66 NOTICES FROM THE ENGLISH PRESS. Deep and permanent is the interest excited by this wondrous story of genius. No one can read unmoved the early struggles of this remarkable character, as they are narrated in this work. To young men faltering, it gives lessons which should supply fresh vigor. The continuous effort, the persistent valor, the daring ingenuity, and ever-active intellect of this collier-boy, teaching himself, gradually making his value felt by all around him, and finally raising himself to one of the noblest positions in life-that of a great benefactor to mankind-these must be studied in the pages of this biography."-LEADER. "Few romances possess so strong an interest as this life, so brave, so simple, so strenuous in its faith. It is conceived in a spirit worthy of its subject, the true history of a working man, written with a fulness of style and a clearness of knowledge, which render it invaluable to all workingmen."-LITERARY GAZETTE. "Perseverance was Stephenson's device and principle. This biography must always be widely read and consulted."-ATHENÆUM. "The fame of George Stephenson spread slowly, and, great as it has at last become, we cannot question that it will continue to increase with time. It is, as the father of railway locomotion, that he founds his highest claim to the gratitude of the world. There is scarcely a page of this biography which is not suggestive. The whole ground is novel, and of the highest interest."-QUARTERLY REVIEW. "This work cannot fail to be both popular and useful; the great lesson which it will inculcate among young men, will be that which Stephenson himself used to inculcate, whenever in later life he addressed a mechanics' institution, or a public meeting for educational purposes-the power of perseverance."-WESTMINSTER REVIEW. "It is not too much to say, that Mr. Smiles has performed his office with eminent success, and a considerable void has been filled up in the page of modern history. We see the vast achievements and the epic story of this age of ours more than half comprised in the feats of its strongest and most successful worker. The worker himself, with his noble simplicity and energy, his zeal for his kind, his native-born gentleness and indomitable tenacity, would probably have been eminent in any age or condition of society, but in virtue of his actual achievements and the obstacles he surmounted, of his struggles and triumphs, we may designate him a hero, and ask in defence of this arbitrary title, what real conditions of heroism there were wanting."-LONDON TIMES. |