CHAPTER II.

A Scene of the Past-A suggestion-Mr. Thomas Gray's scheme of Railway enterpriseCurious anticipations of future results-Efforts for the establishment of his project -Inadequacy of means of communication-Stockton and Darlington line-Mr. Edward Pease-Liverpool and Manchester Railway-Opposition to the schemeMr. Stephenson and the Parliamentary Committee-Comparison of horse and steam power-Premium offered for a locomotive-Incredulity of the Quarterly Review and of other authorities-The trial-Description of Liverpool and Manchester lineOpening of the line-Success of Railway enterprise-Public convenience and advantage resulting-London and Birmingham line-Anticipated and real outlayBiographical sketches of George and Robert Stephenson.

NE dark night in the year 1784, the venerable clergyman of the town of Redruth, in Cornwall, was taking an evening walk in a long and lonely lane leading to his church, when he heard a most unearthly noise, and, to his horror, beheld approaching him, at a furious speed, an indescribable creature of legs, arms, and wheels, whose body seemed glowing with internal fires, and whose rapid gasps for breath appeared to denote some deadly struggle within. His cries for help brought to his assistance a gentleman of the name of Murdoch, who, no doubt to his infinite relief, explained to him that this terrible apparition, instead of being any embodiment or messenger of the Evil One, was a runaway locomotive, which he, the inventor and proprietor, had incautiously allowed to escape from its leading strings. In this strange manner, what is believed to be the first locomotive was introduced to the world; but the public was not then prepared to receive it, and for nearly twenty years nothing was done towards the practical application of Mr. Murdoch's idea.

Time passed on, and the value of tram-roads had become so apparent that they were commonly employed in many districts of the country, and horses and stationary engines dragged along them the heavily-laden wagons of coal and mineral produce. Sometimes, by a fortunate inclination of the ground, the loaded trains were

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made to run down by their own impetus, which was also sufficient to drag up the empty ones to be re-filled; while, here and there, a solitary locomotive started along, apparently trying its infantine But the idea of an extensive application of the steam horse on our iron roads was then confined to a few.

powers.

A thoughtful man visited one of these tramways in the north of England, which connected the mouth of a colliery with a wharf at which the coals were shipped; and after watching the passing trains for some time, he turned to the engineer of the line, and said, "Why are not these tramroads laid down all over England, so as to supersede our common roads, and steam-engines employed to convey goods and passengers along them, so as to supersede horse-power?" The engineer looked at the questioner out of the corner of his eye, and said, "Just propose you that to the nation, Sir, and see what you will get by it! Why, Sir, you will be worried to death for your pains." The conversation on this topic. terminated; but Thomas Gray, the thoughtful man, did not allow the theme to escape him. Tramroads, locomotive steam-engines, and the superseding of horse-power, engrossed his meditations. "It was his thought by day; it was his dream by night. He talked of it till his friends voted him an intolerable bore. He wrote of it till the reviewers deemed him mad." The system of coaches and canals was, in his estimation, unworthy of the age. His far-reaching anticipations shadowed forth the path which others have since trodden; where they have realized profits, achieved fame, and by means of which an inestimable boon has been conferred on the nation and the world.

In 1820 Mr. Gray published a work, in which he propounded a "general iron railway, or land steam-conveyance, to supersede the necessity of horses in all public vehicles;" and he maintained its "vast superiority in every respect over all the present pitiful methods of conveyance by turnpike roads, canals, and coasting traders." So great was the merit of this work, that, despite the opposition which attended any innovation on the coaching system, it ultimately passed through five editions. The author declared, concerning those who refused to further his scheme :-"Eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not;" while, in full assurance of the ultimate success of his project, he inscribed the following couplets on the plate which illustrated his volume:

"No speed with this, can fastest horse compare;

No weight like this, canal or vessel bear.

As this will commerce every day promote,

To this let sons of commerce grant their vote."

To readers, thirty years ago, some of Mr. Gray's suggestions were doubtless surprising. After proposing that his plan should be first attempted between the towns of Manchester and Liverpool, he thus described the beneficial results. The convenience and economy in the transport of goods, bought by merchants at the various markets, and the "despatch in forwarding bales and packages to the outports, cannot fail to strike the merchant and manufacturer as points of the first importance. Nothing, for example," said he, "would be so likely to raise the ports of Hull, Liverpool, and Bristol to an unprecedented pitch of prosperity, as the establishment of railways to these ports, thereby rendering the communication from the east to the west seas, and all intermediate places, rapid, cheap, and effectual. Any one at all conversant with commerce must feel the vast importance of such an undertaking, in forwarding the produce of America, Brazils, the East and West Indies, &c., from Liverpool and Bristol, viá Hull, to the opposite shores of Germany and Holland; and, vice versa, the produce of the Baltic, via Hull, to Liverpool and Bristol." He proceeded to show, that by the establishment of morning and evening "mail steam-carriages," the inland communications would be greatly improved, and the postal conveyance materially aided by the rapidity of transit and the diminution of cost.

