IMPERIAL INSTITUTE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4671, 19 June 1893, Page 2

IMPERIAL INSTITUTE.

— ♦- Impressive Opening Ceremony. [FROM OUR LONDON COEEEBPONDBNT.] London, May 13. When the Executive of the Imperial Institute come to you (as I reckou they will before many months pass by) for funds wherewith to keep this costly experiment going, I trust New Zealanders will remember the manner in which Colonists were ignored in connection with the opening ceremony, and button up their pockets. Let Sir Frederick Abel and Sir Somara Vine appeal to the personal friends and to the smart Londoners and Americans with whom they filled tbe hall on this occasion, and who occupied the places which should should justly have been placed at the disposal of Antipodeans. What in the name of common Bense has America to do with the Imperial Institute P The Yankees never have subscribed, nor ever will subscribe, sixpence towards it. Yet Americans seemed to me to pervade the building on Wednesday. I particularly resented the presence of American Pressmen. According to Sir Somers Vine room could not be found for the representatives of influential Australian and New Zealand syndicates, yet here were the correspondents of single papers in New York, Boston and Chicago in . excellent seats. Yet this forsooth was an Anglo-Colonial occasion. Personally I should have fared badly had I relied on my connection with the Press only on this occasion. In vain did I bombard the great Sir Somers with respectful epistles enlarging on the influence and circulation of the papers I had the honour to represent. For each letter I eventually received a circular (the same circular) announcing that every seat for the opening had been allotted, and an intimation that, by way of balm to my—no doubt — wounded feelings, an invitation (card thirteen inches long by six inohes and a half broad) for the soiree of May 17 was at my disposal. But I did not care a damp about the soiree, which will be a hideous crash (my card is numbered 8016), attended in the main by Fellows and their wives, and I did wish to see Wednesday's function. So I invoked the assistance of Sir Walter Buller, who has the ear of Sir Frederick Abel (the Secretary and supreme head of affaire), and he very kindly promised to do what he could. The prOßpect was not promising. The number of seats set apart for representatives of the Preea from all parts of the world was aixty-two. All but six had been allotted, and for these there were no fewer than 350 applicants. Next day Sir Someia Vine vißited Sir W. Buller and begged him not to preas his .request. The Bis seats had been allotted. Sir Somera personally had passionately desired to provide tbe representatives of the New Zealand Press with one seat at any rate, but oircumstances were too much for him, Would Sir Walter now withdraw hit request. No, Sir Walter would not. On the contrary, he placed it in writing and insisted that one seat for the Press of Neit Zealand was not, even in tbe face of the congested condition of the great hall, ax extravagant demand. On Tuesday afternoon the ticket bad not been granted, and Sir Somers pronounced a seat within the building "absolutely impossible." Sir Walter, however, stuck to his point with characteristic tenacity. "There wbb," he said, "inch a thing as smiling at impossibility, and Baying it shall be done." But Sir Somers couldn't see it. He did not, in fact, want to grant the favour, and complained that giving way would humiliate him in the eyeß of the PreßS. Fortunately, Sir Frederick Abel is " boas" at South Kensington, and he did want to oblige Sir Walter. Ultimately, therefore, the latter triumphed, and four hours before the ceremony I received a pass duly signed, " J. B. Somers Vine." For this I now beg to return Sir Walter Buller my sincere thankß. After all this bother I was nearly not getting to the Institute at all. The police had orders not to pass anyone beyond Knightsbridge without a ticket, and tbe chucklehead in command near Hyde Park House had never heard of "J. E. Somers Vine," and persisted my pass was not a ticket. In vain I reasoned "With him, creating a block for quite five minutes. He would not let me peas. At length in despair I appealed to a rather more intelligent mounted officer, and he advised letting me proceed. " They'll stop him further on if it ain't right," he suggested reasonably. ON THK WAT. The weather was simply glorious on Wednesday. The Bun shone brilliantly in an absolutely cloudless bine sky from an early hour, and as I bowled westward about 10.3 C in an S and I hansom, arrayed in a new hat, an irreproachable frock coat, tau kids and a Chamberlain orchid, I felt no envy of the countless gorgeous beings in levee dress, and scarlet uniforms, trundling in the same direction. Hnssars and lancers lined both sides of Knightsbridge directly we fell into the line of route to be followed by the processions, and behind them patient crowds of