THE ROYAL VICTORIA PATRIOTIC ASYLUM.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 531, 5 December 1857, Page 3

THE ROYAL VICTORIA PATRIOTIC ASYLUM.

(From the Morning Chronicled) The foundation stone was laid by. her Jilajesty: of ? a new asylum, bearing her .illustrious, name, and destined for the reception of WO orphan daughters of, soldiers, sailors,, and marines. The cost of the erection and endowment of the asylum will be defrayed out^of the surplus funds, '. still .remaining' in the hands .of; the Commissioners; of the Patriotic Fund. The "Patriotic Fund" was commenced at the .■ desirb of 'iebfMajestyv in /the 'yep' .1854^: '.-. &$ jt}^^6|al;amojirii(| reeeiy&el,;by. "this cpiai* . i P^isslpfieESffrpm' all \ gpurcesi Ji^s . on. qi liberal ; scale towards the maintenance! and relief; of-all the\wid6ws and3orphans of.soldiers, and of tHbse officers,; whose' cases presented such "special features as toj induqe the cdmniissioners to atpor^ tiqin of -the fund .sq! gjenero^sly^ppvidedi thjere still; remains ja sufficient surplus tg ' admit of.the;ailocationof;£3B,Roo/for:the' , erection,of .the buildings and.of, - ,to provide an Endowment for this dftstitu4'

tinn;^ ende- for the "PerPetual consola- . SL So en™tt™ST ent of t^se who here•ml y dle for their country." Ui ??Z is tO/be constructed to acST". Etc 30° B'Ms, and so far as we are .enabled to ascertain, it is -to be built after the design^oftUe famous Heriot's HosSS, nf t t d! nbur §" h ' o^ittin^ however, •much of that ornate style of" decoration would necessarily absorb an undue v portioaof the funds at present available. Lhe site which the building is to occupy is a very pl easan t one, on Wandsworth Oommon, a short distance from the Clapham station of the South-Western Railway, overlooking- on one side the Wandsworth House of Correction, and the very pretty gothic building of the Freemasons' Asylum for Female Orphans. In order to afford to spectators an opportunity of witnessing the interesting ceremony, several capacious platforms were erected on one side of the ground, to which ' visitors were admitted by tickets, the lar°-e open space'opposite being occupied bY " the people," who, if they were not more hearty in their sympathies, were, at all events, much more lively and unanimous in the expression of them, than those more " respectable" and courtly occupants who graced the benches. The accommodation provided greatly exceeded the demand made for seats, and in order to produce something of the cheerful appearance of a "full house," .a number of ladies and gentlemen _ were promoted from the standing place fenced off from the general crowd, admission to which was also obtained by tickets, to the more aristocratic company on the covered platform. The ticket holders were particularly requested to be present in their seats by half-past three o'clock, the arrival of her Majesty bein°fixed for five o?elock. The band of the Marines and the Lilliputian band of the boys of the Duke of York's School sought, by a performance of some popular airs and , marches, to diminish the weariness of the tedious delay; which was at length happily terminated by the firing of a royal salute by a field battery, which announced the arrival of her Majesty and the Court. , The royal, commissioners and members of the Executive and Finance Committee were in waiting at the right and left of a tent—elevated for the day into the rank of a "Royal Pavilion." Amongst those present we "noticed-Sir G. Grey, Mr. S. Herbert, Lord Redesdale, the Duke of 1 Newcastle, Lord St. Leonards, Sir J. Pakington, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the i Bishop of Winchester, Col. Wilson Patten, M.P., the Earl of Hardwicke, the Lord , Mayor, Sir Henry Ross, and others. Her Majesty, with the Court, arrived in four I carriages, with an escort of the 11th Husj sars, the Royal party consisting of her Majesty, the Prince Consort, the Princess Royal, Princess Alice, the Princess Charlotte of Belgium, the Prince of Prussia., the Prussian Minister, with the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of Abercorn, Earl Spencer, and other members of her Majesty's household. On leaving the pavilion the procession formed, and proceeded to the platform where the stone was to be laid. One hundred orphan boys (50 from the Duke of York's School and an equal number from the Greenwich School), and 100 ; girls (50 from the Sailors' Orphan Girls' School and the same number from the Soldiers' Infant Home), formed a line in front of the covered" platform before which the procession passed, and the guard of honor and the military band, paid their customary salute, and as usual played the National Anthem. On the arrival of her Majesty at the place where the stone was to be laid, the chairman of the Executive and Finance Committee read an address to her Majesty. The document was handed to her Ma-' jesty, who gave it to Sir George Grey, who in return handed to the Queen the reply of her Majesty, which was as follows:—. : , ■"■ I thank you sincerely for your loyal and affectionate address. "I gladly avail myself-of this occasion to express' the'.gre^ satisfaction X haye;. derived'from the;gratifying evidence pre-• sehted. to "me of me- manner in which,ms faithful subjects throughout the whole .extent of my. dominions, and in the niost distant parts of the world, have evinced their genuine sympathy with nay own feelings" of admiration for the gallant con* duct, arid enduring fortitude, of my naval andj 'miiitai*y^ fprces^ by\ their'Jmunificent contributions to]the'funds^ iiiewjidpws1 and.orphans of theVljrave mei| .■^Kq^Ye,fallen in. the discharge of their j [u^/.tqi^lie^iv^py ; ereig!ii.,and their country* Ysfc ita^e; fullyi. justified .the coafideric^

