A NEW BRIDGE AT BLACKFRIARS.
So little were the citizens of London distressed by the expense, or incommoded by the operations of the war, that they found leisure to plan, and funds to execute, magnificent works of art, for the ornament of the metropolis, and the convenience of commerce. They had obtained an act of parliament, empowering them to build a new bridge over the Thames, from Blackfriars to the opposite shore, about midway between those of London and Westminster. Commissioners were appointed to put this act in execution; and, at a court of common-council, it was resolved that a sum not exceeding one hundred and forty-four thousand pounds should be forthwith raised, within the space of eight years, by instalments, not exceeding thirty thousand pounds in one year, to be paid into the chamber of London; that the persons advancing the money should have an interest at the rate of four pounds per cent, per annum, to be paid half-yearly by the chamberlain, yet redeemable at the expiration of the first ten years; and that the chamberlain should affix the city’s seal to such instruments as the committee might think fit to give for securing the payment of the said annuities. Such were the first effectual steps taken towards the execution of a laudable measure, which met with the most obstinate opposition in the sequel, from the narrow views of particular people, as well as from the prejudice of party.
FIRE IN CORNHILL.
The spirit that now animated the citizens of London was such as small difficulties did not retard, and even considerable losses could not discourage. In the month of November the city was exposed to a dangerous conflagration, kindled in the night by accident in the neighbourhood of the Royal Exchange, which burned with great fury, and, notwithstanding the assistance of the firemen and engines, employed under the personal direction of the magistracy, consumed a great number of houses, and damaged many more. That whole quarter of the town was filled with consternation: some individuals were beggared; one or two perished in the flames, and some were buried in the ruins of the houses that sunk under the disaster.
METHOD CONTRIVED TO FIND OUT THE LONGITUDE.
The ferment of mind so peculiar to the natives of Great Britain, excited by a strange mixture of genius and caprice, passion and philosophy, study and conjecture, produced at this period some flowers of improvement, in different arts and sciences, that seemed to promise fruit of public utility. Several persons invented methods for discovering the longitude at sea, that great desideratum in navigation, for the ascertainment of which so many nations have offered a public recompense, and in the investigation of which so many mathematical heads have been disordered. Some of those who now appeared candidates for the prize deserved encouragement for the ingenuity of their several systems; but he who seemed to enjoy’ the pre-eminence in the opinion and favour of the public was Mr. Irwin, a native of Ireland, who contrived a chair so artfully poised, that a person sitting in it on board a ship, even in a rough sea, can, through a telescope, observe the immersion and emersion of Jupiter’s satellites, without being interrupted or incommoded by the motion of the vessel. This gentleman was favoured with the assistance and protection of commodore lord Howe, in whose presence the experiment was tried in several ships at sea with such success, that he granted a certificate, signifying his approbation; and in consequence of this, Mr. Irwin is said to have obtained a considerable reward from the board of admiralty.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760