the beginning--the name of Roebling. With all
my heart I give to him who bears it now the city's acknowledgment and
thanks.

Fourteen years ago a city of 400,000 people on this side of the river
heard of a projected suspension bridge with incredulity. The span was
so long, the height so great, and the enterprise likely to be so
costly, that few thought of it as something begun in earnest. The
irresistible demands of commerce enforced these hard conditions. But
Science said, "It is possible," and Courage said, "It shall be!"
To-day a city of 600,000 people welcomes with enthusiasm the wonderful
creation of genius. Graceful, and yet majestic, it clings to the land
like a thing that has taken root. Beautiful as a vision of fairyland
it salutes our sight. The impression it makes upon the visitor is one
of astonishment, an astonishment that grows with every visit. No one
who has been upon it can ever forget it. This great structure cannot
be confined to the limits of local pride. The glory of it belongs to
the race. Not one shall see it and not feel prouder to be a man.

And yet it is distinctly an American triumph. American genius designed
it, American skill built it, and American workshops made it. About
1837 the Screw Dock across the river, then known as the Hydrostatic
Lifting Dock, was built. In order to construct it the Americans of
that day were obliged to have the cylinders cast in England. What a
stride from 1837 to 1883--from the Hydrostatic Dock to the New York
and Brooklyn Bridge!

And so this Bridge is a wonder of science. But in no less degree it is
a triumph of faith. I speak not now of the courage of those who
projected it. Except for the faith which removes mountains yonder
river could not have been spanned by this Bridge. It is true that the
material which has gone into it has been paid for; the labor which has
been spent upon it has received its hire. But the money which did
these things was not the money of those who own the Bridge. The money
was lent to them on the faith that these two great cities would redeem
their bond. So have the Alps been tunneled in our day; while the
ancient prophecy has been fulfilled that faith should remove
mountains. We justify this faith in us as we pay for the Bridge by
redeeming the bond.

In the course of the construction of the Bridge a number of lives
have been lost. Does it not sometimes seem as though every work of
enduring value, in the material as in the moral