Cht taut.
THE Queen held Privy Councils on Saturday and Monday, in Bucking- ham Palace. On Saturday, Mr. Henry Tufnell was sworn of her Majes- ty's Privy Council, and took his seat at the board. Audiences were given to the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord Marcus Hill. and Lord John Russell. On Monday, Lord Langdale and Baron Rolfe delivered the Great Seal to the Queen; who was pleased to deliver the same to Sir Thomas Wilde. Sir Thomas thereupon took the oath of Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, and seated himself at the board of the Council.
The Duke of Cambridge visited the Queen on Thursday ; and the Dutchess of Gloucester paid her Majesty a visit on Wednesday. Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg and Gotha has arrived at Buckingham Palace, on a visit to Queen Victoria. Her Majesty took Prince Alfred and two of the Princesses to the Zobi- logical Gardens on Thursday, to show them the young hippopotamus and the performances of the Arab snake-charmer. The Royal Family left town for Osborne on Thursday afternoon, ac- companied by their visiter Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg and Gotha. The Dutchess of Gloucester has been a daily visitor at her sister's house of mourning, Cambridge House : the Countess de Neuilly was a visitor there on Friday.
The interment of the late Duke of Cambridge took place on Tuesday, at Kew Church.
At half-past five in the morning, two battalions of the Duke's regiment, the Coldstream Guards, passed up Piccadilly on their way to Kew; one hundred of these men filed off at Cambridge House, and entered the court- of the mansion to form a body-guard; and a squadron of the Second e Guards joined this detachment. At six o'clock, the hearse left the door. On a fine summer morning, the view over Piccadilly hollow is one of the most varied and beautiful in London: the view was impressivel solemn as well as picturesque when the long dark stream of the procesi-, sion wound from the portal, 4aversed the valley, and slowly ascended the - rising ground beyond. A vast number of persons assembled, and fringed - the road under the noble mansions on the one side and the fine trees on' the other ; everywhere a deep silence reigned. The warm feelings of the. people were acutely touched when as they passed Gloucester House the venerable Dutchess of Gloucester was seen at one of the partially closed windows of her mansion, watching with an attendant for a last look at the bier which bore away her brother's remains. The procession was marshalled in the following order. Four mutes, bearing staves covered with crape. A detachment of Life Guards.
Eight mourning coaches, drawn by four horses each; carrying members of the late Duke's household, and some members of the households of the King of Hanover and Queen Victoria. The state carriage of the late Duke, drawn by six horses ; carrying his coronet and baton, on cushions borne by Baron Knesebeck and Colonel Hay. A detachment of the Life Guards.
The hearse, drawn by eight horses, and covered with a black velvet pall, emblazoned on each side with the Duke's heraldic achievement. A detachment of Life Guards.
On the route, at Knightsbridge, Kennington, and Hammersmith, the muffled church-peals tolled minute-bells ; the shops were generally closed, and business was suspended. The procession was met on Kew Bridge by the parochial authorities and inhabitants of the place; it was received at. the Royal Cottage by the military guard of honour which left town at half-past five; and from this spot the Guards lined the path to the church.
The Dutchess of Cambridge, with her daughters, the Grand Dutchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz, and the Princess Mary of Cambridge, arrived at Hanover Lodge, a residence situated between the Royal Cottage and the church, at nine o'clock • and they were joined there by Prince George, now Duke of Cambridge, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Strelitz, and Prince Albert.
The Duke of Wellington arrived at nine o'clock, in an open phaeton. He wore a plain suit of black; and having been furnished with a crape scarf and hatband, he walked across the road into the church ; after look- ing at the vault and the interior of the sacred edifice, he returned to the churchyard, and sat down under a tree to await the arrival of the cortege. There were also present., Lord John Russell, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Viscount Palmerston, the Earl of Jersey, the Earl of Minto, Viscount Jocelyn, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, Lord Forester, and Lord Frederick Fitzelarence. These gentlemen each wore scarfs and hatbands, and were seated in pews facing the altar; but neither themselves nor the Duke of Wellington took any part in the ceremony except as spectators.
The mourners entered the church, and the coffin was borne from the Royal Cottage into the church on the shoulders of nonoommissioned officers of the Coldstream Guards—" twelve remarkably fine men, whose united strength was scarcely sufficient for their massive burden." " The coffin was uncovered by any pall, and its crimson hue and glittering ornaments contrasted strangely with the dark habiliments of the mourners." While the service was performed, it rested on tressles in front of the altar; a black pall emblazoned with white escocheons was thrown over it, and the ducal coronet and Field-marshal's baton of the deceased were placed upon it. Prince George stood at the head of the coffin, the chars-
berlain' s at the foot. At the proper time, the coffin was carried down the North aisle to the entrance of the vault—a hole pierced in the crown of the arch—and was rested on an inclined plane. This movement was accompanied by the chief mourners ; the organ pouring forth the solemn music of the Dead March in "Saul" Prince Albert walked a few paces apart from the other mourners, as if deferring to their Reuter sorrows. At the reading of the Lord's Prayer, the Dutchess of Cambridge left the arm of her son, knelt down at the entrance of the vault, and remained in an attitude of supplication for some moments.
. As the coffin was lowered into the vault, Baron Knesebeck placed upon it the ducal coronet of the deceased. The service being finished, the organ pealed Martin Luther's Hymn as the mourners retired. At dusk in the evening, the Dutchess and her children returned to the church, to take a farewell view; and then the Princesses were observed to strew flowers over the vault. On their last retirement, the workmen were im- mediately summoned to close up the tomb. . The funeral was conducted in accordance with the Duke's expressed desire, ender the exclusive superintendence of the Lord Chamberlain's of- fice. The College of Arms took no part in the ceremony, nor was Gar- ter present to proclaim the style and titles of the deceased prince, as is usual in the case of royal interments.
It would seem that the Duke's remains have not yet found their "last resting-place." The authentic descriptions of the nine'sl announce, that "it is intended, to erect a family mausoleum in a portion of the Royal grounds near the church, where the deceased has more than once express- ed his desire to be laid after death ; and to this spot the coffin containing the remains will hereafter be removed. The Princes and Princesses of the Blood Royal, of late years, appear to have exhibited some distaste for the massive chambers of the Royal vault under St. George's Chapel at Windsor; and the selection of other localities, by successive members of the family, will render the choice of the Duke of Cambridge, to rest among what may be called his own parishioners, at Kew, less remarkable than it ' might have been thought twenty-five years since."
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