THE ROYAL PROGRESS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1205, 14 August 1911, Page 9

THE ROYAL PROGRESS.

MAGNIFICENT PAGEANT OF THE ARMY. SEVEN MILES OF CHEERING ■ PEOPLE. / ~ On Frioaj-, June 23, the day after the Coronation, the' Royal progress through London took place. It is described as follows in tho "Daily Mail":— /It was tho pageant of our Imperial Army. Nothing was lacking to its beauty and its splendour. The Army, which in war puts on its fober suits, is in pence the service of honour and , display, and when it accompanied the King upon his progress it showed itself in nil tho brilliance of scarlet.'and gold, of sparkling helmets and nodding plumes. Memories of the Past. The scene at Hydo Park Corner was a scene of great beauty. A cloudy, covered eky was over us all, a sky all tho fairer because the snn was hidden from ( our eyes, becau.=3 the marvellous spectacle was enwrnpped' in its grey and solemn mystery. The tall trees were tho best background of 'all—a background of cool green. Opposite glistened tho stajid where tne Jung's guest A were received—a-, blaze ot colour and -magnificence;- There sat the foreign representatives in all the splendour of their brilliant uniforms. Nono was absent wiio might pay respect to our King and our Army. There met East and West in equal homage. Germany and China looked ' with impartial eye upon the spectacle of our State and pomp. There is a pause and a sound of martial music, coming we know not whence, as though tho spirits of the air were chanting the , praises of England and her Empire. Then after four troopers of tho Royal Hoi?o Guards there enme a detachment of tho Royal Navy, and it was fitting, although the procession was a procession of the Armv, that the senior service should -lead the way. The Royal Navy passed, followed by the Royal Naval Reserve, and instantly- the band of the Royal Artillery set us a tune for the military pageant which followed. All . the great regiments passed before'our eyes, the regiments that won undying glory in Spain and France, iu India, and boutli •Vfrica, as if to remind us how many battles wo had fought and in how fardistant fields. Thero thundered a battery of the Royal Horse Artillery. . There rode, in its multi-coloured gaiety, a squadron of Household Cavalry. Arid as each passed it was greeted with tto whole-hearted cheers of enthusiastic spectators.

Grandeur of Empire. Hussars followed Dragoons. ,The pennons of the Lancers waved and sparkled in thD morning nir. A howitzer battery which followed reminded us suddenly of the gravity of war. Then canio tho King's Indian Orderly Officers, perfect horsemen, perfectly mounted, resplendent in the uniforms of the gorgeous East, proudly reminding us of the grandeur of our Empire. As tho procession passes ■we see the whole- Army, as it wete, in little. ,The General Officers Commanding in Chief precede- by a span General Sir John French, the Inspector-General of the Forcas, and tho Duke of Fife, the Lord •Lieutenant of the County o£ London, suggesting by his presence that London takes her especial part iu, this-spectacle of tho Army. The;field-marshals with their batons ride apart, and tho crowd as it recognises Lord Eobcrts rends .tho air with its chews. Then follows a pause,' and -tho spectators fix their eyes on the royal stand,- rapidly, filled by tho privileged guests of the King. As the Prince of Wales, the Princess Mary, and their brothers enter there is an outburst of applause. As they take their places the foreign military-attaches ride past in their panoply/ followed'toy -the- dcputations'ibf foreign officers. The Scene Changes. Then in an instant , the, scene changes. The- State carriages drive rapidly past us. There rides Admiral Sir 11. Culme-Sey-inbiir, and there the Eight Hon. Sir A. J. Bigge,. the King's private secretary. Again a pause, and after the King's equerries ride, the King's, honorary . Indian aides-de-camp. No' soldiers had a more lively reception than these, and none better deserved tho reception accorded them. There in a small space-were the great rulers of'.the East, hearing historic names, and proud to giro their allegiance to their King. The Maharajah of/War, his Highness Sir Ganga, the Maharajah of Bikaner—what noble associations, what princely deed 9 of daring are linked with tliair names! And "how nobly they sit their horses, as though, like centaurs, they were made part of the chargers that earned them!

The silence which follows is broken by the firing of guns, which tells us that the King and Queen have left their palace. A brief moment of waiting, and the State carriage is upon us. Lord Kitchener rides by its side;"it is drawn by eight creani horses; aud within sit the King, in his Boldier's uniform, and the Queen, a fair blue feather in her hat. . As they pass tho stand, where their guests expect them, there is a. moment of surprise, the one nuick emotion of the'day. : The Eing and Queen rise in their carriage to greet their guests. The King salutes, the Queen, with infinite grace, curtsies to her friends. It is over in a Hash, but it leaves behind it a lasting memory of kingly dignity and friendly recognition. V Military Power of tho Empire. After the Standard ride princes and field-marshals, equerries-in-waiting, tho Silver Sticks, and the high officers of tho Court. And when the procession is over it is a perdurable memory of movement, colour, and aspiration. Ji is the British Empire, and" the British Empire alone, that can add to the escort of her King troops from her Dominions over-sea and the mighty princes of India. Their presence was enough of itself to give the procession a character unique of its own. The frontiersmen, booted and spurred, with broad-brimmed hats, were the boldest contrast imaginable to the hirbaned warriors of the East, and it is our pride ihat they belong to the same Empire and owe their allegiance to the same Sovereign. So thero passed before our eyes the military power of all our Empire, and witnessing this noble spectacle how could wo take niiy other view than the view of courage and security in tho defenders of our King and country?

As a spectacle, the pageant was beyond praise arid beyond wonder. White you watchcd.it you lived through a rapid pase of the "Thousand and Ono Nights." The swords and lauces, seen, through the eomljro light of a cloudy (lay, had a tempered brilliance. The uniforms, red and blue, the gold tabards, tho.■military music, now falling as one band faded into the distance, now taken up again as another approachc-d, did honour to a nation of soldiers. "God Save the King," heard as the Royal carriage approached, echoed the sentiments of loyally which were ,in every ■breast. In- brief, all the splendid trappings of war were there, and let it not be forgotten that our King visited his city like & soldier.-