The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-24 00:00:00

NEW WESTMINSTER BRIDGE•

Such has been the progress of the new bridge a,
Westminster since our previous notice, in the face
of "strikes," and the severity of the weather lat-
terly, that its first half is now ready to be opened
at any time for the public traffic of the western
end of the metropolis to the Surrey side of the
water. It is probable, however, that the opening
may be delayed in consequence of the lamented and
somewhat premature death of her Majesty's Chief
Commissioner of Works.
Independent of the great merit of the new struc-
ture, as illustrating a fine example of the combina-
tion of stone and iron in design, we may inform
our readers that its roadway is planned in the most
ingenious Manner to meet the wants of an excessive
traffic, both for vehicles and foot passengers.
Agreeable, to the present arrangement in refer-
ence to the first half of the bridge which, is just
empleted, we may state that it comprehends a
width of 36 feet, and in its central portion there are
two tramways, constructed exclusively for the
heavy goods traffic, and a macadamised roadway at
the side, 16 feet in width, to be specially devoted to
cabs, and other light vehicles.
The tramways are 6 feet 9 inches in width, and
have footways on each side, 3 feet in width, for the
exclusive use of the drivers of heavily laden vans,
waggons, carts, &c. The centre portions of these
peculiar tramways arc composed of granite, and tke
surface on which the wheels of vehicles will work
are of wrought iron, bedded on pine balk timber.
In covering the fine elliptical arches of the
bridgo great ingenuity has been displayed so as to
lighten the pressure on what is technically called
the " crown," which is covered with a mixture of
cork and bitumen, the haunches being filled with
concrete, above which, in the centre, there is a
thickness of six inches of granite pitching, and on
the haunches a layer of nine inches in thickness.
As viewed from the river, the lalf of the' new
bridge, now nearly completed, has a very fine effect,
enhanced in no small degree by its noble octangular
pier of granite, and its expansive iron arches of
elliptical curvature, each of their class being
amongst the finest examples of granite and iron
work that we have sben.. To give our readers some

we may state that the
structed in their rough
bfdlloeactkosf
otfhwesheicghrtahneiyteapreiecrosn,
state varied in weight from fifteen to twenty tons
each, an.l they have been cut in moulded basements
and cornices in the most admirable manner, more
than rivalling the works of the Egyptians in hard
materials. The iron arches have been cast and
fitted at the extensive iron works of Messrs. Coch-
rane and Co., Woodside ironworks, near Dudley,
and it is only justice to remark that they are every-
thing that could be wished in every respect. The
granite, as used in the piers, &c., is from the Eng-
lish quarries in Cornwall and Devon, and supplied
by
.Messrs. Freeman and Co., Millbank ; the Cheese-
wring granite Company ; and the Devon Ilayter
Granite Company.
Tho abutments of the bridge on each side of the
Thames, together with their dry arches, &c., are
constructed of brick, faced with Portland stone, of
excellent quality, procured from the old bridge, and
reworked.
We may add that the entfire abutment of the
bridge on the Surrey side of the Thames is com-
pleted, that on the Middle= side is in an adTanced

state. Three of the piers in the river are entirely
completed, and one is in active progress. Those
houses required to be pulled down for the ap-
proaches on each side are already condemned, and
will be forthwith cleared away; they do not, how-
ever, interfere with the opening of the first half, as
we may call it, of the bridge, and the second half of
the structure will be proceeded with while the first
is in use for general traffic.
Thomas Page, Esq., civil engineer, is the designer
of the new bridge, under whose direction it is being
carried out by Mr. Harris, the practical managing
engineers, The structure is in the Gethic style, and
consequently will harmonise admirably with the
Houses of Parliament, and being nearly level in its
roadway will tend to give that building additional
height, which was interfered with by the excessive
rise of the old bridge.—Building News.

INSTALLATION OF THE EARL OF
.ELGIN A S LORD RECTOR OF GLASGO TV
UNIVERSITY.

On Thursday afternoon, in the City Hall, Glas-
gow, the Right Hon. Lord Elgin was formally in-
stalled as Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow.
The hall was densely crowded, the area being oc-
cupied'by students, and the galleries by ladies and
members of the general council. The Lord Rector
was accompanied to the platform by Mr. Stirling of
Keir, M.P., Dean of Faculty, the principal and pro-
fessors, and several distinguished persons, includ-
ing Lord and Lady Belhaven, Sir Archibald Alison,
Sir John Maxwell of Pollock, Mr. Andrew Baum-
tyne, and the members of the University Court, &c.
Principal BARCLAY, having delivered a Latin
prayer, briefly introduced the Lord Rector to the
students. •
The Earl of ELGIN was received with cheers.
A'

