1816.]

THE SAFETY-LAMP CONTROVERSY.

389

required, and we had had sufficient experience not to employ more gas than was necessary: at most, an explosion might have burnt the hands of the operator, but would not extend a few feet from the blower.'

To George Stephenson one of the best consequences of his invention was the quarrel which it provoked between his friends and the supporters of Sir Humphry Davy. The coal-owners of the district formed themselves into two parties. A newspaper war was waged, in which the advocates of Stephenson were altogether victorious. The partizans of Sir Humphry gave him as a reward for his invention £2,000, awarding to George Stephenson 100 guineas for the lamp they professed to regard as a clumsy contrivance, if not an imitation. This award was officially communicated to George Stephenson by his dogged, but honest, opponent, Mr. Buddle.

To make head against this demonstration of Sir Humphry's friends, George's supporters got up another testimonial, amounting to £1,000. A part of this sum was expended on a silver tankard* which, together with the balance of the money, was presented to the inventor of 'the Geordie,' after a public dinner given at the Assembly Rooms at Newcastle. The chair was taken by George's

The tankard was inscribed This piece of plate, purchased with a part of the sum of £1,000, a subscription raised for the remuneration of Mr. George Stephenson for having discovered the fact, that inflamed fire-damp will not pass through tubes and apertures of small dimensions, and having been the first to apply that principle in the construction of a safety-lamp, calculated for

the preservation of human life in situations formerly of the greatest danger, was presented to him at a General Meeting of the Subscribers, Charles John Brandling, Esq., in the chair, January 12, 1818.' Among the numerous pieces of 'presentation plate' on Robert Stephenson's sideboard in after days, THE TANKARD was always the most prized.

hearty patron, Mr. Brandling, of Gosforth Hall; and of course George, as the distinguished guest of the night, had to return thanks for the honour done him. In his palmiest days George Stephenson was not an orator, although when he spoke on subjects which he thoroughly comprehended he expressed himself in a plain, sensible, and terse manner, which carried conviction of his sincerity and of the truthfulness of his narration.

Sorely did he stand in need of eloquence when he stood up in the Newcastle Assembly Rooms, and addressed a company of wealthy merchants and enlightened gentlemen. His speech he had learnt by heart, having composed it and written it out with great care. Fortunately, this interesting document, which ought to be committed to the custody of the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Institution, has been preserved, and a fac-simile is given in the Appendix. The speech ran thus:

Sir,-In Receiving this valuable present which you and the Gentleman of this Meeting has bean pleas'd to present me with this day I except with Gratitude But permit me to say valuable as this present is and gratefull as I feal for it I still feal more by being honour'd by such and highley respectable meeting the Gentlemen of which having not only rewarded me beyond any hopes of mine for my endeavours in construting a safity Lamp but has supported me in my claims as to priority in my invention to that of that distinguished Pholosipher SH Davy. For when I conseder the manner that I have been brought up and liv'd the manner of which is known to many of the Gentleman present and when I consider the high station of S H. Davy his high Charactor that he holds among society and his influence on scientific men and scientific bodys. all of which Sir lays me under a Debt of Gratitude to the Gentlemen of this meeting which Gratitude shall remain with me so long

1818.]

GEORGE STEPHENSON'S ORATORY.

41

as ever I shall live. I shall conclude, sir, with my heart felt thanks to the Gentlemen of this meeting for their great reward thare support in my struggle with my competitor and hear I beg leave to thank in particular R Brandling, Esqr. which I trust the Gentleman of this meeting will give me Credit for. for I beleive this meeting knows well the active part he has taken in my behalf And I hear do thank him publicly for it.*

Keeping close to the letter of this programme, he acquitted himself creditably, but at a family gathering where the great event of the dinner was discussed in all its bearings, he confessed that his embarrassment whilst he delivered the oration was so great, that his face seemed to him all on fire.' 'Oh, Grace,' he said to his sisterin-law Grace Henderson, who had become the wife of Bartholomew Twizell, if thou could but ha' seen ma meeting so many gentlemen at the 'Sembly Rooms, thou maught ha' lit a canle at ma face.' On this, Jane, another married sister-in-law, laughed, and made a joke at his rise in life. Noo thou 'll be for having a bra' ruffle to th' shirt, and then thou'll be looking doon on a' th' own frien's.'

'No, Jane,' he answered slowly and seriously, thou'll nivar see no change in ma.'

It has been thought right to retain the faults of orthography and grammar to be found in this and other of George Stephenson's writings incorporated in this work. It is desirable that everything relating to such a man should be known, his weakness as well as his strength. It is a fact to be pondered over, that with his powerful intellect and resolute will, George Stephenson to the last could neither write gram

matically nor spell correctly, but had to rely on his secretary. Whilst he was braking the ballast engine at Willington Quay, he borrowed a grammar of Mr. John Dobson, still a distinguished architect at Newcastle. He could not, however, master its secrets, and in a few days brought the book back, saying, 'I oonderstond tha vow'ls, but I canna gat hold o' tha verbs.'

At the narration of this story nearly three years since, more than one of George's humble kin who were present bore testimony that he never did change he was always the same riches made no difference in him towards his poor relations.'

Whilst George Stephenson steadily progressed in his professional career, his son continued his attendance at Bruce's school. He did not figure conspicuously in the Percy Street play-ground, but at home he displayed no less physical than mental energy. Every evening his father kept him hard at work over the tasks set him at school, and over plans of steam-engines and other mechanical contrivances. The neighbours sometimes thought George was an 'o'er strict father,' and pitied the poor boy who was kept so close to his books. Robert, however, had leisure for amusement. Every autumn he and his friends stripped of fruit the best trees in Captain Robson's orchard. Like his father, too, the boy excelled in athletic sports, throwing the hammer and putting the stone with skill and force.

In throwing the hammer-a favourite sport with Northumbrian workmen—the thrower stands with his legs wide apart, when, putting his arms behind his back, and grasping the hammer by the handle with both hands, he casts it forwards between his legs. Apart from the muscular force employed, the knack greatly consists in letting the hammer go at the right moment. Relinquished too soon, the missile strikes the ground close at the player's feet; retained after the proper moment, it is apt to rise up into the thrower's face. In his sixteenth year, Robert was engaged at this pastime, and made the mistake of keeping the hammer too long in hand. The

1816.]

SCHOOL-LIFE AND EDUCATION.

43

consequence was that the ponderous implement, weighing a little under 28 lb., rose, struck him on the forehead, and laid him flat and perfectly stunned upon the ground. John Tate witnessed the accident; but on the following day he saw Robert throwing the hammer with as much resolution as ever.

Robert's schoolfellows at the Percy Street academy failed to detect in him any remarkable signs of talent, and some of them still express their astonishment at his subsequent scientific acquirements and professional achievements.

Before leaving Robert Stephenson's school-life, we may remark, that his father's experiences and difficulties were the measure of what he thought requisite for the instruction of his son. The subtler influence of letters and the more valuable results of culture were matters about which George Stephenson thought little. Learning he regarded in a strictly utilitarian sense, as an engine necessary for the achievement of certain ends. His ambition was to be a skilful engineer, and a perfect man of business; and in his efforts to achieve this ambition he found two perplexing obstacles in his ignorance of mathematics and his inability to write with facility, or logical exactness. What he desired to be himself, that he also wished his son to be. Robert Stephenson should be an engineer and a director of labour; but he should not have his bravest exertions baffled by defective knowledge. In this spirit George caused his son to learn French, because it would be useful to him in business.

Up to the time when he left Bruce's school, Robert did not exhibit any marked enthusiasm for the pursuits