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

76 LIFE OF GEOEGE STEPHENSON. [chap. viii.
and a general prosperity would, he insisted, be the result of the
adoption of his system. " Indeed," said he, " it is scarcely pos-
sible to contemplate an institution from which would result a
greater quantity of harmony, peace, and comfort, to persons
living in the country, than would naturally result from the intro-
duction of railroads."
That the same idea was taking hold of the more advanced
minds of the country, is further evident from the fact that in the
following year (1802) Mr. Edgeworth urged the adoption of a
similar plan for the transit of passengers. " Stage-coaches," he
said, "might be made to go at six miles an hour, and post
chaises and gentlemen's travelling carriages at eight,—both with
one horse ;
and small stationary steam-engines, placed from dis-
tance to distance, might be made, by means of circulating chains,
to draw the carriages, with a great diminution of horse-labour
and expense."
While this discussion was going forward, Richard Trevethick,
a captain in a Cornish tin-mine, and a pupil of William Mur-
doch's,—influenced, no doubt, by the successful action of the
model engine which the latter had constructed—determined to
build a steam-carriage adapted for use on common roads. He
took out a patent, to secure the right of his invention, in the year
1802. Andrew Vivian, his cousin, joined with him in the pat-
ent,—Vivian finding the money, and Trevethick the brains.
The patent was dated the 24th March, 1802, and described as
"A grant unto Richard Trevethick and Andrew Vivian, of the
parish of Cranbourne, in the county of Cornwall, engineers and
miners, for their invented methods of improving the construction
of steam-engines, and the application thereof for drivino- carriages,
and for other purposes." * The steam-carriage built by
Trevethick on this patent presented the appearance of an ordi-
nary stage-coach on four wheels. It had one horizontal cylinder,
which, together with the boiler and the furnace-box, was placed
in the rear of the hind axle. The motion of the piston was
transmitted to a Separate crank-axle, from which, through the
medium of spur-gear, the axle of the driving-wheel (which was
mounted with a fly-wheel) derived its motion. It is also worthy
* The number of the patent in the Record of Patents Office is 2599.