28 SMEATON'S LIGHTHOUSE ON THE EDDYSTONE. PART VI. 



on hand that he could not leave upon an uncertainty. 

 The answer he received was, that the former building 

 was totally destroyed that the lighthouse must be re- 

 built and the letter concluded with the words, "thou 

 art the man to do it." 



Smeaton then returned to town and proceeded to take 

 the matter in hand. The subject was wholly new to him ; 

 but he determined to investigate it thoroughly, and he 

 lost no time in doing so. One of the earliest conclusions 

 he arrived at was, that stone was the proper material 

 with which to rebuild the lighthouse, though the supe- 

 riority of timber was strongly urged upon him. The 

 popular impression, which also prevailed amongst the 

 Brethren of the Trinity House, was, that " nothing but 

 wood could possibly stand on the Eddystone ;" and many 

 were the predictions uttered as to the inevitable failure 

 of a structure composed of any other material. The 

 first thing which our engineer did in the matter was to 

 examine carefully the plans and models of the two former 

 lighthouses ; by which he sought to ascertain their 

 defects, with a view to their avoidance in the intended 

 new erection. In the course of this inquiry, he became 

 more and more convinced that a great defect in the late 

 building had been its want of Weight, through which it 

 had rocked about in heavy storms, and would probably 

 have been washed away before long if it had not been 

 burnt ; and he came to the conclusion, that if the light- 

 house was to be contrived so as not to give way to the 

 sea, it must then be made so strong as that the sea 

 must be compelled to give way to the building. He 

 also had regard to durability as an important point in 

 its re-erection. To quote his own words : "In con- 

 templating the use and benefit of such a structure as 

 this, my ideas of what its duration and continued 

 existence ought to be, were not confined within the 

 boundary of one Age or two, but extended themselves 

 to look towards a possible Perpetuity." 



