CHAP. XII. EVENINGS AT HOME. 241 



distinction as an engineer. He sent them forth into the 

 world braced with the spirit of manly self-help inspired 

 by his own noble example ; and they repeated in their 

 after career the lessons of earnest effort and persistent 

 industry which his daily life had taught them. 



Mr. Stephenson' s evenings at home were not, how- 

 ever, exclusively devoted either to business or to the 

 graver exercises above referred to. He would often 

 indulge in cheerful conversation and anecdote, falling 

 back from time to time upon the struggles and difficul- 

 ties of his early life. The not unfrequent winding up 

 of his story, addressed to the pupils about him, was 

 " Ah ! ye young fellows don't know what wark is in 

 these days ! " Mr. Swan wick delights recalling to mind 

 how seldom, if ever, a cross or captious word, or an 

 angry look, marred the enjoyment of those evenings. 

 The presence of Mrs. Stephenson gave them an addi- 

 tional charm : amiable, kind-hearted, and intelligent, she 

 shared quietly in the pleasure of the party ; and the 

 atmosphere of comfort which always pervaded her home 

 contributed in no small degree to render it a centre of 

 cheerful, hopeful intercourse, and of earnest, honest 

 industry. She was a wife who well deserved, what 

 she through life retained, the strong and unremitting 

 affection of her husband. 



When Mr. Stephenson retired for the night, it was 

 not always that he permitted himself to sink into slum- 

 ber. Like Brindley, he worked out many a difficult 

 problem in bed ; and for hours he would turn over in 

 his mind and study how to overcome some obstacle, or 

 to mature some project, on which his thoughts were 

 bent. Some remark inadvertently dropped by him at the 

 breakfast-table in the morning, served to show that he 

 had been stealing some hours from the past night in 

 reflection and study. Yet he would rise at his accus- 

 tomed early hour, and there was no abatement of his 

 usual energy in carrying on the business of the day. 



VOL. III. K 



