double bow, the bridge being a combination | was built up within the tube, and upon it of the tubular and suspension methods of were set the four iron columns of the central construction, possessing the strength of the pier. They are each 10 feet in diameter former with a saving of not less than 25 per and 100 feet high, weighing 150 tons apiece. cent. in the weight of iron employed. An The erection of the pier, the floating and idea of the Cyclopean character of the work raising of the arched tubes, the fixing of the may be formed from the fact that each of suspended platform, involved great toil, anxthe tubes from which the longitudinal beams iety, and peril; but the whole was at length are suspended, weighs upwards of a thousand satisfactorily finished after about six years' tons! The length of the viaduct and bridge labour, and the bridge opened for traffic in is nearly half a mile, or 300 feet longer than 1859. The Saltash viaduct is confessedly the Britannia bridge. one of the most successful, as it is one of the most economical and at the same time one of the largest structures of the kind that has yet been erected.

The greatest difficulty which Mr. Brunel had to encounter in carrying out this great work was in securing the foundations for his central pier. At the Menai bridge Mr. Like his father, Mr. Brunel was always Stephenson found ready-made foundations ready with an expedient to meet any diffifor his main tower in the exposed Britannia culty that might arise in the exercise of his rock, conveniently situated nearly in the profession, though his range of contrivance centre of the strait, whereas the rock on was not perhaps so great, nor his ingenuity which the central pier of the Saltash bridge of so original a character. Thus, during was founded is not less than 90 feet beneath the Crimean war, he went out to Turkey to the surface the depth of water being about organise the hospitals on the Dardanelles, 70, and of mud and gravel about 20 feet. which he effected with eminent ability, and The founding of a solid pier at so great a on his return to England we find him devisdepth would have been regarded as alto- ing an iron-plated armed ship capable of withgether impracticable less than twenty years standing the fire of the Sebastopol forts.* ago, and so difficult a feat has only been But the distinction which Mr. Brunel attainrendered possible by the improved expe- ed as a naval engineer was principally in dients of practical science. The process connection with the commercial marine. He adopted by Mr. Brunel was similar to that bad, like his father, early turned his attenemployed by Mr. Hughes in getting in the tion to the improvement of steam-ships, foundations of the new railway bridge at taking an active part in many of his experi Rochester, but on a much more formida- ments; and as the engineer of the Great ble scale. An immense wrought-iron cylin- Western Railway, it was natural that he der, 37 feet in diameter and 100 feet high, should put forth his best efforts to render weighing 300 tons, was sunk perpendicularly its western terminus at Bristol the principal over the spot where it was intended to set station for the departure and arrival of the foundations of the pier. From this cy- Transatlantic steamers. Only a few years linder, so sunk, the water was partly pump- before, the practicability of making a voy ed out at the top; after which the process age to New York by steam had been strongwas reversed, and the remaining water was ly disputed, and Dr. Lardner proved to his forced out at the bottom by a pneumatic own satisfaction that the thing was impos apparatus worked by a steam engine. Un-sible. Even Sir Mare Brunel, though very der this severe pressure the workmen were speculative in the matter of steam-boats, enabled to excavate the mud and gravel to when requested in 1824 to allow his name a great depth, and at length to lay the foundations of the pier upon solid rock, 90 feet beneath the surface of the river. The pressure under which the men worked was not less than 38 lbs. to the inch; and although many of them were seized with cramp, fainting, and insensibility, and one mau suddenly died on being first subjected to it, yet when their systems had become inured to the me the aid of his draughtsmen. work, they could continue the excavation him what I was indebted to him for this, he said, within the cylinder for several hours at a "Nothing," for he had the greatest pleasure in helptime with comparatively slight inconven- ing a naval officer who was trying to benefit his At last, the solid column of granite conduct as well as his parting words, "Go on, per country. I shall always remember bis generous severe, and you will succeed," They have, indeed, often cheered me under the greatest discouragements.'-Letter in the Times.'

lence.

See Quarterly Review' for July, 1858, art. 'Iron Bridges.'

*Captain C. P. Coles submitted his plan, since adopted in the American 'Monitor,' to Mr. Bruncl Captain Coles says, 'he assured me that I had hit in 1855. After thoroughly entering into the matter, on the right thing, and generously added that he had himself been devising a vessel for the same purpose, but that mine was so superior to his own he this-he assisted me in my calculations, and gave

should think no more of it. He did more than

When I asked

to appear as superintending engineer of a seen that at outset of his career, when actsteamer proposed to be built for the pur-ing as assistant-engineer to his father in the pose of plying to and from the West Indies, Thames Tunnel, he had two narrow escapes declined on the ground that, in his opinion, from drowning by the river suddenly burststeam would never do for distant navigation. ing in upon the works. Some time after, Yet after the lapse of some twelve years we when inspecting the shafts of the railway find his son constructing steam-ships capable tunnel under Box Hill, he was one day rid not only of making a voyage to the West ing a shaggy pony at a rapid pace down the Indies, but to the Antipodes - the 'Great hill, when the animal stumbled and fell, Britain' steamer being now engaged in ply-pitching the engineer on his head with great ing between England and Australia.

