The life of George Stephenson, railway engineer - Lighthouse ...

244 LIFE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON. [chap.ix.
and anecdote, falling back from time to time upon the struggles
and difiBiculties 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.
Swanwick delights recalling to mind how seldom, if ever, an
angry or captious word, or an angry look, marred the enjoyment
of those evenings. The presence of Mrs. Stephenson conferred
upon them an additional charm :
amiable, kind-hearted, and in-
telligent, she shared quietly in the pleasure ; and the atmosphere
of comfort which always pervaded her home, contributed in no
small degree to render it a centre of cheerful, hopeful inter-
course, and of earnest, honest industry. She was a wife who
well deserved, what she through life retained, the strong and un-
remitting affection of her husband.
When Mr. Stephenson retired for the night, it was not always
that he permitted himself to sink into slumber. Like Brindley,
he worked out many a diflScult 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 break-
fast table in the morning, served to show that he had been steal-
ing some hours from the past night in reflection and study. Yet
he would rise at his accustomed early hour, and there was no
abatement of his usual energy in carrying on the business of the
day.
Such is a brief sketch of Mr. Stephenson's private life and
habits while carrying on the works of the Liverpool and Man-
chester Railway.