a half, whereof the pomel and garniture is gold, as is also the mound and cross at the top, only the dove on the top of the cross is enamelled with white; the circumference at the bottom is about two inches, and at the top about an inch and a half.

The MANTLE DELMATICA, or open pall, otherwise called the imperial pall, was heretofore a rich embroidery, with golden eagles; but being in the time of the civil wars, together with all the rest of the regalia, except the ampul and spoon (all which were constantly

dered away, a very rich gold and purple brocaded tissue is made use of instead thereof, the ground or outside whereof is shot with gold thread, brocaded with gold and silver trails (mostly gold,) with large flowers of gold frosted, heightened with some little silver flowers, and all the trails and flowers edged about with purple, or deep mazarine blne.

12. CURTANA, or the pointless sword, represent-kept in the church of Westminster), sacrilegiously pluning the sword of mercy, is the principal of the swords in dignity, which are borne naked before the king, to the coronation; and is a broad bright sword, whereof the length of the blade is thirty-two inches, the breadth almost two inches, the handle, being covered with fine gold wire, is four inches long, besides the pomel an inch and three quarters, which, with the cross, is plain steel gilt, the length of the cross being almost eight inches. The scabbard belonging to it is covered with a rich brocaded cloth of tissue, with a gilt ferrule, hook, and chape. 13. The SECOND SWORD, or sword of justice to the spirituality, is a pointed sword, but somewhat obtuse, according to the sculpture. The length of the blade is forty inches, the breadth an inch and a half, the handle as before, (covered with gold wire), four inches long, and the pomel an inch and three-quarters deep. The length of the cross is almost eight inches, which, with the pomel, was plain steel as before: and the scabbard, in all respects, as the former.

14. The THIRD SWORD, or sword of justice to the temporality, is a sharp pointed sword; the length of the blade is forty inches, the breadth an inch and threequarters; the length of the handle four inches, the pomel an inch and three-quarters, the length of the cross seven inches and a half; and the scabbard, in all respects, as the two former.

15. The KING'S CORONATION RING, is a plain gold ring, with a large table ruby violet, wherein a plain cross, or cross of St. George, is curiously enchased.

16. The QUEEN'S CORONATION RING, is likewise gold, with a large table ruby set therein, and sixteen other small rubies round about the ring, whereof those next to the collet are the largest, the rest diminishing proportionably.

The following is an explanation of the sacred and royal habits, and other ornaments wherewith the kings and queens are invested on the day of the coronation.

The SUPERTUNICA, surcoat, or close pall, is a close coat with plain sleeves, of a very thick and rich cloth of gold tissue, shot with gold thread and gold flowers, brocaded and frosted, without either silk or velvet. The length behind is a yard, quarter, and half; and before a yard and quarter, having only one slit behind, a quarter and a half deep, which divides it into two skirts, each skirt being just a yard and a half, so that the whole compass at the bottom is three yards. To this belongs a belt, or girdle, made of the same cloth of tissue, lined with a white-watered tabby, with a gold buckle runner, and tab, to which hangers of the same are affixed for the king's sword, wherewith he is girded.

The ARMILL is made of the same cloth of tissue as the supertunica, or close pall, and lined with crimson Florence sarcenet. The length of it is about an ell, and the breadth of it three inches, with two double ribands ́at each end, with crimson taffeta, viz., two at the corners of the ends, to tie it below the elbows, and two a little higher, for tying it above the elbows.

The COLOBIUM SINDONIS, or surplice (saving that it is without sleeves), is the last garment put upon the king after the anointing; it is made of very fine white cambric, and is in length about a nail of a yard deeper than the supertunica, or close pall; it is laced about the neck, round the arm-holes, or opening of the shoulders, down the breast, up the slits of the sides, and round the bottom, with fine white Flanders lace surfled on very full.

The SURCOAT of rich crimson satin, which is put upon his majesty at his first dressing in the morning, is

made like the supertunica or close pall, and much about the same dimensions; the lining is crimson Florence

sarcenet.

