PREFACE. THE author of these stories is anxious to take this opportunity of offering her sincere thanks to the friends who have so kindly assisted her in her undertaking. For many of the anecdotes of Mr. Stephenson, she is indebted to those who knew him well, while for the accuracy of the general narrative, she has relied wholly on the excellent life of George Stephenson written by Mr. Smiles. Permission to make use of this valuable work was most kindly obtained for her by Mr. Robert Stephenson, whose ready and cordial assistance she cannot too gratefully acknowledge. In the preceding memoir of Watt, the writer has derived her information principally from the lecture delivered by Arago, after the death of the great engineer, and from the biography subsequently published by Mr. Muirhead. |