The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-25 00:00:00

BRITISH ORPHAN ASYLUM.

Whether considered merely as a brilliant fete or
as the means of adding largely to the pecuniary re-
sources of a deserving charity, ti e festival held in
celebration of the opening of the new buildings at
Slough by their Royal Highnesses the Prince and
Princess of Wales, must be regarded es one of the
greatest successes of the season. The number of
scholars belonging to the Asylum had increased so
largely by the end of last year that the energetic
board of directors determined on moving their
whole establishment from Clapham-rise to more
spacious premises. The building at Slough, of
which they have bought the freehold, was formerly
known as the Royal Hotel, and was built at a time
when it was supposed that the Great Western
Railway would never be carried into the town of
Windsor. The completion of the railway, of
course, ruined the proprietors, and the hotel re-
mained closed for many years. The directors of the
Orphan Asylum have added another story to it
since it has been in their possession, and the healthy
situation and spacious grounds surrounding it ren-
der it peculiarly fitted for the purposes to which it
is now applied.
The l,rcliness of the weather and tae presence of
the Prince and Princess of Wales drew a large
number of visitors from London and the surround-
ing counties. The grounds were filled long before
the time named in the programme for the com-
mencement of the ceremony by crowds of gaily
dressed spectators, who were loud in their com-
mendations of the beauty of the site and the con-
venience of the various buildings. The Prince and
Princess arrived by special train from London to
Slough at tour o'clock, and were received at the
station by a deputation of directors, by whom they
were conducted to the reception room prepared for
them in the main building. The procession was
then formed, and consisted of the board of directors
of the Institution, headed by the chairman (Mr.
Thomas Tilson) and the vice-chairman (Mr. Chas.
Woolloton), the clergy of the neighbourhood, the
Sheriffs of London and Middlesex, the Lord Mayor,
the Bishop of Ripon, the Bishop of Bath and Wells,
and lastly their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and
Princess of Wales, attended by Lord Mount-
Edgcumbe, Lord Sermyn, General Knollys, and a
numerous suite. They proceeded from the west
door through two lines of pupils of the school to a
dais prepared for them beneath a large marquee
erected on the lawn, and communicating with the
main portion of the building. During the procession
the National Anthem was played by the band of the
18th Hussars and the Commissionaires, who were in
attendance the whole day. On the arrival of the
Prince and Princess at the dais the pupils of the in-
sitution san g the Old Hundredth Psalm very sweetly,
and an address to the Prince was read by Mr. Thos.
Tilson, the chairman of the Board of Directors. It
gave a short account of the foundation and gradual
progress of the institution, stating the reasons that
had determined the directors to move to the present
premises. It alluded in grateful terms to the patron.
age already bestowed on the asylum by the Queen,
the late Prince Consort, and the Prince of Wales,
and concluded by expressing a hope that the Prince
and Princess would allow their names to be enrolled
as the Royal Vice-patron and Vice.patroness of the
Institution. His Royal Highness then delivered
the following reply :
It has given the Princess and myself great pleasure to
be present at the opening of your most excellent Asylum,
and to have been invited to take part in so gooda work. The
benevolent purposes of this widely-extended institution
speak for themselves. It is one in which the Queen and my
lamented father, the promoter of every scheme for the relief
of the miserable, evinced a warm interest, and the details
which you have given of its formation and progr&;s furnish
another appeal for aid from those whose highest enjoyment
it is to give a home and education to the fatherless and
destitute. It is a privilege, I assure you, that the Princess
and myself value greatly to have our names associated
with the British Orphan Asylum."
The Prince then formally declared the building
to be for ever dedicated to the purposes of the
British Orphan Asylum, and announced that Mr.
Edward Mackenzie, of Maidenhead, had made the
munificent donation of .C 12,000 to the Building
Fund of the Institution. The Bishop of Bath
and Wells (in the absence of the Archbishop of
York) then offered up a prayer, and the ladies
of the Royal Academy of Music sang a very
beautiful chorale composed expressly for the
occasion by Dr. Sterndale Bennett. The ladies
who had collected purses for the institution then
filed past in an almost endless procession, leaving
their offerings on the table in front of their Royal
Highnesses. The National Anthem was then sung
by the ladies of the Royal Academy, the solos being
charmingly given by Miss Fanny Army tage.
The procession then re-formed, and conducted
their Royal Highnesses to the south lawn, where
they each planted a specimen of the Wellingtonea
gigantea in commemoration of the event of the day.
During this portion of the ceremony the bands per-
formed the Danish National Anthem, after which
the Prince and Princess and suite were conducted
by the officers of the institution to the station,
whence they took their departure for London.
The whole of the building and the grounds were
decorated with rare flowers by Messrs. Turner, of
Slough, the Queen's nurserymen. The Princess's
boudoir and the Royal reception room were thrown
open after the conclusion of the ceremony, and were
visited by great numbers in the course of the day.
After the departure of the Prince and Princess a
grand cold collation was served by Mr. Chater, of
the London Tavern, in a large marquee erected for
the purpose, and the company remained straying
about the grounds and admiring the beauty of the
.awns and shrubberies until long after dusk.