they had left waiting at the stations. It was said that there never
was such a gathering in one place since the independence of the
States. The arrangements of the pageant were made by the committee of
the city; but the audience, or public, arranged themselves, and never
was there anything better done. Along the whole line of streets, about
three miles in length, the goods had been removed from the
shop-windows, and their places filled with ladies. Every window that
commanded a view was appropriated to females and children, who were
likewise in many cases on the tops of the houses. Men occupied the
pavement to the kerbstone. The roadway was kept by deputy-marshals,
who rode up and down, in black dress suits, cocked, open hats, and
white sashes; and in this vast assemblage their every request was
immediately attended to. At the end of every street, carriages of all
descriptions were placed, filled with people. As an instance of the
courtesy of the spectators, my wife had handed our Little Red
Ridinghood to some gentleman on the top of an omnibus, who very kindly
held her up to see the show, and took charge of her while Mrs W----
found her way to the window where her place had been kept. If anything
could mark the kindly disposition and good order of the crowd, it was
the fact, that although I should think all the children in the city
were there, not one was hurt, but everybody exerted himself to
accommodate this interesting portion of the community. Across the
streets, and at all available points, the stars and stripes waved
proudly in the air, and altogether the scene was most beautiful and
imposing. I walked the whole length of the route before the procession
moved, and the _coup d'oeil_ was perfect. The military portion looked
remarkably well; but when the open carriage appeared in which rode
Lord Elgin and his friends, the representative of Great Britain was
greeted with such shouts and by such waving of handkerchiefs from the
windows by crowds of elegantly dressed females, as I am sure his