56 REMINISCENCES OF 



first came in. There we sat from six till twelve, 

 when the Queen came. We could not see the altar, 

 but saw her come in and sit down ; and then she 

 went to the altar, and we saw the Bishop of London 

 preach a sermon ; and then all the peers shouted, and 

 we saw them put on their coronets when she was 

 crowned at the altar, which we did not see. It was 

 a beautiful sight, but the music is rather lost in the 

 Abbey. Back came the Queen from the altar, wear- 

 ing the crown, and sat down in her chair ; and the 

 Archbishop read something, and she got up and 

 walked to the throne, all the Dukes' daughters bear- 

 ing her train, and she seated herself on the throne, all 

 the people shouting, and the music also ; then all the 

 nobles did her homage, beginning by her two uncles. 

 They first touch the crown on her head, then kneel 

 down and kiss her hand, but the Royal Family kissed 

 her cheek. When the Duke of Sussex knelt down 

 he was a long time, and said something to her, and 

 she bent forward and gave him a kiss. They cheered 

 for such a time when the Duke of Wellington did 

 homage, and waved handkerchiefs. (I was so glad.) 

 " Old Lord Rolle is so old he tumbled down in 

 going up the steps to do homage. They say the 

 Queen started off her seat, but I did not see it, 

 though there seemed to be a great commotion for a 

 moment. While the peers were doing homage we 

 went round to the south transept to see the peeresses, 

 who looked most splendid. After that we could not 

 see the altar, and it was nearly over, so we went 

 down the House of Commons back stair, and got 



