The National Register. — London, England, 1821-06-17 00:00:00

• ! j), attflu ffti t I n. , • _7_: Our iltng, tottlititution, attr) labni. : • • No. 1,317.—V0L. XII.] THE CORONATION. The day for the performance of this expensive ceremony is at last fixed, in consequence of which the following Proclamation was issued on Monday: BY THE KING. PROCLAMATION APPOINTING A DAT rove TOD SOLI*. LAITY OF THE CORONATION Or MIS KAJTSTY. GEORGE R. • Whereas, by our Royal Precipitation, bearing date the 6th day of May, 1820, we did , amongst other things, publish and declare our Royal intention to celebrate the soletnnity of our Royal Coronation upon Tuesday, the let of August then next ensuing, at our Palace at Westminster; and whereas, by our Royal Proclamation bearing date 14th July, we thought 6t to adjourn the said solemnity until our Royal wiU and pleasure should be further signified thereon; and whereas, we have resolved, by the favour and blessing of Almighty God, to cele. brate the said solemnity upon Thursday. the 19th of July, at our Palace at Westminster, we do, by this our Royal Proclamation. give notice of and publish our resolution thereon and we do hereby give strict charge and command to all our loving subjects whom it may concern, that all persons. of whatever rank or quality soever they be, who, either upon our letters to them directed, or by reason of their offices and tenures, or otherwise, are to do any service at the time of our coronation, do duly give their attendance at the said solemnity, on the said 19th day of July, in all respects furnished and appointed as to so f;reat a solemnity appertameth, and answerable to the dignities and places which every one then respectively holdall and crjoycth ; and of this they or any of them are not to fail, as they will answer the contrary at their peril, unless by special reasons, by ourself under our sign manual to be allowed, we shall dispense with any of their services or attendance.—Given at our Court the 9th day of June, second year of our reign. An additional activity is observable amongst the work men in Westminstenha Mr. Greenwood, the scene painter, and Isis assistants, were on Monday added to those who had been previously engaged, and were em. ployed in canvassing and papering the triumphal arch, preparatory to its being pointed, according to the model of Mr. Hiort, and approved by his Majesty. The depart ments of the Earl Marshal, the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Lord Chamberlain of the Household, the Lord Ste ward, and the Board of Works, are all equally on the alert, in making preparations for the ceremony; and their officers and clerks are required to attend early and late. in order to enable them to perform their arduous duties. The decorative works are also in active progress, and Mr. Mash is, as usual, indefatigable in his attendance—being daily and hone ly employed in inspecting the details which fall within his functions. Mr. Wittier, Mr. Hest, and Mr. Wharton, have to pro vide the Bai - met, a work of no ordinary labour; for, in addition to the noblemen and ether individuals who will dine in the Hall, in the presence of the King, other tables will be prepared iii the Conti of Exchequer, the Court of Common Pleas, the Old House of Lords, the Painted Chamber, the Committee Rooms of the House of Lords and Commons, eke. fur the reception of not less than two thousand guests. Them are now between two and three hundred men engaged in Westminster Hall and its vicinity, from six in the morning till seven in the evening. As many persons are admitted by tickets to view the progress of the pre. paratious, in order to prevent interference and interrup tion to the workmen, a rail has been erected across the platform, to prevent their descending into the body of the hall: all visiters an., however, received with the most polite at tentioiLanil very inquiry satisfactorily answered. As it will be inyu s,ible to complete the repairs of the western turret at the eetrance to the ball, the workmen employed on this have been withdraw is, and it is to be immediately closed in a case of boards till after the co ronation. The lantern on the top of the ball will soon be eompleted; it is formed of ea►t iron, and has a beautiful appearance. Orders have been issued for immediately commencing the professional platform, the stables for the champion's wse, Asc. The 100 M ill the passage south of the ball, that which has hitherto been called " the bird Chancellor's parluut," is to he fitted tip for his Majesty's reception, and here his Majesty will remain till the appointed peliod for his joining the procession. The Royal Regalia will be depo sited in the opposite