Common vehicles, he considered, if proceeding for considerable distances, might be conducted along the railways at equitable terms; and thus, by a due regulation of the arrival and departure of coaches, caravans, and wagons, the entire communication of the country would be so simple and complete, as to enable every individual "to partake of the various productions of particular situations, and to enjoy, at a moderate expense, every improvement introduced into society." In point of economy, the saving would be great; for, instead of each coach "changing" some twenty-five times between London and Edinburgh, and requiring a hundred horses (besides supernumeraries at every stage, in case of accident), a single engine would be the propelling power for a train of vehicles of various kinds. "No animal strength," said Mr. Gray, "will be able to give that uniform and regular acceleration to our commercial intercourse which may be accomplished by railways: however great the animal speed, there cannot be a doubt that it would be considerably surpassed by mail steam-carriages; and that the expense would be infinitely less. The present system of conveyance affords but tolerable accommodation to farmers, and the common way in which they attend markets must always confine them within very limited distances. It is, however, expected that the railway will

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present a suitable conveyance for attending market-towns thirty or forty miles off, as also for forwarding considerable supplies of grain, hay, straw, vegetables, and every description of live stock, to the metropolis, at a very easy expense, and with the greatest celerity, from all parts of the kingdom.".

After propounding his theory, Mr. Gray most strenuously advocated its practical application. He visited Brussels, and, hearing there a proposal to construct a canal, he urged the superior advantages of a railway. From Belgium he proceeded to Manchester, and laid his scheme before the capitalists of that city; but the men who passed their lives among the marvels of machinery, and owed their fortunes to steam, could not appreciate the project. They listened graciously, and, with a smile somewhat akin to pity, dismissed him as an incorrigible visionary. He petitioned Lord Sidmouth, giving reasons for the adoption of his plan which he thought would be attractive to a statesman. Double or treble the amount of taxes, he said, then levied upon horses and carriages, might be received from the transport of vehicles and their contents on a general iron railway," while the cost to individuals would be considerably diminished. He subsequently made application to the Government, the Board of Agriculture, and the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London, for their assistance; and in 1827, Mr. Hume presented a petition from him to the House of Commons. The only result of these and other efforts was, that many thought him a knave, and others, who were charitably inclined, pronounced him a simpleton. To appropriate the idea of Mr. Macaulay, "there were fools then as there are fools now; fools who laughed at the railway as they had laughed at the canals; fools who thought they evinced their wisdom by doubting what they could not understand." Still, Thomas Gray persevered; his mind was absorbed in the anticipation of the great and beneficial changes which his scheme would produce. He talked of enormous fortunes realized, of coaches annihilated, of one great general system of iron roads, and he was laughed at, but not laughed down. He continued to talk, to memorialize, and to fill the pages of magazines, till the public mind was "wearied and worried," and doubtless, not a few wished that railways were established, if it were only that they might be freed from his unceasing importunities.

A few years passed away, and the idea supposed to be born of a disordered imagination became a grave reality, and Thomas Gray found his reward only in himself. In remembrance of his indefatigable and protracted efforts, and the invaluable blessings

which they had materially tended to confer on society, an attempt was subsequently made to give him some pecuniary acknowledgment of national gratitude, but it was unsuccessful. Few men in modern times have served their generation more effectually, and yet received so little compensation in the way of thanks or emolument as Thomas Gray. "He died steeped to the lips in poverty!"

The growing demands which were made by the progress of commerce, soon led to general discontent with the means of intercommunication throughout the country. The tram-roads which had been established, were detached and isolated undertakings for the conveyance of the produce of particular neighbourhoods, and had little effect in mitigating the evil. The want of stimulus to the proprietors and managers of canals, induced a security on their part which not only engendered negligence, but gave them the command of a great monopoly, and the extravagance of their charges was only equalled by the inefficiency of their means of transport. The interruptions which arose from want of water in summer, and from ice in winter,— from their vessels getting aground or being wrecked,-were sufficiently annoying; but to these were added exorbitant fares, and constant delays in the transit.

The delays that often took place in the conveyance of merchandise from Liverpool to Manchester, and vice versa, were very fully stated before the Committee of the House of Commons, in 1825. It was shown that goods had come quicker from New York to Liverpool than they had been conveyed from Liverpool to Manchester. The promoters of the railroad did not rely upon that particular fact; yet it showed the necessity of increasing all sorts of facilities to meet that increased despatch which was kept up at sea. Instances were given, where two months' and three months' delay had taken place, being a longer time than the voyage mentioned; for it was known that goods had come from New York to Liverpool in three weeks. It was not a solitary case: the thing was then (1825) happening daily.

In such a state of things it was not surprising that it was at length resolved that some new and more adequate means should be provided; and, if possible, that the advantages thus secured should be extended to the conveyance of passengers.

The Stockton and Darlington Railway was the first established for public traffic, the earliest, in fact, of our iron roads on which the question of the carriage of passengers was practically tested. Nor should we, in the greater success of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which was subsequently constructed, look slightly on the