The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-08 00:00:00

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HER MAJESTY'S VISIT TO

LEEDS.

LEEDS, SEPT. 7
The Royal visit to Leeds is now a matter for his-
tory, and in all the long annals of Royal progresses
in warmth and enthusiasmit should stand the first.
Never, probably, has any Sovereign, save an English
one, been so received, and but rarely has the same
cordial greeting—less to the monarch than to the
idol of her people—ever been given to our own
Royal family. A long and extensive experience of
these royal progresses and visits fails to recall to
memory any occasion of a similar kind where her
Majesty has been as ',enthusiastically received.
Never has she been more welcomed in any town or
city of her dominions.
At the time our last notice quitted here all Leeds
were flocking en masse to the central station of the
Great Northern, where her Majesty was to arrive.
It was not the mere crowd of a manufacturing town,
but a regular county gathering which swept
through all the eastern streets of Leeds as re-
gular and massive as the tide itself, and moving
forward with almost as little interruption, save

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PRICE 4D. STAMPED,

i 4 situated, when the scene quite defies all attempt:
to portray it, in words. The cheers literally seemed
to rend the, very air.
After acknowledging these salutes and those of
the guard of honour, about which latter the Queen
is always most punctilious, her Majesty with the
Prince Consort gave their undivided attention to
the noble building they had come to inaugurate.
The Mayor and Mayoress received the Royal
party as they alighted, and the mayor conducted
her Majesty and the Prince up the steps of the
south facade. Repeatedly her Majesty stopped to
examine and admire the edifice, till on entering:the
vestibule, where the architect, Mr. Brodrick, was in
attendance and had the honour of being presented.
Here also her Majesty had an opportunity of seeing
the Mayor's princely gift to the town—her statue,
by Noble, the sculptor.
A few moments were spent in admiring this and
in her Majesty's expression of warm approval of the
building, and the Royal party entered the hall. We
have alreadydescribea this splendid building, though
such a meagre- catalogue of dimensions gives but a
poor idea of its aspect yesterday, thronged with all
the rank and fashion of the county, the varied dresses
of the choirs above the northern end of the hall
showing out like a rich parterre, a kind of back
ground to the magnificent dresses and uniforms that
thronged its every part. As her Majesty entered
the whole mass of visitors rose and made the hall
echo and vibrate again under the great welcome
given to their Queen. Yet almost as suddenly as
this began it ended, as the Queen, reaching the
dais, stood with the Princess Alice on her right, the
Prince -Consort and Princess Helena on her left, and
the Bishop -of Ripon advancing, read aloud, with
much solemnity, the following prayer, specially
composed for the occasion :=

