The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-06 00:00:00

PRICE SD.

what extent our eommei`eial relations with theta might
be carried. He honoured. the Noble Lord for having
devoted his leisure in that. most useful field, instead of
in visiting countries, no doubt interesting in themselves,
but not so important to be known to a man who was a
servant of the Crown and a British Statesman.—(llear,
hear.) The presence of Ole Noble Lord, who had more
than once enjoyed the:colafidence of his Sovereign, and
was now a Cabiaet Minister, stamped the works on the
shore of Wallasey Fool, son the west banks, with that.
degree of nationality wi'lich their warmest friends
claimed for them, but Nwhii:...h the public at large might
not be willing to concti'de.—(Hear, hear.) Those
works were not undertakk 'n for the benefit of a few
individuals merely, but pa. rtook of a national cha-
racter. When they adjour. led from that room it
would be to open the Birkea head Park ; for such a
duty no more appropriate perso. n could be selected than
the Noble Lord. Knowing the warm interest he had
always taken in the:sanatory cond;,tion, the health and
comfort of the people, and the imps ovement of towns,
he was sure the Noble Lord would feel „gratified to see a
park devoted to the health and reereation of the people
in the midst of those piles of buildings which were ex-
tending in every direction around it.—(Hoar. hear.) On
an occasion like the present, when no poi'itical feeling
interfered, but where men of all parties were met toge-
ther to celebrate the opening of a great national work, ,
he was sure they would all unite in doing honour to the
toast.—(Hear, hear.) It was his misfortune to sit on
the opposite side of the House of Commons from that
occupied by the Noble Lord; but neither he nor any
other gentleman who sat there could fail to pay to the
Noble Lord's character that respect to which it was en-
titled.—(Hear, hear.) He gave them " The Right lion.
Lord Viscount Morpeth."
The toast was drank with three times three. The
cheering having subsided,
Lord MORPETII said—Mr. Chairman, ladies, and gen-
tlemen, I assure you that I feel most sensibly the more
than kind and cordial manner in which this toast has
been received.—(Hear.) Ever since I have been called
to the office I have now the honour to hold, and which
connects me with the property of the Crown, I have
felt the strongest interest in the rising fortunes of Birk-
enhead; nor it is unnatural that I should do so, for you
are probably aware, that besides the general parental
interest which .the Crown may be assumed to take
in the welfare of all that are represented by the ab-
stract idea of its subjects, it has also motives not so
peculiarly abstract or disinterested for wishing well to
the port and town of Birkenhead. I avow this the more
readily, because it is quite obvious that the proportion
in which the undertakings here set on foot can become
"profitable to the Crown must be according to the degree
in which they are made valuable for the accommodation
of commerce and for the public good.—(Hear, hear.)
As a well wisher, then, to the public, and as a servant
of the Crown, es an admirer of courageous enterprise
and successful perseverance—(Hear, hear)—l find a
combination of claims upon me for doing, in combi-
nation with my colleagues by whom I am most will-
ingly and- zealously seconded, and in pursuance of
that example which has been set to me by my pre-
decessors in the same office—(Cheers)—all that in us
lies to promote, on all legitimate grounds, the perma-
nent prosperity of Birkenhead.—(Cheers.) With these
feelings, then. you may judge with how keen a relish,
with what lively emotion, I partake in all the pro-
ceedings of this day.—(Loud cheers.) 'We hear some-
times of the old gala days of Venice, when the Doge went
forth in his golden galley to plight his faith to the wave
which bathed his palaces, but we have seen some-
thing this day beyond even the dreams of Venice. For
instance, such an array of steamers as has to-day graced
the Mersey, never could have been witnessed in Venice -
and though perhaps a steamer, when viewed by itself,
may not be so picturesque an object as a gondola, I may
yet remind you that even in the palmiest days of her
pomps and argosies, Venice never could have sent forth
a message which in ten days might reach those harbours
and roadsteads of the New World where her flag never
waved. A pleasing omen I shall think it, if amongst the
first uses of that ample basin into which our vessel to-
day has been the first to glide, surrounded by all those
striking specimens of engineering skill and admirable
masonry, we should apply those works to the admission
of the surplus harvests of more favoured regions, and
make provision for the bread which keepeth alive.—
(Hear, hear.) Next in the progress of time—l hope in
the course of this very autumn—you will be able to bear
your part in accommodating the timber trade. I will
not proceed further in those long vistas of usefulness, of
enterprise, and of success, which, I trust, will stretch
out before the future prospects of Birkenhead, and to
which I hope the proceedings of this day will have given
an auspicious commencement, and a powerful impulse.
