The Sun.
London, England, 1821-10-10 00:00:00

JOHN RENNIE, E 34.

The death of jottri 'RENNIE, Esq. is a national
calamity. His loss cannot be adequately sup-
plied by any living artist,. for, though we have
Many able engineers; we know of none who so
eminently possess Solidity of judgmetit -with pro-
found knoWledge, and the happy tact of applying
to every situation; where he was called upon to
exert his faculties;the precise form of remedy that
was wanting to the existing 041: Whether it was
to stem the torrent and vicilence of the most boister-
ous sea—to make new harbours,or to render those'
safe which were before dangerous or inaccessible
—to redeem districts of fruitful land from en-
croachment by the ocean, or to deliVer them from
the pestilence of stagnant marsh—to level hills,
or to tie them together by aqueducts or arches,
or by embankment to raise the valley between.
them—to make bridges that for beatity surpass
all others, and for strength seem destined to en-
dure to the lateSt posterity, Mr. Rennie had no
rival: Eery part of the United Kingdom pos-
sesses monuments to his glory and they are as
stupendous as they are useful. They will pre-
sent to our children's children Objects of admi-
ration for their grandeur, and gratitude to the
author for their utility: Compare the works of
Mr. Rennie with the most boasted exploits Of,
the French engineers; and remark how they tower
above them. Look at the Breakwater at Ply-
mouth, in comparison with the Cassoons et
CherbUrg—any one of his Canals With tbat of
Ourke,
.and his Waterloo-bridge with that of
Neuilly. Their superiority is acknowledged by
every liberal Frenchman. Ile cultivated his art
with the most enthusiastic ardour, and instead of
being merely a theorist, he prepared himself for
practical efficiency by visiting, and minutely in-
specting every work of magnitude in every
country that bear similitude with those which
he might be called on to construct, and his
library abounds in the • richest collection of
scientific writings of that of any individual.—
The loss of such a man is irreparable. Cut oil in
the full vigour of his mind, his death seems to
suspend for a time the march of national improve-
ment, until the just fame of„his merit shall ani-
mate our rising artists to imitate his great ex-
ample, and prepare themselves by study and ob-
servation to overcome, as he did, the most for-
midable impediments to the
.progress of human
enterprise, of industry, and of increased facility
in all the arts of life. The integrity of Mr.
Rennie in the fulfilment of his labouls, was
equal to his genius in the contrivance of his plans
and machinery. Ile would suffer none of the
modern subterfuges for real strength to be resort-
ed to by the contractors employed to execute
what he had undertaken. 'Every thing he did
was for futurity, as well as present advantage.—
An engineer is not like an architect. lie has no
commission on the amount of his expenditure ; if
he had, Mr. Rennie would have been one of the
most opulent men in England, for many mil-
lion's have been expended under his eye. But his
glory was in the justice of his proceeding, and his
enjoyment in the success of his labours. It was
only as a millwright that he engaged himself to
execute the work he planned, and in this depart-
ment•society is indebted to him for economising'
the power of water, so as to give an increase of
energy, by its specificgravity, to the natural fall of
streams, and to make his mills equal to four-fold
the produce of those which, before his time, de-
pended solely on the impetus of the current. llis
mills of the greatest size work as smoothly as
clock-work, and by'the alternate contact of wood
and iron, are less liable to the hazard of fire by fric-
tion. His mills, indeed, are models of perfection.
If the death of such a man is a national loss, what
must it be to his private friends and to his
amiable family ? Endeared by all who knew
him by the gentleness of his temper, the cheer-
fulness with which he communicated the riches
of his mind, and forwarded the views of those
who made useful discoveries or improvements in
.machinery or implements, procured him universal
respect. Ile gave to inventors all the benefits
of his experience, removed difficulties which had
not occurred to the author, or suggested altera-
tions which adapted the instrument to its use.
No jealousy nor self-interest ever prevented
the exercise of this free and unbounded commu-
nication, for the love of science was superior in
his mind to all mercenary feeling.—Mr. Ren-
nie was born in Scotland, and from hiS earliest
years devoted himself to the art of a civil engi-
neer. Ile was the intimate friend and companion
of his excellent countryman, the late Mr. Watt;
their habits and pursuit were similar. They work-
ed together, and to their joint efforts are we chiefly
indebted for the gigantic power of the steam-
engine in all our manufactories. He married
early in life Miss Macintosh, a beautiful young
woman, whom he had the misfortune to lose some
years. ago,. but who left him an interesting, and
accomplished family. They have now to lament
the loss of the best. of parents, who, though pos-
sessed of a constitution and frame so robust as to
give the promise of a very long life, sunk under
an attack at the early age of 64.

The Court of King's Bench sat yesterday at
the Sessions-house, Westminster, and again ad-
journed its sittings to Westminster Hall, to the
.18th instant. It is understood that the Sessions-
house will-be wanted for its.own business and that
this is the reason of the change to Westminster.
Another instance of the intolerance and bigotry
of the French clergy with respect to funerals is
mentioned in the Paris papers. It is stated that
tint remains of M. HENRI, an attorney, before the
Court of First instance at Caen, being carried to
the church of that town by the relations and pro-
fessional colleagues of the deceased, the doors of
the church were found shut; a notice posted on
the walls intimating that the entrance of the body
of M. HEN at into the church • was prohibited.
The mourners, who consisted of the most eminent
persons belonging to the bar at Caen, did not
oppose. this clerical interdict, but proceeded
to the cemetry of St. Nicolas to complete the fu-
neral. M. Henri had received orders in his
youth, but bad availed, himself of the law which
allowed priests to marry, and had embraced a
useful profession; which he exercised in an ho-
nourable manner.