“Were I present I should like to raise a glass in congratulation of our American friends on their careful and characteristic preparations for their fine record-breaking flight to the Azores and Lisbon. They have still left to us the problem of a direct flight from America to Europe. Personally I have no doubt but that, with the lessons and experience gained by Hawker and Grieve, a direct flight will soon be accomplished, and that by a British ’plane, with a British motor, manned by Britons.”
Mr. Marlowe, in proposing the health of Harry and Grieve, said they were thankful that day to be able to welcome them back to London and back to life. When the master of the steamship Mary last Sunday answered “Yes” to the enquiry of that excellent signalman at the Butt of Lewis, he lifted a burden of apprehension from many minds. “We have not all been able to share the serene confidence of Mrs. Hawker.”
“When the two airmen started, weather conditions were not favourable, and if it had been a matter merely of winning the Daily Mail £10,000 prize the day would not have been selected; if that were all, Mr. Hawker could have waited for better weather, but he felt that for the honour of the British Empire he was no longer free to choose his time. The United States seaplanes were at the Azores, and Mr. Hawker decided to risk all, even defeat and death, rather than give up the palm without a struggle. That was the spirit of Australia, the glorious spirit of Mr. Hawker and Commander Grieve, which had touched the hearts of the people of this country.
“As Britons,” continued Mr. Marlowe, “we give sincere congratulations to the United States airmen on their flight to Lisbon, completed on Tuesday. It was an historic performance and earned respectful admiration. But this afternoon we cannot refrain from congratulating Mr. Hawker and Commander Grieve, who, after all, in one way or another, got across the Atlantic first. In the present stage of flying there is no such word as ‘failure.’ Every effort leads directly to accomplishment, and the flight of Mr. Hawker and Commander Grieve will teach other airmen. It was not a failure: it was a great effort which contained the seeds of success.”
The toast of “two very gallant gentlemen” was then honoured with enthusiasm.
General Seely, who next spoke, said:
“Mr. Chairman, Mrs. Hawker, My Lord Chancellor, My Lords and Gentlemen,—I think, my Lord Chancellor, you will allow that I put the precedence right just for once, for you take precedence on all other occasions in a gathering of His Majesty’s subjects—I have been asked to present to Mr. Hawker and Commander Grieve the cheque for £5,000 provided by Lord Northcliffe and the great journals with which he is associated.
“First of all, on behalf not only of the Air Ministry but of His Majesty’s Government as a whole, and I know one may say of the whole of the people of Britain and the Empire, we rejoice to see you both safe and sound. It is a good thing that you have done. It has not been a useless thing. Apart from your start against adverse wind, not for the money, but for the honour of Britain, valuable lessons were learned. The lesson that Commander Grieve taught us is that in an aeroplane 15,000 feet up above the clouds you can, if you have got a cool head and steady brain, take accurate observations from the stars with a cloud horizon.
“There is another good thing, that there was no tinge of jealousy of our Anglo-Saxon brethren, the Americans. They were more anxious, I think, even than we were—and I cannot put it higher—for your safety when the news came that it was probable that you were missing. The American Ambassador told me last night that he believed there was more concern in the belief that you two brave men were lost than over almost anything else that had happened in America in his recollection. Of course, it was not an angry race—it was a generous emulation. Just as in the field for many months British and American soldiers vied with one another and finally succeeded in overcoming the foe, so we vie to see who will overcome the difficulties and dangers of the Atlantic crossing.