1839.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



137 



untrue to nature, but give a meretricious effect to designs which are in 

 themselves vahieless. If it were not so, how do these very dabs, stain- 

 ings, and sharp touches make " a landscape of a post ?" 1 would next 

 follow tlie example of the committee on the designs for the Nelson 

 monument ; lirst adjudicate upon them, and then admit tlie competitors 

 and tlie public to view ; for I am quite assured that, let artists say 

 what they will, the public, as a mass, are the best judges. Individuals 

 may think oppositely, but a large number of conflicting opinions in 

 some strange way neutralise each other, so that in the result the de- 

 cision of public opinion is generally that which is most consonant with 

 propriety and justice : and even if public opinion were erroneous, such 

 a course wo\dd tend mucli, if not altogether, to remove those suspicions 

 of favouritism, and forestalled judgment, wliieh in many instances, it is 

 to be feared, have been but too well-founded. I am quite aware that 

 other practices than those of prejudgment exist, and practices against 

 wliicli notliing can guard but the utmost care that committees shall con- 

 sist of men of honour. It is quite within their power to give one public 

 set of instructions, and privately to give some favoured artist more 

 detailed information. It is quite practicable to send for an artist after 

 the designs have been sent in, and direct him to make certain alterations 

 which shall improve his drawings or his model. Tliese are dishonour- 

 able acts which, like other dark deeds, often betray their perpetrators ; 

 and they fall deeper tiian ever they rose higher in consequence of ihem. 

 Sucli practices must in process of time prove tlieir own correctors, 

 and so that artists be but true to themselves, and every individual strive 

 to keep his own honour immaculate, it will not be l.'mg before generous 

 competition sliall raise tliis portion of the repute of Britain, and rank 

 her as high in art as the efforts of Nelson and Wellington have placed 

 her in naval and military renown. 



I have the honour to be, yours, &c., 



OiMEGA. 



BIRMINGHAM AND GLOUCESTER RAILWAY ENGINES. 



Worcester, 8th March, 1839. 



Siii, — In No. 18 of the " Civil Engineer's and Arcliilect's Journal" 

 for March 1839, at page 116, yon volunteer an editorial paragraph, 

 conveying reflections upon the Birmingham and Gloucester Kaihvay 

 Company. 



Had you referred to the reports of the last half-yearly meeting of this 

 company, held on the I'ith February, which reports were published in 

 the Birmingham and also in tlie Gloucester journals of the same week, 

 you would have seen a correct statement of those facts upon which 

 youi comments referred to have been erroneously made. 



Tlie facts are, that Mr. Norris, a locouiotive engine-maker of high 

 reputation in America, has engaged to send upon trial to England a 

 locom itive engine, which shall perform a much greater amount of work, 

 under certain specified conditions, than engines of similar class and 

 expense are at present pei forming upon the railways of tliis country. 



If this trial succeed, agreeably with the stipulations and to the satis- 

 faction of the company's engineer, the company purchase the engine. 



If the trial does not succeed, Mr. Norris pays the expenses attendant 

 on the trial, and the company remain in the same situation in point of 

 expense as that whicli they held before the trial was made ; that is, 

 they pay for nothing. 



'J'lic company engage to take ten engines in all under the above con- 

 ditions, which are applicable to each engine, as each arrives from 

 America. 



Having now given you the facts, allow me to add, in reidv to your 

 coiiimcnts : — The Birmingham and Gloucester Com|Kiny do expect tiiat 

 Englishmen will support their projects so long as those projects bear 

 out the principle of ]jrociiring the best possible article at the least 

 possible cost, — no matter whether the cost be paid to an American for 

 engines, or to a Norwegian for timber, the latter being a process by 

 which (to use your own phrase) " the money subscribed goes out of the 

 country," under the sanction of numerous railway companies, who 

 appear hitlierto to have escaped your condemnation. 



The Birmingham and Gloucester Company do not " expect that the 

 public will have any contldence in the safety" of these American 

 engines, until they shall have been subjected to the trial .ibove referred 

 to, which will fully prove this point ; but the public may jjiobably be 

 aware of the broad fact, that safety, so far as the results of locomotive 

 engines are concerned, is upon a par in both countries, and both the 

 public and yourself will, I have no doubt, cordially rejoice in the 

 advancement of practical science, which the results of tlieso trials, if 

 successlul, will evince. 



I apologists for trespassing thus on your space, and am. Sir, your 

 obedient, 



W. S. MOORSOM, ENoiNiEK. 



•THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 



Sir, — Is it [lossible that there can be any truth or approach to truth 

 in the following paragraph, wliicli I quote from the " Sunday Times," 

 where the " Morning Advertiser" is named as the authority for it? 

