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

CHAP. XXXIV.] HIS CONVERSATION. 425
drives the engine ? " " Oh, very likely a canny Newcastle drivci."
'* What do you say to the light of the sun ? " " How can that
be ? " asked the doctor. " It is nothing else," said the engineer
"it is light bottled up in the earth for tens of thousands of
years,—light, absorbed by plants and vegetables, being neces-
sary for the condensation of carbon during the process of their
growth, if it be not carbon in another form,—and now, after be-
ing buried in the earth for long ages in fields of coal, that latent
light is again brought forth and liberated, made to work, as in
that locomotive, for great human purposes." The idea was cer-
tainly a most striking and original one : like a flash of light, it
illuminated in an instant an entire field of science.
During the same visit, Mr. Stephenson one evening repeated
his experiment with blood drawn from the finger, submitting it
to the microscope in order to show the curious circulation of the
globulus. He set the example by pricking his own thumb ; and
the other guests, by turns, in like manner gave up a small por-
tion of their blood for the purpose of ascertaining the compara-
tive liveliness of their circulation. When Sir Robert Peel's
turn came, Mr. Stephenson said he was curious to know " how
the blood globules of a great politician would conduct them-
selves." Sir Robert held forth his finger for the purpose of
being pricked ; but once, and again, he sensitively shrunk back,
and at length the experiment, so far as he was concerned, was
abandoned. Sir Robert Peel's sensitiveness to pain" was ex-
treme, and yet he was destined, a few years after, to die a death
of the most distressing agony.
From these visits to distinguished persons, Mr. Stephenson
went back to Tapton with an increased love for home and its
pleasures. He must see after his garden, his birds, and his
favourite animals. There were also his thousand workpeople
to. be looked after, at Tapton and Clay Cross ; and Mechanics'
Institutes to be visited, and many other things to be attended to.
One of the subjects that gave him most pleasure during the
later years of his life was, the encouragement of educational
institutes for the working classes, in which he took the deepest
interest. He had many discussions on the subject with his
intimate friend Mr. Binns, the manager of the extensive works
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