Yorkshire (North).

the magistrates of the North Riding we are under many obligations , and we beg to tender to them our sincere thanks on the present occasion for the honour they have this day done us . I have much pleasure in proposing " The Health of the Lord Lieutenant and Magistrates of the North Riding . ( Cheers . ) The Earl of ZETLAND ( who was on rising enthusiastically cheered ) , in responding , spoke as follows : —• Gentlemen , —I beg to return you my grateful thanks for the honour you have done me and the

magistrates of the North Riding of Yorkshire . Gentlemen , I assure you that I feel personally under the greatest obligation to you , and have a high sense of the kind manner in which you have received this toast , and the manifestation of respect you have shown in entertaining a good opinion of the services I may have rendered the North Riding of Yorkshire . I assure you , gentlemen , that this neighbourhood , the town of Middlesborough , has always been a place of the greatest interest to me . ( Hear , hear . ) As the

Mayor has told you , one and twenty—I believe it is very nearly two and twenty—years ago I had the honour of being the guest of the people of Middlesborough , not then a corporate town ; and I had . the honour of introducing his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex into this town . ( Cheers . ) I remember well his Royal Highness prognosticating to me the rise of this town , and saying how certain he felt that Middlesborough would , ere many years have passed bbecome one of the most flourishing and one of the

y , largest places in the North Riding of Yorkshire . How far that prognostication bas been fulfilled , you are able to judge as well as I am . But I must say this , that whenever I have come , year after year , into this neighbourhood , I have observed the town growing , and growing , and growing ; and I have said to myself , " This is what our neighbours across the Atlantic would call a goa-h . ead people . " ( Hear , hear , and cheers . ) You have increased in wealthin prosperitand in prudence of all kindsand when I

, y , ; recollect what this place was one-and-twenty years ago , and what it is now , I really cannot express in too strong terms the admiration I feel for tho energy shown by the people of this district . ( Hear , and cheers . ) The Mayor has told you of the great public institutions which have been erected at the expense of the inhabitants . I look upon it that to-day we have inaugurated and commenced , perhaps , the most useful and the greatest work of all —viz ., a charitable institution , in order to provide for the wants of

those who may be hurt , injured , or manned m the working out of the great mineral wealth of this county and neighbourhood . But it is not confined to that ; for it has been called , and I have no doubt will prove to he , " The Infirmary of the North Riding of Yorkshire . " ( Cheers . ) Connected with every part of this Riding , by easy communication by rail , I am sure that we may look forward to its being as useful and , perhaps , a more useful institution than any other connected with the county of York . ( Hear , hear . ) I

need not say how much I have been gratified this day in the performance of the interesting ceremony which I have come here purposely to perform . I cannot but express my thanks to the gentlemen , the tradesmen , and the population generally of this country , who have shown such kindness towards myself , and to the great body of which I am the head—viz ., the Freemasons of England . ( Hear , hear . ) When I tell you , gentlemen , that thirtysix lodges belonging to tho counties of YorkDurhamand

North-, , umberland have been represented on this occasion , I think 1 show to you the good feeling and the interest which the Masonic body generally take in every work connected with charity and with the well-being of ouv fellow creatures . I may take this occasion to mention to the meeting , as what probably may not be generally known—viz ., that several gentlemen—members of the Masonic body—have come down even from London , in order to be present : one has come all the way from Brighton , and another from

Bridgewater , in Somersetshire . ( Cheers . ) I am quite sure that they who have so generously come to assist me in the undertaking must all have been gratified with the proceedings , and I am quite sure that none will " judge it a trouble or loss of time which they have incurred by coming so great a distance . In their name , and in that of the magistrates of the North Riding , I beg to thank you for the kind manner in which you have most cordially drunk our health . ( His lordship resumed his seat amidst vociferous

cheering . ) The Earl of ZETLAND next proposed , "The Mayor and Corporation of Middlesborough , " and , in speaking of the toast , his lordship said : Having so lately observed upon the great improvements which have taken place in this district , I have only now to say that , however rapid from the commencement improvements of the boroug h of Middlesborough have been , I am quite certain that since it has heen a corporate townwhich is now about seven tho

