THE MANCHESTER EXHIBITION.
May 3rd, 1887.
The great Exhibition at Manchester during the Queen's Jubilee year is too recent an event to need any remark prefatory to the statement that it was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales on the 3rd of May, 1887. Their Royal Highnesses, who were guests at Tatton Hall, drove with Lord Egerton through the park to Knutsford, where they stopped to witness the crowning of the May Queen, and other old English May Day customs which have been revived in that quaint little town. The Prince gave the permission asked by the Committee to add the title of Royal to the Knutsford May Day Sports. They then travelled in a saloon carriage to Manchester, accompanied by Lady Sefton and Lord Egerton.
On arriving at the Town Hall an address was presented, to which the Prince read the following reply:—
"It gives me sincere pleasure to be permitted on behalf of the Queen, my dear mother, to visit the city of Manchester for the purpose of opening the extensive and interesting Exhibition which the inhabitants of Manchester have organized with such admirable zeal and energy, particularly as it is associated with your congratulations on Her Majesty's attaining the fiftieth year of her reign. In her name I thank you for your loyal and dutiful address. It has been a source of much gratification to the Queen to receive assurance of unfaltering attachment to her throne and person from all parts of the Empire on the occasion. The Princess of Wales and I desire to express our admiration of the noble building which you have provided for the conduct of your municipal affairs, and we think it worthy of the vast wealth and importance of the city of Manchester. It gives us great satisfaction to be able to promote and encourage all charitable works and institutions designed for the social and educational improvement of the community. We thank you for your good wishes for the welfare of ourselves and our children, and we hope that prosperity and happiness may ever attend on the labours of the loyal and industrious inhabitants of this great city."
The route of the procession from the Town Hall to the Exhibition was a very long one, being chosen by the Prince in preference to a shorter one submitted to him, on the ground that he would rather afford pleasure to a larger number of people than see the finer edifices on the shorter route. In the Palm House of the gardens luncheon was served, and then the opening ceremony took place in the nave of the building, in the position known as the Music Room. Mr. Hallé's orchestra was in front of the organ, and the National Anthem was performed with fine effect, the vocal rendering being also given by Madame Albani and the full chorus. The Bishop of Manchester offered prayer, and the choir sang the Old Hundredth Psalm. To the address read by Sir Joseph Lee, the Prince replied:—
"I receive with great satisfaction your address on the opening of this large and instructive Exhibition. On behalf of Her Majesty I declare it open from this day. The illustrations which you have collected on engineering and chemical industry, and the products of manufacture and useful toil, afford ample testimony to the skill and ingenuity and steady perseverance of the inhabitants of this district, and prove how justly they hold a high and an honourable place in the industrial ranks of the Empire. The collection of natural products and manufactures of Ireland, and the gratifying display of English works of art, add much to the interest and value of this Exhibition, in which I recognise a worthy mark of your desire to do honour to an occasion so auspicious as the celebration of the fiftieth year of Her Majesty's reign. The Princess and I desire to thank you heartily for your good wishes on our behalf, and for the cordial welcome which you have given us."
The Prince, in the name of the Queen, declared the Exhibition open. A fanfare of trumpets was then given and a feu de joie fired. The proceedings closed with a procession through the different departments, while the "Lobgesang" or "Hymn of Praise" was rendered by the full orchestra and chorus. At the Exhibition station a special train was waiting to take the Royal party back to Tatton Hall.