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

352 I-IFE OF GEOEGE STEPHENSON. [chap. xxix.
for the purpose of determining by preliminary surveys the most
eligible lines of communication, leaving only the execution of the
requisite works open to competition, the English government
left it to joint-stock companies to project and construct our
national highways. The first step usually taken was the forma-
tion of a provisional committee, which at once proceeded to ap-
point an engineer to lay out the line, and a solicitor to constitute
the company and agitate public opinion on behalf of the scheme.
But the chief responsibility unquestionably rested with the en-
gineer, who had to find a practicable road, to survey the line, to
plan the necessary works—^tunnels, viaducts, bridges, cuttings,
and embankments,—to form estimates of the cost, and, above all,
to be prepared to stand the cross-examination of his opponents
before Parliament.
This keen competition of professional ability tended rapidly to
develop the peculiar qualities of the English Railway Engineer.
His experience, it will be observed, must necessarily be of an
exceedingly varied character, to enable him to stand the test of
the parliamentary crucible. He must be conversant with land-
surveying and levelling, and have considerable practical knowl-
edge of the strength and qualities of materials,—of iron work,
masonry, tunnelling, and earth works. He must be something
of an architect, a mathematician, and a geologist. He must also
be familiar with the structure of the steam-engine and its ap-
plication to the purposes of locomotion ; and he must have
studied the principles of mechanical science, more especially the
laws of gravity, friction, and momentum. Thus, the practical
education of the English Engineer included almost the entire
field of natural science. Being often called upon to act in emer-
gencies, he acquired a promptitude of action, and a facility in
inventing expedients to meet difficulties as they arose, which
gave him a conamanding superiority over the engineers of the
continent. The works on foreign railways being for the most
part under the control of government, their engineers, though
possessing the advantages of a much more scientific training,
were trammelled and fettered in all that they did ; and in cases
of great practical difficulty, which required boldness and skill of
contrivance, the English engineers—though they might, like