Anonymous

“ Winstanley went down to Plymouth to superintend some repairs that had become necessary to the lighthouse; and when he was about to proceed with his workmen to the spot, some of his friends, convinced from the structure of the lighthouse that it could not last long, ventured to intimate their suspicions to him, and to warn him of danger. His reply was, that he felt so convinced of the strength of his building, that he only wished he might be there in the greatest storm that ever blew under the face of heaven, that he might see what effect it would have upon the structure. ”

“ The light-keepers had been driven not only from all the rooms and the staircase, but to avoid the red hot timber, and the falling of the bolts upon them, they had been forced to creep into a hole or cave on the east side of the rock, where they were found almost in a state of stupefaction. There was great difficulty in getting them off the rock, for the surf was too high to enable the boat to effect a landing; but the men themselves becoming conscious of their perilous situation, and of the efforts that were being made to save them, adopted the only means of escape which now remained. ”

“ The sum of our knowledge of the ancient history of lighthouses is neither accurate nor extensive: we proceed, therefore, to notice those of modern times. Passing by the many rude contrivances for lighting up a coast, consisting as they did chiefly of pots of fire mounted on poles or rocks, the first lighthouse which merits attention is the Tour de Corduan, which, on account of its architectural magnificence was long regarded as one of the wonders of the world, in the same way as the Pharos of Alexandria had been in ancient times. ”

“ This power is still further diminished in a gale of wind, when it is most wanted, by the pitching and floundering about of the vessel: every now and then she is submerged in the trough of the sea, covered with spray and drift, or, what is most to be dreaded, she is liable to be blown away from her moorings; an accident which has been productive of the most disastrous consequences to life and property.
The details already given will convey some notion of the difficulty and danger of planting a lighthouse on the solid rock in a stormy sea ”

“ You have, for a season, left the society of your families and friends, to perform a work of high interest to your country and to mankind. I am confident that you will act, in all respects, so as to deserve and obtain the esteem of the people who now surround you. I hope that they will discharge to you every duty of Christian hospitality, and that you will have no occasion to feel that you are strangers in a strange land. It becomes us to remember that all the affairs of men are dependent on Providence. ”

“ When one of those illuminated planes or faces is brought towards the eye of the observer, the light gradually increases to full strength: when, on the contrary, the angle between two of these faces comes round, the observer is in darkness. By these alternate changes, the characteristic of the lighthouse is as distinctly marked to the eye of the mariner as the opposite extremes of light and darkness can make it. The flashing light is a modification of the revolving light, and is practically a beautiful example of the infinite celerity of the passage of light. ”

“ But dissension and strife are not shut out from the human bosom by mere retirement from the busy scenes of life. When only two light-keepers inhabited the building, it happened that some visitors, who had repaired thither to gratify their curiosity by an examination of the lighthouse, observed to one of the men, how very comfortably they might live there in a state of retirement. ”

“ On the other hand, in tracing the history of any particular branch of knowledge, unless connected with biography, we lose sight of individual efforts;—they are mingled with the labours of others, or are absorbed into the history of the whole, and are consequently no longer individualized:—hence we are likely to fail in recognizing the obligations due to our distinguished countrymen, or to deprive of their just merit those of our foreign brethren whose useful lives have influenced distant lands, as well as their own. ”

“ But in devoting several of our volumes to the Useful Arts, we shall not be unmindful of the fact, that Art is the application of Science to a practical end. It is proposed, therefore, under the comprehensive title of Popular Science and Art, to include portions of our knowledge of animate and inanimate nature. ”

“ The most celebrated lighthouse in Scotland is that situated on the dangerous reef called the Inch Cape [75] or Bell Rock. This lighthouse may fairly aspire to the title of the Eddystone of Scotland, whether we regard its high importance to navigation, the danger and difficulty of its erection, the beauty of its form, or its interesting history. ”

“ One of the causes which has tended to improve the brilliancy of lighthouses, has produced inconveniences, which long existed without remedy. During the combustion of a pound of oil, the union of its hydrogen with the oxygen of the air produces more than a pound of water in the state of vapour. When a cold wind is blowing upon the lantern of the lighthouse from without, this vapour is condensed into water upon the inner surface of the glass, and in very severe weather forms a crust of ice, in some cases, as much as four inches thick in the course of one night. ”

“ Experience has shown that where Chess is introduced as an amusement into families and schools, it exerts a highly beneficial influence, by exciting a taste for more exalted sources of recreation than are afforded by games of chance, which so far from producing a beneficial influence on the mind, are apt to disturb the temper, excite animosity, and foster a spirit of gambling. Chess, on the contrary, is an effort of pure skill ”

“ The winter months were occupied in preparing the upper courses; but in consequence of severe frosts, several excellent and valuable stones from the Mylnefield quarry were destroyed by absorption of moisture from the air, which moisture expanding in the act of freezing, split the stones, and rendered them useless. It was therefore determined to construct the cornice of the building, and the parapet of the light-room of the Liver Rock, of the Craig-Leith quarry, celebrated for its durability and beauty, and for its property of not being liable to be affected by the action of frost. ”

