may say that even a Roman road would not bear the traffic of a town like
Greenock for anything like that period of time, or I fear the commerce
of this populous and most thriving town would be in a bad way. The great
Telford and Macadam are the persons to be thanked for our beautiful
system of road-making, and no person can, I am sure, deny the utility of
their plans. As I said, roads are a means of communication for the body,
and also for the mind; and therefore, now that their advantages are
seen, we should strive to further their advance in all districts.

_Coaches_.--We come now to the means of communication on the roads for
the body, and also for the mind, as both must go together--viz., the
coach and the carriage or cart (for before the roads were made we had no
coaches). In the first place, these carts or carriages were rude and
heavy waggons, without springs or other comfort; but still they served
to convey the body, and the mind that went with it at last discovered,
by degrees, that conveyances could be constructed so as to cause less
wear and tear on animal life. The result of time and labour has been the
elegant constructions of the present day. The first hackney-coaches were
started in London, A.D. 1625, by a Captain Bailey. Another conveyance
for the body, the sedan-chair, was introduced first into England in
1584, and came into fashion in London in 1634. The late Sir John
Sinclair was called a fool because he said a mail-coach would come from
London to Thurso. I am glad to say that he _saw_ it, and it opened up a
communication for the body and mind that has worked wonders in the far
North. We now have a railway.

_Steam._--We proceed next to the grandest stage--or, as it is said in
the North, "We took a start." What place have we to thank for this great
start, but the very town in which I have the honour to give this closing
address. Was not James Watt born here? The 19th January 1736 was a great