Justiniani, Justini, Leonis, Novella Constitutiones,' &c., Græce, the only work that he edited in the year 1558. After a series of years the Augsburg merchants appear to have become tired of supporting the great printer. In a collection of letters of Stephens, published by Passow in 1830, there are some which show that Stephens wanted them to advance him a small sum of money which they had promised, and that at length after much correspondence they did not keep their promise. In consequence of this his connection with the Fuggers ceased in 1576. In the year 1559 H. Stephens published his edition of Diodorus Siculus in fol., in which ten books of this historian were printed for the first time. The manuscript which he used for this edition is now in the public library of Geneva. Other publications of this year are, Appian's Hispanica et Annibalica,' with a Latin translation by Beraldus in 8vo, and Gentium et Familiarum Romanarum Stemmata,' &c., in fol. In this year his father Robert died at Geneva, and Henry was appointed executor of his will, in which he was also enjoined to take care of his brothers. Robert, one of his brothers, had been, as it appears, disinherited by the father because he would not abandon the Roman Catholic faith and follow his father to Geneva. Accordingly the printing establishment of Robert, the father, came into the hands of Henry, who continued to publish theological works and several editions of the Bible. H. Stephens appears now to have given up his establishment at Paris, and to have devoted himself to the management of that at Geneva. In the year 1555 H. Stephens married for the first time, but in 1564 or 1565 he himself states that his wife died. He afterwards married again, for the letters published by Passow show that about the year 1581 he became a widower a second time. On his death in 1598, he left a wife surviving, from which it appears that he was married thrice. By his three wives he had altogether 14 children, ten of whom died at an early age. In 1560 he published a collection of the lyric poets of Greece with a Latin translation in 16mo, which has been often reprinted. In the year following appeared his edition of Xenophon in fol., for which he had collated a great number of manuscripts, and to which he added a commentary and a Latin translation. An improved edition was published in 1581. During the last two years H. Stephens was in bad health and subject to melancholy, arising from overexertion and the heavy cares that devolved upon him after his father's death. In this state he scarcely worked at all; he almost conceived a disgust for literary occupations, and could not bear the sight of a book. But the renewed activity into which he was drawn unconsciously in 1562, restored him to health. The work which roused him to fresh exertion was a Latin translation of 'Sexti Philosophi Pyrrhoniarum Hypoty pose on Libri Tres.' The Greek original of this work was not printed until 1621. It must have been soon after his recovery that Stephens began his greatest work, the 'Thesaurus Linguæ Græcæ,' upon which he spent ten years. In 1564 he wrote and published a Dictionarium Medicum, vel Expositiones Vocum Græcarum Medicinalium, ad Verbum, excerpta ex Hippocrate, Aretæo, &c., cum Latina Interpretatione, in 8vo. In this work he received some assistance from J. M. Gesner; it was highly spoken of by contemporary scholars, with the exception of Jos. Scaliger, who censured it severely, but he appears to have had a personal pique against Stephens. In this year Stephens edited a still-useful collection of Fragmenta Poetarum Latinorum, quorum Opera non extant,' &c. in 8vo, and an edition of Thucydides with the Scholia, and a Latin translation by L. Valla. In 1566 he published, among other books, his Florilegium' of Greek Epigrams; 'Poetæ Græci Principes Heroici Carminis et alii nonnulli,' &c., in fol., which is most beautifully printed, and his edition of Herodotus with Valla's translation and his own Apologia pro Herodoto,' which he himself afterwards translated into French. Passing over a great number of valuable publications which appeared from 1566 till 1572, we proceed to the year 1572, in which the Greek Thesaurus was published under the title "Thesaurus Græcæ Linguæ ab Henrico Stephano constructus. In quo præter alia plurima quæ primus præstitit (paternæ in Thesauro Latino Diligentiæ æmulus) Vocabula in certas Classes distribuit, multiplici Derivationum Serie ad Primigenia tanquam ad Radices unde pullulant revocata,' with the appendix and index, 5 vols. fol. This work made an epoch in the history of Greek philology, as well as in the life of the author, who had embarked in it nearly all his property. The price of this prodigious work was necessarily high, and accordingly it could not have many purchasers. When Scapula some years afterwards published his cheap abridgement [SCAPULA], the sale was nearly stopped, and Stephens became involved in great difficulties. It has been supposed by some that Stephens soon after published a second edition of his Thesaurus, but this opinion has merely arisen from the fact that he cancelled a number of pages of the original edition, and inserted new ones in their place. In 1745 Daniel Scott published, in 2 vols. fol., 'Appendix ad Thesaurum ab H. Stephano constructum.' A new edition of the Thesaurus was published in London (1815-28) in 7 vols. fol., with numerous additions by Barker, which however have not increased the value of the book. A new edition is now in course of publication at Paris, which is edited by Hase, and L. and W. Dindorf, and of which 7 vols. fol. and some parts of an 8th vol. have been published. (1857.) 6 It appears to have been owing to the pecuniary difficulties in which Stephens was involved after the publication of his Thesaurus,' that, in order to divert his mind, he made various excursions in France and Germany, but he always took the opportunity of exploring libraries and comparing manuscripts, and thus collected vast quantities of materials for works which he was publishing or projecting. In 1573 he published an edition of all the extant works of M. Terentius Varro in 8vo, and a collection of the fragments of the philosophical poets of Greece. The year following he produced an excellent edition of Apollonius Rhodius with the ancient scholia and a commentary by himself. In 1575 there appeared his collection of the Greek orators, some of which are accompanied by a Latin translation; and Arrian's Expeditio Alexandri Magni,' &c., with a Latin translation. In 1577 he published, among other books, an edition of Cicero's Epistolæ ad Familiares,' in 2 vols. 8vo; the second volume contains the com. mentaries of P. Manutius, Lambinus, Sigonius, Canter, and of Stephens himself. In 1578 he brought out his magnificent edition of Plato's works, in 3 vols. folio; and in the same year he wrote a little French work, 'Deux Dialogues du Nouveau Langage François, Italianizé et autrement