er prayers we went out in order by lot, the Speaker going last. My
county, Wiltshire, was among the first drawn; so I got an excellent
place in the Abbey, next to Lord Mahon, who is a very great favourite of
mine, and a very amusing companion, though a bitter Tory.

Our gallery was immediately over the great altar. The whole vast avenue
of lofty pillars was directly in front of us. At eleven the guns
fired, the organ struck up, and the procession entered. I never saw so
magnificent a scene. All down that immense vista of gloomy arches there
was one blaze of scarlet and gold. First came heralds in coats stiff
with embroidered lions, unicorns, and harps; then nobles bearing the
regalia, with pages in rich dresses carrying their coronets on cushions;
then the Dean and Prebendaries of Westminster in copes of cloth of gold;
then a crowd of beautiful girls and women, or at least of girls and
women who at a distance looked altogether beautiful, attending on the
Queen. Her train of purple velvet and ermine was borne by six of these
fair creatures. All the great officers of state in full robes, the Duke
of Wellington with his Marshal's staff, the Duke of Devonshire with his
white rod, Lord Grey with the Sword of State, and the Chancellor with
his seals, came in procession. Then all the Royal Dukes with their
trains borne behind them, and last the King leaning on two Bishops. I do
not, I dare say, give you the precise order. In fact, it was impossible
to discern any order. The whole abbey was one blaze of gorgeous dresses,
mingled with lovely faces.

The Queen behaved admirably, with wonderful grace and dignity. The
King very awkwardly. The Duke of Devonshire looked as if he came to be
crowned instead of his master. I never saw so princely a manner and air.
The Chancellor looked like Mephistopheles behind Margaret in the church.
The ceremony was much too long, and some parts of it were carelessly
performed. The Archbishop mumbled. The Bishop of London preached, well
enough indeed, but not so effectively as the occasion required; and,
above all, the bearing of the King made the foolish parts of the ritual
appear monstrously ridiculous, and deprived many of the better parts of
their proper effect. Persons who were at a distance perhaps did not feel
this; but I was near enough to see every turn of his finger, and every
glance of his eye. The moment of the crowning was extremely fine. When
the Archbishop placed the crown on the head