It was not until Dr. Heaton had passed away from us that the full value of his life and character was recognised, even by those who had been most intimately associated with him in public affairs. It was only when his place among us was empty that men recognised how useful he had been, how constantly his time and his energies had been at the service of his fellow-townsmen, how difficult it would be to find any one to replace him. During life he had so steadily avoided anything savouring of ostentation, had accepted with so much quietness any reward that might chance to come in his way unsought, had shown so much equanimity when the rewards went, as they often did, to others; had through it all preserved such an evenness of temper, such a steady, unbroken devotion to duty, that men had learned to look upon all that he did for the community as a mere matter of course. It was Dr. Heaton's place to labour in this and the other movement for improving the health, or the education, or the morals of the town. He was certain to do what he was asked to do, with cheerfulness and ungrudging acquiescence in the demands made upon him. So his fellow-townsmen had almost ceased to think of this patient perseverance in public labours, this resolute subservience of his own pleasure and convenience to the interests of others, as having anything remarkable about it. He was willing to work without hope of reward: and

it was natural enough therefore that he should be allowed to work to the full extent of his powers.

He had his recompense in the knowledge that he had aided to no small extent in the improvement and advancement of his native town. Perhaps he himself was unaware of the degree to which the progress of Leeds in which he assisted was accompanied by progress on his own part. Yet those who knew him best, and who watched his life most closely, saw most clearly how his own character was developed by the work in which he was engaged; and how, whilst labouring with unremitting zeal for the elevation of those around him, he underwent a corresponding elevation on his own part.

When he died, with startling suddenness, his colleagues in public work first began to realise all that he had been and all that he had done in the affairs of Leeds; and they saw then that one had gone from among them who had really played a far larger part in the community to which they belonged than many whose names were more familiar to the world. It was natural then that a wish should be expressed that the facts of this useful life of patient labour should be put on record; and that the story of the man himself should be connected as closely as possible with the story of the town he loved and for which he did so much. It is with the object of gratifying this wish that the present volume has been prepared.

It deals, as has already been said, with a subject that is not exciting or eventful; but it is believed that there will be many who knew Dr. Heaton who will be glad to hear something of his public career, and to have some light thrown upon the personal character of one who by his retiring habits and natural modesty was secluded to a large extent even from those with whom in public affairs he was most constantly in

contact.

It will be found that this volume avoids almost entirely the details of Dr. Heaton's domestic life. In following this course the writer has adhered most closely to what it is believed would have been Dr. Heaton's own wish. The object has been not merely to sketch the chief incidents of his career, but to say something of the many useful public works in which he was engaged from his entrance upon manhood to the very eve of his death.

CHAPTER II.

OLD LEEDS.

Ar the beginning of the present century the town of Leeds presented a marvellous contrast in outward appearance to the vast and busy centre of Yorkshire industry which now bears that name. Before entering upon the narrative of the career of one who was throughout his life closely identified with Leeds and its progress both material and moral, a brief sketch of the town as it existed at the beginning of the present century will not be uninteresting-especially to those who are acquainted with its condition to-day.

When the census was taken in 1801, the number of inhabited houses in the town was 6,694, and the number of residents 30,669. In other words Leeds was less than one tenth of the size it has now attained. Yet even in those early days it was a town famed throughout the West Riding for the industry and frugality of its citizens, and for the sturdy perseverance with which they devoted themselves to that which they conceived to be their proper business. The cloth trade was at that time the staple industry;

but it was carried on under conditions altogether different from those which now prevail. The manufacturers, as a rule, did not reside in Leeds, but in the small hamlets lying to the west of the town. They conducted their industry in the simplest fashion, and with the rudest implements. As the wayfarer walked through one of these outlying villages-many of which have since been included in the circuit of the great borough-he would hear the whir of the loom and the rattle of the shuttle as the manufacturer of these days busied himself under his own roof with the production of that which was literally homespun cloth. Twice a week the manufacturer would carry his goods by cart or pack-horse into Leeds, and taking his stand in the Mixed or the White Cloth Hall, according to the particular branch of the trade in which he was engaged, would await the visits of the merchants who duly came round to attest the quality of his wares by rule of thumb,' and who were not only his sole customers, but the agents through whom the outer world received its supply of Yorkshire woollen goods. These cloth merchants were at that time the commercial aristocracy of Leeds; for the iron trade of the town was in its infancy, the leather trade was unknown, and the only other branch of industry that had attained any importance was that of pottery-which for a few years flourished exceedingly and then suddenly died out.