The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-31 00:00:00

PRINCE ALBERT'S Vet ?IT' TO
LIVERPOOL.
LIVERPOOL, THURZDAY AFTRANOON.--The long-looka.
for event has arrived at length ; the good people of Liver..
pool are enjoying, it is to be hoped, the realisatio3 of their
last two months' expectations. The Prince, in short, whilst
IMewrisiete'y, to open, is about
in th
ree Fairyurning from his short ands° on the
steamer,
the
new
404
is
cam;
, by his name.
This last is, however, a part of the pr dinp.4 whichl
must necessarily reserve lor WY next communication t, ta'cirix
up in this the thread of yester4,v evening and this fo, venom a
events, but sketching them, unfotitunatelY, with comi ')uls
rapidity.
In the first place, Liverpool is crowded to overflovleing.
Train after train, steamer after steamer, last evening and
during the night poured fresh shoals of eager sight-a tang
into the town ; and by the gr at law of supply and dema
the prices required for accommodation, of course, increa ;ea
as rapidly as did the number of claimants. Beds fetch it
the price of luxuries, rather than of necessaries of life; a Mi.
I fully expect that the sheet and blanket tariff will be lop
still higher to-night.
A stroll through the streets last evening showed Liver.
pool,. always full and bustling, ten times more full and more,
busti;.qg than I had ever seen it before. On every available
inch of wall and hoarding municipal proclamations, official
programs: es, announcements of in'eamers to accompany the
royal yacht, of medals struck in honour of the vtsit—anl
puffs of the wouslerful accounts whichthe local journals pro•
mised to give of it---son.e in supplemCnts, some in "pam-
phlets"—meet the ey.", attesting the es:traordinary interest
attached to the occasion. :Men preparations for illumination,
were busily going on—workmen arranging, in the usual cgs -
, plimentary flourishes and devices, those colonrod lamps Sr.
pretty by night, but such dreary-looking affairs by day_
FlagQ, of every material, every hue, and every size, floated
from windows and chinmey 4ops, or stretched in gay saving
lines from roof to roof across the streets, the national L'etbuts
intermingling with the gaudy ensigns of guilds and liver-
porated trades.
The streets, as I have said, are quite crammed. Until
late hour Bold-street and Church-street were quite gay withi
chatting promensders. The night was lovely, still, and warm..
with continued flashes of brilliant summer lightning, and.
occasional farroff mutterings of thunder. Fears were enter-
tained for the fineness of the eventful morrow, but they were
dissipated with the dawn.
To-day broke bright and hot, and of an uncomfortably
early hour the town was all on the gui rive. The steeples, of
course, contributed their noisy quota of loyaity, and upon
sallying forth I found Liverpool in such a holiday' garb as the
busy town never wore before. The principal stree.'s were alt
fluttering with gaudiest colours. You looked dm, their
long ranges through perfect vistas of flags, wreath and
garlands, ranged along the walls in gay devices, or strt.tch-
ing from roof to roof in wavy variegated lines. Beneall
them ebbed and flowed a busy, holiday-looking population,:
Everybody looked gay, and the streets, so adorned and slio
crowded, when seen in the bright sunshine of a glorious;
summer morning, bad the liveliest and prettiest appearance:
possible.
r Abaut nine o'clock the people began to collect around the•
terminus of the Grand Junction Railway in vast ihronge.
Every window and roof commanding a view of the scene
had their anxious occupants. A few of the favoured were
admitted within the station, while a body of the 4th Dra
goon Guards and mounted police kept order without. The
guard of honour, drawn up on the platform, was selected
from the 36th Regiment of Foot.
Shortly before twelve o'clock the royal train was.
announced, and in a few minutes it puffed up t.o the plat-
'forth.

The Prince was accompanied by his travelling suite, com-
prising the Marquis of Abercorn, Lord William Lennox, the.
