ed
world.

"Of the 'profit' of his labours to humanity I scarcely venture to speak,
since it cannot possibly be told in a few words. The railway system has
revolutionised society. It has powerfully affected every class, every
interest and department of life. It has given an incredible impulse to
commerce, quickened human thought, created a new language, new habits,
tastes and pleasures. It has opened up fields of industry and enterprise
inaccessible and unknown before. It has cheapened the necessaries and
comforts of life, enhanced the value of property, promoted the fellowship
of class with class, and brought unnumbered benefits and advantages
within the reach of all. And it is yet, as to the world at large, but in
the infancy of its development.

"How much, then, do we owe, under God, to George Stephenson. How much,
not merely to his energy and diligence, but to his courage, patience, and
uprightness? For these qualities, quite as much as gifts of genius and
insight, contributed to his final success. He was crowned because he
strove 'lawfully.' His patience was as great in waiting as his energy in
working. He did not work from greed or self-glorification; and therefore
the hour of success, when it came, found him the same modest,
self-restrained man as before. He neither overrated the value of the
system which he had set up, nor made it a means of speculation and
gambling. He was a man of sterling honesty and uprightness--of
self-control, simple in his habits and tastes, given to plain living and
high thinking. And yet he was most kindly, genial, and cheery, of strong
affections, considerate of his workpeople, tender to his family, full of
love to little children and pet animals, brimming with fun and good
humour. He had the gentleness of all noble natures, the largeness of
mind and heart which could recognise ability and worth in others, and
give rivals their due. For the young inventor, or for such of his
helpers as showed marked diligence or promise, he had ready sympathy and
aid. Nor ought we to pass unnoticed his love of nature and of natural
beauty. Strong throughout his whole life, this was especially
conspicuous at its close. Such leisure as his last days brought was
spent amidst flowers and fruits, gardens and greeneries which he had
planned and filled, and from the midst of whose treasures he could look
forth over venerable trees and green fields upon a wide and varied
landscape. And ye