Mary Pierrepoint, then a girl of thirteen, who later was known in the literary world as Lady Mary Wortley Montague. The queen was escorted by Lord Jersey, supported by the Bishops of Durham and Exeter, and guarded by the late king's favorite, Keppel, Earl of Albemarle, who was still retained as captain of the royal guard. He was the only member of King William's Dutch colony who had ever shown civility to the queen, and she showed her gratitude by continuing him in office. The coronation ceremony was conducted on the same plan as all the others we have recorded, therefore it is unnecessary to repeat the details. The ring used on this occasion was a superb ruby, on which was engraved the cross of St. George. It was placed on the fourth finger of her majesty's right hand. The ceremony concluded with the peers, archbishops, and prelates, headed by the Duke of Cumberland, paying homage to the queen. This was done by kissing her left cheek, and touching her crown while her pardon was read, and medals of silver and gold were distributed among the people. A grand anthem by the choir, accompanied by instrumental music, followed; then the trumpets sounded, and all the people shouted, "God save Queen Anne! Long live Queen Anne! May the queen live forever!" At the banquet in the evening Prince George of Denmark sat at her majesty's left hand, and care was taken that tables should be provided for members of the house of commons, who had complained of being neglected at the coronation banquet of William and Mary. On the whole, the ceremony was eminently satisfactory from beginning to end, even to the thieves who stole all the plate used at her majesty's table in Westminster Hall, as well as the finest of the table linen. Shortly after her coronation Queen Anne {442}knighted Simon Harcourt, and appointed him solicitor-general; and her uncle, Lord Rochester, was chosen for her prime minister. It was with the assistance and advice of this uncle that Queen Anne performed an act of benevolence that has made her name venerated in the Church of England ever since. Certain sums of money that she had a right to claim for every office she conferred in the church, she applied, instead, towards a fund for increasing the salaries of some of the inferior members of the clergy who were so poorly paid that they were scarcely able to live. Originally, the money so claimed had been for the support of crusades, but later it went to the crown, and the clergy were taxed for their whole profit of the first year, and one-tenth of the annual gain forever after. So relieved of this tax, and with their salaries increased besides, the clergy of the Church of England had reason to be grateful to their sovereign. This fund received the name of "Queen Anne's bounty," which it has borne to the present day.