220 
THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 
[Aprit 1, 
terbury, attended by his chaplain. At twelve o’clock the 
Queen and Prince Albert entered the royal closet, accom- 
panied by her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent. In 
attendance were the Duchess of Buccleuch and the ladies 
in waiting; the Lord Steward, the Lord Chamberlain, 
and other members of the Household. The pews in the 
side aisles of the chapel were filled with company, con- 
sisting of the lords and ladies in waiting, and the ladies of 
the principal officers of the household. Among those 
present were the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk, the 
Countess Delawarr, the Earl of Lincoln, and Mr. Blore, 
the architect. The seats in the centre aisle of the chapel 
were appropriated to the household. On her Majesty’s 
arrival, the Archbishop of Canterbury, attended by his 
chaplain, proceeded to the communion table, where her 
Majesty’s warrant was presented, commanding him to 
consecrate the chapel. His Grace received the warrant, 
and directed the registrar, Mr. Dyke, to read it; and the 
same having been read, his Grace declared that he was 
ready to consecrate the chapel. The Archbishop then 
proceeded to the consecration and dedication, and walked 
in procession, proceeded by Mr. Lingard, sergeant of the 
Chapel Royal, down the middle aisle, and returned up the 
same to the communion table, attended by his officers, the 
Right Hon. Dr. Nicholl, vicar-general, the Bishop of Lon- 
don, the Bishop of Norwich, clerk of the closet, the Rev. 
Dr. Hodgson, Dean of Carlisle, and the Rev. Dr. Sleath, 
sub-dean. ‘The chapel is erected on the site of one of the 
conservatories. The interior has a very light and elegant 
appearance ; the side aisles are divided from the centre by 
two rows of fluted composite columns, supporting a painted 
ceiling divided into compartments, and ornamented in 
stucco. It is lighted by windows at the sides, finished 
with architraves, and surmounted’ by pediments. The 
Queen’s closet is elevated on Doric columns across the 
west end of the chapel; the altar fronts the royal closet 
at the opposite end. The communion table had a cover- 
ing of crimson velvet embroidered with gold; the back of 
the altar, the seats, and the cushions, were likewise of the 
same materials. The front of the Queen’s closet, the 
pulpit, and the reading-desk, were also covered with 
crimson velvet edged with bullion fringe and bordered 
with gold lace. The royal closet is lighted by a number 
of small circular-headed windows, and corresponding win- 
dows are also introduced at the other end of the chapel, 
over the altar. The pews in the side aisles, occupied by 
the lords and ladies of the household, and the seats in the 
middle aisle, are covered with crimson. After the cere- 
mony, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of Lon- 
don and Norwich, and the clergy, and the ladies and gen- 
tlemen of the household present at the consecration, par- 
took of a dejewné at the palace. On Sunday morning her 
Majesty and Prince Albert, the officers of the household 
and their ladies, attended divine service in the Chapel. 
The Bishop of London preached the sermon, taking his 
text from Psalm exxii., verse 1. 
Her Majesiy’s Levee.—His Royal Highness Prince 
Albert held a levee, on behalf of her Majesty, on Wednes- 
day afternoon, at St, James’s Palace. His Royal Highness 
and suite arrived from Buckingham Palace shortly before 
two o’clock. The levee was the first this season, and 
was numerously attended. Several presentations took 
lace in the foreign diplomatic circle, and at the general 
levee. The Prince was attended by the principal officers 
of his household, and by several members of her Majesty’s 
suite. 
Opening of the Thames Tunnel.—The ceremony of 
opening the Tunnel to the public took place on Saturday 
last. The ‘rendezvous was the Rotherhithe shaft on the 
Surrey side of the river, where two marquees had been 
erected, one for the accommodation of the directors and 
proprietors with their friends, and the other for the recep- 
tion of visitors. The hoisting of flags and the ringing of 
bells naturally drew a great crowd of idlers to the spot at 
an early hour of the day, but it was not until 4 o’clock in 
the afternoon that the ceremony commenced. The pro- 
cession started from the marquee down the staircase in the 
following order: First came the band of the Fusilier Guards, 
and persons carrying various flags and banners, the clerks, 
engineers, directors, and other officers, and, lastly, the 
visitors, an immense number of persons, including 
ladies. The route taken was along the western archway 
of the tunnel; on arriving at the shaft at Wapping, that 
was ascended and paraded, and then the procession re- 
turned by the eastern archway to Rotherhithe. The 
watermen hoisted a black flag at the Tunnel-pier to indi- 
cate their feelings upon the occasion, considering that by 
the tunnel the ‘‘ Redriffe Ferry,” and consequently their 
interests, have been undermined. Among the visitors 
present at the ceremony were the Earl of Lincoln, Lord 
Dudley Stuart, Sir R. Inglis, Sir E. Codrington, Sir W. 
