Читать книгу Speeches and Addresses of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales: 1863-1888 - King of Great Britain Edward VII - Страница 14

May 9th, 1866

The President and Council of the Institution of Civil Engineers had the honour of entertaining the Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, as he was then styled, and a very distinguished company, at dinner, in Willis's Rooms, on the 9th of May, 1866. Among the guests were the veteran Sir John Burgoyne, the Dukes of Sutherland and Buccleuch, Earl Grey, Lord Salisbury, Sir John Pakington, Sir Edwin Landseer, Professor (Sir Richard) Owen, Baron Marochetti, the Presidents of the Royal Society and of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and representatives of various departments in the public service. The members and associates of the Institution, numbering nearly two hundred, included all the civil engineers most eminent at that time, or who have since risen to distinction. Some of the names recall notable events and achievements in our time, sometimes called "the age of the engineers." Rennie, Armstrong, Bidder, Hawkshaw, Scott Russell, Hawksley, Cubitt, Penn, Fairbairn, Brunlees, Brassey, Samuda, Bramwell, Bessemer, Maudsley, Rawlinson, Vignoles, are on the list of those present on this memorable occasion. Mr. Fowler, President of the Institution, presided at the dinner, and in proposing the loyal toasts which are given at all such meetings, said of the Prince of Wales, that, "notwithstanding the numerous duties of his exalted station, His Royal Highness has always taken the greatest interest in those works which occupy the thoughts and lives of engineers, and therefore it is a source of peculiar gratification to the profession that His Royal Highness has been pleased to join the Institution of Civil Engineers, which had the honour to rank as its most distinguished honorary member His Royal Highness the Prince Consort."

The Prince of Wales in returning thanks, said: —

"Mr. President, your Royal Highness, my Lords and Gentlemen, I have indeed every reason to feel deeply flattered and gratified at the very kind manner in which you, Mr. President, have proposed this toast, and for the way in which it has been received by the company present. Under any circumstances, it would have afforded me sincere pleasure to have been present this evening – present at a meeting of so distinguished a body as the Civil Engineers of Great Britain; but it is still more agreeable to me to find myself here in the position of one of your honorary members. I thank you for the manner in which you have mentioned my name regarding me as one of yourselves. I feel proud to think that my lamented father was also an honorary member of this distinguished Institution. Mr. President and Gentlemen, perhaps it is a difficult task for me to address so eminently scientific a body, more especially to eulogize them; but I cannot forbear adverting to the names of two most distinguished members of it – I allude to Mr. Brunel and Mr. Stephenson, whose names will never be obliterated from our memory. The important services they have rendered to this country can never be forgotten. Let us look round at the vast works which have been completed, or which are in the course of completion in this country. Though it may, perhaps, seem unnecessary, I think it is right I should on this occasion ask you to look for a moment at the vast extension of our docks all over this country – at the great improvements in the electric telegraph, and also in our steamships, and, in fact, in the general steam navigation on our waters. Let us look at what has been done at home – and when I say at home, I mean in this Metropolis. No one can walk over Westminster-bridge without being struck by those magnificent quays which are being built on either side of the river, and are commonly called the Thames Embankment. These constitute the most important works of the day. I must also refer to the Metropolitan Underground Railway, which is owing to the continued exertions of your distinguished President, and which, although not entirely completed, has been in use for nearly three years, and has, I believe, to a considerable extent diminished the traffic in our streets. Let us look also at our colonies, and see the many important works which our engineers have contrived there. I would allude more especially to one – the celebrated bridge built over the St. Lawrence, called the Victoria-bridge, which is close to Montreal, and which was constructed by one of your most renowned engineers, Mr. Stephenson. I had the honour of inaugurating that bridge in the name of Her Majesty the Queen. I have to be thankful to you all in many ways; but I have to be particularly thankful to Mr. Stephenson for having built such a bridge, because, perhaps, I should never have had an opportunity of visiting our North American colonies and a portion of the United States if I had not received an invitation to inaugurate that great work. Let me thank you once more, Mr. President, for the honour done me, and for the kind way in which the name of the Princess of Wales has been received. And let me assure you that it affords me the deepest gratification to have the honour of being present this evening as one of your members."

The Chairman then gave the toast of "the Army, Navy, and Volunteers," coupling with it the names of Prince Alfred, Sir John Burgoyne, and Colonel Erskine. The speech of Prince Alfred, in reply, is worth recalling, as one of the earliest occasions on which he represented the profession in which he now holds so high a position: —

"Mr. President, your Royal Highness, my Lords, and Gentlemen, – I need scarcely tell you with what pleasure I rise to respond to this toast, nor how proud I feel to hear my name associated with the Royal navy. Within the last few years the navy has become more connected with the civil engineers than ever it was before. Many improvements we owe – in fact, I may say all the later improvements we owe – to the civil engineers. There is only one thing they have not succeeded in doing, and that is making us look more beautiful than we did before. Indeed, I am afraid they have rather caused us to deteriorate in appearance. I need not add that I take, and shall continue to take, the greatest interest in this body; the more so from the fact of my father having been an honorary member of the institution, and from my brother having now for the first time taken his place in the same character."