—(Hear, hear.) I would just express a hope in pass-
ing, that the best feeling and the best understand-
ing will always prevail between you and the great
city immediately opposite you. —(Great cheering.)
Liverpool divides with London the supremacy of the
commerce of the modem world, and as London could
only feel benefited by the expansion of Southwark,
Liverpool can never have cause to repine at the growth
of Birkenhead. Believe me, gentlemen, and I hope all
on the other side of the water will believe me too, that if
ever your own wide Mersey was thoroughly walled by a
double wall of docks and warehouses, there will not be
more than room for the corn, the cotton, and the forests
of the western hemisphere.—(Hear, hear.) And I trust
you have this day forged a new and an abiding link to
that chain of amity which ought ev.er te connect- Eng-
grounds.—(Hear, hear.) Nor will my most recent
occupation permit me to forget that this is one of the
first places which has begun a systematic attention to
the physical comforts of the vast numbers of workmen it
calls together, and the important subject of' public health.
With this assurance about us and around us, I feel that
the pageant of to-day, even whene its gaieties shallstdl
ghaveve and its shouts
heart
it
has
'not been a
the strife of ohdui vsch a
for
gathersre miet ms b
trophiesranc e t
from
triumph upsasgs%re•
na-
tions and the arts of destruction—that it has not been a
mere unmeaning sacrifice to frivolity and dissipation, but
that it has struck its roots deep in public usefulness, and
will bear rich fruits of peace and progress through
coming ages.—(Cheers.)
The next toast given was, " The County Members."
Sir P. EGERTON, M.P., returned thanks. Two years
ago only he had attended the preliminary proceeding on
the commencement of the works which they had now
assembled to open to their uses. He had not expected
so soon to witness the fulfilment of their hopes, though
he had never been influenced by those who said that
they might as well propose to build docks in the air as
at Birkenhead. He congratulated the Commissioners
upon having, while providing for the commercial im-
provement of the town, been equally attentive to the re-
ligious instruction, the health, and comfort of the poor.
Formerly there was a couplet—
From Birkenhead to Kilbree
A squirrel may hop from tree to tree.
Ere long he hoped they might read it thus:
AFrsohmipßmirslayenshaiela
fdrot
mo li\iiielbrsreeyo
to Dee.
The Earl of LINCOLN proposed the next toast—" The
commerce of the Mersey," a duty which devolved upon
him iu consequence of the absence of Sir T. Fremantle,
the Chairman of the Customs. His Noble Friend had
said that Liverpool and London divided the commerce of
the United Kingdom. He believed the commerce of the
Mersey, as represented by Liverpool, not only equalled,
but by the most recent accounts exceeded that of
Lon-
don itsclf.—(Hear, hear.) And from this auspicious
date that that increase would go on until,
in a few years,
the port of Liverpool would be equal to any two or
three in the kingdom, London included. He had been
informed that coals had beers that day sent from Wal ea
by the new railway to be shipped on board a steamer
already lying in these docks. An America!! vesise 1
too,
he understood, was now in the port, principally l laden
back by
the same railway, and probably, ere nightfall, be spread
n
over the fields.—(Hear.) He could not but express a
fervent hope that the introduction of this f
i omen of
on this occasion might be taken as an auspicious
the toastme which
usspter
r so more
e•rctlous lizing agent
an abundant harvest. The Noble Earl,
was drunk with enthusiasm,
M
The aor of Manchester;"
roosed
eloquent observations, formally p p
The other toasts were— y
The Chairman," proposed by Lord Morpeth ; " The
." " The Dock Warehouse Company ;"
Birkenhead Docks,
‘.
The Guests of the Day ;" " Mr. Rendall, the engineer,
and Mr. Paxton, the designer of the New Park;" " The
Railway Interest connected with Birkenhead ;" "The
Cheshire Witelies," &c.
After the dejettner, Lord Niorpeth, accompanied by
several distinguished guests, proceeded to open the New
Park, which has been formed with a wise foresight to
the future wants and sanitary condition of the popula-
tion of Birkenhead, at a cost of 127,775/.
The park was during the day the scene of great re-
joicing and festivity, and in theThevening
a t there
Birkenhead, was a
gorgeous display of fireworks.
the Birkenhead Docks, 2,000
holi-
day; and the workmen
a,day's
,s
wage.
Later in the
and indeed portly at Liverpool,st was "served as a
in number, each received
k in the Dock
iratelyware-
fitted up for the
en approp
house, which bad be
resent the majority of the
evening a ball and supper too ate
occasion, at which
eedings.
principal persons whowebrandpattended the previous pro-
,