The Sun.
London, England, 1821-11-03 00:00:00

THE LATE :',lll. RENNIE.

M. DUPIN, who is so well qualif d to do jus-
tice to the merits of the late Mr.s.II.ENNIE, has,
in a Notice .2Wcrologique respecting him, paid a
tribute to the virtues and amiable qualitie:, of that
distinguished individual, and given a brief but
masterly account of.his principal works.

- Mr. Rennie (says- M. Dupin) raised himself by his merit
alone. In a country where education is .1.-Jneral, he received
from his infancy the benefit of instruction, which he afterwards
knew bow to appreciate.
Scotland has the glory of -having produced moat of the Civil
Engineers, who, for nestle a century, have executed the fints;;
monuments of the three kingdoms, and the roost ingenious
machines ; James Watt, John Rennie, Thomas Telford, &c.
seconded with so much ability by the .Nihntios, the Jardines,
the Stevensozs, &c. • ,
We have no wish to detr/tViiirit L.se merits of
the individuals mentioned by M Dupin) but we.
think that many civil engine,rs might
be named of equal. celebi'ity. Mr:v;tr:.fttitan -sled
Mr. Milne were associated with Mr. Rennie in
constructing the London Docks, the most splen-
did in the Metropolis ; and the former of these
gentlemen was concerned in most of the Irish
Canals, and, we believe, was successful in drain-
ing a vast bog in Ireland, long before Mr. Rennie
undertook the draining of the Lincolashir*, Bed-
fordshire, and other Fens. We could also men-
tion several other persons to whom England is
indebted for many noble monuments of the first
order.

Mr. Rennie began his career by mechanical
works ; and after alluding to those which he
executed for Messrs. Watt and Bolton, and to
his application of steam to machinery for clear-
ing canals, rivers, basins, and harbours, M. Du-
pin observes : _ _ _

Mr. Rennie very soon learned from Smeaton the art of di-
recting hydraulic constructions ; he formed himself by the coun-
sels and the examples of that great engineer, and by the study
of the works of a master whom he was destined to equal in
some respects, and surpass in many others.
M. Du* then adverts to the East India and
London Docks, which were constructed under
the direction of Mr. Rennie, and to his comple-
tion of the West India Docks, after the death of
Mr. Jessop, and says—
At the very moment he was snatched from us by itsp.th, lie
was busied in finishing a new construction equally ingeniOus
for its architecture and its mechanism. Vast roofs, supported
by lofty columns of cast iron, present -in the middle of their
structure aerial roads, on which carts 4re made to run, the me-
chanism of which is so contrived, that by their means, enormous
mahogany trees kept in these fine magazines, may be raised and
let down at pleasure. By means of this ingenious system, a
few motions now execute, in a few minutes, what required for-
merly whole hours, and a number of workmen.
M. Dupin proceeds to give an account of other
works of Mr. Rennie, which attest his mechani-
cal genius and talents. In this enumeration he
states, that " the works of Liverpool were con.
" ducted with talent by Mr. Forster, according to
" the plans of Mr. Rennie." We consider it an act
of common justice to Mr. Forster to correct this
statement ; for we are informed from good autho-
rity, that the new. Docks of Liverpool, which are
the finest works there, were constructed accord-
ing to the plans of Mr. Forster, and that Mr.
Rennie was only occasionally consulted in their
progress.

- We cannot deprive ourselves of the pleasure of
relating an anecdote, mentioned by M. Dupin,
which reflects the highest honour on the subject
of this Memoir. The inhabitants of Perth, it is
said, were desirous of improving the navigation
of the Tay, and applied to Mr. Rennie, who im-
mediately gave them his advice and assistance ;
but when they offered him a remuneration for his
services, he declined accepting any, and replied
he had long received it, in the academy of Perth,
where he first began his studies.

Our limits will not allow us to follow M. Du-
* in detail through his narrative of the labours
of Mr. Rennie : but among those which do most
honour to his talent are the works executed un-
der his direction in our dock-yards, the break-
water at Plymouth, Waterloo-bridge, and the
Southwark-bridge. We extract the following
observations, with which he concludes his des-
cription of the breakwater at Plymouth :
This unalterable solidity, secured by the judiciousness of the
forms and the prudence of the dimensions, appears to us to be
the essential and distinctive character of the great works of
Mr. Rennie. This character is particularly remarkable in the
two most beautiful bridges which adorn the metropolis of the
British Empire.
The ensuing remarks on the SiNthwark-bridge
are penned with great truth and spirit :
The Southwark Bridge is the first in which the, bold idea of
using cast iron in solid masses, and of an extent gee-41y sur-
passing that of the largest stones employed in arche. The
arches of this bridge are formed by metallic masses of a size
which could only be cast in a country in which metallurgy is
carried to the highest degree of perfection. Mr. Rennie derivEi
from this advanced state of the Arts all the advantage which it
could furnish to his talents. When we consider the extent and
the elevation of the arches of this bridge, and the enormity of
the elements of which it is composed, we imbibe a higher idea
of the powers of man, and we exclaim involuntarily, in our ad-
miration et' this chef-Irceuvre, " this is the Bridge of Giants."
We conclude with the following striking re-
flections on the new character which has been
given to the public works of this country by Mr.
Rennie :
If from the incalculable effect of the revolutions which em-
pires undergo, future nations should demand one day which was
formerly the New Sydon, and what has become of the Tyre of the
West which covered with her vessels every sea ? Most of the
edifices, devoured by a destructive climate, will no longer exist
to satisfy the curiosity of man by the voice of monuments ; but
the bridge built by Rennie in • the. centre of the commercial
world, will yet remain to tell the most distant generations—
here was a rich, industrious, and powerful city. The traveller,
on beholding this superb monument, will suppose that some
great Prince wished, by many years' labours, to consecrate for
ever the glory of his life .by this imposing structure. But if
tradition instruct the traveller that six years sufficed for the un-
dertaking and finishing of this. work ; if he learns that an asso-
ciation of a number of private individuals was rich enough to
defray the expence of this colossal monument, worthy of Sts s-
tris and the Gesars, he will admire still snore the nation in
which similar undertakings could be the fruit of the effhrts
of a few obscure individuals lost in the crowd of industrious
citizens.

Ve are told that Mr. Rennie had a high opi-
nion of the works at Brest a.nd Cherbourg, and
the bridges, canals, and cautetvays in every part
of France.