Although Brunel died at the comparatively early age of fifty-three, it is even matter of surprise that he lived so long. He had was an engineering difficulty, the like of perilous escapes from violent death which Mr. Brunel had never before encounthan fall to the lot of most men. We have tered. The mischief was purely mechanical;

a foreign body had got into his breathing | Western Railway became the subject of apparatus, and must be removed, if at all, animated controversy in and out of Parlia by some mechanical expedient. Mr. Brunel ment for years. A Royal Commission sat was, however, equal to the occasion. He upon its exceptional gauge; engineers, phihad an apparatus constructed, consisting of losophers, orators, and pamphleteers, ranged a platform which moved upon a hinge in themselves on opposite sides; and the Great the centre. Upon this he had himself strap- Western line thus gained an extraordinary ped, and his body was then inverted in order prominence in the railway world. that the coin might drop downward by its Notwithstanding Mr. Brunel's great engiown weight, and so be expelled. At the neering skill, it is to be doubted whether he first experiment the coin again slipped to possessed much of the genius of an original wards the glottis, but it caused such an inventor. He took up a principle already alarming fit of convulsive coughing and ap- established, and pushed it further, exhibiting pearance of choking, that danger was appre- in a striking light the development of which hended, and the experiment was discontinu- the ideas of others were capable. His ruled. Two days after, on the 25th, the operation ing idea was magnitude; he had an ambiof tracheotomy was performed by Sir Ben- tion to make everything bigger than he had jamin Brodie, assisted by Mr. Key, with the found it. Thus he found the railway gauge intention of extracting the coin by the for- 4 feet 8 inches, and he increased it to seven ceps, if possible. Two attempts to do so feet, thereby involving wider tunnels, more were made without success. The introduc- expensive works, and a heavier equipment tion of the forceps into the windpipe on the in working stock. So in the atmospheric second occasion was attended with so ex- railway, he found the tube in use on the cessive a degree of irritation, that it was felt Dalkey railway fifteen inches in diameter, the experiment could not be continued with- and on the South Devon line he doubled it. out imminent danger to life. The incision Then in steam-ships, his 'Great Western' was in the windpipe was, however, kept open, nearly double the power and tonnage of any by means of a quill or tube, until the 13th previous steamer; the Great Britain,' which of May, by which time Mr. Brunel's strength followed, was double the tonnage of the had sufficiently recovered to enable the ori-Great Western;' and the 'Great Eastern' ginal experiment to be repeated. He was exceeded in size all that the most imaginaagain strapped to his apparatus; his body was inverted; his back was struck gently; and he distinctly felt the coin quit its place on the right side of his chest. The opening in the windpipe allowed him to breathe while the throat was stopped by the coin, and it thus had the effect of preventing the spasmodic action of the glottis. After a few coughs the coin dropped into his mouth. Mr. Brunel used afterwards to say that the moment when he heard the gold piece strike against his upper front teeth, was, perhaps, the most exquisite in his whole life. The half-sovereign had been in his windpipe for not less than six weeks.

tive shipbuilder had conceived to be possi ble. It was a race of bigness run against himself as well as others. But in the case of the 'Great Eastern' steam-ship, as of the Great Western Railway, it is not probable that Mr. Brunel's example will be followed; for it is now pretty well understood that ships like railways, may be made too big, at least for those who own them.

Notwithstanding the want of success which attended Mr. Brunel's principal undertaking, he was well supported throughout by the monied interest. The shareholders in the Great Western Railway not only readily found the capital which he required to carry There can be no question as to Mr. Bru- out his splendid ideas with reference to that nel's accomplished skill and energy as an line, but they presented him with a handengineer. His life showed that he was a some testimonial in acknowledgment of his man capable of grappling with the most dif- genius. Though the 'Great Western' steamficult enterprises. Indeed, he seemed to ship proved a commercial failure, he had no love difficulties so much that he not unfre- difficulty in finding capitalists to enable him quently chose the most difficult manner of to build the 'Great Britain' at a still greater overcoming them. Whatever was fullest of sacrifice; and still again, to project and engineering perils had the greatest charms for him. That which was easy was compara- * It was upon this occasion that Mr. Henry Lushtively uninteresting, and its execution could ington, a man of rare gifts, published two pamphlets be matter of surprise to no one. In other in favour of the broad gauge, which, as his bicgrahands the construction of a railway between pher truly states, were regarded by all who read London and Bristol would probably have been as uninteresting as that of the Eastern Counties. But in Mr. Brunel's the Great

them as masterpieces of controversial and forensic ability. See The Italian War, &c.: Three Essays, by the late Henry Lushington, with a Biographical Preface by G. S. Venables.' Cambridge, 1859.

