362 SPEECH AT LEEDS. CHAP. XVII. 



Mechanics' Institute. The meeting was held ; but as 

 George Stephenson was a man comparatively unknown 

 even in Newcastle at that time, his name failed to 

 secure " an influential attendance." Among those who 

 addressed the meeting on the occasion, was Joseph 

 Locke, then his pupil, and afterwards his rival as an 

 engineer. The local papers scarcely noticed the pro- 

 ceedings ; yet the Mechanics' Institute was founded, 

 and struggled into existence. Years passed, and it was 

 now felt to be an honour to secure Mr. Stephenson's 

 presence at any public meetings held for the promo- 

 tion of popular education. Among the Mechanics' Insti- 

 tutes in his immediate neighbourhood at Tapton, were 

 those of Belper and Chesterfield ; and at their soirees 

 he was a frequent and a welcome visitor. On these 

 occasions he loved to tell his auditors of the difficulties 

 which had early beset him through want of knowledge, 

 and of the means by which he had overcome them. His 

 grand text was PERSEVERE ; and there was manhood 

 in the very word. 



On more than one occasion, the author had the 

 pleasure of listening to George Stephenson's homely 

 but forcible addresses at the annual soirees of the Leeds 

 Mechanics' Institute. He was always an immense 

 favourite with his audiences there. His personal 

 appearance was greatly in his favour. A. handsome, 

 ruddy, expressive face, lit up by bright dark-blue eyes, 

 prepared one for his earnest words when he stood up 

 to speak and the cheers had subsided which invariably 

 hailed his rising. He was not glib, but he was very 

 impressive. And who, so well as he, could serve as a 

 guide to the working man in his endeavours after 

 higher knowledge ? His early life had been all struggle 

 encounter with difficulty groping in the dark after 

 greater light, but always earnestly and perse veringly. 

 His words were therefore all the more weighty, since 

 he spoke from the fulness of his own experience. On 



