The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-03 00:00:00

Inauguration of the Welsh Memorial to the
Late Prince Consort.

TEND; Wednesday.

This ceremony which has been so long looked for-
ward to by the inhabitants of South Wales, took
place to-day, and although it had only been par-
tially begun when my parcel was despatched to catch
the last available train, I am enabled to sketch the
proceedings and summarise them briefly by tele-
graph, and supply the incidents of the progress of
his Royal Highness Prince Arthur up to the event
itself. The Prince, in fulfilment of previous
arrangements, arrived here last evening, and had an
opportunity this morning of making a short and
early survey of the beautiful bay in which this
town is situate and observing its romantic position.
The Royal Prince left Pembroke Dockyard for
Tenby yesterday afternoon, about four o'clock,
proceeding on his journey by road, and taking
Carew Castle and other " lions" of the locality in
his route. Ile travelled in an open chariot drawn
by four horses, and was accompanied by Sir Charles
Phipps and two other gentlemen, one of whom was
said to be the Prince of Leiningen. The Royal
party entered Tenby by the Pembroke road.
A few minutes after the appointed time (six
o'clock) a single gun, fired from the battery of the
Ist Pembrokeshire (Tenby) Volunteers, followed
by a Royal salute, announced the arrival of the
Royal visitors within the precincts of the town, and
shortly afterwards the carriage containing his
Royal Highness, with Colonel Phipps and the rest
of his suite, was seen approaching the Gate-
house Hotel. There were at this time in wait-
ing to receive his Royal Highness at the hotel
tho Bishop of St. David's, Lord Llanover, Mr.
Lort Phillips, M.P., Col. Stepney, the Mayor of
Tenby (Mr. White), attended by his mace-bearer,
and Mr. Mason (one of the town council and secre-
tary to the memorial committee), other members of
the corporation, magistrates, &c.

His Royal Highness gave a dinner party, late in
the evening to a select few of the distinguished
people of the district.

It must not be supposed that though apparently
late in carrying out the idea of a Welsh national
memorial to the late Prince Consort, the people of
Wales feel less interest than the rest of her Ma-
jesty's loyal subjects in commemorating the virtues
of the great and illustrious personage of whom
Tennyson, in his "Idylls of the King," writes
thus:--

" A Prince indeed,
Beyond all titles, and a household name
Hereafter through all time, Albert the Good."

The memorial this day inaugurated was com-
menced in Dec., 1864, when the first stone was laid—
a massive block of Welsh marble, in which was a
cavity enclosing an inscription on vellum, dedicat-
ing the memorial as " A mark of loyalty to her
Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, and of affec-
tionate respect and gratitude to the memory of her
Royal Consort, Prince Albert the Good." The
monument consists of a statue of the late Prince
Consort, Bft. 9in. high, carved from a block of the