desguizé, principalement entre les Courtisans de ce Temps,' &c. (printed without name and date). This was an attack upon the fashion, very common at the time, of introducing Italian words into French. Stephens, after the manuscript had received the 'imprimatur' from the state-council of Geneva, had taken the liberty of making some additions, for which he was severely reprimanded by the council. Not thinking himself quite safe, or wishing to escape the annoyance to which this affair subjected him, he went, towards the end of 1578, to Paris, where he remained during the whole of 1579. Henry III. received him very kindly, and interested himself so much on Stephens's behalf, that he demanded of the council of Geneva permission for Stephens to return, and to clear himself from the charges which were brought against him. Stephens returned to Geneva, and was placed at the bar of the consistory, where he was treated with rigour and harshness, and for some days was put into prison. When Stephens at last owned that he had acted wrong, he was set at liberty. During the stay which H. Stephens had made at Paris in 1579 he had a conversation with the king, in which he expatiated very ingeniously on the superiority of the French language over other modern tongues; and the king, delighted with this eulogy on the French language, persuaded him to write a book on the subject. This book was published in the course of the same year, De la Precellence du Langage François,' 8vo, Paris, 1579. The king, pleased with the performance, ordered 3000 francs to be paid to Stephens from the public treasury, and also granted him an annual pension of 300 francs; but from the manner in which Stephens, in his Musa Principum Monitrix,' speaks of this affair, it appears that he never received anything at all, for the treasurer at that time was a person of much more consequence in such matters than the king. In 1581 Stephens published 'Juris Civilis Fontes et Rivi,' &c., in 8vo; and, as is commonly supposed, also Sigonii Fasti Consulares.' The latter he printed without the sanction of the Council of Geneva, and was in consequence fined 25 thalers. This edition of the Fasti' of Sigonius, if it was really published by Stephens, must have been suppressed, for there is no trace of it now. H. Stephens spent the year 1585 again at Paris, where he published an excellent edition of A. Gellius and of Macrobius, both in 8vo. The former is preceded by a very interesting letter to his son Paul, from which, besides many other things, we learn that about this time his country-house had been destroyed by an earthquake, a loss which he bore with stoical indifference. In 1588 he published an edition of the Iliad' and 'Odyssey,' with a Latin translation. During the time that Stephens enjoyed the friendship of the King of France, he spent a great part of his time at Paris. His publi cations during this period greatly decreased in number, and some of them were executed by Paris printers. His own establishment at Geneva was neglected. He was constantly travelling about, and he published his works wherever he happened to be, as at Paris, Frankfurt, Basel, &c. From this fact it has been erroneously supposed that he had separate printing-establishments in these places. He often resolved to give up this wandering life, and was seriously exhorted by his friends to attend to his business; but the charms of a court life and the habit of travelling had now become strong, and he was dazzled by splendour and deceived by the hopes which he placed in the great. The years 1588 and 1589 he appears however to have spent at Geneva, and several works again issued from his press; but in 1590 no work came out at Geneva, and only one (Principum Monitrix Musa') at Frankfurt, where he appears to have spent some time. In this year Henri III. of France was murdered. The affairs of Stephens now grew worse and worse: his warehouses were full of books which he could not sell. In the year 1597 he left Geneva for France. He first stayed for some time at Montpellier, where Florence, one of his daughters, resided, who was married to Isaac Casaubon. Casaubon was just preparing his edition of Athenæus, and Stephens offered his assistance, which was refused. He then proceeded through various other places to Lyon, where he was taken ill; and feeling solitary and forlorn, and having no friends there, he was carried to a public hospital, where he died, in the beginning of March 1598, at the age of nearly seventy years. Some writers say that he died out of his mind, a statement which, if true, can only apply to the last few days of his life. It is a mistake to suppose that Stephens died in poverty because he died in an hospital; for the proceeds of his books alone, which were publicly sold and fetched low prices, were sufficient to pay his creditors and to leave something for his wife and children. Stephens died without a will; and Casaubon, who went to Geneva to receive his wife's dowry, which was still owing, together with her share of the inheritance, was generous enough to leave Henry's library, manuscripts, and printing-establishment, in the hands of his son Paul. There is no scholar to whom the Greek language and literature is under greater obligations than it is to Henry Stephens. He knew his superiority, and sometimes showed that he felt it. The number of books which he printed, edited, or wrote, is immense; and it is truly astonishing that, even during the rambling life of his latter years, he was continually producing new works. During the earlier part of his life he was a man of inflexible resolution, and never rested till he had effected his purpose; and he was always planning something, even to the last days of his life. He has often been censured for his alteration of passages in ancient writers without being supported by the authority of manuscripts, and without even assigning a reason for his alterations. This has been said more especially in regard to his edition of Plutarch, which came out in the same year that he published his Thesaurus; but Wyttenbach, on examining several manuscripts for his own edition, found that H. Stephens was in most cases supported by manuscript authority. ROBERT STEPHENS II., the youngest son of Robert Stephens 1., and brother of Henry Stephens II., was born at Paris in 1530. The first time that we find him taking part in the publication of a work was in 1556, when he and Morel, who was then royal printer, published the edition of Anacreon prepared by H. Stephens. The title of royal printer' was conferred upon Robert in 1561, as appears from some books printed by him in this year, at the same time that he came into possession of the printing-office of Charles Stephens. In this office he continued till his death. In activity and accurate and beautiful printing he was worthy of his father, but this is all that we know of him. As royal printer he was much employed in printing edicts and ordonnances, as may