268 LECTURE XXII. 



a variety of other causes, many distressing ship- 

 wrecks annually occur, which no human fore- 

 sight is able to avoid. 



One, however, of the most valuable gifts 

 which has been conferred on the commerce of 

 this kingdom is the lighthouse on the Eddy- 

 stone rock, a dangerous reef, about ten miles 

 from Plymouth, lying directly in the way of 

 vessels passing along the British Channel. The 

 following account of it, partly written by an old 

 and dear friend of mine, will, I think, interest 

 you. 



In the year 1696, a lighthouse was con- 

 structed on this spot by Mr. Winstanley, a very 

 ingenious man, who, notwithstanding the ex- 

 treme difficulty of the position, completed the 

 work in little more than two years. It stood 

 without material accident until the great storm 

 which ravaged the whole island on the 26th 

 of November, 1703, about five years after the 

 lighthouse was built. The engineer happened, 

 at that time, to be visiting the lighthouse, and 

 he had often been heard to say that he wished 

 he might be there "during the heaviest gale 

 which ever blew under the face of the heavens." 

 This wish was, unhappily, gratified, for the 



