The Life of King Edward VII
Samuel of New South Wales, Mr. Charles Mills of Cape Colony, Mr. R.
Murray Smith of Victoria, Mr. James F. Garrick of Queensland, Sir W. C.
Seargeant, Sir G. C. M. Birdwood and many other distinguished
representatives of British, Colonial and Indian interests. In the course
of his somewhat lengthy speech detailing the objects of the movement and
the methods of operation, the Prince described the proposed Exhibition
as one by which the "reproductive resources" of the Colonies and India
would be brought before the British people and the different countries
concerned be able to "compare the advance made by each other in trade,
manufactures and general material progress". He pointed out the desire
of the Motherland to participate in the development of Colonial material
interests and then added: "We must remember that, as regards the
Colonies, they are the legitimate and natural homes, in future, of the
more adventurous and energetic portion of the population of these
Islands."
The Secretary announced that the preliminary list of guarantees provided
for L128,000, including L20,000 from the Government of India, L10,000
from that of Canada, L19,000 from the various Australasian Governments
and L1000 each from individual subscribers such as Lord Cadogan, Sir
Thomas Brassey, Sir Daniel Cooper, the Earl of Derby, Mr. Henry
Doulton, Sir J. Whittaker Ellis, Mr. Samuel Morley and the Earl of
Rosebery. This latter list indicated in a most marked manner the
personal influence of the Prince of Wales. On May 3, 1886, the eve of
the formal opening of the Exhibition was marked by a meeting of the
Royal Commission at which the Prince presided, sketched the history and
progress of an undertaking to which he had given much time and intimated
that the guarantee fund now amounted to L218,000, of which the City of
London had recently voted L10,000. In proposing a vote of thanks to the
Royal chairman, seconded by Earl Granville, the Duke of Cambridge said:
"It is not the first time that His Royal Highness has acted as President
in undertakings of this nature, and it is very difficult for any person
to praise him in his presence without appearing fulsome; but it is not
fulsome to say that he has always devoted his whole energies to bringing
everything to a successful issue with which he is connected."
OPENING AND SUCCESS OF THE EXHIBITION
The Colonial and Indian Exhibition was opened on the following day at
South Kensington by Her Majesty the Queen in the presence of an immense
gathering, representative of all parts of the British realm. It was, in
fact, the first of those great fetes with which the people became so
familiar in the next two decades and which did so much to unify and
typify the power of the Empire. In the brilliant throng surrounding the
Queen and the Prince of Wales, as the latter read an elaborate address
of loyal welcome, were the members of the Government, the various
Foreign Ambassadors, distinguished men in every walk of life,
representatives of Colonies and British islands in all parts of the
world--Lord Salisbury, Lord Rosebery, Lord Cranbrook, the Earl of
Northbrook, the Dukes of Manchester, Buckingham and Abercorn, the Earl
of Iddesleigh, Lord Granville, the Earl of Kimberley, Lord Napier of
Magdala, Sir M. E. Hicks-Beach, Sir F. Leighton, Sir Charles Tupper and
Mr. Hector Fabre from Canada, Sir Alexander Stuart, Sir Arthur Blyth,
Sir Samuel Davenport, the Hon. James F. Garrick and the Hon. Malcolm
Fraser, from Australia, Sir Lyon Playfair, Sir Richard Cross, Sir
William Harcourt, Lord Wolseley, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Mr. H. C.
E. Childers, the Maharajah of Johore, Rustem Pasha, Count Hatzfeldt,
Earl Spencer, and many others. Madame Albani sang that splendid ode by
Lord Tennyson beginning:
"Welcome, welcome with one voice
In your welfare we rejoice,
Sons and brothers that have sent,
From isle and cape and continent
Produce of your field and flood,
Mount and mine and primal wood,
Works of subtle brain and hand
And splendours of the Morning Land,
Gifts from every British zone
Britons, hold your own!"
The National Anthem was first sung in English and then in Sanskrit as a
compliment to the Indian visitors. The address read by the Prince of
Wales referred to the origin and progress of the project, to the
development of the Colonies, to the late Prince Consort's interest in
Exhibitions and to his own position as President of the present Royal
Commission, and concluded as follows: "It is our heartfelt prayer that
an undertaking intended to illustrate and record this development may
give a stimulus to the commercial interests and intercourse of all parts
of Your Majesty's dominions; that it may be the means of augmenting that
warm affection and brotherly sympathy which is reciprocated by all Your
Majesty's subjects; and that it may still further deepen that steadfast
loyalty which we, who dwell in the Mother Country, share with our
kindred who have elsewhere so nobly done honour to her name." The
Queen's reply expressed an earnest hope that the Exhibition would
encourage the arts of peace and industry and strengthen the bonds of
union within the Empire. An interesting feature of the proceedings was
the receipt of a telegram from Sir Patrick Jennings, Premier of New
South Wales, expressing that Colonial Government's "thanks and
appreciation to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales for the profound
interest" he had shown in the success of the great project now so
auspiciously opened. The London _Times_ on the following day spoke of
the "energy and devotion" of the Prince in this connection, and the
press as a whole at home and in the external Empire joined in
congratulating him upon the issue.
