THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S VISIT TO NELSON.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 495, 24 April 1869, Page 2

THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S VISIT TO NELSON.

The Nelson papers to hand by the steamers Bruce & Kennedy, teem with the doings and sayings of the Duke to Nelson and Nelson to the Duke. The Examiner states that on Sunday, at twelve o'clock the Galatea anchored a short distance beyond the Lighthouse, and was shortly after visited by his Honour the Superintendent, Sir David Monro, Colonel Richmond, C.8., and A. Greenfield, Esq., members of the Reception Committee, to welcome his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh to Nelson, and learn his wishes respecting the hour of his landing.

On Monday morning the country within twenty miles of Nelson was all astir, aud every suitable vehicle was on the road laden with visitors for town; such a stream as flowed through the toll bar from Waimea until ten o'clock never having passed there before. At about a quarter to ten the Prince stepped from the Galatea on board the Lady Barkly under a royal salute, which was replied to from the guns of the Artillery Volunteers drawn up on the beach ; and as nearly as possible at ten o'clock the Duke accompanied by his Excellency Sir George Bowen, landed on the Government wharf, where he was received by his Honor the Superintendent and other members of the Eeception Committee ; amid the tremendous cheers of several thousand persons and a general salute from the Volunteers. The following was the order of the procession, which proceeded to the Government buildings, leaving H.R.H. at Panama House. Mounted Police. Band. Odd-Bel-lows. Foresters. Fire Brigade. Children. His Honor the Superintendent and Members of the Provincial Executive. Mounted Orderly. Carriage with H.E.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, and His Excellency the Governor. His Royal Highness's and the Governor's Suites. With Police and Mounted Inspectors on each side. Volunteers. Members of the Reception Committee, including His Lordship the Bishop, Mr Justice Richmond, and the Sheriff, in carriages. Honourable Members of Legislative Council. Members of the House of Representatives. Clergymen of Various Denominations. Members of Provincial Council, Justices of the Peace and Government Officers. Officers of Militia and Volunteers not on duty. Native Chiefs. Private Carriages. Horsemen. Pedestrians. In about half-an-hour H.R.H. drove to the Government buildings, where the Superintendent read the following address from the Province.

To His Eoyal Highness Alfred Ernest Albert, Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Edinburgh, KG-., K.T. May it please Tour Royal Highness, — On behalf of the people of this Province, I hasten to make known to your Royal Highness the feelings of great satisfaction and pride with which they regard your visit to their shores. On many grounds the people of Nel- [

son hail your arrival with special pleasure. They see, in the presence among them of a member of the Royal Family, a visible link of connection between themselves and the supreme authority of that great Empire of which they form one of the most distant portions. They are delighted to have an opportunity of according a hearty welcome to a Prince whose high qualities adorn the exalted station which he occupies, and especially to one who gives hi a services to that noble profession to which Great Britain owes her most signal triumphs. But above all they regard your visit as an earnest of the care and affection with which her most gracious Majesty regards her subjects in every part of the G-lobe.

I am sure that I express the universal sentiment, when I assure your Boyal Highness that her Majesty has no more faithful subjects than the people of this Province, and that she rules here, not only by the laws of our Constitution, but by that still wider law which awards a willing and affectionate attachment to one who discharges with the most admirable fidelity every duty, whether public or social. That all good fortune may attend your progress through this Colony, and that your Boyal Highness may enjoy many years of health and comfort, and of honorable service rendered to your Queen and country, is the earnest prayer of the people of Nelson. Signed on behalf of "*] the People of the Province of Nel- ~ ~ son ; in the Colony L Oswald Citbtib, of New Zealand, | Superintendent, this 19th day of April, 1569. J Addresses wei'e also presented by the Bishop, the Odd-Fellows, the Foresters, the Band of Hope, the Pupils of the Nelson College, the Chiefs and people of the native tribes residing in Nelson and Marlborough, to all of which suitable replies were made. The levee was then held, when a large number of gentlemen were presented. After the levee his Boyal Highness returned to Panama House to lunch, and at three o'clock started in a car-riage-and-four for a drive through the Waimeas, accompanied by Sir David Monro. His Excellency the Governor followed in a carriage-and-pair, evidently however not intending to keep pace with the Prince. The whole party returned to Panama House in the evening, where his Honor the Superintendent had invited Mr Justice Richmond, Sir David Monro, Colonel Richmond,and his Lordship theßiahop, to dine with the Prince and his suite.

"While the Prince was enjoying his pleasant drive of nearly thirty miles through a well-cultivated country, not less than 2,500 persons availed themselves of the kind permission given by his Royal Highness to visit his noble ship. From noon to four o'clock five steamers were busily engaged in conveying load after load of visitors on board, until the Galatea became crowded in every part. The ball given in the Provincial Hall was attended by about 350 persons, and the hall presented a brilliant appearance. The first quadrille, Parisicnne, was opened by his Royal Highness and Lady Monro, his Excellency the Governor with Mrs Justice Richmond, Colonel Richmond with Mrs Huddleston, and Sir D. Monro with Mrs A. J. Richmond.

On tho conclusion of supper, his Honor tho Superintendent proposed, after the health of the Queen, the Princo and Princess of Wales, that of the Koyal Guest tho Duke of Edinburgh, to which the Prince made a very appropriate reply, expressing pleasure from his visit to New Zealand, and thanking the people of the colony, and also the profession to which he belonged for the opportunity he had been afforded of making this visit. The toasts which then followed were his Excellency the Governor, and his Honor the Superintendent.