Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scotla Jo
railway was opened for traffic within an incredibly short space of time ; and it promises . , well for the success of our humbler but not less useful enterprise , that the ceremony of this day is honoured by the presence of the representatives of that great company , the existence of which is one of the most prominent facts in the history of the successful enterprises of this country . We are told , and with great truth , that difficulty is not only the mother of invention , but the mother of
energy . The history of nations , as well as the history of individuals , bears testimony to this fact . " . i ) iffic . ulty , ,, said one of our greatest statesmen , " is a hard taskmaster , that knows us better than we know ourselves , as he loves us better too . " We must , therefore , I presume , consider it a very unfortunate circumstance that we have had , and probably shall have , so few difiiculties to contend against . We have no Ghat Moss to overcome like Stephenson , no hills to cut through like those which separate usfromDumfriesshire—in which great work
our engineer trusted not , like Hannibal , to vinegar to melt the rocks , but to those British sinews and those good right arms which are never found wanting , whether on the Beatock summit or on the plains of Ihkerniann ( hear ); and it is because we owe . ' so much to such sinews and good ) right arms—because meetings like these bring us into such close relationship to that oldest , as it is the greatest of all families , the honourable family of workers , that the light hand of the woman inagurates that toil , which the light heart of the woman cheers throughout the life
of the working man . And this work , if you consider for one moment , is something more than a mere idle form—it is right and meet that on all occasions all persons should associate themselves with the progress of civilization ; and we should never lose sight of the fact , that all that has been accomplished for lmlways has been performed , not by philosophers and scientific men , but by simple labourers , mechanics , and enginemen ; by men like George Stephenson , whose life contains as much romantic interest as the life of any adventurer of the middle ages . The
same courage that enabled Columbus to guide his iron keel over the great Atlantic in search of a new world , bade George Stephenson drive the iron rail through the depths of the Chat Moss ; and it was a just tribute to departed greatness , that Sir George Grey the other day at Alnwick enlarged on the qualities of this eminent man , with an eloquence which in the house of Grey is an hereditary instinct . But it is not only the great captains of mechanical progress whom we should considerthere are names like Savary , Newcomen , and Crawley ; the one was a working miner ,
the other a blacksmith , the other a glazier ; and yet names well known to all those who have ever turned their attention to the history of the iron age—men who combine the principles of science with the skill of the artizan , and who , as was well remarked in the life of an eminent working man who died last week ( I mean Mr . Crompton ) , cl have the proudest title to public esteem , inasmuch as their industrial talent feeds the active strength of the country ; " for it is this industrial talent that advances hand-in-hand with the happiness of the nation , and which developes not merely our social progress , but our national greatness ;—
" Look onward where the engines toil ; These England ' s arms of conquest are > The trophies of her bloodless wars—Brave weapons these ! Victorious over wave and soil ; With these she spins , she weaves > she tills * Piercing the everlasting hills . And spans the seas ! "
( Immense cheering ) . It is true that in this undertaking we have no rivers to span —no hills to pierce . Ours is merely a sound , practical , matter-of-fact scheme , which , when realized , will , I trust , pay a good dividend . But if it does not possess the gigantic proportions of a leviathan scheme , at the same time we trust that , being this day launched , it will sail before a fair breeze , while the shareholders will never get out of their depth . The Times divides all people into two classes—the " can't do-its " and " the cans . " I trust that we $ hall be proved to belong to the last class , We have everything to give us good cheer * Fair ladies bid us God speed !
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scotla Jo
railway was opened for traffic within an incredibly short space of time ; and it promises . , well for the success of our humbler but not less useful enterprise , that the ceremony of this day is honoured by the presence of the representatives of that great company , the existence of which is one of the most prominent facts in the history of the successful enterprises of this country . We are told , and with great truth , that difficulty is not only the mother of invention , but the mother of
energy . The history of nations , as well as the history of individuals , bears testimony to this fact . " . i ) iffic . ulty , ,, said one of our greatest statesmen , " is a hard taskmaster , that knows us better than we know ourselves , as he loves us better too . " We must , therefore , I presume , consider it a very unfortunate circumstance that we have had , and probably shall have , so few difiiculties to contend against . We have no Ghat Moss to overcome like Stephenson , no hills to cut through like those which separate usfromDumfriesshire—in which great work
our engineer trusted not , like Hannibal , to vinegar to melt the rocks , but to those British sinews and those good right arms which are never found wanting , whether on the Beatock summit or on the plains of Ihkerniann ( hear ); and it is because we owe . ' so much to such sinews and good ) right arms—because meetings like these bring us into such close relationship to that oldest , as it is the greatest of all families , the honourable family of workers , that the light hand of the woman inagurates that toil , which the light heart of the woman cheers throughout the life
of the working man . And this work , if you consider for one moment , is something more than a mere idle form—it is right and meet that on all occasions all persons should associate themselves with the progress of civilization ; and we should never lose sight of the fact , that all that has been accomplished for lmlways has been performed , not by philosophers and scientific men , but by simple labourers , mechanics , and enginemen ; by men like George Stephenson , whose life contains as much romantic interest as the life of any adventurer of the middle ages . The
same courage that enabled Columbus to guide his iron keel over the great Atlantic in search of a new world , bade George Stephenson drive the iron rail through the depths of the Chat Moss ; and it was a just tribute to departed greatness , that Sir George Grey the other day at Alnwick enlarged on the qualities of this eminent man , with an eloquence which in the house of Grey is an hereditary instinct . But it is not only the great captains of mechanical progress whom we should considerthere are names like Savary , Newcomen , and Crawley ; the one was a working miner ,
the other a blacksmith , the other a glazier ; and yet names well known to all those who have ever turned their attention to the history of the iron age—men who combine the principles of science with the skill of the artizan , and who , as was well remarked in the life of an eminent working man who died last week ( I mean Mr . Crompton ) , cl have the proudest title to public esteem , inasmuch as their industrial talent feeds the active strength of the country ; " for it is this industrial talent that advances hand-in-hand with the happiness of the nation , and which developes not merely our social progress , but our national greatness ;—
" Look onward where the engines toil ; These England ' s arms of conquest are > The trophies of her bloodless wars—Brave weapons these ! Victorious over wave and soil ; With these she spins , she weaves > she tills * Piercing the everlasting hills . And spans the seas ! "
( Immense cheering ) . It is true that in this undertaking we have no rivers to span —no hills to pierce . Ours is merely a sound , practical , matter-of-fact scheme , which , when realized , will , I trust , pay a good dividend . But if it does not possess the gigantic proportions of a leviathan scheme , at the same time we trust that , being this day launched , it will sail before a fair breeze , while the shareholders will never get out of their depth . The Times divides all people into two classes—the " can't do-its " and " the cans . " I trust that we $ hall be proved to belong to the last class , We have everything to give us good cheer * Fair ladies bid us God speed !