equal their expectations, growling and open abuse were not unusual. These désagrémens, together with the exactions practised on travellers by inn keepers, seriously detracted from the romance of stage-coach travelling; and there was a general disposition on the part of the public to change the system for a better.

The avidity with which the public at once availed themselves of the railways proved that this better system had been discovered. Notwithstanding the reduction of the coach fares between London and Birmingham to one third of their previous rate, the public preferred travelling by the railway. They saved in time; and they saved in money, taking the whole expense into account. In point of comfort there could be no doubt as to the infinite superiority of the railway carriage. But there remained the question of safety, which had been a great bugbear with the early opponents of railways, and was made the most of by the coach proprietors to deter the public from using them. It was predicted that trains of passengers would be blown to pieces, and that none but fools would intrust their persons to the conduct of an explosive machine such as the locomotive. It appeared, however, that during the first eight years not fewer than five millions of passengers had been conveyed along the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and of this vast number only two persons had lost their lives by accident. During the same period, the loss of life by the upsetting of stage-coaches had been immensely greater in proportion. The public were not slow, therefore, to detect the fact, that travelling by railways was greatly safer than travelling by common road; and in all districts penetrated by railways the coaches were very shortly taken off from want of support.

Mr. Stephenson himself had a narrow escape in one of the stage-coach accidents so common twenty years ago, but which are already almost forgotten. While the Birmingham line was under construction, he had occasion to travel from Ashby-de-la-Zouche to London by coach. He was an inside passenger with several others; and the outsides were pretty numerous. When within ten miles of Dunstable, he felt, from the rolling of the coach that one of the linch-pins securing the wheels had given way, and that the vehicle must upset. He endeavoured so to fix himself in his seat, holding on firmly by the arm-straps, that he might save himself on which

ever side the coach fell. The coach soon toppled over, and fell crash upon the road, amidst the shrieks of his fellow passengers and the smashing of glass. He immediately pulled himself up by the arm-strap above him, let down the coach window, and climbed out. The coachman and passengers lay scattered about on the road, stunned, and some of them bleeding, whilst the horses were plunging in their harness. Taking out his pocket knife, he at once cut the traces and set the horses free. He then went to the help of the passengers, who were all more or less hurt. The guard had his arm broken; and the driver was seriously cut and contused. A scream from one of his fellow-passenger "insides here attracted his attention: it proceeded from an elderly lady, whom he had before observed to be decorated with one of the enormous bonnets in fashion at that time. Opening the coach door he lifted the lady out; and her principal lamentation was that her large bonnet had been crushed beyond remedy! Mr. Stephenson then proceeded to the nearest village for help, and saw the passengers provided with proper assistance before he himself went forward on his journey.

It was some time before the more opulent classes who could afford to post to town in aristocratic style, became reconciled to railway travelling. The old families did not relish the idea of being conveyed in a train of passengers of all ranks and conditions, in which the shopkeeper and the peasant were carried along at the same speed as the duke and the baron— the only difference being in price. It was another deplorable illustration of the levelling tendencies of the age. * It put an end to that gradation of rank in travelling, which was one of the few things left by which the nobleman could be distinguished from the Manchester manufacturer and bagman. So, for a time, many of the old families sent forward their ser

*At a meeting of the Chesterfield Mechanics' Institute, at which Mr. Stephenson was present, one of the speakers said of him, " Known as he is wherever steam and iron have opened the swift lines of communication to our countrymen, and regarded by all as the Father of Railways, he might be called, in the most honourable acceptation of the term, the first and greatest leveller of the age." Mr. Stephenson joined heartily in the laugh which followed this description of himself. Sir Humphry Davy was once similarly characterized; but the remark was somewhat differently appreciated. When travelling on the Continent, a distinguished person about a foreign court inquired who and what he was, never having heard of his scientific fame. Upon being told that his discoveries had revolutionized chemistry," the courtier promptly replied, "I hate all revolutionists; his presence will not be acceptable here."

