The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-10-29 00:00:00

LAYING THE FOUNDNVON STONE.

Just above the site where the stone was to he deposited,
two platforms had been erected in steps rising to the
shore, with wide board entrances to the top; and these,
together with a square space round the stone, for the
Principal guests, were railed in front, and fenced in with
boards at the back end. sides. Parties were admitted to
the platforms by ticket, and they were soon filled by a
gaily-dressed conpany. Within the enclosed square were
stationed the band of the 6th Dragoon Guards, that of the
Sixth Foot, -and Mr. Stubbs's Harmonic Band, who
played fovourite airs in concert with a fine effect, also the
national anthem, &c., when the ceremony had concluded.
The leading gentemen having arrived on the ,round,
preparations were immediately made for laying the
steno, by Mr. Rendell depositing a glass bottle, con-
taining a copy of the Liverpool newspaper of the day, a
plan of the works, and one of all the current coins, in
a cavity out of th,. solid r..,ek. [This part of the pro-
ceedings was performed amidst much cheering. 3 Mr.
Rendell then read the inscriptien on the brass-plate, after
which he deposited it in the groove prepared for its recep-
tion, and then presented the beautiful silver trowel (which
we have before described) to Sir Philip Egerton. The
s- one being lowered to its place and adjusted, the hon.
1 baronet struck it with a rosewood mallet.
The Rev. ANDREW Kerox, incumbent of Birkenhead,
then offered up a beautiful, deeply impressive, and anpro-
prta'e prayer.
Sir PHILIP DE MALPAS GREY EGERTON, Bart., of
oulton-park, M.P., then ascended the stone, amittst nine times nine
cheers, which -having subsided, he spoke nearly as follows :—Ladies
and gentlemen, it has 'been customary from time immemorial, in
this country, and I believe also in other parts of the world, to cele-
brate with such " pomp and circumstance " as the occasion might
require, the commencement of works, either public or private,
which, for magnitude or importance, are deemed of more than
ordinary consequence (Hear.) It is in compliance with ancient
usage, and in obedience to the liberal invitation of the commis-
sioners, that we are assembled here this day to witness that magni-
ficent spectacle, which has been prepared with no ordinary care—
to celebrate the inauguration of the foundation stone of the Birken-
head Docks. (Cheers.) It has been my lot, lathes and gentlemen,
frequently to be present upon ceremonials of this description, and I
have a vivid and dietiuet recollection of most of those events which
have occurred during the lust few years; for ceremonies such as
this are not like the ordinary and passing events of the day, Which
make an impression for the moment and then pass into oblivion :
they firm epochs in our national history • are milestones. as
• •• they
it were, in the road of time; they constitute a species of memoria
echnicv, the mind, after the lapse a years, t^ recta not
only the events themselves, hat all the contemporaneous and con-
comitant events of history. (Hear.) It is, therefore, I say I have
a distinct recollection of most of those spectacles which Lave taken
platai during the last few years; and I can stale, most distinctly,
and in all sincerity, that I have .failed to call to mind one which,
either for its intrinsic with or for the important results which are
likely to follow from it, can be compared for a moment with the
undertaking which has this, day been commenced. (Cheers ) I
ant aware that I am making use of- terms most comprehensive; I
am aware that I may probably be subjected to the charge of allow.
