The Sun.
London, England, 1834-07-30 00:00:00

WINDSOR, JULY 29.

His Majesty and a large party from the Castle went yester-
day morning to Eton in six carriages, to attend the exercises
of the Eton scholars ; afterwards the King and the Princess
Augusta took an airing in the Great Park. The Foot Guards
have been reviewed to-day in the Little Park. His Majesty wit-
nessed the review from the Terrace. The troops were under
the command of Colonel Mackinnon, of the Coldstream Regi-
ment of Foot Guards. The King goes to London to-morrow.

OPENING of the NEW PIER at GRAVESEND,

Yesterday being the day appointed for opening the new pier
at this place.the steam-boats from London were crowded with
visiters and other persons interested in the ceremony, and by
twelve o'clock the town of Gravesend was filled with a dense
mass of persons in eager expectation of the approaching sight.
It seemed as if the whole neighbourhood had poured out its
population for the occasion, in concert with the strangers from
the metropolis and more distant parts ; every street and
avenue to the pier was crowded with anxious spectators, and
the river itself was covered with steamers and craft of every
size and description, and presented a scene of the most ani-
mated and pleasing kind. The Mayor and Corporation, the
Committee, the members of the Pier Company, the parochial
authorities, the clergy, the military and naval officers of the
town and its vicinity, the country gentry, and the principal in-
habitants of the town, ware assembled at an early hour at
the Town-hall, and being marshalled according to their
respective ranks and orders, proceeded exactly as the
church clock struck one to the pier, in procession, which
was at once interesting and imposing. Among those
who formed this procession we observed the High Steward,
the Earl of Darnley ; R. P. Cruden, Esq., the Mayor
of Gravesend ; W. Eagle, Esq., ' Major Kelly, the Com-
mandant of Tilbury Fort, the Mayor of Rochester, Alder-
man Baker; G. F. Young, Esq., M. P. ; the Rev. Dr.
Joynes, Colonel Graddon, Colonel Middleton, &c., with a
host of others whose names it is impossible to enumerate. The
bells of the church rang a merry peal, and repeated discharges
of small pieces of ordnance increased the effect and added to
the vivacity of the occasion. The pier, which is formed of
iron and timber, and which is so contrived, being supported on
12 Tuscan columns, from the tops of which the springs of
arches 40 feet in expansion are thrown, that no obstruction
is caused to the stream of the river, and no obstacle is
created by which any accumulation of sand or mud can be col-
lected, is the work of Mr. Tierney Clark, who is already,
known to the public as the architect under whose directions the
bridge at Hammersmith and the pier at Shoreham were con-
structed: The corporation and their friends, after performing
the ceremony of proclaiming the opening of the pier, er,41)..,_
on board the Mercury steamer, which was in attendance, and
proceeded on an excursion to Old Haven, and returned to the
pier about 4 o'clock. The company, amounting to upwards of
150 persons, then sat down to a splendid dinner, the tables for
which were laid on the pier itself, under an immense awning of
flags of all nations and natures, and the band of the Artillery,
from Woolwich,,was in attendance, to increase the conviviality
of the day. Nothing could have been better contrived or ma-
naged ; everybody seemed pleased and satisfied. The dis-
cordant interests which in November last, when the first stone
was laid, conflicted almost in open warfare, were composed
and lulled to perfect amity and concord. The watermen have
at last discovered that their interests are correspondent with
the interests of their fellow-townsmen, and that the general
prosperity of Gravesend will ultimately, and indeed imme-
diately, tend to their welfare. In the evening several barges
were moored off the front of the pier for an exhibition of fire-
works, water rockets, &c. The pier is itself 160 feet in
length, and has two sets of stairs for landing; it is about 25
or 30 feet in breadth. On what is called the "T " head, or
transverse cross at the extremity of it, a bell and a clock are
to be supported on handsome columns, which will add greatly
to the beauty of the whole, and be most useful adjuncts to
the building. The "T " head itself is supported on 18 co-
lumns. It must not be passed over in noticing the opening
of this pier, that on the same day a smaller edifice for similar
purposes, though on a construction totally different, being
built entirely of timber, was opened at Greenhithe, amidst
the miniature ceremonies which imitated the opening of the
larger pier, and by their effect added their portion of gaiety to
the general appearance of the river and neighbourhood.