vants and luggage by railway, and condemned themselves to jog along the old highway in the accustomed family chariot, dragged by country post-horses. But the superior comfort of the railway shortly recommended itself to even the oldest families; posting went out of date; post-horses were with difficulty to be had along even the great highroads; and nobles and servants, manufacturers and peasants, alike shared in the comfort, the convenience, and the dispatch of railway travelling. The late Dr. Arnold of Rugby regarded the opening of the London and Birmingham line as but another step accomplished in the great march of civilization. "I joice to see it," he said, as he stood on one of the bridges, and watched the train flashing along, and away through the distant hedge-rows,-"I rejoice to see it, and think that feudality is gone forever. It is so great a blessing to think that any one evil is really extinct."

re

It was long before the late Duke of Wellington would trust himself behind a locomotive. The fatal accident to Mr. Huskisson, which had happened before his eyes, contributed to prejudice him strongly against railways; and it was not until the year 1843 that he performed his first trip on the Southwestern Railway, in attendance upon Her Majesty. Prince Albert had for some time been accustomed to travel by railway alone; but in 1842, the Queen began to make use of the same mode of conveyance between Windsor and London, after which the antipathies of even the most prejudiced were effectually set at rest.

CHAPTER XXVII.

MR. STEPHENSON ENGINEER OF THE MANCHESTER AND LEEDS, AND MIDLAND RAILWAYS.

way.

MR. STEPHENSON resided in Liverpool until after the completion and opening of the Liverpool and Manchester RailHe then removed to Alton Grange, near Ashby-de-laZouche, in Leicestershire, where he lived for several years. Whilst his son Robert was engaged as engineer in superintending the construction of the Leicester and Swannington Railway in 1830, his experience as a coal-viewer and practical geologist suggested to him that coal was to be found in the estate of Snibston, near Ashby, then advertised for sale, and lying in the immediate neighbourhood of the line of railway. He mentioned the circumstance to his father, who inspected the ground, and came to the same conclusion.

The large manufacturing town of Leicester, about fourteen miles distant, had up to that time been exclusively supplied with coal brought by canal from Derbyshire; and Mr. Stephenson was quick to perceive that the railway under construction, from Swannington to Leicester, would furnish him with a ready market for any coals which he might find at Snibston. Having induced two of his Liverpool friends to join him in the venture, the Snibston estate was purchased in 1831; and Mr. Stephenson removed his home from Liverpool to Alton Grange, for the purpose of superintending the sinking of the pit. He travelled by gig with his wife,―his favourite horse "Bobby" performing the journey by easy stages.

Šinking operations were immediately commenced, and proceeded satisfactorily until the old enemy, water, burst in upon the workmen, and threatened to drown them out. But by means of efficient pumping engines, and the skilful casing of the shaft with segments of cast iron-a process called

"tubbing," which Mr. Stephenson was the first to adopt in the Midland counties, it was eventually made water-tight, and the sinking proceeded. When a depth of 166 feet had been reached, a still more formidable difficulty presented itself, one which had baffled former sinkers, and deterred them from further operations. This was a dyke of fused granite, which had been brought down by volcanic action from the adjacent Charnwood Forest range, and here overlapped the coal-bed of the district. Mr. Stephenson fell back upon his old motto, "Persevere:" he determined to go on boring; and down through the solid granite he went until, twenty-two feet lower, he came upon the coal measures. In the mean time, however, lest the boring at this point should prove unsuccessful, he had commenced sinking another pair of shafts about a quarter of a mile west of the "fault; and after about nine months' labour he reached the principal seam, called the "main coal."

The works were then opened out on a large scale, and Mr. Stephenson had the pleasure and good fortune to send the first train of main coal to Leicester by railway. The price was immediately reduced there to about 8s. a ton, effecting a pecuniary saving to the inhabitants of the town of about 40,000l. per annum, or equivalent to the whole amount then collected in government taxes and local rates, besides giving an impetus to the manufacturing prosperity of the place, which has continued down to the present day. The correct and scientific principles upon which he conducted his mining operations at Snibston, offered a salutary example to the neighbouring colliery owners. The numerous improvements which he introduced were freely exhibited to all, and they were afterwards reproduced in many forms all over the Midland Counties, greatly to the advantage of the mining interests."

At the same time Mr. Stephenson endeavoured to extend the benefit of railways throughout the district in which he now resided. He suggested to Lord Stamford the importance of constructing a branch line from the Leicester and Swannington Railway through his property, principally for the purpose of opening out his fine granite quarries at Groby. The valuable advice was taken by Lord Stamford, and Mr Stephenson laid out the line for him and superintended the works gratuitously. Another improvement which he effected