“The Prince and Princess of Wales, with the three Princesses, arrived
soon after 4 o’clock, and appeared much pleased by the manifest
gratification which their presence afforded to the children. Their Royal
Highnesses, after having been received by Mr. Lawson, and conducted to
the Committee tent, proceeded to one of the ordinary tents, where the
distribution of memorial cups was going on. Having made their way
through the juvenile and excited throng which pressed around them, the
Prince and Princess handed a cup each to several of the children. The
visit was quite unpremeditated, and no arrangements had been made. It
was, therefore, a case of first come first served, and the children
struggled hard, with outstretched hands, in their efforts to secure a
cup from the hands of their Royal Highnesses. The Prince smiled
good-humouredly at their eagerness; and as he left the tent ’God bless
the Prince of Wales’ was sung with much heartiness. Their Royal
Highnesses then returned to the Committee tent, where the gentlemen and
ladies who, earlier in the day, had assisted in the tents, and other
invited guests, were assembled. At half-past 4 o’clock the bugle sound
announced that the amusements must end, and the music cease. The
children betook themselves to their respective tents, and, having been
duly collected together, under the charge of their masters and
mistresses, proceeded to take up positions along the road to be
traversed by the Queen. The bands were massed under the direction of Mr.
Dan Godfrey, and drawn up opposite the flag-staff where the Queen’s
carriage was expected to stop.
“The Queen was expected on the ground at half-past 5, but it was
considerably later before her Majesty’s procession arrived. In the
interval, several of the Royal guests joined the Prince and Princess of
Wales in the reserved enclosure, the children cheering lustily as they
drove past. When the time approached for her Majesty’s appearance, even
Mr. Dale’s huge balloon, which was unloosed from its fastenings, and
soared at once high into the air, failed to rouse anything approaching
to the excitement which so interesting an event was calculated to
arouse. The thoughts of the children were intent upon the Queen, and for
the moment they were engrossed with the prospect of seeing her. It may
be doubted even whether they paid much attention to the pealing of the
sweet-toned bells which Mr. Irving had allowed the Committee to remove
from the Lyceum Theatre, where until recently they were nightly heard in
the cathedral scene in _Faust_, and which now began to send across the
playground their soft and modulated sounds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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