390 
arriving at the door in Poet’s-corner, 
the king’s cook, dressed in full court 
dress, bowed to each knight, and 
addressed him thus: * Sir knight, 
the great oath that you have taken, 
if you keep, it will be great honour 
to'you ; but if you break it, I have 
power, by virtue of my office, to 
hack the spurs from off your heels.” 
Each of the knights bowed to him, 
and touched their hat. Some of them 
asked him if there were any fees to 
pay? to which he answered, he 
would do himself the honour to call. 
upon them. He receives four gui- 
neas for this extraordinary speech, 
and ancient custom. This ceremony 
was conducted with the utmost re- 
gularity and order. 
Seats were placed at the south 
cross, where the procession entered, 
which were occupied by ladies, 
splendidly dressed: all the way up 
the south aile there were galleries 
erected between the monuments, 
which were likewise occupied by 
company of the most elegant de- 
scription. At the west end of the 
cathedral, there were seats placed 
for the accommodation of the dean 
and chapter’s friends: these were 
filled with ladies of the first rank and 
fashion. All along the north aisle 
there were galleries, in which we 
noticed a brilliant assemblage of the 
most beautiful ladies, arrayed in the 
most captivating dresses. Opposite 
the west end of the church, under 
the organ loft, was a spacious gal- 
lery, equally resplendent with beau- 
ty and fashion. The dresses of the 
ladies in general were distinguished 
for their elegance. Her majesty was 
dressed in white, with a white tur- 
ban, decorated with diamonds ; the 
princess of Wales was in white, and 
wore a white muslin turban, em- 
broidered with gold. The guards 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1803. 
were placed along the cathedral, in 
order to preserve the regularity of 
the procession. 
The old knights absent, who were 
not obliged to find proxies, were— 
lord Lavington, ear] Macartney, sir 
R. Gunning, lord Dorchester, vis- 
count Howe, sir Hector Munro, 
earl of St. Vincent, lord Grey of 
Howick, and viscount Bridport. 
The old knights present: earl of 
Malmesbury, lord D. Blaquiere, vis- 
count Galway, right hon. sir W. 
Fawcett, and the right hon sir G. 
Yonge. 
The knights personally installed: 
sir Alured Clark, sir Henry Harvey, 
sir J. F. Cradock, lord Henley, 
right hon. sir W. M. Pitt, right hon. 
sir Joseph Banks, sir James Henry 
Craig, sir James Colpoys, lord Hut- 
chinson, sir Eyre Coote, and sir 
David Dundas. 
Knights installed by proxy : right 
hon. sir W. Meadows, by sir James 
Pulteney ; lord Whitworth, by sir 
F. Whitworth ; right hon. sir John 
B. Warren, by sir Edmund Nagle ; 
viscount Nelson, by sir W. Bolton; 
sir T. Graves, by sir Rupert George ; 
sir Thos. Trigge, by sir Charles 
Greene; sir James Saumarez, by 
sir Thomas Saumarez ; sir R. Aber- 
cromby, by sir Samuel Auchmuty ; 
lord Keith, by sir Francis John 
Hartwell; Sir Andrew Mitchell, by 
sir Richard Hankey; sir John 
Thomas Duckworth, by sir George 
Shee. 
Her majesty, the princesses, and 
princess of Wales, remained in their 
box some time after the procession 
had passed; and then returned to 
the dean’s house, where an elegant 
entertainment was prepared for the 
royal party. The last installation 
took place in 1788. 
A maniac attempted to gain ad- 
mission 
‘ 
