A PRESENT TO H.R.U. THE PRINCESS OF WALES FROM NEW ZEALAND.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 79, 7 August 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

A PRESENT TO H.R.U. THE PRINCESS OF WALES FROM NEW ZEALAND.

(From the Otago Daily Times.) -j Nothing could be happier or more grace- i ful then the idea of sending to the Princess $ of Wales from the distant colonies of the Crown, Bridal Gifts, in celebration of the" ; auspicious event by which sbo has become the adopted daughter of England. Mayor3 ■ and Corporations have laid their offerings ■it her feet. The women of Great Britain have done her womanly homage by a thousand costly presents, eloquent of thegeira- ; ine true-hearted affection of matrons and maidens. But to this "daughter of Sea | Kings from over the sea," it is becoming I that tribute should be offered from the dis- J tant and scattered oul -posts of the vastest | maritime empire the world has ever seen. \ England has won, what many will hold i to be her proudest reputation, on the same 11 el im^nt on which the old Norse Kings be- | came famous. There has been much akin between the two peoples : the same spirit of adventure, the same Jove of the great ocean, the same hardy defiance of its danger. The Princess Alexandria has descent which should inspire her to a better appreciation of the greatness of the country in which she is destined to occupy so proud a place, from the evidences that meet n?r of its wide spread maritime supremacy than even from the crowds that greeted her arrival in London, or the tokens of magnificence by which she is surrounded. And as gifls reach her from one or another of loyat and loving colonies of the Antipodes, at an interval of months from the day of her marriage with the heir of England, they will have a significance that cannot fail to impress a sensitive mind. Nor will the effect be lost upon otlieTs. Over long ranges of ocean, from the busy, money-making, liberty loving and free communities which HourLsh at the far ends of the earth, will come the*e tokens of devoted attsc'iment to the throne — of personal affection to the Koyal family — of proud association with the old land, and of joyous sympathy h ith all that moves its people's hearts with gladness. Most of the neighboring colonies have emulated the example ?et in Ensilgnd, of forwarding Bridal presents to the Princess ; presents, : which for the reasons we have alleged, have a ppculiar grace and value as coming 1 from " over the sea.'*.. Ijjvyo.uW be a matter of deep regret i£ New Zealand, and espeeiaJJy Otago — ihe golden Piovince of New Zealand — should fat! to do Us part well in ibis work of tribute. The Committee have, we presume, been active in gathering subscriptions to send borne a suitable gift of sufficient value to be worthy of Alexandra's acceptance and preservation as a souvenir: A masonic ball, projected with the combined object of commemmorating the marriage of the Prince of Wales and augmenting the funds of the Freemasons' Orphan School, came off on April 28 in the Rotunda, Dublin, and was one of the most succej>sful and splendid festivals ever held in that city. The assembly numbered 1900 persons, including some of the highest distinction, from all parts of the country. The Cork Reporter says that precedence of Ireland over Scotland has been claimed and granted long ago. Ifc was claimed byLord Charlemont for the peers and peeresses of Ireland at the coronation of George JIJ., and conceded by the authority of the Earl Marshal. It is an acknowledged right, and will remain so, not withstanding 1 the oppos s-ifion of these " fook'sh bailie bodies" i'lo'ni 1 Edinburgh. : - _■' " ■ /