be seen from the list of his publications by Renouard. He died in 1570. Among his publications we only mention the following::-a reprint of the Historical Dictionary ('Dictionarium Propriorum Nominum Virorum, Mulierum, Populorum, &c.') of Charles Stephens, 4to, 1560; Josephi Scaligeri Conjectanea in M. Terent. Varronem, 1565; and several editions of Donatus, 'De Partibus Orationis.' After his death his wife married again, and kept up the printing establishment. There are publications down to the year 1588, Ex officina Roberti Stephani.' ROBERT STEPHENS III., son of Robert Stephens II., was educated by the poet and abbé Desportes, who inspired him with a love for poetry, and with whom he appears to have stayed at least till 1584. He did not commence printing till 1606, so that eighteen years elapsed without a publication appearing from the press of Robert Stephens. His first publication was D. Gregorii Nysseni ad Eustathiam, Ambrosiam, Basilissam, Epistola, Græce. I. Casaubonus nunc primum publicavit, Latine vertit et notis illustravit,' 8vo, Lutetiæ, 1606. He probably worked in the printing establishment which had belonged to his father, and printed till his death in 1630. He distinguished himself also by his Latin, Greek, and French verses, and by a French translation of the first two books of Aristotle's 'Rhetoric,' which was printed in 8vo, 1630. In his publications he generally added to his name the letters R. F. R. N., that is Roberti Filius, Roberti Nepos, to distinguish himself from his father and grandfather. He printed a great number of books; the principal are, Menandri et Philistionis Sententiæ Comparatæ, Græce, ex Bibliotheca Regia; cum notis, cura N. Rigaltii,' 8vo, Lutetiæ, 1613; 'D. Junii Juvenalis Satyrarum Libri v. Sulpicia Satyra, Cura Rigaltii, &c.,' Lutet., 1616; Dictys Cretensis, De Bello Trojano, et Dares Phrygius De Excidio Troja,' &c., 16mo, 1618. There are several other members of the Stephens family of the name of Robert, but none of them were distinguished. During the last century there was a French writer of the name of Robert Stephens (Robert Etienne), who claimed a descent from the illustrious family of printers. PAUL STEPHENS, a son of Henry Stephens II., by his second wife, was born at Geneva in 1566. He received his early education at home, and was then sent out by his father to visit the principal towns of Europe, and the distinguished scholars with whom his father was acquainted. Lipsius, whom he visited at Leyden, was much pleased with him, and in one of his letters calls him 'mitis adolescens.' On his return to Geneva he assisted his father in printing and editing. He afterwards made several other journeys, partly perhaps in connection with the business of his father. In 1594 he spent some time in London, where, among other distinguished men, he made the acquaintance of John Castolius. In 1595 he was at Heidelberg, and in 1596 at Frankfort, where he stayed in the house of the jurist Dionysius Gothofredus. He had married in 1589. His first literary production was Pauli Stephani Versiones Epigrammatum Græcorum Anthologiæ, Latinis versibus,' 8vo, Geneva, 1593. He was always fond of BIOG. DIV. VOL. V. making Latin verses, but his poetry is stiff and unanimated. His best is perhaps the poem on the death of his father. After the death of his father, when the affairs of the family were settled, and Casaubon had left Geneva, Paul was placed at the head of his father's printing establishment (1599), which he conducted with great energy. He first reprinted a number of classical authors which had been edited by his father, and were then out of print, such as Virgil, Horace, the letters of Pliny, and the Latin panegyrists and others. The two works which do him most credit are Euripidis Tragoedia quæ extant, cum Lat. Guil. Canteri Interpretatione,' &c., containing the Greek scholia and commentaries of several scholars, 2 vols. 4to, 1602; and 'Sophoclis Tragoedia Septem, unà cum omnibus Græcis Scholiis et Latina Viti Windemii ad verbum Interpretatione,' &c., likewise containing the scholia, and also notes by H. Stephens. In 1619 he printed a folio edition of Herodotus, founded upon that of his father, with a Latin translation and notes by Sylburg. No other publication issued from his press till 1626, when he published a fifth edition of the lyric Greek poets: 'Pindari et ceterorum Octo Lyricorum Carmina.' This was his last publication. The inactivity in his establishment during the last years appears to have been the consequence of his want of capital, to which we may perhaps also attribute the fact that most of his works are printed on very bad paper. In 1626 or 1627 he sold his whole establishment to the brothers Clouet. It is not known what became of him after this, but it is believed he died soon after. He had eight children, two of whom only, Anthony and Joseph, survived their father. FRANCIS STEPHENS II, son of Robert Stephens I., and an elder brother of Henry Stephens IL, followed his father to Geneva, and is said to have been a good Greek and Latin scholar. After the death of his father he established at Geneva a printing-office of his own, which he con. ducted from 1562 to 1582, with an interruption however of nearly ten years. Even during the remaining ten years he printed very few books, and most of them for publishers: this appears to have been owing to his want of capital. The first work, and almost the only one that he printed on his own account, was Calvin's 'Commentaries on the Psalms,' fol., 1563. His last publication was Amyot's French translation of the 'Moralia' of Plutarch, 2 vols. fol., 1581-82. After this time he gave up printing and settled in Normandy, and we hear no more about him. ANTHONY STEPHENS, son of Paul Stephens, was born at Geneva in 1592. He studied at Lyon, and afterwards finished his education at Paris, where he abjured Protestantism before Cardinal du Perron. In 1612 he obtained letters-patent of naturalisation in France, and at the same time the office of huissier de l'assemblée du clergé, with a salary of 500 francs, which he held until the year 1635. Long before this time however he had been in the possession of a printing establishment. Some writers mention a work by Perron, which Anthony Stephens is said to have printed in 1605. But this cannot possibly be correct, as Anthony was then only thirteen years old. The earliest work which he printed belongs to the year 1613, and henceforth he conducted his establishment with an activity worthy of his great ancestors until the year 1664. He was also honoured with the title of royal printer, through the influence of Cardinal Perron, and he received a pension of 600 francs, but the time when he first received it is uncertain. The pension was stopped when Perron died, and Anthony after this was several times in great pecuniary difficulties. Among his numerous publications, which comprise all the works of Perron, there are several valuable editions