Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1873-07-11
TIE SHAH OF PERSIA IN LONDON.

TIE SHAH or fEhSJd LN LO-'DO"'
TO the Editor Of the journal
LONDON, June %.
A few days since while walking down the
strand my eye caught the following inscrip-
ton, hung over the entrance to the Royal
Exeter Hotel
Now we bear the king. Behold the English beach
Pales in the flood with men, with wives with boys, |
Whose shouts and claps out'voice the deep
mouthed sea.
But now behold how London doth pour ont her cit
liens, |
The mayor and all his brethren in bes. sort to well
come him" Shakespeare.
Shakespeare must have had in mind, when
he penned those lines, visit and occasion
something like the present Indeed, no words !
can be more expressive or indicative of the
public feeling than the above. The Shah of
Persia. the king of kings, does not often leave
his realm to visit others, and. probably. no
nation on the face of the globe is better pre-
pared to appreciate the honor of such visit
than the Kingdom of Great Britain. London
now puts on her best dress to welcome the
| Shah.
Yesterday your correspondent saw the
grand review of troops by the Queen, at
Windsor, in honor of the Shah of Persia. 1t
was lovely afternoon. By chance met two
gentlemen from Boston, fellow passengers on
the steamship Caledonia, and we Joined in
company, leaving Waterloo Bridge Station
about half-past one o'clock. The ride to
| Windsor, twenty six miles, is through rich
and cultivated tract of land, where lords and
gentlemen reside For few miles out Of
London our track lay over the tops of the
| houses. 1t was a strange sight to us Ameri-
| cans to ride among the chimneys, but it gave
us grand view of London. The air was
| clear, and So we had fine view of St. Pauls,
the Parliament Buildings and Westminster
Abbey 1t well pays one to take ride on
these house-top trains just to see the city.
After reaching Windsor we took hasty look
at the grand old castle and then followed the
| crowd to the Park. Hundreds stayed near
the Castle to see the Royal procession pass
en- route to the Park, and completely blocked
up the sidewalks. The liberty of the press
was very much exercised, every one seeming
resigned to squeeze and be squeezed as the
human mass swayed this way or that We
preferred to see the troops rather than wait
TOR the Shah, so we proceeded at once to
Windsor Park. The entrance we found to be
only few steps from the Castle, but the place
where the troops were stationed was nearly
Park. AS we had plenty cf time and were
quite refreshed by our ride, we did not mind
the walk, and so we set out on foot For
more than a mile we walked in an archway
formed by tall giant oaks, whose age is num-
bered by centuries, every tree seeming to be
just equal in size to the one adjoining, and al
together on either side forming an unbroken
line to the brow OF the hill, under which was
spread out before US in martial array, the
| a. of no both ipfa
and artillery, whose predecessors fought as
the silk banners which futtered in the breeze
bore testimony, at '.Lincellas,' Egypt"
''Peninsular,' "Waterloo,n and ''sebasta-
pool" Here were the Is Hussars, represent
tatives of the men who rode with Cardigan
into ''the valley of DEATH The scene, as the
parade waited for the august party for which
1t had been brought together, was extremely
imposing and beautiful. In the background
rose the giant trees of the Park, closing in
the prospect with their dark green foliage
In the foreground was the open plain studded
with clumpS of tall, branching trees. Athwart
this plain, from right to left, stretched the
long bright line of troops, with their pol |
ished bayonets, glittering in the sunlight.
There was little delay at the Castle. In |
quarter of an hour after the arrival of the |
Royal train, in the far distance from under |
the archway at the brow of the hill where we |
stood, the crowd on either side num-
bering upwards of seventy FIVE thousand, saw
a procession emerge, suggesting to the mind
OF the spectator some gorgeous pageant such
as one reads Of in 'Ivanhoe." The brilliant
escort moved with a stately walk, and passed |!
our party at distance of ten or fifteen feet.
The Shah rode on an Arab grey, side by side
with the Duke of Cambridge; then followed |
the Royal party-IIer Majesty, the Queen,
Prince of Wales and the Czarewitch, and the |
other princes, bowling graciously as they |
passed the cheering crowd of spectators. AS |
they reached the scene of the review they |
were greeted with the firing of cannon, the |
beating of drums, and the rattle of musketry." |
The review was grand affair and well worthy |
the notice of the Shah of Persia. The crowd !
began to disperse, it being late in the after
noon, soon after the arrival of the Shah. We
took an early train into the city before the |
review had closed, fully impressed however,
that we had witnessed q grand and imposing |
sight.
London is full of visitors, both from remote
parts of the Kingdom, and from America, and, |
az might be supposed, the places of interest |
are thronged with spectators. At the British |
Museum, the London Tower, the Docks, st. |
Pauls, the Crystal Palace. Westminster, the |
Parliament Buildings, or wherever l have |
been, the number of visitors has been unusu-
ally large. Americans have a way of know |
ing each other when they meet, which makes |
it very pleasant to meet them as they are |
strolling about the various places of interest. |
KAPPA.
grand Masonic Temple, said to he the
finest in the world, has been erected by the
Free Masons of PHILADELPHIA and is to he