1902 ~ _— exfraordinary bridges. 75 
_ But the danger which the magistrates saw, or thought 
’ they saw, in an arch of such a prodigious span, difsuaded 
“them from accepting the magnificent offer of Gruben- 
mann. ‘They demanded that the pile thould be preserved 
which is situated in the middle of the river, and which 
had resisted. the violence of the waters when the bridge 
was carried away. 
It is said that Grubenmann, obliged to follow the or- 
ders of the magistrates, eluded them more than he fulfilled 
them, He preserved the pile ; but he threw over his 
arch with such art, that it is said not to borrow the least 
support from it; and that this pile might be destroyed 
without the bridge suffering in its strength in the smal- 
lest degree. aa 
Connoifseurs differ about it; some say it does support: 
the bridge, and some say it does not ;. and the question is 
still undecided. If ever the Rhine comes to destroy that 
pile; the problem will be solved. 
In the mean time, after having given the opinion of 
others, I will now give my own. I hold for fabulous the 
prohibition of the magistrates, as well as the intention of 
eluding their orders. The bridge forms a very obtuse 
angle above the pile ; the piece of architecture which de- 
scends from it, ought to be only looked upon asa lamp 
post ; and I imagine that the magistrates of Schaffhouse, 
as well as Grubenmann, have considered that the pile 
might one day be carried away by the waters of the river; 
that since it was pofsible to construct an arch which 
fhould reach from one bank to the other, it was wise to 
do it; that, since there was a pile about the middle of 
the space, it was proper to make use of it accidentally for 
the support of the bridge, which, from. thence may be 
said to stretch over the Rhine by an astonifhing arch of 342 