Clay, the Hon. Mr. Byng, the Lord Mayor, Mr. Hume, 
M.P., Mr. Roebuck, M.P., Mr. Hawes, M.P., Mr. War- 
burton, Mr.jRennie, Mr. Babbage, Dr. Wollaston, Mr. 
Faraday, Mr. Maudslay, Mr. Field, and other scientific 
ersons. In the evening the directors entertained their 
friends at the London ‘Tavern, and upwards of 100 guests 
sat down to dinner. Mr. Hawes, chairman of the direc- 
tors, in the chair.—The number of persons who visited 
the tunnel from six o’clock on Saturday night to six 
o’clock on Sunday night, amounted to about 30,000. The 
admission money being a penny each, the sum thus 
realised would be about 125/. On Sunday, the vicinity 
of the tunnel was immensely thronged, and many were 
disappointed in obtaining admission into it. Several who 
were on the Middlesex side proceeded by boats to the 
Surrey side of the Thames, in the hopes of approaching 
the entrance, but with no better success, as on each side 
the crowds were almost equally numerous. In the course 
of the day, in order to prevent confusion, a body of police 
attended. On Monday the access to the tunnel was much 
more easy, and the numbers admitted were about 450 
an hour. 
Metropolitan Improvements.—In the House of Com- 
mons on Monday, on the vote of £140,000 as the ex- 
penses of the works of the new Houses of Parliament, Dr. 
Bowring wished to know whether any determination had 
been come to by the Commissioners as to the internal 
a i of the house: hether fresco painting were 
intended to be adopted or not? Sir R, Peel replied that 
the Commissioners had not come to any decision as to 
the internal decoration. They had invited designs, which 
would be exhibited in Westminster-hall in May or June 
next, and the decision of the Commissioners was sus- 
pended until that exhibition had taken place. Mr. Hume 
said that it now appeared that the new houses, the ex- 
pense of which was estimated at £770,000, would cost 
£1,016,000. It was plain that one of the Commissioners 
was right in saying of these new buildings that “ they would 
look well on paper, but were not fitfor use.’’ For half the 
money they might have had a dry, good building, instead 
of being buried underground. For his part, all the satis- 
faction he now had was to complain.—On the vote of 
£12,000 for the improvements in Trafalgar-square, Mr. 
Cochrane said he understood it had been determined to 
reduce the height of the Nelson column in consequence 
of the insufficiency of funds to carry out the original de- 
sign ; under these circumstances, he suggested that a por- 
tion of the sum now proposed to be voted should be ap- 
propriated to the completion of the pillar, The Earl of 
Lincoln explained that the height of the pillar had been 
reduced, not on account of any inadequacy of funds, but 
on grounds connected with public safety. In regard to 
the river navigation, Mr. Gladstone, in answer to Dr. 
Bowring, said that the subject of the necessity of adopt- 
ing some regulations to prevent the overloading of steam- 
ers on the Thames was worthy of attention, and he would 
direct the attention of a committee to it which is now 
sitting on a collateral subject. In reference to the roads 
of the metropolis, Sir James Graham replied to Lord 
Ingestre, that the Government had no measure in con- 
templation for the better lighting of the metropolitan 
roads. For some observations on Richmond Park, we 
must refer our readers to our Parliamentary summary. 