room. The peers, and other members of the procession, will assemble in the House of Lords, and the apartments ad joining. Theme will he a second platform erected from the en trance of time 'Niue of Lords to Pocts'•corner. This will be entirely closed, and is intended for the convenience of those branches of the Royal family who do not join in the procession, the foreign ambassadors, peeresses, &c. to proceed without interruption to and limit the Abbey. The galles ics amid theatres whirls will be erected in the line of the procession, for the use of the public, have been ordered, and persons were on Monday employed in mea suring the ground, and arranging their plans for that pur pose. In the Abbey the upholsterers are actively proceeding with their la buurs, and the Dean has set his workmen iu motion to complete the pieparatitnis woicli fall within his department. _ THE REGALIA. Till UllOWN.—llia Majesty will be crowned with the ancient crown of England. the new crown is intended to be worn 1111 l nediately after that solemn form has taken place. The former hn., howeser, receive., several im provements and embellisl 111,., and fur tunny false jewels real ones have been substituted. The crown, made ex pressly fur his present Majesty, presents an appearance of one inivaried masa of diamonds. The col ye of its branches, whirls meet at the top to support the ball, is not so violent as the old one i it is more extruded and grace- SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 1821. • fed, and the whole is consequently much higher. The velvet with which it Is ornamented is unlike the old one, which is purple; it is a beautiful crimson colour. The whole is surmonntbd by a pearl of immense value. The Globe, to be held in the left hand of his Majesty, when seated on the throne, is pronounced to be of very ancient workmanship; It is pf gold, richly ornamented 'with dimmed', rubies, emeralds ' and pearls. The Kea nee- ptre has a rich cross on the top, and appear; to be of the same style and date with the above; on the top of it is a large amethyst. - - The Gold Staff of Edward the Confessor, which is to be carried before. the King, is a beautiful specimen of the workmanship of that are, and cannot fail of attracting the attention of the curious. The Golden 'Eagle, which is to contain the oil for anoint ing, is very curious and ancient, and appears to have been made anterior to .the Confessor's time; the Spoon belong ing to this ancient vessel is of curious workmanship, and embellished with coloured stones. His Majesty's Coronation Ring is of plain gold, with a large ruby violet, on which is curiously enchased a plain cross, or cross of St. George. The gold enamelled Bracelets, which the King will wear on his wrists, are extremely curious, exhibiting the chaste taste of our forefathers, and are undoubtedly of great antignity. The Golden Spurs are confidently said to be the identi cal ones worn by William the Conqueror; the form and decorations are in a style of peculiar elegance; they have no rowels, but a single point at the top. • Two Swords of State, and one of Mercy, are to be car ried before the King, the hilts of which are very elegant ; the last is pointless, and seems to convey a silent and reli gions admonition. The Salt of State, which is to be placed in the centre of the dinner table, is in the form of a castle with.towers, richly embellished with various coloured stones, elegantly chased, and of silver richly gilt. This, it is said, was presented to King Charles the Seconti by the City of Ex. eter, and used at the coronation of that Monarch. There will be twelve other Salts of an enormous size, richly chased and gilt, arranged round the State Salt, which cannot fail of producing a grand effect when placed on the table. The large silver-gilt Wine Fonntaia will display a cn riot's feature of the arena...". of aneieut times. There will also be several splendid, classed, sad gilt dishes, embossed with vat-ions devices, many bf them with religions subjects; flagons, chalices, and tankards, ail of exquisite workmanship. ' Besides the regalia which have been already described, the following have been prepared for the purpose of being used in the solemn forms of the approaching coronation : ! Tee ScEPTa6 Vk IT II a DJA . E.