Scotland.

form which has been too early removed from us . ( Cheers . ) I trust that on the whole thesubscribers and the public will consider that the committee have acted for the best in this selection . ( Hear , hear , and cheers . ) I hope I may be permitted to take this opportunity of paying , but most inadequately , my own personal tribute to the memory of my lamented friend . I first made the acquaintance of Lord Eglinton iu this town more than four-and-twenty years ago , and I may say that almost from

that day to the period of his death I was on terms of most intimate friendship with him . A more noble , generous , honest man never lived on this earth , aud iu his untimely end , not ¦ onl y have his private friends , bnt the community at large , sustained a most grievous loss . ( Cheers . ) I beg now to band ¦ over to the ex officio trustees—the Marquis of Ailsa , the Lord Lieutenant of the county ; Sir James Fergusson , the member for the county ; and the Provost of Ayr—the statue which has

been erected to your late Lord Lieutenant , the late Lord Eglinton . ( Loud cheers . ) The band of the Royal Ayrshire and Wigtown Rifles then played the " Masons' Anthem . " Bro . Syme , Prov . G . Chap ., Kilwinning , afterwards offered up an appropriate prayer , at the conclusion of which the band played the " Old Hundred . " Bro . Conn , Prov . G . M ., with tho assistance of his brethren , performed the usual Masonic ceremonyand thereafter reported

, -fco the Marquis of Ailsa that the structure was complete . " Rule Britannia" was then played by tbe band , and the statue -unveiled amid the loud cheers of the vast assemblage . The sky for some time previously had been overcast , but just as the Prov . G . M . uncovered the statue , the clouds overhead broke , sincl a gleam of sunshine fell on the colossal figure of the late Earlilluminating the features with a beautiful effect . A

, signal announced to a detachment of artillery at the Ayr battery that the inauguration of the memorial had taken place , and a salute of eighteen guns was fired , tho band playing tbe while the " National Anthem , " and the guard presenting arms . After the acclamations of the assemblage had subsided , The Marquis of AILSA said : I feel , after what has been said

by the preceding speakers , how unnecessary it is for me to -attempt to pronounce any further eulogium on the character of the late Lord Eglinton . You were all well acquainted with him , and are all aware , as well as I am , that to know him was nothing more than the synonymous term to honour and esteem him . ( Loud cheers . ) Nor is ifc necessary for me to express the regret at the loss not only that ' this county , nor Scotland , but the whole of tho United Kingdom suffered when ho was

removed by his early death . Nor need I refer to the great grief which was felt by all parties and classes when it became but too surely known that he had been removed from us . I cannot , however , refrain from expressingmy satisfaction at beholding this great public display of attachment to his memory . ( Loud unci prolonged cheers . ) The largo assembly which has joined in assisting this day at this inauguration , proves how universally it was

felt that this monument should be erected—not , I say , to perpetuate , but to assist in perpetuating our affectionate remembrance of him . ( Loud cheers . ) I now , in the name of the trustees who have been nominated for tbe county of Ayr , beg to make over that monument from the hands of the memorial committee ; and I hope that the public will allow that the committee have brought their work to a successful termination . ( Cheers . ) You will now join with me in congratulating the

eminent sculptor , Mr . Noble , on the noble work he has executed , and ' also on the faithful likeness which he has produced of our late much beloved and deeply lamented Lord-Lieutenant . ( Great cheering . ) Mr . P . BOYLE , of Shewalton , convener of the county of Ayr , addressed the spectators . He said—We have assembled here to-day on the sixtieth anniversary of the greatest naval victory achieved by this or any other country to celebrate a triumph ot

peace . It was not given to the Thirteenth Earl of Eglinton , as it had been to his noble father , aud to . his two immediate predecessors , to draw his sword in the cause of his country . liis wits u peaceful career . Uly lord , our great poet bas said" The evil that men do lives after them ,

