| Description | Fete at Foundry Mr B’s Address to the Workmen at Dinner. Suppose 1797.
‘I could not deny my self the satisfaction of wishing you a happy & joyous day & of expressing my regard for all good honest & Faithfull Workmen whom I have always…
‘I now come as the Father of Soho to Consecrate this place as one of its Branches, I also come to give it a Name & my benediction.
‘I will therefore proceed to purify the walls of it by the sprinkling of Wine and in the name of Vulcan & all the Gods & Goddesses of Fire & Water, I pronounce the name of it Soho Foundry – May that name endure for ever & ever & let all the people say amen amen.
‘This Temple now having a name I will propose that every Man shall fill his pitcher & drink success to it.
‘I will now call your serious Attention whilst I give my Benediction to the Soho Foundry.
‘May this Establishment be ever prosperous, may it give Birth to many usefull Arts & Inventions. May it prove beneficial to Mankind & yield comfort & happiness to all who may be employd [in] it.
‘As the Smith cannot do without his striker so neither can the Master do without his Workmen. Let each perform his part well & do their Duty in that state to which it has pleased God to call them & this they will find to be the true ground of Equality.
‘One serious word more & then I have done. I cannot let pass this Day of Festivity without observing that these piles of Building have been erected in a short time without the Loss of one Life or any Material Accident. Therefore let us offer up our gratefull thanks to the divine preserver of all things without whose permission not a Sparrow falls to the Ground. Let us chaunt in our Hearts Hallalujas for these di vine Blessings and with our Voices let us like Loyal Subjects sing God Save ye King.’ |