WHEN QUEEN VICTORIA WAS CROWNED.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 11347, 9 August 1902, Page 13

WHEN QUEEN VICTORIA WAS CROWNED.

INCIDENTS OF THE LAST COBOmTION.

At tha coronation of Queen Victoria the procession on a long platform from Westminster Hall to the Abbey wais omitted, as were also the banquet in the Hall, and all the attendant ceremonies and feudal services. A royal procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey was substituted for the older ceremonials, and the route selected bring a long one, namely by way of Constitution Hall, Hyde Park corner, Piccadilly, St. James's street, Pall Mall and Parliament street, it gave opportunity for many more people to behold it, without a possibility of the recurrence cf the disorderly seems which had marred the success cf other coronations. Seats to view the procession were let at prices varying from ten shillings to five guineas. In St. James's street. houses were let for £2CO or £300; for the house in Pali Mall which had been the Reform Club, £500 was paid for the day, but in other places from £50 to £500 was given for a house. Every house or vacant spot by which the procession was to pass was hidden under scaffolding- or galleries, but in the streets, especially on Constitution Hill, the crowd was not as dense as had been anticipated. The beautiful summer morning was ushered in by a royal salute, which was fired at sunrisa by twelve pieces of artillery stationed in St. James's Park. As early as six o'clock the troops who were to keep the route marched into position, and at nine the procession began to be marshalled into order. Half an hour later the various royal personages who were to take part in it commenced to arrive in quick succession. At ten o'clock the boom of cannon announced that the Queen had left the Palace, and the bright new standard, which measured thirty feet by eighteen, was hoisted at the Marble Arch. The peers and peeresses went direct to the Abbey, and were conducted immediately on their arrival to ths places reserved for them—the peers in the south transept, almost as far back as the Poets' Corner, and the peeresses in the north transept. They were not included in the procession, which though a very long one, consisted only of the resident foreign ministers, ambassadors extraordinary, resident foreign ambassadors, the members of the royal family, pages, women of the bedchamber, maids of honour, lords and ladies in waiting, military staff, aides-de-camp, royal huntsmen, yeoman prickers and foresters, the marshals, Yeomen of the Guard, Her Majesty the Queen with the officers cf the household, and a squadron of the Household Brigade. Marshal Soult was the most prominent figure among the ambassadors. His great State carriage, too, excited universal interest, for it had been used on many occasions of State by the last great prince of the house of Conde, the father of the Due de Bourbon. The foreign ministers were greatly impressed by the crowd and the scene along the route of tha procession. Prince Esterhazy said, " Strogonof! and the. others do not like you, but they feel it, and it makes a great impression on them; in fact, nothing can be seen like this in any other country." The appearance of the interior of the Abbey was very line, but many people thought that too many galleries had been erected, and that it would have been better if fewer people had admitted. So much space had been taken up for the seating accommodation that ther? was not much room for ths precession, and thus a fine en.ct was lost. The hour fixed for the solemn ceremonial was noon, but before seven those who were entitled to a seat within ths walls were there, resplendent in diamonds, ostrich feathers, and magnificent uniforms. Miss Martineau, in her description, '.:! the spectacle, says : — ''The stone architecture contrasted finely with the gay colours of the multitude. From my high seat I comimanded the whole north transept, the area with the throne, and many portions of galleries, and the balconies, which were called the vaultings. Except a mere sprinkling of oddities, everybody was in full dress. The scarlet of tho military officers mixed i„ well, and the groups of the clergy were dignified, but to the unaccustomed eye the prevalence of court dresses had a curious effect. I was perpetually taking whole groups of gentlemen for Quakers, till I recollected myself. The Earl Marshall's assistants, called gold sticks, looked well from above, flitting about in white breeches, silk stockings, blue laced frocks, and white sashes. The throne, covered, as was its footstool, with cloth of gold, stood on an elevation of four steps in the centre of the area."

