On the other hand, in tracing the history of any particular branch of knowledge, unless connected with biography, we lose sight of individual efforts;--they are mingled with the labours of others, or are absorbed into the history of the whole, and are consequently no longer individualized:--hence we are likely to fail in recognizing the obligations due to our distinguished countrymen, or to deprive of their just merit those of our foreign brethren whose useful lives have influenced distant lands, as well as their own. With these views we propose to connect the name of SMEATON with the interesting subject of LIGHTHOUSES. In the _first_ place, we propose to present a brief history of Lighthouses, up to the time when Smeaton gave a type for this peculiar class of buildings upon dangerous and difficult points of coast; _secondly_, a general sketch of the life of Smeaton, so far as his very brief biographers will allow; and _thirdly_, a history of the improvements in Lighthouses which have been effected since the erection of the Eddystone. In this compilation, the writer desires to express his obligations to the following works: _A Narrative of the Building, and a Description of the Construction of the Eddystone Lighthouse with Stone_, by JOHN SMEATON, fol. London, 1791;--Mr. HOLMES’s short _Memoir of_ SMEATON;--The Communication of Mrs. DIXON, Smeaton’s daughter, to the Institution of Civil Engineers;--_An Account of the Bell-Rock Lighthouse, including the Details of the Erection, and peculiar Structure of that Edifice_, by ROBERT STEVENSON, 4to. Edin. 1824;--_The Edinburgh Encyclopædia_, and the _Encyclopædia Britannica_;--An article _on Lighthouses_, by M. ARAGO, in the _Annuaire_;--_The Civil Engineer’s and Architect’s Journal_;--_The Nautical Magazine_;--and the _Annual Reports of the Trinity House_ presented to the House of Commons. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 1: Coleridge.] [Footnote 2: Coleridge.] CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. EARLY LIGHTHOUSES. PAGE Origin of Lighthouses--Beacon Fires--Character of the Early Watch-towers--Cressets--Colossus of Rhodes--The Pharos of Alexandria--Epitome of Ancient Lighthouses--The Tour de Corduan 9 CHAPTER II. THE LIGHTHOUSES OF ENGLAND. Management of English Lighthouses--The Trinity House--Early History of this Corporation--Management of Lighthouses vested in--The Power of the Crown to grant Patents for Lighthouses-- Recent Law for the Regulation of Lighthouses--Revenue of Corporation--Rates of Dues--How collected and disbursed-- Constitution of the Corporation--The Public Lights of England 15 CHAPTER III. HISTORY OF THE EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE TO THE TIME OF SMEATON.