240 EDUCATION OF HIS PUPILS. CHAP. XII. 



drawings made and explained, the remainder of the 

 evening was usually devoted to conversation with his 

 wife and those of his pupils who lived under his roof, 

 and constituted, as it were, part of the family. He 

 then delighted to test the knowledge of his young com- 

 panions, and to question them upon the principles of 

 mechanics. If they were not quite "up to the mark " 

 on any point, there was no escaping detection by 

 evasive or specious explanations on their part. These 

 always met with the verdict of, " Ah ! you know nought 

 ahout it now ; but think it over again, and tell me the 

 answer when you understand it." If there were even 

 partial success in the reply, it would at once be ac- 

 knowledged, and a full explanation given, to which the 

 master would add illustrative examples for the purpose 

 of impressing the principle more deeply upon the pupil's 

 mind. 



It was not so much his object and purpose to " cram " 

 the minds of the young men committed to his charge 

 with the results of knowledge, as to stimulate them to 

 educate themselves to induce them to develope their 

 mental and moral powers by the exercise of their own 

 free energies, and thus acquire that habit of self-thinking 

 and self-reliance which is the spring of all true manly 

 action. In a word, he sought to bring out and invigo- 

 rate the character of his pupils. He felt that he him- 

 self had been made stronger and better through his 

 encounters with difficulty ; and he would not have the 

 road of knowledge made too smooth and easy for them. 

 " Learn for yourselves, think for yourselves," he would 

 say : " make yourselves masters of principles, perse- 

 vere, be industrious, and there is then no fear of 

 you." And not the least emphatic proof of the sound- 

 ness of this system of education, as conducted by Mr. 

 Stephenson, was afforded by the after history of these 

 pupils themselves. There was not one of those trained 

 under his eye who did not rise to eminent usefulness and 



