The Express.
London, England, 1863-06-18 00:00:00

THE VISIT OF THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS

Or WALES TO OXFORD. .

Peou out arena, IMPOST'S.)
OXFORD, WIZINISDAT.
The programme of to-day was scarcely lees
extensive than that of Tuesday. It commenced
Ihthe reception at eleven o'clock of their Royal
• hnesses the Prince and Princess at Deter
College by the Vice-Chancellor, the Heads of
Houses, and other university authorities, whence
they proceeded to the Sheldonian Theatre to be
present at the Encomia, or Commemoration proper.
What took place at the theatre yesterday was
special, and connected solely with the visit of the
Prince and his accessit to the degree of D.C.L.
To-day the prize poeme were recited, the Creweian
oration deli , and the honorary degrees con-
ferred on the Nike of Newcastle, Earl Granville,
M. Torben de Bills (Danish Minister), Mr. Card-
well, M.P., Sir Hugh Cairn., M.P., Sir Stafford
Northcote, M.P., and Mr. S. Fitzgerald, M.P.
The proceedings in the theatre to-day, therefore,
constituted the commemoration proper ; and as
usual the rising semicircle was occupied by noble-
men and dodos ; the area by graduates and
strangers ; the lower gallery by ladies, and the
upper by undergraduates. All the members
of the unieersity were dressed in their
proper acadeesiml robes, and the tlrt of
those present was very much the same as tkat of
yesterday. The scene was, however,more beautiful,
for there were no ladies miserable in soaked silks,
and making others miserable by the disarray which
they produced. Even the undergraduates were
under a more genial influence, for their voices were
not only more stentorian, but their cries were more
varied, "Stonewall Jackson" and "John Bright,"
but the latter in a very feeble degree, sharing in the
calls for cheers which were liberally awarded to
Lord Palmerston, the Earl of Derby, Mr. Glad-
stone and Mr. Disraeli. Mr. Jowett was much
cheered, and although there was a call for three
cheers for Dr. Pitney, there were as many hisses as
cheers given in response. The chief cry was
" Where's Kingsley 1" and the name of the
popular novelist was greeted again and again by
rounds of applause. Some two or three gra-
duates who, to avoid the hustling in the area,
which was nearly as bad as on the day
before, succeeded in mating themselves on
the ledge of the ladies' gallery, had to
beat a retreat under the well-directed fire of the
sarcasms of the undergraduates-4 victory which
they celebrated with a tremendous clapping of
hands. At about 20 minutes to 12 o'clock the
Prince and Princess of Wales entered the Theatre,
and great as was the applause that met them
yesterday, it was far exceeded in cordiality by
that of to-day. The whole audience stood up
to receive them and there was a waving of hats, a
clapping of halide, and a heating of boards which
baffles all description. The Prince of Wales wore
the doctor's gown over a morning dress with the
Order of the Garter. The Princess was dressed in
white, and looked pale. The audience having sung
the National Anthem, three cheers were given for
the Queen, the Princess, and the Prince.
Silence having been restored, the Earl of Derby,
as Chancellor, opened the proceedings by explain-
ing in the usual Latin form the cause of the present
convocation. The Public Orator, the Rev. R.
Michell, 8.D., delivered the Creweian Oration.
Much amusemeat was caused by one or two of the
undergraduates answering to the appeal whether
they would have Lord Granville for a Doctor of
Civil Law by a " non planet," which was partici-
pated in both by the Prince of Wales and the Earl
of Derby. The names of Mr. Cardwell and Mr.
Seymour Fitzgerald were alsoobjected to by probably
the same factious individuals. They were all,
however, admitted to the degree, and took their
seats within the charmed circle of the
doctors. Amongst those who were present in
their academical robes were Sir G. Bowyer
and Mr. Newdegate. The two members
for the university, Mr. Gladstone and Sir W.
Heathoote, sat next each other. Mr. Henley and
Mr. Walpole were also present. The following
prizes were then recited, handsomely bound copies
of the essays and poems being placed in the bands
of the Prince and Princess :
Latin verse, " Spelunca duplex in agro Ephronis," Thomas
Leslie Papillon, scholar of Balliol.
Eaglish essay, "The Renaissance," John Addington
Symonds, RA., Fallow of Magdalen.
Latin essay, " Quibusoam prwmpue de minis ezortum sit
bell= circle Americsaum?" Henry Nettleship,
Fellow of Lincoln.
Sir Roger Newdigate's Prize, "Coal mines," Thomas
Llswelyn Thomas, scholar of Jens.
Arnold," The Holy Romeo Empire," James Bryce, 8.A.,
Fellow of Oriel.
Gaisford verse, from Milton's "Paradise Lost," VI. 824
877, Charles John Pearson, scholar of Corpus.
Osisford press, "Roast Marto Polo Veoetua qua viderit
aped Sera' at Woo," Augustine Ley, student of Christ
Church.
Stanhope, "The influence of the feudal system on the
formation of political character," Francis Henry Jaune,
scholar of Balhol.
The moat interesting of these compositions is un-
questionably that of Mr. Nettleehip, which dis-
cusses the causes whence the civil war in America
originated, and it is an honour to him, and to his
college, that amid the " studious walks and shades"
of Oxford, he has come to the conclusion which all
the thoughtful men of the time have come to, viz.,
that slavery, and slavery alone, lay at the root of
the disruption in the United States of Ame-
rica. These prize recitations, however, went off
as they usually do, very languidly, only enlivened
occasionally by an undergraduate insisting that the
reciter should "speak up." There was some ap-
plause given on the conclusion of the Newd*ate
prize poem by Mr. Thomas. After the recital of
the poems and essays the Earl of Derby eloeed the
Commemoration by saying, Jam solrohnue lone cos-
eocationem. There was an immediate call for three
cheers for the noble earl, which were given with
great heartiness, also loud cheers for the Prince
and Princess, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Disraeli, &c.
At half-past two o'clock there was a splendid
collation given in the library of All Souls College
to the Prince and Princess, who were received by
Dr. Leighton, the warden, Dr. Lightfoot, vice-
chancellor, and other university authorities. The
library in which the collation was held is 198 feet
in length and 32} in breadth, except in the centre,
where it is 51t. It was in this central portion of
the library that the royal table was placed, imme-
diately in front of the fine statue of Codrington,
by Sir H. Cheese. The room is fitted with a rich
wainscot, decorated with lonic and Doric pilasters,
the lower range supporting a gallery which sur-
rounds three sides, over which are busts of some of
the most eminent fellows of the college. The royal
table was splendidly laid out, and along the line
of windows plants and flowers were placed. The
Earl of Derby occupied the chair at the royal table,
the Princess sitting on his right and the Prince on
his left hand. The Dukes of Newcastle, Buocleuch,
and Marlborough, Earl Granville, and the most dis-
tinguished visitors in Oxford, were accommodated in
the library. But there was also a long tent fronting the
royal table, where some hundreds of visitors parti-
cipated in the hospitality of the University.
There could not have been lees than 400 or 500
"pests present. The band of the University
irolunteere played curing the collation.
The next point of attraction was Worcester Col-
lege Gardens, in which the members of the Apollo
Lodge of Freemasons gave their annual musical
fête. No lees than 4,000 invitations were issued
for this fete, which it was expected would be
honoured by the presence of the Prince and Princess
of Wales, as well as by the leading visitors to the
Commemoration. With respect to the anticipated
visit of the royal party, the thousands who thronged
the gardens were doomed to disappointment, for it
was notified that the Prince and Princess could not
attend. After all the Princess went through
on the previous day ' and the hours she
spent in the Theatre and All Souls to-day, it is no