The Press.
London, England, 1858-08-14 00:00:00

TO TIIE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

May it please your Majesty,—We, the mayor, aldermen,
and councillors of the borough of Gravesend, respectfully
tender our thanks to your Majesty for selecting this borough
as the point of your embarkation.
We gladly availed ourselves of the opportunity afforded to
us in Februry last, on the embarkation of her Royal
Highness the Princess Frederick William of Prussia, with
her illustrious husband, of evincing our loyalty to your
Majesty and our attachment to your excellent Consort.
We trust that your Majesty will, on your arrival in
Prussia, find all your most ardent expectations for the
happiness and comfort of your daughter fully realized, and
that in each succeeding year continued proofs of the loyalty
and devoted attachment of all your Majesty's subjects will
be afforded to you, and the blessing of health will, under
Divine Providence, be vouchsafed to your Majesty, your
Royal Consort, and children.

Her Majesty accepted this address with a smile,
and then, accompanied by the corporation, pro-
ceeded down the pier, and went at once on board
the royal yacht, under a salute from Tilbury Fort.
While on board the yacht a most graceful and
affectionate souvenir was handed to her Majesty
—an offering to the Princess Frederick William from
the fifty-eight young ladies who, it will be remem-
bered, strewed flowers under the young bride's feet
on the occasion of her departure from Gravesend.
This consisted of a sheet of vellum, on which was
exquisitely painted a large true-lover's knot, with
the mottoes " England's fairest rose, may every
happiness attend thee," and in German, "We trust
our treasure to thee with the greatest confidence."
This was inclosed in a beautiful wreath of roses
entwined with the Prussian cornflower, the fillets
which bound them together being inscribed with the
names of the young ladies who presented it. The
whole was richly framed and inclosed in a vety
large morocco case, mounted and enriched with
chased silver. On the whole, it was certainly one
of the most graceful and best executed souvenirs
we have yet seen. There was some doubt as
to whether her Majesty could be asked to take
charge of this to her daughter, but whatever
doubts existed were set at rest the instant the case
came on board. Her Majesty examined it with
evident gratification, showed it to the Prince
Consort, and then took charge of it herself
by locking the case and putting the key
in her pocket. A few minutes' delay was caused
while the sailors got the luggage—an almost endless
succession of carpet-bags, umbrellas, and hat-boxes,
ttc., without which common necessaries, it seems,
even Roy ally itself cannot travel—on board the
yacht. All was ready, however, by ten o'clock, and
at that hour, amid the most deafening cheers, the
Victoria and Albert moved from the pier, and began
to fly down the river at her usual pace. The vessels
in attendance, and which followed in the wake at
some distance, were the Osborne, the Vivid, and the
Banshee—the latter as slovenly in appearance and in
fact as when she was at Cherbourg.
Boat 'races and public amusements followed the
departure of her Majesty, and during the evening
there was a brilliant display of fireworks on the
water. The police arrangements throughout the day
in the borough were most excellent. It was inti-
mated in a semi-official manner to Mr. Troughton,
the mayor, that her Majesty was much pleased with
her reception, and that she would most probably on
her return to England disembark from the yacht et
Gravesend.
Immediately before the vessel started, Sir Charles
Phipps came on shore, and requested Colonel Eyre
to telegraph the time of the Queen's departure to the
Princess Alice, at Osborne ; the Duchess of Kent, at
Abergeldie; the Prince of Wales, at Richmond ; and
the Princess Frederick William.

A CABINET Colmar was held on Monday at the
official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer
in Downing street. The Ministers present were
The Earl of Derby, the Right Hon. B. Disraeli, the
Lord Chancellor, the Marquis of Salisbury, the Earl
of Hardwicke, Mr. Secretary Walpole, the Earl of
Malrnesbury, Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, General Peel,
Sir John Pakington, Lord Stanley, and Lord John
Manners.

Valitltal.

783 -1

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