The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-02-14 00:00:00

THE ROYAL NUPTIALS,

[We republish from our Second Edition of Tuesday last the
following account, which is taken from the London Stand-
ard of Monday evening.]
This day the august and interesting ceremony of the mar-
riage of her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, with his
Royal Highness Prince Albert, of Saxe Coburg and Gotha,
was performed in the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace. An
event so novel as-this, more than a century having elapsed
since the nuptials of a reigning Queen of this country were
celebrated, would be sufficient, independent of the magnifi-
cent and splendour attendant thereon, and the youth of our
beloved Sovereign, to engage the universal attention and in-
terest of the -nation. It is nit, then, to he wondered that
these..conibined circumstances shoukl make the people of this
country.who are,,tlespitehat.-.a disaffected few may say or
think, nattirallSr-and intriniicalryn toYal People, Stipend their
ordinary avocations and cease their labouring toil, to join in
keeping holiday, mid publicly' to -demonstrate their attach-
ment to the Throne, and. their earnest wishes for the wel-
fare and happiness of their young and lovely Queen. No im-
perial mandate was necessary to compel a cold observance of
respect. The'homage was neither forced nor feigned, but
the voluntary offering of warm hearts, participating in the
joy of the Royal bride, beating with hopes for brighter daYS,
and. breathing prayers 'for a prolonged reign of purity and
peace.

At early &vim " the busy hum of men" arose from the
vast metropolis and its populous suburbs. The canons' roar
saluted the opening day, and
" The morning trumpets' festival proclaimed
Through each high street,"
and as the hastening crowds moved towards the chief point
of attraction, the lin- of road through which the Royal pro-
cession was to pass, they beheld, on each side of the way,
the houses adorned with various ornamental devices, con-
sisting of may flags, gorgeous banners, and costly prepara-
tions for the night's illuminations. The neighbourhood of
the palaces was speedily occupied by cheerful groups, eyer
and anon•gathering additions, till the whole intended route
was lined with vast multitudes. Constitution-hill, and those
points of the Parks which commanded even the remotest
view of the scene,

" Where the throng,
On banks and scaffolds, under sky might stand,"
were supplied with various ingeniously contrived accommo-
dations, for the privilege of which no mean price was de-
manded, and no lack of purchasers was found. The distant
windows teemed with heads, as did those also of the man-
sions and dwellings of the closer thoroughfares through
which the cortege was to pass. Even the roofs were tenanted
by eager spectators, who from the giddy height locked down,
seemingly unmindful of their perilous position. Besides all
this, every niche and practicable spot, was made the resting-
place of platforms and galleries, gaily festooned and de-
corated,
" With seats where all the lords, and each degree
• Of sort might sit, in order to behold,"
for it was not possible to accommodate all the rank and elite
of fashion within the Royal Chapel. The sex most honoured
on this day mingled in the masses, and may be said to have
formed nearly, if not quite, the majority of the spectators on
this festive occasion. A profusion of white favours was dis-
played, and the handywork of the sempstress was exhibited
in a thousand varied forms on the graceful and beauteous
.wearers. If beauty needed ornament, the skill of fashion
supplied it plentifully.
" Beauty is Nature's brag, and must be shown
At courts, at feasts, and high solemnities,
Where most may wonder at the workmanship.
And many a beauteous dame and"worthy knight •
Came there the nuptials to celebrate."

At length the long prOtracted, but patient, expectation of
the assembled myriads was worked up to the highest point
of desire, by the premonitory sounds of the Queen's depar-
ture from Buckingham Palace. The noise of many drums,
the brazen throats of signal guns, and the clang of martial
trumpets, had scarcely ceased their loud announcement, when
the state carriage in which her Majesty rode issued from the
marble portal.
" At sight of her the people, with a shout,
Rifled the air." _ _ .

The troops presented arms asthe Queen passed ; the hands
struck up with renewed vigour the National Anthem ; and
the Royal cortege moved forwards, her Majesty bowing in.
return to the greetings of her subjects.
" Fair Honour, drest in robes, adorn her state,
And in her train the crowding people wait,
Who, pressing, view with what a temper'd grace
The looks of majesty compose her face,
And mingling sweetness shines ; or how her dress.
And bow her pomp an inward joy confess.
Then fill'd with pleasures, to her glory due,
With shouts—the chariot moving on—pursue.
But it was physically impossible to keep up the pursuit ;
the " thick phalanx of embodied men," which already filled
the upper space rendered the progression of the multitude
in the rear impracticable. The mass was, therefore, com-
pelled to remain stationary • but. not so their 'enthusiam.
The shouts of those whom die procession had passed fol-
lowed it, and united with the bnrsts of loyal cheering from
those a head. Thus a felt de joie of huzzas was kept up as
far as the ear could drink in the cheerful sounds.
Such was.the joyous manner in which the bridal Queen of
these realms was hailed in her progress to the holy temple
where that solemn rite was performed, which has united her
to•the man of her choice, a circumstance somewhat unusual
to persons in her -Msjestiy's station. Her entrance to the
Royal Chapel suspended the joyous acclamations of the mul-
titude, and the silence which ensued was calculated to awaken
other and higher emotions than those which are devolved
in the gesticulations and huzzas of mere animal excitement.
The interval between her Majesty's ingress to St. James's
Palace and her return was one of tranquillity, the crowd
in the immediate vicinity of the building, when the holy rite
was proceeding seemed desirous of paying an external respect
to the solemnity, or of catching some faint sound indicative
of the progress of the ceremony within.
" They seemed to hear the fall devotional quire
To heaven's high dome their awful anthem raise,
Now chanting clear and now they all conspire
To swell the lofty hymn from praise."
And what truly British heart is there unwilling to join in
these aspirations that this union may he auspicious of the
good of the country, and that under the reign of our most
gracious Queen,

" Horrid with want and misery, no more
-Our streets the tender passenger afflict,
' Nor shiv'ring age, nor sickness without friend,
(Jr hOrne, or bed, to bear his living load;.
Nor agonising infant that ne'er earned
Its guiltless pangs !"
Add moreover- that "peace and happiness, truth and jus•
tiCe,,religion'tind piety, may be established among us fof al
generation's!"