The Lord Mayor in his robes of office, and attended by the officers and many members of the Corporation, and a vast number of distinguished persons--among whom were the Chief Rabbi, Dr. Adler, the Bishop of Bedford, and many of the Clergy of the neighbouring districts, Cardinal Manning, and Mr. Walter Besant--awaited the arrival of the Royal visitors. This was announced by a salute by the guard of honour of the Tower Hamlets Engineers and the 24th Middlesex Volunteers. They were received by Sir Edmund Hay Currie and the Beaumont Trustees, the Master and Wardens of the Drapers' Company, and delegates from various Committees. From the old and well-known "Beaumont Trust," and the munificent donations of the Drapers' Company, supplemented by public contributions, the large funds necessary for the People's Palace had been derived. The ceremony began by the Archbishop of Canterbury offering a special prayer, followed by the Lord's Prayer, and the singing of the Old Hundredth Psalm. Sir E. H. Currie, Chairman of the Committee, then read and presented an address, to which the Prince replied as follows:-- "Sir Edmund Hay Currie and Gentlemen,--I thank you, on behalf of the Princess of Wales and myself, for your address, and I can assure you that we heartily rejoice that an opportunity has been afforded us of again visiting this important district of the Metropolis. We thoroughly appreciate the endeavour of the trustees to promote a scheme which, from the comprehensiveness and liberality of its scope, should not fail to prove advantageous to the population of the near neighbourhood in which the Palace is to be erected, and to the inhabitants of the Metropolis at large. We do not doubt that the opportunities for healthy recreation so essential in a population that is comprised mainly of artisans and mechanics and their families will be promptly and properly appreciated by those for whom the People's Palace had been provided. The facilities which will be afforded for continuous education of all kinds will, we are convinced, materially tend to still further develop and perfect the various handicrafts of this neighbourhood, and should therefore prove of the greatest importance, not only to the inhabitants of East London, but to the nation at large, and should enable Englishmen to continue to maintain in the future, as they have in the past, that supremacy in the arts of peace at home which, among civilized nations, must be the invariable and necessary accompaniment of power and prosperity abroad. We congratulate the trustees upon the success which has already attended their efforts in having secured £75,000 of the £100,000 required, and we sincerely trust that the munificent donations of the Drapers' Company, Mr. Dyer Edwardes, Lord Rosebery, and the Duke of Westminster will influence others to follow so excellent an example.