was here I was elected a younger member
of your Corporation. To-day I have become an elder member, and
Sir Frederick Arrow asked me to take the chair in place of my
brother, the Master, who is now in a far distant land. You may
be sure that I shall always be ready to assist in every way I
can to promote the good of this excellent institution. Sir
Frederick Arrow has been pleased to allude to my yachting. It is
true I am fond of yachting, but I cannot claim to be either a
nautical or a naval man. You may, however, always reckon upon
any services I can render in any way in which you may think I
can be useful to your Corporation."

Other customary toasts were then given, and responded to. To the toast
of "The Master of the Corporation," his Royal Highness the Duke of
Edinburgh, "wishing him a happy, prosperous, and safe voyage from the
Southern hemisphere, and a quick return home," the Prince of Wales
replied:--

"Your Royal Highnesses, my Lords, and Gentlemen,--I feel I am in
rather a difficult position in having to return thanks for one
who is absent. At the same time, I feel assured my brother would
be gratified by my thanking you for the manner in which his
health has been proposed and welcomed. According to the French
proverb, '_Les absens ont toujours tort_.' But I hope you will
think differently, seeing that my brother is a post captain in
Her Majesty's Navy, and is visiting one of Her Majesty's far
distant colonies. I am sure if he knew you were drinking his
health at this time his heart would be with you. Before I sit
down I have the honour of proposing to you a toast--the
principal toast of the evening. I call upon you to drink,
'Prosperity to the Corporation of Trinity House.' It would be
almost superfluous in me to make any remarks on the Corporation
or its present or future development. It has existed since the
time of Henry VIII., and ever since that time to the present the
community has taken the deepest interest in its prosperity. It
has also been connected through its honorary Brethren with some
of the most distinguished men, and many of those honorary
Brethren are present here this evening. Its object is to protect
our ships and our sailors, and that object is never forgotten.
As the First Lord of the Admiralty has just said, while the Navy
is called upon to protect our co