The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JUNE 9, 1863.

LONDON AND NORTH - WESTERN
RAILWAY.
The Proprietors are reminded that the Spec,al General
Meeting of the Shareholders stands adjourned to WE DN ES-
DAY, the 10th day or June instant, at Twelve o'clock at
Noon, at the EUSTON STATION.
CHARLES E. STEWART, Secretary.
Eu.t-n Station, June Bth, 1863.

MR. T. CARRICK begs to announce to his
Artist Friends and the Public, that his Photographic
14,stablishment, 32, Regent-street, Piccadilly-circus, is now
in full operation.
Cartes de Visite, 10 for Its. 6d; 21 for £l. Miniatures on
Ivory, Marble, and the Photographic base in his former
styles.

sprang from the groups of columns was just suffi-
ciently relieved in colour to mark their graceful
sweep, and give an appearance of lightness to what
was a framework of the strongest and most solid
kind. Handsome stars of gas suspended from this
ceiling gave a brilliant light, showing off to perfec-
tion the decorations of the hall, which were relieved
and heightened to the utmost by the dark, rich
groundwork of the crimson and black carpet. The

side paths wero draped with crimson and white, and
the side bays forming the walls were alternately

filled in with mirrors draped with crimson velvet,

and the superb tapestry pictures lent for the occa-

sion by Mr. Attenbozough. Anything more exqui-
site than the design, colour, and execution of these
needlework cartoons it is difficult to imagine. The
effect of these noble pictures relieved the glitter of
the mirrors, which on every side seemed to repro-
duce the scene in an endless perspective of brilli-
ancyand colour,which was almost indescribable from
its everchanging features yet constant beauty.
From this noble reception-hall the visitors
passed under the richly-carved pointed arched roof,

which led to the hall itself, and which had been re-
lieved in gold and colours by Mr. Crace with such
admirable taste that, while the main features of the

architecture were brought prominently forward
with the best effect, the decorations themselves were

kept so subdued as to appear the natural accom-
paniments of the quaint old stone-work, and as
if they were contemporaneous with the walls them-
selves. They harmonised, in fact, not less with the
architecture than the age of the building. The Hall
itself was, of course, the great centre where the
splendour of the scene was made to culminate ; and
really the old building did present an aspect worthy
of the greatness of the City and the fete. It is very
difficult to describe the aspect of any ball room, and
_ . _

—.—
especially so to describe this, with all its richness
and its colours, its masses of flowers and heavy

silken draperies, and above all the effect of the as-
semblage of distinguished visitors which thronged
its floor, and made such a glorious mass of varied
tints as quite subdued the decorated walls above,
lofty and brilliant as they were. It was a wonder-
ful scene, where beauty of form and beauty of tint
and design were pushed to their highest excellence;
where the eye ranged from cool green banks of
feathery ferns and rich exotics to the bright tone of
the stained glass windows lit from behind, and so on
down the storied walls, dimmed with the sombre
heraldry of bygone time, to the rich throne on the
dais. On every side there was something to admire,
though all was iu such perfect keeping that it was
not easy to distinguish what. On every side there
was a distinct sensation of improvement, yet with-
out much evidence of change. It only looked as if
the interior had been finished, not altered ; and it
would be difficult to give higher praise than this to
decorative skill. The flat unsightly panelled roof
was no more to be seen, but in its stead rose from
the coloured cornice above the columns a fine series
of oaken-looking carved ribs or principals, with their
quatrefoils filled in with City shields, and giving
support to- the great baskets of ferns and
flowers in which the chandeliers were concealed,
through not quite so artistically as could have
been desired. This old baronial-looking roof is
what the building ought to have en promanence,

and what it really did have till the great
fire of London destroyed it, with the chapel attached
to the hall. The curious carved work of the walls
was brought out last night with tints of gold and
sombre colours ; and heraldic shields, bearing the
arms of all the Lord Mayors of London who have
held the office, filled the painted panels, going back
in chronological order to a date too remote to men-
tion. At the east end, on a raised dais, covered with
a rich carpet, stood the throne for the Prince and
Princess. It was of crimson voivet and gold, backed
by a "a cloth of estate" bearing the arms of the
Prince and Princess, shown on a noble tapestry, re-

