PUBLIC ENTRY INTO MELBOURNE.

Southland Times, Issue 759, 4 December 1867, Page 3

PUBLIC ENTRY INTO MELBOURNE.

The Argus of the 26th statesVictoria has not known in her thirty years' life a brighter day than yesterday. A Eoyal Prince, son of the greatest and noblest Queen that ever sat on the Throne of the British Empire, has landed on our shores, enjoyed our hospitality, and we are proud to know that we have done him honor worthy of ourselves and of the family he represents. At present we know of nothing to mitigate the pride we naturally feel, because our whole community, without exception or omission, has been unanimous and selfdenying in giving as handsome a reception as its numbers and means could afford, Jhe, festivities belonging to pur welcome kpa. mth th% toe* $m if* the 9*B&9 B

i polis woke toJife,-so_dicLthe-people coinr meoce tlio work of celebration. Within ■ a few hours of daybreak the city was i alive with bustle, and as folks came » abroad, the signs of the general feeling ) were manifested more and more. The i smallest token of it all was the fact that the shops and places of business were all i fast closed except where they fronted the [ line of the procession, and were just • opened for gala visitors. Long before ten a.m. the streets were full of passeni gers, and doubtless very many from the country were there to join the townsfolk in their gaiety. And gay indeed everything was. Looking down the vistas of streets was confusing work, bo much was the eye diverted from the perspective by the broad masses of color — chiefly red — on every side. The holiday keeping was withont form, except perhaps at Parliament Houses, where the sudden j summoning of the Legislature to adopt addresses to the Prince, brought together not a few of those who were to take part in the Eoyal reception. Thither went the Q-overnor and suite, and legislators, large and small, eager to get through the formal business, and be in time for the landing at Sandridge. By eleven a.m. there was a general streaming towards the various points of view, and we will not further particularise the thousands and tens of thousands of people, all in holliday dress, pressing to their places, and animated by the universal sentiment. The Prince was to land at Sandridge, and great was the flutter of the little port and her few thousand inhabitants. Exuberant loyalty displayed itself in groves of evergreens, and flags enough to stock a fleet. Besides these there were stands private and public, erected for spectators, and each house seemed to vie with the other in its display. But all eyes and thoughts were turned to the pier, where the disembarkation was to take phece. It was at this, the first centering point of the general attention, that there became visible the first fruits of the forethought and preparation of the officials, and to the police be the chief praise. At the railway station trains came and went without crowding or hindrance. Along the pier they might, if chose, have been loading and unloading, as on ordinary days ; but the space kept sacred for the Royal landing was clear, and reserved only for those whose position entitled them to that consideration. A guard of honor of the 14th Kegiment formed the two sides of an avenue along the space from the landing-stairs to where the carriages were in waiting, and the planked floor was covered with light brown canvass. Bound the stairs were the notable ones of the colony, members of Parliament, judges, foreign consuls, leading officials, and minsters of religion, and distinguished colonists. Down the railway and town piers, the crowded vessels alongside showed their colors, and looked gay ; seward the ships at anchor were ornamented with bunting of all colors : and near at hand was the Victoria as fresh as paint, and looking every inch tbe serviceable little war-sloop she is, her yards manned, and her stock of bunting prodigally displayed. In the distance lay the Glaatea, her huge proportions splendidly prominent, and an almost countless number of small crafts and steamers surrounding her like a cloud. At a few minutes before twelve it ■ could be seen through a good glass that the Prince was leaving his vessel. Her yards were manned, her colours were flying, and a flash from her port side announced that the disembarkation had begun. Quick and prompt was the reply from the Victoria, and the answering salutes were fired gun for gun. For awhile the Royal vessel was lost to sight in the smoke of her firing, and when it cleared the Prince's barge, carrying the Royal standard in her bow, and accompanying boats were seen in full course for the shore. The landing was as simple as might be. The crowd round and about hardly raised their voice as they saw a young gentleman, in morning costume, walk up the steps. A second glance realised matters, and the air pealed with the cheering. The Prince was very quietly dressed, and after being received by the Governor, walked up the pier to the carriages, members of the Government and Reception Commission, members of Parliament, and military and naval officers following. Every step he took was a signal for fresh cheers, and his was a Royal progress indeed. At the shore end of the pier he was met by the Sandrige Borough Council, the mayor (Councillor Morley) in a furred robe, and the town clerk also gowned. They presented their address, expressive of a hope that in the scene around him the Prince would see a thousand evidences of our enterprise and prosperity. His reply was simple, and, if the cheering which followed the breathless silence accompanied his speech may be taken as a criterion, it was highly effective too. He then moved to the carriages. A guard of honor, composed of members of the Sandridge Naval Brigade, then presented arms. The Prince stepped into his coach-and-four, followed by his Excellency the Governor, Major- General Chute, and Mr Eliot Yorke, the Royal equerry. An escort of the Volunteer cavalry formed round the R.oyal equipage, the carriages of those forming the procession joined in, and the whole set out on their journey amid sounding cheers, the bands playing the National Anthem, and the multitude waving hats innumerable. The start thus effected, everything seemed to go on triumphantly. In Baystreet the procession passed beneath a modest arch of evergreens, bearing the devices ""Welcome to Prince Alfred," and " Sandridge Greets our Naval Prince." As it advanced so did the crowd increase, and there was not a foot of the way that was not ornamented to do honor to the visitor. The only vacant spaces were the empty grand stands, and their failure must be taken, as a lesson. By the time the cortege turned off beside fountain lan, there, were fully 10,000 people in %a praeesfuon, m& &© gsssral

enthusiasm seemed never to abate in the smallest. The approach to Emerald-hill furnished a fine spectacle. The mayor and borough council awaited the Prince beneath a handsome canopy, and as his carriage pulled up opposite, the address of the borough was read out, and a suitable reply made. At this point the friendly societies, drawn vp r in tremendously long array, took their places in front of the pro-; cession in the following order : —