THE NEW CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT
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THE OPENING OF THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT By Percy A. Atherton AS the chief Criminal Court of England, the Old Bailey possessed a long and a remarkable history, but Wednesday the twenty-seventh of February it passed for ever, giving way to the new building of the Central Criminal Court recently erected on the site of Newgate Prison. The opening of this new Court House was made of especial significance by the presence of the King and Queen. The learned Blackstone says in his Commentaries, "The Sovereign is considered in domestic affairs as the fountain of justice and general con servator of the peace of the Kingdom." It was, therefore, peculiarly fitting that this new home of a court, so far reaching in its influence, should be opened by the Sov ereign in person, in the presence of the high officers of Church and State, and that the Sovereign should thus publicly dedi cate it to the administration of Justice and the preservation of the King's Peace. The ceremony was to take place at twelve noon, but long before that time the streets through which the royal procession was to pass were crowded with people eager to witness the entry of the King into the city. From Temple Bar down through Ludgate Circus and up to Old Bailey, the Strand was gayly decorated and freshly strewn with sand. Shortly before twelve the royal procession, escorted by the Horse Guards White, drew up at Temple Bar. Here the Lord Mayor bearing the Pearl Sword, ac companied by the Sheriffs and the Remem brancer, awaited the King's arrival. As the royal • coach drew up, the Lord Mayor advanced and tendered the Pearl Sword to the King, who smilingly returned it. The Lord Mayor and the sheriffs then entered their coaches and preceded their Majesties to the new building. An interesting touch was given by the guard of honor of one
hundred rank and file, with the King's color and band, from the Honorable Artillery Com pany, the parent organization of the Boston Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. Crowded about the entrance to the new building was a dense mass of people that recalled one's Dickens, and made one dream of the Gordon rioters and of Barnaby Rudge. On arriving at the new building the Lord Mayor, carrying the Pearl Sword, received the King and Queen upon the steps. The proceedings within the building were short but of great dignity, and conducted with an impressiveness and with a stateliness of ceremonial fitting to a court of justice. The ceremony itself was of two parts, the first in the lower hall on the ground floor. Here near an end of the hall a low dais had been erected for the King and Queen. Upon it rested two Gothic chairs, and over it swung a canopy in gold and crimson; behind the chairs on white tapestry hung the Royal Arms. To the right of the King were grouped members of the Common Council in robes of blue; to the left distinguished guests of the Corporation; facing the dais were ladies and gentlemen, guests of the city. A bit of color was given by four trumpeters from the 2d Life Guards, who later blew a blast when the King declared the building opened. The scene in the lower hall, when the King and Queen entered and took their places upon the dais, was of rare brilliancy and color; the uniforms of the officers, the robes of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, the scarlet gowns of the City Aldermen, all set off by the white walls and marble pillars, combined to make a scene long to be remembered. As the King and Queen entered, they were preceded by the Lord Mayor bearing the Pearl Sword upright. Not the least inter
