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

ARRIVAL

OF THE

PRINCESS ALEXANDRA.

THE DISEMBARKATION AT GRAVESEND.

li•ving at an early hour taken our stand at the
river end of the gay and splendid platform of
the Terrace Pier we had time to• observe
the brilliant panorama which opened tefore
us on the broad bosom of the river. In
midwater on one side lay the Emerald, the
finest wooden frigate in her hisiesty's navy, and on
the other the graceful corvette I cocoon, destined to be
the future sea home of our ill' istrionsinvalid Prince
Alfred. Up to a late hour of the morning these
two grim war ships sat ur on the waters as silent
as the grave, and it was not until the royal squadron
came iu sight that they yAve any sign of the teem-
ing life which they enclos ed. Numerous men-of-war
boats darted here and t here across the river, their
_business,__ being to keep a clear passage for the royal
squAoron, and vessels, of various kinds, moored
is various positions, ,Jovered with spectators, and
each provided with is band, gave wonderful life
and animation to the picture. Notwithstanding
the haze, the eye a nild reach anus to Tilbury Fort,
and the imaginat,ion might turn the crowds that
gathered there into the ancient traiu bands
listening to the immortal speech with which great
Queen Bess ate Bled the hearts and nerved the arms
of Englishmen of the olden timeagainatthe invader.
The two war-. dupe that lay in the . river way were
probably of 'more force than any ten of the little
fleet with whisk stout Lord Howard of Efiinghain
sailed forth to meet the invader, but the men were
still the same, and if the work were again to be
done, they -would give a similarly good account of
the enemy.. The company on the pier had ample
olaserve ail these things, and to conjure alp
usll those historic visions, but we strongly suspect
thattheir whole attention was concentrated rather on
theifuture than on the past, and that listening for the
wiz strokes of the telegraph bell which was to
wigaal the Prince's arrival at the railway station, or
fee the boom of the cannon which was to announce
that the royal squadron was iu sight, formed their
piaci* amusement and occupation. Shortly
after 11 o'clock the tiny Osborne darted past with
'the swiftness of an arrow, bearing the luggage of
tale Princess and suite ; and people now began to
•crain and stretch, and raise the hum of expects-
rtion, gentlemen to get ready their hats to cheer,
:and lr.dies to shake out their cambric hand-
iterchiefe preparatory to the usual feminine demon-
libations of welcome. The Recorder of the town
stun down in imposing judicial costume ; but we
are .bound to admit that in amplitude of wig he
;Was surpaseed by the judge of the county
mart, who followed closely after. The Bishop of
Rochester also appeared about this time on the
'platform in full canonicals, and freely distributed a
.3wayer which his right reverence had prepared for
Abe occasion but of which time and previous
arrangement; did not permit the delivery. The
,mayoress, Mrs. Sams, was in attendance with a
charming little bouquet to be presented to the
Primness on landing, and was much commended for
• the richness and good taste of her morning costume.
,The ladies will be glad to learn that Mrs. Sams'
'dress was of crystalline, the new material
brought into fashion by the Princess Alice, and a
I rich Paisley shawl completed the costume. There
• were a few naval officers, a few military, and two or
'three volunteers clustered about the landing stage,
whilst all along, on each side, the crimson benches
were densely packed with fair eager spectatom.
'Ever and anon the telegraph bell gave a little
tinkle and the impatient cried out " The Prince,"
-but titers were a good many of these false alarms
•to be gone through before his Royal Highness
actually arrived. Than a salvo of artillery was
heard frost the rive, and there was a still louder
-about of "The Princess;" bht tidiness also doomed
to be a disappointment, for it was only the Lords
of the Admiralty in their yacht the Black Eagle,
whom etiquette obliged the frigate and corvette to
salute. At last a tremendous volley from the
Shorn battery announced that the royal
squadron was really approaching, and the pier
became at once alive with expectation and
and excitement. Mr. Sharland, the zealous and
eintelligent town clerk—and who, we may ob-
serve by way of parenthesis, is more courteous and
attentive to the representatives of the press than
' any other municipal functionary with whom it has
bees oar lot to come in contact out of London—
• marshaled his forties, placed his stout burgesses in
their allotted positions, and unfolded to admiring
eyes the richly engrossed scroll which contained the
corporation address to the Princie and Princess. As
• this document was pronounced to be a marvel
of ornamental penmanship, it is only justice
•to Mews. Hooper and Soo, of Fleet-street,
to state that it was prepared in their office. The
guns of the Shorn battery were quickly followed by
the salvoes of the frigate and corvette, the crews of
which DOW blackened the decks as if by magic, and,
swarming up the rigging, proceeded to man the
! yard% sailor fashion, even up to the trucks, where a
urns than ordinarily minuses tar might be seen
perchedready to give an a oriel cheer of welcome. Both
ships were now dressed with colours, but they were
far surpassed in gay brilliancy by those of the
llricteria and Albert, which now might be seen
sailing like a majestic swan slowly round to the
landing stage. We have often noticed the beauty of
this aplendid vessel, but she never appeared to
greater a dvantage, or was an object of greater interest,
than on the morning of Saturday last. Her rig-
ging was literally covered with flags of the most
brilliant variety of colour, she glided along the
water with an almost imperceptible motion, and
turned toned to her allotted station with a pre-
cision that showed her to be handled with.=
amount of nautical shill that is not always per-
ceptible on similar occasions.
Every one knows the white deck saloon of the
Victocia and Albert, with its long rows of large win-
dow's en each aide through which the British public
'ham Goof ten gaisk at their beloved sovereign bad
her family. Never was that gammons iatenae than
son the ,present occasion. A river steamer crowded
with passengees hung neon the stern of the royal
yacht, and with true British politeness came as
close as Possible up to the windows of the saloon,
In order that its human freight might stare and
cheer and get a good sight of the Princess. From
.the commotion on bond this vessel, the people on
,the pier became aware that the Princess was show-
ing herself, and they waited with frantic eagerness
for their tuna. A lady came to a window on the
whore-side, and immediately a deafening cheer
*mot* the air. Glasses wee all levelled at the
attractive object, but when it was ascertained
Visa the lady at the window was a
dignified-looking nation of tarty, the en-
thusiasm was in a moment changed into a per-
vading estimation of amusing perplexity. There
was a buzz and ham of dinappeurtmeat to be baud
em every side—" That asn't be the Princess," " she
is thirty," "she is forty," widths lady went solar
as to exclaim" the is fifty," in assents of indignant
sorrow. Vey soon, however, sunshine was re-
stored by the appearance of the Princess Alexandra
herself, radiant in beauty which satisfied all
beholders. The pbotospraphic portraits which
bus so plentifully filled the shop windows
had given the British public an en-
tirely erroneous idea of her royal highness's
dppearance, and for this simple reason, they all
neosemarily have, even when coloured, a dominating
tone compounded of black and white, and, there-
fore, it was with not lees surprise than pleasure that
the thousands who clustered on Gravesend pier on
Saturday gazed on a fair sunny girl with golden
hair, eyes of the bright Scandinavian blue, and a
complexion which rivalled our own island tint for
brilliancy and purity. There was at first a universal
sigh of relief, they a tremendous cheer, and, from
that moment, the Princess was aecetted as the
worthy bride of the heir apparent of England. It
was 1191111411141 before any one thought of looking at
herfoyel b#msWA dress, but when that came to
be examined, the thrdlet was equally aatiefactoey.
Over a Usk inaasfiroloured Irish poplin of great

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