PREFACE.
A GREAT philosopher has said that three things are essen- tial to perform anything well; namely, Models, Rules, and Practice. In view of the granting of certificates to locomotive engi- neers, firemen, and engine-boys, I have endeavoured to place before them models of self-help and self-reliance; rules that have proved themselves correct a thousand times over; and practice of the best possible railway service. In supplying a model of perseverance, I was anxious to supply a real model, not a fabrication; and in all things, at all times, and for ever, a pattern such as all could wish for. I have met with many difficulties in my way. I have felt that what might suit a driver would not suit an engine-boy, and vice versa. But certificates are intended to form charac- ter, by cultivating whatever is true, brave, and honest. Now, I came to the conclusion that the engine-boy know nothing of the early struggles of the locomotive, and of what had been done for him; and that the firemen knew but a little more, and many drivers very imperfectly. It therefore occurred to me that I should be affording the engine-boy information, the fireman gratification, and the engineer models of perseverance, by noticing what Murdoch, Treve- thick, Hedley, and Stephenson had done to establish the locomotive-first as a road-engine, then as a goods-engine,
