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

CHAP. XXXVI.] OFFEE OF KNIGHTHOOD. 451
vited to join the Civil Engineers' Institute ; and, indeed, he him-
self desired to do so. But there were two obstacles to his being
admitted to membership. The first was, that Mr. Stephenson
had served no regular apprenticeship to the profession ; and the
second was the composition of a probationary essay in proof of
his capacity as an engineer. Mr. Stephenson could not comply
with the first condition, and he would not comply with the sec-
ond. The council of the institute were willing to waive the for-
mer, but not the latter point. But Mr. Stephenson said, if he
went in at all, he would go in upright, not stooping one inch ;
and he did think it was too much to ask of him, that he should
undergo the probationary test required from comparatively unknown
juniors, and write an essay in proof of his knowledge of
engineering, for the approval or criticism of a society, many of
whose members had been his own pupils or assistants. He
therefore turned his back, though reluctantly, on the Institute of
Civil Engineers, and accepted the office of President of the In-
stitution of Mechanical Engineers at Birmingham, which he
held until his death.
Sir Robert Peel made him the offer of knighthood more than
once ; but Mr. Stephenson had no desire to hang on the outskirts
of the titled class, or to get perched into high places of any kind.
Arago, in his Jaloge, complained that Watt was not made a
baron. But what lustre would such a title have added to the
name of either Watt or Stephenson ? Thank Heaven, the
strongest and best men of England do their work without hope
of any such reward. Never were men less the creatures of gov-
ernment, or of patronage, than James Watt and George Ste-
phenson ; and, as representing the genius of the people from
whom they sprang, we would rather have their simple names
descend to posterity unadorned, than disguised and hidden under
any unmeaning title borrowed from the middle ages.
As respects the immense advantages of railways to mankind,
there cannot be two opinions. They exhibit, probably, the
grandest organization of capital and labour that the world has
yet seen. Although they have unhappily occasioned great loss
to many, the loss has been that of individuals ; whilst, as a na-
tional system, the gain has already been enormous. As tending