of ancient authors, such as Casaubon's edition of Strabo, 1620; of Plutarch's Works, with Xylander's translation, 2 vols. fol., 1624; Leunclavius's edition of Xenophon,' 1625; Aristotle's Works, 2 vols. fol., 1629. For many years after the death of his patron Anthony was in very straitened circumstances, and was supported by his son Henry, who, from the year 1646, had a printing office of his own, where, among other works, Montaigne's Essays' were printed. When his son died in 1661, and Anthony was deprived of his last and only support, he sank rapidly: he became infirm, and at last lost his sight. In this state he dragged on a wretched existence until the year 1674, when he died in the HôtelDieu at Paris, at the age of eighty-two. He had six children, all of whom died before him. Besides the members of the Stephens family whom we have mentioned above, there are two more, who however were never engaged in printing. The one is Henry Stephens, a son of Robert Stephens II., who was treasurer of the royal palaces; the other likewise called Henry, and a son of the former, acquired some reputation as a poet, and also wrote some other works in French. Respecting the lives of the Stephens, see Th. Jansonii ab Almeloveen, Dissertatio Epistolica de Vitis Stephanorum,' Amsterdam, 1685; Maittaire, 'Stephanorum Historia,' 2 vols. in 4 parts, London, 1709, which contains a list, though not complete, of their publications; Greswell, A View of the early Parisian Greek Press, including the lives of the Stephani,' Oxford, 1833; Ant. Aug. Renouard, 'Annales de l'Imprimerie des Etienne, ou Histoire de la Famille des Etienne et de ses éditions,' 2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1837. This last work contains in the first volume a very complete list of all the publications of the Stephens, and various unpublished and important facts, derived from the public records of Paris and Geneva. See also Firmin Didot, ‘Essai sur la Typographie'; and Gaullieur, Typographie Genevoise,' 1855, 2 z STEPHENS, JAMES FRANCIS, a distinguished British entomologist, was born at Shoreham, Sussex, on the 16th of September 1792. He was for many years a clerk in the Admiralty Office in Somerset House. Whilst holding this position he devoted his leisure bours to the study of natural history, and was a remarkable example of the knowledge that may be gained by the cultivation of the small portion of time allotted for rest in a government office. In the course of a long life he made one of the most complete collections of British insects extant. This collection was the admiration of foreigners and the constant resort of the British entomologist. Mr. Stephens's taste for entomology led early to his employment in the British Museum, where he assisted Dr. Leach in commencing the present collection of insects in that institution. The literature of entomology is largely indebted for his contributions. In 1829 he commenced the publication of his 'Illustrations of British Entomology,' which was produced in parts and completed in 10 vols. This is one of the largest and most comprehensive works on British entomology, and must secure for its author a lasting name amongst the cultivators of the natural history of his own country. In addition to this splendid work, he published several papers on entomological subjects, which appeared in the Transactions of the Entomological Society.' He also was engaged at the time of his death in writing a catalogue of the British Lepidoptera in the collections of the British Museum. He also published separately The Systematic Catalogue of British Insects,' and 'A Manual of the British Coleoptera.' Although distinguished as an entomologist, he took an interest in all branches of natural history, and was the author of a continuation of Shaw's 'Zoology' comprising an account of the Birds, published in 1827. He was a fellow of the Linnæan Society, and president of the Entomological Society. He died on the 22nd of December 1852, at his house in Kennington, after a few days' illness of inflammation of the lungs. STEPHENSON, GEORGE, the inventor of the locomotive steamengine, was the son of Robert Stephenson and Mabel Carr, and was born June 9th, 1781, at Wylam, a village in Northumberland, where his father was employed as fireman at a colliery; he afterwards removed to Dewley Burn in the same county, where George's first employment was to herd cows, occupying his leisure in modelling clay engines, and even constructing a miniature windmill. He soon began to be employed about the colliery, during which time he displayed a great affection for birds and animals, particularly rabbits, of which he acquired the reputation of having a fine breed. At fourteen years of age he was appointed assistant-fireman to his father, who soon after removed to another colliery at Jolly's Close, where George, then only fifteen, was engaged as fireman to an engine in the neighbourhood. Ambitious of becoming an efficient workman, he strove to attain a thorough knowledge of the engine, and he succeeded so well that at seventeen he was promoted to be a 'plugman,' whose duty it was to see that the engine was in proper working condition, and that the pumps drew off the water effectually, repairing such accidental defects as might occur. To do this he felt required an intimate knowledge of its construction, and at his leisure hours he would take the machinery to pieces, that he might the better understand it. His father, who had six children, of whom George was the second, had been unable to give them any education, though by example a sound foundation of good principles and morals had been laid, and at eighteen, whilst employed for twelve hours a day in his labours, and earning only twelve shillings a week, George Stephenson commenced a course of self-culture. He attended a small night-school at Walbottle, where in a year he learnt to read, and to write his own name, for which instruction he paid threepence a week. He next, in 1799, placed himself under a Scotchman named Robertson, at Newburn, who, for fourpence a week, taught him arithmetic, which he acquired with remarkable facility. At twenty he had been advanced to the superior office of brakesman, with increased wages, to which he added, in his leisure hours, by learning to make and mend shoes. At that time he was a big, raw-boned fellow, fond of displaying his strength and activity at the village feasts, but remarkable for his temperance, sobriety, industry, and good-temper, yet on one occasion he fought a bully who would have oppressed him, and his victory on that occasion secured him ever after from a repetition of the offence. having been accidentally scalded and blinded by a discharge of steam let in upon him while repairing an engine. Stephenson paid his father's debts at the expense of more than half his savings, and settled his parents in a cottage, where they lived during many years entirely supported by him. He was immediately