“ One portion is absorbed by the ground, another is dissipated in space. The navigator, whose route we are anxious to enlighten, profits only by the rays that proceed in a horizontal direction, or nearly so, from the lamp to the sea. But such of the horizontal rays as are directed towards the land are of course entirely lost to the purposes of the lighthouse. This zone of horizontal rays forms not only a very small portion of the total light, but has also the serious inconvenience of becoming much weaker by divergence, so as to convey to a distance but a very feeble light. ”

“ The 29th of July was a day of great rejoicing at the Bell Rock. The last stone was landed, and that it might lose none of its honours, the same praam-boat with which the first stone of the building had been landed [93] was appointed also to carry the last. The weather being remarkably fine, all the ships and the craft hoisted flags; the praam which carried the stone was towed by the seamen in gallant style to the rock, and on its arrival cheers were given as a finale to the landing department. ”

“ Yet we are not satisfied with a biography which regards its subject in his public capacity alone: we are naturally curious to ascertain whether the same qualities which rendered him celebrated in public, followed him likewise into private life, and distinguished him there. We regard with interest, in his private capacity, the man who has been the originator of much public good: we look with an attentive eye on his behaviour when he stands alone, when his native impulses are under no external excitement ”

“ To strangers his mode of expression appeared warm and even harsh; but Mr. Holmes refers it to the intense application of his mind, which was always in the pursuit of truth, or engaged in investigating difficult subjects: hence, when anything was said that did not tally with his ideas, he would sometimes break out hastily. As a friend, he was warm, zealous, and sincere; as a companion, always entertaining and instructive, and none could spend their time in his company without improvement. ”

“ The remaining part of the autumn was spent in expediting necessary work on shore, such as completing the work-yard with its machinery and conveniences, and then preparing the granite [52] and Portland stone, of which the lighthouse was to be made. The desirability of doing as much of the work as possible on shore, became more and more apparent, as experience showed the dangers and accidents likely to occur at the rock. During this winter Smeaton began seriously to consider the great importance to his work, of getting the most perfect cement possible, to resist the extreme violence of the sea. ”

“ In consequence of the rotundity of the earth, the distance at which a beacon light ceases to be visible depends upon its elevation. The height to which a lighthouse may be carried is a simple question of expense. The greater part of the pharos of the Romans were much higher than the most celebrated modern towers. Yet, as it respects optical effect, the feeble rays which were diffused from the wood or coal-fires at their summits, could never have traversed the thick fogs which in all climates occasionally overspread the lower regions of the atmosphere. ”

“ The powers of this elegant production of the mechanical art are said to be quite astonishing; and by comparing its highly-polished and regularly-curved surface with the previous glass reflector, the superiority of the former seems to be immense: indeed, its influence extends to the horizon formed by the height of the lighthouse-tower and the earth’s curvature. The reflectors in general use measure over the tips twenty-one inches as applicable to stationary, and twenty-live inches for revolving lights. ”

“ The coast of Scotland is deservedly celebrated for the skill and enterprise of its lighthouse system. This coast, extending to about two thousand miles in circuit, is, perhaps, the most dangerous of any in Europe. Previous to the erection of efficient lighthouses, it was frequently strewed with wrecks, and proved how inadequate to the protection of the mariner were the few feeble lights which were then under the controul of private or local trusts. ”

“ Stevenson describes it as amusing to witness the perplexing anxiety of the smith when coaxing his fire, and endeavouring to avert the effects of the rising tide. Sometimes, while his feet were immersed in water, his face was not only scorched but continually exposed to volumes of smoke and sparks of fire. A great object therefore, of the beacon was to remove the smith above the reach of the highest tide. ”

“ It is about twelve feet under water at the ordinary height or perpendicular rise of spring tides. In point of situation, this rock is one of the most dangerous on the coast of Great Britain; for while it lies in one of the most frequented estuaries, it is much lower in the water than any rock on which lighthouses are usually erected; and hence the mariner had formerly no warning of his danger when in its vicinity. Indeed, in fine weather the sea is often so smooth, that the place of the rock could not be pointed out from the appearance of the surface. ”

“ As the whole building was of wood, it is possible that the heat of the candles in the lantern, continued during the long period of between forty and fifty years, might have brought the thin boards which lined the cupola to such a state of dryness and inflammability, that, together with the soot which encrusted it, and which was formed from the smoke of the candles, it might have been as liable to take fire as a mass of tinder, and a single spark from one of the candles would be sufficient to effect the mischief. ”

“ Among these will be carefully-considered narratives of some of those moral tempests which have so often agitated the world, when men have continued a long course of disobedience to the laws of God and the recognised laws of man. We shall make it our business to record the change of a dynasty, the rise and career of a monarch, a usurper, or a ruler, whose actions have thrown a new aspect on the political institutions of a country; we shall trace the rise and progress of great commercial or manufacturing enterprises, whereby the wealth and prosperity of a nation have been obviously increased ”