SMEATON'S LIGHTHOUSE. 165 



which he turned wood and ivory, making little presents of boxes and other articles for his 

 friends. His father had destined young Smeaton for the law, but at last consented to his 

 son's wish to become a mathematical instrument maker. The son came to London, and 

 was soon enabled to earn enough for his own maintenance. He did not, however, live a 

 mere workman's life, but frequented the society of educated men, and was a regular attendant 

 at the meetings of the Royal Society. We find him at the age of twenty-six reading 

 papers before that most learned society. He had already attempted improvements in the 

 mariner's compass ; had invented a machine for measuring the amount of " way " on a ship 

 at sea; and designed improvements in the air-pump, in ships' tackle, and in water and 

 wind-mills. He had already acquired an honourable reputation as a scientific engineer when 

 the question of rebuilding the Eddystone Lighthouse arose. 



This afforded Smeaton a grand opening for advancement, and as soon as some 

 preliminaries were arranged, he came to town, where he studied the subject ia its entirety. 

 He soon came to the conclusion that stone was the only material to employ in the 

 construction of a lighthouse, contrary to the opinion of the Brethren of the Trinity House, 

 who had faith in wood, and that only. He also devised a system of dovetailing, then 

 scarcely known in masonry, though common enough in carpentry. All these investigations 

 were made before Smeaton had even paid a visit to the exposed site on which the lighthouse 

 was to be built. It was not till March, 1756, that he set out from London to Plymouth, 

 a journey which occupied him six days, on account of the badness of the roads. At 

 Plymouth he met Josias Jessop, to whom he had been referred for information as to the 

 previous lighthouse. Jessop was then a foreman of shipwrights in the dockyard, and a 

 first-class draughtsman, full of ingenuity and mechanical knowledge. Smeaton was very 

 anxious to go out to the rocks at once ; but the sea was so heavy that no opportunity 

 occurred till the 2nd of April, when they were able to reach them. The sea was breaking 

 over the landing-place with such violence that there was no possibility of landing. All that 

 the enthusiastic engineer could do was to view the cone of bare rock the mere crest of 

 the mountain whose base was laid so far in the sea-deeps beneath. Three days later another 

 voyage was made, and he was enabled to land on the site of his future triumph. He 

 stayed there more than two hours, when he was compelled by the roughness of the sea 

 to leave the rock. Several subsequent trials were unsuccessful. On the 22nd of the 

 same month, after a lapse of seventeen days, Smeaton was able to effect his second 

 landing at low water. After a further inspection, the party retreated to their sloop, which 

 lay off until the tide had fallen, when Smeaton again landed, and the night being perfectly 

 still, he says, " I went on with my business till nine in the evening, having worked an 

 hour by candlelight." The following day he again landed, and pursued his operations 

 until interrupted by the ground-swell, which sent the surf and waves high upon the reef, 

 and the wind rising, the sloop was forced to put for Plymouth. This is, as we shall see, 

 but a sample of the difficulties attending the actual construction of the tower. Lord 

 Ellesmere said of him that " bloody battles had been won, and campaigns conducted to a 

 successful issue, with less of personal exposure to physical danger on the part of the 

 commander-in-chief, than was constantly encountered by Smeaton during the greater 

 part of those years in which the lighthouse was in course of erection. In all works of 