re-engaged in his old position at Killingworth, but being drawn for the militia, the obtaining a substitute absorbed the remainder of the produce of his economy, and he seriously contemplated emigrating to America, whither his wife's sister and her husband went; but he could not raise money enough to accompany them. He therefore continued his various labours, attending the engine, mending clocks, making and mending shoes, and studying mechanics. His acquired knowledge and mechanical skill enabled him to suggest improvements to his employers, and in 1810 a new engine in the neighbourhood having failed in its work, Stephenson was called in to mend it, which he did most effectually. He received for this job a present of 107., and was promoted to the post of engineman at good wages. Whilst thus engaged he formed an intimacy with a farmer named Wigham, at Long Benton, whose son John proved of great assistance to him by increasing his acquaintance with arithmetic, and with some of the principles of mechanism and chemistry; and in 1812 his merit was so far recognised that he was appointed engineer of the colliery, at a salary of 1007. a year. He was now elevated above the rank of a mere labourer, but he was not less busy. He projected and carried out many improvements, and among others constructed at the coal-loading place at Willington, the first self-acting incline used in that district, by which the descending laden waggons on the tram-road were made to draw up the empty waggons. The most important epoch of Stephenson's life was now approaching. Many attempts had been made to construct a locomotive steam-engine, and some had attained a certain degree of success, but none had suc ceeded in uniting economy with efficiency. Mr. Stephenson carefully examined all within his reach, and at length declared his conviction that he could make a better than any yet produced. He communicated his proposal to his employers: one of them was Lord Ravensworth, who, after giving him a patient hearing, commissioned him to make a trial of his skill. His object at first was only to make an engine for the colliery tramways, but even thus early he told his friends "that there was no limit to the speed of such an engine, if the works could be made to stand it." The difficulties he encountered were great; the engine was built in the workshops at West Moor, Killingworth; the chief workman was the colliery blacksmith, tools had to be made, and everything rested upon the designer of the machine. In ten months it was completed, and on July 25, 1814, it was placed on the railway, and was decidedly successful, drawing eight loaded carriages, weighing thirty tons, at the rate of four miles an hour. It was however a cumbrous affair, and he speedily saw in how many parts it could be improved. Accordingly, in February 1815, he took out a patent for a locomotive, and in the same year constructed an engine, which (with certain mechanical improvements, that though conceived by him to be necessary, could not be supplied by the manufactories at that time,) may be considered as the model of all that have been since produced. From Mr. Stephenson's connection with collieries he could scarcely avoid having his attention painfully excited, by the frequent explosions arising from fire-damp, and in 1814 one of the collieries under his care having taken fire, he, at great risk of his life, and with the assistance of the workmen, who trusted to his knowledge and skill, succeeded in extinguishing it by bricking up the passage where the foul air was accumulated. The constant danger from the use of exposed candles in coal-mines was so well known, that many inventors had attempted to produce lamps to meet the difficulty; and as early as 1813 a safety lamp was invented by Dr. Clanny, but it was found to be unmanageable. Sir Humphry Davy was invited to attempt something; for which purpose, among others, he visited Newcastle in August 1815, and on November 9 he read a paper on the construction of his lamp before the Royal Society of London. Mr. Stephenson was at the same time occupied on the same subject. In August he made a drawing for a lamp, which on October 21 had been made and tested; a second and a third were made, for the purpose of increasing the amount of light; and on November 30, before he could by any possi bility have heard of Davy's invention, his third lamp was finished and tried in Killingworth pit, where it was found thoroughly effective, and has ever since been in use. A controversy has arisen, into which we shall not enter, as to priority of invention. There is however every reason to believe that Stephenson invented his lamp and tried it a few days previous to Davy having announced his discovery; and the natural conclusion is, that, urged by the want of a safety-lamp, and reasoning from the same facts, the inventors arrived at the results independently of each other; for the two lamps, although different in construction, are founded upon identical principles, but arrived at by different trains of thought. When by the most rigid economy Stephenson had saved sufficient money to furnish a small home, he determined to settle, and on the 28th of November 1800 he married Fanny Henderson, with whom he removed to Willington, where he had been appointed brakesman to the engine employed for lifting the ballast brought by the return collier ships to Newcastle. In his new abode, at the Ballast Hills, he continued to occupy himself with mechanical experiments, expend ing much time and great ingenuity in a fruitless effort to obtain perpetual motion; until an accident having obliged him to repair his own clock, he became the general clock cleaner and mender for the neighbourhood, thus improving his own mechanical skill whilst adding to his income. On the 16th of December 1803 his only child Robert was born, and soon after he removed to Killingworth, where his wife We cannot attempt to trace all the improvements in details which died. In 1804 he was engaged to superintend the working of one of Mr. Stephenson introduced in the locomotive, but he very early Boulton and Watt's engines at Montrose; but after continuing there a perceived that, for its proper working, the railway required equal year during which time he saved about 281., a considerable sum in attention, and that a firm bed and a regular level were essential his circumstances, and during a period of war-prices of provisions-requisites. Very little attention had hitherto been paid to this, and he returned to Killingworth to find his father in extreme distress, the tramroads were carelessly laid out and not kept in good repair. In 1816 therefore he took out a patent for an improved form of rail In 1824, while the Darlington line was in progress, Mr. Stephenson, feeling the difficulty he had experienced in constructing his engines in a blacksmith's shop, proposed to Mr. Pease, of Darlington, his firm friend and great patron, the establishment of an