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miles an hour; but we see no reason for thinking that, in the progress of improvement, a much higher velocity might not be found practicable. Tiberius travelled 200 miles in two days, and this was reckoned an extraordinary effort; but in twenty years hence, a shopkeeper or mechanic, on the most ordinary occasion, may probably travel with a speed that would leave the fleetest courser behind."

Little more than five years passed before these anticipations, sanguine and speculative though they were regarded at the time, were amply realised. And yet even Mr. Nicholas Wood, in 1825, speaking of the powers of the locomotive, and referring doubtless to the speculations of the Scotsman as well as of his equally sanguine friend Stephenson, observed,—"It is far from my wish to promulgate to the world that the ridiculous expectations, or rather professions, of the enthusiastic speculator will be realised, and that we shall see engines travelling at the rate of twelve, sixteen, eighteen, or twenty miles an hour. Nothing could do more harm towards their general adoption and improvement than the promulgation of such nonsense."

Indeed, when Mr. Stephenson, at the consultations of counsel previous to the Liverpool and Manchester bill going into Committee of the House of Commons, confidently stated his expectation of being able to impel his locomotive at the rate of twenty miles an hour, Mr. Willam Brougham, who was retained by the promoters to conduct their case, frankly told him, that if he did not moderate his views, and bring his engine within a reasonable speed, he would "inevitably damn the whole thing, and be himself regarded as a maniac fit for Bedlam."† We have before us a letter from Mr.

* A practical Treatise on Railroads. By Nicholas Wood, Colliery Viewer, C. E. London: Hurst, Chance, and Co.

† Mr. John Dixon, engineer of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, then Mr. Stephenson's assistant, relates the above circumstance.

(afterwards Sir John) Barrow, of the Admiralty, to Mr. Sandars of Liverpool, dated the 10th January, 1825, in which, as a friend of the measure, he strongly urges the promoters to disclaim the intention of conveying passengers along the railway by means of the locomotive engine. "I still think," said he, " you will not get many who will suffer themselves to be conveyed, even at the rate of eight miles an hour, amidst the hissing noise and the dense smoke of their own and other passing engines. At present I believe it has not been found expedient to drive the waggons at a greater rate than five miles an hour; but if you find that by enlarging the wheels, and with a not greatly increased pressure, you can go eight, and bring intelligent practical men to prove it, I think it would be wise to stop there, and for the present at least to give up the passengers, for it is there you will fail if you persevere. The speed ought, in my opinion, to be regulated by bye-laws, and kept out of the Act; but if a clause to that effect be insisted on, I cannot help thinking it would be advisable to keep it down as low as you can."

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The idea of travelling at a rate of speed double that of the fastest mail coach appeared at that time so preposterous that Mr. Stephenson was unable to find any engineer who would risk his reputation in supporting his "absurd views." Speaking of his isolation at this time, he subsequently observed, at a public meeting of railway men in Manchester: "He remembered the time when he had very few supporters in bringing out the railway system-when he sought England over for an engineer to support him in his evidence before Parliament, and could find only one man, James Walker, but was afraid to call that gentleman, because he knew nothing about railways. He had then no one to tell his tale to but Mr. Sandars of Liverpool, who did listen to him, and kept his spirits up; and his schemes

had at length been carried out only by dint of sheer persc

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George Stephenson's idea was indeed at that time regarded as but the dream of a chimerical projector. It stood before the public friendless, struggling hard to gain a footing, but scarcely daring to lift itself into notice for fear of ridicule. The civil engineers generally rejected the notion of a Locomotive Railway; and when no leading man of the day could be found to stand forward in support of the Killingworth mechanic, its chances of success must have been pronounced small. But, like all great truths, the time was surely to come when it was to prevail.

When such was the hostility of the civil engineers, no wonder the reviewers were puzzled. The Quarterly†, in an able article in support of the projected Liverpool and Manchester Railway,-while admitting its absolute necessity, and insisting that there was no choice left but a railroad, on which the journey between Liverpool and Manchester, whether performed by horses or engines, would always be accomplished" within the day," - nevertheless scouted the idea of travelling at a greater speed than eight or nine miles an hour. "We are not the advocates," said the reviewer, "for visionary projects that interfere with useful establishments; we scout the idea of a general railroad as altogether impracticable, or as one, at least, which will be rendered nugatory in lines, where the traffic is so small that the receipts would scarcely pay for the consumption of coals. . . The gross exaggerations of the powers of the locomotive engine, or, to speak in plain English, the steam-carriage, may delude for a time, but must end in the mortification of

*

Speech of Mr. Stephenson at a meeting held in Manchester on the 15th of June, 1847, to present a service of plate to J. P. Westhead, Esq., chairman of the Manchester and Birmingham Railway Co.

† Quarterly Review, for March, 1825.

those concerned." Adverting to a project for forming a railway to Woolwich, by which passengers were to be drawn by locomotive engines, moving with twice the velocity and with greater safety than ordinary coaches, the reviewer proceeded: "What can be more palpably absurd and ridiculous than the prospect held out of locomotives travelling twice as fast as stage coaches! We should as soon expect the people of Woolwich to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of Congreve's ricochet rockets, as trust themselves to the mercy of such a machine going at such a rate. We will back old Father Thames against the Woolwich Railway for any sum. We trust that Parliament will, in all railways it may sanction, limit the speed to eight or nine miles an hour, which we entirely agree with Mr. Sylvester is as great as can be ventured on with safety."

The article in the Quarterly, in which these passages occur, was nevertheless an able argument in favour of the formation of the proposed railway from Liverpool to Manchester. It denounced the monopoly of the carriage of merchandise between the two towns, attempted to be upheld by the canal companies,―argued against their so-called "vested rights," which, it averred, could not stand for a moment against the rights of the million, if it could be shown that by an improved application of steam the transport of goods can be effected in a more safe, certain, expeditious, and economical manner, and it also combated the fears of the landlords lest their property should be injured by the proposed new line of communication. "It has been said," observed the writer," that an opposition to railroads will be made on the part of the landed proprietors; but the absurdity of this is so glaring that it must defeat itself. Country gentlemen may not at first see their own interest, but their tenants will find it out for them; they will discern immediately the advantage which a railroad will confer along

the whole line of country through which it passes, by the increased facility of sending their produce to market, and of receiving the objects of their wants in return."

The article was so strongly favourable to the proposed railway, that allegations were even made by the opponents of the bill, when in committee, that the writer had been bought by the Liverpool and Manchester party; which was, of course, a mere licence of counsel. The objections urged by the reviewer against the high speed attainable on railways, then a mere matter of speculation,-were also entertained by nearly all the practical and scientific men of the kingdom, and by the public generally. Taken as a whole, the article was well-timed, and eminently useful.

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