magistrates to advise them as to the improvement of roads and the building of bridges.

The first bridge designed and built under Telford's superintendence was across the Severn, at Montford. This was finished in 1792. He next designed and built the Church of St. Mary Magdalen, at Bridgenorth, and soon after this we find him appointed engineer to the Ellesmere Canal Company, at a salary of £500 a-year. The construction of this canal was commenced in 1793, and towards the end of his work he encountered great difficulties, as, in order to avoid the expense of making numerous locks, it became necessary to contrive means for carrying the canal on the same level across the valleys formed by the Dee and the Ceriog. The result was the magnificent aqueducts of Chirk, and Pont-Cysylltau.

He next turned his attention to the construction of iron bridges. He was very successful in many instances; although he was not the originator of this mode of construction, he was the inventor of many improvements.

In 1802, Mr. Telford was requested to make a survey of Scotland for the Government, with a view of constructing roads and bridges in that kingdom; and, in 1803, a Parliamentary commission was appointed for carrying these improvements into effect, when upwards of 920 additional miles of roads and bridges were constructed throughout the Highlands. One of the most important bridges was that at Dunkeld, over the Tay. The span of the centre arch is 90 feet; the two adjoining it, 84 feet; the two side arches, 74 feet. As soon as these roads and bridges were finished in the Highlands, Mr. Telford's attention was directed to the improvement of the harbours in Scotland. Our space will not allow us to enter fully into the various improvements he made in this department. From amidst his labours of constructing canals, tunnels, and more roads in England, Scotland, and Wales, we hear of him called upon to report as to the most effectual method of erecting a bridge over the Menai Straits. This had long been a matter of speculation to engi

neers.

So early as 1776, Mr. Golborne had proposed a plan; and in 1785, Mr. Nichols proposed a wooden viaduct. Later Mr. Rennie proposed a cast-iron bridge. But none of these designs were ever car. ried out.

Many years elapsed without any plan being adopted, and, in the meantime, Mr. Telford was consulted as to the construc

tion of a bridge across the Mersey above Liverpool. The only plan he thought likely to succeed would be a bridge on the suspension principle. He tried many experiments and made many tests as to the tenacity of iron bars; but, although he succeeded in convincing himself it was possible to construct a bridge on this principle, and even made an elaborate model for the bridge, it was never built as the means were not forthcoming to carry it into effect.

However, his plans, being published, called general attention to the subject; and, in 1815, he was requested to examine the Straits of Menai, in order to ascertain if he thought it possible to construct a bridge of this kind across the Straits; this he did in 1818. An Act enabling him to carry his designs into effect was passed in 1819, and Mr. Telford immediately went to Bangor to make the necessary preparations for commencing his great work. The actual building was commenced in 1820. Three arches were formed on the Caernarvonshire side; four on the Anglesea side. occupied four years in construction. The piers were built 65 feet in height from the water-line to the springing of the arches; and the span of each was 62 feet 6 inches. The two main piers were each 153 feet in height, upon which the main chains of the bridge were suspended. The masonry was of the most beautiful construction, part of the walls of the main piers being finished as carefully on the inside as on the outside.

They

The great difficulty was the fixing the wrought iron-work, and this required numerous and very careful experiments to be made before any one plan was adopted. Without diagrams we could not explain the mode of fixing the bridge, and even if we had them, probably few of our readers would care to have laid before them the details of the construction. We, therefore, pass on at once to the completion, and here we adopt the description of Mr. Smiles:

"At length all was ready for hoisting the first great chain, and about the middle of April, 1825, Mr. Telford left London for Bangor to superintend the operations. An immense assemblage collected to witness the sight, greater in number than any that had been collected in the same place since the men of Anglesea, in their war-paint, rushing down to the beach, had shrieked defiance across the Straits at their Roman invaders on the Caernarvon shore. Numerous boats, arrayed in gay colours, glided along

the water the day, the 26th of April, being bright, calm, and in every way propitious. At half past two, about an hour before high water, the raft bearing the main chain was cast off from near Treborth Mill, on the Caernarvon side. Towed by four boats, it began gradually to move from the shore, and, with the assistance of the tide, which caught it at its further end, it swung slowly and majestically round to its position between the main piers, where it was moored. One end of the chain was then bolted to that which hung down the face of the Caernarvon pier, whilst the other was attached to ropes connected with strong capstans fixed upon the Anglesea side, the ropes passing by means of blocks over the top of the pyramid of the Anglesea pier. The capstans for hauling in the ropes bearing the main chain were two in number, manned by about 150 labourers. When all was ready, the signal was given to ' Go along!' A band of fifers struck np a lively tune, the capstans were instantly in motion, and the men stepped round in a steady trot. All went well; the ropes gradually coiled in, as the strain increased, the pace slackened a little, but Heave away-now she comes!' was sung

out.

