The visit excited a great deal of Hanoverian enthusiasm, the whole population of Osnabruck coming out to greet their King, and all the streets through which the royal cavalcade passed were strewed with flowers and evergreens. "Every village, too," adds the same authority, "had triumphal arches erected, with appropriate inscriptions, all bearing evident marks of real religion."[73] The pastor in his robes is described as standing by the whole parish on either side, and the women carrying their Bibles under their arms. [73] Ibid., p. 107. The King's reception at Hanover was equally gratifying. His Majesty made his entry on horseback, and the occasion produced a grand spectacle. His Majesty held a levee and a drawing-room in the capital, which was brilliantly attended; and everything was proceeding in the most gratifying way, when a severe fit of the gout, brought on by spraining his knee when getting on horseback, put a stop to all festivities. This occurred about the middle of October, and he did not commence his return till the end of the month, when the same enthusiastic spirit accompanied his progress. "Every town and village was crowded. The sacred emblem of the arch, with flowers and branches of trees, with happy devices, prevailed everywhere. The peasantry all well dressed." Subsequently, a curious incident occurred. "Some hundreds of miners from the mountains came to serenade their king. They are a particular race of Saxon origin, and for centuries have preserved their customs, language, and manners. Their countenance is interesting; I saw five or six in a room. They have a resigned silent melancholy, arising, I believe, from being so much underground; they are very religious. They sang with a band of music, two of the most beautiful hymns I ever heard. These miners had walked thirty miles for the purpose of paying their devotion to their sovereign."[74] [74] Knighton's "Memoirs," p. 114. A tournament was got up for his entertainment at Goettingen, which is described as having been beautiful and magnificent. At this famous university an address was presented by the authorities, that affected the King to tears. He had felt warmly the loyal affection his continental subjects had so earnestly displayed; and of the visits he had paid to different portions of his dominions, he appears to have enjoyed this the most thoroughly. His return journey was rendered gratifying by the fine weather with which it was accompanied, and the beautiful scenery through which he passed. Everything seemed to favour him, and he reached England without being sensibly affected by the fatigue, and with his general health very much improved.