produced from one made for the Prince's great an,
cestor Henry VIII. Above it rose the Prince's
coronet and feathers, the latter nine feet long, and
executed in the finest spun glass, like drooping ail
ver. Beneath the velvet canopy were placed two
chairs of state, to find the like of which one might
ransack Wardour-street in vain, richly (:ecorated in
rock crystals, angular in appearance, hard and un-
easy
of
yin
fact,strictly Gothic, even to the minutest
carving their legs and arms. They seemed and
were, in truth, the only uncomfortable seats in all
that splendid hill. The windows just above this
were filled with rich tapestry adornments, while
behind the throne, on either side along the walls,
were the arms of all the sovereigns, English or Con-
tinental, whom the City have entertained ; and
the number and splendour of these showed the
extent to which the Corporation have carried their
hospitality from the oldest times. At the west end
was the orchestra, built up with mirrors and crim-
son draperies, with figures in brilliant armour
standing in the niches, and the colossal statues
of the quaint old Danish demigods Gog and
Magog glaring grimly down iuto it. Above, from
the walls, hung the banners of the Companies, and
half-way up the gilded columns were trophies of
flags and shields beautifully grouped. The rich
line of gold and colours here was most appro-
priately broken by the:gilded gallery over the south
entrance, which was filled with soft banks of palms
grouped here, as everywhere
ea
Insde ferns,b y Mr. beautifully
scott,
the brother to the Chamberlain.
The stained glass windows at the east end were lit
from behind, and shone with a quiet rich light that
was exceedingly fine, and which was set off to the
utmost by lines of minute gas jets round the arched
cornices of the windows, twinkling like little
diamonds. At the west end only part of the
window was illuminated, and the rest left in dark-
ness that the tones of the fine old stained windows
might not interfere with the gaudy and most un-
sightly glitter of a huge glass star lit from behind
with gas—a tawdry street ornament which the city
authorities had insisted on Mr. Crace bringing in
somehow, and which even his skill failed to intro-
duce with any mitigation of its vulgar effect. It
was the only fault committed in the Hall, but it
was a most conspicuous one. The proper place for
this common shop illumination was the Guildhall-
yard ; its position in the interior of the Hall itself
was a most unfortunate mistake ; and this opinion
seemed to be shared by everybody present. Wisely
which, the marble
has honoured de-
parted heroes were on this occasion not swaddled
° 1
allegoriesunw is
elwy,itiht isw hdiieffihcutlhtetocsiatyy
up in cloths to hide their cold disfigurement of the
walls, but atood forth in all the bright relief afforded
by crimson draperies as a background. All that can
be said is that they gained nothing by preferring
their claim to notice, for there is none which rises
much above the level of the New-road style of
sculpture. The only merit they possess belongs to
tbeir inscriptions—Chatham's having been written
by Burke, Pitt's by Canning, and Nelson's by
Sheridan.
Such, then, as we have recapitulated, were the
changes which were made in the Hall, such the de-
tails of the ornamentation which went to make up
so brilliant an effect. But one would need to write
in form and colour to convey an adequate impres-
sion of what the effect really was, even if it were
possible to convey it by description at all. Soon
after the first visitors had arrived the Lord Mayor
in his state robes, and accompanied by the Lady
Mayoress, entered the Hall, when all rose to re-
ceive them. They remained, however, only a few
minutes, talking with Miss Coutts, and then re-
turned at once to the hall of reception to receive
their guests, who were now arriving in what might
almost be called a continuous crowd. The titles of
the highest officers of State, of the most distin-
guished members of either house, of almost all the
foreign Ambassadors were called in rapid succession
as carriage after carriage set down, and their occu-
pants pressed forward to make their bow to the
Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, and then passed
onward to the ballroom.
Long before the arrival of their Royal High-

nesses the Hall and its approaches were densely
thronged. The heat, indeed, began to Oe un-
pleasant, and it was found necessary to open the
upper windows, which at once afforded a great and
much needed relief to all present. Nevertheless, in
spite of the crowd and heat, the whole scene was
one of striking grandeur and magnificence. The
Hall, with the general effect of its decorations and
its lighting up, seemed a blaze of gold, which the
light dresses of the ladies and the uniforms of the

