The Express.
London, England, 1863-03-09 00:00:00

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.

At the Paddington terminus of the Gnat
Western Railway the arrangements for the royal
reception were both within and without upon the
most extensive scale. The approaches to the station
were gay with Hap, streamers, and devioes of
every hue and almost of every country.
The contrast between the embellishments of
the station and those of the buildings in its
immediate locality was marked and striking.
Those who are familiar with the neighbourhood
of Preed-street will be aware that the majority of
the houses consist of shops of a somewhat humble
class, forming a neighbourhood very different in-
deed from the magnificent abodes of commercial
scanty and wealth in the eon, or Ow

r palatial residences of the aristocracy of
fashion in the west, which up to this
spot had marked the route of the royal prooes-
non. Almost all these shops were turned into
something very like the acting or exhibiting
booths at a country fair, being fitted op with
stages or platforms hung with draperies of every
shade of red—some of them appearing by their
faded colour to have done duty ea many pre-
vious occasions of much more humble pretensions.
Directly oppolite to these little extemporised
booths the lofty and really grand architectural
proportions of the Great Western Hotel, towering
to a height far above all that surrounds it, and
occupying great part of the frontage of the one
side of the street, its noble porch, windows and
capacious balconies, cushioned and draped with all
the aids of the upholsterer's art, seemed as.
much out of plant as a peer of the realm
in his ermined robes and coronet would he amongst
the denizens of Houndsditch or Ratcliff-highway.
As the hour at which the royal cort4,ye was expected
wore on, the balconies and windows of the hotel
and the accommodation supplied by its more lowly
oompetit..re over the way were equally well patron-
ised, with certainly the advantage in favour of the
latter that, being more nearly upon the
level of the cavalcade than the former, the spectators
had a better, as well as a cheaper, view of the
Prince and Princess. At this point of the line,
and along the whole distance from Hyde-park to
the railway terminus, the ground was kept by the
18th Hussars.

The arrangements within the station, both as
regards the accommodation for witnesing the
royal departure and the provision for the
convenience and comfort of their Royal Highnemes,
did credit to the liberality, care, and taste of
the Great Western Railway directors and officials.
At about twelve minutes past 5 the royal
party reached the outer entrance of the sta-
tion, and were received by Mr. Walpole, Lord
Barrington, the Earl of Caithness, Mr. Bann.
derv, and the other gentlemen officially con-
nected with the company. Here, as everywhere
along, the cheering of the populace was dedenieg.
After • brief stay of less than three minutes in the
Queen's room, where refreshments were provided,
the Prince and Princess, with the several members
of the Danish Royal family, emerged upon the plat-
form, attended by Sir G. Grey, Lord A. Paget,
the lords and ladies in waiting following the
officiala slowly aortas the bridge and along
the platform. His Royal Highness, with his
affianced bride hanging upon his arm, proceeded
to the saloon carriage, the band playing the while
the Danish national anthem, and the numerous
company making the rant ring with their plaudits,
which both the Prince and Princess as they passed
along acknowledged with gracious courtesy and un-
disguised gratification. By twenty minutes part
five their royal highnesses, with the Danish
Princes and Princesses accompanying them, had
taken their gents, and all being ready, the Lord of
the Isles (the name of the locomotive engine before
alluded to) guided by Mr. Gooch, the 1000-
motive superintendent, and the Earl of Caithnima
steamed slowly out of the station with its illustrious
freight, the band having just before changed from
the Danish to the English national anthem, and the
company renewing and repeating their congratu-
latory cheers until theca:rinse were far out of sight
and hearing. Mr. Walpole, Lord Barrington, and
the other directors prooteded with the train,
which was under the special conduct of Mr.
Saunders.

Notwithstanding the long and laborious day
which the young Princess had undergone, she
evinced not the slightest symptom of fatigue' but
looked as gay and cheerful as if she were at the
commencement instead of the conclusion of
the elaborate reception, while the sweet and grate-
ful smile which beamed from her bright blue eyes,
and extremely pretty and amiable looking features,
prepoesessed in her favour everyone who saw her.
The memory of this magnificent pageant, in which
not hundreds, or thousands, or hundreds of thou-
sands, but something approaching to millions, came
forth to honour this youthful couple, destined, in
the natural course of things, to be the future King
and Queen of the Empire, must dwell for ever as
au abiding remembrance in the hearts of those who
were the chief actors in it Never, perhaps, before,
within the three hours which the procession occupied
in traversing the space between the Bricklayers'
Arms in the south-east of the metropolis, to the
Paddington Terminus in the north-west, was there
comprised such a succession of grand and gorgeous
scenes.

I thank you, country's's. ;
And thus still doing, thus he passed slow,
is the language of the great dramatist in describing
the welcome of the citizens of London to Boling-
broke ; but how much MOM appropriate is it when
applied to the national spectacle which greeted on
Saturday last Albert Edward, Prince of Wales.