The
first use of the engine, as you well know, was the pumping of water.
Rude were the machines made by Savory, Newcombe, and others, to achieve
the desired end, but Watt, in his small room in the cottage at Glasgow,
at last brought about a triumph that the world at large now feels and
acknowledges. I will not go further into the history of a man so well
known and appreciated, as his memory must be here, but will go on to say
something briefly on the results of the operations of the mind over the
material placed before it, to bring into form and make it practically
useful for the advantage of man.

_Steamers_.--Greenock must see and value the great power at her disposal
in the steam-ship. She has now her large building yards, and it was from
her yards that, in 1719, the first ship--belonging to Greenock, and I
believe built there--sailed for America, and from that time the trade
increased rapidly. And I believe Glasgow launched the first Scotch ship
that ever crossed the Atlantic in 1718, only one year in advance of
Greenock. The large building yards of Greenock bring into the town sums
of money which, but for these yards, would go elsewhere, and deprive the
community of many comforts, not to say luxuries. They are the means of
carrying on the import and export trade of this thriving town in a way
that could not otherwise have been done; famous as this place is for
shipbuilding, spinning, and its splendid sugar-works. These latter you
have indeed reason to be proud of, for there are few finer. The increase
of importation of sugar is striking. In Britain in 1856, our imports of
this article were 6,813,000 lbs., in 1865 it was 7,112,772 lbs. Though
all this did not come to Greenock, yet from what you do in this trade, I
think the word holds good that we as Scotchmen are sweet-toothed. You
can now boast of a steam communication not only on the coast, but over
the world. I had last year the pleasure of a cruise in the Trinity yacht
"Galatea," and does not she speak volumes for what can be done by your
citizens? for that vessel was built by Mr. Caird, and even the ship
seemed to feel that she came from the beautiful Clyde. What a difference
now to the time of Henry Bell in 1812, who first started a steamer for
passengers on the Clyde! We have now in Great Britain 2523 steamers,
registering no less than 766,200 tons. Have not these improvements shown
what means of communication do for body and mind?

_Railways_.--Having sai