Street Sweeping.—The first exhibition in the metro- 
polis of the self-loading cart, or street-sweeping machine, 
which has for some time been in use in Manchester, took 
place last week on the wood-pavement in Regent-street, and 
attracted during the day crowds of persons to view its 
novel apparatus. The machine has been brought up from 
Manchester under an with the C issi 
American colonies. The sales of land by the Company 
for 1842. produced 66,2702. currency, of which 37,477 
acres of Crown reserves, at the average of 12s, 11d. per 
acre, and 28,127 acres of Huron tract, at the average of 
lls. 7d. per acre, gave 40,4300. currency. The remainder 
of this sum was for the sale of town-lots in Guelph and 
in the Huron tract, in addition to sales on annual rents 
for twelve years, on the new system above alluded to. 
The British Colonies—A memorial has been got up 
within the past week, addressed to Sir R. Peel, as the 
head of her Majesty’s Government, by the shipowners, 
merchants, bankers, and others, of the City of London, 
calling upon him to propose some extended scheme of 
systematic colonisation. So great is the interest it has 
excited in the City, that it had, up to five o’clock on Wed- 
nesday evening, upwards of 1200 names appended ; which, 
with the prayer, stretched over 13 skins of parchment in 
double columns. It is understood that it will be pre- 
sented to the Premier upon the earliest convenient day. 
Anti-Corn-Law League.—The third weekly meeting of 
the League was held on Wednesday night in Drury-lane 
theatre, when the house was, as on the two former occa- 
sions, overcrowded in every part. Mr. G. Wilson took 
the chair, and commenced the business of the meeting by 
offering the apology of the council to those parties who had 
experienced a difficulty in procuring admission to the the- 
atre. The applications were so numerous, that the coun- 
cil felt that had‘the theatre been twice its size, they would 
still have been unable to supply all those who had requested 
tickets of admission. The first speaker of the evening 
was Mr. James Wilson, of London, who was followed at 
considerable length by Mr. W. J. Fox, Mr. T. Gisborne, 
and Mr. Cobden. 
Public Meetings.—On Tuesday a meeting of the watch 
and clock makers of the Metropolis took place at the 
Crown and Anchor, ‘‘ To take into consideration the best 
means to be adopted with reference to a bill before Par- 
liament, called The British Watchmakers’ Company.” 
There were nearly 2,000 persons present. Mr. Watson, 
of King-street, Cheapside, was called to the chair, who 
opened the business of the evening by alluding at great 
length to the several companies in France and other 
places, which had been got up under the superintendence 
of Mr. Ingold, and who was to be the head of the new 
company, which, in his opinion, was one of the many 
bubble ones almost daily coming before the public. A 
committee of their trade had wished to see the machinery 
of the company, but that request had been refused; the 
only answer they could obtain was, that the new company 
intended to begin and finish a watch in one hour. Several 
of Woods and Forests, and under whose auspices the ex- 
periment was' made. The cart is drawn by two horses 
and attended by a driver, and as it proceeds it causes the 
rotatory motion of the wheels to raise the loose soil from 
the surface of the wood, and deposit it in a vehicle 
attached to the cart. Proceeding at a moderate rate 
through Regent-street, the cart left behind it a well-swept 
tract which formed a striking contrast with the adjacent 
ground. It filled itself in the space of six minutes, its 
power being equal to that of 40 men, and its operation 
being of a threefold nature, that of sweeping, loading,’ 
and carrying at the same time; which under the old 
process formed three distinct operations. 
Female Orphan Asylum.—On Thursday a special ge- 
neral court of the guardians of this Asylum was held at 
the institution in the Westminster-road, for the purpose 
of electing a morning preacher, in the room of the late 
Mr. Goode. There were originally 11 candidates for the 
appointment, but the contest was between the Rev. C. E. 
Wylde, of Trinity-chapel, Lambeth, and the Rev. W. 
Jowett, of Stockwell-chapel. At the close of the poll the 
numbers were—for the Rev. Mr. Wylde, 373; Mr. 
Jowett, 328 ; majority, 45. The close of the poll having 
been announced by the chairman, Mr. John Curling pro- 
tested against the election generally on the ground of the 
unfair conduct of the committee in issuing an advertise- 
ment a few days before the meeting recommending Mr. 
Wylde, and also because the election was void, on account 
of unqualified votes having been received; he also stated 
that the proceedings would be laid before the Bishop of 
Winchester on an appeal to his decision. 
Bethlehem , Hospital.—A warrant was issued from the 
Home-office a few days since, under the seal of the Secre- 
tary of State, directing the governor of the Compter to 
remove monomaniac James Stevenson to this hospital, to 
be confined during her Majesty’s pleasure. 