, years , corporation have done their duty so far ; and , whatever improvements have taken place have been at an accelerated pace . IndcodjJJ I know of no corporation in the North of England which has wpS ^~ strenuousl y and assiduously done its work than the Corporat « WVof the boroug h of Middlesborough- —( cheers ); and it is still a f | iithqr , 1 * 1 , ,

gratification to me to know that , when the borough first petititioned to have the title of Municipality conferred upon it , they did me the honour to ask my assistance in obtaining the Corporation Act , and which I had very great pleasure in giving , but had still greater satisfaction in seeing it effectual . ( Cheers . ) His lordship concluded by proposing the toast . The CHAIRMAN replied . He said : Gentlemen , on behalf of the Corporation and of the people of Middlesborough , I sincerely and

gratefully thank the gentlemen present for the very flattering reception they have given to the toast which his lordship has been pleased to propose in such kindly terms . It is true that our town has made great progress—perhaps , greater than any town in the United Kingdom , I might almost say ; but it has not been done without great energy , without great efforts , and without the united determination of all connected with it to do their best , not only for themselvesbut also for the communitby which they have

, y been surrounded . ( Hear , hear . ) There is something peculiar connected with our history . In the year 1831 we made our first struggle to obtain a trade , which was strongly opposed by a jealous and powerful monopoly . Everything that we could send to the market was thought nothing of and set down as completely worthless . Our coal , at this time , was declared by men in the trade not to be fit for market . But , notwithstanding all these monopolies and jealousies , there is a Providence which rules over all things .

So it was with us . A year after the commencement of our trade , two of the largest ports of the north had the visitation of one of those dreadful scourges which carried off hundreds at a time , and their ships were obliged to lay in quarantine in their harbours . Our coals had been considered worthless in the London markets , whilst others were doing a thriving business ; but now they suddenly rose to the top ofthe tree in the market , and others were unable to cope with us . We then gained a position which we have never

since lost . Passing on to the year 1842 , which was the beginning of a staple trade ; I may mention that , then it was two pilgrims who came passing this way , fixed their abode on the margin of our town and planted an establishment . A ramification followed , over the whole of the surrounding district , and in many towns of the North Riding of York a vast trade was rapidly spreading . The year 1851 came , which we mav date as the time when the

great discovery of ironstone in our adjoining hills was made . The trade spread out , and there immediately came a march of giants who set vigorously to work , and the result is that now we are producing about a sixth part of the iron produce of the United Kingdom . AATiat shall we be , if we progress a little further ? I may fairly say , from the men that are already engaged in the trade , and those about to enter it , that the town will produce a larger quantity of iron than any one district in the whole of the United Kingdom .

The year 1801 is approaching , and what is to be clone then ? AA e are not afraid of it ; and , if it be the will of the Man of Destiny—if he be true to his written word instead of acting according to the prophecies of people surrounding us—wo may hope it will be the opening of a larger trade , comparatively speaking , new to this ' country . You know that the manufacturers of France had forced the Government to keep their ports closed , so that they could not receive anything from this country in the shape of iron or any

other manufacture that could be excluded , we have only to judge of what will be done by that which has already been done . However , as you know , the ports of Franco were opened to our produce a few years ago , for a special object ; and what was the consequence ? AAliy , the value of iron alone exported from the United Kingdom to France increased fourfold the previous amount . At the time that a commercial treaty was made between this kingdom and France , as soon as we heard the news , we mot in public assembly

to memorialise tho Government that they would carry into effect the treaty that had been entered into between the two sovereigns ; and we did it with the full hope that , notwithstanding the drawback of the import duty being high , still our manufacturers could yet compete with those of France . Of what , then , are we to be afraid ? All of you know that our manufactures , especially of iron , are exported thousands of miles over the seas . Are we to be afraid of a country which is onldivided from us bsomething like

y y twenty-four hours' sail ? AVealth must flow in now ; our trade will spread out in every direction ; and every one connected with it be benefited thereby . Tho year 1821 was the beginning of everything connected with us . You all know we are identified with , and are part and parcel of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company . In 1821 , that railway company obtained the first Act of Parliament for making a railway . Little did those think who witnessed the laying down of that first line of the future

usefulness of the company . After that , rails wore spread over . thousands of miles of the country in every direction . Little did ^ SPtVrJjk then of the stupendous results . Railways are now in eveiy ^ comitry , and the whole earth seems girded by one belt of IJiffiWaymrtps—every individual deriving advantage therefrom , a j faji- iirgtWao of the beneficial effects of the iron trade . But for , _ . / /