—Titis differs materially from the sceptre with a cross, which was described in the last article. It is mit wrest lied, but of an even surface ; it it is pure gold, three feetseven inches in height, three inches in circumference at the handle, and two inches:lntl a quarter at the top; the pommel is adorned by a fillet of diamonds and precious stories of dillerent sorts; the ball or globe at the top is ornamented by a hand or fillet of rose diamonds; alum the ball is a small cross, which is surmounted by a dove with extended wings, as the emblem of mercy. For this sceptre, his Majesty, in the course of comp!) Mg with the different forms required, will exchange the hall or globe of empire. The sceptre with the dove will then be held iu the left hand, while the right bears the sceptre with the cross. Three swords kill he borne naked before the King in the proce.,,ion, besides the Sword of State which, has been already mentioned. The latter will be carried singly and the nearest to his Majesty's person, but will be immediately preceded by the Sword of Justice to the Spirituality on the right hand, the Sword of Justice to the Temporality on the left, and the Sword of Mercy in the middle. The Sword of Mercy, or I • less sword, known in the heraldic account by the 11111111 , of ceirtetaa, is the principal of the three swords in di;riity ; tae length of its blade is SI inches, the breadth almost two inches; the handle, which is covered with line gold wire, is four Melte-slung, besides the pommel, of an inch and three quarters, which, with the cross or gum d, is plain steel gilt; the length of the truss is eight inches. This sii 01 d , for the purpose of mow erhig allegorically to its name, is made to appear as thotrgh its point were broken of. The scabbard is 'covered with rich brocaded cloth of tissue, with a ferrule, hook, and cape. The second sword in dignity, that of Justice to the Spi rittialit), is a pointed sword, but considerably more than the third ; the leisgth of its blade is forty inches, the breadth rut inch and a halt; the handle is covered in a similar man. user to the former, with fine gold is ire; it is also of the same length, and in all tither respects (nut mentioned) it ctiiner s. The third sword in dignity, the Sward of Justice to t re Temporality, is air extremely .lutrii pointed sw the breadth of its blade is sue Mel) and tlirce .:u irters, tire lenAth forty i.:clys ; arid in every other respect it resembles the Sword ofJustice to the Spiritualqy. R. AD.4IR, ESQ. versus 771 E BISHOP af WINCH ESTE It. In consequence of the above-named Bishop (who was private secretary to ‘Villiam Pittj) having in the memoirs of his late master, Which he Ims recently published, reflected most tayi L lostitiably and most fillsely, us well upon the memory of the late Mr. Fox ti. 4 upon the character of Mr. Adair,that gen tleman, with u delicacy of feeling which the Bishop was neither entitled to expect nor capable of appre ciating, addressed to him a pritale letter, in which he pointed out to him six grws lusts:gees of mis r represeniation, which he trusted the Rev. Prelate Paler Sid. 4 would correct; but in a long, wordy answer, the Rev. Lord evaded this just demand, and thus forced Mr. Adair to do himself justice by publishing his refutation, which he has done in a manner the most satisfactory to every unpr ejudiced _ mind. He shews that his journey to St. Petersburgh in 1791, was ilettimined on, totally without the knowledge of • . Mr. Fox ; and to prbve at his conduct while there,' • .•• was not regarded as hostile to the measures of the existing government, he Metes the application that was made to him by the immediate successors of Mr. Pitt in office, to undertake a moat important diploma.. tic mission accompanied by the signification of his Majesty's pleasure to confer on him a mark of his royal approbation of his services : and he mentions this, he says, because " where to repel the detraction of less honourable adversaries, a man may, without impu. tation of a silly vanity, bring into court the testi mon)? of the chiefs by whom they were disavowed-7 Mr. Adair concludes his masterly Letter with the following just and well-merited description of the leigned Prelate's work. •TFrom such materials, my Lord, my friends may read'vrithout a blush the story of my humble public life. Different indeed arc those which you have collected from your imperial theme; and different the use to which you have put them. It is by no means clear that you do not stand criminally responsible to me for the manner in which you have atoned me, by name, of an offence little short of high treason. For the present let this pus. You have done it, possibly, for the purpose of injuring Mr. Pox rather than myself. It is for this reason that I am more pe remptory in my demand of justice for him; and if for no other. it is because he was the rival of Mr. Pitt, that, by the courtesy of generous competition, your Lordship would be bound to grant it. You have made yourself the historian of Mr. Pitt. and of the eventful times in which he governed. You have had