withered old crone gave her a sprig of rosemary at Fleetbridge," which she held in her hand until she reached her palace at Westminster.

She was crowned the 25th of January, 1555, by Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle, the see of Canterbury being vacant by the death of Cardinal Pole. Holinshed says, that she composed the following prayer as she went to her coronation:

O Lord Almightie and Everlasting God, I give thee most heartie thanks that thou hast beene so mercifull unto me, as to spare me to behold this ioifull daie. And I acknowledge that thou hast delt as wonderfullie, and as mercifullie with me, as thou didst with thy true and faithfull servant Daniell, thy prophet, whome thou deliveredst out of the den from the crueltie of the greedie and roaring lions. Even so was I overwhelmed, and only by thee delivered. To thee, therefore, onelie be thanks, honor, and praise, for ever. Amen.

JAMES I.

The ceremonial for the coronation of James I. was prepared under the superintendence of that monarch,and displays many marks of the pedantry and extravagant notions of the royal prerogative, which forms so large a portion of his character. His previous distribution of

honours was more lavish than usual; he created two earls, ten barons, sixty-two knights of the Bath, and conferred the honour of knighthood on about four hundred gentlemen. His coronation was celebrated July 25, 1603, the ceremonies of crowning and anointing being performed by John Whitgift, archbishop of Canterbury. There was no procession from the Tower to Westminster, in consequence of the plague which then raged in London; and for the same reason a proclamation was issued, forbidding all persons except the lord mayor, aldermen, and twelve principal citizens of London, to attend the ceremony, for fear of spreading the infection.

An anonymous writer, in the reign of Charles I.,

insinuates that advantage was taken of the thin attendance on this occasion to introduce some novelties into the form derogatory to the rights of the English people, and even hints that the plague was a mere pretext to keep away those who might have exposed the alterations. But this appears very improbable, because the pestilence was so alarming that the king and court removed to Winchester the morning after the coronation.

CHARLES I.

The coronation of Charles I. was delayed until the 5th of February, 1626, in consequence of the plague, which then reigned in London. Previous to the ceremony a commission was issued to Archbishop Abbot, and some other prelates, of whom Laud was the principal, empowering them to make such alterations in the ritual as might render it more in accordance with the rules of the Church of England. This circumstance induced the puritans subsequently to charge Laud with the alterations which had been really made in the time of James I. The principal novelty was the introduction of the following clause in one of the prayers: "Let him obtain favour for thy people, like Aaron in the tabernacle, Elisha in the waters, Zacharias in the temple. Give him Peter's key of discipline and Paul's doctrine." This had been omitted by the Roman Catholics since the reign of Henry, because it seemed to intimate that English kings possessed more ecclesiastical jurisdiction than the popes allowed, and for the same reason its revival was offensive to the puritans. Some superstitious people regarded it as an evil omen that the king on this occasion wore a white dress, contrary to the custom of his predecessors, who generally used purple robes.

In the year 1633, Charles went to be crowned king of Scotland at Edinburgh. He was received with great

splendour, and several pageants were prepared to honour his reception. The most singular was a triumphal arch, under which a mountain was raised in the form of a theatre, upon which sat a nymph, representing the Genius of the city of Edinburgh. "Shee was attired

in a sea-greene velvet mantle, her sleeves and under roabe of blew tissue, with blew buskins on her feete, about her necke shee wore a chaine of diamonds, the dressing of her head represented a castle with turrets, her locks dangled upon her shoulders." She was

attended by Religion, "all in white taffeta, with a blew mantle seeded with starres, and a crowne of stones on her head, to shew from whence she is," leaning upon a shield, and trampling beneath her feet Superstition, represented as a blind old woman, covered with rags. On the left hand stood Justice, in a red damaske mantle," trampling upon Oppression, represented as 66 a person of fierce aspecte, in armes, but

broken all and scattered."

When the king drew near, the mountain appeared to move, and the nymph addressed a long speech to the king, of which it will be sufficient to quote the first sentence: Sir, If Nature could suffer rocks to move, and abandon their natural places, this town, founded on the strength of rocks, (now by all cheering rays of your majesty's presence taking not only motion but life,) had with her castle, temples, and houses moved towards you, and besought you to acknowledge her yours."

Another pageant exhibited the principal deities of the Heathen Mythology, and also Endymion "apparelled like a shepheard in a long coat of crimson velvet comming over his knee." All of these recited addresses in verse to the king, remarkable for nothing but their fulsome adulation and utter absurdity.

On Tuesday, June 18th, the king was crowned by Spotswood, archbishop of St. Andrews; we have already

noticed the most remarkable parts of the ritual used on the occasion.

CHARLES II.

After the death of his father, Charles II. having been invited to Scotland by the Presbyterians, was crowned at Scone, January 1, 1651. On this occasion

a most extraordinary sermon was preached by "Master Robert Dowglas, minister at Edinburgh, moderator of the general assembly, from II Kings xi. verses 1217." The preacher delivered a fierce philippic against the young king's father and mother, the latter of whom he compared to the wicked Athaliah, neither did he spare the memory of James I., roundly asserting that "his setting up bishops and bringing in ceremonies" was the cause of the evils which distracted the land.

After the sermon, the king swore to observe the laws, and also the solemn league and covenant. The crown was placed upon his head by the earl of Argyle, and the rest of the regalia delivered by other noblemen, with appropriate addresses.

When the ceremony was concluded "the minister spoke to him a word of exhortation," that is to say, a long oration scarcely less offensive than the sermon.

JAMES II.

Although the religion of James was very displeasing to the majority of his subjects, his coronation, April 23, 1685, was celebrated with so much splendour, that it rendered him for a considerable time popular in London. The most remarkable anecdote connected with the solemnity is, that on the king's return from the Abbey, the crown tottered upon his head, and would have fallen off, had not the Honourable Henry Sidney, brother to Algernon Sidney, who had been put to death in the preceding reign, chiefly by the influence of James, supported it, saying, "This is not the first time our family have supported the crown."

WILLIAM AND MARY.

For the first time in England both the king and the queen were crowned as sovereigns, and the oath of abjuration, or declaration against popery, was administered before the coronation oath. The ceremonial was very stately and cold; it took place on the 11th of April, 1689, the bishop of London officiating instead of the archbishop of Canterbury (Sancroft,) who scrupled to place the crown upon the head of sovereigns who claimed it by a parliamentary title, and not by hereditary descent, and what he called divine right.

ANNE.

Anne was crowned April 23, 1702; her husband, Prince George of Denmark, was present, but took no prominent part in the ceremony. The queen gave the kiss of peace to the archbishop and the other prelates; but when the temporal peers did their homage, they only seemingly kissed her majesty's left cheek. As parliament was sitting, galleries were provided for members of the House of Commons, both in the Hall and the Abbey, and a sumptuous dinner was prepared for them in the Exchequer Chamber. The illuminations and bonfires in the evening, were more general than on former occasions, a circumstance which gave great offence to the friends of the late monarch, William III. It was remarked that the queen received her husband's homage exactly in the same form that she did that of the English nobility; and it was said that this was done designedly, to show that she had no intention of conferring upon him the crown matrimonial.

GEORGE I.

George I. was crowned at Westminster, October 20, 1714, with the usual solemnities; the earl of Oxford and Lord Bolingbroke assisted at the ceremony, and