Excerpt from Transactions of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Vol. 3: 1910 At the outset let me voice one word, sir, to you and to your col leagues, Welcome! Really, having uttered that beautiful sound, everything has been said, and I feel that in a sense, on SO beautiful a morning as this, in so exquisite a spot, it had perhaps been more fitting not to go beyond the utterance of that one word. But, as I have been given the honor Of addressing you, I propose to say a few words - literally a -few words. In the first place, reference has been made to my personality. I think perhaps it would be well that you should feel that the one to whom has been entrusted the honorable task of welcoming you can do SO in a sense for all branches of the British race, because I have not the honor of being Canadian born. I have a Sincere and abiding affection for the old country across the Atlantic, from which I came some years ago. I have an equally Sincere and a very great affection for the land of my adoption, Canada, and I have a great affection also for the United States, since, not only from personal intercourse, but by reason of business association, I know a considerable amount about it for one who had not another honor, namely, that of being born in the United States. When I was asked to speak in this early hour Of the day, I wondered if there were any kind of utterance which had been made at any time which indicated what a hard thing it was for a man to have his spoken words considered SO early in the morning. And I found that our good friend Robert Herrick, who lived from 1594 to 1674, had said: In sober mornings, do not thou rehearse The holy incantation of a verse; But when that men have both drunk and well fed, Let my enchantments then be sung or read. I must confess for my own part that I Should naturally expect a more cordial welcome to words spoken after a good hearty dinner than in the morning after an early breakfast. It is hard to decide Of what character they should partake. After dinner one's Speech should be of the nature of a mental liqueur - some Sort Of nice finishing stroke to things which have already been indulged in; but this is absurd in the early morning, after a modest meal of shredded wheat or bacon and eggs. But some thing can be fitly said, even at this early hour. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.