engine-factory at Newcastle. The proposal was adopted, and for a considerable time it was the only manufactory for locomotives in the kingdom; it is now increased to an enormous extent, and has been the training-school, whence has issued a vast number of skilled workmen and eminent practical engineers. means. In 1824 the project of a railway, or tramroad between Liverpool and Manchester began to be agitated. Increased facility of communication was imperatively required, but there was much controversy as to the At length a railway was decided on, Mr. Stephenson was employed to make the survey, and application was made to parliament for an Act. A strong opposition was raised both within the House of Commons and without. Landowners drove the engineers off their grounds, and before the Committee the most absurd objections were urged against the whole scheme, the idea of any quick transit being a subject for especial ridicule. The Bill was however carried on a second application, and Mr. Stephenson was appointed principal engineer. The work was commenced in June 1826, and after struggling through many difficulties-one, and not the least, being the carrying the railway over Chat Moss-it was opened on Sept. 15, 1830. During its progress eminent engineers had reported against locomotives being worked on the line, recommending horse-traction; but at length Mr. Stephenson prevailed on the Directors to offer a prize for a locomotive engine, conforming to certain conditions, which was done, and the prize of 500l. was won by the Rocket engine, in the construction of which he had availed himself of the assistance of his son Robert. tions for assistance and advice from projectors and inventors of all kinds, to whom however he was invariably attentive and kind, he passed the remainder of his days in ease and peace, and died after a short illness on August 12, 1848, leaving a name rendered illustrious by the patient perseverance of a high-minded industry, and the widelydeveloped productions of a remarkable genius. A valuable biography of this eminent man has been written by Mr. S. Smiles, to which we are indebted for many of the facts in this notice. STEPHENSON, ROBERT, the son of the preceding, was born, as we have already said, at Willington, on December 16, 1803. His father, who had felt the want of early education, resolved that his son should not suffer from the same cause, and accordingly, though at the time he could ill afford it, sent him to a school at Long Benton, and in 1814 placed him with Mr. Bruce at Newcastle. Robert soon displayed a decided inclination for mechanics and science, and becoming a member of the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Institution, was enabled to take advantage of its library; so that, as the Saturday afternoons were spent with his father, the volume which he invariably took home with him, formed the subject of mutual instruction to father and son. Robert's assiduity attracted the attention of the Rev. Wm. Turner, one of the secretaries to the Institution, who readily assisted him in his studies, and was also of much service to his father with whom he soon after became acquainted. Under Mr. Bruce, Robert acquired the rudiments of a sound practical education, and under his father's direction was always ready to turn his acquirements to account. There still exists in the wall over the door of the cottage at Killingworth, a sun-dial of their joint production, of which the father was always proud. In 1818 Robert was taken from school and apprenticed to Mr. Nicholas Wood as a coal-viewer, acting as under-viewer, and making himself thoroughly acquainted with the machinery and processes of coal-mining. In 1820 however, his father being now somewhat richer, he was sent to Edinburgh University for a single session, where he attended the lectures of Dr. Hope on chemistry; those of Sir John Leslie on natural philosophy; and those of Professor Jamieson on geology and mineralogy. He returned home in the summer of 1821, having gained a mathematical prize, and acquired the most important knowledge of how best to proceed in his self-education. In 1822 he was apprenticed to his father, who had then commenced his locomotive manufactory at Newcastle, but after two years' strict attention to the business, finding his health failing, he accepted, in 1824, a commission to examine the gold and silver mines of South America, whence he was recalled by his father when the Liverpool and Manchester railway was in progress, and he reached home in December 1827. He took an active part in the discussion as to the use of locomotives on the line, and in conjunction with Mr. Joseph Locke, wrote an able pamphlet on the subject. He also greatly assisted his father in the construction of the successful engine, which we believe was entered in his name, though he himself ascribes the merit entirely to his father and Mr. Henry Booth, on whose suggestion the multitubular boiler was adopted. Robert Stephenson's next employment was the execution of a branch from the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, near Warrington, now forming a portion of the Grand Junction Railway, between Birmingham and Liverpool. Before this branch was completed, he undertook the survey and afterwards the construction of the Leicester and Swannington Railway, and on the completion of that work he commenced the survey of the line of the London and Birmingham Railway, of which he was ultimately appointed engineer, and removed to London. Under his direction the first sod was cut at Chalk Farm on June 1, 1834, and the line was opened on Sept. 15, 1838. Fully aware of the vital importance of obtaining good means of rapid transit, From this moment his fortune was made. Employment of a most he still continued to devote much of his time to improvements in the remunerative character poured in from all sides. Railways were pro- locomotive engine, which were from time to time carried out under jected in every direction, and he became the chief engineer of several his direction at the manufactory in Newcastle, which for some years of them. With these he was incessantly engaged till 1840, when he was exclusively devoted to engines of that class, and still supplies resigned most of them, and settled at Tapton in Derbyshire, where larger numbers than any other factory in the kingdom, independent of he commenced a fresh pursuit in working the Clay Cross collieries. At many marine and stationary engines. His engagements on different this time he took much interest in the well-doing of the Mechanics' lines of railway have since been very numerous, but he is more Institutes in his neighbourhood, and on more than one occasion related remarkable for the magnificent conceptions and the vastness of some to them the circumstances of his own career, as an encouragement to of his successfully-executed projects, such as the High Level Bridge the members to adopt a course of steady and persevering