The Express.
London, England, 1867-07-12 00:00:00

MISIC73.LASZOCS Topics.

A cursory examination of the Reform Rill, as amended
in committee, reveals to the Times the necessity of vigi-
lance in revising it or plenty of work will be given to
lawyers. The trifling inconsistencies of phraseology which
have arisen from the intervention of too many " artistes"
will in great measure be removed, but the bill itself will
remain the monument of many minds. The scheme of re-
distribution contains no hint that Mr. Disraeli has realised
the real nature of the problem of reform. The merit of it
is his ; but when the historian of the future estimates the
Reform Act of lai'd he may have to say that it consisted of
two parts, of which the one was valuable, and was the
production of the House of Commons, and the other was
valueless, and was the work of the minister.

Several of our contemporaries this morning offer a wel-
come to the Belgian riflemen, and others bespeak a friendly
reception for the Sultan. The style in which the Tele-
graph treats both topics, an extract from the article itself
can alont show. It says :—" Even our grey English
weather has taken up a foreign fashion, and our old
friend the foggy British sun give us brilliant little rays
adapted from the French. We must leave the bright
faces of English girls to complete the welcome. They
must not attack the Sultan because, like St. Paul's model
bishop, he is the husband of one wife ; but as to the ven-
turous Belgian bachelors who have dared to invade us,
they should receive no quarter ; not one should be allowed
to quit us heart-whole or fancy free. We must teach these
rash men what it is to oome within the range of the artil-
lery of Englishwomen's eyes."
Conjecturing what an observer so shrewd as the Viceroy
of E:ypt is said to be, thinks of his first week's experience
of England, the Daily News remarks that up to last evening
he could have seen nothing which so much needed the medi-
ation of a second mind as the dinner given, nominally,
to him at the Mansion House. How a stranger can be
honoured by a crowd of two or three hundred people,
most of them of no distraction whatever, the ordinary and
eager frequenters of the Lord Mayor's table, eating in his
presence an elaborate and oppressive meal, is one of those
things which afford fine scope for ingenious explanation.
Oo the whole, it might be better to mill-mess the risings of
curiosity on such a subject. A time will no doubt come
when we can talk more at our ease upon such matters,
when the chief places in the first of our municipalities will
be accepted, though perhaps not sought, by men capable of
representing the vast commerce, the courageous enterprise,
and the enlightened munificence of London ; when we
shall be spared the spectacle of expense without magnifi-
cence. and pomp without taste or dignity, and when •
guest at the Mansion-house may feel that he is truly ac-
cepting the hospitality of the greatest city in the world.

THE VISIT OF HER MAJESTY TO THE DUKE OF
Roxsuackie.—We understand that her Majesty will not
arrive in Kelso before Wednesday, the 2lst of August.
She will travel by the Wsverley route, and will arrive at the
Kelso station between the hours of eight and ten in the
morning—as near ten as possible, it as expected. Con-
siderable
interest is manifested in Kelso, and all over the
Border district, in anticipation of the royal visit. Upwards
of '2OOl. have been subscribed in Kelso for the purpose of
decorating the public buildings land for triumphal arches.
Immediately on her arrival at the Kelso station her
Majesty will go to Floors Castle, and it is expected
that the reception will be the grandest ever given in
this district to any of the members of the royal family.
There will be a grand triumphal royal arch at the end of
Kelso Bridge, where an address will be presented to her '
Majesty by the chief magistrate of Kelso, and where forty
of the prettiest young ladies in Kelso will strew flowers on
the royal path. There will also be another grand triuni-
phal arch at the head of Rozburglie.street, and all the
houses in the town will be decorated with flags, evergreens,
kc. The arches of Kelso Bridge will he hung with paclefl,
lights in the evening, and various other decorations are
oleo contemplated. On Thursday the 22nd, her Majesty
will drive to Jedburg, on her way to Greenhill, the shoot-
ing-box of the Duke of Roxburghe, in the Cheviots, and
will return on Friday. She will visit Abbotsford,Melrose,
and Dryburgh also on the Friday. She will leave Floors
Cantle on Saturda.y. for Balmoral.—Seetraron.
THE STATE VISIT TO THE OPERA. —The cere-
many of the reception of the Sultan in the Floral-hall on
the occasion of the state visit on Monday next bids fair
to present many novel features. The Sultan will be ac-
companied by his Imperial Highness Monseigneur
Youssouf Izzedin Effendi, eldest son of his Imperial
Majesty; his Imperial Highness Monseigneur Harold
Effendi, nephew of his Imperial Majesty ; anal by his
Imperial Highness Monseigneur Marred Effendi, nephew of
his Imperial Majesty. His Majesty's suite consist, of no
fewer than fifty-nine persona ; and he will also be attended
by the following officers of her Majesty's household, viz. :
—The Lord Steward, the Lord Chamberlain, the Muter
of the Horse, the Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard,
the Gold Stick, the Vox-Chamberlain, the Treasurer of her
Majesty's Household, the Controller of her Majesty's
Household, the Silver Stick, the Field Officer in Brigade
Waiting, and the Controller of the Lord Chamberlain's De-
partment. An escort of cavalry will attend his Majesty
the Sultan from Dudley-house, Park-lane, to the Opera.
His Royal Higbee= the Prime of Wales, attended by his
suite, and accompanied by his Royal Highness the Duke
of Cambridge and other members of the Royal Family,
will arrive shortly before the Sultan, in readiness to re-
oeive his Majesty in the Floral-ball. On the conclusion of
the ceremony of the reception the procession will be
formed; and pass from the west to the east end of the
Floral-hall, then emend the staircase leading through the
crush-room of the Opera-house to the royal box. As soon
as the royal party arrive in the box, which will be placed
in the centre of the house, the curtain will rise, and the
National Anthem will be sung. The opera, Amber's
MaAaniello will then commence. The galleries as well
as the lateral aisles of the Floral-hall are to be set apart
for spectators, the aisles being separated from the centre
0! the hall by low batiks of plants cad Bowers.