The Sun.
London, England, 1833-06-26 00:00:00

Yesterday the first stone of the Waithman obelisk as
laid by Alderman Harmer, his two deputies (Blackett and
Tickner), and the Committee of Management, attended
by the Architect, and flit Secretary of the Haytor Granite
Company, by whom it was congfroeted,
A pair of immense shears, fifty feet itt height, were
elevated over the spot, and the stone, a beautiful cube of
Haytor granite, and which forms the lower step, tt•as
suspended by the tackle blocks and fall. The Alderman,
his Deputies, and the ComMittee, assembled shortly after
ten in the forenoon, at the house of Mr. Moores, in Far-
ringdon-street, when, after partaking of an etegent de-
jeuner a la fourchette, the procession, all of whom wore
in black clothes, in commemoration of their deceased
friend, moved in the following order to the site, which
was kept clear by the workmen and the police:—Police-
men ; the two Beadles of the Ward, with their maces and
cloaks ; the Architect (Mr. Elmes), carrying the plans
and implements of masonry; the Secretary of the Haytor
Granite Compar, (Mr. Bigg), carrying the bottle con-
taining the inscription, Hat of subscribers, &e., hermeti-
cally sealed; the Alderman, attended. by his two Depu-
ties ; the Committee of Management, two and two.
On arriving at the ground, the alderman deposited the
bottle in a cavity formed in the lower foundation stone,
which was also a block of Haytor granite, 8 feet square
and 2 feet thick. The mortar was then spread and the
stone deposited in its place, the alderman assisting, as is
usual in such ceremonies, by spreading the mortar, lower-
ing the stone, striking it with the maul, and adjusting it
by the level and plomb rule, and declaring it just and truly
set. To which Alderman Harmer added, that as they
were then assembled to lay the first stone of a commemo-
rative tribute to the memory of a man whom they all
respected, he trusted that it would be an imperishable
monument to public worth and private integrity, and be
a powerful stimulus to ali public men to imitate the un-
compromising public spirit of their departed friend, whose
memory they were, by this testimonial of their feeling,
holding up to public imitation and regard.
The entire structure is nearly 80 feet high, and consists
but of five blocks of granite, namely, the lower and upper
steps, the die, on which is the inscription, the cap-stone,
and the obelisk, which is nearly 20 feet in height. The
whole design is Egyptian and sepulchral, consisting of in-
clined lines, similar to the obelisk, and bevelled on the
upper surfaces. The capstone is formed of the deep
Egyptian cavetto and torus, in the centre of which are
globular bosses, sculptured with the arms of the city of
London, and of the deceased alderman.

On the e die of the pedestal is inscribed, in deeply sunk
Roman letters.—

Erected
to the memory
of
ROBERT WAITIIMAN,
by
his Friends and Fellow-citizens.
mneccxxxitt.

The following is a copy of the inscription engraved on a
sheet of hardened milted lead, and deposited with a por-
trait of the deceased Alderman, a list of the subscribers,
all of whom were limited to a guinea each, in the before-
mentioned hermetically sealed h,,ttle:—

" The first stone of this obelisk was laid by Jas. Harmer,
Esq., Alderman of the Ward of Farringdon Without, assisted
by his two Deputies, John Blacket and Edw. Tickner, Esqrs.,
and the Committee of Management, on the 25th day of June,
1833, in the 4th year of the reign of William IV.
" This monument was erected to the memory of Robert
Waithman, Esq. M.P. for the City of London, and Alder-
man of this Ward, by the private subscriptions of his neigh-
bours and fellow-citizens.

"The worthy Alderman was born at Wrexham, in North
Wales, in the year 1764, commenced, business on the spot
where this obelisk stands in 1786, and, by perseverance and con-
sistency, raised himself to the highest honours that the city of
London could bestow. He was elected for the Common
Council for the ward in 1796, Alderman of London in 182 t.),
Lord Mayor in 18, and died on the 6th of February, 1&33.
His remains were interred in a vault under the parish church
of St. Bride, and the funeral was attended by the Lord
Mayor, Sheriffs, Members of Parliament, and Corporation of
the City, as a public testimonial of their high regard for his
memory.

" This sincere memorial of respect to public and private
worth was begun and completed under the superintendence
and direction of the following Committee :—Edward Tick-
tier, Robert Obbard, Henry Burn, Common Council of St.
Bride; Henry Cutler, Thomas Moores, Richard Williams,
Parishioners of St. Bride ; James Elmes, architect ; the Haytor
Granite Company, builders." _ _ _

It is no les% extraordinary than true, that although the
first stone of this lofty obelisk was only laid yesterday, it
was completed, and the ponderous machinery by which it
was raised was all removed by eight o'clock this morning.