ing my partialities or my prejudices to bias my judgment; but I
trust 1 shall not have made use of terms of exaggeration, for I do
not estimate the value of a work of this description by its superficial
acres, by the sam of money that may be expended upon it, but by
the amount of advantages which are likely to accrue from it to
mankind at large. (Hear.) A bridge over the Thames at London,
a bridge across the Menai straits, are works of great magnitude,
and which reflect the highest honour upon the distinguished engi-
neers who brought them to perfecion; but in their application they
must be considered as parely Leal, as mem faellities for intercourse
between the banks of the streams. There are many other works of
great magnitude and importance in this nation : take, for example,
the Royal Exchange of London, which our gracious Sovereign is
about to grace with her presence on Monday next. That is a work
well worthy of the merchant princes who have erected it ; it will he
a lasting ornament to the greatest commercial community in the
world, but its sphere of utility is limited as compared with the re-
sults 1 anticipate front the works n hich are this day here com-
menced. (Hear.) I consider that the ad vantages which will follow
from the erection of these docks will not bepurely local ; they will
not be only national, but they will be universal. (Cheers ) They
will be felt through the length and breadth of the laud; they will
circulate through the minutest fibres of the trade and commerce of
the country; they will be circumscribed only by the limits of civi-
lization in the habitable globe. (Renewed cheers.) The idea of
conveying Wallasey .pool into a series of docks, Is by no means
novel or of recent date. Nature has been so lavish in her adapta-
tion of this part of Clue shire, that every engineer who has visited
the hanks of the Mersey, fur years past, has been struck with the
great capability of this port to feed the local trade; and I believe
the late Mr. Telford, one of the most distinguished men in the
annals of British science, went so far as to say that, in his minion,
Liverpool was built upon the wrong side of the river. (Hear, ant
seine laughter.) The late Mr. Laird, many years ago, had a corn
piete survey male of the Pool, and I remember having received—
and many others received also, 1 dare say—a very able plan for
converting the Pool into a series of docks. It would be needless
for me now to revert to historical facts connected with this place,
wt -ii au-c probably well known to most of those I have the honour
to address It will I,e needless for me to mention the obstacles and
impediments which have appeared in the way of the real;za'ion of
those schemes. Sudice it to say, that those impediments and those
obstacles have been fortunately removed. The Pool has beet tur-
yeyed by the talented engineer who has lately addressed you. He
has drawn out plans for converting the t-00l into a series of docks.
These plans were embodied in an Act of Parliament, which was
passed last session. That bill experienced most rigid, strict, and
searching investigation ia passing through both houses in tire com-
mittees of both the Commons and the Lords; but so manifest were
the advantages it held out, so ably was every clause in that bill
supported by the evidence of the most scientific men in this coml.
try, and, above all, so disinterested appeared to be the motives of
those who promoted the measure, that it passed triumphantly
through those ordeals, 'and came unscathed and umnutilated
through pardament• and is now the law of the land. The works
to he executed under that act are of a magnitude wholly urn a. an
leted, I believe, in works of a similar nature. (Cheers.) They will
comprise, in the first instance, a vast tidal harbour of ne arty f rty
acres, with sufficient water in it to admit of vessels at all times of
the tides, which can cross the Victoria bar. (Hear.) In addieen
to that barb .ur of refuge, convenience will be supplied of about
acres in extent, with a beaching ground of four or live acres
additional, which will be devoted to the use if the trading e,-eft of
the-river. (Dear ) There is also a doCk wLich will be appli 41 to
the present uses and purposes of the town of Birkenhead. if these
were the only objects sought by this bill, they are sufficient to lay
claim to your most favourable consideration ; but beyond this there
will be an opening to the tidal harbour, by gates, of vast extent;
there will also be a floating pool of about one hundred and thirty
acres in extent, throughout the whole of which the water will be
maintained at such a level that the banks of the pool, continued for
nearly eight thousand lineal yards, will be applicable for the pur- I
poses of quays and jetties, of landintaplaces and gravingedocks, and
warehouses, and all the other necessary accommodations required
in a great mercantile harbour. (Cheers.) Ladies and gentlemen,
when Imroatemplate the extent of these works,—when I consider
the important ulterior consequences which may result froth this
first initiatory measure,—above all, when I look at the extent of
the buildings which now clothe the banks of this pool around me,
and compare thetn with the state in which Birkenhead formerly
was,- I can scarcely believe myself to be in the land of reality.
(Hear.) 1 have Iten told, upon very good authority, that not above
half a century ago, at the time when my respected grandsire inha-
bited the mansion now so ably occupied by your neighbour, Sir
Edward Casa—in that period, I ant told, it was proved in a court
of law that larkeahead was not entitled to be considered a town.
ship, village, or hamlet, inssmuch as it did not contain three inha-
bited houses. (fleets.) Whether this be true or not, this Ido know,
from the returns of the census presented decennially to patliament,
that in 1001 the number of houses in the township only amounted
to sixteen ; at the next census, in 151 1, the aumber was increased
by only one; iu 1821 the nitnaber was increased by only three; the
next ten years, from 1831, the increase was to 400; while in 1841
the last census gave the number of its houses at nearly 1500 ; and
I am told that now, in the few years that have elapsed since the
last census, it numbers nearly 2300 houses, occupying an extent of
street exceeding thirty miles. (Cheers ) This I look upon as a
case wholly unparalleled in the annals of this countrY; and if;
among those whom I now address, I should chalice to find a citizen
of the United etates of America—that country so famous for the
rapid growth of towns, and cities, and communities,-1 would-
mest challenge him to bring an analogous inseance to this from Elie
annals of his own country. (Cheers.) 1 say then—it is with juse
tiee I say it—l can scarcely believe the evidence of my senses whets
.1 contemplate the vast and rapid increase exhibited in this district.
