The last splendid scene of this year was when the queen was introduced to the citizens of London, on Lord Mayor's Day. All the royal family left St. James's Palace at noon in great state, escorted by guards, and cheered by crowds of people. They proceeded to the house of David Barclay, a silk mercer, and a member of the Society of Friends. Barclay was eighty-one years of age, and boasted of having entertained the two other Georges on occasions similar to the one on which he welcomed George III. and his Queen Charlotte. About a hundred Quakers had assembled at the old man's house, which was decorated with brilliant crimson damask, to do honor to their majesties, and each was presented in turn. The king kissed all the women, young and old, ugly and pretty, without distinction, and after he passed into the next room, his young brother followed his example. A little grand-daughter of Mr. Barclay kissed the queen's hand with so much grace that the Princess-Dowager took her up in her arms and embraced her a dozen times. The Duke of York was so charmed with the child that he wanted to present her to the king; but she refused until assured that he was a prince, whereupon she confidently put her hand in his, and permitted herself to be led. His majesty was greatly amused when the little five-year old Quakeress told him, "that she loved the king, though she must not love fine things, and that her grandpapa would not allow her to kneel." Mr. Barclay's daughters served the queen with tea; but they merely handed it to the ladies-in-waiting, who presented {155}it on their knees. After witnessing the procession, the royal family attended a banquet at Guildhall, which cost eight thousand pounds. It was so magnificent that, on retiring, the king said to the Lord Mayor, "To be elegantly entertained I must come to this end of the city." One of the foreign ministers described it as a feast fit only for one king to give to another. The year closed with an act of parliament settling forty thousand pounds per annum on Queen Charlotte, with a dowry of a hundred thousand pounds and two palaces, in case she should outlive the king. His majesty went in state to the House to give the royal assent to the bill; and the queen, who accompanied him, rose from her seat and made him a profound curtsey in acknowledgment of the favor. Somerset House was not considered fine enough for her majesty's town residence, so George bought another for twenty-one thousand pounds, and settled it on his consort. It was known as Buckingham House, and afterwards as Queen's House, and was intended as a sort of retreat when its owner felt disposed to retire from the ceremony and state of St. James's Palace. It was in this house that George III. began the formation of a library, that in the following reign was presented to the nation, and is now in the British Museum.