had a private interview with him, when he is said to have been easy and self-possessed while explaining to him the structure of the Belgian coalfields, with the rise and progress of trade and manufactures, which were so closely dependent for their existence on these coalfields. In 1845 he visited Spain, in order to report on "The Royal North of Spain Railway," but his report was so unfavourable that the scheme was abandoned.

Towards the close of his days, George Stephenson lived the life of a country gentleman, and began to take a greater interest than he had ever previously time or opportunity to do in horticultural pursuits. He built melon-houses, pineries, and vineries, and workmen were continually busied in his garden. He also carried on farming operations to some extent. His old love for birds and other animals returned, and he soon knew every bird's nest in the neighbourhood. He read few books, loving to gather most of his information from intelligent conversation, and the most of his letters were dictated. His simple tastes in eating and drinking continued to the last, and he could still enjoy a bowl of "crowdie," a dish made with oatmeal and boiling water-a reminiscence of his pitman days. He despised foppery of all kinds, and one day when a young man, desirous to be an engineer, came to him for advice, flourishing a goldheaded cane, he said, "Put by that stick, my man, and then I will speak to you." To another affectedly-dressed young man he one day said, "You will, I hope Mr. excuse me; I am a plain-spoken person, and am sorry to see a nice-looking and rather clever young man like you disfigured with that finepatterned waistcoat, and all these chains and fang-dangs. If I, sir, had bothered my head with such things when at your age, I would not have been where I am now." Occasionally he

would visit old scenes at Newcastle, but generally avoided, if possible, what was called fine company; he also refused Sir Robert Peel's offers of knighthood. Projectors of various kinds would seek his advice on subjects connected with mechanical engineering. During the last year of his life Mr. Stephenson met Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great American thinker and writer. Emerson afterwards remarked "that it was worth crossing the Atlantic to have seen Stephenson alone; he had such native force of character and vigour of intellect." Universally respected, and simple-minded and upright to the last, George Stephenson passed away on the 12th August, 1848, in his sixty-seventh year.

Dr. Smiles has drawn the following word-portrait of the great engineer:-"His fair, clear countenance was ruddy, and seemingly glowed with health. The forehead was large and high, projecting over the eyes; and there was that massive breadth across the lower part, which is usually observed in men of eminent constructive skill. The mouth was firmly marked; and shrewdness and humour lurked there as well as in the keen grey eye. His frame was compact, well-knit, and rather spare. His hair became grey at an early age, and towards the close of his life it was of a pure silky whiteness. He dressed neatly in black, wearing a white neck-cloth; and his face, his person, and his deportment at once arrested attention, and marked the gentleman." A hall devoted to scientific, literary, and educational purposes, and costing £13,000, has been erected to his memory at Chesterfield, where he once resided for a time.

His distinguished son Robert only survived him eleven years. His death took place in 1859, when in his fifty-sixth year, and he received the honour of a public funeral, and was interred in Westminster Abbey. He designed the high-level bridge across

the Tyne at Newcastle, and with Sir William Fairbairn of Manchester he divides the honour of the Conway and Britannia tubular bridges in North Wales. The honour of the invention of the tubular system of bridge-building rests with Fairbairn. The tubular bridge across the St. Lawrence at Montreal was also Stephenson's design.

SIR JAMES Y. SIMPSON.

ATHGATE, a town of over 5000 inhabitants, lies in a district rich in coal, shale, ironstone, and limestone, about eighteen miles west from Edinburgh. Looking southwards from the slope of the hill overlooking the town, the eye meets the line of the Pentlands, intersected with deep valleys and ravines; the country between is dotted with oil-works, which at night look like a village on fire. Eastward Arthur's Seat and Edinburgh Castle loom largely through the haze of distance; westward is an undulating agricultural tract; northwards the eye meets the blue line of the Firth of Forth, extending upwards towards Stirling. The town probably did not number over 3000 inhabitants when James Young Simpson was born there, 7th June, 1811. His immediate ancestry on both father and mother's side came of a good farmer's stock. Further back, on his mother's side, he was allied with the gentle blood of Scotland; on the father's side with a race of vigorous limb, strong will, and great shrewdness and industry. His father's name was David Simpson, and his mother's Mary Jarvey. At the time of the birth of the seventh son and eighth child, the fortunes of David Simpson were at a very low ebb. The drawings in the baker's shop, on the day on which James Y. Simpson was born, amounted to 8s. 3d. Mrs. Simpson, a

woman of energy and tact, discovering this state of affairs, turned her attention to the details of the business, which afterwards continued fairly prosperous.

Mary Simpson was one of the best of mothers, always displaying much force of character, along with a quiet, loving disposition. She died when James was nine years of age, but the memory of her prayers remained with him through life. The cares of the household then fell upon his only sister Mary. He was sent to school when four years of age. His school tasks were easy work for him, and his love of knowledge and of a good bone of fact were insatiable; so much so, that on overhearing some one say that "the Bible and Shakespeare are the best books in the world," he remarked, "The Bible and Shakespeare, and Oliver & Boyd's Almanac! At least I know the Almanac would have been the greatest prize for me when a boy." At home he was gentle and obliging, and made himself useful in the shop, and in delivering bread around the neighbourhood. He never felt the straits of pinching poverty which so nearly threatened his elder brothers, the business having prospered from the date of his birth. During one of his earliest visits to Edinburgh he made his way direct to Greyfriars Churchyard, where he copied an inscription on one of the tombstones.

With an early longing for student life he entered Edinburgh University at the age of fourteen, attending the junior Greek and Humanity classes in session 1825-26, under Professors Dunbar and Pillans. In 1827-28 he enrolled as a student of medicine, and during the same session attended the classes of Natural Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, and the third Greek class. When entering on his second session he was fortunate enough to secure a bursary of the value of £10, tenable for three