There are few who do not know the history, and have not rejoiced in the success of the People's Palace for East London. The magnificent spectacle when the Queen went in state, on the 14th of May, 1887, to open "The Queen's Hall" at the Palace, will long be remembered by the multitudes who witnessed the ceremony, or who saw the Royal progress through the crowded streets.
The foundation stone had been laid, with almost equal pomp, and amidst as great popular enthusiasm, by the Prince and Princess of Wales on the 28th of June in the previous year. On that occasion nearly 10,000 people were assembled within the space set apart for the ceremony, including 1000 delegates from the various trade, friendly, and temperance societies in East London, with 2000 or 3000 school-children.
The Lord Mayor in his robes of office, and attended by the officers and many members of the Corporation, and a vast number of distinguished persons—among whom were the Chief Rabbi, Dr. Adler, the Bishop of Bedford, and many of the Clergy of the neighbouring districts, Cardinal Manning, and Mr. Walter Besant—awaited the arrival of the Royal visitors. This was announced by a salute by the guard of honour of the Tower Hamlets Engineers and the 24th Middlesex Volunteers. They were received by Sir Edmund Hay Currie and the Beaumont Trustees, the Master and Wardens of the Drapers' Company, and delegates from various Committees. From the old and well-known "Beaumont Trust," and the munificent donations of the Drapers' Company, supplemented by public contributions, the large funds necessary for the People's Palace had been derived.
The ceremony began by the Archbishop of Canterbury offering a special prayer, followed by the Lord's Prayer, and the singing of the Old Hundredth Psalm. Sir E. H. Currie, Chairman of the Committee, then read and presented an address, to which the Prince replied as follows:—
"Sir Edmund Hay Currie and Gentlemen,—I thank you, on behalf of the Princess of Wales and myself, for your address, and I can assure you that we heartily rejoice that an opportunity has been afforded us of again visiting this important district of the Metropolis. We thoroughly appreciate the endeavour of the trustees to promote a scheme which, from the comprehensiveness and liberality of its scope, should not fail to prove advantageous to the population of the near neighbourhood in which the Palace is to be erected, and to the inhabitants of the Metropolis at large. We do not doubt that the opportunities for healthy recreation so essential in a population that is comprised mainly of artisans and mechanics and their families will be promptly and properly appreciated by those for whom the People's Palace had been provided. The facilities which will be afforded for continuous education of all kinds will, we are convinced, materially tend to still further develop and perfect the various handicrafts of this neighbourhood, and should therefore prove of the greatest importance, not only to the inhabitants of East London, but to the nation at large, and should enable Englishmen to continue to maintain in the future, as they have in the past, that supremacy in the arts of peace at home which, among civilized nations, must be the invariable and necessary accompaniment of power and prosperity abroad. We congratulate the trustees upon the success which has already attended their efforts in having secured £75,000 of the £100,000 required, and we sincerely trust that the munificent donations of the Drapers' Company, Mr. Dyer Edwardes, Lord Rosebery, and the Duke of Westminster will influence others to follow so excellent an example. The 'Queen's Hall,' of which I am about to lay the first stone, will, I understand from the architect, Mr. Robson, be capable of accommodating more than 3000 persons, and will be so constructed as to serve the purpose of a winter garden, affording a resort for social intercourse and entertainment at a period of the year when the summer garden will not be available. We humbly join in the prayer of the Archbishop of Canterbury that God's blessing may rest upon this great work, and that, in the years to come, benefits both material and moral will result to the thousands who, we trust, will not fail to avail themselves of the facilities which the scheme will afford."
The stone was then laid with the usual ceremonies, the Prince's declaration that it was "well and truly" laid being received with general cheers. The proceedings were concluded with the benediction, pronounced by the Archbishop.
Long before the time of the People's Palace, visits to the East of London had not unfrequently been made by members of the Royal Family. On the 24th of June, 1880, the Prince and Princess of Wales, accompanied by their sons, Prince Albert Victor and Prince George, went to open a Recreation Ground in Whitechapel, for the benefit of the people of that parish, and of Bethnal Green, Spitalfields, and other adjacent districts. The ground, above an acre in extent, had formerly been a burial-ground of the Society of Friends, some of the members of which had contributed towards its being laid out as a pleasure-garden. The Rev. J. F. Kitto and the Rev. S. A. Barnett, whose names have long been associated with good deeds in East London, hoped that the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales that day would give new impetus to the movement for obtaining open spaces in crowded parts of the Metropolis. The Prince expressed his gratification at being present, and said he was desired by the Princess to say that she declared the Recreation Ground now open.
SALE OF SHORTHORNS AND SOUTHDOWNS AT SANDRINGHAM.
July 15th, 1886.
To be "President of the Royal Agricultural Society of England" is an honour which the Prince of Wales gained not merely from his high position, but from his genuine love and practical knowledge of agriculture. Old King George III. was proud to be known as "Farmer George," but his great-grandson, the "Norfolk farmer," knows vastly more about the subject, and turns his knowledge to more profitable account. This was shown at the great sale of Shorthorn cattle and Southdown sheep which the Prince held at Sandringham, at the time of the Royal Agricultural Show at Norwich, in July 1886.