on a tramway from the village of Crich, about two or three miles distant from the kilns, the coal wherewith to burn it being supplied from his adjoining Clay Cross colliery. The works were on a scale such as had not before been attempted by any private individual engaged in a similar trade; and their success amply compensated the projector.

Mr. Stephenson's comparative retirement from the profession of railway engineer led many persons interested in railways, to moot the subject of presenting him with a testimonial in consideration of the eminent services which he had rendered to the public by contributing so greatly to the establishment of this new power. Railways had now been in full work for ten years, and having struggled through trials and difficulties almost unparalleled, were now established as the chief mode of internal communication throughout Great Britain; they had also been largely adopted by Belgium, France, and the United States. Twenty-five hundred miles of railway, almost all of them double lines, had been laid down in these islands alone, connecting all the principal towns and provinces with the capital; joining in a more close and intimate union the various branches of the body politic, commercial and literary, with that great centre. Many new and important branches of industry had been entirely created by this new agency; and a stimulus had been given to all the existing departments of trade, as well as to the development of the bountiful resources of the soil, by which largely increased employment had been secured to the labouring classes. Some sixty millions of money had already been expended in forming railways; and this large investment was now returning about five millions yearly to the capitalists, for re-investment and further extension of the system. This vast iron revolution had been accomplished in a period of about ten years. So extraordinary a movement, powerfully affecting as it did all our social and commercial relations,

and coming so closely home to the interests of every member of the community, had never before been experienced in our nation's history.

George Stephenson, above all others, had been the zealous propagandist of this great change. His ingenuity and perseverance had made the railway system practicable. His zeal and devotion had secured its success. What more natural than that some public mark of honour should be conferred upon him in recognition of his wonderful discovery? for such, in point of fact, it was. Had he been a Frenchman or a Belgian, the honours of the State would have been showered upon him. Had he invented a shell or a bullet to the satisfaction of the Board of Ordnance, the British Government might have recognised him. Perhaps, had he pointed out to the country gentlemen some improved mode of patching up the old common roads and preserving turnpike trusts, he might have been honoured and rewarded as Macadam was. But who would now venture to compare the improver of turnpikes with the inventor of railroads, looking at the public benefits conferred by the respective systems? Yet Mr. Stephenson, though he had solved the great social problem of rapid and easy transit from place to place the subject of so much parliamentary inquiry not only remained without any parliamentary recognition of his distinguished public services, but almost the whole of his professional career was a prolonged struggle against the obstructiveness of the legislature. Certain it is, that he never contemplated receiving any reward or recognition from that quarter. Amidst all his labours, it was the last thing that would have crossed his mind; and it is well that our greatest men in England can undertake questions of public utility, and carry them to a successful issue in the face of stupendous difficulties, without the stimulus of an expected medal or riband, or any government reward

or recognition whatsoever. Mr. Stephenson was, however, on one occasion offered a piece of Government patronage, thus recorded by his son: -"I remember my father once refusing to accept from the Government what they thought a piece of valuable patronage; and it was almost, if not absolutely, the only piece of patronage they ever offered him. It was the appointment of a walking postman between Chesterfield and Chatsworth, who was to walk eight miles there and eight miles back every day with the letter bags, and who was to receive the immense stipend of twelve shillings a week!"*

A movement was made by some leading railway men, in February, 1839, under the presidency of Alderman Thompson, M.P., to offer to Mr. Stephenson some public testimonial in recognition of his distinguished services. A committee was formed, and an appeal was made to the public for subscriptions.

A list was opened, but filled slowly. Many other engineers, who had been his pupils, and numerous resident engineers, who had superintended the execution of the works planned by him, had received public recognition of their services in many forms. But it was, perhaps, felt, that while these were generally of a local character, it was fitting that the testimonial to Mr. Stephenson, if offered at all, should express, in some measure, the gratitude of the British nation. No active effort was, however, made by the committee calculated to evoke any such result. The scheme then dropped, and the Stephenson Testimonial was not resumed for several years.

But although no testimonial was presented to him, Mr. Stephenson was not without honour amongst his fellow-citi

* Reply of Robert Stephenson, Esq., M.P., President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, to Observations in the Second Report of the Postmaster General, May 20th, 1856.

zens.

His name was everywhere mentioned with admiration. and respect. Thus Sir Robert Peel, in the address delivered by him on opening the public library and reading-room at Tamworth, prominently alluded to him as one of the most striking proofs that the heights of science are not inaccessible to even the humblest mechanic. "Look around," said he, "at this neighbourhood. Look in this very town, and who is the man that is now engaged in extensive works, for the purpose of bringing coal and lime under your immediate command? Mr. Stephenson, the engineer. Mr. Stephenson, I am assured, worked three years as a boy in the meanest capacity in a colliery at Newcastle. He saved 1007. by mending the watches of his fellow-workmen for half-a-crown apiece; and he devoted that 1007. to provision for his indigent parents, and set out with a light heart and conscience for the purpose of accumulating more. The result has been, that he presents a daily example of encouragement to our eyes, and is brought within our immediate contemplation in this very town."

From an early period Mr. Stephenson manifested a lively interest in the cause of Mechanics' Institutes. He could not but remember the difficulties which he had early encountered in gathering together his own scientific knowledge,— the want of books from which he had suffered, and the miserable character of the only instruction then within the reach of the working classes in the smaller towns and villages. Since his youth, however, a new spirit had arisen on the subject of popular education. The exertions of Bell and Lancaster had led to the establishment of greatly improved agencies for the education of the children of the poor; and earnest efforts

*This was not quite correct. Although Mr. Stephenson was not sparing in pecuniary assistance to his parents, the reason for his early thrift and industry in watch-cleaning was, as he himself stated, that he might be able to send his son to school, and furnish him with the elements of a sound education.

were also being made to admit the adult working classes to the benefits of elementary and scientific instruction by means of Mechanics' Institutes. There were thus few manufacturing towns into which the spirit of Birkbeck and Brougham had not, to some extent, penetrated, exhibiting itself in the establishment of Working Men's Institutions, with their organisation of classes, lectures, and libraries. While residing at Newcastle in 1824, shortly after he had commenced his locomotive foundry in Forth Street, Mr. Stephenson was requested to preside at a public meeting held in that town for the purpose of establishing a Mechanics' Institute. The meeting was held; but George Stephenson was a man comparatively unknown even in Newcastle at that time, and his name failed to summon an "influential” attendance. The local papers scarcely noticed the proceedings; yet the Mechanics' Institute was founded, and struggled into existence. Years passed, and George Stephenson had become a famous name. He had established a new power in the world, which the greatest were ready to recognise. Beyond the bounds of his own country, his genius was acknowledged. Belgium had given him a national welcome, and King Leopold had invested him with the Order of Knighthood of that kingdom. It was now, therefore, felt to be no small honour to secure Mr. Stephenson's presence at any public meetings held for the promotion of popular education. Amongst the Mechanics' Institutes in his immediate neighbourhood at Tapton, were those of Belper and Chesterfield; and at their soirées he was a frequent, and always a highly welcome, visitor. On those occasions he loved to tell them of the difficulties which had early beset him through want of knowledge, and of the means by which he had overcome them always placing in the first rank, perseverance. This was his grand text,―PERSEVERE. There was manhood in the very word. And he would remind them of their un