ore offended at the Coronation with the ladies
that did walk, than with those that walked out of their place; yet I was
not so _perilously_ angry as my Lady Cowper, who refused to set a foot
with my Lady Macclesfield; and when she was at last obliged to associate
with her, set out on a round trot, as if she designed to prove the
antiquity of her family by marching as lustily as a maid of honour of
Queen Gwiniver. It was in truth a brave sight. The sea of heads in
Palace-yard, the guards, horse and foot, the scaffolds, balconies, and
procession exceeded imagination. The Hall, when once illuminated, was
noble; but they suffered the whole parade to return into it in the
dark, that his Majesty might be surprised with the quickness with which
the sconces catched fire. The Champion acted well; the other Paladins
had neither the grace nor alertness of Rinaldo. Lord Effingham and the
Duke of Bedford were but untoward knights errant; and Lord Talbot had
not much more dignity than the figure of General Monk in the Abbey. The
habit of the peers is unbecoming to the last degree; but the peeresses
made amends for all defects. Your daughter Richmond, Lady Kildare, and
Lady Pembroke were as handsome as the Graces. Lady Rochford, Lady
Holdernesse, and Lady Lyttelton looked exceedingly well in that their
day; and for those of the day before, the Duchess of Queensbury, Lady
Westmoreland and Lady Albemarle were surprising. Lady Harrington was
noble at a distance, and so covered with diamonds, that you would have
thought she had bid somebody or other, like Falstaff, _rob me the
Exchequer_. Lady Northampton was very magnificent too, and looked
prettier than I have seen her of late. Lady Spencer and Lady Bolingbroke
were not the worst figures there. The Duchess of Ancaster [Mistress of
the Robes] marched alone after the Queen with much majesty; and there
were two new Scotch peeresses that pleased everybody, Lady Sutherland
and Lady Dunmore. _Per contra_, were Lady P----, who had put a wig on,
and old E----, who had scratched hers off; Lady S----, the Dowager
E----, and a Lady Say and Sele, with her tresses coal-black, and her
hair coal-white. Well! it was all delightful, but not half so charming
as its being over. The gabble one heard about it for six weeks before,
and the fatigue of the day, could not well be compensated by a mere
puppet-show; for puppet-show it was, though it cost a million. The Queen
is so gay that we shall not want sights;