But do you know what you have got to say? BERNICK. Yes, don’t be alarmed, Rummel—now I know what I have to say. [_The music has meanwhile ceased. The garden door is thrown open._ DOCTOR RÖRLUND _enters at the head of the Committee, accompanied by two porters carrying a covered basket. After them come townspeople of all classes, as many as the room will hold. An immense crowd, with banners and flags, can be seen in the garden and in the street._ RÖRLUND. Consul Bernick! I see from the surprise depicted in your countenance, that it is as unexpected guests that we intrude upon you in your happy family circle, at your peaceful hearth, surrounded by upright and public-spirited friends and fellow citizens. Our excuse is that we obey a heartfelt impulse in bringing you our homage. It is not, indeed, the first time we have done so, but the first time on so comprehensive a scale. We have often expressed to you our gratitude for the broad moral basis upon which you have, so to speak, built up our society. This time we chiefly hail in you the clear-sighted, indefatigable, unselfish, nay, self-sacrificing citizen, who has taken the initiative in an undertaking which, we are credibly assured, will give a powerful impetus to the temporal prosperity and wellbeing of this community. VOICES. [_Among the crowd._] Bravo, bravo! RÖRLUND. Consul Bernick, you have for many years stood before our town as a shining example. I do not here speak of your exemplary domestic life, your spotless moral record. To such virtues we pay tribute in the secret chamber of the heart; we do not proclaim them from the house-tops. I speak rather of your activity as a citizen, as it lies open to all men’s view. Well-appointed ships sail from your wharves, and fly our flag on the furthest seas. A large and prosperous body of workmen looks up to you as to a father. By calling into existence new branches of industry, you have brought comfort into hundreds of homes. In other words—you are in an eminent sense the pillar and cornerstone of this community. VOICES. Hear, hear! Bravo! RÖRLUND. And it is the halo of disinterestedness resting upon all your actions that is so unspeakably beneficent, especially in these times. You are now on the point of procuring for us—I do not hesitate to say the word plainly and prosaically—a railway. MANY VOICES. Bravo, bravo! RÖRLUND. But this undertaking seems destined to meet with difficulties, principally arising from narrow and selfish interests. VOICES. Hear, hear! Hear, hear! RÖRLUND.