346 STEPHEN SON'S ASSISTANTS. CHAP. XVI. 



year, the Midland, the York and North Midland, the 

 Chester and Crewe, the Chester and Birkenhead, the 

 Manchester and Birmingham, the Manchester and Leeds, 

 and the Maryport and Carlisle railways, were all pub- 

 ^licly opened in whole or in part. Thus 321 miles of 

 railway (exclusive of the London and Birmingham) 

 constructed under Mr. Stephenson's superintendence, at 

 a cost of upwards of eleven millions sterling, were, in 

 the course of about two years, added to the traffic 

 accommodation of the country. 



The ceremonies which accompanied the public opening 

 of these lines were often of an interesting character. 

 The adjoining population held general holiday ; bands 

 played, banners waved, and assembled thousands cheered 

 the passing trains amidst the occasional booming of 

 cannon. The proceedings were usually wound up by a 

 public dinner ; and in the course of his speech which 

 followed, Mr. Stephenson would revert to his favourite 

 topic the difficulties which he had early encountered 

 in the promotion of the railway system, and in esta- 

 blishing the superiority of the locomotive. On such 

 occasions, Mr. Stephenson always took great pleasure 

 in alluding to the services rendered to himself and the 

 public by the young men brought up under his eye 

 his pupils at first, and afterwards his assistants. No 

 great master ever possessed a more devoted band of 

 assistants and. fellow-workers than he did. And, indeed, 

 it was one of the most marked evidences of his own 

 admirable tact and judgment that he selected, with such 

 undeviating correctness, the men best fitted to carry out 

 his plans. For, the ability to accomplish great things, 

 to carry grand ideas into practical effect, depends in no 

 small measure on an intuitive knowledge of character, 

 which Mr. Stephenson possessed in a remarkable 

 degree. Thus, on the Liverpool and Manchester line, 

 he secured the able services of Messrs. Yignolles and 

 Locke ; the latter having been his pupil, and laid down 