The BUSKINS are made of the same cloth of tissue | commonly called Jacob's Stone, or the Fatal Marble as the supertunica, and lined with crimson Florence sarcenet; the length of them eighteen inches, the compass at the top fifteen inches, and from the heel to the toe eleven inches.

Stone, being an oblong square, about twenty-two inches long, thirteen inches broad, and eleven inches deep, of a bluish steel-like colour, mixed with some veins of red; whereof history relates, that it is the stone whereon the patriarch Jacob is said to have laid his head, in the plain of Luza; that it was brought to Brigantia, in the kingdom of Galicia in Spain, in which place Gathol, king of Scots, sat on it, as his throne: thence it was brought into Ireland by Simon Breach, first king of Scots, about 700 years before Christ's time, and from thence into Scotland,

The SANDALS are made with a dark-coloured leathern sole, and a wooden heel, covered with red leather; the straps or bands (whereof two go over the foot, and the third behind the heel) are of cloth tissue, lined with crimson taffeta, as is also the bottom or inside of the sole. The length of the sandal is ten inches. The SPURS, called the great golden spurs, are curi- by king Fergus, about 330 years before Christ; and in ously wrought.

The AMPHUL, or eaglet of gold, containing the holy oil, is in form of an eagle, with the wings expanded, standing on a pedestal, all of pure gold, finely chased. The head screws off at the middle of the neck, for the convenience of putting in the oil, and the neck being hollow to the very beak, the holy oil is poured out into the spoon through the point of the beak. The weight of the whole is about eight or ten ounces, and the cavity of the body capable of containing about six ounces.

The ANOINTING SPOON is likewise of pure gold, with four pearls in the broadest place of the handle, and the bowl of the spoon is finely chased both within and without, by the extreme thinness whereof it appears to be very ancient.

KING EDWARD'S CHAIR, (commonly called ST. EDWARD'S CHAIR) is a very ancient chair of solid hard wood, with back and sides of the same, variously painted, in which the kings of Scotland were heretofore constantly crowned; but being brought out of that kingdom by the victorious prince, king Edward I., in the 24th year of his reign, anno 1296, after he had totally overcome John Baliol, king of Scots, it hath ever since remained in the Abbey of Westminster, and has been the royal chair in which the succeeding kings and queens of this realm have been inaugurated. It is in height six feet seven inches, in breadth at the bottom thirty-eight inches, and in depth twenty-four inches; from the seat to the bottom is twenty-five inches, the breadth of the seat within the sides is twenty-eight inches, and the depth eighteen inches. At nine inches from the ground there is a bottom-board, supported at the four corners by four lions, and betwee

anno 859, was placed in the Abbey of Scone, in the
sheriffdom of Perth, by king Kenneth, who caused it to
be enclosed in this wooden chair, and this prophetical
distich to be engraved :

Ni fallat Fatum, Scoti hunc quocunque locatum
Invenient lapidem, regnare tenentur ibidem.

If Fate go right, where'er this stone is found,
The Scots shall Monarchs of that realm be crown'd.

Which is the more remarkable, by being fulfilled in the person of king James the First, grandfather to the late most excellent princess Sophia, electress dowager of Hanover, grandmother of his late majesty king George II.

This antique regal chair having, together with the golden sceptre and crown of Scotland, been Edward the First to St. Edward the Confessor solemnly offered by the fore-mentioned king anno 1297, (from whence it hath the name of St. Edward's chair), has ever since been kept in St. Edward the Confessor's Chapel, with a tablet hanging thereto, wherein are written, in the old English letter, these verses:

Si quid habent beri, vel Chronica, cana fidesbe,

Clauditur hac Cathedra nobilis ecce Lapis.
Ad Caput eximius Jacob quondam Patriarcha
Quem posuit cernens numina mira Poli.
Quem tulit ex Scotis spolians quasi Victor Honoris
Cawardus Primus. Mars velut Armipotens.
Scotorum Domitor. Noster Validissimus Hector,

she should be very glad to see a coronation, as
she never had seen one. "Why," said I,
"madam, you walked in the last." Yes,
child," said she, "but I saw nothing of it, I
only looked to see who looked at me.'
It has been already mentioned, that earl
Talbot brought up the first course. In Horace
Walpole's letters to Mr. Montague, he says,
"The earl piqued himself on backing his horse
down the hall, and not turning its rump to-
wards the king; but he had taken such pains
to dress it to that duty, that it entered back-
wards, and at his retreat the spectators clapped

It must be evident, that an occurrence of so | lady Anne Conolly, my lady Hervey, and Mrs. august and imposing a nature as a coronation Clive, to my deputy's house, at the gate of must have given rise to many anecdotes and Westminster-hall. My lady Townshend said jeux d'esprit, some of which have been preserved in the periodical publications of that interesting period; but amongst the writers who distinguished themselves on this occasion, Horace Walpole has rendered himself the most conspicuous by the levity and freedom with which he enters into a detail of some of the leading circumstances. In a letter to the honourable Henry Seymour Conway, he says-" The coronation is over, 'tis even a more gorgeous sight than I imagined; I saw the procession and the Hall, but the return was in the dark. In the morning they had forgot the sword of state, the chairs for the king and queen, and their a terrible indecorum, but suitable to such canopies. They used the lord mayor's sword for the first, and made the last in the hall; so they did not set forth till noon, and then by a childish compliment to the king, reserved the illumination of the hall till his entry, by which means, they arrived like a funeral, nothing being discernible but the plumes of the knights of the Bath, which seemed the hearse. Of all the incidents of the day, the most diverting was what happened to the queen. She had a retiring chamber, with all conveniencies prepared behind the altar. She went thither: in the most convenient what found she but the duke of Newcastle." In another letter, he says of the queen, that she was much pleased with the opera a few nights afterwards, and declared she would go once a week; and he observes, that the crowds at the opera and play, whenever the royal pair went there, were greater than he ever remembered. In another letter he says-" Some of the peeresses were dressed over night, slept in arm-chairs, and were waked if they tumbled their head-dresses. I carried my lady Townshend, lady Hertford,

1

Bartholomew-fair doings.
doings. He had twenty
demelés, but come out of none creditably. He
had taken away the table of the knights of the
Bath, and was forced to admit two in their old
place, and dine the others in the court of re-
quests. Sir William Stanhope said- We
are ill treated, for some of us are gentlemen.'
Beckford told the earl it was hard to refuse a
table to the city of London, whom it would
cost ten thousand pounds to banquet the king,
and that his lordship would repent it if they
had not a table in the hall; upon which they had
one. To the barons of the Cinque Ports, who
made the same complaint, he said- If you
come to me as lord Steward, I tell you it is
impossible; if as lord Talbot, I am a match for
any of you.'"

In another letter, he says-" The multitudes,
balconies, guards, and processions, made Pa-
lace-yard the liveliest spectacle in the world.
The hall was the most glorious. The blaze of
lights, the richness and variety of habits, the
ceremonial, the benches of
peers and peeresses,
frequent and full, was as awful as a

pageant

* The ferry at Lambeth formerly belonged to the archbishops of Canterbury, as lords of the manor: but the profits were usually granted by patent, to some officer of the archiepiscopal household, a certain annual rent being reserved. After the building of Westminster-bridge, in 1750, the ferry was taken away, and an equivalent given to the see of Canterbury, as well as to the patentee, for their interest; the privilege, therefore, mentioned in the earl marshal's orders, seems to have arisen out of, and to be a recognition of, the archbishop's right of ferry. It may not be uninteresting to mention in this place, that, previous to the building of Westminster-bridge, the bishops used commonly to go by water to the house of lords, from their several palaces in Southwark, the Strand, and Lambeth, landing at Parliament-stairs. They were rowed in their state barges, by their own protected watermen, in liveries of purple turned up with white. Archbishop Wake, who filled the see from 1715 to 1737, was the last prelate who displayed his aquatic pageantry.