The Exhibition was a great success in every way. Over five and a half
million visitors were recorded and the Queen helped, personally, to
maintain public interest in it by herself visiting the various Sections
repeatedly. The final meeting of the Royal Commission was held at
Marlborough House on April 30th, 1897 and the Prince of Wales submitted
an elaborate and exhaustive Report which was afterwards published. In
his own remarks the President pointed out that the project had served
its main purpose in very largely promoting knowledge of the Empire's
resources and products and that, incidentally, its success had given the
management a surplus of L35,000. This sum, he suggested, should be
largely devoted to the advancement of the project for a permanent
Exhibition or Imperial Institute--"in the promotion of which the Queen
and I both take so warm an interest." Later in the evening the Prince
expressed the hope that as the late Exhibition had been, allegorically,
burnt that day, "the Imperial Institute may be a Phoenix rising out of
its ashes. I trust that it may be a lasting memorial not only of that
but of the Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen." Of the sum mentioned,
L25,000 was accordingly voted to the new project.
The proposal of the Heir Apparent--as first expressed in a letter to
the Lord Mayor on September 13, 1886--was that the idea evolved in the
Exhibition should be made permanent and be embodied in an Imperial
Institute which should be at once a visible emblem of the unity of the
Empire, a place for illustrating its vast resources, a museum for
exhibiting its varied and changing products and industries, a centre of
information and communication for all British countries, an aid to the
increase and distribution of national wealth, a medium for combining in
joint co-operation older and smaller institutions of tried utility, and
a fitting national memorial of the Queen's Jubilee. The movement
developed steadily and, on January 12th, 1887, a gathering was held at
Kensington Palace, upon invitation of the Prince of Wales, and was one
of the most representative over which even he had ever presided. Amongst
those present were Lord Herschell, Chairman of the Organizing Committee,
the Earl of Carnarvon, Lord Revelstoke, Lord Rothschild, Sir Lyon
Playfair, Sir H. T. Holland, Sir John Rose, Sir Henry James, the Right
Hon. H. H. Fowler, Sir Frederick Leighton, Sir Charles Tupper, Sir Saul
Samuel, Sir Edward Guinness, Sir Ashley Eden, Sir Owen T. Bourne, Sir
Reginald Hanson, Lord Mayor of London, Mr. J. H. Tritton, Chairman of
the London Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Pattison Currie, Chairman of the
Bank of England, Sir Frederick Abel, Mr. Neville Lubbock, Lord Campden,
the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, the Lord Mayor of York, the Mayor of
Newcastle and nearly two hundred other mayors, or chief magistrates, of
British towns.
The Prince of Wales was accompanied by Prince Albert Victor and spoke at
length upon the objects to be served and the progress already made in
the matter which he had so much at heart. "It occurred to me that the
recent Colonial and Indian Exhibition, which presented a most successful
display of the material resources of the Colonies and India, might
suggest the basis for an Institute which should afford a permanent
representation of the products and manufactures of the Queen's
dominions. I, therefore, appointed a Committee of eminent men to
consider and report to me upon the best means of carrying out this
idea." So much for the initiation of the scheme. The Report had been
duly submitted and accepted and he now invited co-operation and
assistance in establishing and maintaining the proposed "Imperial
Institute of the United Kingdom, the Colonies and India." His Royal
Highness pointed out that no less than sixteen million persons had
attended the four Exhibitions over which he had presided--the Fisheries,
Healtheries, Inventories and Colinderies, as they were popularly
called--and expressed the strong belief that they had added greatly to
the knowledge of the people and largely stimulated the industries of the
country.
INITIATION OF THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE
"My proposals are that the Imperial Institute be an emblem of the unity
of the Empire and illustrate the resources and capabilities of every
section of Her Majesty's dominions." The Colonies and Motherland would
thus teach other and emigration would also be greatly aided along
British channels. He believed that the work upon which he had entered in
this connection would be of lasting benefit to this and future
generations and, after a careful review of the whole situation, declared
that "from the close relation in which I stand to the Queen there can be
no impropriety in my stating that if her subjects desire, on the
occasion of the celebration of her fiftieth year as Sovereign of this
great Empire, to offer her a memorial of their love and loyalty, she
would specially value one which would promote the industrial and
commercial resources of her dominions in various parts of the world and
which would be expressive of that unity and co-operation which Her
Majesty desires should prevail amidst all classes and races of her
extended Empire."
A public meeting at the Mansion House followed with the Lord Mayor in
the chair and was addressed by Earl Granville, Mr. A. J. Mundella, Mr.
G. J. Goschen, and others. Strong resolutions of support and approval
were passed, many telegrams of sympathy with the object announced, and a
statement of initial subscriptions given which included the names of
Lord Rothschild, Sir W. J. Clarke of Australia and Lord Revelstoke.
During the next six years the project was steadily pressed forward;
large individual subscriptions obtained by the personal influence of the
Prince of Wales, supplemented by the growing sympathy with the Colonies
and with Empire unity; while grants were given by the British, Indian
and Colonial Governments. Gradually, the splendid building in South
Kensington, known over the world as the Imperial Institute, approached