 " We are happy to learn that Mr. Baily's design for the New Royal 

 Exchange is that which is to be adopted. The Giesham committee 

 have at length yielded to the views of the Chancellor of the Exchequer 

 on the subject. Mr. Baily is the most distinguished artist of his day 

 in his own peculiar walk ; and the admirers of genius must be grateful 

 to him for asserting ils rights in the person of INlr. Baily." Whether 

 this be intended seriously, and merely a blunder, or whether it be 

 intended as a joke, it is diiiicult to guess. It certainly would be very 

 odd that Mr. IJaily's, or Mr. Anybody-else's, model should be chosen 

 before anything was known when designs were to be sent in. Tlie 

 writer of the paragraph, however, may know a great deal more of the 

 matter than any one else, for he knows, it seems, and is willing to let the 

 world know, that " Mr. Baily is the most clistinguished artist of hisduy, 

 in his own peculiar walk." Nevertheless, I must confess, I never heard 

 the name before as that of an architect; therelbre if distinguisiied at all, 

 it must be by the obscurity in which it has been shrouded. Neither 

 have I any idea what can be this most distinguished Mr. Baily's own 

 peculiar walk, unless it is meant that he has been in the habit of attend- 

 ing Change, and shov.'ing himself in one particular u)o//t there. Another 

 puzzle is to know to whom the admirers of genius — that is, of course, 

 all of us, have to be grateful to for asseiting its rights in the person of 

 Mr. Baily ; is it to the distinguished artist himself, or the Chancellor of 

 the Excheriuer? 



Pray endeavour to unriddle the whole of this enigmatical matter, if 

 only that we may get out of debt at once, by paying our gratitude in the 

 proper quarter. 



In the mean while I remain, 

 ^ Your most undistinguished 



READER. 



SAVERY AND TREVITHICK. 



Sir, — Several periodicals, last week, gave an analysis of an e.ssay, 

 that had been read by Professor Regaud, before the Ashmolean So- 

 ciety, on some circumstances in the history of Captain Saveiy, Ihe 

 inventor of a steam engine. I read the analysis in the Lilenirij 

 Gazette, the editor of which observed, that Savery wrote the Miner's 

 Friend to draw attention to his engine, and that this hook " is now a 

 very rare volume. It is in the British Museum, and we believe a 

 copy will be found in All SouL->' College Library. Surely in the 

 present day of science, and of scientific mining in particular, a 

 repuhlieationia\g\\ihc very useful: and would be infinitely more 

 valuable if the professor of astronomy (the only person we know who 

 is calculated, from his love of minute research, and the vast accumu- 

 lation he has made of materials, to do justice to scientific biography,) 

 would ju'eflx his notices of the author and his hivention." 



From the recommendation in this paragraph, it is clear the editor 

 of the Literary Gazette has never seen Xhe. reprint oi \.\\<i Miner' n 

 Friend, made in 1S27, by Mr. Robert Meiklcham, from a copy of 

 Savery's book in his possession. The first edition, dated 1702, is in 

 12mo, and has one large folio engraving, showing a perspective view 

 of the engine. This engraving was either borrowed from Harris's 

 Lexicon Ledinicum, or Savery gave the plale used in the Miner's 

 Friend ioWRvrU. The impressions are identical. Mr. Meikleham's 

 edition is in I8mo, and when compared with the original, it has some 

 pretensions to elegance : it has three engravings, and eighteen 

 ornamental vignettes. A small number only were printed, which 

 were purchased, I think, by Mr. Reid, bookseller, Charing-cross. 

 Some of the copies had a portrait, designated as tliat of Savery. 

 This, however, is a misnomer, occasioned by the letter-engraver 

 affixing the name to a wrong portrait ; and the mistake was not dis- 

 covered till it was loo late to rectify it. Mr. Meikleliam had an 

 original portrait of the Captain, which he procured in I8I6 from a 

 Tilrs. Boughton, of Boughton, who was connected with Savery by 

 marriage. At that time she was very aged, and having outlived some 

 benevolent relations she had fallen into great poverty. Mrs. 

 Boughton kncvv- nolhing of Savery's history; she remembered her 

 father-in-law speaking of him as having had the reputation of being' 

 a very self-willed and passionate man; very niggardly and sellish ; 

 and that he had been slierill" of Devon. This, however, was a pal- 

 pable mistake. The portrait in her possession had been painted witli 

 considerable freedom, and when Savery might have been between 

 thirty and forty years of age. Although much mutilated, the face 

 w as perfect ; so was the upper part of the peruke, and a part of the 

 cravat. It had not been preserved from a feeling of ils value, but 

 for its convenience as a piece of furniture. The elligy had served as 

 a chimney-board. On cleaning it, there w<is found written on the 



