Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S 48

Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S 48

There still exist the remains of many fine convents and churches; of some

the building had never been finished. When monastic institutions were

abolished these buildings became the property of the State, and have

since been sold to the public and converted to different purposes; some

to manufactories, others to barracks, others to domestic residences. The

inmates have been dismissed, with moderate pensions, and thrown out upon

the world. The property brought little to the State; and as they were in

a great measure founded by the charity of private individuals, to which

the State had no right, it would have been better to have allowed them

to die a natural death. Religion has gained nothing, the State little or

nothing, while gross superstition has degenerated into scepticism and

infidelity. All violent changes have an opposite result to that desired.

The roots of old institutions once torn up, it is difficult to substitute

a new plant to succeed them. It would be better if such important changes

could be made gradually, but, unfortunately, the old generation, strong

in possession, and forgetful of the times in which they live, will listen

to no alteration, and cling firmly to the past, as if it must endure for

ever. The new generation, born under different circumstances, have no

respect for old institutions, and regardless of what is good in them,

will listen to no compromise, and are never satisfied until they have

rooted them out altogether.

 

There can be no doubt that the institution of convents and monasteries

was of great service to the world in the middle ages--in preserving the

learning of past times, in teaching the ignorant, in distributing alms

amongst the poor, and in healing the sick. They curbed the ambition,

and controlled the violent passions of the barbarous feudal lords, who

considered that the world was made for them alone, and gratified their

lusts at the expense of the unfortunate people over whom they ruled.

No power but that of religion could have controlled them. They felt its

wondrous influence, and were told in stern, unmistakable language that

there was a hereafter, and that the great God who governed the world

would surely visit their sins with condign punishment, unless they

sincerely repented of their wickedness, and prayed for His forgiveness.

We must therefore be grateful for the services which religion, under

its peculiar forms and ceremonies, rendered in those days; and although

abuses by degrees crept in, yet these might have been remedied by much

milder measures. The monasteries and convents, however, served their

purpose; but now they are gone, and it is to be hoped that as the world

becomes wiser and more enlightened the great Creator will be worshipped

in a purer and simpler manner.

 

Having heard so much of the filthiness of Lisbon, I was most agreeably

disappointed to find it so much the reverse. With the exception of the

old part of the town, to the westward of Blackhorse Square, and which

was filthy enough, few cities, certainly not London, were cleaner than

Lisbon at the time of my first visit in 1855. The streets were broad

and straight, well lighted and watered, and the buildings regular and

handsome. The police certainly was not the most effective, but still the

town was safe.

 

I left Lisbon about four o’clock in the afternoon, in a fast steamer,

full of passengers, and after a fine passage of sixteen hours, with only

a moderate swell ahead--which, however, made most of the passengers

sick--we arrived off the bar of the Douro at six the following morning,

when a pilot came on board, and we crossed the bar and proceeded up to

the town quay, about two miles from the entrance of the river; I was

recommended to the Peninsular Hotel, situated in the higher part of

the town. This was entirely a Portuguese establishment and extremely

rough, where you boarded and lodged at so much per day. At the table

d’hôte I made acquaintance with a fine old Peninsular veteran, Colonel

Owen, formerly attached to the Duke of Wellington’s army, where he was

constantly employed on outpost duty, and he necessarily saw a great deal

of hard service. He was a fine-looking man, six feet high, and seventy

years of age, with a determined countenance, and full of fire and energy

even at that advanced age. He possessed a good deal of talent, had

studied much, spoke the Portuguese like a native, and was an excellent

writer both in that language and his own. I found him a very agreeable,

intelligent companion, and we soon became well acquainted with each

other, which was the more agreeable as he knew well and had frequently

served with Colonel Somers Cocks, a distant connection of mine, who was

a distinguished officer and favourite of the Duke of Wellington. Colonel

Cocks, much to the regret of the Duke, was killed at the siege of Burgos

Castle. Owen knew his whole history, and at my particular request wrote a

complete and very interesting memoir of him, which I privately printed.

Owen was almost my constant companion, and having long resided at Oporto,

knew all the principal merchants in the place, both English and native,

and was much liked and respected. He introduced me to several, but being

upon public business, namely, the improvement of the port, which all

desired, I had no need of introductions, for the principal inhabitants

called upon me and invited me to their houses; amongst others may be

mentioned Messrs. Lambert, Sandeman, Herries, and others, the principal

wine merchants of the place, who paid me the greatest attention and

hospitality.

