The Express.
London, England, 1851-10-10 00:00:00

THE QUEEN IN LANCASHIRE.

KNOWSLEY AND CROXTETIL

CROXTETH, WELiNESDAY NIGHT.

The royal train, which left Lancaster at 2, arrived
at Rainhiil at 4.20. The arrangements made here fur her
Majesty's and the Prince's reception were the work of the
directors of the London and North Western Railway ; and
were ample and appropriate. A little beyond the station a
magnificent pavilion had been erected, into which the royal
party were to be conducted on alighting from the train.
The pavilion extended 110 feet in length by 2.1 feet in
breadth. It was open in front of the line, having some-
, what the appearance of a colonnade ; the flour, which
bordered closely upon the rails, being covered with crimson
baize. The walls and pillars were draped with white
silvered calico a fabric having all the appearance
of satin. It was fluted with pink satin of the
same elegant material. Ranged upon the floor of the
platform were a number of rare greenhouse plants.
An arched opening had been made in the centre of the
pavilion, opposite the point at which it had been arranged
her Majesty should alight ; and through this, by a flight of
broad steps, a second platform, covered in the same manner
as the first, was reached, from which her Majesty could
step at once into her carriage; a drive, sweeping under tho
pavilion, having been formed for the convenience of tho
royal equipages in drawing up. The whole of the pavilion,
including' the portion which encircled the drive, was lined
with the silvered calico previously noticed. Over the
arched entrance from the line of railway was placed a
carving of the royal arms, in white and gold. From the
summit of tho pavilion itself waved two large royal
standards; a union jack floating from either extre-
mity of the erection. At one end of the inner plat-
form a private apartment had been contrasted for her
Majesty's use. It was small, but mo-t sumptuous in its
arrangements. The carpet was Brussel, of choice pattern,
and chairs and couches were upholstered in flowered satin,
and covered with lace. A handsome pier glass was placed
at one end of the apartment, and an elegant table in the
centre. The room was lighted from above by a single square
sheet of plate glass. The walls of this roam, like those of
the pavilion, were draped with silvered calico. Not far
from the pavilion a triumphal arch had been constructed
from a design by Messrs. Milling and Son, of Rainhill Iron-
work., the floral part of the decoration having been super-
intended by the gardener to the County Asylum. The
whole of the artificial flowers, with which it was pruAisely
adorned, were made by the fetrale patients of the asylum,
under the direction of the matron.

An escort of the 16th Lancers, consisting of twenty men,
under the command of Capt. Heaviside and Lieut. Goff,
arrived on the ground early in the afternoon, from Prescot,
where they have been quartered since Monday, in order to
aocompany her Majesty to Croateth. A guard of honour,
consisting of one hundred men of the 23rd Fusiliers, drew
up on the line opposite the pavilion, about three o'clock,
and the band commenced playing a variety of stirring and
martial tones. The guard was under the direction of
Major Lysons.
The roads in the neighbourhood of the station were
densely thronged with the country people. Soon after
three the Earl of Sefton, with a largo party from
Croxteth, arrived at Rainhill, to await his illustrious guilts.
The royal carriages and outriders took up their positions in
good time in front of the pavilion. A few minutes after 4
the pilot engine, bearing the royal flag, the signal that the
royal train was at hand, puffed rapidly past the station, and
soon after the train itself came up, the cheering commeno-

ing from the crowd who lined the rails long before the
wheels of the locomotive were stopped, and the band striking
up the national anthem. Iler Majesty and the l'ri nee alighted
and, with the royal children, proceeded at once, and as if
hurriedly and to escape notice, to their carriage; sad the
suite bustled a ith imitative rapidity past the pavilion and
the people into the vehicles which were in readiness.
Earl Grey was the minister in attendance upon the
Queen, and the royal suite consisted of the Viscountess Can-
ning, ady in Waiting ; the Hon. Beatrice Ilyng, Maid of
Honour in Waiting ; Sir James Clarke, Pliy.ician to her
Majesty ; the lion. Alexander Gordon, tutor to the l'rinoo
of Wales ; and Miss Hilliard, governess to the princesses.
The Earl of Carlisle had accompanied the train as far as
Lancaster, where he alighted. . . . .

