CHAP. III. STUDIES THE CONSTRUCTION OF HIS ENGINE. 27 



of its construction and mode of working, and very I 

 rarely needed to call to his aid the engineer of the 

 colliery. His engine became a sort of pet with him, 

 and he was never wearied of watching and inspecting 

 it with admiration. 



There is indeed a peculiar fascination about an engine 

 to the person whose duty it is to watch and feed it. It 

 is almost sublime in its untiring industry and quiet 

 power : capable of performing the most gigantic work, 

 yet so docile that a child's hand may guide it. No 

 wonder, therefore, that the workman who is the daily 

 companion of this life-like machine, and is constantly 

 watching it with anxious care, at length comes to regard 

 it with a degree of personal interest and regard. This 

 daily contemplation of the steam-engine, and the sight 

 of its steady action, is an education of itself to an in- 

 genious and thoughtful man. And it is a remarkable 

 fact, that nearly all that has been done for the improve- 

 ment of this machine has been accomplished, not by 

 philosophers and scientific men, but by labourers, me- 

 chanics, and enginemen. It would appear as if this 

 were one of the departments of practical science in 

 which the higher powers of the human mind must bend 

 to mechanical instinct. The steam-engine was but a 

 mere toy until it was taken in hand by workmen. 

 Savery was originally a working miner, Newcomen a 

 blacksmith, and his partner Cawley a glazier. In the 

 hands of Watt, the instrument-maker, who devoted 

 almost a life to the study of the subject, the con- 

 densing-engine acquired gigantic strength ; and George 

 Stephenson, the colliery engineman, was certainly not 

 the least of those who have assisted to bring the high- 

 pressure engine to its present power. 



Although the progress made by our young mechanic 



was unusually rapid helped as he was by native 



shrewdness, quick perception, and assiduous application 



he had not yet even begun his literary culture. He 