gentlemen set off to the utmost. The band in the
orchestra under the hideous star had been playing
all the evening, but as 9 o'clock drew near:its strains
were hushed. A quarter-past 9 was the time

fired for the arrival of the Royal guests, and
almost to the second of the time the trumpets
in one long Royal clamour announced that

they had come. It took some time for
them all to assemble in the reception hall, for
the party was a large and brilliant one. Foremost
came their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Prin-

cess, the former wearing his uniform of Field Mar.
shal, with the Garter riband and star. The latter
wore a rich but simple white dress, with the coro-
net and brooch of diamonds given by her Royal
_ __. _ _

husband, but with the superb City necklace of
brilliants. Her hair was turned back from her fore-
head, in the style with which her portraits have
made us all so familiar, setting off her fair young
features and fine expressive intellectual forehead to
the utmost advantage. She looked if possible even
younger than on her marriage day—quite girlish,
in fact, in her simple white attire. With them came
Prince Alfred, in his lieutenant's uniform, his face
locking bronzed, and almost weather-beaten, in con-
trast with the fair complexion of his brother or the
still more delicate bloom of his young sister-in-law.
With the Royal party cametheir Royal Highnesses
the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke of Cambridge,
Princess Mary of Cambridge, Prince of Reuss
Schleiz, Prince of Orange, and her Highness the
Princess of Servia. In attendance upon them were
the Earl and Countess of Mount Edgoumbe, Lord
Harris, Lieut.-General and Mrs. Knollys, the Hon.
Mrs. Stonor, Hon. Robert Meade, Lieut.-Colonel
_ _ _ _

Koppel, Major Teesdale, Lady Geraldine Somerset,
Lady Edith Somerset, Colonel Home Purves, Coun-
tess de Gray, and Major Cowell.
At once upon their alighting the Lord Mayor and
Lady Mayoress advanced to receive them, and the
Princess of Wales taking the arm of the Lord Mayor
while the Prince gave his to the Lady Mayoress,
the party headed by the Entertainment Committee,
entered the hall. The band played the National

Anthem as they entered, but beyond this there was
no manifestation, and nothing but the prolonged
deep reverences from all sides as they passed
marked the presence of the Prince and his young
bride. Arrived at the dais there was a moment's
pause, and the Princess seated herself in the
chair of State which was meant for the Prince,
as on that side of the throne his Royal Highness
was to take up his Freedom of the City. The Lord
Mayor stooped forward and informed her Royal
Highness of the mistake, when she instantly
changed from the Prince's seat into her own, and
was so little able to restrain her smiles at the mis-
take that none else around her could help smiling
also. The city officials then mustered round a plain
office table placed at the foot of the throne. At the
head of this the Lord Mayor took the chair, and the
official elements of the assemblage at once resolved
themselves into a Court of Common Council. The
Lord Mayor, as President of the Court of Common
Council, wearing his magnificent official robe and
gold chain ; the aldermen their bright scarlet robes,
and the councillors their mazarine gowns. The
ponderous sword and mace of the Corporation—em-
blems of its power and antiquity—lay piled in
front of the Chief Magistrate. The To Ain-clerk, the
Chamberlain, and the Clerk of the Chamber (the
ministerial officers on whom the duty of conducting
the ceremony devolved), wore each his official robe