sightseers had already collected. At intervals, too, stands had been erected, and r these were filling rapidly. FULL DBBSS. It is not given to every man to look well in a diplomatic uniform and a cocked bat. This great truth the opening of the Imperial Institute has emphatically borne in upon me. To tall, well-built men like Sir E. Fraddon and Mr Perceval, tie uniform is, of course, extremely becoming, and men of medium height such ac Sir John Bray and Sir W. Buller carry it off effectively enough. When, however, a gentleman runß to waist in the manner of — but no, I will not mention nameB — the effect is extremely comical. Obviously a goodly portion of the company had never before worn knee-breeches or wrestled with a sword. WAITING. The great trial cf these Royal functions is the waiting — t c weary, weary waitin*. Wednesday's official programme stated thab no one would ba admitted to the great hall or gallerieß after eleven. loonseqn -nfcly get there shortly before that hour, and so did certain Indian potentates and Colonial ignoramuses. Smart society did not, however, begin to trickle in till a quarter past-, and it wa3 fully the half hour before tie " very best people " managed to find their seats*. Some celetriiies came in uniforms, whi<h only really great men could weer. Lord Salisbury sported the same aged Court suit, braided with tarnished gold, as when I heard him speak at tbe Mansion j House tto years ago. I know it, because now te then coat and breeches refused to meet- All tbe coloured gentlemen were ' coruoeared with jewellery, and what with them, the Chinese Legation, the . Archbishop of Canterbury in full canonicals, wd a few smartly-dressed ladies, the spec;ac'e was moderately impressive. I Somebody coming at last. Alas ! it is ! )nly the Provincial Mayore. (N.B.— What J ire they doing in this gulley ? Wethought t was an Anglo-Colonial ocoaaion.) Nobody tares about them. Their gold chains lotwithatanding, they are probably only mall tradesmen. The Indian Princes laetn more to the point, and the Judges in heir robes receive a round of applause. [ 'Which of them was it lookol up the j Ducbess ?" I hear tbe ladies whisper. ! it a quarter to twelve tho Commissionaires ' emove the vulgar placards with " Block i," &c, on them, and we all assume an air j f having fallen into our places by mere orce of innate good breeding. '

Another prodigious wait. The Archbishop of Canterbury (who i 8 without a Beat) begmß to stand firßt on one leir. th«a ■ 2 fe^?S to 'u W , Ottd6 £l n * whftfc h »» become of Bunjit Singh'a gold throne, which the papers said would be a feature of the occasion. On a little table before the Chair of State is a very modern and scientific looking object, with a highly electrical appearj ance. This, I learn from the programme I is the silver model of the Institute which , Her Majesty will nnlook, simultaneously etbting Mrs Miller's belle pealing. Twelve o'olook and no Princes I la thia Boyal punctuality p The Archbishop gives in and Bits down on a cbair a Commissionaire h»ndß him, Mrs Gladstone fans herself with a programme, chatting to Lord Spencer whilst she does bo. The Duchess o? St Albans surveys the galleries through her lorgnette, and our old esteemed friend the general public commences to look and feel cross. Trumpets at last 1 Thank heaven the Court are coming. Two Heralds walk funereally down the broad ais'e. Gold and silver sticks in waiting, follow, walking backwards. It is not easy to walk backwards, as one j perceives later, but these gentlemen are to the manner born. And here, at last, are the Boyal family ! The heroic " George Banger;" the buxom Princess Mary; the kindly, smiling Princess Christian > the sensible, pleasantlooking Princess Louise j the prematurely bald Duke of Connaught j the still-f etching Duchess of Edinburgh, and her goodlooking husband ; the Duke of York 5 and last, but not least, dainty Princeai May. The Royalties range themselves on the chairs prepared for them, Prince George taking a place behind his betrothed, with whom he chats and laughß a good deal. The audience gaze and silently adore. Suddenly there is a false alarm of the Queen's arrival. The Court springs to its feet. We all follow suit. A moment of waiting, and then the Duchess of Edinburgh laughs and sits down. The Com-mander-in-Chief says something short, and also litß down. Everybody situ dowa, the Duke of York immensely amused. A brief pause, and then a Bound of cheering without, once again brings ub to our Feet. This time there is no mistake. List to the fanfare of trumpets. Enter Heralds, followed by Sir Somers Vine, Sir P. Abel, and the Executive, walking backwards, and doing it very badly. The ezoitement is now at its height. Here she ia indeed. Another fanfare of trumpets. Gold sticks appear in the doorway, and the band strikes up" God Save the Queen," aa, preceded by the Court officials (Lord Carrington looking very handsome leads, 1 or rather backs, the way) with