On the day of the coronation a considerable crowd assembled about her
Majesty's house in South Audley Street soon after four o'clock. As soon
as it was ascertained that her Majesty's coach was making ready in the
yard, the crowd, both in South Audley Street and in Hill Street, became
very great. The wall opposite to her Majesty's house in Hill Street was
soon covered with spectators, who announced to the crowd below each
successive step of preparation. "The horses are to;" "every thing is
quite ready;" "the Queen has entered the coach,"--were the gradual
communications, and they were received with the loudest cheers. Lady
Anne Hamilton arrived a few minutes before five, and was most cordially
and respectfully greeted. Soon after five the gate was thrown open, and
a shout was raised--"The Queen! The Queen!" The Queen immediately
appeared in her coach of state, drawn by six bays. Lady Hood and Lady
Anne Hamilton sat opposite to her Majesty. Lord Hood followed in his own
carriage. Her Majesty looked extraordinarily well; and acknowledged,
with great dignity and composure, the gratulations of the people on each
side of her coach. The course taken was, through Great Stanhope Street,
Park Lane, Hyde-Park Corner, the Green Park, St. James's Park, Birdcage
Walk, and by Storey's Gate, along Prince's Street, to Dean's Yard--a
way, it must be observed, the least likely to attract notice or to
gather crowds. The crowd accumulated immensely along this line; the
soldiers every where presented arms with the utmost promptitude and
respect; and a thousand voices kept up a constant cry of "The Queen!"
"The Queen for ever!" The _coup d'oeil_ from the road along the Green
Park, was the most striking which can be imagined; the whole space
presented one mass of well dressed males and females hurrying with
every possible rapidity to accompany the Queen, and shouting their
attachment and admiration. The two torrents that poured along the south
side of the park and the eastern end occasioned the greatest conflux at
Storey's Gate. As soon as the Queen's arrival was known in the scene of
the King's coronation, shouts of "The Queen!" at once arose from all the
booths, and hats and handkerchiefs were every where waved in token of
respect. As soon as her Majesty came in sight of the coronation platform
and Westminster Abbey, she stopped for a few moments, apparently
uncertain what course to take, as she had hitherto met with no
obstruction, and yet had received nothing like an invitation to
approach. At this moment the feelings of the spectators were wound up to
a pitch of the most intense curiosity and most painful anxiety. The
persons who immediately surrounded her carriage knew no bounds in
expressing their enthusiastic attachment, while many of those in the
galleries, apprehensive of the consequences of the experiment which she
was making, could not restrain their fears and alarms. In the meantime
great confusion seemed to prevail among the officers and soldiers on and
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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