 

I lost no time after my arrival in proceeding to examine the port, and to

consider what was best to be done. I soon discovered its defects, which

were the exposed and dangerous nature of the bar at the entrance of the

Douro, the depth of water over it being scarcely 10 feet at low water

of spring tides, the tides rising only from 6 to 7 feet; the conformed

and circuitous channel both within and without the bar, in which there

were several rocks; and the prevalence during three-fourths of the year

of strong westerly winds from south-west to north-west. Moreover, during

heavy floods the outgoing current was so strong that it carried all

before it, frequently tearing vessels from their anchors, driving them to

sea, or wrecking them in the harbour. From these different causes the bar

could only be attempted during the flood or ebb for entering or departing

during the most moderate weather, and then only by vessels drawing 12 to

14 feet at spring tides. From all these combined causes the harbour of

Oporto might be said to be hermetically sealed for three-fourths of the

year, and frequent instances have occurred of vessels having made the

passage to the Brazils and back again, whilst others have been beating

about the offing waiting for a favourable opportunity to cross the bar;

and equal time was lost by those vessels that were waiting, laden in the

port, to go to sea. And the mails for Oporto, the second city in the

kingdom, frequently had to be delivered at Vigo, 60 miles farther north,

and to be transported thence by land, which occasioned the loss of one

or two days. In consequence of these serious disadvantages the trade

naturally suffered materially.

 

In order to remedy these defects, I drew up a plan by which I proposed

to carry out two piers--one on the ridge of rocks on the south side, and

another on the north--in such a direction that the entrance between them,

which was to be 500 feet wide, should be least exposed to the prevailing

storms; and the space between the piers on the inside of the entrance

should be wider than the entrance itself, so that any swell which might

enter would diminish as it proceeded up the harbour. I also proposed to

remove the rocks both inside and outside, and to strengthen the channel.

By this means I expected that the bar would be lowered about 5 feet; so

that at high water of spring tides there would be about 20 feet, and a

vessel drawing 18 feet could enter at springs, and 16 feet at neaps. The

expense of these works was estimated at about 400,000_l._ This no doubt

would have been a very great improvement, and worth the money, although

at times even with this expenditure the bar would not be approachable

either way.

 

Under these circumstances, I explored the adjacent coast in order to

ascertain whether another and better place for a harbour could not be

found, and at Mattozenhas, about three miles farther, I found that there

was a detached reef of rocks, 2000 feet long, lying about a quarter of

a mile distant from the shore, and between it and the shore there was a

depth of from 25 to 50 feet at low water. This reef had been observed

by others before me, and it had struck them that an excellent harbour

might be made. As this also lay within my instructions, I made a design

for a harbour; but upon maturely considering the subject, I thought

it would be scarcely safe to make a close harbour at this point, as,

from the great quantity of sand which lay along the coast, there was a

chance of its filling up. I therefore proposed to make it open: that is

to say, to construct a breakwater along the line of the rocks as far

as they reached, and as much farther each way as might be considered

advisable. In fact, this breakwater might be extended so as to make a

magnificent asylum harbour for the largest vessels of any class; and by

making an open landing pier within the breakwater, vessels could take in

and deliver their cargoes, and send them to Oporto by rail, when vessels

could not pass over the bar of the Douro.

 

As there was plenty of fine granite on the spot, and labour could

be obtained comparatively cheap, I considered that for the sum of

500,000_l._ an excellent harbour might be made here with a double

entrance, and as there would be a free passage for the current both ways,

no sand would lodge within the breakwater. In fact, the current, being

confined, would force out the sand and make the harbour deeper, so that

at low water (spring tides) there would never be less than from 25 to 30

feet in the shallowest part of the northern entrance, and above 50 feet

at the southern. This place appeared, and, in fact, was so much better

and more advantageous in every respect than Oporto, that, considering the

increased cost would not exceed 100,000_l._, I strongly recommended it in

preference to expending 400,000_l._ on the old entrance. Still, if the

Government thought it advisable to improve the entrance of the Douro, to

some extent this might be done advantageously by the expenditure of about

150,000_l._ Both the King and the Government approved of my plan for the

breakwater and landing pier at the Secars Rocks, near Mattozenhas, and

the Finance Minister--Fontes--gave me an order in writing to provide

the necessary apparatus, and to commence the work immediately. But soon

after, the Government being changed, the whole was stopped, and nothing

material has been done since, although, I believe, some attempts have

been made by the Portuguese Board of Works to blow up the rocks at the

entrance of the Douro, with very little effect; and as funds are very

scarce, it is probable that nothing of consequence will be effected for a

long time, which is the more to be regretted, as meanwhile the trade of

Oporto suffers most materially.

 

Having completed my investigation of Oporto harbour, I prepared to

return direct to Lisbon, and report to the Government the results of

my examination, when I received a telegraphic message saying that the

Government wished me to examine the harbour of Viana, some thirty miles

farther north, also that of Aveiro, twenty miles farther south, and that

of Figuera, the mouth of the Mondego, about twenty miles south of Aveiro;

and that they would send a small vessel of war to take me to those

places. I therefore determined to await the arrival of the war-steamer,

which came two days afterwards. It was not above 200 tons, mounting three

or four small guns, and commanded by a lieutenant of the Portugue