May the blessing of the Lord God Almighty, without whom all our
    labor is but vain, rest upon this work, and all who are or shall
    be engaged in it.

May He take these buildings under His gracious keeping and crown this great undertaking with His enduring favor, making it the school of truth and beauty and so a revelation of His infinite mind working and through the mind of man.  And to Him be glory and honor and power now and always.

The Lord bless us and keep us; the Lord make His face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us; the Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon us and give to us and to all the people of this land peace, purity, and prosperity, both now and forevermore.  Amen.

Eleventh.  Centennial salute of 100 guns.

At 8 o’clock p. m. a grand pyrotechnic display took place on the open grounds south of the Administration Building.

PROGRAMME

DIPLOMATIC DAY, MAY 1, 1902.

At 10.30 a. m. the members of the Diplomatic Corps, the representatives of the foreign governments to the exposition, and other official guests assembled at the St. Louis Club, and they were then conducted by military escort to the Liberal Arts Building.

At 12 o’clock m. the assembly was called to order by Mr. Corwin H. Spencer, chairman of the committee on ceremonies of the Exposition Company, and the following programme was carried out: 

First.  Invocation by Rev. Carl Swenson: 

Great God, the God of our fathers and of their children, accept our heartfelt worship and gratitude.  We bless Thy holy name for that wonderful providence of bountiful love and inspiring benevolence by which Thou hast made us a great and mighty nation out of an insignificant, struggling, and sorrow-laden beginning.

We render willing and adoring worship to Thee for that divine guidance and wisdom so admirably exhibited in the wide-visioned policy in the nation’s most inspired leaders a hundred years ago, and to-day the policy which in one brief century has created an empire of a dozen magnificent Commonwealths of an unknown expanse of uninhabited wilderness and desert.

Vouchsafe ever to us as a people leaders of prophetic understanding, who in an uncertain present fathom the true inwardness of conditions pregnated with the greatest possibilities for a future of ever increasing proportions and realizations.

We thank Thee for the wealth of hope and promise implied in the dedication and completion of this unparalleled congress of peace, good will, and universal fraternity, made possible not only by the enterprise, patriotism, and gratitude of this splendid Commonwealth and our own entire people, but also by the responsive, generous, and helpful cooperation of the nations of the whole world.