LORD MAYOR'S DAY.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 619, 20 March 1852, Page 4

LORD MAYOR'S DAY.

On Monday, the annu.il ceremony of inaugurating the Lov'cl Mayor of the City of London took place with all the pomp and civic parade for which this time-honoured " show" has ever been celebrated. The procession consisted of the usual display of aldermen's carriages ; civic officers, armed cap a pie; standard bearera, trumpeters, mounted squires, &c, and the only novely to be soen was the increased number of knights in armour, with trappings devised for the occasion. These knights were clad in glistening steel, and were mounted (much to the discomfiture to their legs) upon cream-coloured horses from the stud of Mr. Batty. In this formidable array was a troop of knights, three abreast, armed in the accoutrements of the reign of Henry VIIL In the evening the usual inauguration banquet was given in Guildhall, in which covers were laid for about 1,200 guests. The hall was decorated very much in the same style as on the occasion of the Exhibition ball. The Court of Exchequer and its various apartments were laid out as reception and retiring rooms, and the way from thence to the hall was hung with draperies and relieved by mirrors. The hall itself was brilliantly illuminated. From the roof were suspended the magnificent coloured glass chandeliers, which have for some years past been a prominent attraction on similar occasions. At the upper end the Prince of Wales' plume in spun glass, with "Ich dien" surrounded by various flags, several suits of armour, shields, colours, pikes, halberds, and military colours, formed a picturesque and characteristic tableau, the whole vesting upon a crimson base bearing the motto *' God save the Queen." At the opposite end was the illuminated glass star, with the insignia of the garter in coloured glass, grouped in a panel, with shields bearing the arms ot America, France, Prussia, Turkey, Austria, Russia, Belgium, and other foreign states, surmounted by a canopy of crimson. — The banners of the various City companies were suspended from the walls, and the galleries were hung with crimson draperies. On the steps leading to the Council Chambers, and at the several entrances, figures of men in armour were placed. The gothic features of the building, as windows, panels, doors, &c, were marked out by lines of gas jets, which, with the chandeliers from the centre, effected a brilliant illumination. The tables were decorated with a profusion of gold and silver plate, epergnes, and vases filled with fruit and rare flowers. There was also a number of emblematical devices, and at the principal tables was a display of Thompson's patent silvered glass, in a variety of rich colours ; many of the articles being those for which the prize medal was awarded at the Great Exhibition. Contrary to the usual custom, there was no member of the foreign diplomatic body present. The usual loyal toasts havivg been duly honoured, The Lord Mayor proposed the health of Lord John llussell. Lord John Russell said, "My Lord Mayor, I never can visit this great corporation without a deep feeling of respect towards that body which, for so many centuries, has maintained and preserved the confidence and attachment of their fellow-citizens. It is impossible to regard without reverence a corporation which hayS withstood all the shocks of time — which has withstood all the attacks which have been made upon it, whether jby arms under the Plantagenets, _or by judicial tyranny under the Stuarts — and which has in every crisis evinced its attachment to the constitution and the liberties of the country ; and likewise, let me say, which has even in the most perilous times always known how to separate liberty from license ; and which in a person of an early Lord Mayor struck down the disturber of social order. And let me add further, that it is impossible, even with regard to the element of time, not to look with respect on a body which saw the timbers of the roof of Westminster Hall yet fresh, and has survived to behold and encourage the erection of the Crystal Palace. For these reasons, therefore, I look always with feelings of regard and veneration to the City of London and its corporation, and am disposed to say, in the concluding wordsofSirWm.Blackstone,inhis 'Commentaries on the Constitution of England,' Esto perpetita. And now my Lord Mayor, ladies, and gentlemen, I would say afew words — and they shall be but a few words — as to what I conceive should be the main object of the policy of this country at the present time. I believe that main object should be peace. My opinion is that there is nothing in the present aspect of affairs which should induce this country to depart a single hair's breadth from the pacific line it has adopted ; and that, not only for its own welfare, hut for the welfare of the world, the maintenance and the inculcation of peace is the duty, the interest, and the policy of this empire. And let me add that I trust the Exhibition we have seen in the present year, bringing, as it has done, various nations together, will nave done much to dissipate a fallacy, which had at one time great prevalence — that it was the interest and the wish of England to embroil other nations and provoke dissensions among them. I think all nations will now be convinced that, supposing we had no regard for what is our duty — supposing we were not animated by sentiments of humanity and benevolence — yet that it is our interest as a nation to see other countries prosper, and that in their prosperity and their advancement in wealth and civilization we find the source of our own wealth and our own prosperity. I would, therefore, even on the score ot interest, say, that while we maintain peace, we are most anxious that all other nations should make advances in material prosperity — that we may all flourish and all advance together, convinced that the more they advance and flourish, the more happy and prosperous shall we be, and the more likely to continue with them in relations of peace and concord." The toast was drunk with three times three. " The House of Lords, coupled with the health of the Marquis of Salisbury," " Her Majesty's Judges," " The Sheriffs of London and Middlesex," " The Attorney and Solicitor Generals and Bar of England," " The alderman of the City of London," and " The Recorder," were the remaining toasts, which being given, the whole of the company adjourned to the withdrawing rooms. — London paper.