This was the day of Ascot races. The road from Windsor to the course
passes through a couple of miles of the rich quiet scenery which
peculiarly belongs to England. The course itself is a file open
plain, commanding an extensive view. Some rumours, doubting the visit
of the royal party, excited a double interest in the first sight of
the cavalcade, preceded by the royal yeomen, galloping up to the
stand. They were received with shouts. The Emperor, the King of
Saxony, and Prince Albert, were in the leading carriage. They were
attired simply as private gentlemen, in blue frock-coats. The Duke of
Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, and the household, followed in the royal
carriages. The view of the Stand at this period was striking, and the
royal and noble personages were repeatedly cheered. An announcement
was conveyed to the people, that the Emperor had determined to give
L.500 a-year to the course. The Czarewitch had already given L.200 at
Newmarket. The announcement was received with renewed cheering. All
kings are fond of horses; and the monarch of the most numerous and
active cavalry in the world, may be allowed to be a connoisseur in
their strength, swiftness, and perseverance, by a superior right. The
Emperor can call out 80,000 Cossacks at a sound of his trumpet. He
exhibited an evident interest in the races. The horses were saddled
before the race in front of the grand stand, and brought up to it
after the race, for the purpose of weighing the jockeys. He had a
full opportunity of inspection; but not content with this, when the
winner of the gold vase, the mare Alice Hawthorn, was brought up to
the stand, he descended, and examined this beautiful animal with the
closeness and critical eye of a judge.
On Wednesday, the pageant in which emperors most delight was
exhibited--a review of the royal guards. There are so few troops in
England, as the Prince de Joinville has "the happiness" to observe,
that a review on the continental scale of tens of thousands, is out
of the question. Yet, to the eye which can discern the excellence of
soldiership, and the completeness of soldierly equipment, the few in
line before the Emperor on this day, were enough to gratify the
intelligent eye which this active monarch turns upon every thing. The
infantry were--the second battalion of the grenadier guards, the
second battalion of the Coldstream guards, the second battalion of
the fusilier guards, and the forty-seventh regiment. The cavalry
were--two troops of the royal horse guards, (blue,) the first
regiment of the life guards, and the seventeenth lancers. The
artillery were--detachments of the royal horse artillery, and the
field artillery.
A vast multitude from London by the trains, and from the adjoining
country, formed a line parallel to the troops; and nothing could
exceed the universal animation and cheering when the Emperor, the
King of Saxony, and the numerous and glittering staff, entered the
field, and came down the line.
After the usual salutes, and marching past the centre, where the
royal carriages had taken their stand, the evolutions began. They
were few and simple, but of that order which is most effective in the
field. The formation of the line from the sections; the general
advance of the line; the halt, and a running fire along the whole
front; the breaking up of the line into squares; the squares firing,
then deploying into line, and marching to the rear. The Queen, with
the royal children, left the ground before the firing began, The
review was over at half-past two. The appearance of the troops was
admirable; the manoeuvres were completely successful; and the
fineness of the day gave all the advantages of sun and landscape to
this most brilliant spectacle.
But the most characteristic portion of the display consisted in the
commanding-officers who attended, to give this unusual mark of
respect to the Emperor.
Wellington, the "conqueror of a hundred fights," rode at the head of
the grenadier guards, as their colonel Lord Combermere, general of
the cavalry in the Peninsula, rode at the head of his regiment, the
first life guards. The Marquis of Anglesey, general of the cavalry at
Waterloo, rode at the head of his regiment, the royal horse guards.
Sir George Murray, quartermaster-general in the Peninsula, rode at
the head of the artillery, as master-general of the ordnance. His
royal highness the Duke of Cambridge rode at the head of his
regiment, the Coldstream. His royal highness Prince Albert rode at
the head of his regiment, the Scotch fusiliers. General Sir William
Anson rode at the head of his regiment, the forty-seventh.
Lieutenant-Colonel Quentin rode at the head of the seventeenth
lancers, the colonel of the regiment, Prince George of Cambridge,
being in the Ionian Islands. Thus, three field-marshals, and four
generals, passed in review before the illustrious guests of her
Majesty. The Emperor expressed himself highly gratified; as every eye
accustomed to troops must have been, by the admirable precision of
the movements, and the fine appearance of the men. A striking
instance of the value of railways for military operations, was
connected with this review. The forty-seventh regiment, quartered in
Gosport, was brought to Windsor in the morning, and sent back in the
evening of the review day; the journey, altogether, was about 140
miles! Such are the miracles of machinery in our days. This was
certainly an extraordinary performance, when we recollect that it was
the conveyance of about 700 men; and shows what might be done in case
of any demand for the actual services of the troops. But even this
exploit will be eclipsed within a few days, by the opening of the
direct line from London to Newcastle, which will convey troops, or
any thing, 300 miles in twelve hours. The next step will be to reach
Edinburgh in a day!
The Emperor was observed to pay marked attention to the troops of the
line, the forty-seventh and the lancers; observing, as it is said,
"your household troops are noble fellows; but what I wished
particularly to see, were the troops with which you gained your
victories in India and China." A speech of this kind was worthy of
the sagacity of a man who knew where the true strength of a national
army lies, and who probably, besides, has often had his glance turned
to the dashing services of our soldiery in Asia. The household troops
of every nation are select men, and the most showy which the country
can supply. Thus they are nearly of equal excellence. The infantry of
ours, it is true, have been always "fighting regiments"--the first in
every expedition, and distinguished for the gallantry of their
conduct in every field. The cavalry, though seldomer sent on foreign
service, exhibited pre-eminent bravery in the Peninsula, and their
charges at Waterloo were irresistible. But it is of the marching
regiments that the actual "army" consists, and their character forms
the character of the national arms.
In the evening the Emperor and the King of Saxony dined with her
Majesty at Windsor.