launch, with several hands and an engine; but the agitation of the waves round the Eddystone rocks was so great, that nothing could be done in stopping the progress of the flames; and after some ineffectual attempts to play upon the building, the engine-pipe was broken by accident. The fire was in consequence left to its own course; for the height of the sea prevented every endeavour to land. In the succeeding days it was observed that the interposed beds of timber were sufficient to heat the moor-stone red hot, and that the whole mass became one great body of red-hot matter. Nor was it till the 7th of the month that the joint action of the wind, the fire, and the sea, totally completed the catastrophe so fatally begun, and then left no other evidence of the destruction they had made than that the greatest number of the iron cramps and branches were left standing upright upon the rock. The third-the present lighthouse-was erected by Mr. Smeaton; and it is a striking instance of human ingenuity, which has hitherto baffled all the fury of the elements. The first stone was laid on the 1st of June, 1757. Mr. Smeaton conceived the idea of his edifice from the waist or bole of a large spreading oak. Considering the figure of the tree as connected with its roots, which lie hid below ground, Mr. S. observed that it rose from the surface with a large swelling base, which, at the height of one diameter, is generally reduced by an elegant concave curve to a diameter less by at least onethird, and sometimes to half its original base. Hence he deduced what the shape of a column of the greatest stability ought to be to resist the action of external violence, when the quantity of matter of which it is to be composed is given. To expedite the erection of the building, the stones were hewn and fitted to each other on shore, and after every precaution to ensure security had been taken, the work was completed in October, 1759. It has proved highly beneficial to all nations, which fact was strikingly exemplified by Louis XIV. France being at war with England while the lighthouse was being proceeded with, a French privateer took the men at work on the Eddystone rocks, together with their tools, and carried them to France, the captain expecting a reward for the achievement. While the captives lay in prison the transaction came to the knowledge of the French monarch, who immediately ordered the prisoners to be released and the captors to be confined in their stead, declaring that though he was at war with England he was not so with mankind. He therefore directed the men to be sent back to their work with presents. The form of the present lighthouse is octagonal, and the framework is composed of cast iron and copper. The outside and basement of the edifice are formed of granite, that kind of stone being more competent than any other to resist the action of the sea. Round the upper store-room, upon the course of granite under the ceiling, is the following inscription : "EXCEPT THE LORD BUILD THE HOUSE, Over the east side of the lantern are the words "24TH AUGUST, 1759. LAUS DEO." The number of keepers resident at the lighthouse was at first only two, but an incident of a very extraordinary and distressing nature which occurred showed the necessity of an additional hand. One of the two keepers took ill and died. The dilemma in which this occurrence left the survivor was singularly painful: apprehensive that if he tumbled the dead body into the sea, which was the only way in his power to dispose of it, he might be charged with murder, he was induced for some time to let the corpse lie, in hopes that the attending-boat might be able to land, and relieve him from the distress he was in. By degrees the body became so putrid that it was not in his power to get quit of it without help, for it was near a month before the boat could effect a landing. To such a degree was the whole building filled with the stench of the corpse, that all they could do then was to get the dead body disposed of by throwing it into the sea; and it was some time before the rooms could be freed from the offensive stench. Since the above occurrence three men have been stationed at the Eddystone, each of whom has, in the summer, a month's leave to visit his friends, and are provided with food and all other necessaries by a boat appointed for that purpose; but they are always stocked with salt provisions, to guard against the possibility of want, as in winter it sometimes happens that the boat cannot approach the rock for many weeks together. The range of the enjoyments of the keepers is confined within very narrow limits. In high winds so briny an atmosphere surrounds this gloomy solitude, from the dashing of the waves, that a person exposed to it could hardly draw his breath. At these dreadful intervals the forlorn inhabitants keep close quarters, and are obliged to live in darkness, listening to the howling storm, excluded in every emergency from the hope of human assistance, and without any earthly comfort but that which results from their confidence in the strength of the building in which they are immured. In fine weather they just scramble about the edge of the rock when the tide ebbs, and amuse themselves with fishing; and this is the only employment they have, except that of trimming their nightly fires. Singular as it may appear, there are yet facts which lead us to believe it possible for these men to become so weaned from society as to become enamoured of their situation. Smeaton, in speaking of one of these light-keepers, says, "In the fourteen years that he had been here he was grown so attached to the place, that for the two summers preceding he had given up his turn on shore to his companions, and declared his intention of doing the same the third; but was over-persnaded to go on shore and take his month's turn. He had always in this service proved himself a decent, sober, well-behaved man; but he had no sooner got on shore than he went to an alehouse and got intoxicated. This he continued the whole of his stay, which being noticed, he was carried, in this intoxicated state, on board the Eddystone-boat, and delivered in the light-house, where he was expected to grow sober; but after lingering two or three days, he could by no means be recovered." In another place he says, "I was applied to by a philosopher kind of a man to be one of the light-keepers, observing, that being a man of study and retirement, he could very well bear the confinement that must attend it. I asked him if he knew the salary? He replied no; but doubted not it must be something very handsome. When I told him it was £25 a-year, he replied he had quite mistaken the business; he did not mean to sell his liberty for so low a price; he could not have supposed it less than three times as much." Another man, a shoemaker, who was engaged to be the lightkeeper, when in the boat which conveyed him thither, the skipper addressing him, said, "How happens it, friend Jacob, that you should choose to go and be cooped up here as a light-keeper, when you can on shore, as I am told, earn half-a-crown and three shillings a-day in making leathern hose (leathern pipes so called), whereas the light-keeper's salary is but £25 a-year, which is scarce ten shillings a-week.” "Every one to his taste,” replied Jacob promptly; "I go to be a light-keeper because I don't like confinement." After this answer had produced its share of merriment, Jacob explained himself by saying that he did not like to be confined to work. The long black line in the sea, visible from hence, is one of the most wonderful undertakings of modern times-Plymouth Breakwater. That arm of the sea which the line lies across is Plymouth Sound: the importance attaching to this place, as a naval station, arising from the magnitude of its dockyard, and other causes, gave rise to the Breakwater. In the early part of the year 1806 the attention of the Admiralty was directed to the subject, and in the month of February in that year their lordships directed the late Mr. John Rennie and the late Mr. Joseph Whidbey, then Master Attendant at Woolwich Dockyard, to proceed to Plymouth to survey the Sound. On the 18th of March they met at Plymouth, in order to carry out their lordships' instructions, and on the 21st of April they made a joint report to the Admiralty, with the result of their survey, and at the same time submitted to them a plan for a stone breakwater, and gave their opinions upon several plans which had been previously proposed for protecting Plymouth Sound and Cawsand Bay, none of which, however, had been prepared under the directions of the Board of Admiralty. The plan proposed by Messrs. Rennie and F |