—that of the Chamberlain in particular being CDR
spicuous for its elegance. Here the Court, taking
no manner of cognizance of the presence of Royalty,
but assuming the indifference of the House of Peers,
which reads a bill for deepening the Thames, or
adding salt to the sea, before the coming of her
Majesty to open Parliament—the Court of Common
Council, we say, began, in that lordly assembly and
splendid hall, to read the minutes of the previous
Court, which were duly confirmed by a show of
spotless kid-gloved hands. The routine ceremony
of taking up the Freedom, the same with his Royal
Highness as with any other entitled by birth to the
privilege, then began by Mr. Woodthorpe, the
Town-clerk, reading the resolution passed by the
Court of Common Council at their meeting on the
12th March last, as follows :
" Resolved unanimously,—That his Royal Highness
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, be very respectfully
requested to take upon himself the freedom of this City,
to which he is entitled by patrimony ; and that upon his
acceding to this request his Royal Highness be presented
with the copy of the freedom, enclosed in a casket, in testi-
mony of the affection and profound respect entertained by
this Court for his person and charaeter." (Cheers.)
Mr. SEWELL, the Clerk of the Chamber, read the
official 'record of his Royal Highness's title to the
freedom, which was in these terms :
" Chamber of London, Bth day of Juno, 1863.
Born without the liberty of the City, to wit, at
Buckingham Palace, in the county of Middle-
sex, 9th of November, 1841.
"His Royal Highness Albert Edward, Prince of Wales,
K.G., &c., son of his late Royal Highness Francis Albert
Augustus Charles Emanuel, Prince Consort, Duke of
Saxony, Prince of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, K.G., Sce., a citizen
of London, came before the Chamberlain, the day and year
aforesaid, and desired to be admitted into the freedom of this
City by patrimony, because he is legitimate and was born
after the admission of his father into the said freedom. The
admission of the father is entered in the book marked with
the letter H, and bears date the 28th day of August, in the
fourth year of the reign of her Majesty Queen Victoria, and
in the year of our Lord 1810."
His ROYAL HIGHNESS then read aloud, and after-
wards subscribed, the subjoined declaration, which
was handed to him by the Chamberlain, and which
is a customary form long in use in the Corporation
on admission to the freedom. The copy from which
the Prince read was printed in letters of gold, on
crimson watered satin, bound in morocco•leather :-
4, I, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, do solemnly declare
that I will be good and true to our sovereign Lady Queen
Victoria ; that I will be obedient to the Mayor of this
City; that I will maintain the franchises and customs
thereof, and will keep this City harmless, in that which iu
me is; that I will also keep the Queen's peace in my own
person; that I will know no gatherings nor conspiracies
made against the Queen's peace, but I will warn the Mayor
thereof, or hinder it to my power ; and that all these points
and articles I will well and truly keep, according to the laws
and customs of this City, to my power.
" ALBERT EDWARD.
" The foregoing declaration was made and subscribed at the
Guildhall of the City of London, this Bth day of June.
1863, before me,

"BENJAMIN SCOTT, Chamberlain."
Mr. SCOTT, the Chamberlain, addressing the
Prince, said—
" May it please your Royal Highness—The Mayor, Al-
dermen, and Commons of this City in Common Council
assembled, having very respectfully requested that your
Royal Highness would be pleased to assume the freedom of
this City in virtue of the citizenship of your late lamented
father, and your Royal Highness having condescendingly
presented yourself to comply with the legal formalities in-
cident to such a step, it devolves upon me, in accordance
with custom, to address a few words to your Royal High-
ness. The Corporation of London feels
gratifies
thusd by the
kindness which induces your Royal Highnes to pre-
sent yourself to claim, as of right, that citizenship which,
under the circumstances, it is precluded from conferring as
a gift. It may interest your Royal Highness to learn that,
although the present proceediags are in accord with the
invariable practice of this ancient municip
not alioriginat ty, in the
exercise of franchises confirmed, though ed at
the Norman Conquest, yet, that the present, it is believed,
is the first instance of a Prince of Wales claiming the free-
dom by patrimony; that is, as a son born subsequently to
his father's admission to citizenship. The congratulations
which I tender on this occasion assume therefore a BOTile•
gh I trust a not unacceptable form.
what exceptional, thou
/ attempt not by any words of eulogy to enhance in your
freedom Royal Highness's estimation the worth of the
enumerating the distinguished princes, statesmen, warriors,
by
patriots, and philanthropists whose names are recorded on

