1849.J 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



139 



v'llhout the temporary house upon the Rock, the model of which is the last 

 article in the eni/ineer's account remitted to us, the Lighthouse tcould not 

 have been erected near so soon, and perhaps not even now. We therefore 

 think tliis piece of mechanism deserves much commendation, and does credit 

 to Mr. Stevenson's foresight and judgment. We farther observe, that Mr. 

 Stevenson has been at considerable expense in various journeys to Ireland 

 and elsewhere, in the furtherance of this great object ; and that he ought to 

 have some consideration, in name of interest, upon such outlays. As to the 

 last article, which is blank, for designs, drawings, preparing an address to 

 the Commissioners, &c., we rather think the matter falls under Mr. Steven, 

 son's duty as engineer, and that we cannot, strictly speaking, take it much, 

 if at all, into account; that upon duly considering the value of the outlay, 

 the expense of the journeys, and the length of time, Mr. Stevenson has not 

 been indemnified on these accounts, we are of opinion that it would he 

 proper he should be paid the sum of 300 guineas for every thing set forth in 

 the prefixed account ; and we report the same accordingly. 



(Signed) " R. Hamilton. 



"Adam Duff." 



" Which Report being considered, the meeting approve thereof, and au- 

 thorise the clerk and cashier to pay Mr. Stevenson the sum of 300 guineas 

 accordingly." 



1'2M, As a further test of the value and amount of work per- 

 formed, it may not be out of place to state that, while Mr. Telford 

 received fees to the extent of 77/., and Mr. Rennie to the extent 

 of 428/., Mr. Stevenson received 4,052/. 16«., of which 315/. above 

 referred to, were for his origfinal reports and designs made in ISOO, 

 and a //iOw.«n)(rf (7«i»p«« of which were paid to him by the Light- 

 house Board at the conclusion of the work, in terms of their vote 

 passed before the operations were commenced. 



13///, In proof of the opinion held by the profession on this sub- 

 ject, it may also be stated that the Council of the Institution of 

 Civil Engineers, in their Introduction to the first volume of the 

 Transactions, which was published in 1826, give sketches of tlie 

 lives and works of various deceased Engineers. In speaking of 

 Smeaton they call the building of the Eddystone his greatest 

 work. Of Rennie they give an account from his earliest to his 

 latest days; and although they enumerate upwards of twenty 

 works in which he was engaged, their list does not include the Bell 

 Rock Lighthouse; a feature in the report by the Council of the 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, which contrasts very strangely with 

 Sir John Rennie's assertion, that his father designed and built the 

 Bell Rock Lighthouse. 



14//4, Mr. Rennie himself, in his letter of 7th September 1807, 

 says to Mr. Stevenson, that, if successful in the work in which he 

 was engaged, '''•it will iyiiinortalise you in the annals of fame." 



Lastly, What was the opinion of the Commissioners of the 

 Lighthouse Board, to whom Sir John Rennie says, "the greatest 

 credit is due for the public spirit, energy, and ability with which 

 they brought forward and carried out to a successful conclusion 

 this im])ortant maritime work.''" This may be easily learned from 

 the facts; 1st. That, at their General Meeting of 14th July 18J2, 

 "on the motion of Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Stevenson, Engineer, was 

 directed to prepare an Account of the building of the Bell Rock 

 Lighthouse, from the commencement to the conclusion of the un- 

 dertaking, and that under the direction of the C'onimittee formerly 

 appointed, viz., Mr. Solicitor-General, Mr. Hamilton, and Mr. 

 Erskine; and the Clerk was authorised to answer the orders of that 

 Committee for any sums not exceeding 400/. to enable them to 

 defray the expenses of this and the drawings that will accompany 

 it." 2d, From their frequent visits to the Rock, the Commis- 

 sioners knew every step of the proceedings, and felt along with 

 Mr. Stevenson in all his arduous toils; and they have, accordingly, 

 recorded their approval by inscribing his name and erecting his 

 bust in the Tower, in terms of the motion of Sir \\'illiam Rae, 

 Bart., then Lord-Advocate of Scotland, who moved "that a bust 

 of Mr. Robert Stevenson be obtained and placed in the library of 

 the Bell Rock Lighthouse, in testimony of the sense entertained 

 by the Commissioners of his distinguished talent and indefatigable 

 zeal in the erection of the Lighthouse." 



All this, however, is nothing in the eyes of Sir John Rennie, 

 who, in defiance of facts, and in absence of proof, states boldly 

 that Mr. Rennie designed and built the Bell Rock Lighthouse, 

 worked out the details, and, in fact, that nothing was done with- 

 out being submitted to and receiving his approval. It is one thing 

 to make a statement, and another thing to substantiate it; but it 

 is the less wonderful that such an assertion should be made by Sir 

 John after the rash statements to which 1 have already alluded at 

 the commencement of this letter. 



