Then came the speech of the day, Mr. Cowen's, who,
in pro- posing "The Industries of Tyneside," achieved the feat of speaking, almost with a Ruskinese eloquence and discrimination, of a class of achievements which Ruskin utterly despises and condemns. It is hard to single out one new thought in the speech, and yet every sentence is impressive in itself. Mr. Cowen's description of the mingling of the old Border spirit— the spirit which originated forays into Scotland—with the training and discipline of modern industries, and of the adven- turous practical wisdom which had thence resulted, was quite a work of rhetorical art. "The doughty Newcastle burghers in old times often rolled back the tide of war. Their sons contri- bute to the national defence weapons of unrivalled precision and
potency This, too, was the birthplace of the locomotive and the nursery of the railway system. It is seldom that modern industrialism so closely confronts the crumbling relics of a legendary and turbulent but memorable past. The sugges- tive contrasts have not been without influence on the inhabi- tants. The Northumbrian's character is pre-eminently his own. He impresses his ancestral individuality on -his surroundings. He was cradled in adventure, aud is trained to steady works. The disposition that once made him a sieves, and sent him in forays across the Border, still makes him a rover, and sends him to far Savannahs, where he fights a brave battle for himself, his family, and his race. The impulse that instigates to adventure, promotes mental flexibility and physical hardihood, which constitute at once the supremacy and the safeguard of English mercantile speculation." It will be obvious enough how, starting from these premisses, Mr. Cowen proceeded to a most eloquent eulogy on the representative man of Tyneside,—Sir William Armstrong,—whose magnificent present to the people had been that day opened. A Natural History Museum and a new Reference Library, in connection with the Free Library of Newcastle, were afterwards opened by the Prince, who per; forms this sort of ceremonial with 'sufficient simplicity, but not with the clumsiness and baldness of some of his Hanoverian ancestors. On Thursday the Prince opened Coble Dene Dock, amidst a scene of great gaiety awl enthusiasm. Tyneside is heartily loyal to the Throne.
