The Sun.
London, England, 1853-11-10 00:00:00

THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW.

Three centuries ago the Strand was an open
country road. There was a line of noblemen's
houses on the southern, and a loose array of smaller
habitations on the northern side. On one hand,
as you travelled along this country road, there was
always something to be seen very much like the
wall of Northumberland-house in its present condi-
tion ; on the other were public-houses, with signs,
and the dwellings of petty shopkeepers, after the
fashion of modern Brantford. Temple-bar existed.
not as yet ; for the present ugly structure was
built by Wren after the great fire. In former days
there were only on this spot posts, rails, and a
chain. Now, along such a road as this, and in
times when such a road existed, we can readily
enough conceive that a pompous procession, such
as the one with which London was yesterday in-
fested, might have been a very striking spectacle.
Your Anglo-Saxon is not a. very imaginative crea-
ture, and it might have required so magnificent a
show to convince him that he was absolutely wit-
nessing the highest possible display of worldly
grandeur. The men in armour, the uncouth giants,
the glory of the civic dignitaries, must have im-
pressed upon his mind the conviction that Lon-
don's Lord Mayor was indeed in the act of passing
by. What Easter Sunday is to the devout Roman
Catholic, what a butter-feast is to the well-trained
disciple of Buddha, such was Lord Mayor's day
to the Londoner in the days of Henry VIII.,
whether he assisted at the glowing ceremony by
land, or in his barge on the silvery surface
of the river Thames. Matters since then are
much changed. Outward pomp and display
require every circumstance of acknowledged and
indisputable desert to render them palatable to the
taste of the indifferent spectator. It was a Wel-
lington who added dignity to the riband which
shone upon his breast—the riband could do but
little for the honour of the conqueror of the Penin-
sula and of Waterloo. The mere upholstery work
of glory is gone out of fashion, and the attempt to
recal it is as vain as it would be to aim at the re-
introduction of periwigs. But, even in cases of
this kind, opinion observes certain distinctions.
Take the instance of any of our great Orders of
Knighthood, and upon the muster-rolls of any of
them there will always be found names which are
synonymous with great achievements in the civil or
military career. The high deserts of the few carry
off and excuse the insignificance of the many. The
opening of Parliament by the Queen is still a great
sight. It is no slight event that an assembly which
by its decisions may affect the course of history
should again be convened. The case is entirely dif-
ferent with the inauguration of the magisterial year
of the Lord Mayor of London. The whole aspect of I
English society is changed since that event was one.
of public insignificance. Whatever meaning it may

the gathering of the rabble upon Lord Mayor's
day is, that it would be prudent to avoid giving
cause for any such assemblage in days to come.
And then the feast ! The Lord Mayor's dinner is as
great a delusion as the Lord Mayor's show. It
would be difficult to pass on it a severer criticism.
What a waste of money for what a result ! Many
thousand pounds sterling, for which it would be
difficult to find a worse use, are sacrificed, in order
that some hundreds of people, who might have dined
comfortably at home, may dine badly or not at all.
The old display, which at least amused our anti-
quaries is at an end, and in its place we have
painted women and allegorical gold-diggers. Alder-
man Sydney, or Lord Mayor Sydney, was very
heartily greeted by the populace yesterday, not for
any peculiar veneration of the man or of the office
he filled, but simply as a theatrical manager might
have been who had indulged the mob with a circus
display. The shivering woman, drawn by six
white horses, who represented Justice, was no doubt
a great effort. Poor thing ! how cold she looked ;
The emblematic figure of California, too, was well
imagined as an appeal to popular sympathies ;, but
for our parts we think Batty does these .things bet-
ter in the circus. We trust that by the help of her
Majesty's Commissioners this may be the last public
exhibition on Lord Mayor's day. It is an undeni-
able nuisance to the city, and redounds but little to
the honour and glory of its chief officer or its inha-
bitants..—Times.