thus, in addition to his Newcastle works he became a flourishing
colliery proprietor. It is pleasing to note that Stephenson, unlike too
many other self-made men, always treated his workmen with the greatest
kindness and consideration, erecting admirable cottages for their
accommodation, and providing them with church, chapel, and schools for
their religious and social education.

While living at Alton Grange, Stephenson was engaged in laying out
several new lines in the middle and north of England, especially the
Grand Junction and the Midland, both of which he constructed with great
boldness and practical skill. As he grew older and more famous, he began
to mix in the truly best society of England; his acquaintance being
sought by all the most eminent men in literature, science, and political
life. Though but an uneducated working man by origin, George Stephenson
had so improved his mind by constant thought and expansive self-
education, that he was able to meet these able and distinguished friends
of his later days on terms of perfect intellectual and social equality.
To the last, however, he never forgot his older and poorer friends, nor
was he ever ashamed of their acquaintance. A pleasant trait is narrated
by his genial biographer, Dr. Smiles, who notices that on one occasion
he stopped to speak to one of his wealthy acquaintances in a fine
carriage, and then turned to shake hands with the coachman on the box,
whom he had known and respected in his earlier days. He enjoyed, too,
the rare pleasure of feeling his greatness recognized in his own time:
and once, when he went over to Brussels on a visit to the king of the
Belgians, he was pleased and surprised, as the royal party entered the
ball-room at the Town Hall, to hear a general murmur among the guests of
"Which is Stephenson?"

George Stephenson continued to live for sixteen years, first at Alton