TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
The cover image was created by the transcriberand is placed in the public domain.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have beencorrected after careful comparison with other occurrenceswithin the text and consultation of external sources.
More detail can be found at the end of the book.
Engraved by W. Hall after the portrait by John Lucas.
NEW YORK, HARRER & BROTHERS.
THE LIFE
OF
GEORGE STEPHENSON
AND OF HIS SON
ROBERT STEPHENSON;
COMPRISING ALSO
A HISTORY OF THE INVENTION AND INTRODUCTION
OF THE RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE.
By SAMUEL SMILES,
AUTHOR OF "SELF-HELP," "THE HUGUENOTS," ETC.
With Portraits and Numerous Illustrations.
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
1868.
PREFACE.
The present is a revised edition of the Life of George Stephensonand of his son Robert Stephenson, to which is prefixed a historyof the Railway and the Locomotive in its earlier stages, uniformwith the early history of the Steam-engine given in vol. iv.of "Lives of the Engineers" containing the memoirs of Boultonand Watt. A memoir of Richard Trevithick has also been includedin this introductory portion of the book, which will probablybe found more complete than any notice which has yet appearedof that distinguished mechanical engineer.
Since the appearance of this Life in its original form ten yearsago, the construction of Railways has continued to make extraordinaryprogress. The length of lines then open in Europe wasestimated at about 18,000 miles: it is now more than 50,000miles. Although Great Britain, first in the field, had then, afterabout twenty-five years' work, expended nearly 300 millions sterlingin the construction of 8300 miles of double railway, it hasduring the last ten years expended about 200 millions more inconstructing 5600 additional miles.
But the construction of railways has proceeded with equal rapidityon the Continent. France has now 9624 miles at work;Germany (including Austria), 13,392 miles; Spain, 3161 miles;Sweden, 1100 miles; Belgium, 1073 miles; Switzerland, 795miles; Holland, 617 miles; besides railways in other states.These have, for the most part, been constructed and opened duringthe last ten years, while a considerable length is still underconstruction. Austria is actively engaged in carrying new lines[iv]across the plains of Hungary to the frontier of Turkey, whichTurkey is preparing to meet by lines carried up the valley of theLower Danube; and Russia, with 2800 miles already at work, isoccupied with extensive schemes for connecting Petersburg andMoscow with her ports in the Black Sea on the one hand, andwith the frontier towns of her Asiatic empire on the other.
Italy also is employing her new-born