THE KING AND QUEEN IN THE CITY ( continued )
WITHIN THE BUILDING.
The spectacular part of the proceedings was the very impressive, notwithstanding the fact that the new building does not lend itself well to such a ceremony as that which was performed within its walls on this occasion. The halls - for there are two of them – in which the spectators assembled, have been constructed with a view to the convenient transaction of business, and not to the accommodation of a large number of visitors intent upon witnessing the details of a stately pageant. Nevertheless, by dint of a great deal of planning and arrangement, admirably carried out by the Town Clerk, Mr. James Bell, and his staff of able assistants, the proceedings passed off smoothly, and all present were delighted with the success which crowned the inauguration of the building. Of the interior itself, one can only say that, far from being gloomy and severe, it is rich to the point of magnificence. Its floors, walls, and staircases are constructed of costly marbles and alabaster. Painted windows admit a subdued light into the building, elaborate carvings and allegorical pictures adorn the walls, and the general effect may be described as palatial, even though it be hardly such as one is accustomed to associate with a palace of justice. The main ceremony took place in the lower hall on the ground floor. At one end of this hall a dais had been set up for the accommodation of the King and Queen. It was richly carpeted, and upon it were the two gold and crimson chairs of Gothic design used by their Majesties at the Coronation luncheon in the Guildhall. A canopy of gold and crimson completed the structure, the back of which was hung with white tapestry, having embroidered upon it the Royal Arms in the middle and the crown and the lion rampant distributed at intervals over the surface. On the right hand of the chair reserved for the King was a half- domed recess, the ceiling of which was of pale green spangled with gold, and here the members of the Court of Common Council assembled in their robes of mazarine blue. On the left of the chair reserved for the Queen was a similar recess, to which the more distinguished of the Corporation's guests were conducted to watch the proceedings. At the other extremity of the hall, facing the dais, were a large number of ladies and gentlemen, friends and relations of the notabilities of the City. From this hall a handsome staircase leads to the hall on the first floor, which gives entrance to the Courts and which will be used for the same purpose as that to which the salle des pas perdus of French Law Courts is devoted. At one end of this hall another batch of spectators were stationed. It is here that the paintings by Sir William Richmond, representing the Golden Age, and by Professor Moira, depicting the Lawgivers, Moses and King Alfred, and the Paying of Homage to Justice, are to be seen, as well as the sculptures of Justice, Mercy, Charity, and Prudence which have been executed by Mr. Pomeroy A.R.A. Here also is a lifelike bust of Lord Brampton who, as Sir Henry Hawkins, was for so many years a dignified and conspicuous figure of the Central Criminal Court.
On the landing of the staircase, between the two halls, the band of the Coldstream Guards, under Lieutenant Mackenzie Rogan, was stationed and played during the reception of the visitors. Another note of colour was imparted by the presence of four of the trumpeters of the 2nd Life Guards, dressed in their rich coats of gold lace, who were to blow a blast on the declaration of the opening of the building. It was arranged that the King and Queen should be received in the lower hall whence, after the ceremony, their Majesties were to be conveyed by means of a lift, in which they were accompanied by the Lord Mayor, to the hall on the first floor. Thence they were to proceed to the principal Court, where they were received by the Lord Chief Justice of England and some of his brethren.
As the time drew near for the performance of the ceremony, the lower hall rapidly filled and presented a very brilliant and animated appearance, due to many elements, the electric light; the white -walls and coloured marble pillars; the Uniforms of distinguished officers; the robes of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, and the scarlet gowns of the City Aldermen.
Among those present were: - The ‘Master of Elibank’ M.P. (Comptroller of the Household), Lord Farquhar (Master of the Household), Mr. Herbert Gladstone M.P. (Home Secretary), Mr. Lewis Harcourt M.P. (First Commissioner of Works), Mr. R. K. Causton M.P. (Paymaster-General), Lord James of Hereford, Mr. J. Allen Baker M.P., Sir W. J. Bull M.P., Major Coates M.P., Sir William J. Collins M.P., Mr. W. Crooks M.P., Mr. W. H. Dickinson M.P., Sir F. Dixon-Hartland M.P., Mr. H. W. Carr-Gomm M.P., the Hon. Claude Hay M.P., Mr. T. Lough M.P., Sir P. Magnus M.P., Mr. Horatio Myer M.P., Mr. C. E. Price M.P., Mr. J. F. Remnant M.P., Sir Albert Spicer M.P., Colonel Sir Howard Vincent M.P., Mr. D. S. Waterlow M.P., the Hon. Sir Schomberg McDonnell (Secretary, Office of Works), Mr. W. J. Downer (Principal Clerk, Office of Works), Mr. H. Babington Smith (Secretary, Post Office), Mr. M. L. Waller (Private Secretary, Home Office), Mr. H. B. Simpson (Principal Clerk, Home Office), Mr. W. P Byrne (Home Office), the Chairman of Lloyd's, the Chairman of the Baltic, Mercantile, and Shipping Exchange, Mr. E. W. Mountford F.R.I.B.A. (architect of the building), Mrs. Mountford and Mr. Walter Mountford, the Lord-Lieutenant of Essex, Lord Rothschild, Sir William Richmond, R.A., Sir Frederick Banbury M.P., the Epping Forest Verderers, Sir Felix Schuster, Sir Alfred Reynolds, Colonel Probyn, Sir A. Scott-Gatty, Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence, Sir Fortescue Flannery, Major-General the Hon. Sir F. Stopford, Colonel Shute D.S.O., Major Steele, Lieutenant Lord Stanhope A.D.C., Mr. N. L. Cohen, Sir C Kinloch Cooke, the Chairman, Deputy-Chairman, and Vice-Chairman of the London County Council, the Chairman of Committee of Lieutenancy, the Chairman of the Thames Conservancy, the Chairman of the Metropolitan water Board, Mr. Stuart Sankey, the Archdeacon of London, Dr. Edwin Freshfield, the Chief Rabbi (Dr. H. Adler), the Rev. H. Russell Wakefield, the Chairman of the Metropolitan Asylums Board, the Treasurers of Royal Hospitals, Mr. F. A. Bevan, the Rev. E. H. Pearce (Vicar of Christ Church, Newgate Street), the Masters or Prime Wardens of the 12 Great Livery Companies, Mr. J. Albert Causton, Professor Aitchison R.A., Mr. W. W. Grantham, Lieutenant-Colonel Everard Milman, the Mayors of the Metropolitan Borough Councils, the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department, Professor Gerald Moira, Mr. F. W. Pomeroy A.R.A., Mr. Henry Holloway, Mr. Thomas Holloway, the President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Mr. Gilbert Seale, and Mr. W. E. Stoner.
No comments:
Post a Comment