"The duties of service at the banquet, and of attendance in general, was performed by pages drest very elegantly in Henri Quatre coats of scarlet, with gold lace, blue sashes, white silk hose, and white rosettes. There were also marshal's-men for keeping order, who wore a similar dress, but of blue, and having white sashes. Both departments were filled up almost entirely by young gentlemen, many of them of the very first condition, who took these menial characters to gain admission to the show. When I saw many of my young acquaintance thus attending upon their fathers and kinsmen, the peers, knights, and so forth, I could not help thinking of Crabbe's lines, with a little alteration:

:

'Twas schooling pride to see the menial wait,
Smile on his father and receive his plate.

It must be owned, however, that they proved but indifferent valets, and were very apt, like the clown in the pantomime, to eat the cheer they should have handed to their masters, and to play other tours de page, which reminded me of the caution of our proverb, not to man yourself with your kin. The peers, for example, had only a cold collation, while the aldermen of London feasted on venison and turtle; and similar errors necessarily befell others in the confusion of the evening. But these slight mistakes, which indeed were not known till afterwards, had not the slightest effect on the general grandeur of the scence.

"I did not see the procession between the Abbey and Hall. In the morning a few voices cried Queen, queen, as Lord Londonderry passed, and even when the sovereign appeared. But these were only signals for the loud and reiterated acclamations in which these tones of discontent were completely drowned. In the return, no one dissonant voice intimated the least dissent from the shouts of gratulation which poured from every

quarter; and certainly, never monarch received a more general welcome from his assembled subjects.

"You will have from others full accounts of the variety of entertainments provided for John Bull in the parks, the river, in the theatres, and elsewhere. Nothing was to be seen or heard but sounds of pleasure and festivity; and whoever saw the scene at any one spot, was convinced that the whole population was assembled there, while others found a similar concourse of revellers in every different point. It is computed that about FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE shared in the festival in one way or another; and you may imagine the excellent disposition by which the people were animated, when I tell you, that, excepting a few windows broken by a small body-guard of ragamuffins, who were in immediate attendance on the Great Lady in the morning, not the slightest political violence occurred to disturb the general harmony-and that the assembled populace seemed to be universally actuated by the spirit of the day, namely, loyalty, and good humour. Nothing occurred to damp this happy disposition; the weather was most propitious, and the arrangements so perfect, that no accident of any kind is reported as having taken place.-And so concluded the coronation of GEORGE IV., whom God long preserve. Those who witnessed it have seen a scene calculated to raise the country in their opinion, and to throw into the shade all scenes of similar magnificence, from the Field of the Cloth of Gold down to the present day."

WILLIAM IV.

The arrangements for the coronation of William IV. and Queen Adelaide were a compromise betweeen economy and parade. The procession from the Hall to the Abbey, and the coronation feast in the Hall, were omitted; but a train of gay equipages and beautiful

horses made some compensation for the former. The popular enthusiasm was greater, however, than on any former occasion; the day was kept as a general holiday in the metropolis; all business was suspended, and all the shops were closed. The new entrance to St. James's Park was opened for the first time, and in the evening the metropolis was universally illuminated. The very lanes and alleys tenanted by the poorer classes were lighted, to testify the loyal affection of even the humblest for "the sailor king." Splendid fireworks were exhibited in Hyde Park from nine till eleven at night; and the provincial towns and cities emulated the loyalty of the metropolis.

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CHAPTER XII.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

PRICES OF SEATS TO VIEW A CORONATION. A WRITER in the London Magazine for the year 1761, who had inquired into the subject of former prices for seats at coronations, states, that on consulting Stow, Speed, and other antiquaries, with regard to the sums anciently given, it appears that the amount of a good place at the coronation of the Conqueror was a blank*, and probably the same at that of his son, William Rufus. "At Henry the First's it was a crocard; and at Stephen's, and Henry the Second's, a pollard. At Richard's, and King John's, who was crowned frequently† it was a suskin; and rose at Henry the Third's to a dodkin. In the reign of Edward, the coins begin to be more intelligible, and we find that for seeing his coronation a Q. was given, or the half a ferling or farthing, which was the fourth part of a sterling or penny. At Edward II. it was a farthing; and at his son's, Edward III., a halfpenny, which was very well given. In Richard the Second's thoughtless reign it was a penny, and continued the same at that of Henry IV. At Henry V. it was two pennies, or the half of a grossus or groat; and the same at that of Henry VI., though, during his time, coronations were so frequent, that the price was brought back to the penny, or

The coins here mentioned were a sort of base money of the lowest value, which was at one time imported into England, with many other pieces equally rude in their names. Most of them were, however, prohibited by Stat. 3 Henry V.

+ King Henry the Second and King John were each of them thrice crowned, Henry the Third twice; and in the time of Henry the Sixth, the most magnificent ceremonies of coronations took place both in England and France.

halfpenny, and sometimes they were seen for nothing. At Edward IV. it was again the half-groat; nor do we find it raised at those of Richard III. or Henry VII. At that of Henry VIII. it was the whole groat, or grossus; nor was it altered at those of Edward VI., and Queen Mary; but at Queen Elizabeth's it was a testour or tester. At those of James I., and Charles I., a shilling was given; which was advanced to half-a-crown at those of Charles II., and James II. At King William's, and Queen Anne's, it was a crown; and at George I. was seen for the same price. At George II. some gave half-a-guinea.”

At the coronation of George III., a platform was erected from the upper end of Westminster Hall, where the procession commenced, which continued through New Palace-yard, Parliament-street, and Bridge-street, into King-street, and so round through the west door of the Abbey on to the choir, where his majesty was crowned. In view of this platform, the houses on each side were lined with scaffolding, the seats in which were let at the most exorbitant prices. The front seats in the galleries of the Abbey were let at ten guineas each; and those in commodious houses along the procession, at no less prices. The terms, in ordinary houses, were from one guinea to five, so that a small house in Coronation-row, after the scaffolding was paid for, cleared 700l., and some large houses upwards of 1000/*. In the Coronation Theatres, as they were called, which were large temporary erections, capable of containing from 1200 to 1500 seats, the prices were beyond all precedent, though some, who fitted up houses and scaffolds on this occasion, lost considerably through the greatness of their demands. The ground

*It is generally understood that there is a clause in the leases of those houses which command a view of the procession, stating that the possession of them shall revert back to the landlord for a certain period at a coronation.

P