Hon. ColonelAnson,Cqlonel-Bouverie, &c., and was attmded.
by-Mr. Glyn, the chairman, and several of the direet.on et
the Birmingham and Grand Junction lines
His Royal Highness was received on, the platform by Mr
Hodgson, the Mayor of Liverpool, and the Aldermen of the
borough, and the various railway officials. No delay took
place here, and after a few words of greeting, the Prince en-
tered the Mayor's state carriage, which- was in waiting, and_
followed by several others, which contained the members a
his suite and the corporation, and attended by a dragcoat.
guard of honour, proceeded slowly through the crowded'.
streets ,to the judges, lodgings. His reception by the people-
was of course enthusiastic, and the cortege was again and
again stopped by the cheering multitudes which surrounded
it. The Prince suitably acknowledged these manitestatioits
of loyalty and good-will.
Arrived at the judges' lodgings in St. Anne's-street, once,
but no longer, a fashionable locality in Liverpool, the
Mayor and the other municipal authorities took leave of the
Prince, and proceeded to the Town-hall to prepare for his
reception there.
His Royal Highness remained a short time in his private
apartments, to recruit a little from the fatigues of the ride
from London, and then set off for the Town-hall.
The way lies through St. Anne-street, Islington, Commu-
tation-row, Lime-street, Clayton.square, Church-street,.
Lord-street, and Castle-street, several of the principal
thoroughfares of Liverpool ; and, as most of my readers must
be aware, broad, handsome, airy streets.
I have already alluded to the gay decoration& The
progress of his Royal Highness was of course, brilliant,
but presented no very particular feature of novelty. The
throng was dense. and the rush round corners to keep
up with the cortege quite formidable. Shouting crowds
swarmed round the carriages—stages, extempore platforms,.
balconies, and roofs were clustered with spectators, hand-
kerchiefs were fluttered from windows, and, in short, sane
of the usual popular demonstrations of enthusiasm warts.
wanting.
At the Town-hall the council and members of the corpo-
ration generally were drawn up in formidable array on either
side of the principal entrance.
Leaving these worthies to keep solemn watch and ward
for the coming of the Prince, and proceeding by the grand
staircase to the middle drawing-room, where the address was
to be presented, I found the apartment—a lofty and tasto.
fully fitted up, although not large room—occupied princi-
pally by a brilliant group of ladies, interspersed with a few-
gentlemen and military officers. Lord Sandon, Viscount
Morpeth, the Rev. Mr. M'Neil, and Mr. Cardwell, M.P., r
observed, were present.
There was a short period of somewhat impatient waiting,
and then the cheering outside, followed by a burst of tbst
very respectable but by no means novel piece of musies
" God save the Queen," announced the arrival of the royal"
visitor. -

Another moment, and a doleful procession of the underling
municipal functionaries, bearing maces, swords, and all nvan-
ner of formidable and mystic implements, and looking as
stolidly dismal as a troop of undertakers, marched into ass
room. Then came the mayor, decidedly nervous, and look..
ing uncomfortably warm. However, the entry of the Prince
and the preparations at once made by the Recorder for read-
ing the address somewhat reassurred the respected muni-
cipal functionary, and the ceremony was performed by tles
legal gentleman with good emphasis and discretion. The fol-
lowing is a copy of the document :
"TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ALBERT, THE HUISSLN
ADDRESS OF THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN, AND BURGESSES', QV
THE BOROUGH OF LIVERPOOL.
"May it please your Royal Highness—We the mayor,.
aldermen, and burgesses of Liverpool, desire to greet your-
Royal Highness with a cordial welcome, and to express the,
satisfaction and jos which the arrival of a Prince so exaltel
in station and 'so justiv entitled to every tibute of respect,
and esteem has diffused through this loyal borough.
"This visit to a seat of mercantile industry ; your con-
sent to sanction and grace by your presence the opening- of
new accommodations to trade and shipping, and ys'sl pur-
pose to take part in founding an institution for the advan-
tage and welfare of sailors at this port, are inanifestatiors, to
us most gratifyi ig, of your princely regard for the commerce
of that wide empire, with the destiny and history of which
your Royal Highness—in sacred union with our most gra-
cious Sovereign—is so auspiciously, and, as we fervently-
hope, so lastingly connected.
" Our town beasts not of monuments of ancient art and
magnifies nee, but the flags which, from every quarter of
the globe, countless in number, now wave in sign of
come on the waters and along the shores of the Mersey,,
attest the successful energy by which, under the blessing of
Providence, the port of Liverpool has been rendered con-
ducive and subservient to the progress of manufactures,
the intercourse of nations, and the happiness of mankind;
and we trust that that a view of various public works.
and buildings, now advancing to completion here, will satisfy-
your Royal Highness that a spirit of useful enterprise still
lives amongst us to derive fresh vigour and encouragement
from the proceedings of this day.
