Читать книгу Speeches and Addresses of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales: 1863-1888 - King of Great Britain Edward VII - Страница 33

July, 1869

The annual show of the Royal Agricultural Society was held in 1869 at Manchester, which the Prince of Wales visited on the 29th of July, accompanied by the Princess of Wales.

There are some who remember the first visit of the Queen and Prince Consort to Manchester in 1851. The Royal party then proceeded along the canal to Worsley from Patricroft, where the wonderful engineering works of James Nasmyth were inspected. In 1869, the Prince and Princess of Wales were conducted along the same canal, but in reverse direction, the barge going from Worsley, through Patricroft, to Old Trafford. The Prince and Princess, with their host and hostess, the Earl and Countess of Ellesmere, drove from the Hall to the stage where the royal barge was waiting. A large flotilla of boats followed as a guard of honour, including some of the Manchester Rowing Clubs. It was a strange and picturesque canal scene, the barges being towed by horses ridden by postillions, and the towing path all along the route, for five or six miles, being kept clear by mounted patrols in livery. It was a great gala day in those densely peopled regions.

In passing through Salford an address was presented by the Mayor, Aldermen, and burgesses of that borough, in the Reading Room of the Royal Museum. The address expressed the great pleasure experienced by this, the second visit of the Prince to their town, enhanced by the presence there, for the first time, of the Princess of Wales: "We cherish a lively and affectionate remembrance of the visit of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen to Peel-park in the year 1851, when she witnessed the assemblage of 80,000 Sunday-school scholars, and listened, not unmoved, while they sang the National Anthem. This event was commemorated by the erection of a marble statue to Her Majesty in the park, which was publicly inaugurated by the late and much revered Prince Consort, who on that occasion inspected and manifested a deep interest in the free museum and library in the park. We deeply deplored the loss of the late Prince Consort, and erected a marble statue to his memory, in close proximity to that of the Queen, and near the spot where he stood when inaugurating the statue of Her Majesty."

The Prince made the following reply: —

"Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, – The Princess of Wales and myself thank you very cordially for your address, and for the sentiments you are good enough to express towards us. It is very gratifying to us to have the opportunity of paying you a visit, and to observe the evidences of the growing wealth and population which have raised Salford to the position she now occupies in the Empire. It will be highly satisfactory to the Queen to learn how deeply engraven on your hearts is the recollection of the visit she paid you in 1851, and how cherished and beloved is the memory of my lamented father. On my own part, I can but acknowledge the kindness of the terms in which you have alluded to my past years. For those which are to come I can only say that it will be the one effort of my life to merit the good opinion of the people I am so proud to call my fellow-countrymen."

In driving through the park the Royal visitors had been conducted past the white marble statues of the Queen and the Prince Consort, and those of Richard Cobden and Joseph Brotherton. Leaving the park, the streets and ways being everywhere densely thronged, they reached the Manchester Town Hall, where another address was delivered, expressing joyous welcome from the loyal citizens, and especially the feelings of satisfaction at the presence of the Prince, as President of the Royal Agricultural Society, "believing the same to be an evidence of the deep interest manifested by your Royal Highness in the success of all movements which have for their object the advancement of art and science and the progress and welfare of the people of this great empire. It has been the special privilege of your Royal Highness to an unusual extent to visit and personally to become acquainted with other Courts and countries, and with distant portions of Her Majesty's dominions, and we rejoice to believe that the valuable experience thereby acquired gives to all classes of Her Majesty's subjects an assurance that your Royal Highness will ever be foremost in all efforts to extend true liberty and civilization, and to develope those free institutions which are the pride and glory of our country."

To which address the Prince replied: —

"Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, – I thank you for the kind expressions of loyalty and devotion towards the Queen, the Princess of Wales, and myself contained in your address. I have gladly availed myself of the opportunity afforded me, in the fulfilment of my duties as President of the Royal Agricultural Society, to visit a city second to none in the Empire in commercial importance, to become better acquainted with its history, its locality, and the sources of its prosperity. The wise provision of my lamented father and of the Queen, my dear mother, has secured for me at an early age the advantages of visiting the centres of the world, the most remarkable and the most deserving of study for their interest and for their development of the elements of wealth. In admiring, and, I trust, appreciating, the successful result that has distinguished foreign exertions, I have also learnt to look with increased admiration on those wonderful works of human ingenuity, perseverance, and industry, the products of the heads and hands of my own countrymen, and especially of those who now surround me. May we all be grateful, gentlemen, to a superintending Providence, which has blessed the efforts of our commercial enterprise and the free institutions of our country, – themselves a pledge of our future prosperity."

The Prince presided at a general meeting of the Council of the Society, and opened the proceedings by a brief speech which was loudly applauded. He also received in his own marquee a numerous deputation from the Agricultural Society of France. At the close of the meeting the Royal visitors drove to a station on the Manchester South Junction line, where a train was waiting to take them to Brough, near Hull, viâ Normanton; the Prince having engaged to be at Hull in the afternoon in order to inaugurate the new Western Dock at that town.

The principal object of the Prince's visit was to see the Royal Agricultural Show, the members mustering in great force for the occasion from all parts of England. At the midday luncheon the Chairman, the Earl of Sefton, gave the toast of "The Queen," who was deeply interested in the agricultural affairs of the Kingdom, and set the practical example of being an exhibitor at the present Show. The Chairman next proposed "The Health of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales." He said the present toast should be the last. He had to ask them to drink to the health of the President of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, coupled with the toast of Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. He had looked forward to this meeting for a long time, and it was with the greatest pride they learnt that it was to be held under the presidency of His Royal Highness. The reception their Royal Highnesses met with the day previous and that day sufficiently testified to the loyalty and attachment of the people of this country to the Crown. It was difficult to allude to the good qualities of His Royal Highness, but he was ever foremost in the furtherance of works of charity and usefulness. They also experienced the warmest attachment and the truest loyalty towards the Princess.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in replying, said: —

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the kind way in which you have received this toast. My health has been proposed twofold – first for myself, and also in my position as President of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. I can assure you it was great honour that was conferred upon me when I was asked to assume this presidency, and my only regret is that this office has been a mere nominal one, and that I have not been able to be of so much use as I should have liked. At the same time I feel a pride in being President of a Society which has existed for so long, and which is one of the greatest agricultural societies anywhere, always helping forward improvements in agriculture. It was a great satisfaction to this Society to hold one of its annual meetings at Manchester, one of the greatest manufacturing towns of England. It is my duty as President of the Society to return, in the name of the Society, our most cordial and our warmest thanks for the extensive and liberal way in which the local committee have made their arrangements. It is to them we owe this magnificent entertainment in this fine tent, and also the excellent arrangements which we see before us. Lord Sefton told us not to make many speeches or long ones. I will, therefore, not make any further remarks, but, before sitting down, allow me to thank you in the name of the Princess for the kind way in which you have received her. I can assure you it has given her great pleasure to be present at this second visit to the Royal Agricultural Society, and this her first visit to Manchester. We both feel deeply grateful for the kind and hearty welcome which we have received, not only from Manchester, but from the inhabitants of Lancashire."