New-York tribune., 1872-03-15
THE BRITISH JUBILEE.
PREPARING FOR THE PAGEANT.

,ssterday. and is in day, and promises to be in
tomorrow surpasses all anticipation, and, believe
uaxneriepce am not the oldest inhabitant, and
,,v memory of this city does not 60 back to any of
"a, GREAT celebrations nor TO the Dukes funeral nor
=, the coming home of the Princess of Wales nor to
The Great Exhibition. But everybody agreed In
.1necting that tomorrow would surpass them
al vet nobody counted such thing in the
.treets as we have seen before the arrival of the
a.v itself TIE TRIBUNE Office being by good luck
,r Pail Mall and so on the route of the Royal Pro-
.0ss;on can see specimens Of the prevailing ex-
.itan,ent by merely looking out of the windows.
Once outdoors the most phlegmatic of men could
not Int give himself up to the strange influence OF
60 strange scene. Yesterday was Sunday and, If
nv pnritan friends in New England will allow me
10 cav So | was at this Office for little while on
husiness If / had dropped into 1t after
week's absence should not have known Paii
Mall The transformation Of the lower stories OF the
aIace like clubs into the semblance of horse-sheds
was something but the change in the traffic of the
street was far moIe remarkable. 1t has been
fa-nous lounge time ont of mind. Dandy officers OF
the guards dandy club men, politicians, men famous
{, letters and art and travel and everything
else may be seen any day on Its sidewalks'
while the roadway is apt of an afternoon
70 be filed with carriages, and the carriages with
very fashionable people. Yesterday all these ne
cuenters of the stately street had vanished and Pa
Mall looked like section of Nhltechapel Road
totallv new idea had seized upon LondOners that 1t
was possible to be in the streets on Sunday
and they had got mad notion that there was some
thing beside themselves to be seen. They came out
10 see the decorations but yesterday the decor
stions consisted mainly of rough pine boards
and Joists, and the framework OF seats
destined TO be covered with red cloth The real
spectaele was the people themselves, and am half
inclined 10 think they found that out and enjoyed IT,
Tradesnens carts, and butchers carts, and furni-
ture wagons and brewers drays, all loaded down
with ruddv-faced men and over-dressed women and
children who were too many to count filed all Pail
Mall. and all the Strand and Fleet-st. and Oxford
st. and, i suppose, choked the narrow streets
about st. Pauls and the Old Bailey and wher
ever the procession is expected to pass tomorrow.
half London had got an idea that their only
chances to have a sight of the unaccustOmed spen-
dors would be before the true day came. To any
body who knows what Sunday in London CON-
monty is, the contrast was simply delightful 1t
must have been exceedingly SO 20 the cabnen who
ell went home with little fortunes in their pockets.
When wanted to 60 home, not cab was to be had
In Pail Mall St. James-st., OF PiccaGilly.
To-day the crowd is far greater. There five lines
of carriages in front Of my windows, mostly waiting
for chance TO move one way or the other; now
and then surging slowly forward rod OF two, and
then stopping again. My balcony looks both ways
for more than half mile. All the way from st.
Jamess Palace, along Pail Mall and past Trafalgar
square TO the Church of ST. Mart-n Fields, the
street is equally blocked. At II this morning tried
10 drive from this Office TO Fleet-st. My cab
rot within sight of the Strand, and there stopped.
I might as well have tried to driYe through
the National Gallery. / drove down Whitehall
of tba ROupVerie-
st. finally reached my point. But TO get into Feets or
ont of it, either In carriage afOot. was equally dill
cult For sght-seers there was something to-day 10 re-
nav all the toll, the decorations being well advanced,
flags and streameTs flying and the walls half covered
win notices expressive Of the most elusive loyalty TO
the Prince OF Wales.
WHO frt conceived the idea Of this THANKSGIVING do
not know II it were started in the interest Of the
Throne the notion clever one and is only the nat
rral fudlmen Of that calculated programme by when
She Princes illness turned IN every one OF It's mel
Dents and details to such excellent account But tho
most has not made Of It, and will not be. for since
the crder Of the ceremonies is all settled one
ran speak OF it as well to-day as tomorrow.
Nothing could be better from the ROyals point Of view,
than the plan Of q grand religious celebration In
the Cathedral Of ST. Pauls, with procession OF tie
Queen In state from Buckingham Palace 10 the Catne
cral That plan touched the Londoner on all his
tenderest sides-touchcd him with religious feryor
O, II
think the thng-touched him in his pride OF
loyal Devotion and touched his pocket which Is some
times thought the center Of his nervous System, ana
touehed 1t in such q way as to fill II and not
simply 1t, which TO him seems very materlal oli-
terence. He is glad the Prince got WELL and likes TO snow
It. lie seldom Lis queen and is much obged 10 her
Tor letting herself be He thinks II most beeon-
thing that between the British Throne
And the Throne Of God should be thus publicly acRnow'
sdged; II is creditabe to both. He has goood many
ihOpwindow the line of the procession, and these he
ets out in seats lat price which much enhances the
strength Of bis devotion, On the other hand, there
more who hire seats than who let them, and still
rester number who do neither but who Will
ioreg0 days work and days pay for the
pleasure OF looking this unwonted show Now, 70 all
nese Glasses OF peopie VINO all together must nuopet
me two three millions the essential thing was thht
the show should be fine one. ST. Paus will hold az
the utmost, some 1900 London outside OF 81 PsuPs
AND on the line OF the procession will only the pro
sson and this obvious that it is almost incredible
should not have occurred TO the clever ana
charge. No fear about St. Paul's; what is
aone there for the chosen few mostly aristocrats
mlkng 70 think themselves SUCH They arc loyal
etough 10 any case. The unloya recruit their ranks
among the outsiders give them something TO make the
eld fame burn brighter. They are just in the mood to
rpay tenfod every concession made 10 their present
eesire They would have reoiced in really splendid
Procession, with plenty Of troops and great officers OF
state and the two Houses of Parliament, and half the
ristocracy Of England in carriages Nothing would
have been easier than arrange procession. H.
Head OF 1t we 70 have few score OF mounted troops,
stew officials and not more than dozen carriages
e ned save ope with the most uninpOrtant people
shgand, the Royal Household When man who has
this psltr troop fle by he viii he apt think he has
ad uoOmIDoDy little for his money, and his time and
ShO likes to make renectioRs Of that kind, and
se VIII 60 home tomorrow night with his head
s vd4y II is s4eay %P az the 0pp21sss lost
.ss.y seriously London spending GOOD deal q
parade well managed might have been worth an addi-