industry. over the Tyne at Newcastle, the viaduct (supposed to be the largest His interest in railway extension however continued unabated, and he in the world) over the Tweed valley at Berwick, and the Britannia took an active part, either as engineer, chairman, or shareholder, in tubular bridge over the Menai Strait-a form of bridge of which there the Whitehaven and Maryport, the Yarmouth and Norwich, and the had been previously no example, and to which, considering its length Newcastle and Edinburgh East Coast Line, with which the stupendous and the enormous weight it would have to sustain, the objections and work of the High Level Bridge at Newcastle (designed by his son), difficulties seemed almost insuperable. With the assistance however is connected; he was one of the committee of management, but he of Professor Hodgkinson, Mr. Edwin Clark, and Mr. Fairbairn in did not live to see it completed. He was also employed in Belgium, experiments on the best forms of the various portions of the strucand he travelled into Spain to inspect a proposed line from the ture, the difficulties were triumphantly overcome, and in less than Pyrenees to Madrid, but the project was fruitless. On his return four years the bridge was opened to the public on March 18, 1850. from Spain in 1845 he relinquished still more his attention to railway Mr. Stephenson has also been employed in the construction of many matters, and occupied himself almost entirely with his collieries foreign railways. He was consulted, with his father, as to the Belgian and lime-works, with the cultivation of his farm and gardens, and lines; also for a line in Norway between Christiania and Lake Miösen, indulged in his old fancy for keeping birds and animals. With the for which he received the grand cross of the order of St. Olaf from the exception of promoting the Ambergate and Manchester Railway, king of Sweden; and also for one between Florence and Leghorn, inventing a new self-acting break, of attending the ceremony of opening about sixty miles in length. He visited Switzerland for the purpose the Trent Valley Railway (when Sir Robert Peel made a speech com- of giving his opinions as to the best system of railway communicaplimentary to him), and of being considerably troubled by application. He designed and is now constructing the Victoria tubular bridge over the St. Lawrence, near Montreal, on the model of that over the Menai Strait, in connection with the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, for uniting Canada West with the western states of the United States of America. He has recently completed the railway between Alexandria and Cairo, a distance of 140 miles, and has, during its construction, several times visited Egypt. On the line there are two tubular bridges; one over the Damietta branch of the Nile, and the other over the large canal near Besket-al-Saba. The peculiarity of the structures is that the trains run on the outside upon the top of the tube instead of inside, as in the case of the Britannia Bridge. He is now constructing an immense bridge across the Nile at Kaffre Azzayat, to replace the present Steam Ferry which is found to interfere too much with the rapid transit of passengers. In addition to his railway labours Mr. Stephenson has taken a general interest in public affairs and in scientific investigations. In 1847 he was returned as member of parliament, in the Conservative interest, for Whitby in Yorkshire, for which place he continues to sit. He has also acted with great liberality to the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society, paying off in 1855 a debt amounting to 31007. in gratitude, as he expressed it, for the benefits he derived in early life from that establishment, and to enable it to be as practically useful to other young men. He has most liberally placed at the disposal of Mr. Piazzi Smyth, his yacht and crew, to facilitate the interesting investigations undertaken by that gentleman at the Island of Teneriffe, and very valuable results have been obtained. He has been an honorary but active member of the London Sanitary and Sewerage Commissions; he is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers since 1830, of which institution he was member of council during the years 1845 to 1847, vice-president during those from 1848 to 1855, and president during the years 1856 and 1857. He has received a Great Gold Medal of honour from the French Exposition d'Industrie of 1855, and is said to have declined an offer of knighthood in Great Britain. He is also the author of a work 'On the Locomotive Steam-Engine,' and another On the Atmospheric Railway System,' published in 4to by Weale. [See SUPPLEMENT.] STEPNEY, GEORGE, descended from an ancient family in Pembrokeshire, was born in Westminster, in 1663. In 1676 he was sent to Westminster School, where he continued his studies till 1682, when he removed to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself in 1683 by a Latin ode on the marriage of the Princess Anne to Prince George of Denmark. He took the degree of M.A. in 1689. At Westminster he had formed a friendship with Charles Montague, afterwards Earl of Halifax, which was continued at Cambridge. They came to London together, and were both introduced into public life by the Earl of Dorset. Stepney's life, which was short, was chiefly spent in diplomatic employments. In 1692 he was sent as envoy to the Elector of Brandenburg; in 1693, to the Emperor of Germany; in 1694, to the Elector of Saxony. In 1695 he published a poem, dedicated to the memory of Queen Mary; in 1696 he went as envoy to the Electors of Mentz and Cologne, and to the congress at Frankfort; in 1698 to Brandenburg, in 1699 to the King of Poland, in 1701 to the Emperor, and in 1706 to the States-General. He was made one of the commissioners of trade in 1697. He died at Chelsea in 1707, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Stepney's poems are few, and of little value. He was one of the 'eminent hands' who were united with Dryden in the translation of 'Juvenal' in 1693. Johnson says, "he is a very licentious translator, and does not recompense the neglect of his author by beauties of his own." STERLING, JOHN, was born at Kaimes Castle, in the island of Bute, Scotland, on the 20th of July 1806. Both his parents were Irish by birth, though of Scottish descent; and his father, Edward Sterling (afterwards well known as a leading writer in, and editor of, the Times' newspaper, but then pursuing the occupation of a gentleman-farmer, after having been educated for the Irish bar, and having served for some time as a captain in the army) had rented Kaimes Castle a short time before his son's birth. John was the second child of seven, five of whom died while he was still a youth, leaving only himself and an elder brother, who survived him. In 1809, the family removed to Llanblethian, in Glamorganshire, Wales; and here John Sterling received his first