The Sun.
London, England, 1821-08-11 00:00:00

THE CORONATION.

LETTER. FROM A GENTLEMAN IN TOWN TO A LADY

IN THE COUNTRY.

[FROM THE LONDON MAGAZINE.]

[Continued from our Paper of Thursday.]

The Coronation Oath was next administered to his Ma-
jesty.

Sir ; is your Majesty willing to take the oath ? '-
King—l am willing.
"
The Archbishop theft ministered these questions ; and the
King, having a copy of the printed Form and Order of the
Coronation Service in his hands, answered each question seve-
/4/4, as follows :
'Arch.—Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the
peoy:e of this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
and the dominions thereto belonging, according to' the Statutes
in Parliament agreed on, and the respective laws and customs
of the same ?

King. —I solemnly promise so to do.
Arch.—Will you to your power cause law and justice, in
mercy, to be executed in all your judgments ?

King.—l will.
Arch.—Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the
laws of God, the true profession of the Gospel, and the Protes-
tint Reformed Religion established by law ? And will you
maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the United
Church of England and Ireland, and the doctrine, worship,
discipline, and government thereof, as byliw established within
England and Ireland, and the territories thereunto belonging ?
And will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England
and Ireland, and to the United Church committed to their
charge, all such rights and privileges, as by law do, or shall ap-
pertain to them, or any of them ?
King.—All this I promise to do.
Then the King arising out of his chair, supported as before,
and assisted by the Lord Great Chamberlain,. the Sword of
State being carried before him, went to the altar, and there
being uncovered, made his solemn oath in the sight of all the
people, to observe the promises ; laying his right hand upon
the Holy Gospel in the great Bible, which had been carried in
the procession, and was now brought from the altar by the
Archbishop, and tendezed to him as he knelt upon the steps,
saying these words

The things which I have here before promised, I will per-
form and keep. So help me God.
Then the King kissed the book, and signed' the oath.
Now followed the anointing, and a couple of anthems. The
Dean of Westminster afterwards dried away the oil from the
King with fine wool or linen.

After other ceremonies had been performAl, in the course of
which the King was robed by the Dean of Westminster, and
was invested with the. armill, the Archbishop stood before the
altar, took the crown, and prayed over it. The King then sat
down in Edward's chair, and was crowned by the Archbishop.
At this moment the shouts of the people had a tine effect. The
trumpets rang out their martial music, and the guns of the
Park and the Tower were tired instantaneously.
The noise ceasing, the Archbishop rose and said,—
Be strong and of good courage : observe the command-
ments of God, and walk in his holy ways : fight the good
fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life ; that in this world
you may be crowned with success and honour, and when you
have finished your course, you may receive a crown of right-
eousness, which God the righteous Judge shall give you in that
day. Amen.
Then the Choir sang a short anthem : after which the Bible
was presented and duly returned—and the King was solemnly
blessed by the Archbishop.
His Majesty was now borne•to his throne by the bishops and
peers around him. Homage was then done publicly and so-
lemnly,—the Treasurer scattering silver medals as largess from
the King. The Peers, having done their homage, stood all to-.
gether round about the King ; and each class or degree going
by theniselves, all the Peers, one by one, in order, put off their
coronets,. singly ascended the Throne again, and stretching
forth their hands, touched the Crown on his Majesty's
head, as promisingby that ceremony to be ever ready to sup-
port it with all their power, and then every one of them kissed
the King's cheek.
During the homage, the Sceptre with the Cross was held,
on the King's right hand, by the Lord of the manor of Work-
sop ; and the Sceptre with the Dove, by the Duke of Rut-
land.

My friend declares that this part of the ceremony was very
impressive; and he observed, that the King was much affected
when his Royal Brothers prepared to kneel before him—he
raised them almost in tears (my friend says his Majesty was
in tears ; but I dare not trust my friend ; for, when his feelings
are excited, he is apt to exaggerate), and looked upon them with
a kind and manifest affection. The Holy Sacrament was now
administered to his Majesty, and an anthem sung, at the end
of which the drums beat and the trumpets rang, and the people
shouted, Long live the King. The Archbishop then went to
the altar, and prayed for some time—and the ceremony ended.
You cannot expect that I should describe this part of the day
with any peculiar force or effect, as I can but speak from the
communication of another. My friend will have that the
Abbey. was a finer scene than the Hall, but you know his old
propensity to extol what he alone enjoys or posszzses. lam
free to confess, that I lust a very solemn .--ci--:,--gOrgeous cere-
mony, by being absent from the Abbey,—but I would not have
given up the chivalrous banquet in the Hall, for all the middle
aisles in the universe on such a day. The procession began its
return, says my friend, and in the words of honest Cases, " then
the people fell a shouting, and then I came away !"
1 rushed back to the.,Hall with a velocity quite appalling to
the common people, intimating by my speed nothing less than
that a Knight of the Bath was burning down ; and only staying
my course for five minutes to look after the balloon, which some
kind creature told me " was up," but which, like myself, had
been " up too long ;" for it was certainly not visible, though
I yielded to his repeated inquiries, and confessed that I saw it
plainly. When treached my box in the Hall again, the ser-
vants were lighting the chandeliers, which hung finely from the
fretted roof, and turned with a courtier-like ease to the hand
that could give them brilliance ; at this time there was assuredly
no need of any artificial lustre ; for the sun-light was beauti-
fully alive on wall and gallery, and shamed to death the
branches of a hundred lights that were pendent in the air. But
as it was considered, I presume, an indecorum to light a candle
before a King • and as it was concluded that his Majesty would
not quit the dall till after day-light, we were compelled to en-
dure this struggle of light—this litigation of radiance—this
luminous suit carried on in IVestminster Ilall,—Sol versus
Wax,—in which a verdict was recorded in every lady's eye for
the plaintiff.
The white cloth had been laid on the tables during the King's
absence, and a silver plate placed before each seat;—to a gen-
tleman, whose mouth had tasted only of die canielcon's dish fOr
some 1 & hours, this preparation for " the solids, Sir Giles !"
was about as painful an exhibition as Mrs. Brownrigg's loaf
placed at a respectful distance before her half-starved ap-
prentices. I longed, yet dreaded, to see the Baron of beef
brought in (a Peer of some likelihood now in my estimation);
thirsted to hear the champagne cork explode at intervals,though
to me the minute guns of distress ! But what !—could I not
diet myself upon splendour ? or what business had I there ?

Hungry I might be; but had I not the satisfaction of behold-
ing a couple of fellow-creatures perishing on each side of me,
and of the same gnawing death !—What signified it that I was
dry !—Was I not about to see " robes and furred gowns" filled
as full of hock as though barrels, and not men, were ermined
or the occasion ! I did not, perhaps, start these decisive reasons
at the time, but I now see how very idle it was to be
have just dined. _

f To be continued.]