It  was  one  of  the  characteristics  of  Brunei  to
believe  in  the  success  of  the  schemes  for  which
he  was  professionally  engaged  as  engineer;  and  he
proved  this  by  investing  his  savings  largely  in  the
Great  Western  Railway^  in  the  South  Devon  at-
mospheric line,  and  in  the  Great  Eastern  steamship,
with  what  results  are  well  known.  Robert  Stephen-
son, on  the  contrary,  with  characteristic  caution,
towards  the  latter  years  of  his  life  avoided  holding
unguaranteed  railway  shares  ;  and  though  he  might
execute  magnificent  structures,  such  as  the  Victoria
Bridge  across  the  St.  Lawrence,  he  was  careful  not
to  embark  any  portion  of  his  own  fortune  in  the
ordinary  capital  of  these  concerns.  In  1845  he
shrewdly  foresaw  the  inevitable  crash  that  was
about  to  follow  the  mania  of  that  year;  and  while
shares  were  still  at  a  premium  he  took  the  oppor-
tunity of  selling  out  all  that  he  had.  He  urged  his
father  to  do  the  same  thing,  but  Georges  reply  was


4

I


4


CHAP  XVl]      TKE   NEWCASTLE  AND   DARLINGTON


369


I


characteristic.  '*  No,"  said  he;  "I  look  my  shares
for  an  inveslment,  and  not  to  speculate  with,  and
I  am  not  going  to  sell  them  now  because  folks  have
gone  mad  about  railways."  The  consequence  was,
that  he  continued  to  hold  the  60,000/.  which  he  had
invested  in  the  shares  of  various  railways  until  his
death,  when  they  were  at  once  sold  out  b^'  his  son,
though  at  a  great  depreciation  on  their  original  cost.
