III
GEORGE STEPHENSON
[The bill for the charter of the Liverpool and Manchester railway
was referred to the Committee of the House of Commons, March 21,
1825. The canal companies had employed able counsel to oppose it.
A month was consumed before the company's engineer, Mr. George
Stephenson, was called by the Committee. The following account of
his first day's examination is from his fascinating biography by
Dr. Samuel Smiles.]
On the 25th George Stephenson was called into the witness-box. It
was his first appearance before a committee of the House of
Commons, and he well knew what he had to expect. He was aware
that the whole force of the opposition was to be directed against
him; and if they could break down his evidence, the canal
monopoly might yet be upheld for a time. Many years afterward,
when looking back at his position on this trying occasion, he
said: "When I went to Liverpool to plan a line from thence to
Manchester, I pledged myself to the directors to attain a speed
of ten miles an hour. I said I had no doubt the locomotive might
be made to go much faster, but that we had better be moderate at
the beginning. The directors said I was quite right; for that if,
when they went to Parliament, I talked of going at a greater rate
than ten miles an hour, I should put a cross upon the concern.
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