EECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



171 



the rock and building conjointly, and fly up 

 in a wliite column enwrapping it like a sheet, 

 rising at least to double the height of the 

 house, and totally intercepting it from sight ; 

 and this appearance being momentary, both 

 as to rising and falling, one was enabled to 

 judge of the comparative height, by the spaces 

 occupied in the field of the telescope by the 

 column of water and the house." The year 

 closed with tremendous storms, and the 

 courage of the light-keepers was tested to 

 the utmost. For twelve days the sea ran 

 over them so much that they could not open 

 the door of the lantern, or any other door. 

 " The house did shake," said one of the light- 

 keepers, " as if one had been up a great tree. 

 The old men were frightened out of their 

 lives, wishing they had never seen the place. 

 The fear seized them in the hack, hut ruhhing 

 them with oil of turpentine gave them relief"* 

 G-reat as was the fame which this work 

 gave Smeaton, it did not immediately bring 

 him constant employment, but that came at 

 last. In 1764 he became one of the managers 

 of the Grreenwich Hospital estates, and by his 

 tact and diligence greatly improved the pro- 

 perty, so that in ten years afterwards, when 

 he wished to resign his post, he was induced 

 by solicitation to retain it, so much were his 

 services held in esteem; but in ten years, 

 from the time we have mentioned, Smeaton 

 was regarded as one of the foremost men of 

 his day. 



WOEKS AND CHAEACTEE. 



Close observation of natural laws, of the 

 place, of the thing to be done, of the very 

 best practicable manner of doing it, seems 

 to have been Smeaton's leading character- 

 istic through life. His chief works were, 

 in addition to the Eddystone, lighthouses at 

 Spurnhead, at the mouth of the Humber, a 

 new bridge over the Tay, at Perth, the laying 



* This banishment of fear, a powerful passion, 

 hy material means is very curious, and deserves 

 remark.- — H, P. 



out of the great canal oonnecting the Forth 

 and Clyde, the rendering of the Calder navi- 

 gable, and the propping of the centre arch of 

 London Bridge, and the pier and harbour 

 of Eamsgate. He was consulted upon every 

 difficult engineering point, and the hints and 

 wise suggestions which he gave were innu- 

 merable, and he may in some sort be regarded 

 as father of a long and brilliant line of English 

 engineers, men whom no difficulty could daunt, 

 nor any obstacle throw back. The last great 

 work of Smeaton was the Eamsgate pier and 

 harbour, which was finished in 1791, thus 

 providing a harbour of refuge for ships storm- 

 pressed in the Downs. Then his work was 

 done. He was very anxious to write an ac- 

 count of his labours, commenced it indeed, and 

 has left us a record of Eddystone. On Sep- 

 tember 10, 1792, he was seized with paralysis, 

 and within a month and twelve days he died, 

 aged 69. EaUing into the hands of Death, 

 Smeaton was resigned, faithful, and brave. 

 He had been a good man through life. " I 

 conclude myself," he says, in one of the last 

 letters he dictated, " nine parts dead, and 

 the greatest favour, I think, the Almighty 

 can do is to complete the other part." He 

 dreaded also senility and a loss of faculty, 

 "lingering," as he expressed it, "over the 

 dregs after the spirit had evaporated." As he 

 lay upon his bed, upon one moonlight night, he 

 looked up to the purely resplendent orb, and 

 said, "How often have I looked forward to 

 the time when I shall see vast and privileged 

 views of an hereafter, when all shall be com- 

 prehension and pleasure." Clearly to know, 

 to understand the works of God was the 

 highest pleasure of the dying Engineer, as it 

 had been to the living. Throughout life 

 he had preserved undeviating probity. His 

 first aim was to do his best. He rejected 

 many lucrative appointments, rather than 

 undertake too much. Even when his health 

 was failing, he Was so liberal of his time and 

 advice, that he gave both to many who needed 

 them. His highest ambition was to serve 