Seamen’s Hospital.—The friends and supporters of 
this benevolent institution assembled on Wednesday in 
large numbers at the London Tavern to celebrate the 22d 
anniversary of its foundation. The Hon. Sydney Her- 
bert, Secretary to the Admiralty, presided, supported by 
a great number of naval officers. The donations an- 
nounced after the dinner amounted to upwards of 1,000/. 
The number of patients admitted during! the past year 
amounted to 2,737; and relief, medicine, and advice had 
been given to 1,982 out-patients, making 62,608 seamen of 
all nations since the foundation of the asylum. 
Canada Company.—The annual meeting of the Ca- 
nada Company took place on Wednesday. From the re- 
port of the Directors, it appears that satisfactory pro- 
gress is making in the sales of land under the new prin- 
ciple of allowing emigrants to pay by annual instalments, 
thereby affording them longer credit, and enabling per- 
sons of small means to acquire property by the exercise of 
their own industry. So well has this principle auswered 
in the sales of tracts in the Huron district, that the 
Directors have determined on throwing open the greater 
portion of their Crown reserves upon similar conditions in 
order to expedite ;prosperous settlements in the North 
having addressed the meeting at great length, 
it was resolved to petition Parliament against the bill. 
This is now unnecessary, as the bill was thrown out last 
night in the House of Commons. 
Mortality of the Metropolis.—The following is the 
number of deaths registered inthe week ending Satur- 
day, Mar. 18 :—West districts, 148 ; North districts, 214 
Central districts, 184; East districts, 225; South dis- 
tricts, 224, Total, 995, (529 males, 466 females.) 
Weekly average for the last five years, 903, (males 461, 
females 442,) and for the last five winters, 1004, 
Provincial Wes. 
Incendiary Fires.—We regret to observe that several 
incendiary fires have been again reported, although all 
the parties convicted at the late assizes have been sen- 
tenced to the full term of transportation. On Tuesday, 
notice was issued from the Secretary of State’s Office, 
stating that on the night of the 7th inst., a cottage at 
Thornhill, Wilts, to which two other cottages adjoined, 
was maliciously set on fire by inserting combustible mate- 
rials in the thatch of the building. Government offer a 
reward of 100/., and the union and parish-oflicers a fur- 
ther reward of 50/., for the discovery of the incendiaries ; 
and a promise of her Majesty’s pardon is held out to any 
one concerned (except the person who actually set fire to 
the premises) for such evidence as may lead to the same 
result. Another reward of 1002. was also offered on 
Tuesday for the discovery of incendiaries who, on the 
23d inst., set fire to the lambing-sheds at Merly-farm, 
Wimborn, Dorsetshire. The seventh case of arson since 
harvest, in the parish of West-Bergholt, near Colchester, 
occurred on Saturday night, the ]8th inst., on the farm 
of the late Mr. Bradbrook. A cart-lodge near the house 
was discovered to be on fire, but fortunately in sufli- 
cient time to prevent extensive damage. It is mentioned 
that almost every fire in Essex has taken place on @ 
Saturday night. 
Aberystwith.—A public meeting was held in the town- 
hall of this place last week, for the purpose of conveying 
to the Duke of Newcastle the general regret consequent 
upon his determination to part with the Hafod estate, and 
thereby dissolve his connexion with the principality. An 
address expressive of this feeling was unanimously carried. 
Bath.—On Saturday morning this city was in a state 
of alarming riot, in consequence of the acquittal of a mat 
called Parsons, lately tried on the charge of having killed 
his wife in this -city. On his arriving after the trial, he 
was followed by the execrations of the populace, in nuo- 
ber about 2,000, to his house, whence he was forcibly 
dragged out, and nearly killed, before the police could 
succeed in extricating him, The ringleaders in this 
imitation of Lynch law are in custody. 
Brighton.—The process of boring the Artesian well for 
fresh water under the sea is still in operation at the outer 
head of the Chain-pier. The workmen have reached # 
depth of about 100 feet, but have not yet accomplished 
the desired object. A small quantity of water has bee? 
obtained,-but ,it is said: to be rather brackish.—A melane 
