98 Monthlr/ Commercial Report. [Aug. 1, 



proff (Tional attainments well qualified him for the climate, and his anxiety to difcharge his 



the (Itu.ition he held ; and a work which he duty j for, though labouring under fevere in- 



pulilidicd, on the Law concerning Landlord firmity, he would often be carried into courtj 



and Tenant, fully proves that he might have where he has f.iintcd during his ufficinl excr- 



xifi-n to confiderable repute, if he had re- tions. He has left a widow and three chil- 



mained in this country. He fell a facrifice to drcn. 



M^ 



MONTHLY COMMKRCIAL IIF.I'ORT. 

 [R. RALPH DODD, the Civil Engineer, has publilhed an Introduiftory Report on the 

 propofcd new harbour at Brighthelmftonc j fomc extrafls from which arc worthy of the 

 attention of nil the rommercial part of the public. 



" Let us (fays Mr. Dodd,) view the eligibility of tiiis fpot, for malting a harbour of fafety, 

 and we fhall find few places in the Kingdom equal to it, pofTelling a fine deep bold /here, gra- 

 dually approaching tlie laud, in regular founding's, without rocks or Shifting Cinds near it; 

 an excellent clay or holding ground, for an outer roadftead ; a folid chalky rock bottom, fur 

 the bafements of erefting nccefTary piers, with a number of coincident advantages that arc 

 feldom found united. Thus Nature, as it «ere, invites the hand of Induftry and Ingenuity, 

 to form by art what (he has withheld j and happy am I to declare its practicability, with !'• 

 many inviting advantages. 



" Let us now view the importance of this harbour in a commercial point of view, and we 

 ftall find it teeming with advantages to the town and furrounding country. To mention all, 

 would be only producing a fchcdulc, at preftnt uniieccfiary to recite ; but to name only one, 

 thi; article of coal, fo neceffary for fuel in our difl'crcnt dwellings— it would, at Icall, reduce 

 it in price ten (hillings (jer chaldron j and of coiirfe on other articles imported in like n)3nner. 

 By the adoption of this much to-be-defired harbour, what is the commercial mind called upon 

 to contemplate ? — tlic rifing-up of a new mart, that will make rapid ftridcs in commerce from 

 its fituation and locality, only .i-t miles from the metropolis, and then an immediate entranco 

 into the Bri'iHi Channel, without the trammels of a bar harbour, which, by their ihifting 

 funds and ftiinglcs, too often retard the laden liark, pafling in or out, at a time when molt 

 wanted, and in head-winds totally inaccellible. But from this intended harbour, by well- 

 moored warping-buoys, they may pafs in and out in the moft adverfe winds, and at night-time, 

 by the well-regulated fignal lights, enter ^M during any period, in equal fafety. It mult be fur- 

 ther remembered, that the prevailing eaftcrly winds, which loi'k up the trade in the Thamc% 

 from the Metropolis fending it weftwanl, will be ever open here, from whence, with the 

 wind abaft the beam, they may fail to every p»rt weftward. In Ihort, that one wind here ia 

 fulFicient, when it requires two from the metropolis, vii. one from the weftward to lead the^ 

 down the river to the North Foreland, then another to the northward or eaftward, to carry 

 them down Channel ; the like advantage will be attached to this Port in prevailing winds 

 fro:ri the Weftward, which prevents vefl'els entc;mg' the river Thames. 



" My own mind too is big with txpedtation, that whenever the happy day of peice arrives, 

 this harbour, (if then ready for fervice) with all it3 local advantages, muft command the 

 greater part o{ the French trade; for what perfon wilhing to vilit tlie metropolis of London 

 or Paris, will not wifti to purfue the leaft expenfive and ftioiteft route, which is certainly by 

 BrightOji and Dieppe i* And whether a perfon croffcs a fea of eight leagues, between Dover 

 and Calais, with uncertainty, at the journey's end, of entering either of thofc indifferent 

 harbours, from the various changes they undergo in bad weather, by the Shifting of funds and 

 (hinjles at their entrance, or failing twenty five leagues from Dieppe to Brighton, with certainty 

 of an entrance to a harbour that will ever receive them ; furely the latter muft be preferred. 



" Although Brighton, at prefent, podlfles no immediate v/ater inland communication, canal* 

 may be confirufted, and that even to approach the metropolis, which will bring arts and ma- 

 nufaftures with them ; and I have no doubt but the ii.ip'ovmg hand of Time will effedl that 

 in a ihortcr period than may hy fome be expefted. From t!ie year 1758 to the dofe of the 

 feffinns 1804, 165 Afts of 'Parliament for making and amending Canals had been granted; 

 the Parlianient.iry Eftimates for which, were 13,003,1991. and the length of the line of 

 sountry to be Cut through, *>896 miles : this fully evinces the high fenfe held of theirutility 

 hy the Legiflativc wtfdcm of the country. 



" Some gentlemen incorrcCHy fvippofc it impofTible to crcft and c.irry picrs into the fea, t» 

 form a fecure harbour at Brighton : but they certainly arc unacquaint'id with the extent of 

 the piers at Calais and Dunkirk ; the forrner of which projcifts 800 yards, or 2400 feet, int« 

 the lea, and the latter was carried out to the extended diftance of 2000 yards, or 6000 feet. 



" I propofe that the interior fpace between the piers (hall be about 14 fquarc acres, fuflicient 

 to contain upwards of 200 fail of veffels, averaging them at 32 feet beam, and 100 from ftam 

 to ftern, and allowing room for /hifting, &c. For the accommodation of Shipping and com- 

 merce, between the piers or outer harbour, a public quay is defigntd, to extend 1152 feet, 

 with fiips :it each end : and, in the bafon or inner hurbour, it is defigned that a wharf, or 

 ^uay-voom, ftall be made, l.^()<) to COOO feet and up -ards, with graving-docks, &c. whidi will 

 f«rm a moft defirable piace fur embarkation. On tke north, between th« iiiAer >taibuur a id 



th; 



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