Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 8.djvu/217

Rh obtained by Mr. Owen convinced him of the profitable nature of the trade, and led him to form a company of English capitalists, who purchased the property at ₤66,000, and carried on the business for several years, under the firm of the Chorlton Spinning Company, of which Mr. Owen was appointed manager. This situation he held from 1799 to 1827, but not all the time in the same partnership. During the twenty-eight years the mills were under Mr. Owen's management, they cleared of nett profit about ₤360,000, after having laid aside a sum nearly equal to 5 per cent, on the paid-up capital. Mr. Owen, sometime after his settlement at New Lanark, married Mr. Dale's eldest daughter, with whom he received a large portion.

The above-named company continued to work with profit the Lanark mills from 1799 to 1813, when the property again changed ownership. During the copartnery, most of the English partners sold their interest to Glasgow merchants, who consequently held the largest share at the close of the contract. It appears that by this time (1814) the partners and the manager had each resolved to get rid of the other; and both parties were bent on retaining, if possible, possession of the mills. Mr. Owen had now begun to promulgate some of his peculiar theories; and, for the purpose of carrying them into practice, had constructed the spacious and substantial building at New Lanark, still existing, without, it is said, receiving the formal consent of the partners, some of whom disapproved of his schemes. It was resolved to dispose of the property by public roup; and Mr. Owen, meanwhile, succeeded in forming a new company, which, when the day of sale arrived, became the purchasers, after considerable competition, at the cost of ₤112,000. When security was required for this large sum, the names of William Allen, Joseph Fox, Robert Owen, Jeremy Bentham, John Walker, and Michael Gibbs, Esquires, were handed in as the partners of the New Lanark Cotton-Mill Company.

The education of the common people was at this period occupying much attention. Joseph Lancaster had introduced his method of instructing large numbers at little expense. His Quaker brethren warmly espoused the cause, which speedily excited universal interest, from the highest to the humblest. Mr. Owen entered heartily into the movement, which he advocated on the platform in Glasgow, and towards which he contributed a thousand pounds to the Glasgow subscription alone out of his private funds. His zeal in the cause no doubt recommended him to the benevolent individuals who became his partners; and it is also to be observed, that he had not yet avowed the infidel principles which were destined to give him such unenviable notoriety in future years. The new copartnery laid down, as the basis of its union, an article rarely to be found in commercial contracts, namely, "That all profits made in the concern beyond five per cent, per annum on the capital invested, shall be laid aside for the religious, educational, and moral improvement of the workers, and of the community at large." And, as appears from the "Memoir of William Allen," provision was made "for the religious education of all the children of the labourers employed in the works, and that nothing should be introduced tending to disparage the Christian religion, or undervalue the authority of the Holy Scriptures; that no books should be introduced into the library until they had first been approved of at a general meeting of the partners; that schools should be established on the best models of the British, or other approved systems, to which the partners might agree; but no religious instruction, or lessons on religion, should be used except the Scriptures, according to the