FOR these past ten days past all has been hope, hustle and anxiety, in this city and University. All the roads leading hither have been thronged with persons of rank, hastening to witness the honours to be paid to the most celebrated of our Universities by foreign potentates and warriors.
Lord Grenville, our Chancellor, arrived here yesterday forenoon. The preparations for the reception of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent and his illustrious guests, the Emperor of Russia and the Duchess of Oldenburg, the King of Prussia and his family, and those who attend the two monarchs, were arranged in the evening.
Half-past ten was the time appointed by the Chancellor for the assembling of the University to meet their august visitors. All the University went out, each in his proper habit, and ranged themselves in line on either side of the High-street from St Mary’s Church, to the west end of Magdalen bridge.
At twelve o’clock, after the arrival of the Prince of Mecklenburg in the Queen’s carriage, an arrant courier announced the approach of the Prince Regent. The Prince came in his private travelling carriage and four, and alighted on the bridge, where his Royal Highness was met by the Chancellor and the Mayor.
The procession immediately commenced on foot. The Corporation walked first. Then walked the Chancellor of the University in his full dress robes, and the Mayor of the city in his robes, on his left hand. The Prince Regent came next. His Royal Highness was in the Windsor uniform (dark blue and scarlet), and wore the Order of the Garter, and the Prussian and Russian Orders. The Duke of York was on his right, wearing his academic robes and the Order of the Garter. The Royal Highnesses were followed by Lord Sidmouth, the Earls of Darnley, Harcourt, Essex, Pembroke, Spencer and Fortescue, the Bishop of Peterborough, and a long train composed of the Nobility, Clergy, and members of the University.
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All eyes in the crowded street and on the bridge were now turned with impatient expectation eastward to behold the Emperor Alexander, and every appearance of an officer, or a servant in royal livery, was regarded as an indication of his Imperial Majesty’s coming. Alexander and his accomplished sister appeared in an open barouche of the Prince Regent’s. The Emperor was dressed in a plain blue coat, wore his hair without powder, and with his hat continued bowing to the public, constantly and gracefully. The Duchess of Oldenburg wore a magnificent plume of feathers, and like her brother constantly expressed her kind feelings of the respect testified to them. The appearance of Alexander attracted everyone and was the theme of general admiration. His manly look, the polished yet simple dignity of his manner, which alone speaks majesty, delighted and warmed the hearts of all.
His Majesty the King of Prussia entered Oxford a short time after the Emperor of Russia, likewise in an open Barouche of the Prince Regent’s. His Majesty preserved the same simplicity of appearance with his brother Sovereign, and was not, at first, easily recognised. He was dressed in a plain brown coat, and repeated the testimonies of his satisfaction to the public with the evident impression of strong feelings.
Several carriages with the attendants of the Russian and Prussian monarchs, continued to come until four, when the veteran hero, Blucher, arrived, whose presence was the signal for the most enthusiastic acclamations. The aged hero, Ajax of the war, stood up erect and nobly in an open carriage of the Prince; and bowed with the manliness, which became a warrior.
This evening, a grand dinner is given by the University to the Regent, the Emperor, and the King, in the Radcliffe Library, a place in which such an entertainment, we believe, never took place before.