PR1CE.....-..4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

the roll of honorary citizenship—some of whose statues look
down upon us from these walls. I prefer rather to felicitate
your Royal Highness that you come, claiming to associate
your name with such worthies, as the son of as excellent and
universally beloved a citizen as ever had his name inscribed
on the records of this, or indeed of any city. In view of the
brilliant festivities awaiting the participation of your Royal
Highness and the illustrious Princess your Consort, it would
ill becon eme to detain your Royal Highness unduly. I
therefore present at once the copy of the record of your
Royal Highness's freedom with an appropriate casket which
has been prepared for its reception, and I very respectfully

request that you: Royal Highness will allow me the honour

of offering you the right hand of fellowship as a citizen of
London. (Loud cheers.) In conclusion, I desiro to ex-

press, in the name of his Lordship the Mayor, his brethren

he Aldermen. and of every member of this honourable

Court, an earnest wish and heartfelt prayer that every bless

ing and happiness may attend your Royal Highness, both
as regards your exalted publi3 position and your auspicious
domestic relationship, and that by the grace and favour of
Him by whom Kings reign and Princes decree justice,'
your Royal Highness may be enabled so to imitate the
example and emulate the virtues of the late Citizen Prince
—(cheers)—as to win and enjoy as large a measure of affec-
tion as clusters round his memory, and comprehends within
its folds the greatly beloved and most illustrious lady the
Queen of these realms." (Cheeers.)
The copy of the record of the freedom was of
itself a work of art of its kind, not less than the
casket containing it, the wording of the document
being illuminated upon a scrip of vellum, with the
City arms at one end and the seal of the Chamber
of London at the other, while the Prince's plume,
the arms of the Lord Mayor, and those of the
Chamberlain were also worked into the fabric. The
record ran as follows :

" His Royal Highness Albert Edward, Prince of Wales,
K.G., &c., son of his late Royal Highness Francis Albert
Augustus Charles Emanuel, Prince Consort, Duke of
Saxony, and Prince of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, &c., a Citizen

of London, was admitted into the freedom aforesaid, and
made the declaration required by law in the Mayoralty of
William Anderson Rose, Esq., MX., Mayor, and Ben-

jamin Scott, Esq•, F.R.A.S., Chamberlain, and is entered
in the book signed with the letter S, relating to the pur.
chasing of freedoms and the admissions of freemen (to wit)
the Bth day of June, in the 26th year of the reign of Queen
Victoria, and in the year of Our Lord 1863; in witness
whereof the seal of the office of Chamberlain of the said
City is hereunto affixed. Dated in the Chamber of the
Guildhall of the same City the day and year abovesaid."
This was enclosed in a casket of pure gold, a casket
which, for its general design and minute artistio
finish, makes it, beyond all doubt, ene of the most
exquisite pieces of goldsmiths' work that the City
has ever offered to royalty. It was designed and
executed by Benson, of Ludgate-hill, and either as
a specimen of rare and difficult chasing in its massive
festoons of flowers tinted by gold of different colours,

or as a specimen of enamelling in its quaint masks
and richly emblazoned shields, it is decidedly the
most important and elaborate work of the kind in
gold that has been produced in this country for
many years, The highest praise we can give it is,
that if the chasing and enamelling were in the same
style of art upon either copper or iron the value of
the casket would be as great and it would be quite
es costly to make as if done in pure gold. The gold
in the casket, though nearly 600 z,, is the least part

of the value which attaches to it as a work of art.

His ROYAL HIGHNESS said, in reply to the
Chamberlain :

" My Lord Mayor, Mr. Chamberlain, and Gentlemen,—
It is, I assure you, a source of sincere gratification to me to
attend here for the purpose of being invested with a privi-
lege which for the reasons you have stated you are unable to
confer upon me, and which descends to me by inheritance.
It is a patrimony that I am proud to claim—this freedom of
the greatest city of the commercial world, which holds its
charter from such an ancient date. My pride is increased
when I call to memory the long list of illustrious men who
have been enrolled among the citizens of London, more
especially when I connect with that list the beloved father
to whom you have adverted in such warm terms of eulogy
and respect, and through whom I am here to claim my free-
dom of the City of London. My Lord Mayor and gentle-
men, the Princess and myself heartily thank you for the
past—for your loyalty and expressions of attachment to-
wards the Queen, for the manifestations of this evening to-
wards ourselves, and for all your prayers for our future
happiness." (Cheers.)
On the motion of Mr. TRUSCOTT, Chairman of the
City Lands Committee, seconded by Alderman
COPELAND, it was resolved, in conformity with an
ancient custom, "that the address of the Chamber-
lain and the reply of his Royal Highness be entered
upon the journals of the court, and printed in the
minutes."

