rried out by civil engineers, though all
may not, perhaps, be members of this Institution. The first that
occurs to me is the new Eddystone Lighthouse, of which I myself
had the pleasure to assist in placing the first stone. Then
there are those great works which will be handed down to
posterity and of which civil engineers will ever be proud--I
refer to the Mersey and Severn Tunnels. The former work I had
the great pleasure of opening two months ago. Then comes the
Forth Bridge, not yet completed; I visited the works two years
ago, and I hope in two, or at most three years we may see the
great bridge in working order. While referring to these great
works, which will always remain mementoes of the ability of the
civil engineers of our time, I must not forget to allude to a
more distant evidence of engineering skill--viz., the Alexandra
Bridge in India, which was built over the River Chenab, and
which I had the good fortune to open now ten years ago.

"I might speak for a long time if I detailed all the important
works constructed by civil engineers that I have seen, and
especially if I were to mention also a string of illustrious
names familiar to every one. But I shall abstain from doing so
now, first because, as you hear, my voice is not very good, and
in the second place because it has been agreed upon that there
are not to be any very long speeches. It is my satisfaction now
before sitting down to propose a toast which I am sure will be
most gratefully and sympathetically received by the company, and
that is 'The Health of your President, Sir Frederick Bramwell.'
I cannot allude to him in the manner I should like, or enumerate
all the distinguished services which he has rendered to his
country; but one thing I will venture to say, and that is that
his name will always be honourably connected with the
advancement of technical education. The interest he has taken in
that great subject, and the labour he has bestowed on it, have
gained for him the high honour, conferred by his Sovereign, of
the order of knighthood, and I am sure he will still continue to
devote his time and energies to a measure which is of the
greatest importance to this country. For myself I may say that I
also owe him a deep debt of gratitude for the services he has
rendered as chairman of the executive