Neither military nor
civil pomp was wanting. The avenues were lined with grenadiers.
The streets were kept clear by cavalry. The peers, robed in gold
and ermine, were marshalled by the heralds under Garter
King-at-Arms. The judges in their vestments of state attended to
give advice on points of law. Near a hundred and seventy lords,
three-fourths of the Upper House as the Upper House then was,
walked in solemn order from their usual place of assembling to the
tribunal. The junior Baron present led the way, George Eliot, Lord
Heathfield, recently ennobled for his memorable defence of
Gibraltar against the fleets and armies of France and Spain. The
long procession was closed by the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal of
the realm, by the great dignitaries, and by the brothers and sons
of the King. Last of all came the Prince of Wales, conspicuous by
his fine person and noble bearing. The grey old walls were hung
with scarlet. The long galleries were crowded by an audience such
as has rarely excited the fears or the emulation of an orator.
There were gathered together, from all parts of a great, free,
enlightened, and prosperous empire, grace and female loveliness,
wit and learning, the representatives of every science and of
every art.
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