In his last letter. Sir John takes a somewhat different stand, and 

 avows another ground on which he rests his claim, in these words: 

 — "The simple fact of your Father having been appointed assist- 



ant engineer, under the late Mr. Rennie, and at his, Mr. Rennie's, 

 request, independent of any other point, settles the question."' 

 So, then, the fact of Mr. Stevenson's original design, five years 

 before Mr. Rennie heard of the subject, including, as I have shown, 

 all the peculiarities of the work which distinguish it from the 

 Eddystone; of his having, jointly with Mr. Rennie, reported on 

 the work, and proposed the departures from Smeaton's outline, as 

 well as his being coupled with Mr. Rennie in the Minutes of the 

 Board, under the term "the Engineers," and of his having pre- 

 sented Reports on the progress of the work directly to the Com- 

 missioners, all go for notliing. Nay more, his having prosecuted 

 the work at much personal risk, the late Mr. Rennie having frankly 

 given him the whole credit, and the Commissioners having, both 

 by pecuniary and honorary tributes, expressed their sense of his 

 position, and their having also entrusted to him the task of pre- 

 paring, at their expense, an Account of the work, are facts which, 

 it should seem, are to be entirely cast aside on tlie mere collocation 

 of the words "chief and assistant engineers." So wills Sir John 

 Rennie; and having committed himself, by suppressing, in a formal 

 notice of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, even the very name of the 

 man who originally designed and actually executed it, we need not 

 be surprised to find him persevering in the rejection of claims 

 which he has already thus publicly denied. With such a course, 

 the anxiety which he professes to render justice "to all concerned" 

 forms an unseemly contrast, and like all other spurious virtues, it 

 runs to excess in a devious path; for not only does he elevate the 

 foremen of the carpenters and masons to the same platform with 

 his father's coadjutor, but even singles out the Commissioners of 

 the Northern Lights themselves, (whose merits are not the point 

 at issue, and whose public-spirited exertions have been long since 

 acknowledged in higher quarters) as the objects of his formal com- 

 mendation. But I forbear further comment; and will only repeat 

 two questions already proposed to Sir John Rennie, but which have 

 not been replied to. 



First, Since the example shown by Smeaton, what credit can 

 possibly be due to any engineer in connection with the Bell Rock 

 Lightliouse, which is not included under one or more of the three 

 following heads, viz.: — 



Either, the original proposal of Smeaton's Stone Tower, for a 

 rock in an exposed situation, 15 feet under high water. 



Or, the proposal of any improvements on Smeaton's design and 

 mode of carrying on the work. 



Or, the personal superintendence of the work, necessarily involv- 

 ing so much fortitude, zeal, and self-denial; and. 



Secondly, Which ot these sources of credit can be claimed for 

 Mr. Rennie? 



Tn conclusion, I ask, who will deny that Mr. Stevenson can 

 justly lay claim to each of them.'' 



AVith many thanks for the indulgence you have kindly granted 

 to me, I am, &c. 



Edinburgh, April 10, 1849. Alan Stevenson. 



Correspondence between. Sir .John Rennie and Mr. Alan Stevenson. 

 I. Mr. Alan Stevenson to Sir John Rennie. 



Edinburgh, 25 Regent Terrace,— 26th Dec. 1848. 



Sir — I am most unwillingly compelled to call your attention to a state- 

 ment in your "Account of the Breakwater in Plymouth Sound," now for the 

 first time brought under my notice. I allude to a passage on page 29, where 

 in reference to the Lighthouse on the Breakwater, yon state that " the ma- 

 sonry of the solid part of the Lighthouse Tower was to have been dove- 

 tailed and cased with granite, upon the same principle as that of the Eddy, 

 stone Lighthouse Tower; and the hollow part of the tower, as well as the 

 floors, was to have been constructed upon the same principle as that adopted 

 by Mr. Rennie. in the Lighthouse designed and built by him on the Bell Rock 

 on the east coast of Scotland, in the year 1806 — which system differs from 

 that adopted by Smeaton at the Eddystone, inasmuch as the whole of the 

 floors are formed by large stone landings, connected together in the centre by 

 a key-stone, instead of being radiated in the form of an arch. By this means 

 the whole is joined and tied together in the most cflicient and substantial 

 manner, without the use of chain-bars, hoops, or other iron work, which is 

 found to be preferable, as the lateral pressure upon the outer walls is thereby 

 avoided, and the building rendered more secure." 



Now, I am constrained to say, that the Bell Rock Lighthouse was not 

 "designed and built" by Mr. Rennie, but by my Father; and, in proof of 

 this, I refer you to the Report of the House of Commons, on a Bill to en- 

 able the Commissioners to borrow '25,000/. for the erection of the Light- 

 house, which is quoted at page 103 of his "Account of the Bell Rock Light- 

 house," and in which it is stated that the Committee began by examining 

 Mr. Robert Stevenson, who had reported his opinion on the subject to the 

 Commissioners, and had estimated the cost of the Lighthouse, so far back as 

 the year 1800, at 42,685/. 8s. ; and that they afterwards examined Mr. John 



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