It is probable that the new-born interest in the House of Hanover reached its height at George the First’s coronation, but even on that day all was not quite harmony. There were Jacobite riots in Bristol, Birmingham and Norwich. In London, though all passed off quietly, the loyalty of the mob showed signs of change; affronts were offered to the King, and shouts were heard of “Damn King George”. If we may believe Baron Pöllnitz, there was one present at Westminster Hall who openly refused to acknowledge George the First as king on the very day of his coronation. When the champion, armed from head to foot in mail, rode into the banqueting hall, and, in a loud voice, challenged any person who did not acknowledge George as King of England, a woman threw down her glove, and cried that his Majesty King James the Third was the only lawful owner of the crown, and the Elector of Hanover was a usurper. But this story is unsupported by any other authority. Everything goes to show that for the first few months, until the English people came to know more of their Hanoverian King, there was little open opposition. The Jacobites were for the moment dumfoundered by the ease and smoothness of the change, while the Tories, divided amongst themselves, were in hopeless confusion. Even Louis the Fourteenth, that bulwark of Jacobite hopes, acknowledged George as King of England. The great mass of the nation acquiesced in the new _régime_, but without enthusiasm, and were willing to give it a fair trial. But the Whigs made amends for the lack of general enthusiasm, and were jubilant at the turn of events, which had exceeded their most sanguine hopes. A month or two later the Government appointed “A day of public thanksgiving for his Majesty’s happy and peaceable accession to the crown,” and the King, with the Prince and Princess of Wales, and all the great officers of state, attended a special service in St. Paul’s Cathedral, where a _Te Deum_ was sung and a sermon preached by the Bishop of Gloucester. Everything passed off harmoniously, and the royal procession was loudly acclaimed on its way to and from St. Paul’s. Truly the stars in their courses were fighting for the House of Hanover. FOOTNOTES TO BOOK II, CHAPTER I: [46] _The Weekly Journal_, 22nd September, 1714. [47] Lord Berkeley of Stratton to Lord Strafford, 24th September, 1714. Wentworth Papers. [48] Wentworth Papers. [49] The _Leiden Gazette_, Hanover, 29th October, 1714. [50] _The Daily Courant_, 19th October, 1714. [51] _Ibid._, 12th October, 1714. [52] Peter Wentworth to Lord Strafford, 18th October, 1714. [53] A long and detailed account of the coronation of George I. is given in _The Political State of Great Britain_, vol. viii., pp. 347 _et seq._, from which these particulars are taken. [54] Lady Cowper’s Diary. CHAPTER II. THE COURT OF THE FIRST GEORGE. 1714–1715.