The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction

The Mirror of Literature,
Amusement, and
by Various

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Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, No. 351
Volume 13, Saturday, January 10, 1829
Author: Various
Release Date: February 16, 2004 [EBook #11112]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND
INSTRUCTION.
VOL. 13, No. 351.] SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 1829. [PRICE 2d.
[Illustration: Macclesfield Bridge, Regent's Park.]

MACCLESFIELD BRIDGE.
This picturesque structure crosses the Canal towards the Northern verge
of the Regent's Park; and nearly opposite to it is a road leading to
Primrose Hill, as celebrated in the annals of Cockayne as was the
Palatino among the ancient Romans.
The bridge was built from the designs of Mr. Morgan, and its
construction is considered to be "appropriate and architectural." Its
piers are formed by cast-iron columns, of the Grecian Doric order, from
which spring the arches, covering the towing-path, the canal itself, and
the southern bank. The abacus, or top of the columns, the mouldings or
ornaments of the capitals, and the frieze, are in exceeding good taste, as
are the ample shafts. The supporters of the roadway, likewise,
correspond with the order; although, says Mr. Elmes, the architect,
"fastidious critics may object to the dignity of the pure ancient Doric
being violated by degrading it into supporters of modern arches." The
centre arch is appropriated to the canal and the towing-path, and the
two external arches to foot-passengers, and as communications to the
road above them. Mr. Elmes[1] sums up the merits of the bridge as
follows:--"It has a beautiful and light appearance, and is an
improvement in execution upon a design of Perronet's for an
architectural bridge, that is, a bridge of orders. The columns are well
proportioned, and suitably robust, carrying solidity, grace, and beauty
in every part; from the massy grandeur of the abacus, to the graceful
revolving of the beautiful echinus, and to the majestic simplicity of the
slightly indented flutings." He then suggests certain improvements in
the design, which would have made the bridge "unexceptionably the
most novel and the most tasteful in the metropolis. Even as it is, it is

scarcely surpassed for lightness, elegance, and originality by any in
Europe. It is of the same family with the beautiful little bridge in Hyde
Park, between the new entrance and the barracks."
We are happy to quote the above praise on the construction of
Macclesfield Bridge, inasmuch as a critical notice of many of the
structures in the Regent's Park would subject them to much severe and
merited censure. The forms of bridges admit, perhaps, of more display
of taste than any other species of ornamental architecture, and of a
greater means of contributing to the picturesque beauty of the
surrounding scenery.
[1] Letter-press to Jones's "Metropolitan Improvements."
* * * * *
TRIBUTES TO THE DEAD, &c.
(For the Mirror.)
"When our friends we lose, Our alter'd feelings alter too our views;
What in their tempers, teazed or distress'd, Is with our anger, and the
dead at rest; And must we grieve, no longer trial made, For that
impatience which we then display'd? Now to their love and worth of
every kind, A soft compunction turns the afflicted mind; Virtues
neglected then, adored become, And graces slighted, blossom on the
tomb."
CRABBE.
"It was the early wish of Pope," says Dr. Knox, "that when he died, not
a stone might tell where he lay. It is a wish that will commonly be
granted with reluctance. The affection of those whom we leave behind
us is at a loss for methods to display its wonted solicitude, and seeks
consolation under sorrow, in doing honour to all that remains. It is
natural that filial piety, parental tenderness, and conjugal love, should
mark, with some fond memorial, the clay-cold spot where the form,
still fostered in the bosom, moulders away. And did affection go no

farther, who could censure? But, in recording the virtues of the
departed, either zeal or vanity leads to an excess perfectly ludicrous. A
marble monument, with an inscription palpably false and ridiculously
pompous, is far more offensive to true taste, than the wooden memorial
of the rustic, sculptured with painted bones, and decked out with
death's head in all the colours of the rainbow. There is an elegance and
a classical simplicity in the turf-clad