access to his papers. Authorised by him. In his last moments to look them Over widrthe Bail of Chatham, you had the means of tattering a work to this world with unexpected pretension• to veracity. With such materials, it might have been hoped that you would have felt somet;t of the,pride of your task; that Vogt mind eSlionsi ing itself your @Object, you would have castaway with scam alt to both:lad front the ruin of an adversary's glory. It hefts that, hlingssappie to 14r. Pift. yam would ha the am in ber ka s you poll* to be &oilier with for the 411•0 1 / 1 11111ed hum their severe simplicity to fidget alt paltry eye t piiiihad false lines, and sham doors, and showy _meretricious contrivances to phase a bar. barons taste. If this did not equam with your scheme. you must have been aware, at least, of the responsibility belonging to the new character in which you were about to appear, and that the same authority which enabled you to stamp the seal of truth on your facts, imposed on you aho the duty of advancing none which you should not be ready, as well as able, to substantiate.-- All these considerations you have passed by in search of the meant of injuring Mr. Fox. You have not even disdained for this pur pose a partnership with the faithless amanuensis who lust published the charge against him. Yet this man bore no malice to Mr. Fox. What he did was under the keen influence of hunger. Why have you participated in his act ? And arc you content with that share of its merit which leaves you only whet he disclaims in it ? 6 * But when documents are to he published, you do not linger in the race with him. Like all ordinary life writers you gt t proseseion of family papers, you have gone on in the usual remine of book making, selecting those which, in your jutig• mot, exalt Mr. Pitt; and others which exhibit his opponents as traitors to their King and country. In doing this you have Wm touched by no shame, no feeling, for the dead or the living; yes have been withheld by no doubts of the moral rectitude of what you were about, no sense of constitutional duty, no reverence for stations the most exalted, or for obligations the most binding. Under no provocation from conflicting interests, you have, deliberately and advisedly. brought forth into open day matters which the constitution itself has guarded with the most scrupulous jealousy from the sight and even from the knowledge of our state parties. You have dipped your arrows in forbidden venom and shot them forth at random, to light as they list on a Britisu Parliament, on the chichi of die old nobility of ;he land, on a band of commoners, in knowledg; in virtue, m d sintetested public spirit, inferior to none of theme predecessors at the proudest hour of their struggles for the independence of their house. You, too, my Lord, like the plunderer of Mr. Burke, have put forward a mighty name, under whose cover you brand all these illustrious individuals in a mass with the galley slave inarksof a uksekkaT AND Li MPH firci Pi. F.oFACTI o fe,contederated for theirown private ends to subvert the constitution and di: laws, anti deficient even in the rummers of gentlemen. Nor is it the least uf Jour offences that in this part of your work you have placed public men, to whom honour is every thing, Et a situation In which their loyalty is the only security fru their silence. For myself, I not be provuktal by the surreptitious developeinent of thee mutters, to say one word upon their tendency ; sure tint the night person in whoie name they are so indecently promulgated, never would have written to ]tit confidential servant what fie was not ...evinced would be Jae r.-11 from the sight of all oilier men ; equsdly sure that Mr. l'itt himself, ti.uu d ,th pressed by hu.tile majorities to the ground, would have cut otf his rigut has.d sooner than he would have divulged wlt.t been bo 4:ollllllU nicated. Of the value of you: history, however, this dignituty of die church of smiglroLi doct;spiiat. of truthantl charity is no snore; will we s.ie mita pat tyseeretary, the self erea.ed executor, who ISO Isis friend to get at the seere_s of his Severvgn, both to maraet to the best bidder. •,," We have addicimhd pleasure encrcased publicity to these facts, beau had the honour of being known to M years (through the person4l intro:kJ:tit the mu:A amiable Veers of the Realm, always heard his diplomatic integrity lauded most highly by those who were potent W form a correct estimate of the:• )10 1 act is tlxisive.— .7.,1%; tue tm,11,.r notiltusr but thy .. tift the [mu :Lid carat from gi l l l LAs o „ . awe we 4 :Kt ,i dr. Ad+ 4 ' 4 ion of l'' A in) All • y and , • Apr / Te most 4 .. em. —ED. 4.2 •• .-1 • I