Alderman Copeland and Alderman Wilson, the
two senior members of the Court of Aldermen, were
then presented to the Prinee, as were also, iu turn,
Mr. Lawley and Captain Parker, the mover and
seconder of the resolution in the Court of Common

Council, and Mr. F. Wyatt Truscott, the chairman
of the Entertainment Committee.
With these formalities the ceremony terminated,
and the Royal visitors withdrew from the Hall,
but, presently returning, the ball began, the Lord
Mayor leading off in a spirited quadrille with her
Royal highness the Princess, immediately in front
of the haut pas, and the Prince with the lady
Mayoress. Prince Alfred danced with the Princess
Mary of Cambridge ; and the Duke of Cambridge,
Lord Mount Edgecumbe, Lord and Lady Bury,
Major Teesdale, Colonel Keppel, Mrs. Stoner, thr
Hon. Miss Stanley, Lord de Grey and Lord Harris
took part in the quadrille. For nearly two hours
the dancing was maintained with unflagging spirit,
her Royal highness joining repeatedly, and the
Prince still more frequently. On one occasion, the
Prince of Orange engaged the Princess for a part-
ner in a quadrille, Prince Alfred dancing with the
Lady Mayoress, and the Princess Mary of Cam-
bridge with the Lord Mayor. At times the Duke
of Cambridge, the Prince Reuss Schleiz, the Duke
of Manchester, Lord Granville,. Lord Grosvenor,
Lord Bury, and other distinguished persons, joined
in the dance, which was conducted in an open space
in front of the dais, kept with difficulty from the
eager crowd of guests who passed to witness it.
Shortly before 12 o'clock the Reception Com-
mittee, amid a flourish of trumpets, led the way for
the Royal party to supper in the Council Chamber,
the Lord Mayor conducting her Royal Highness
the Princess, and the Prince the Lady Mayoress.
The Council Chamber on this occasion presented
a grand and royal aspect. Its pretty lantern and
tapering roof had been exquisitely gilded and deco-
rated by Mr. Crace, and from the four columns on
which the dome rests depended large gilt baskets
filled with flowers. The lights from above were so
arranged as to fall softly upon the portrait of her
Majesty in her coronation robes. The east end of
the Chamber was filled in with mirrors, which Were
just sufficiently seen between the tall, rich, green.
banks of heaths and ferns and palms to make this
most beautiful end of the room seem
like
centre of
wild
of
luxuriant garden in the tropic!,
in
hamber were hung
thectr
to the air. The sides of the C
which a scented fountain cast its fresh, cool spray
wwh ,
which we have alreadyith two of the rich
Giulio ROlllarldt3 tapestries est and finest of the series of
mentioned. The subjects here were the meeting of
Scipio and Hannibal and the triumph of Scipio.
The north end of the Chamber was devoted to a
display of the almost untold wealth of the wealthiest
corporation the world has yet seen, and from the
floor almost to the ceiling this side of the Chamber
was hidden by massive gold plate, which in glitter-
ing array rose tier above tier in one great pile, over
which the statue of George 111. seemed to k
watch with outstretched hands. In more 14
appear-
ance it was a magnificent
and
most suggestive pile
of almost unknown value. Here were salvers as
large as baths, quaint beakers, and flagons formed
like dragons, bears, and cocks; tall old tapering
cups of the time of the Tudors, with finely-pointed
lids like s • Fires ; salts as big and massive as modern
footstools, made at
a time when they were really
used to mark distinction as to rank, when the Court
sat above the salt, and the Livery below this ancient
emblem of hospitality and welcome. The City
companies all poured forth their wealth of cups and
salvers to place them at the service of the Lord
Mayor on this occasion; and the silver plate was
sent literally by tons, but scarcely any but gold was
allowed a place on this magnificent buffet. Almod