eventful struggle, by some from whom
forbearance was to have been expected, he never entertained towards them
in after life any angry feelings; on the contrary, he forgave all. But
though the directors afterwards passed unanimous resolutions eulogising
"the great skill and unwearied energy" of their engineer, he himself,
when speaking confidentially to those with whom he was most intimate,
could not help pointing out the difference between his "foul-weather and
fair-weather friends." Mr. Gooch says of him that though naturally most
cheerful and kind-hearted in his disposition, the anxiety and pressure
which weighed upon his mind during the construction of the railway, had
the effect of making him occasionally impatient and irritable, like a
spirited horse touched by the spur; though his original good-nature from
time to time shone through it all. When the line had been brought to a
successful completion, a very marked change in him became visible. The
irritability passed away, and when difficulties and vexations arose they
were treated by him as matters of course, and with perfect composure and
cheerfulness.

[Picture: Railway versus Road]

CHAPTER XII.
OPENING OF THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY, AND EXTENSION OF THE
RAILWAY SYSTEM.

The directors of the Railway now began to see daylight; and they derived
encouragement from the skilful manner in which their engineer had
overcome the principal difficulties of the undertaking. He had formed a
solid road over Chat Moss, and thus achieved one "impossibility;" and he
had constructed a locomotive that could run at a speed of 30 miles an
hour, thus vanquishing a still more formidable difficulty.

A single line of way was completed over Chat Moss by the 1st of January,
1830; and on that day, the "Rocket" with a carriage full of directors,
engineers, and their friends, passed along the greater part of the road
between Liverpool and Manchester. Mr. Stephenson continued to direct his
close attention to the improvement of the details of the locomotive,
every successive trial of which proved more satisfactory. In this
department he had the benefit of the able and unremitting assistance of
his son, who, in the workshops at Newcastle, directly superintended the
construction of the new engines required for the public working of the
railway. He did not by any means rest satisfied with the success,
decided though it was, which had been achi