back. But if the stream of Scottish history was broken at many points into cataracts and rapids by public disturbances, in which the Firth of Forth had to be taken into account, yet again the even flow in the intervals of peace the quiet coziness of Scottish social and mercantile life in those days-was cribbed, cabined, and confined by that same geographical barrier. The whole industrial and commercial part of the North of Scotland, with its important centres, Aberdeen, Perth, Dundee, as well as the towns and coalfields of Fife, were in a great measure cut off from intercourse by road or rail with the Scottish capital and the South by an arm of the sea. When internal war had completely given place to the arts of peace, this drawback grew more serious from generation to generation, until, in 1879, four railway companies combined to bridge the Forth-viz., the North British, the Midland, the North-Eastern, and the Great Northern. It was an object worthy the commercial enterprise, the engineering genius and resources of an enterprising, an engineering, and resourceful age. Sir Thomas Bouch, the engineer of the first Tay Bridge, offered a design for bridging the Forth, and this was adopted. The contract for building the bridge was given to Arrol. Accordingly he had started with the preliminary steps of the work on Bouch's principle when the Tay Bridge fell. This disaster seems to have destroyed confidence in Bouch's design for the Forth Bridge, and so the work was abandoned. The intention to build a bridge, however, was not abandoned. After careful and mature consideration it was committed to Sir John Fowler and Mr, afterwards Sir Benjamin, Baker as engineers, and to Arrol's firm as contractors, to solve the momentous problem of devising and building such a bridge. On this subject much has been written of a technical nature by engineers for the information of engineers, and while the bridge was being built there arose from time to time not a little controversy, pro fessional and otherwise. The mere strangeness of the sight was enough to cause this. From year to year the wonder grew as the mighty piers slowly arose out of the sea and the ascending columns climbed ever higher and higher. More and more was the amazement as week by week the columns were perceived to be throwing out enormous far-reaching growths on either side. Each of these was ever increasing in weight and altering in shape, but ever yet in perfect balance with "The other shape, If shape it might be called that shape had none, Or if any similitude is possible, each cantilever arm was like the exposed tendons and ligatures in the outstretched arm of a dissected giant of the world's primeval time. Thus there was much public and private speculation whither and to what all this was tending. There was an irritating mystery in the puzzled minds of shallow |