No answer could be obtained from him for some minutes, and then he only said, ‘Don’t go down.’ This not being satisfactory to the advocates of the sufficiency of the cable, it was agreed to lower the bell empty, which was done, and it was brought up safely; but just as it was swung over the barge, the rope broke and the bell fell on to the stage.
The next day Mr. Brunel was taken home, when it was found that, besides the injury to his knee which he received while endeavouring to save the lives of the three men who were with him,[22] he had received serious internal injuries, which kept him under medical treatment for several months.
When he was able to return to Rotherhithe all hope of continuing the works was for the time abandoned. When they were resumed, in 1835, he was entirely engrossed in the independent pursuit of his profession; and, with the exception of a few occasions when he acted for his father, he had no further connection with the Tunnel.
It is not, therefore, necessary to continue the narrative in detail; but a brief summary of the subsequent history of the enterprise may be interesting to those who are unacquainted with it.
The Tunnel was cleared of water, and efforts were made, unfortunately without success, to raise funds for the completion of the undertaking. Great enthusiasm was exhibited by the general public and by many eminent persons, including the Duke of Wellington; but the money was not forthcoming, and nothing was left but to brick in the shield, and wait for more favourable times.
It was not till the beginning of 1835 that the Company was able, by the aid of a loan from Government, to recommence the works. The old shield was removed and a new one substituted, in which considerable improvements were introduced. Slings connecting the frames were added, which enabled each frame to support its neighbours when necessary, and important alterations were also made in the arrangements for keeping the frames at the right distance from one another, and for giving greater facility of adjustment to the various parts.
Before the Wapping side was reached there were three more irruptions of the river, namely, August 23, November 3, 1837, and March 21, 1838; but in October 1840 the shaft on the Wapping shore was commenced. It differed from the Rotherhithe shaft, in being sunk the whole depth without underpinning, and was made of a slightly conical form, to reduce the friction in sinking, and had a larger quantity of iron hoops introduced into the brickwork, in order to increase its strength. When this structure had been sunk to the required depth (70 feet), the excavation of the Tunnel was resumed, and at last the shield was brought up to the brickwork of the shaft. The operation of making the junction between the Tunnel and the shaft was one of much difficulty, but it was at length satisfactorily accomplished, and the Tunnel was opened to the public on March 25, 1843—eighteen years and twenty-three days after the commencement of the work.[23]
Sir Isambard Brunel, whose health had for some time been failing, now retired altogether from his professional labours. After passing a few years in peaceful and happy seclusion, surrounded by those he loved, and watched over by their affectionate care, he died on December 12, 1849, in his 81st year, having been spared to carry to completion his greatest work, and to see his son following in his footsteps with a success which must have exceeded his most sanguine expectations.
The education Mr. Brunel received from his father was well calculated to form the foundation of his future career. During the later and more arduous part of the contest, which was ended by the irruption of January 1828, he held both the nominal and actual post of Resident Engineer of the Thames Tunnel; but from the commencement of the works, when he was only nineteen years old, he had been, as stated by Sir Isambard, ‘a most valuable coadjutor in the undertaking.’ While placed in this responsible position he acquired habits of endurance and of self-reliance, and learnt to act with promptitude and decision in the application of those measures which experience had shown to be effective in each particular class of emergency. But beyond all other advantages, he had before him the example of his father’s character, in which a rare degree of gentleness and modesty of disposition was joined to unflinching energy, and a determination to overcome all difficulties.