"Almighty and everlasting God, by whose gracious pro-
vidence Thy servants have been permitted to erect this
building in which we are now assembled, pour down, we
humbly beseech Thee, Thy blessing upon this undertaking.
Grant that.the completion of this Hall may contribute to
the glory of Thy name, and to the lasting welfare of the
inhabitants of this town.
" Grant that whensoever Thy people come together in
this place they may be furthered with Thy continual help.
" Vouchsafe, 0 Lord, Thy heavenly guidanee to those
who shall be called to sit in judgment within these walls.
Give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding. Fill
them with Thy holy, fear, and enable them truly and indif-
ferently to minister justice, to the punishment of wicked-
ness and vice, and to the maintenance of Thy true religion
and virtue.
" Prosper with Thy blessing every pious effort for the
advancement of Thy truth, for the promotion of useful
learning, or for the succour of those who are in need and
distress.
" Fill our hearts, 0 Lord, with such a lively sense of all
Thy mercies that we may daily endeavour to live to Thy
glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.
" 0 Lord, our heavenly Father, high and mighty King of
kings, Lord of lords, the only Ruler of princes, who dost
from Thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth ; most
heartily we beseech Thee with Thy favour to behold our
most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen Victoria ; and so
replenish her with the grace of Thy Holy Spirit that she
may alway incline to Thy will and walk in Thy way ; endue
her plenteously with heavenly gifts ; grant her in health
and wealth long to live ; strengthen her that she may van-
quish and overcome all her enemies'; and finally, after this
life, she may attain everlasting joy and felicity, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
" Almighty God, the fountain of all goodness, we humbly
beseech thee to bless the Prince Consort, Albert Prince of
Wales, and all the Royal family ; endue them with Thy holy
Spirit, enrich them with Thy heavenly grace, prosper them
with all happiness, and bring them to Thine everlasting
kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
" Almighty God, who has taught us in Thy Word to
make
Sprayers and intercessions for all men, receive our sup-
plications for the worshipful the Mayor, the Aldermen, and
all who bear rule in this town, that each in his vocation
and office may faithfully serve before Thee, to the glory of
thy name, and hereafter inherit Thine eternal kingdom, for
the merits' sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
"0 Lord our heavenly Father, in whom we live and
move and have our being, we bless and praise Thy glorious
name for thy goodness in having granted to Thy servants
to behold the success of their design in the erection of this
building. To thy name be the glory that this work has
been brought to a prosperous issue. Accept our tribute of
thanksgiving, and receive the supplications which we have
now made in Thy Son's name.
"Let thy blessing descend upon this town and all who
dwell in it. May Thy Holy Spirit in all things direct and
rule our hearts ; 'that we, inclining always to Thy will, and
walking in Thy holy fear, and in dutiful allegiance to the
Queen, may ever be showing forth Thy praise from genera-
tion to generation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
The prayers for the Queen and Royal Family
were responded to by a long and deep " Amen"
from all parts of the hall.
The national anthein followed, and then,, advanc-
ing with the Mayor to the foot of the dais, the
Town-clerk, Mr. Shin, in a clear and soft tone of
voice, read the following address :
"To TILE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
" May it please your Majesty.
,‘ We, the Mayor, Aldermen, and burgesses of the
borough of Leeds, bid your Majesty welcome to this your
faithful and loving town, and thank you from our hearts
for having granted our prayer that you would make this
happy and memorable day doubly happy and doubly memo-
rable by your auspicious presence.
" We venture to hope that so excellent a judge of art as
your Majesty may find something to approve in the Hall
in which we are now for the first time assembled, and may
be well pleased to see a stirring and thriving seat of English
industy embellished by an edifice not inferior to those stately
piles which still attest. the ancient opulence of the great
commercial cities of Italy and Flanders.
" For the mere purpose of municipal government a less
spacious and costly building might have sufficed. But in
our architectural plans we have borne in mind the probabi-
lity that at no very distant time civil and criminal justice
may be dispensed to an extensive region in this town, the
real capital of the West Riding. We were also desirous to
provide a place where large assemblies might meet in com-
fort to exercise their constitutional right of discussing pub-
lic questions, to listen to instruction on literary and philo-
sophical subjects, or to enjoy innocent amusements.
" Confident that nothing which concerns the happiness of
your subjects, from the solemn administration of those laws
which protect our lives and our property down to the harm-
less recreations• from which a laborious population returns
with new vigour to its toils, can be uninteresting to your
Majesty, we were encouraged to prefer our request that the
opening of our Hall might be graced by your presence ;
and we see with pride and pleasure the fulfilment of our
hopes.
' We pray God to bless your Majesty ; we pray God to
prolong your reign ; and we know that, in so praying, we
are praying for our own happiness and for that of all your
people. May a long line of descendants be, like you, re-
paid for the mild and constitutional exercise of regal power
by the respect and love of a free and high-spirited nation.
It is probable that in the days of those descendants ex-
perimental science will have made great progress; that
inventions of which we have seen the promising infancy
will have been brought by successive improvements near to
perfection ; and that the material wealth of our island may
be such as would now seem fabulous. Yet we trust that
even then our Hall will be seen with interest as a memorial
of a time when England already enjoyed order and free-
dom, profound tranquillity, and steadily increasing prospe-
rity, under a Sovereign exemplary in the discharge of every
political and every domestic duty ; and that those who visit
this building will contemplate it with double interest when
they are told that it was inaugurated by the good Queen
Victoria."

As this address was presented her Majesty sent
for Lord Derby, who was in the hall, to stand on
the dais, and, taking from his Lordship her written
reply, her Majesty read aloud, amid breathless
silence, as follows
"Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen,—
" I accept With pleasure your loyal address, and I thank
you sincerely for the cordial welcome with which I have
been received.
" It is highly gratifying to me to witness the opening of
this noble Hall, a work worthy of your active industry and
enterprising spirit, and while it will reflect a lasting honour
on the town of Leeds, I feel assured that it Will also secure
to the thriving community whom you represent the im-
portant social and municipal advantages for which it is
designed."
The Mayor, with the mover and seconder of the
address, had then the honour of kissing hands,
after which each member of the corporation was
presented to her Majesty by name.
The Town-clerk then read to the Prince Consort
the annexed address:—
" To HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE CoNSOILT, K.G.,

" Sir,—The Mayor, Alderriten, and burgesses of the
borough of Leeds desire to express to your Royal Highness
the gratification with which they welcome you, a gratifica-
tion heightened-by the presence of the younger members of
your august family.
" They are well aware of the encouragement which your
Royal Highness has constantly given to whatever tends to
promote the material comforts of the people, or to foster in
them a taste for intellectual pleasure • and it is with refer-
ence to both these objects that they deem the presence of
your Royal Highness on this occasion to be peculiarly
auspicious.
"They offer their most earnest wishes for the happiness of
your Royal Highness, and of every member of that family
to which her Majesty's subjects look as, an example for the
present, and with hope for the future."
To this his Highness replied :-
-
" Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen,—
" It has afforded me the greatest pleasure to have been
present on the occasion of this first visit of your Queen to
Leeds ; and I have been deeply touched and gratified by
witnessing the enthusiastic display of loyalty and affection-
ate attachment to her person and family which has marked
her reception.
" I have now further to thank you for the wry cordial
and flattering welcome which you have extended to myself,
and to assure youthat I shall never cease to take the warmest
interest in all that can tend to promote the comfort and wel-
fare of her Majesty's loyal people."
Her Majesty then conferred for a few minutes
with the Earl of Derby, and taking the sword of
General Grey, signalled to the Mayor to kneel, and
touching him lightly, first on the right and then
on the left shoulder, the Mayor of Leeds rose up
amid tremendous cheering Sir Peter Fairbairn.
The Earl of Derby then, stepping to the fro ntof
the dais, said, " I am commanded by her Majesty
to declare, in her Majesty'sl name, that this