[Speech of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales [Edward VII, crowned King
of England January 23, 1901], at the banquet given at the Mansion
House, London, July 16, 1881, by the Lord Mayor of London [Sir
William McArthur], to the Prince of Wales, as President of the
Colonial Institute, and to a large company of representatives of
the colonies--governors, premiers, and administrators. This speech
was delivered in response to the toast proposed by the Lord Mayor,
"The Health of the Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and the
other members of the Royal Family."]
MY LORD MAYOR, YOUR MAJESTY, MY LORDS, AND GENTLEMEN:--For the
kind and remarkably flattering way in which you, my Lord Mayor, have
been good enough to propose this toast, and you, my lords and gentlemen,
for the kind and hearty way in which you have received it, I beg to
offer you my most sincere thanks. It is a peculiar pleasure to me to
come to the City, because I have the honor of being one of its freemen.
But this is, indeed, a very special dinner, one of a kind that I do not
suppose has ever been given before; for we have here this evening
representatives of probably every Colony in the Empire. We have not only
the Secretary of the Colonies, but Governors past and present,
ministers, administrators, and agents, are all I think, to be found here
this evening. I regret that it has not been possible for me to see half
or one-third of the Colonies which it has been the good fortune of my
brother, the Duke of Edinburgh, to visit. In his voyages round the world
he has had opportunities more than once of seeing all our great
Colonies. Though I have not been able personally to see them, or have
seen only a small portion of them, you may rest assured it does not
diminish in any way the interest I take in them.
It is, I am sorry to say, now going on for twenty-one years since I
visited our large North American Colonies. Still, though I was very
young at the time, the remembrance of that visit is as deeply imprinted
upon my memory now as it was at that time. I shall never forget the
public receptions which were accorded to me in Canada, New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, and if it were possible for me at
any time to repeat that visit, I need not tell you gentlemen, who now
represent here those great North American Colonies, of the great
pleasure it would give me to do so. It affords me great gratification to
see an old friend, Sir John Macdonald, the Premier of Canada, here this
evening.
It was a most pressing invitation, certainly, that I received two years
ago to visit the great Australasian Colonies, and though at the time I
was unable to give an answer in the affirmative or in the negative,
still it soon became apparent that my many duties here in England, would
prevent my accomplishing what would have been a long, though a most
interesting voyage. I regret that such has been the case, and that I was
not able to accept the kind invitation I received to visit the
Exhibitions at Sydney and at Melbourne. I am glad, however, to know that
they have proved a great success, as has been testified to me only this
evening by the noble Duke [Manchester] by my side, who has so lately
returned. Though, my lords and gentlemen, I have, as I said before, not
had the opportunity of seeing these great Australasian Colonies, which
every day and every year are making such immense development, still, at
the International Exhibitions of London, Paris, and Vienna, I had not
only an opportunity of seeing their various products there exhibited,
but I had the pleasure of making the personal acquaintance of many
colonists--a fact which has been a matter of great importance and great
benefit to myself.
It is now thirty years since the first International Exhibition took
place in London, and then for the first time Colonial exhibits were
shown to the world. Since that time, from the Exhibitions which have
followed our first great gathering in 1851, the improvements that have
been made are manifest. That in itself is a clear proof of the way in
which the Colonies have been exerting themselves to make their vast
territories of the great importance that they are at the present moment.
But though, my Lord Mayor, I have not been to Australasia, as you have
mentioned, I have sent my two sons on a visit there; and it has been a
matter of great gratification, not only to myself, but to the Queen, to
hear of the kindly reception they have met with everywhere. They are but
young, but I feel confident that their visit to the Antipodes will do
them an incalculable amount of good. On their way out they visited a
Colony in which, unfortunately, the condition of affairs was not quite
as satisfactory as we could wish, and as a consequence they did not
extend their visits in that part of South Africa quite so far inland as
might otherwise have been the case.
I must thank you once more, my Lord Mayor, for the kind way in which you
have proposed this toast. I thank you in the name of the Princess and
the other members of the Royal Family, for the kind reception their
names have met with from all here to-night, and I beg again to assure
you most cordially and heartily of the great pleasure it has given me to
be present here among so many distinguished Colonists and gentlemen
connected with the Colonies, and to have had an opportunity of meeting
your distinguished guest, the King of the Sandwich Islands. If your
lordship's visit to his dominions remains impressed on your mind, I
think your lordship's kindly reception of his Majesty here to-night is
not likely soon to be forgotten by him.