a

Round went the men, and steadily and safely rose the ponderous chain. The tide had by this time turned, and bearing upon the side of the raft, now getting freer of its load, the current floated it away from under the middle of the chain still resting on it, and it swung easily off into the water. Until this moment breathless silence pervaded the watching multitude, and nothing was heard amongst the working party on the Anglesea side, but the steady tramp of the men at the capstans, the shrill music of the fifes, and the occasional order to Hold on!' or 'Go along!' But no sooner was the raft seen floating away, and the great chain safely swinging in the air, than a tremendous cheer burst forth along both sides of the Straits. The rest of the work was only a matter of time. The most anxious moment had passed. In an hour and thirty-five minutes after the commencement of the hoisting, the chain was raised to its proper curvature, and fastened to the land portion of it which had been previously placed over the top of the Anglesea pyramid. Mr. Telford ascended to the point of fastening, and satisfied himself that a continuous and safe connection had been formed from the Caernarvon fastening on the rock to that on Anglesea. The announcement of the

fact was followed by loud and prolonged cheering from the workmen, echoed by the spectators, and extending along the Straits on both sides, until it seemed to die away along the shores in the distance. Three foolhardy workmen, excited by the day's proceedings, had the temerity to scramble along the upper surface of the chain, which was only nine inches wide, and formed a curvature of 590 feet, from one side of the Strait to the other! Far different were the feelings of the engineer who had planned this magnifi cent work. Its failure had been predicted; and, like Brindley's Barten Viaduct, it had been freely spoken of "castle in the air." Telford had, it is true, most carefully tested every point by repeated experiment, and so conclusively proved the sufficiency of the iron chains to bear the immense weight they would have to support, that he was thoroughly convinced as to the soundness of his prin. ciples of construction, and satisfied that, if rightly manufactured and properly put together, the chains would hold together, and the piers would sustain them. Still, there was necessarily an element of uncertainty in the undertaking. It was the largest structure of the kind that had ever been attempted."

There was the contingency of a flaw in the iron, some possible scamping in the manufacture, some little point which, in the multiplicity of details to be attended to, he might have overlooked, or which his subordinates might have neglected. It was, indeed, impossible but that he should feel intensely anxious as to the result of the day's operations. Mr. Telford afterwards stated to a friend, only a few months before his death, that, for some time previous to the opening of the bridge, his anxiety was so extreme that he could scarcely sleep; and that a continuance of that condition must have very soon completely undermined his health. We are not, therefore, surprised to learn that when his friends rushed to congratulate him on the result of the first day's experiment, which decisively proved the strength and solidity of the bridge, they should have found the engineer upon his knees engaged in prayer. A vast load had been taken off his mind; the perilous enterprise of the day had been accomplished without loss of life; and his spontaneous act was thankfulness and gratitude.

The suspension of the remaining fifteen chains was accomplished without difficulty. The last was fixed on the 9th

of July, 1825, when the entire line was completed. On fixing the final bolt, a band of music descended from the top of the suspension pier on the Anglesea side, to a scaffolding erected over the centre of curved part of the chains, and played the National Anthem, amidst the cheering of many thousand persons assembled along the shores of the Strait, whilst the workmen marched in procession along the bridge, upon which a temporary platform had been placed, and the St. David steampacket passed under the chains to the Smithy Rocks and back again, thus reopening the navigation of the Strait. In August, the road platform was commenced, and in September the trussed bearing-bars

were all suspended. The road was constructed of timber in a substantial manner, the planking being spiked together with layers of patent felt between the planks, and the carriage-way being protected by oak guards, placed seven feet and a half apart. Side railings were added, and toll-houses and approach roads completed by the end of the year, and the bridge was opened for public traffic on Monday, the 30th of January, 1826, when the London and Holyhead mail-coach passed over it for the first time, followed by the Commissioners of the Holyhead Roads, the engineer, several stage-coaches, and a multitude of private persons too numerous to mention.

