Long before half-past ten there was not a vacant place in the Abbey; the venerable church was crowded with ladies, who were anxious to make the Coronation the point of a new departure; Society, it was said, would begin again with a King. No doubt, many ladies whispered, women were, after all, poor administrators; their nature was too tender, too much disposed to pity, which produced weakness. Men, who received these confessions, laughed courteously, but remembered the crowded prisons, and the prisoners, and the Convict Wardens. At eleven o'clock the procession started from Buckingham Palace. The ancient ceremonials were copied as closely as possible. After the bands came the mounted Guards; then followed heralds; then came the Venerable Bishop of London, who was to crown the King, in a carriage; then officers of State on horseback; then the King's faithful Guards, those sturdy gamekeepers who stood by him at the beginning; and last of all, save for a regiment of cavalry which brought up the rear, the King himself on horseback--gallant, young, handsome, his face lit with the sunshine of success; and riding beside him--at sight of whom a shout went up that rent the air--no other than the beautiful Lady Carlyon herself. It appeared, when they arrived at the Abbey, that the coronation was to be preceded by another and an unexpected ceremony. For the organ pealed forth the 'Wedding March'; there were waiting at the gates a dozen bridesmaids in white and silver; the choristers were ready with a wedding-hymn; and the Bishop, with the Very Rev. Clarence Veysey, newly appointed Dean of the Abbey, was within the altar-rails to make this illustrious pair man and wife. Then followed, without pause, the Coronation service, with the braying of trumpets, the proclamation of heralds, the King's solemn oath, the crowning of King and Queen, and the homage of the Peers. And amid the shouts of the people, while cannon fired _feux de joie_, and the bells rang, and the bands played 'God save the King,' the newly-crowned monarch rode back to his Palace, bringing home with him the sweetheart of his childhood. Now there is so much grace and virtue in a real love match that it goes straight to the heart of all who witness it. And since such fruits as these manifestly followed with Man's administration, not a maiden among them all but cried and waved her handkerchief, and sang 'God save the King!' LONDON AND GLASGOW: COLLINS' CLEAR-TYPE PRESS * * * * * Illustrated Pocket Classics Cloth, 1/- net. Leather, gilt edges, 2/- net (_In Great Britain only_) THIN PAPER EDITIONS AT POPULAR PRICES 2000 New Illustrations _LIST OF TITLES_ AINSWORTH, H. 74 Windsor Castle 200 The Tower of London À KEMPIS, THOMAS 98 The Imitation of Christ ANDERSEN, HANS 175 Fairy Tales ARNOLD, MATTHEW 138 Poems AURELIUS, MARCUS 82 The Meditations of