pp. toif t.
nietrci
iopnt
ah
le,wpha focphf le as
os
reose,
chauanpddy
shs uteubsr
de iedc
to-day
yi e
tIo sad
owed
i anything said—Mr.
t Ihr.
e
but to the unsolicited, and I must add, the most
unmerited and unexpected favour and kindness of
the students of the University, I might well shrink
from the execution of the task which long-esta-
blished usage prescribes to me on this occasion. I
know full well that the office which I now so un-
worthily fill has been held by a succession of
eminent men, whose high reputation and great
literary attainments have lent weight and autho-
rity to the counsels which they have proffered from
this place. (Cheers.) Three years ago, when your
late rector delivered his inaugural address, I had
the good fortune to be present and to hear the
charms of literature pourtrayed, and the cause of
learning pleaded before sympathising listeners by
one of the greatest—perhaps I might without ex-
aggeration say by the greatest—living master of
our language, (Great applause.) And even now,
gentlemen—need I confess it—what chiefly over-
whelms me on the present occasion is the reflection
that, during the late contest, your suffrages were
claimed on behalf of a candidate whose great
natural gifts, improved by cultivation and study,
and acquirements, have placed him on the highest
eminence both in literature and statesman-
ship. (Cheers.) And yet, gentlemen, conscious
as I am of my inferiority to these illustrious men,
and of my unworthiness either to succeed or to re-
place them, I cannot but feel that the opportunity
of addressing such an audience as this, at such a
time as the present, which the partiality—the un-
deserved partiality—of the students of the Uui-
versity, has afforded me, is a privilege—to be
exercised, indeed, under a deep sense of responsi-
' bility ; but, notwithstanding, a privilege which, as
it has come to me unsought, it would be an act of
pusillanimity on my part to forego. For what,
gentlemen, let me ask, is the character and position
of this audience ? It has been affirmed, on high
authority, that a knowledge of the sentiments and
, opinions and convictions of the educated youth of a
community is the surest and most infallible source
of political foresight. But if this tie indeed so,
does it not follow, and is it not a solemn thought,
well calculated at once to encourage and dismay,
that every word of truth dropped from earnest lips
upon this pregnant soil may, with God's blessing,
in due season bring its tribute to the harvest of the
future. And what, let me ask again—what are the
signs of the times at which I am invited to exer-
cise this privilege? Aro they not full of instruction
and warning ? Do they not contrast strangely,
even ominously, with those of a period not long
preceding ? Can we close our ears to the lessons
which they inculcate respecting the quality and
temper of the moral and intellectual armour with
which the educated classes iu this country must be
provided, if, along the line of our national progress,
they are henceforward to hold that place in the
van which of right belongs to them ? (Applause.)
What is it that strikes the imagination of even the
most thoughtless and unreflecting, when they com-
pare—to go no farther back—the phenomena
which characterised the commencement of this de-
cade with those which distinguished, its close? At
the former period hymns of universal peace and
brotherhood, a palace of unprecedented dimensions,
of a novel and exquisite structure, raised as
if by enchantment to be the receptacle of the
products of the industry of the earth—such
proofs accumulated there of man's control over
the powers of nature, of the subserviency of
modern science to purposes of human utility,
of the wide-spread benefits of commercial in-
terchange, that it seemed hardly extravagant or
unreasonable to anticipate that, before the light of
this resistless demonstration, the vile passions that
begat discord, and the selfishness that checks inter-
course, would, self-abashed at their own deformity,
van ish like night spectres before the dawn. (Cheers.)
As a result, in too many quarters, it is to be feared,
faith in a civilisation materialistic rather than

moral, in the substitution of a cunningly-devised
social mechanism for the energy, and self-reliance,
and spiritual elevation of the individual man, in a
haven to be reached through self-indulgence rather
than seltsacrifice. (Applause.) And what, let me
ask again—what are the phenomena which distin-
guish the close of the decade ? Dark clouds over-
head, furrowed by the lightning track—below the
nations gathered together in perplexity, and
anxiously inquiring on what spot the thunderbolt
will fall—the hard-worn economies of human in-
dustry, the knowledge of nature's secrets, so dearly
bought, all recklessly expended in the invention,
and fabrication, and accumulation of the instru-
ments of human destruction ; and, as a consequence

—a not unnatural consequence—a growing distrus'
in many of the specious promises of the 19th cen
tury, and an anxious groping in the dark after some
ground of confidence more stable, more sufficient,
and more secure. Gentlemen, I hope that I shall
be pardoned, and not be accused of overstepping
the lino which upon such occasions as this it would
be unbecoming to pass, if I confess that I am reluc-
tant to quit this topic, which is so suggestive of
painful and anxious thoughts, without saying one
word in reference to the spirit exhibited, and the
attitude maintained, by the people of this country
at the present juncture. (Applause.) We have
been in the habit of referring to the records of a
remote and comparatively barbarous age for proofs
' and evidences of the patriotism of our countrymen.
The noble protest in favour of national independence
uttered by our forefathers at Bannockburn preceded
by upwards of a century the date of the Papal Bull
which constituted the University of Glasgow. Since
that time Scotland has passed through many changes
and viseissitudes. She has advanced in wealth and
prosperity with a rapidity almost unexampled.
Glasgow has grown up from a petty village into a
mighty city,and,under the combined influence of capi-
tal and science, the Clyde at her feet kas grown per-
haps not quite in the same proportion. The happy
union with England has allayed ancient animosities,
and concentrated upon objects of common advantage
the energies that were formerly wasted in fratricidal
conflict. The inhabitants of this island are now,
thank God, a people united in heart as in name,
attached to their institutions, jealous of their rights,
respectors I trust of the rights of others, lovers of
peace, averse to all notions of territorial self-aggran-
disement. But if there be any persons who appre-
hend that luxury has corrupted, or the pursuits of
peace enervated, the national character, the events
of the last few months may serve to disabuse them.
(Applause.) Do we find taxation complained of or
personal service grudged when the safety of the
country seems to call for either of these sacrifices ?
Depend upon it, the nation which has been sneer-
ingly designated a nation of shopkeepers is one in
spirit with the nation of warriors that preceded it
—(applause)—equally ready to spend the last shil-
ling and to shed the last drop of blood for the pre-
servation of blessings which each succeeding age
has only taught us the more highly to appreciate
the value of. Your minds are being early brought
into contact—and allow me to say this is no mean
advantage—practically and experimentally brought
into contact with some of the deepest problems of
life and humanity. Under the influence of this in-
vigorating discipline, some of you, at least, are
acquiring those habits of serious thought, of earnest
inquiry, and of devout reverence for truth, which
will fit you to be, in the time that is coming, the
guides and the light of the generation to which you
belong. Let me warn you, then—for this is a dan-
, ger to which youth is especially exposed—let me