It is no longer unknown that certain individuals, not belonging to our community, have stolen a march upon the energetic citizens of this place, and have secured certain advantages, which should by rights have fallen to the share of our own town. VOICES. Yes, yes! Hear, hear! RÖRLUND. You are of course not unaware of this deplorable circumstance, Consul Bernick. But, nevertheless, you steadily pursue your undertaking, well knowing that a patriotic citizen must not be exclusively concerned with the interests of his own parish. DIFFERENT VOICES. H’m! No, no! Yes, yes! RÖRLUND. We have assembled, then, this evening to do homage, in your person, to the ideal citizen—the model of all the civic virtues. May your enterprise contribute to the true and lasting welfare of this community! The railway is, no doubt, an institution by means of which elements of evil may be imported from without, but it is also an institution that enables us to get quickly rid of them. From elements of evil from without we cannot even now keep ourselves quite free. But if, as I hear, we have, just on this auspicious evening, been unexpectedly relieved of certain elements of this nature—— VOICES. Sh, sh! RÖRLUND. ——I accept the fact as a good omen for the undertaking. If I touch upon this point _here_, it is because we know ourselves to be in a house where family ties are subordinated to the ethical ideal. VOICES. Hear, hear! Bravo! BERNICK. [_At the same time._] Permit me—— RÖRLUND. Only a few words more, Consul Bernick. Your labours on behalf of this community have certainly not been undertaken in the hope of any tangible reward. But you cannot reject a slight token of your grateful fellow citizens’ appreciation, least of all on this momentous occasion, when, as practical men assure us, we are standing on the threshold of a new era. MANY VOICES. Bravo! Hear, hear! Hear, hear! [_He gives the porters a sign; they bring forward the basket; members of the Committee take out and present, during the following speech, the articles mentioned._ RÖRLUND. Therefore, I have now, Consul Bernick, to hand you a silver coffee service. Let it grace your board when we in future, as so often in the past, have the pleasure of meeting under this hospitable roof.