judicial to the works of the Bedford Level drainage. In 1763 the north bank of the Wash, through which Morton's Leam runs, broke from the fearful height and violence of a flood, which drowned a considerable extent of the Level, and destroyed much of the property upon it. This devastation was renewed by partial breaches of the banks in 1765, and 1767; and, in 1770, a violent inundation occurred, the whole country to the extent of several miles was overflowed to the depth of nearly six feet and many of the inhabitants and cattle fell victims to the flood. Such repeated deluges must have greatly injured the land of the Level and have kept its cultivators in perpetual alarm. In the following year (1771) it appears that parliament was applied to, and an act was passed for the maintenance of the works of this district, instituting a Committee of eighteen persons to watch over their preservation, to be annually chosen from the Committee of the five districts, and to be named the 'Committee of Works.'*

These continued floods and the constant damage which they occasioned had, as we have observed, again roused the scheme of a Cut through the salt marsh of Tid St. Giles to Gunthorpe Sluice; for it was evident that these floods were caused by the winding and slow outfall of the Nene, as it wound among the precarious sands at its entrance into the sea. The Commission of Sewers for the hundred of Wisbech, and the Corporation of that town, still however strenuously opposed the plan. At last, in 1773, the Bedford Level Corporation,

*The expence of keeping the Morton's Leam bank in repair from this period (1770) to 1796 was upwards of £20,000.

and that of Wisbech came to terms, and an amicable arrangement being effected between them, an act was immediately passed for the work, which authorized the Commissioners of the North Level to make the Cut, and provided that vessels navigating between Wisbech and the sea, should have the free use of it. This work which had been so dreaded by the Wisbech Corporation, was, as is frequently the case, found to be attended with the most satisfactory effect upon the navigation of the river, which before this time, had greatly decayed. The Cut extends about a mile and a half in length, commencing at a bend of the river called River's End, and terminating at Gunthorpe Sluice.

Plans and operations were now suffered to rest, and a period of nearly forty years elapsed before other projects for the improvement of this outfall, were seriously designed. At last, in 1813, Mr. Rennie again excited speculation, by proposing a Cut from the point where that of Kinderley terminates to Crabb Hole, a distance of nearly four miles, extending into the bay or projection of sea, called the Wash, through high sands and green marshes. The arguments by which he supported his proposed improvement was, that there was a fall at low water, from Sutton Wash to Crabb Hole, of twelve feet; that the outfall of the river below Gunthorpe Sluice, was in a bad state, owing to the shifting sands; and that the great bar to the uninterrupted discharge of the Nene waters, and of course to the general drainage of the lands depending on the river, was the high and unstable sands between Gunthorpe Sluice and Crabb Hole, and the narrow and confined channel of the river, through the town of Wisbech.

The estimated expense for this and the Cut to Crabb Hole was upwards of £600,000, a sum so great that all parties, however sanguine as to the benefit that would attend the accomplishment of such a work, shrunk from loading the lands with so enormous an expense, and it lay a mere conjectural speculation till 1818, when Lord William Bentinck stood forward as an advocate for the improvement of this part of the kingdom; but his more distinct object was the erecting of a bridge and forming an embankment over the Nene, at a point as near the sea as possible, and thus directly connecting Norfolk and Lincolnshire,

The Corporation of Wisbech regarded this plan with as much hostility as they had formerly shown to Kinderley's Cut. They were of opinion that the trade of the town and the navigation of the river would greatly suffer by it, and no effort was wanting on their part to frustrate the measures. The promoters of the Bridge Scheme, being aware of the importance of Mr. Rennie's Cut, delayed the progress of their work for some time, hoping that the landed proprietors would co-operate with them. In 1819 a second report of Mr. Rennie was made, which gained more attention than the former one, principally from the fact, which had previously escaped particular notice, that there was 13 Feet fall between Gunthorpe Sluice and Crabb Hole, viz. 12 inches fall between the Sluice and Sutton Wash, (about 2 miles) and 12 feet fall between the Wash and Crabb Hole (about 3 miles.)

These circumstances induced the projectors to call another meeting, and in 1820 a numerous assembly at Wisbech declared that Mr. Rennie's plan appeared to

indicate the most effectual means of improving the drainage and navigation of the river, and it directed that gentleman to estimate the probable expence of the cut; which he named at about £177,000. The projectors declared the work at this sum to be practicable; but the other measure of the Cut between Leverington and Wisbech it was thought would effect the interest of Wisbech so much that it would be better not altogether to rely on Mr. Rennie's representations, and the opinion of Mr. Telford was therefore obtained on the subject; but his idea did not mainly differ from that of the former gentleman. He suggested that instead of taking one Cut from the Horse-Shoe to Rummer's Mill, two should be made; one about half a mile long to avoid the bend made by the river in passing through the town; and the other through the point of land at the Horse-Shoe: removing Wisbech Bridge and deepening the channel were subordinate propositions, the estimate of the whole scheme was £80,000.

During the following summer the plans were gradually matured, and £400,000 was proposed to be raised for the completion of the whole of the works by a tax upon the lands and by tonnage on the shipping. The unpropitious harvest of this year however so impoverished the farmer, that it was thought expedient by the Corporation and inhabitants of Wisbech, to suspend the measure until a more favorable opportunity, as the landed proprietors had already sustained a considerable burden in promoting objects of drainage; and the losses which they had lately borne in their agricultural occupations, but little reconciled them to the prospect of an additional speculative tax. The inhabitants of

Peterborough, who expected to reap considerable commercial advantages by the measure, were less cautious. They boldly called a meeting and directed the preparation of the Act of Parliament which was to acknowledge and legalize the scheme; but the inhabitants of Wisbech still protested against the resolution, and finally stopped the proceedings.

A wet season again deranged the measures. The outfall gradually improved with continually scouring waters, and the navigation at the conclusion of the year, presented so promising an appearance that further alteration or improvement were for a short time forgotten. Disheartened by perpetual delays and despairing of ever uniting the outfall scheme with that of the Bridge, Lord Bentinck and his associates revived the latter as a separate measure, though still they expressed their willingness to come to any terms which Messrs. Telford, and Rennie might propose for extending the river to Crabb Hole.

The plan for the erection of the Bridge without any alteration or improvement in the river was jealously received by the inhabitants of Wisbech, who were well aware that though the outfall had been naturally improved by the peculiarity of the season, the building of a Bridge in the proposed situation would not only delay or completely stop vessels from venturing to the port, by the violent force with which it was anticipated the waters would rush under the Bridge; but that it would also detain a considerable flow of tide from the town. This opinion was confirmed on their consulting another engineer, Mr. Chapman, who stated that the Bridge would be most disadvantageous to Wisbech,