received from his Edinburgh teachers.

In 1819 George married again, his second wife being the daughter of
a farmer at Black Callerton.

The work which finally secured the position of George Stephenson
and of his dearly loved locomotive was the Stockton and Darlington
railway. Like all the other early railways, it was originally
projected simply as a mineral line. Darlington lies in the centre
of a rich inland mining district; but the impossibility of getting
the coal carried to the sea by cart or donkey, long prevented the
opening up of its immense natural wealth. At last, as early as
1817, Edward Pease and a few other enterprising Darlington Quakers
determined to build a line of railway from the mining region to
Stockton, on the river Tees, where the coal could be loaded into
sea-going ships. It was a very long line, compared to any railway
that had yet been constructed; but it was still only to be worked
by horse-power--to be, in fact, what we now call a tramway, rather
than a railway in the modern sense. However, while the plan was
still undecided, George Stephenson, who had heard about the
proposed scheme, went over to Darlington one day, and boldly asked
to see Mr. Pease. The good Quaker received him kindly, and
listened to his arguments in favour of the locomotive. "Come over
to Killingworth some day and see my engine at work," said
Stephenson, confidently; "and if you do you will never think of
horses again." Mr. Pease, with Quaker caution, came and looked.
George put the engine through its paces, and showed off its
marvellous capabilities to such good effect that Edward Pease was
immediately converted. Henceforth, he became a decided advocate of
locomotives, and greatly aided by his wealth and influence in