1862.

bring to completion his magnificent idea of shareholders suffered, he suffered with them. The public at large have certainly no ground of complaint; for it is unquestionable that both railway travelling and steam navigation were greatly advanced by the speculative ability of Mr. Brunel, and the spirit and liberality with which he was supported by the shareholders of the great undertakings for which he acted as engineer.

the Great Eastern' steam-ship. But for Mr. Brunel's personal qualities, this re-establishment of confidence in him after repeated failures had not been possible. His ideas were always of the grandest kind, for he was a man of lively imagination, and his designs were such as readily to take people captive. He was the very Napoleon of engineers, thinking more of glory than of profit, and of He would do victory than of dividends.

everything on the most splendid scale, and was alike ambitious of making the best possible steam-ship and the best possible railway. Even capitalists were fired by his enthusiasm, and subscribed to his projects freely. Moreover he believed in them himself, and was perfectly in earnest when advocating them amongst his friends. While asking others to subscribe, he did not himself hold back; but put his own savings alike into his atmospheric railway and his 'Great Eastern' steamer. It is true he greatly exceeded, in most cases, the estimates on the strength of which shareholders were induced to subscribe capital to his undertakings. But this is a common fault on the part of modern engineers; and it is one to which the elder Brunel was himself obnoxious:

ART. II.-1. Sussex Archæological Collections, 1846-1861.

2. The Seaboard and the Down. By an Old Vicar. 1860.

3. Handbook for Travellers in Kent and Sussex. 1858.

SUSSEX, or, as the name denotes, the land of the South Saxons, has seen changes as It is difficult strange as any of our counties. to approach in idea to what it must have been just eighteen centuries ago, when three parts of it were an impervious forest, inhabited by our painted, half-naked forefathers; when the sea washed hills which have long since become surrounded by dry land, and fields, now the glory of the husIt has been made matter of censure,' writes bandman, teemed with ocean life, and when Mr. Beamish, that Brunel never adhered to an original estimate. The charge was urged at an many an acre, now covered by the waves, early period by the Government, and more or less formed part of the English soil. Imagina echoed by individuals ever after; but this charge tion sees St. Paul here, as at Athens, finding can scarcely be considered just. In many instan- altars to unknown gods, and declaring Him ces those who consulted Brunel had such limited whom we 'ignorantly worshipped.' His conceptions of their own requirements, that theyPudens,' who 'saluted' Timothy, was not were led to anticipate a corresponding limit in impossibly the courtier of a Sussex viceroy, the cost of the work which they sought to have as his 'Claudia' may have been the fairest performed; but where, with Brunel, excellence was the object, his suggestive and comprehensive of Sussex virgins. Whatever may be said mind adduced an expansion of ideas in his employ- of Professor Airy's opinion that Cæsar twice ers, and, as a consequence, a desire to realise re- landed on the shores of Sussex, History sults which they never could have contemplated. dimly sees Vespasian subjugating its savage These enlarged views demanded further thoughts tribes, making Regnum, the future Chichesand more elaborate designs, but going so far beter, his head-quarters; and three great Royond the original notions, they left an impression man roads, with their military stations, of Brunel's extravagance: when, however, the real object was to secure completeness, then were the suggestions of Brunel accepted in all their integrity, without disappointment or regret.'

Such an explanation as this may be satisfactory to engineers, but it cannot be otherwise than exasperating to shareholders, who find they have to pay so much more for their finished undertaking than they originally bargained for; and when an engineering estimate turns out to be a delusion, as it often does, it is very natural to suspect that it was originally intended as a snare.

