Each line of tube is 1513 feet in length; far surpassing in size any
piece of wrought-iron work ever before put together; and its weight is
5000 tons, being nearly equal to that of two 120-gun ships, having on
board, ready for sea, guns, provisions, and crew. The plate-iron
covering of the tubes is not thicker than the hide of an elephant, and
scarcely thicker than the bark of an oak-tree; whilst one of the large
tubes, if placed on its end in St. Paul's churchyard, would reach 107
feet higher than the cross of the cathedral.
[Illustration: CONSTRUCTING THE BRITANNIA TUBULAR BRIDGE.]
* * * * *
THE MARINERS OF ENGLAND.
Ye mariners of England!
Who guard our native seas,
Whose flag has braved a thousand years
The battle and the breeze,
Your glorious standard launch again,
To match another foe,
And sweep through the deep
While the stormy tempests blow;
While the battle rages long and loud,
And the stormy tempests blow.
The spirits of your fathers
Shall start from every wave!
For the deck it was their field of fame,
And Ocean was their grave;
Where Blake and mighty Nelson fell,
Your manly hearts shall glow,
As ye sweep through the deep,
While the stormy tempests blow;
While the battle rages long and loud,
And the stormy tempests blow.
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