At ten o'clock the sound of cannon announced that the Quee_ had entered her carriage, and by and by she appeared in a royal robe of crimson velvet, furred with ermine and bordered with gold, the Collar of the Order of the Garter round her neck, and a small -circle of gold round her nead. Her traiii was borne by the eight fairest girls to be found amongst the daughters of the dukes and marquises, all in cloth of silver, with roses in their hair. A_i eye witness says.:—"The Queen came in as gay as a lark, and looking like a girl on her birthday. However, this only listed till she reached the middle of the cross of the Abbey, at the foot of the throne. On her rising from her knees before the faldstool, after her private devotions, the Archbishop of Canterbury turned her round to each of the four corners of the Abbey, saying, in a voice so clear that it was heard in the inmost recesses, 'Sirs,' I here present unto you the undoubted Queen of this realm. Will ye swear to do her homage?' Each time he said it there were shouts of 'Long Live Queen Victoria ' and the sounding of trumpets and the waving of banners, which made the poor little Queen turn first very red and then very pale- Most of the ladies cried, and I felt I s3iou!'._ not forget it as long as I lived. The Queen recovered herself after this, and went through all the rest as if she had often been crowned before, and seemed much impressed by the service, and a most beautiful one it was.

. . . Then he (i.e., the Archbishop of Canterbury) gave her his solemn benediction. She looked like a child receiving her father's blessing as she knelt, and aS the bishops around joined their voices in a solemn Amen. The Primate then placed her on the throne, where the Queen received the ring betrothing her to the people, the orb of Empire, a small globe surmounted by a cross, and the sceptre of rule. There, aa the Queen sat, the Archbishop placed the Crown of England on her head, and at the same moment the peers and peeresses simultaneously put on their coronets, the bishops their mitres, the heralds their caps, the trumpet sounded, the drums beat, the cannon outside fired, the Tower guns answered, the mighty cheer within, and without rent the air. The Archbishop then presented the Bible to her Majesty, and again led her to the throne, after which he was the first to do homage, followed by the lords spiritual (the other bishops) and the lords temporal!, in regular order, according to their rank. Each removed hie coronet, touched the crown on the Queen's head, s.nd spoke thus: —T do become your liegeman of life aad limb, and of earthly worship, and faith and love I will bear unto you, to live and die against all manner of folks. So help mc Ga3>.'" "The. different actors in the ceremonial were very imperfect in their parte," saiya Greville, " aad had neglected to rehearse them. Lord John Tbynne, who officiated tnMn^

thai nobody knew what was to b_ done except the Archbishop and himself (who had rehearsed}, Lord Wiiloughby (who is experienced in these matters), and the Dnke of Wellington, and consequently there was a continual difficulty and embarrassment, and the Queen never knew what she was to do next. They made her leave her chair and enter into St. Edward's Chapel before the prayer- were concluded, much to the discomfiture of the Archbishop. She said to John Thynne, ' Pray te_ mc what I am to do, for'they don't know'; and at the end, when the orb wasput into her hand, she said to him, 'What ajn I to do with it V 'Yonr Majesty is to carry it, if you. please, in your hand.' 'Am I?' she said; 'it is very _eavyV The ruby ring was made for her little finger instead of the fourth, on *rhk_ the rubric prescribes that it should be put. When the Archbishop was to put it on, she extended the former, but he said it must be on the latter. She said it was too small, and she could not get it on. He said it was right to put it there, and, as he insisted, she yielded, but. had first to take off her other rings, and then this was forced en; but it hurt her very much, and as soon as the ceremony was over she was obliged to bathe her finger in iced water in order to get it off. The noise, the confusion were very great when the medals were thrown about by Lord Surrey, every one scrambling with all their might and main to get tßem, and none more vigorously than the maids, of honour. There waa a great demonstration when the Duke of Wellington did homage. Lord Rolle, who is between eighty and ninety, fell down as he was getting up the steps of the throne. Her first impulse was to rise, and when, afterwards, he came again to do homage, she said, ' May I not get up and meet him?' and then rose from the throne and advanced down one or two of the steps to prevent his coming up—an act of graciousness and kindness which made a great sensation. .he sent in the evening to inquire after Lord Rolle." A gala dinner was given' at Buckingham Palace in the evening, at which covers were laid for one hundred persons. Afterwards the royal went on to the roof of the Palace to see a display of fireworks which took place in the Green Park. London was magnificently illuminated, and many places o. amusement were opened gratuitously to all comers.