Lord \ Chancellor and Home Secretary close up, comes Victoria, Queen and Empress, Defender of the Faith and Bnler of the 1 British Empire. The Sovereign leans ' heavily on the Prince of Wales as she ! progresaea slowly towards the dais. It is a sight to stir the imagination! I On either Bide of the carpeted avenue, down which walks the ruler of a dominion ' on which the sun never sets, rise tier above 1 tier of the noblest, the most distinguished, the most famouß of England's eons and ; daughters. : What thoughts are in Her Majesty* a 1 mind as the brilliant ranks bend respect--1 fully, even reverently before her, and the • National Anthem thunders in her ears P 1 On reaching the data the Dake of I Edinburgh singles himself out from the 1 bowing and curtseying Royalties, and c asßists brother Wales to hoist their Boyal " mother —an infirm old lady as we can see • now—into the Chair of State. 1 Once seated, Her Majeßty seems, at ease • and puts on a pair of spectacles through • which she surveys the gorgeous gathering. 9 Amid that vast crowd and wealth of | colour, there was surprising distinction ia • the figure clad all in black, and wearing 1 no jewelled decorationß. A cape of pricea less Chantilly lace was about her shoulders, 1 and trimming of the same costly material was over the white of the bonnet, in which the only other ornaments were Bpraye of • finely-cut steel and a grey aigrette. ' I ought perhaps to have explained that : before finally sinking into the cbair of • the State, the Queen rose for a moment in 1 order to acknowledge graciously the ' homage of the magnificent Indian Princeß ' who stood in the front row of the right ' block with bent headß and hands laid on > their hearts. ■ The ceremonial was laudably brief. The ■ Prince of Wales read an address in ' sonorous tones in which the objects of the 1 Institute were vaguely explained and > proper sentiments suitable to the occasion ' enunciated. 1 The Home Secretary then advanced and handed the Queen a reply, which, still seated, she read aloud in wonderfully clear 1 and distinct tones that reached every 1 corner of the building. She gives her thanks for the address which "you, my dear bod, have presented me." She ia pleased to graciously approve of the Institute and all its works, and trusts that ' it will be "a lasting symbol of the loyalty and unity of my Empire." Sir Arthur Sullivan now strikes up hia new march, and the Queen allows herself to relax and emile recognition impartially on Lord Salisbury and Mrs Gladstone (G.O.M. not present). Then the wonderful jewelled key encrusted with precious stones, and composed of gold from Vie* toria and silver from Broken Hills is handed to Her Majesty, who surveys the electrical apparatus into which she must insert it with obvious misgiving. The younger Boyalties titter. A moment's hesitation, and then the Queen hands the key to His Boyal Highnosß. He apparently utilises it efficiently for in an instant Mrs Miller's Australian bells are pealing forth fifty changea from the Tower above üb, and boom ! boom ! boom ! roars the artillery— muffled by distance— in Hyde Park. Then the Archbishop of Canterbury has his little say. "Let us pray," he observes succinctly, end the front row of the Court becomes devotional, whilst the back row stand at ease. Guests generally liang their headß. By the time His Grace has concluded, and Madame Albani sung "God Save the Queen/ as a solo hymn, everyone is rather tired. The Queen rißes brißkly and almost unhelped, and proceeds to cordially Bhake hands with the Indian Princes. The procession then rapidly reforms, Her Majesty leading the way. A wave of bobbing, curtseying and salaaming, and the Court almrst scampers off, and all is over. AFTEBWABDS. All is over ! I wish it had been. Never did I pass a w;ree half-hour than the one which followed Great hall, galleries and passages all vomited fo>th their crowds on the single (fortunately broad) staircase at the same moment. Judges, Ambassador, the Press and the "com--1 moi public" were all jammed together in as bad a crush as I ever desire to experience. After being dug in the ribs by the sharp elbows of Mr Justice Cave, flittened against the wall by an Ambassador's lady, and squeezed into jelly by exalted personages generally, I emerged at last, utterly demoralised and exhaled. Many ladies mu&t, I'm sure, have fainted. The sole individual who literelly forced his './ay through, defying alike people and barriers, was a monster cavalry General, said to be Lord M— — , and weiring wicked Bpurs. These instruments of torture he utilised on poor humanity accidentally with excellent effect, pricking and tearing a passage surprisingly quickly. No one could stand him as a neighbour. " Confound you, sir, you've torn my wife's dress to ribbons !" "D— n it, sir, you're pricking me. Keep your spurs to yourself," were the sort of observations which accompanied the brute's progress. But he got away twenty minutes bofore we did.