"Filled with sentiments of the most respectful attachment
and regard, we pray that your Royal Highness may long
share the happiness of a Queen who reigns in the hearts of her
subjects, and with her continue to adorn the loftiest sphere,.
with a brilliant example of public and of private virtue.--
Given under the common seal of the said borough, this 30thi
of July, 1846."
This address, after having been read, was presented to the
Prince in a handsomely ornamented box.
His Royal Highness then in turn produced his document,
and, in a low bat distinct voice, read the following reply:--*
" I experience the greatest satisfaction from the cordial
welcome which the address you have just presented to me
upon my arrival gives me in this town..
you, its
ah
been gr
industry and enterprise shou d e
ie wteod y theo
r
mercantile ect d amongst with your
ord"erl taomt take ptarto peirricett thceartemmoynicesom mpg
J' Presponding i3' fo
kind invitation. aur t a
tI
ohnaLe
" Your expressions of loyalty and attachment to the
'bent yingotfomyr o;w :ail 1 Coli an
ft
Queen cannot fail to be most satisfactory to me, and area
sure will be felt as such by her Majesty.'
The ceremony was soon over, and the Mayor, who NM
just beginning to recover from his fright, then conducted
his royal visitor through the state rooms of the civic palace.
They are not large, bet well-proportioned lofty apartments,
richly enough fitted up—yellow and gold being the prevail-
ing colours.
The short inspection over the water side was the next
point of interest. The royal cortege proceeded down Water-
street to the Egremont Pier, where the Fairy yacht was
lying.
And now came by far the most interesting part of the
da 's roceedin ' afternoon was lovely, the sky un-
clouded, and the sunshine bathing in a warm glow of light
y pgs. -the
the piles of vast warehouses and dingy funnel. like streets
which lie between the higher parts of the towns and the
docks. Down these streets rushed the swarming crowds—.
thronging through narrow defiles—debouching by every fissure
in the long line of warehouses upon the docks—mounting
up into any species of 'vantage ground, where a view of
the river could be obtained, and thronging with a dense
mass of human beings the lines of wharfs, and piers, and
landing-places which extend along the banks of the Mersey.
And than the shipping in the ducks. I have seen many a
goodly show of bunting, but never such an exhibition of the-
flags of' all nations, as to-day afforded. The forest—the
apparently tangled interminable forest of rigging was one
blaze of parti-coloured banners. I can compare it to no-
thing so aptly as to an indefinitely extended exhibition of
the kaleidoscope—tire blue, red, yellow omni-coloured
bunting, in short—shining in the suusidue fully as gaily
and brightly as ever did the gaudiest spangles of stained.
glass. The river, too, was a tine sight—a hot summer haze
hung heavily upon the water, alloruir:g but dim and partial
glimpses of the opposite shore, the gay terraces and far-
reaching docks of Birkenucao. But through the
haze-loomed countless vessels, the symnietrical out-
lines of stately ships anchored in the stream, with
their towering masts and tapering spars, mingling
with the heavier forms and Clingy funnels of steam-
ers, and rising over the more unpretending gear of
the crowds of 'coasters, brigs, sloops, and schooners. dimly
seen upon the busy swarming river. Small boats, wherries,
and gigs, of course, shot hither and thither in bewildering
_ throngs. The passenger steamers s, inch were advertised tcs
accompany—vain hope—the Fairy yacht, rolled front star-
board to port under their weight of passengers and paddled
heavily on as the trim screw-boat shot merrily avray fro
the pier-head upon her trip of inspection of the Mersey;
while the cheers caught up and re-echoed from vessel to
vessel—the occasionally-heard burst of a military bands-Qs
thunder of the royal salutes fired from the Qadtadoniais
steamer—all this, addressed to both eye and earl, formed, 0'
can well be imagined, a very beautiful 414 -interto436
spectacle.
After her short cruise in the river, the bead of the Feb 7
was turned towards the Albert Dock, and there for the pssw
sent I must leave her, to take up the
,ztarittln, WY
coungostion. -.•