The misfortunes of the _Great Eastern_, and its failure as a commercial speculation in the hands of its first proprietors, have been quoted as an illustration of the ill luck, if it might be so called, which seems to have attended several of the great works designed by the Brunels—for the Thames Tunnel was, commercially, a failure; the Great Western Railway, with its magnificent embankments, cuttings, and tunnels, has reverted to the narrow gauge, and therefore the extra expense of the large scale has been financially thrown away; the Box Tunnel, a more timid engineer would have avoided; and then there is the _Great Eastern_. It is, however, equally remarkable that all these have been glorious and successful achievements as engineering works, and the scientific merit of their designers remains unimpaired by the merely accidental circumstance of their not bringing large dividends to their shareholders. Nor is their value to the world diminished by this circumstance, for the Brunels showed mankind the way to accomplish designs which, perhaps, less gifted engineers would never have had the boldness to propose. The Box Tunnel led the way to other longer and longer tunnels, culminating in that of Mont Cenis; but for the Thames Tunnel—once ranked as the eighth wonder of the world—we should probably not have heard of the English Channel Tunnel—a scheme which appears less audacious now than the other did then; if no _Great Eastern_ had existed, we should not now have had an Atlantic Telegraph. Possibly this huge ship is but the precursor of others still larger, and it is undoubtedly true that since its construction the ideas of naval architects have been greatly enlarged, and the tendency is towards increased size and speed in our steam-ships, whether for peace or war.
FIG. 61.—_Section of Great Eastern Amidships._ ]
FIG. 62.—_The Great Eastern in course of Construction._ ]