TOOK occasion to remind my companions that, after the lapse of ages, the cathedral had been employed at a very recent period for the purposes of divine worship under circumstances of peculiar interest. The Bishop of Argyll, after concluding his Synod at Oban on the 8th of August, 1848, proceeded to Iona, with a large party of clergy and laity, in a vessel belonging to Mr. Boyle, the noble-minded founder of the collage at Cumbrae. The church service was performed within the roofless cathedral with due solemnity, and the communion plate, afterwards used in the College of Cumbrae, was consecrated by the bishop to its holy purpose. The bishop also preached a striking sermon from the text-"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world” (John i. 29), in the conclusion of which he spoke as follows:

planted, and the Vine which He made so strong for Himself. The benefit which we shall derive from our visit will, in great measure, depend upon the knowledge we possess of the scenes whereby we are surrounded. We are now in what was the cradle and nursing-mother of Christianity in the West. Here the service of the Church went on, and the word of God was heard, when the decline of the Roman Empire had all but buried both amid the ruins of civilization. Here the flickering light of Christianity was kept alive, and faintly seen throughout the darkest ages; hence, as from a beacon flame, the hills around were illuminated, and from hence, the blaze being carried wide, and the mainland of Europe becoming bright, Christianity itself, as it were, was rekindled from Iona. Her light is gone, and Iona, like her mother, Jerusalem, is in bondage with her children.

"Behold Iona, my brethren, consider the causes which exalted her, and those which laid her low. She was exalted by exalting the Truth; she was brought low by depressing it. She was raised from insignificance by holding forth the Lamb slain; she was reduced to her natural condition by ceasing to do so, by holding forth indeed somewhat else. Let us copy the cause of her exaltation, and avoid that of her fall.

"Secular as the words may be, world

wide as they are celebrated, we cannot conclude without repeating the famous apostrophe of one who was a giant in his generation, and, like ourselves, a pilgrim to Iona. 'We are now treading,' said he, that illustrious island which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion. To abstract the mind from all local emotion would be impossible if it were endeavoured, and would be foolish if it were possible. Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses, whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future, predominate over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings. Far from me and my friends be such frigid philosophy as may conduct us indifferent and unmoved over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. That man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona.""

As we drew near to the landing-place, a band of music on board our steamer indulged us with a sacred air, altogether in keeping with the associations in the locality. The cathedral was now close on our right, and appeared far more complete than I had anticipated. It seemed that, with the addition of a roof, and with the same amount of restoration which is often bestowed on our parish churches in England, it might be rendered thoroughly available for public worship. The first Charles did, indeed, take measures for its complete repair in 1635, and ordered £400 per annum to be paid annually for this purpose. The troubles of the times, however, unhappily prevented the completion of a design which may possibly be reserved for the ecclesiastical energy of the nineteenth or twentieth century.

We cast anchor, and the passengers were carried in the boats to a rude jetty projecting into the sea. Here we were met by a troop of wretched-looking children, who endeavoured to persuade us to buy some pieces of stone, pebbles, shells and other memorials of the island. They followed us throughout our excursion, and obtruded themselves upon us like a swarm of musquitoes, notwithstanding all our exertions to satisfy them and to keep them at a distance. We were reminded of the lines of Wordsworth, who thus exclaims in reference to this serious annoyance :

* Dr. Johnson.

"How sad a welcome! to each voyager Some ragged child holds up for sale a store Of wave-worn pebbles, pleading on the shore Where once came monk and nun, with gentle stir,

Blessings to give, news ask, or suit prefer."

We walked up the bank, and found ourselves among the wretched hovels which constitute the village of Shuld, and in which most of the five hundred inhabi tants of the island have taken up their comfortless abode. Here, however, was a decent Presbyterian place of worship, a handsome school-house, and a well-bal manse for the incumbent. It appeared also that disruption had found its even into this remote situation, far the Free Kirk had its meeting house mi is manse as well as the Establishment.

We now began to survey the ancient buildings, all of which are of a much later date than the period of Columba. The juvenile beggars tormented us at every step, but sometimes we were protected from them by our guide, and sometimes by iron railings, apparently erected as a fortification against their intrusions. Ons of the first ruins we entered was that of the nunnery, the chapel of which is about 60 feet long by 20 in width, and in a tolerable state of preservation. As no women were permitted to inhabit the island in the time of the Culdees, it is probable that this nunnery is not more ancient than the commencement of the thirteenth century. The canonesses who inhabited it followed the rule of St. Augustine, and their costume appears to have been a white gown with a linen rochet. A number of tombs were visible on the floor of the chapel, though little care seemed to have been bestowed in order to ther preservation. On several of them could distinguish the effigies of a comb. mirror, or a pair of scissors, emblems no doubt of the sex of the person occupying the grave beneath. The tomb of the last prioress, Anna Macdonald, was tolerably complete, the effigy representing the deceased in the vestments of her order, with her hands joined in prayer and with the legend" Sancta Maria, ora pro me."

Having left the nunnery we came to one of the few crosses remaining out of three hundred which formerly decorated the island. It consists of a single stone, about eleven feet in height, and is little impaired by time, though traditionally as signed to the era of Columba. Hence we proceeded to the Chapel of Orain, a building 60 feet in length by 22 in breadth, | and, excepting the roof, almost in a perfect