(Hear.) It appears more as if some mighty magician, with a fieu-
rish of has wand, had conjured up a mature and flourishing corn•
munity from the bewels of the earth. or the basins of the sea, in
the Mil panoply of commercial prosperity, of wealth, and of intelli-
genei, as Minerva sprang hilly arnica from the head of Jupiter.
lf, then, the mind can scarcely contemplate without wonder and
astonishment the progress mode in the last few years its this locus-
lity, how shall we dare to gaze into the magic spectrum of futurity,
or attempt to divine what may be the onward progress of Birken-
head's pt osecrity ? The astronomer is enabled to calculate the ve-
locities, and to measure the orbits, of the heavenly bodies ; the engi-
neer is enabled to make his surveys and, from his knowledge of
the laWs which govern inane; is enabled to carry out his designs;
for there are certain fixed lairs and philosophical data which they
have given them; but who shall attempt to define what may be the
'rate of increase, or the rate of extension of human enterprise ?
(cheers.) Upon diet alone must depend the extent of prosperity of
a commercial community such as this. 1 can fancy to myself. I
al picture a forest of masts of vowels of all nations, crowding
th use docks ; I can fancy to myself' quays and docks, and ware-
h ntses, clothhig these banks as far as the eye cad reach; I cart
hear. I think, the busy hum of men engaged in all the operations of
merchandise; I can see. the locomotive engine in attendance at the
back of the warehouses, prepared to convey the raw material by
railways in eue. and railways in Posse—(cheers)—to the very parts
where it is wanted. (Renewed cheers.) I can fancy I can trace
streets and squares, houses and palaces, and churches and theatres,
and market-halls and town-halls, and lord mayors, and aldermen
and councillors, and beadles and maces. and all the. paraphernalia
-of municipal dignity (cheers);—l can almost trace m the distance,
I can almost fancy that I can see in the distance the faint shadow
of a populanmember addressing the borough constituency from the
city hustings. (Cheers and laughter.) But to return from the fer-
tile regions of false), to those of stern reality, I state it here to be my
firm conviction that I stand at this moment upon the lin:aeon of
Birkenhead's prosperity. (Cheers.) As the Roman general of old,
in his progress towards Rome, gained fresh laurels and fresh
achievements, Birkenhead will go on in the path et' prosperity until
site becomes in the first rank among the great commercial commu-
niti sof the world. (Cheers.) In the words of a Liverpool paper,
which are remarkab e enough for the truth of their applications,
" she has the full tide of commercial prosperity to start with ; she
has a cheap market to borrow money in, and has cheap materials
to build with; she has the sanction of all the Government depart.
meats; she has ,he approbation of the conservators of the Mersey;
and she has the support of the whole trading and manufacturing
interests of the country." With these great and important advan-
tapes to start with, I trust she will go on and prosper, and from the
bottom of my heart I wish her God speed ! (Tremendous cheers.)
Mr. WILLIAM JACKSON then said, in effect, that he
was deput!d by the public of Birkenhead to ask the favour
of the lion. baronet to permit his likeness to be taken, to
grace the walls of the intended new Town-hall, in order
that it might never be forgotten who it was that had laid
the foundation stone of Birkenhead prosperity.
Sir PHILIP EGERTON said he was proud of this addi-
tion to their former favours, and should be most happy to
accede to their wishes. _ _

Cannon were then fired in salutes, and the immense as-
semblage (including great part of the processicn) dis-
persed from the shore, and poured through the various
streets, some to their inns, others to their homes for re.
freshments, and many (visiters) to the houses of their ac-
quaintinces. The streets, however, remaine•l crowded
throughout the whole day rind evening, no fetver than
about 105,000 persons having been 1 indecl ut the ferries
from this town alone.