Indiscriminately and 'unequivocally, Lancashire hurrahs
attended the passage of the royal party from the train to
their carriages ; but it was certain that her plainly-attired
Majegy was lust in the number of her attendants, and that
neither she nor the Prince were very generally recognised.
The carriages drove at a sharp rate in the direction of
Knowsley. The route lay through Eecleston-gate, when
there were hundreds of people, and more cheering and
equal doubts as to the person of the Queen, into
Knowsley-park ; but, contrary to expectation, her
Majesty did not alight here. The tenantry of the Earl of
Derby were in the park in immense numbers; and all along
the roads to Croxteth the people front the surrounding
loges had stationed themselves to wave their lists and hand-
kerchiefs and to roar a hearty welcome. The Earl of Derby,
with the countess, was awaiting her Majesty in a carriage
drawn by four horses at Eeeleston.gatc, and his lordship
preceded the party throughout Knowsley park. The cor-
tege arrived at Croxteth Hall, where there was little out-
ward preparation, aboutso'cloek. The Queen and therrinoa
I were received on the terrace steps of the old hall by the Coun-
tess of Sefton and her younger children; and the Queen was
conducted at once to the upper drawing rooms where tho
invited Fuesta were assembled to be pre.ented. Soon after
her Majesty was shown' to the private apartments fitted up
for her; while the Prince was accompanied by the Earl of
Sefton to sec the Croxteth model film. The suite of hand-
somely furnished rooms set apart for the royal couple con-
sisted of library, drawing-room'
for bedrooms, a houdois for
the Queen, and a dressing. room Prince Albert.

The names of the visitors at Croxteth, in addition to
those in attendance on the Queen, were:—Viscount Anson,
Mr. Townley and Lady Caroline Townley, Mr. John
Townley, M.P., Mr. Oswald and Lady Louisa Oswald,
Lady Vincent and her daughter Miss Herbert, Mr. Charley
Grenfell, M.P. for l'reston, the Misses Grenfell, Mr. J. I.
Blackburn° and Miss Blaekburne, of lisle, Major Herbert
Byng Hall, Captain and Mrs. Mulyneux, and Mr. Barnard.
The party at dinner were Earl and Countess of Si.tion,
Earl Grey, the Earl and Countess of Derby, Viscount
Anson, Mr. and Lady Caroline Townley, Mr. and Lady
Louisa Oswald, the Lord Bishop of Chester, John Bent,
Esq., Mayor of Liverpool, William Brown, Esq., M.P.,
Sir Thomas Birch, Bart., M.P., Benjamin Heywood, Esq.,
Hardman Earle, Es
Atter dinner, and on the Queen's return to the drawing-
room, the party was increased by visitors from Knowsley.
This afternoon, before her Majesty's arrival, there wcro
endless festivities in the grounds of Croxteth. Several
hundred of the gentry of the neighbourhood were enter-
tained by the Earl of Sefton at lunch, laid out in a hugs
Edirington marquee; and, the tenantry, constituting a still
larger and even more festive party, enjoyed in another
direction the prodigal hospitality of the noble and popular
landlord. At West Derby, Present, and other places, there
was similar loyal excitement and kindred development of it
in unrelaxed eating and drinking from morning to night.

DEPARTURE VROM CROXTETII.

TIII:RAUAT MORNING.

This morning, the Queen, ever punctual, departed from
Croxteth at a quarter past 9, and notwithstanding the very
unfavourable weather, there were many thousands assembled
throughout the intended line of route. It was proposed
that her Majesty should be formally met at the boundary of
the borough by the Mayor, who, accompanied by the town
clerk, was in waiting in his state carriage, but owing to the
inclement weather, her Majesty, after graciously bowing a
recognition to his worship, proceeded onwards, and tho
ceremonies which had been set forth were dispensed with.
With that courage and resolution which her Majesty has
always displayed, the excursion on the river was still re-
solved on, and although the exhibitions of loyalty lost much
of their intrinsic attraction, there was yet sufficient to con-
vince the Queen that she emphatically holds her empire in
the hearts of her subjects. At twenty-five minutes to 10,
the revel cortege reached Newsham-house, the borough
boundary, and at half-past 11 the landing-stage.