school-education. His father about this time began to contribute to the Times' as an occasional correspondent; and the interest he thus took in politics, led him, on the peace of 1814, to remove again with his family to Paris. Driven from Paris by the return of Napoleon from Elba and the resumption of the war, the family in 1815 settled in London, where gradually the father rose to his eminent position in the world of politics and journalism. He was destined to outlive his son. After having been at various schools in or near London, Sterling was sent to the University of Glasgow; whence, after a brief stay, he was removed in 1824 to Trinity College, Cambridge. Here Julius Hare, afterwards Archdeacon of Lewes, was his tutor, and here he formed the acquaintance of various young men afterwards distinguished, including Frederick Maurice, Richard Trench, Spedding, J. M. Kemble, Venables, Charles Buller, and Monckton Milnes. In the Union Debating Club of Cambridge, of which these and others were members, Sterling was one of the chief speakers; and it was here perhaps that he first exhibited the qualities of intellect and character From Trinity which made him afterwards socially celebrated. College, Sterling removed, along with his friend Maurice, to Trinity Hall, with an intention of studying law; but in 1827 he left Cambridge altogether, without taking his degree. In 1828 the ‘Athenæum,' then recently started by Mr. Silk Buckingham, was purchased by Sterling, or at his instance, and he and Maurice conducted it and wrote in it for some time. The speculation however in their hands did not answer commercially, and the journal was sold to its present proprietor. Sterling, to whom it was not absolutely necessary that he should engage in any employment for his living, continued to reside in London, the centre of a circle of ardent and thoughtful young men, including not only his college friends, but such additions as John Stuart Mill. An eager radicalism of opinion was then Sterling's characteristic. It was about the year 1828 that he first became acquainted with Coleridge, then living his recluse life at Highgate; and Coleridge's influence on Sterling was great and enduring. It was evident in a three volume novel, entitled 'Arthur Coningsby,' which he wrote in 1829-30, but which was not published till a year or two later. In November 1830 he married; and shortly after, being in ill-health, he and his wife went to the West India island of St. Vincent, where a valuable sugar estate had been be queathed to him, his elder brother, and a cousin, by one of his mother's uncles. He stayed about fifteen months in St. Vincent, returning to England in August 1832. In the spring of 1833 his novel was published, but obtained little recognition except among the few. Chancing in that year to meet again his tutor, the Rev. Julius Hare, at Bonn, the effect of their conversation on Sterling's mind, then vibrating under the prior influence of Coleridge, was that he resolved to take holy orders in the English Church. He was ordained deacon at Chichester, on Trinity Sunday, 1834, and immediately became curate of Hurstmonceaux in Sussex, where his friend was rector. Sterling retained his curacy only eight months, resigning it in February 1835, on account of delicate health. It is not improbable that at the same time there was a change, or a tendency to change, in his opinions. From this time, at all events, there was a gradual divergence in his views from the fixed creed of the Church of England, though his relations to many of its most excellent members continued to be as intimate and aflectionate as ever. It was in 1835 that he first became acquainted with Mr. Carlyle, then recently setttled in London; and it seems evident that gradually the influence of Mr. Carlyle modified the results of that of Coleridge. Coleridge," says Mr. Carlyle himself, in his memoir of Sterling, "was now dead, not loug since; nor was his name henceforth much heard in Sterling's circle; though, on occasion, for a year or two to come, he would still assert his transcendant admiration, especially if Maurice were by to help. But he was getting into German, into various inquiries and sources of knowledge new to him, and his admirations and notions on many things were silently and rapidly modifying themselves." Literature was thenceforward Sterling's chief occupation; though, from all the accounts that remain of him, what he accomplished and has left behind him in literature gives but a faint idea of the influence he exerted in intellectual society, and especially in that of London, by his frankness and powers of talk. Very few men had so many friends or was so loved by them. It was unfortunate for them and him that his extremely precarious health caused him every now and then to absent himself from London and seek a warmer climate. In 1836 he went to the south of France; and in the following year he went to Madeira. While at Madeira he wrote much, and sent some contributions, in prose and verse, to 'Blackwood's Magazine.' In the spring of 1838 he returned to England, and for a time he resided on the southern sea coast, making frequent visits to London. He began to write for the Westminster Review,' then under the charge of Mr. John Stuart Mill; he was also busy privately with various composi tions in prose and verse. It was at this time too that, in order to secure Sterling's meeting with as many of his friends as possible on his flying visits to London, the famous so-called "Sterling Club" was formed. A list of the members of this club is given in Mr. Carlyle's 'Life of Sterling,' at page 208. 46 Part of the years 1838 and 1839 were spent by Sterling in Italy; and on his return he took up his abode in Clifton. It was while residing here that he published under the general title of 'Poems, by John Sterling' (Moxon, 1839), a collection of his metrical effusions up to that time. The two next years were spent in migrations from place to place, including a second visit to Madeira, on account of health. In 1841, while living at Falmouth, he published "The Election: a Poem, in Seven Books'-a poem of English life and society. He was then engaged on what he intended to be his best work'Strafford, a Tragedy,' which however was not published till 1843. This year, 1843 (he had again been absent in Italy in the interim), was one of calamity to him and his. His wife died in April, and his own always feeble health was rendered more precarious than ever by the accidental bursting of a blood-vessel. Sterling retired to Ventnor in the Isle of Wight in June 1843, where his last labours were on a poem on the subject of 'Cour de Lion,' still unpublished. Here he sank gradually, and on the 18th of September 1844, he died at the age of thirty-eight. A collection of his Essays and Tales' from the Athenæum,' 'Blackwood,' and other periodicals, was edited in two volumes, with a memoir prefixed, by Archdeacon Hare, in 1848; the well |
