element in the population has largely influenced the taste for music by which Manchester is distinguished, and the orchestral concerts (notably under Charles Hallé) are famous.

_Population._--From a census taken in 1773 it appears that there were then in the township of Manchester and its out-townships 36,267 persons. The first decennial census, 1801, showed the population to be 75,275; in 1851 it was 303,382; in 1901, 606,824. It is not easy to make an exact comparison between different periods, because there have been successive enlargements of the boundaries. The population has overflowed into the surrounding districts, and if all that belongs to the urban area, of which it is the centre, were included, greater Manchester would probably rival London in the number of its inhabitants.

_Manufactures and Commerce._--Manchester is the centre of the English cotton industry (for details see COTTON and COTTON MANUFACTURE), but owing to the enhanced value of land many mills and workshops have been removed to the outskirts and to neighbouring villages and towns, so that the centre of Manchester and an ever-widening circle around are now chiefly devoted not so much to production as to the various offices of distribution. It would be a mistake, however, to regard Manchester as solely dependent upon the industries connected with cotton. There are other important manufactures which in another community would be described as gigantic. Wool and silk are manufactured on a considerable scale, though the latter industry has for some years been on the decline. The miscellaneous articles grouped under the designation of small-wares occupy many hands. Machinery and tools are made in vast quantities; the chemical industries of the city are also on a large scale. In short, there are but few important manufactures that are wholly unrepresented. The proximity of Manchester to the rich coal-fields of Lancashire has had a marked influence upon its prosperity; but for this, indeed, the rapid expansion of its industries would have been impossible.

The Manchester Bankers' Clearing House returns show an almost unbroken yearly increase. The amount in 1872 was £72,805,510; in 1907 it was £320,296,332; by the severe depression of 1908 it was reduced to £288,555,307. Another test of prosperity is the increase in rateable value. In 1839 it was £669,994; in 1871, £1,703,627; in 1881, £2,301,225; in 1891, £2,798,005; in 1901, £3,394,879; in 1907, £4,191,039; in 1909, £4,234,129.

The commercial institutions of Manchester are too numerous for detailed description; its chamber of commerce has for more than sixty years exercised much influence on the trade of the district and of the nation. Manchester is the headquarters of the Co-operative Wholesale Society, and indeed of the cooperative movement generally.

The most important event in the modern history of the district is the creation of the Manchester Ship Canal (q.v.), by which Manchester and Salford have a direct communication with the sea at Eastham, near Liverpool. The canal was opened for traffic in January 1894. The official opening ceremony was on the 21st of May 1894, when Queen Victoria visited Manchester. The total expenditure on capital account has been £16,567,881. The original share capital of £8,000,000 and £1,812,000, raised by debentures, having been exhausted, the corporation of Manchester advanced on loan a further sum of £5,000,000.

_Municipality._--Manchester received a municipal charter in 1838, received the title of city in 1853, and became a county borough in 1889. The city is divided into 30 wards, and the corporation consists of 31 aldermen and 93 councillors. The mayor received the title of lord mayor in 1893. Unlike some of the municipalities, that of Manchester makes no pecuniary allowance to its lord mayor, and the office is a costly one.

The water supply is controlled by the corporation. The works at Longdendale, begun in 1848, were completed, with extensions in 1884, at a cost of £3,147,893. The area supplied by Manchester waterworks was about 85 square miles, inhabited by a million people. The increase of trade and population led to the obtaining of a further supply from Lake Thirlmere, at the foot of Helvellyn and 96 miles from Manchester. The watershed is about 11,000 acres. The daily consumption is over 38 million gallons. Manchester supplies in bulk to many local authorities in the district between Thirlmere and the city. The corporation have also established works for the supply of hydraulic and electric power.

The gas lighting of Manchester has been in the hands of the corporation for many years, as also the supply of electricity both for lighting and energy. When the works are complete the electricity committee will supply an area of 45 sq. m.

_Sanitary Condition._--Dr John Tatham constructed a Manchester life-table based on the vital statistics of the decennium 1881-1890, from which it appeared that, while in England and Wales of 1000 men aged 25 nearly 800 survived to be 45 and of 1000 aged 45, 569 survived to be 65, in Manchester the survivors were only 732 and 414 respectively. The expectation of life, at 25, was, for England and Wales 36.12 years, and for Manchester 30.69 years. But the death-rate has since rapidly decreased; in 1891 it was 26.0 per thousand living; in 1901 it was 21.6; in 1906 it was 19.0; in 1907 it was 17.9. The deaths of infants under one year old amounted to 169 per 1000. The reports of the medical officer show that whilst the density of the population, the impurity of the atmosphere, and the pollution of the streams are difficult elements in the sanitary problem, great efforts have been made towards improving the health of the people. The birth-rate in 1907 was 28.4, but the population is augmented by immigration as well as by natural increase. The number of persons to the acre is 33.

_Administration of Justice._--The city has a stipendiary magistrate who, in conjunction with lay magistrates, tries cases of summary jurisdiction in the police courts. There are also quarter sessions, presided over by a recorder. Separate sessions are held for the Salford hundred. Certain sittings of the Court of Chancery for the duchy of Lancaster are held in Manchester. In addition to the county court, there is an ancient civil court known as the Salford Hundred Court of Record. Assizes have been held since 1866.

_Parliamentary Representation._--By the first Reform Bill Manchester received in 1832 two representatives. In 1868 this was increased to three, but each voter had only two votes. In 1885 the city was divided into six divisions, each returning one member. Owing to the extension of the city boundaries there are Manchester voters in the Stretford, Prestwich and Gorton parliamentary divisions.