legislature is content toilet the Church of I placed in you by • your judicious and impartial distribution of these funds, and I entirely.approve of the appropriation of a portion of them .to the erection and permanent endowment of an institution in the success of which I shall ever feel the wannest interest. , ;.. "I am most happy to take a part in the foundation of this institution, and I heartily concur with you in committing it to the Divine care, and protection, and in praying that, the benevolent objects with which it has been designed may be to the fullest extent accomplished." The Archbishop of Canterbury having offered up a prayer, which we presume was suitable for the occasion, not a word of it being audible where we were placed nor could we succeed in obtaining a copy of it, a glass tube, containing specimens of the current coin of the realm, was deposited in j an aperture in the lower stone by her Majesty, together with a slendidly engrossed vellum, on which was an appropriate inscription. The bed for the stone having been duly prepared, her Majesty was handed the silver trowel, with which she gave the finishing touch to the mortar, and the upper stone was gradually lowered on to its final resting place; her Majesty having applied the plumb line and level to the masonry, had the satisfaction of finding* that it was perfectly true, and giving it several raps with the delicately polished mallet, declared the foundation of the new building* to be laid. On a brass plate, let into the front of the stone, is this inscription :— " On the 11th day of July, 1857, in the second year of peace, Queen Victoria dedicated this asylum, erected from a portion of the free gifts, of the United Kingdom, of the British colonies, and the Indian Empire, and of many not subjects of the realm, to the nurture and education of the orphan daughters of those brave men who perished in the Russian war; and for the perpetual consolation and encouragement of those who hereafter may die for their country." The trowel, according to the custom, adopted on these ceremonies was the perquisite of the illustrious mason who laid the ■ stone, and her Majesty on leaving most good humouredly claimed her privilege in this -respect,-and' took the trowel with her. • In addition to the very elegant scroll work which ornamented the implement, it bore the following inscription. " This trowel was presented to Queen Victoria by the Royal Commissioners of the Patriotic Fund, on the occasion of her Majesty laying the foundation stone of an asylum for the education and training of "300 orphan daughters of soldiers, seamen, and marines, who perished in the Russian war, and for those who hereafter may require the like succour.". ■•■ . The illustrious visitors returned to the pavilion in the same order as they had •left, and her Majesty was pleased to express her approval of the inscriptions intended to be placed on the front of the building, one of which in Latin was the following. Ne quas paterni consilii, .Et tutelse orbas, Reliquit mors patrura praematura, Juventute inculta languerent; Filiabus Bene de patria merito'rum Nunc et in perpetuum, Anxietate provida, Hssc in aide Perfugium decrevit, Cum cbloniis ac apud Indos imperio, Exteris etiam non parce conferentibus, Britannia. On another part of the edifice it is proposed to put this inscription in English :— " For the Orphan Daughters of the ' Soldiers, Seamen, and Marines of the; realm, now and henceforth, England, her;, colonies, and Indian Empire, aided by; many, not subjects of the Crown, erect; this Asylum, from part of the Patriotic Fund, formed in 1854-5, at the desire of; Queen Victoria." j ■ The royal salute, was fired as the stone was in course; of being- lowered, .instead of- : "(by'.:sbme';'in'istaTce)'at the conclusion of the! ceremony.1; .• A, similar salute was .also' given as .tile:royal party left the ground.: The assembled crowd warmly cheered her Majesty and her august companions. THE CONVOCATION. The Dean of St. Paul's has 'made & good use of his position as a neutral and moderate; man, ;to move the Convocation with a view -to obtaining' the discontinuance of the . ihre'e; political Services in the Prayer-book. It serves '^oV'-.niarkiihat'.-'sgingular state, of things; m 'which a sensible and reforming

England remain, that here, on a matter of real importance, is enacted a farce in which nobody knows what he is, or what place or office he has, in the matter. Convocation, we need hardly remind our readers, is a 'visionary body, a mere Church debating- society, without power to do anything but talk as long- as the Crown will let it talk. Such is the body which takes the lead of this affair. The authority which the Dean proposes to move is the Crown. People get so accustomed to what they let alone, and what gives them no trouble,thatthey will not even exercise their reason or judgment upon it; but let an English churchman just open his ey es,shake himself,and dispel the pleasant fancy that last occupied his dozing mind,and think what these three services really are. They relate entirely to a dynasty of unhappy memory which England only tolerated for three generations, and which is a by-word among us for its follies, its vanities, "and its vices. In these services we thank the Almighty for sparing the life of a Sovereign whose mother and" whose son we beheaded, and for restoring to the Church of Eng- ( land a Sovereign who turned out to be the most licentious reprobate that ever sat on this throne. In one of these services we at the same time and in the same breath thank the Almighty for delivering the Royal Family from its enemies, and with equal fervour thank somebody else for delivering* the nation from the said Royal. Family. Let anybody with the most ordinary power of elocution—that is ; with a heart, and with lips that can express the emotions of that—-just attempt to read' through these services in the same tone as that in which he would naturally offer up his ordinary prayers to the Throne of Grace; he will be immediately involved in as hideous a mockery as if he were to try to read in a devotional tone the blasphemies, atrocities, and vulgarities which occ-asi :nally appear in our police report, and which we only give because the truth must be known. In fact, these are political philippics of the lowest character, such as eventhe least educated chartist would now have the taste to avoid: yet, as Acts of Parliament and Orders of Council now stand, the whole nation is to address this sort of stuff to our Creator and Redeemer.— Times.