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Page 8
Turn to your river, the beautiful Clyde, which eighty years ago could be
forded at Erskine, while Port Glasgow was as far as ships could then
come up--a striking contrast to what is now to be seen at the
Broomielaw, where the largest steamers and ships drawing thirty feet of
water are moored in the very heart of the city, discharging produce from
all parts of the world. What has done this but steam--the energy of man;
steam cutting a channel by dredging to admit of ships passing so far up
the river: and this has been to Glasgow a great source of wealth by the
promotion of commerce. Art has been permitted to work out great things
for your city, and I trust still greater things are in store. Take the
trade now in full progress on the banks of the Clyde. The shipbuilding
is fast leaving the Thames and finding its way here. It is a pleasure to
hear people say: "There is a fine ship--she is Clyde-built."--"Who built
her? Was it Napier, or Thomson, or Tod, or M'Gregor, or Randolph &
Elder, or Caird, or Denny of Dumbarton, or Cunliff & Dunlop?" Pardon me
if I have left out any name, for all are good builders. Then, again, it
may be asked: "Who engined these ships?"--"Oh, Clyde engineers, or those
who built them." I had the pleasure of being this year on board the
Trinity yacht "Galatea," on a cruise when fourteen knots an hour were
accomplished; and that yacht is a good specimen of what Clyde
shipbuilders can turn out. She was built by Caird. I have also had the
pleasure of a trip in the "Russia," one of the finest screw-vessels
afloat, built by Thomson; and she has proved herself perhaps the fastest
of sea-going steamers. Does not all this show what science applied to
art has done?
Glasgow has also a College of the first order, one that is looked up to
as sending men of high standing forth to the world. Watt worked under
its roof as a poor mathematical instrument maker, and although enjoying
little of its valuable instruction, he produced the steam-engine--a
lesson as to what those ought to do towards promoting the application of
science to art who have the full benefit of a scientific training such
as your College affords.
Each day brings forth something new--the electric telegraph, for
instance, by which our thoughts and desires are transmitted to all parts
of the world, so to speak, in a moment of time. When we think that we
are within an instant of America, it gives one a feeling of awe, for it
shows to what an extent we have been permitted to carry the application
of science to art. A small wire is carried across the great Atlantic,
and immediate communication is the result. The achievements of science
were shown to a great extent in the laying of this cable, and perhaps
still more in its recovery after it had been broken. A small cable is
lost at the bottom of the ocean, far from the land, and in water about
two miles in depth--a ship goes out, discovers the spot, and then
grappling irons are lowered. Science with its long arm, as it were,
reaches down the almost unfathomable abyss, and with its powerful hand
secures and brings to the surface of the ocean the fractured cable,
which is again made to connect the Old and New Worlds--thus verifying
almost the words of Shakespeare, when he speaks of calling "spirits from
the vasty deep." After splicing the cable, the vessel proceeds with the
work of paying it out, as it sails across the Atlantic; and once more
science and art find a successful issue, for Europe and America are
united.
What the combination of science and art has done is, however, not yet
exhausted: witness the splendid specimens of artillery now produced by
Sir Joseph Whitworth and Sir William Armstrong--weapons by which
projectiles are thrown with an almost irresistible force. The beauty of
their construction is a triumph to art, and their mathematical truth a
triumph to science. One thing follows another, and no sooner have men of
originality and observation perfected the means of destruction, when
others press forward and furnish the means of defence. Our armour-clads,
such as the "Warrior" and others which lately visited these waters, have
thus been called into existence, and they are splendid specimens of
what science applied to art can achieve.
The Menai Bridge is another instance of the power of man in applied
science. A railway bridge is required to further communication, but
Government demands that the navigation of the Strait shall not be
impeded. The mind of a great man is called into action, and by applying
scientific principles to engineering art, we have that wonder of the
world, the great tubular bridge over the Menai Straits. This work
required a mind of no ordinary nature, but such a one was found in the
celebrated Robert Stephenson. I am proud to say I was privileged to have
him as a friend, and I greatly lamented his death, not only as a friend,
but as an irreparable loss to the world of science.
Another instance of science applied to art--and not the least
important--is the adaptation of glass to form the lens which enables the
flame of a lamp to be seen from a great distance. What this has done for
the mariner is shown in our lighthouses, which enable him to know where
he is by night as well as by day, for the lights are made to revolve, to
be stationary, or to show various colours or flashes, which reveal to
him their respective positions. The compass also, though ancient, is
still an application of applied science, and by it the mariner is
enabled to guide his ship safely over the ocean. A very beautiful
instance of applied science to art is electrometallurgy, in which metals
are deposited by means of the galvanic battery in any required form or
shape, and this process of gilding and plating is executed with
marvellous rapidity. All these various instances show what the mind of
man has done, and is doing; but the applications of science to art are
so endless, that even their simple enumeration could not be included in
the limits of an opening address, for there are few things to which
science cannot be applied. One of the most recent and beautiful is the
art of photography, where, by means of applied chemistry, aided by the
rays of the sun, there can be produced the most pleasing and lifelike
representations. This new application of chemistry is a most interesting
one, which shows that we do not stand still, and as long as arts and
science are permitted to be practised by us we are not intended to stand
still, but to exercise our minds to the utmost to unravel those
mysteries of nature that are yet to be developed.
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