tempest so severe that those who had ventured to predict the downfall of Smeaton's tower were heard to say, when the storm ceased, that "if the Eddystone Lighthouse is now standing, it will stand to the Day of Judgment."
Smeaton himself, although conscious of the strength of his great work, was sometimes anxious for its safety, and often he might have been seen in the early grey of the morning, standing on Plymouth Hoe, gazing with his telescope in the direction of the rock—his sole thought being of his lighthouse. Smeaton's tower would be marking the reef to-day but for the fact that the sea had gradually undermined the rock upon which it stood, to such an extent that the oscillation of the building became so alarming as to render it unsafe. It was accordingly abandoned, and in 1877 it was decided to erect a new lighthouse, more commodious and comfortable than the old one, the result being the present structure, designed by Mr. James (afterwards Sir James) N. Douglass, engineer-in-chief of the Trinity House.
Smeaton's chandelier, 1759.
Before relinquishing the subject of Smeaton's lighthouse it is desirable to explain that, after the completion of the new one, it was taken down to the level of the first room and re-erected on Plymouth Hoe, as a memorial to the great engineer, on the site formerly occupied for about two centuries by the Trinity Landmark; the lower portion still remaining intact on the rock, as a distinguishing mark, an iron pole being fixed in its centre. The old tower is now a showplace, so that visitors can inspect the interior of the historic edifice, as well as some portraits and relics of its founder, including a copy of his famous narrative, carefully preserved in a glass case. In the lantern hangs the original chandelier as used in 1759—two circular frames (a large one suspended beneath a smaller) carrying twenty-four wax candles of six to the pound—a method of illumination which, although decidedly primitive in these days, was a great improvement on the old system (fires blazing in open grates and, later, candles shaded by horn or glass) that had hitherto prevailed.
The present Eddystone Lighthouse, opened in 1882, was completed in three-and-a-half years, and is founded on the actual body of the reef at a distance of forty yards from its predecessor. Sir James Douglass greatly improved upon Smeaton's design in adopting a cylindrical base instead of the curved shaft commencing at the foundation—this base not only preventing the heavy seas from breaking upon the structure, but affording a convenient landing platform—a convenience much appreciated by the keepers. Operations in connection with the Douglass lighthouse were begun in July, 1878, the men during the early stage being compelled to work below the level of low water; and about twelve months later the foundation stone was laid by the Duke of Edinburgh, Master of the Trinity House, who, two years subsequently, also placed in position the top stone of the tower. The work (says Mr. E. Price Edwards, in his concisely-written volume on the subject) was executed more rapidly in proportion to dimensions than any rock lighthouse previously undertaken, this owing chiefly to superior mechanical contrivances; and it is satisfactory to learn that no loss of life or limb resulted therefrom, although a strange and nearly fatal accident happened to the son of Sir James Douglass, who, while superintending the demolition of the Smeaton tower, was standing at a height of 70ft. above the sea when a portion of the chain guys of the shears gave way, and, striking him, hurled him to the rocks below. All his colleagues thought he was killed, but at the critical moment a wave rose over the rock, and he fell into the water and was carried by the receding wave out of danger. A great deal of interesting information respecting the present lighthouse may be gathered from Mr. Price Edwards's little book, from whence we learn that the stones are of granite, dovetailed together, and up to a height of 25ft. above high-water level the tower is solid, with the exception of a large water tank let into it. From the same level to the centre of the lantern is
