Read it through once

The Secretary announced that the preliminary list of guarantees provided for £128,000, including £20,000 from the Government of India, £10,000 from that of Canada, £19,000 from the various Australasian Governments and £1000 each from individual subscribers such as Lord Cadogan, Sir Thomas Brassey, Sir Daniel Cooper, the Earl of Derby, Mr. Henry Doulton, Sir J. Whittaker Ellis, Mr. Samuel Morley and the Earl of Rosebery. This latter list indicated in a most marked manner the personal influence of the Prince of Wales. On May 3, 1886, the eve of the formal opening of the Exhibition was marked by a meeting of the Royal Commission at which the Prince presided, sketched the history and progress of an undertaking to which he had given much time and intimated that the guarantee fund now amounted to £218,000, of which the City of London had recently voted £10,000. In proposing a vote of thanks to the Royal chairman, seconded by Earl Granville, the Duke of Cambridge said: "It is not the first time that His Royal Highness has acted as President in undertakings of this nature, and it is very difficult for any person to praise him in his presence without appearing fulsome; but it is not fulsome to say that he has always devoted his whole energies to bringing everything to a successful issue with which he is connected."