no less by his inexpressible kindliness of manner than by his simple yet impressive conversation. His great wealth enabled him to perform many generous acts in a right noble and yet modest manner, not letting his right hand know what his left hand did. Of the numerous kindly acts of his which have been made public, we may mention the graceful manner in which he repaid the obligations which both himself and his father owed to the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Institute when working together as fellow experimenters many years before in their humble cottage at Killingworth. The Institute was struggling under a debt of £6200, which impaired its usefulness as an educational agency. Mr. Stephenson offered to pay one half the sum provided the local supporters of the Institute would raise the remainder, and conditional also on the annual subscription being reduced from two guineas to one, in order that the usefulness of the institution might be extended. His generous offer was accepted and the debt extinguished. Both father and son were offered knighthood, and both declined it. During the summer of 1847, George Stephenson was invited to offer himself as a candidate for the representation of South Shields in Parliament. But his politics were at best of a very undefined sort. Indeed, his life had been so much occupied with subjects of a practical character that he had scarcely troubled himself to form any decided opinion on the party political topics of the day, and to stand the cross-fire of the electors on the hustings might possibly have proved an even more distressing ordeal than the cross-questioning of the barristers in the Committees of the House of Commons. "Politics," he used to say, 66 all matters of theory-there is no stability in them; they shift about like the sands of the sea; and I should feel quite out of my element among them." He had, accordingly, the good sense respectfully to decline the honor of contesting the representation of South Shields. We have, however, been informed by Sir Joseph Paxton that, although George Stephenson held no strong opinions on political questions generally, there was one question on which he entertained a decided conviction, and that was the question of Free Trade. The words used by him on one occasion to Sir Joseph CHAP. XX.] ADVANTAGES OF RAILWAYS. 495 were very strong. "England," said he, "is, and must be, a shopkeeper; and our docks and harbors are only so many wholesale shops, the doors of which should always be kept wide open." It is curious that his son should have taken precisely the opposite view of this question, and acted throughout with the most rigid party among the Protectionists, supporting the Navigation Laws and opposing Free Trade, even to the extent of going into the lobby with Colonel Sibthorp, Mr. Spooner, and the fifty-three (6 cannon-balls," on the 26th of November, 1852. Robert Stephenson to the last spoke in strong terms as to the "betrayal of the Protectionist party" by their chosen leader, and he went so far as to say that he "could never forgive Peel.” But Robert Stephenson will be judged in after times by his achievements as an engineer rather than by his acts as a politician; and, happily, these last were far outweighed in value by the immense practical services which he rendered to trade, commerce, and civilization, through the facilities which the railways constructed by him afforded for free intercommunication between men in all parts of the world. Speaking in the midst of his friends at Newcastle in 1850, he observed: "It seems to me but as yesterday that I was engaged as an assistant in laying out the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Since then, the Liverpool and Manchester, and a hundred other great works have sprung into existence. As I look back upon these stupendous undertakings, accomplished in so short a time, it seems as though we had realized in our generation the fabled powers of the magician's wand. Hills have been cut down and valleys filled up; and when these simple expedients have not sufficed, high and magnificent viaducts have been raised, and, if mountains stood in the way, tunnels of unexampled magnitude have pierced them through, bearing their triumphant attestation to the indomitable energy of the nation, and the unrivaled skill of our artisans." As respects the immense advantages of railways to mankind there can not be two opinions. They exhibit, probably, the grandest organization of capital and labor that the world has yet seen. Although they have unhappily occasioned great loss to many, the loss has been that of individuals, while, as a national system, the gain has already been enormous. As tending to multiply and spread abroad the conveniences of life, opening up new fields of industry, bringing nations nearer to each other, and thus promoting the great ends of civilization, the founding of the railway system by George Stephenson and his son must be regarded as one of the most important events, if not the very greatest, in the first half of this nineteenth century. INDEX. ACCIDENT, G. Stephenson's stage-coach, 389. Adam, Mr., counsel for Liverpool and Man- Adhesion of wheel and rail, 82, 152, 156, 165. Alton Grange, G. Stephenson's house at, 344. Anderson, Dr., his early advocacy of railroads, 73. Arnold, Dr., on railways, 390. Atmospheric railways, 402, 403, 426-428. Bald, Robert, mining engineer, 198, 212. Benton Colliery and village, 138, 140, 151. Berkeley, Mr., on railways, 341. Berwick, Royal Border Bridge at, 430. Callerton Colliery and village, 109, 116, 117. 341. Cardiff and Merthyr Railroad, 73. Carrying stock of railways, Pref., ix., 334. "Charlotte Dundas," the first practical steam- Chat Moss, surveying on, 252, 264; railway Chester and Birkenhead Railway, 402; and Chesterfield, town of, 395, 471. Clanny, Dr., his safety-lamp, 179, 196. Coach, first railway, 240. Coal, working of, 100, 101; supply of, to Lon- Coal Railways, G. Stephenson on, 393. Bird-nesting, G. Stephenson's love of, 106, 109, Coffin, Sir Isaac, on railways, 280. 380, 491. Black Callerton Colliery, 109, 116, 117. Blenkinsop, Mr., Leeds, his locomotive, 155 Blisworth Cutting, 355. Boiler, the multitubular, its invention, 316–318. Boulton, Matthew, his tubular boiler, 316–318. 324. Brake, G. Stephenson's self-acting, 334, 398. Bruce, Mr., R. Stephenson's schoolmaster, 141. Bull Bridge, near Ambergate, 373. Bull, Edward, his Cornish engine, 76; Wil- Collieries, G. Stephenson's, at Suibston, 344; Colombia, R. Stephenson's residence in, 301- Companies, joint-stock railway, 339, 404. Cooper, Sir A., R. Stephenson's interview with, 350. Cornish engineers, early, 75, 76. Croydon and Merstham Railroad, 74, 216. Cugnot, N., his road locomotive, 60. Darlington Railway, 219, 236; resident en- | Dodds, Ralph, Killingworth, 132, 139. East Coast route to Scotland, 426. Eggs, brought to London by rail, Pref., xxii. Electric telegraphing on railways, Pref., xiii. Ericsson's "Novelty," 322-324. Howick, Lord, his support of atmospheric rail- Hudson, George, the "Railway King," 407, Huskisson, Mr., an early advocate of railways, Ice-flood at Montreal, 481, 482. Inclined planes, self-acting, 149, 150, 162. Iron bridge building, progress in, 432, 443. Evans, Oliver, his steam-carriage, 71, 72; his James, William, surveys Liverpool and Man- Explosions from fire-damp, 175. Fairbairn, William, C.E., early friendship with Fish brought to London by rail, Pref., xxi. Free Trade, G. Stephenson's notions of, 494, Hackworth, T., and the steam-blast, 174; his Heppel, Kit, Killingworth, 132, 135. High-Level Bridge, Newcastle, 433. Hodgkinson, Professor, his calculations as to Horticulture, G. Stephenson's experiments in, Horse traction on railways, 48, 57, 74, 153, 166, 250 chester Railway, 248; visit to Killingworth, James, W. H., his tubular boiler, 317. Keelmen of the Tyne, 101, 102. Kent, opposition to railways in, 342. Kilmarnock and Troon tram-road, 206. Lambton, Mr. (Earl of Durham), 225. Lime-works at Ambergate, 394, 395. Liverpool and Manchester Railway projected, Locomotive workshops at Newcastle, the Ste- |