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on the part of some who opposed it, to view it more favourably; and one who took a leading part in the opposition, has stated to me his own wish to have formed some amicable arrangement, but he found there were certain individuals who thought the injury they should sustain would be such as would not admit of remuneration; he could not desert them, and was therefore compelled, whatever might be his own inclination, to continue his opposition.
J. Solly, Esq. May I be permitted, as Chairman of the London Board of Directors of the proposed Railway, to thank your Lordship for the observations you have done us the honour to address to us. I am persuaded we shall never lose sight of them in the future conduct of our great undertaking. Our gratitude is likewise due to your Lordship and other Noble Peers, as well as to Honourable Members of the House of Commons, for their diligent and anxious attention during the sitting of the Committees on the Bill, and their close examination of the great mass of evidence it was necessary to adduce. For this voluntary addition to their other laborious duties. I would beg to assure them we feel sincerely and deeply grateful.
Lord Wharncliffe then recommended that, as many persons who would probably have been glad to join in these proceedings, had not been able to attend the meeting, they should be invited to add their signatures to the resolutions. He would sign them on behalf of the meeting.
Edmund Peel, Esq. M.P. Chairman of the Birmingham Board. I rise to move the thanks of this meeting to the Noble Lord who has done us the honour to take the Chair, and in particular for the valuable and most important observations he has addressed to us. Having taken an active part in the conduct of this undertaking. I feel some diffidence in trespassing upon your attention, lest I should be regarded as an interested party; but having for upwards of twenty-two years been engaged in commercial affairs. I must be permitted to say, that I do not think a measure was ever projected, calculated to produce such great and beneficial effects as that which has occasioned our present meeting. I can safely say, that the results of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway have far exceeded the expectation of the parties who embarked in it. Commercial men can safely appreciate the advantages of cheap, certain, and rapid means of communication. With regard to the apprehensions entertained—I am sure conscientiously—by certain Noble Lords, of injury to their estates from the Railway-time and reflection. I am convinced, will remove them; and the obstacles, which have for the present impeded our great undertaking, will at no distant period entirely disappear.
