The Sun.
London, England, 1837-11-09 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The metropolis for some days has been engrossed
with preparations for the festivities of this day. Never,
perhaps, in the history of the country were the people
so united as on the present occasion. For several days
the streets have been thronged, we may say crammed,
with persons of all ages, taking the most lively inte-
rest in all that was going forward, and happy in the
thought that due honour would be paid to the Queen
who holds so high a place in their affoctionate regards.
We only wish that the state of the weather may be in
accordance with the general feeling. But the fog,
which for some days has prevailed in the metropolis,
and which last night was so intense as to occasion se-
veral accidents, almost forbids us to indulge in the hope
of a bright day. We have reason to believe that the
precautionary measures of the authorities and police
are of so judicious a character, and on so extensive a
scale, as to ensure the general safety. 'We are sure
that the joy and good feeling of the people will be a
sufficient security against any intentional interruption
of order; but a population equal to that of a second-
rate kingdom crowded into the narrow limits of one
city, and the natural eagerness of all to view the splen-
did scene, require on the part of those entrusted with
the public safety peculiar care and attention.—Morn-
in (r Chronicle.
Should the elements not continue unfavourable to the
enjoyment of brilliant spectacles out of doors, the
mere outward show which has been so long in prepa-
ration for this actual 9th of November, 1837, will
brighten the eyes and cheer the spirits of many hun-
.

dred thousands of an industrio-us and well-natured
people, who lack both comfort and amusement, which
too frequently they cannot find. Of the 1,500,000
persons, of both sexes, who form the estimated po-
pulation of this stupendous London and its suburbs,
we are much within its bounds when we prophesy
that more than half a million will be astir throughout
the ensuing ten or twelve hours as lookers-on, and
what the French call " assistants," at the mighty
pageant of this Lord Mayor's-day, during the pro-
gress east and west of those few hundreds who are to
be performers in it, and more especially at and near
the spot, that is, in the heart of the City itself, which
is to be the scene of the principal action—the solemn,
though festive, entertainment given to her Majesty.
The simple congregation of so immense a mass of
living creatures within a space or spaces of necessity
so confined, every individual being independent of his
neighbour, and more or less anxious to improve his
own opportunities of observation, though at the expense
of the repose or pleasure of all around him, must of
itself suggest fears of exposure to accident, and of
suffering by the feeble in occasional contest for position
in the crowd, or extrication from it, with those who are

stronger. We have no doubt at all that
whatever can be effected by a judicious employment
of the police force may be safely reckoned upon,
from the exemplary officers at the head of that
most useful establishment, as well as from the police-
men themselves. Active thieves, or ill-intentioned and
brutal ruffians, will have little to hope in the way of
harvest or mischief in the presence of the civil power
as at present organised. But it is less from evil design-
ing parties that anything serious need be apprehended
than from the rash, thoughtless, and impetuous viva-
city of perhaps the most inoffensive among the mul-
titude—namely, the younger portion of it. Ten, nay,
half a dozen uncalculating boys or females, pushing or
leaning in one direction or another, may in a single
minute give the same bias to a hundred behind or at
either side of them, and thence in a minute more to
a mob of 10,000 spectators. It is on such occasions
of irregular and involuntary struggle that contusions,
broken limbs, falls, tramplings under foot, and death
by suffocation, are to be dreaded. If we had not
therefore, some experience of the fruitlessness of
offering advice on that point, we would strenuously
warn our follow citizens of the working classes who
feel naturally eager to make holyday for the next few
hours, against attempting to leave the spot they have
first taken possession of for the chance of " seeing
better." Movement, in a dense and almost number-
less crowd like that which from the present hour is
about to assemble—any movement, we say, any change
of place—is scarcely ever unattended wall the most se-
rious risk, until the object of attraction shall have passed
to some considerable distance. That such intimation,
however, should be acted upon by any but the most pru-
dent, that is, unfortunately, far the least numerous of the
good folks to whom it is addressed, we confess that we
are by no means sanguine. There is, indeed, another
warning which we feel bound to offer, and on behalf of
which we can call to our assistance some of the
strongest natural affections of Englishmen and Eng-
lishwomen—we mean a warning against the cruel
wickedness of allowing females with infants in their
arms, or children of tender age, whether with their
parents or without them, to become parts of the as-
sembled multitude. In any crush, or any impulsion,
no matter from what cause, children are sure to be
the earliest sufferers. The pressure is not only on
them, but above them, and, once down, they never

can escape destruction. As for women with infants
in arms, we have seen them—we mean the babies,

whose tender frames can offer no resistance—we have

seen them squeezed to death on the very bosoms o
their nurses or mothers, perishing to glut the curiosity,
the barbarous curiosity, of the unnatural beings, who
ought rather to have sacrificed themselves for their pro-
tection. In this matter, thereforeme do rely on the success
of our exhortation. No mother surely can neglect it, no
father can sanction her contempt of it. They, howe-
ver, who see nothing but a gorgeous pageant in the
forthcoming transactions of this day, take a frivolous
and childish view of them, as they who see nothing
in a crowd collected by such an occasion but a long
vista of casualties and distresses, require a glass of
brandy to fit them for any share in the business of life.
The purpose of the day is high, animating, and affec-
ting. It is to introduce, for the first time, our young
and lovely Queen in person to the affectionate greet-
ings of her assembled subjects of the capital. It is to
establish a bond of hospitality and good neighbourhood
between them. It is to present a gracious Monarch,
in the most heart-touching and endearing form, to
those who have hitherto known her through the agents
of her constitutional power in an abstract and ideal
character. May the meeting be propitious ; may her
Majesty at the close of a long and glorious reign, look
back with grateful recollection to this first testimony of
the feelings entertained towards her by the middle
classes of her people, and may she experience—
throughout a blameless and beneficent life—those cor-
dial dispositions in the breasts of her faithful subjects,
every hour improved and strengthened.—Times.
This will be a proud day—not only for London,
but for the British empire. The youthful Sovereign
of these realms will, before many hours have elapsed,
visit the first city in her dominions, and the first also
in the world ; and Queen Victoria will pay this visit
to her loyal subjects in the City of London under the
most imposing and gratifying circumstances, perhaps,
that ever a Royal visit was paid to Guildhall at any
former period in the history of England. Never, we
believe, were such extensive and splendid preparations
made for the reception of an English Sovereign ;
never, certainly, did any of Victoria's predecessors on
the Throne of this country meet with a more cordial
reception from their subjects than that which awaits
her to-day. The acclamations with which she will be
greeted will not be the acclamations of the lips only—
they will be the acclamations of the heart. Victoria
pre-eminently reigns in the affections of her people,
and that display of devoted attachment to her person
and Government which will be this day made by her
two millions of metropolitan subjects, is equally shared
by the nation at large. Long may she live to deserve
and enjoy such manifestations of fervent loyalty and
ardent personal regard I—Morning Advertiser.
To-day our youthful and amiable Queen Victoria.
pays the distinguished compliment to the first city in
her dominions of going to dine within its walls, and at
a table spread by its citizens, to welcome her on her
happy accession to the throne of her ancestors. When
we speak of the citizens of London, we do not use
that term in the limited sense in which it applies to the
members of the Corporation. It is true that the invi-
tation nominally comes from the members of the civic
body, but they are the citizens of London at large who
pay for the dinner. The civic body contribute very
little indeed towards it, compared with the great mass
of the inhabitants of London. Yet the civic body ar-