In

*

*We have already (Quarterly Review,' vol.xcvii.) narrated the Sussex legend of Claudia and Puders, and have given a full account of the curious inscrip

tion, found at Chichester in the early part of the last century, wh ch forms so important a link in the chain of possibilities by which the story hangs. Authentic history does not inform us whether St. Paul ever landed in the British isles, but some have thought that the Pudens mentioned in his Epistle to Timothy was the senator of that name, in whose house St. Peter lived and taught at Rome, and whose curule chair of ivory and gold is still preserved within the great throne of bronze, by Bernini in St. Peter's church. This interesting relic is known by the name of St. Peter's Chair. Its existence was

the case of Brunel, however, it is impossible denied some years ago by Lady Morgan, who wrote to doubt the good faith of the engineer; if a long paper on the subject,

traversing the length and breadth of the dis- | with Leicestershire in the richness of its pastrict, whilst its high hills' bristled with tures-though it cannot compare with Hamp earthworks and encampments.

shire in its trout-streams, nor with LincolnDescending to Saxon times, we might tell shire and Norfolk in their princely farms— how the county became an independent, though it has no Snowdon, no Grassmere or though the smallest, kingdom of the Hep- Ulleswater-yet it possesses features pecutarchy, and how it possessed a line of prin- liarly its own. Petworth for a subject's pal ces of its own, of which Ella, who landed ace, Arundel, Lewes, and Pevensey for feudal here, as Hengist and Horsa did in Kent, fortressses, Battle and Bayham for venerable may be accepted as the founder,-till it be- abbeys, Cowdray and Up Parks for sylvan came merged by Ceadwalla in its powerful beauty, may not easily be matched, No western neighbour Wessex, whose king, other county can show such an extent of seaEgbert, united England under his consoli- board fringed with such an acreage of rich dating rule. We might dwell on the great alluvial soil, such forests of oak, and birch, doubtful battle-field of Mercredesbourne, in and beech, such delicious uplands, and hillwhich Ella finally pushed the Britons east-side scenery. No county has given birth to wards-could we tell our readers where it a race of more intrepid mariners, of hardier was, or give them any more satisfactory in- shepherds, of more enduring husbandmen. formation regarding its name than that it Where else will you find such snug homewas probably at a rivulet between East- steads, and such picturesque farmhouses, bourne and Birling Gap, called after one with their quaint gables and deep dark roofs Mercrede-and we might dilate on the of Horsham tiles? Its many flocks and siege and storm of the strong old city An- herds-the current coin of patriarchal times derida, the site of which, although now fixed-lead us back to the first ages of society, and with all but certainty at Pevensey, has been invest it with a character of primeval simpliclaimed by no less than seven Sussex towns. city. And although it has now fallen behind Later, we may glance with more of historic in manufactures, its iron-foundries and glassconfidence though not even here without houses for many years gave an impulse to some admixture of legendary exaggeration an extensive and thriving trade. Even now at Bishop Wilfrid, whose beauty arrested its furnaces have left themselves impressed the arm of the executioner who had behead- in the county nomenclature: in many parts ed by his side Delfinus, Bishop of Lyons, we meet with 'hammerponds' to remind us Wilfrid, now attacked by Sussex wreckers, of the incessant noise-a striking contrast and now avenging himself on the inhospit- certainly to their present solitude which able pagans by converting them to Christ- night and day,' as Camden tells us, 'echoed ianity; at good King Edilwalch too and his all over the neighbourhood, when the meadwife Eaba, who granted seven hides of land ows were converted into lakes and pools to at Selsey for an endowment of the first Sus- turn mills, to move hammers to work iron.' sex bishopric. Later still, we learn how Its eastern parts abound in ironstone. The Earl Godwin obtained the broad acres of balustrades around St. Paul's were made of Bosham; and how Harold made them his Lamberhurst iron ;* and the first iron cannon home, and died gloriously on the Battaile that were ever cast in England came from field; how William II. invested Peven- the furnaces of Buxted. But its great woods, sey; how the Empress Maud was receiv- which served for fuel, were not inexhaustied at Arundel Castle by Adeliza the Queen ble; nor did the private profit countervail Dowager; how the great battle, in which the public loss occasioned by their destrueHenry III. was completely defeated by his Barons, was fought at Lewes, and by-and-by the Inquisitions of rebels' were held; and then how the county grew more loyal, and royal progresses in it became rife; how Henry the Eighth was entertained at Michelgrove, Edward the Sixth at Petworth, Queen Elizabeth at Cowdray, and George the First at Stanstead; how badly it fared in the days of the Great Rebellion with many a loyal Sussex town and fortress; and how, in our own days, Brighton has risen to prosperity under royal patronage.

As regards the characteristics of Sussex,although it has never vied with Northamptonshire in the beauty of its churches, nor

tion. Pit-coal began to be supplied in the North in infinite quantities and at less expense: then 'uprose the great national establishments of Lancashire and Yorkshire; the trade of the county fell off, and with it the population. The parish registers — there was no census then show that between 1630 and 1700, it dwindled from 131,000 to 98,000. In 1851 the population amounted to upwards of 336,000.

* Half of Lamberhurst is in Sussex.

When under public good base private gain takes hold,

And we, poor woful woods, to ruin lastly sold.'

Drayton, Polyolbion,' the 17th Song.