1811.] Southwark and Strand Bridges, ' Sli 
tended road from tlie bridge is likewise 
now spoken of, udiich is to connect itself 
with the Marsh Gate, or the Asylum, 
and will much accommodate the inhabi¬ 
tants of Keiinington, Vauxhall, &c. w ho 
may wish to reach the centre of the 
town; and prove desirable to those em¬ 
ployed at Sornersei-house wliose dw'eli- 
ings are on the Surry side of the Thames. 
But the benefits likely to be derived front 
these improvements may in some mea¬ 
sure be calculated, wljen it is knowm that 
the population of Lar)ibeth alone has in¬ 
creased to near 42,000 persons. 
A/I ingenious gentiemau sliewed me, 
some years ago, a model of an intended 
iron bridge, of one arch, which he had 
proposed for erecting where, I believe, 
the Southwark Bridge is now to be built. 
A part of liis plan was, if I remember 
light, the removal of London Bridge ; 
and to avoid the enormous expences in¬ 
curred in keeping the piers in repair, 
which the velocity and weight of the wa¬ 
ter most always occasion; 
Where, gathering triple force, rapid and 
deep 
It boils, and wheels, and foams, and thun¬ 
ders, through.” 
Other advantages of this substitute for 
London Bridge, tie observes, would be, 
that of its admitting vessels of considerable 
burthen to reach Biackfriars Bridge, &c. 
And history informs us, that five arches 
of London Bridge were carried away by 
the ice, and that tw'o, at another time, 
fell down. IVIuch will he said on every 
bold speculation; but without consider¬ 
ing my own opinion material, the follow¬ 
ing particulars respecting the building of 
Westminster Bridge, may not he at pre¬ 
sent inapplicable or useless. The com¬ 
pletion of this bridge was retarded three 
years, by the following accident; The 
filth pier, from the Westminster side, was 
discovered si.uking; at the very time it 
was thought that the wliole w'as finished; 
stones fell out of the next arch; the 
arches which rested on the pier weie 
obliged to he taken off, by replacing 
under them centres, like those on which 
they were huili. To settle the'sinking 
pier, it was then loaned with 12,000 tons 
of cannon and lead; the pier that had 
failed was eased of its burthen by a 
secret arch; and at midniglit, Nov, 
1750, it was opened for public use: 
tiiough, by a ludicrous blunder in dates, 
the Gentiemaifs ?dagazine, 1750, tells 
us, that the bndge was complgied u year 
before the first pile w'as driven. But tlia 
compiler of Gephyroiogia, drew much 
useful information for his historical ac¬ 
count of bridges, from this reputable 
work ; in which we learn, that it w as 
common for much company to assemble, 
at that time, with French horns, and 
entertain themselves with “ the sijr.urisin(«- 
echo in the arches.'' 
I have, before I read this parti¬ 
cular, entertaiiied a friend„ by con¬ 
vincing him, that a person turning his 
face to tiie stone-work, may, without 
raising liis voice, hold a conversation 
with another person on the opposite side 
of the road, each beingiunder the recesses 
on the top of tiie bridge, and standing 
in a similar manner. To the • areli 
before spoken of, tire curious are some¬ 
times allowed to descend, when the 
pavement happens to be raised by the 
woikinea who come to inspect or repair 
it. Perhaps no bridge can be kept iu 
better order than it is at present; and 
it will no doubt excite surprise to ijear, 
that it was formerly thought necessary to 
protect the passengers in their way over 
it, by the employment of twelve watch¬ 
men every night. J. M. Flindall. 
Lambetky Oct. 14, 1811. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine, 
sin, 
N the “ Extracts from the Portfoliiii 
of a Man of Letters," which are in¬ 
serted in No. 217 of your Magazine, two 
alleged errors are pointed out in the ren¬ 
dering of Mark xiv. 51. by the authors of 
the improved version. Here, as in the 
greater part of their work, those authors 
have strictly adhered to the translation 
of the New Testament by the latd Arch¬ 
bishop Newcome, who has not deviated 
in this instance from his usual accuracy. 
If “ a Mail of Letters" had consulted 
the original, he would have seen that the 
word rendered lay hold on, is in the pre¬ 
sent tense, KparS^riy: and though coUoijjii^ 
ally we say “ lay hold of a thing or per¬ 
son," yet I take it to "he tlse custom of 
our best and purest writers to combine 
with this verb the preposition on. 
Permit .me, before i conclude, to ask 
“ a Man of Letters" by what authority 
he styles the youth spoken of in ISlaric 
xiv. 51. the cin&dm'^ I refer him to the 
commentators for proof that such an 
application of the word is iuaccurata 
and unwarrantable. N. 
^tyt: 9, 1811, 