finest Sicilian marble. It stands upon a pedestal
18 feet high, which is formed of grey marble (the
native limestone of the district), and has four en-
graved panels of Sicilian marble. The pedestal rests
upon a platform at the top of three ranges of steps
forming a square of 23k feet. The blocks of the
foundation are grafted into the solid rock,
and a mound of earth neatly turfed slopes
into unity . with the Castle-hill, of which
it forms the summit. The figure stands with
the head uncovered and baton in hand, at-
tired in field marshal's uniform and wearing
the mantle and collar of the Order of the Garter.
The artist is Mr. John Evan Thomas, a native of
South Wales, and the work is spoken of as one of
the finest specimens of the sculpture of our time.
The likeness is striking. The pedestal was built by
Mr. Thomas, of Pembroke, under the superinten-
dence of Mr. 11. Maule Ffinch, architect. The
panel to the statue's right hand presents a shield,
upon which are sculptured in high relief the arms of
the earliest Kings of Wales, borne by Llewelyn ab
Gruffyd, the last native Sovereign. The panel
behind the statue is distinguished by originality of
design. It represents the monogram of her Majesty
and Prince Albert within an escutcheon, which
is supported on the one side by the rampant "red
dragon of Cadwaladr," and rests the other upon
a partially recumbent but resilient leek, a scroll
being interwoven inscribed with the old motto—
" Anorchfygol Ddraig Cymru," which being inter-
preted means—" The dragon of Wales is invincible."
Henry VII. raised triumphantly the banner of the
red dragon at the battle of Bosworth Field ; the red
dragon was used as a supporter of the Royal arms
by successive monarchs of his line ; and the red
dragon continues to this day to be the Welsh crest
of our British sovereigns. The leek is said to have
been especially honoured by St. David's use of it
during his ascetic preparation for his public ministry
among the mountain solitudes of Llanterry, when
lie did only drink what crystal llondda yields,
And fed upon the leeks he gathered in the fields."
Mr. Thomas's sculpture of his country's most
ancient symbol, the leek, and which Shakspere
has immortalised in another way, is admirable.
The panel to the left hand of the statue bears
a shield charged with the late Prince's
hereditary arms, quartered with those of
her Majesty. The front panel forms a tablet,
upon which the following inscription is engraved in
large and ancient characters :—"Albert Dda, Pried
EM Gorhoffus Frenhines Victoria (Albert the Good,
Consort of our beloved Queen, Victoria). This me-
morial of H.R.H. Prince Albert was raised by
the inhabitants of Wales, and inaugurated at Tenby,
by his Royal Highness Prince Arthur, his third son,
on the 2d day of August, 1865." The statue is
placed on an elevated position on Castle Hill, a pe-
ninsula jutting out into the sea from the town, and
its elevated position brings it on a level with the top
of the spire of the parish church of Tenby. It is,
therefore, visible at a great distance at sea, and
from the land, and it is believed that it will be seen
with a good glass from the opposite coast of Devon.
A remarkable coincidence is connected with the
ceremony of to-day, which ought not to be passed
over without notice. About 400 years ago the Earl
of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII., sought shelter
at Tenby, with his mother, after being besieged in
Pembroke Castle, and were lodged by Mr. Thomas
White, then mayor of Tenby, and a wealthy wino
merchant, whose monument still forms an interest-
ing object in the parish church. Mr. White provided
a vessel for the Royal fugitive, which conveyed him
safe to Brittany, a service for which he was after-
wards rewarded with a grant for life of the King's
lands around the town. It is a curious fact that on
the present occasion a lineal descendant of this
White--Mr. George White, also a wine merchant
--is now mayor of Tenby, and thus he becomes
associated with another event connecting Tenby
with the national history.

A FLY'S EYE.—If we examine the eye of a fly,
for example, we shall observe that it forms the seg-
ment of a sphere projecting from each side of the head.
If we pursue the examination further with the aid of a
microscope we shall find that the surface is mapped out, as
it were, into countless numbers of separate lenses arranged
side by side like the cells of a honey-comb. These lenses,
somewhat conical in shape, converge towards the centre
of the spherical segment. 'lt has been computed that the
eyes of some of the butterfly tribe number from 10,000 to
40,000 ; of these hexagonal facets Hooke counted 7,000 in
the eye of the house fly. What, therefore, is lost by want
of mobility is gained by extension of power.—Once a
Week.

'S SHOW.—The show of
THE HIGHLAND SOCIETY
the Highland and Agricultural Society opened on
Tuesday at Inverness, under somewhat inauspicious cir-
cumstances as regards weather. In the evening the ban-
quet of the society took place, and was well attended. The
Duke of Argyll, who presided, in proposing the toast of
"Prosperity to the Highland and Agricultural Society,"
announced that Government intended to set on foot a sys-
tem of collecting agricultural statistics in England and
Scotland, similar to that in force in Ireland. Subsequently,
on the health of the Secretary of the Society, Mr. Hall
Maxwell, being proposed, that gentleman intimated his re-
signation of his office, and received a special vote of thanks
for his long and valuable services..—Scotsman.

THE CIGAR SHIP.—A vessel known as the " cigar
ship" has been on the stocks at Mr. Hepworth's yard, in the
Isle of Dogs, for a long time, but is now nearly ready for
launching. It is stated that upwards of £lOO,OOO have been
expended in her construction, and it is anticipated that she
will attain the speed of 25 miles an hour.