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

THE ROYAL VISIT TO THE CITY.

Yesterday evening the long expected, long pre-
pared for entertainment to the Prince and Princess
of Wales was given at Guildhall, in the presence of
one of the most illustrious assemblages which the

municipality has ever drawn together to share in its
magnificent hospitality. It was not so much a ball
as a grand assembly, a fete which was occasionally

varied with dancing ; but it was, under whatever
name, a splendid entertainment, and one worthy

both the illustrious guests and the City which gave
it. It has set a proper example of what such en-
tertainments should be, and though, perhaps, not

absolutely perfect, it attained as near to perfection
as we can ever fairly look for on these great occa-
sions. All old precedents were quite disregarded
yesterday. The Metropolitan Police not only aided
the City functionaries, but actually, and not figura-
tively, lined the route. Barriers were erected and

maintained at every opening, while the Life Guards

condescended from their high estate to keep the
streets at 6 o'clock for a Ball which was to com-
mence at 10. These precautions were not only ar-

ranged, but observed, and the green lanes of Horn-
sey or Dulwich were not more clear from obstruc-
tions than the streets of the City for the arrival of
visitors, even before the Hall was quite in order to
receive them;

Compared with the want of arrangements for the
entry of the Princess or on the night of the

minations, the programme of yesterday deserves the

highest praise, whether it be due to the Corporation

,hemselves, or to their new Commissioner of Police,

Colonel Fraser. Six was the time fixed for the

opening of the Hall, in accordance with the rule of
etiquette which demands that when Royalty hon-
ours the festivity the guests should be assembled to
greet its arrival. Even before 6, however, the
vehicles of the earliest of the early visitors formed a

:hin line, which was kept slowly moving towards

Guildhall. All the guests of the evening came
armed with a monstrous slip of pasteboard about the
size of an ordinary proclamation, which was their
ticket of admission. Showing one of these cartoons

at the carriage window was sufficient to remove any
obstacle; but without the aid of one of these highly
decorated placards one might as well have attempted
to drive through the City yesterday evening as on
the night of the illuminations, and more than this
it would be difficult to say.
At 6 precisely the doors were opened for the
admission of visitors, and as in these cases of
high State and splendid ceremonial the first
guests always tread on the skirts of the last
carpenter, there was no exception to the
rule on this occasion. Daylight glared fully
in upon the decorations, dimming the gas to mere
yellow spots upon the walls; there was more than
a trace of ladders here and there, with certain dull,
rough, jarring sounds, which led one shrewdly to
suspect that sawing was going on, with an intermit-
tent hammering now and then. But this was all.
The hurry and confusion of the last half hour had
given place to a stately, gorgeous calm, and
the rich interior of the City palace seemed as if the
hand of decorator or upholsterer had never done
more than keep it in order with reverent touch for
ages past. The centre space was railed off with
silken ropes at either end, as if for dancing, but it
was soon evident that little dancing could be done
that night, for with the instant of the opening of
the doors the visitors began to arrive. Faster and
faster they came with every minute, till the thin
line widened to a broad stream as they kept pour-

ing in—" lords, ladies, captains, councillors, and
priests," visitors of all ranks and in all dresses—
corporate, civil, academic, official, naval, military,
or Court suits. _ _

Mr, Truseott, in Court dress, was earliest at his
post at the entrance, bland, smiling, and trying to
" make believe" that he had not been up for the last
_ ..

week, and that the great brunt of all the prepara-
tions had not fallen, in their responsibility at least,
on him. With him was Mr. Kearns and the Alder-
men and members of the Common Council who were
to act as stewards, and who each and all were
armed with solemn-looking wands of office, enriched
at the top with the city arms in silver, surmounted
with the Prince's plume and crown. Ushered with
care and courtesy by the stewards, the visitors were
passed quickly into the hall and other buildings,
where, it is almost needless to say, they found ample
to occupy their attention and admiration till the
great State business of the evening began. With
scarcely a single exception, one expression of sur-
prise and delight broke from the lips of all on first
entering the great central chamber of the City
Guilds—so perfectly becoming the grand aspect
which the hall should wear, but never yet has
worn till yesterday, With all its decorations, how-
ever, which made it such a festive-looking hall, it
required no great amount of architectural or anti-
quarian knowledge to see that the structure was
never intended, when it was built, as the great
Hall of all the Guilds of London. Partly
a college, partly a chapel, now half repaired,
now half burnt down, it has been everything and
anything by turns, but, for the last 400 years at

least, always the civic Hall of London and centre
of municipal justice. Its quaint perpendicular
architecture has undergone some changes, but few
improvements, though enough has always remained
of its ancient beauty to make it capable of a stately
appearance when the features of its construction
were properly considered. Unfortunately, in all
previous Royal entertainments until now this has
not been done. The curious carved panelling of
the walls has been hidden by mirrors and drape-
ries, and the cheap tinsellings and worn stock pro-
perties of a Lord Mayor's Show have been struck
anywhere about its walls in hideous disarray. Such
a style of decoration might have been followed on
this occasion, and so added another to the long list
of costly failures in matters of taste which have
distinguished these municipal festivities, had not
an entirely new Entertainment Committee been
chosen, with Mr. Truscott for its most able head
and chairman, and with an equally able vice-chair-
man in Mr. Kearns. Their first step was to ascer-
tain how many people they could comfortably ac-
commodate before they issued their invitations, a
proceeding which was in itself a perfect defiance of
previous rules and customs; their next, to disregard
the former rules of city architects and officials, and
give the whole place up to one really competent
decorator, Mr. Crace, that he might make it worthy
of the great occasion and the honoured guests to
meet there. How well and completely this was
done is now known ; but the decorations and im-
provements are worth a description by themselves.
First, then, to secure most ample accommodation
both for receiving the visitors, for dancing, and
for supper, a temporary reception-hall, large
enough to cover all Guildhall-yard, and two
stories in height, was built from the designs of Mr.
Allen.
sTahbeo
about
sle
2moe nf
et
et s tl oo rne o
gy
by 45
4 this
sfe e
t wide, structure,
de,
is
divided by clusters of handsome and massive Gothic
columns into a number of bays or compartments.
Two passages along this hall, one on each side, were
set apart for the general visitors, the centre avenue,
enclosed by ropes of purple silk, was reserved for
the royal visitors alone. All the decorations of this
room were of a light cream or stone colour, relieved
with gold. The ceiling was a pale blue, dotted with
golden, stars, while the groiningof the arches which