The good is oft interred with their bones . " It has not been tbe wish of the subscribers to this monument that the good achieved by Archibald AVilliam , Thirteenth Earl -of Eglinton , should be interred with his hones . ( Load cheers . ) My lord , I have said his was a triumph of peace . His career was a civil career , and in it tho earl contributed more perhaps than any other man ever did to tbe innocent recreation of his

fellow subjects ; and to do this was not to have lived in vain . ( Prolonged cheers . ) I do not allude merely to the magnificent pageant which those present , or many of us , were privileged to witness , and whieh brought so vividly before our eyes tbe pastime and exercises of the middle ages , but more particularl y to those manly games and exercises in which he was himself so proficient , and iu which he joined , at great personal expense ancl troublewith tbe meanest as well as the noblest of his

, fellow-subjects . But that was not all . Y ' ouall know how Lord Eglinton discharged the duties of Lord-Lieutenant of this county ; and our warm-hearted friends across the water will testify , as with one voice , how ho performed the duties of the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland—an office which he himself considred the grandest iu the power of the Crown to confer . ( Hearhearand cheers . ) I believe that among all his

prede-, , cessors , and all his successors , iu thafc great oflice , there never was a man who bore the sword of justice with more impartiality , and who endeared himself more universally to those over whom he ruled . ( Great cheering . ) We havo also seen with great pride , as Ayrshire men , what an appearance Lord Eglinton made when he was elected , as is recorded on the inscription , to he Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow . I am sorry

to observe an emission in the inscription , for he hold tho same high office in a university as venerable and ancient as Glasgow , if not more so—viz ., the University of Abouleen . The appearance he made on that occasion electrified those men who supposed he was merely a man of pleasure and amusement . It showed what was in him . We also know that when it was at one time feared thafc the illustrious head of tbe party to which Lord Eglinton belonged was in danger of his life , that

party looked to him as the successor of Lord Derby . Now , a single turn of tho political wheel might have placed him iu the prowl position nos * .-, alas , vacant by the death of one whom the whole country laments . Had that fallen to his lot , those who knew him best know how well his duties would have been discharged , and that it would have added another item of pride and satisfaction to those who admired his great character . Little remains for me to say after what has been said by others ; hut I cannot help congratulating your lordship aud the county on fche great work of art which has now been unveiled .

( Cheers . ) I am sure I speak the sentiments of every member of the county and of tbe royal burgh , when I say thafc they will feel it a sacred duty to hand clown that monument , like the character of him whom it so worthily represents , uudefaceel and untarnished , to the latest posterity . ( Cheers . ) Provost MACNEILLE said—As chief magistrate of the town of Ayr , I have great pleasure in giving expression to the gratitude of tho community for the magnificent iffc of so splendid a work

g of art , in memoriam of one of nature's nobility , who devoted his great talents for the improvement of humanity—an example to those of his order to give effect to those measures for enlightening aud elevating the masses , that this country may continue great , glorious , and free . Accept of our best thanks . ( Cheers . ) Professor ANDERSON , of Glasgow University , said—I have tho

honour to appear hero as one of a deputation from the University of Glasgow . We felt that ifc was peculiarly our duty to ho represented on the inauguration of this monument , because the connection of the late Lord Eglinton with our institution was both a long and au intimate one . He was not only Lord Rector of that University , as is stated in the inscription upon the pedestal , but he was a great deal more . To describe him merely

as Lord Rector is iu fact to give a very inadequate idea of his services to our institution , for he was at all times ready to do everything that was required of him to promote its interests . ( Cheers . ) Our feelings noiv aro still greater , for not only do we look back upon his past connection with the University , but we know by the arrangements that havo been made by the Eglinton Memorial Committee , thafc his name is to be associated

with ifc in all time coining . ( Hear , hear , and cheers . ) These fellowships whieh have been founded will hand clown his name among those who are engaged in Glasgow in the study of literature and science , and 1 trust that wo shall properly fulfil the trust which has been allotted to us , and exercise properly the duties connected with it . ( Cheers . ) The Earl of EGLINTON advanced to the front ofthe latform

p and said : It would be out of place , 1 take it , were 1 to make a ) on £ speech on this occasion . I would simply wish , however , to express how deeply both I and my family appreciate the honour done to my father ' s memory . This demonstration shows that you were not content to appreciate his virtues and