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and the letter did not specify which of the twices it was. Well! the bridemaids whipped on their virginity; the new road and the parks were thronged; the guns were choaking with impatience to go off; and sir James Lowther, who was to pledge his majesty, was actually married to lady Mary Stuart.1 Five, six, seven, eight o'clock came, and no queen: she lay at Witham at lord Abercorn's, who was most tranquilly in town; and it is not certain even whether she will be composed enough to be in town to-night. She has been sick but half an hour; sung and played on the harpsichord all the voyage, and been cheerful the whole time. The coronation will now certainly not be put offso I shall have the pleasure of seeing you on the 15th. The weather is close and sultry; and, if the wedding is to-night, we shall all die.

They have made an admirable speech for the Tripoline ambassador-that he said he heard the king had sent his first eunuch to fetch the princess. I should think he meaned lord ***.

You will find the town over head and ears in disputes about rank, precedence, processions, entrées, &c. One point, that of the Irish peers, has been excellently liquidated: lord Halifax has stuck up a paper in the coffee-room at Arthur's, importing, "That his majesty, not having leisure to determine a point of such great consequence, permits for this time such Irish peers as shall be at the marriage to walk in the procession." Every body concludes those personages will understand this order, as it is drawn up in their own language; otherwise, it is not very clear how they are to walk to the marriage, if they are at it before they come to it.

Strawberry returns its duty and thanks for all your lordship's goodness to it, and, though it has not got its wedding-clothes yet, will be happy to see you. Lady Betty Mackenzie is the

1 Eldest daughter of the earl of Bute. Sir James Lowther succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of Henry, third viscount Lonsdale, and was created baron Lowther of Lowther, and baron of Kendal, co. Cumberland, baron of Brugh, co. Westmoreland, and earl of Lonsdale 1784, all of which titles became extinct on his death without issue in 1802. But he was also created in 1797 Baron and Viscount Lowther of Whitehaven, co. Cumberland, with remainder to the heirs male of the Rev. Sir W. Lowther, bart., in which title he was succeeded by the present earl, son and heir of the said Sir William. [Ed.]

individual woman she was-she seems to have been gone three years, like the sultan in the Persian Tales, who popped his head into a tub of water, pulled it up again, and fancied he had been a dozen years in bondage in the interim. She is not altered in a tittle. Adieu, my dear lord!

Your most faithful servant.

Twenty minutes past three in the afternoon, not in the

middle of the night.

Madame Charlotte is this instant arrived. The noise of coaches, chaises, horsemen, mob, that have been to see her pass through the parks, is so prodigious that I cannot distinguish the guns. I am going to be dressed, and before seven shall launch into the crowd. Pray for me!

TO THE HON. H. S. CONWAY.

Arlington-street, Sept. 9, 1761.

THE date of my promise is now arrived, and I fulfil it— fulfil it with great satisfaction, for the queen is come; I have seen her, have been presented to her-and may go back to Strawberry. For this fortnight I have lived upon the road between Twickenham and London: I came, grew impatient, returned; came again, still to no purpose. The yachts made the coast of Suffolk last Saturday, on Sunday entered the road of Harwich, and on Monday morning the king's chief eunuch, as the Tripoline ambassador calls lord A***, landed the princess. She lay that night at lord Abercorn's at Witham, the palace of silence; and yesterday at a quarter after three arrived at St. James's. In half an hour, one heard of nothing but proclamations of her beauty: every body was content, every body pleased. At seven, one went to court. The night was sultry. About ten, the procession began to move towards the chapel, and at eleven they all came up into the drawing-room. She looks very sensible, cheerful, and is remarkably genteel. Her

1 Lord Anson, who had the command of the squadron which conveyed the royal yacht. [Ed.]

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tiara of diamonds was very pretty, her stomacher sumptuous; her violet-velvet mantle and ermine so heavy, that the spectators knew as much of her upper half as the king himself. You will have no doubts of her sense by what I shall tell you. On the road, they wanted her to curl her toupet: she said she thought it looked as well as any of the ladies sent to fetch her; if the king bid her she would wear a periwig, otherwise she would remain as she was. When she caught the first glimpse of the palace, she grew frightened and turned pale; the duchess of Hamilton smiled-the princess said, "My dear duchess, you may laugh, you have been married twice, but it is no joke to

me." Her lips trembled as the coach stopped, but she jumped out with spirit, and has done nothing but with good-humour and cheerfulness. She talks a great deal-is easy, civil, and not disconcerted. At first, when the bride-maids and court were introduced to her, she said, " Mon Dieu, il y en a tant, il y en a tant!" She was pleased when she was to kiss the peeresses; but lady Augusta was forced to take her hand and give it to those that were to kiss it, which was prettily humble and goodnatured. While they waited for supper, she sat down, sung, and played. Her French is tolerable, she exchanged much both of that and German with the king, the duke, and the duke of York. They did not get to bed till two. To-day was a drawing-room: every body was presented to her; but she spoke to nobody, as she could not know a soul. The crowd was much less than at a birth-day, the magnificence very little more. The king looked very handsome, and talked to her continually with great good-humour. It does not promise as if they two would be the two most unhappy persons in England from this event. The bride-maids, especially lady Caroline Russel, lady Sarah Lenox, and lady Elizabeth Keppel, were beautiful figures. With neither features nor air, lady Sarah was by far the chief angel. The duchess of Hamilton was almost in

2 Elizabeth Gunning, one of the famous beauties. She married James, duke of Hamilton, who died 12th January 1758; and secondly, Major-general Campbell, afterwards John fifth duke of Argyle. Her beauty was so great, and created such a sensation, that it was said by Horace Walpole that seven hundred people sat up all night in and about an inn in Yorkshire, to see her get into her post-chaise next morning. [Ed.]

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possession of her former beauty, to-day; and your other duchess,3 your daughter, was much better dressed than I ever saw her. Except a pretty lady Sutherland, and a most perfect beauty, an Irish miss Smith, I don't think the queen saw much else to discourage her: my niece,5 lady Kildare, Mrs. Fitzroy, were none of them there. There is a ball to-night, and two more drawing-rooms; but I have done with them. The duchess of Queensbury and lady Westmoreland were in the procession, and did credit to the ancient nobility.

You don't presume to suppose, I hope, that we are thinking of you, and wars, and misfortunes, and distresses, in these festival times. Mr. Pitt himself would be mobbed if he talked of any thing but clothes, and diamonds, and bride-maids. Oh! yes, we have wars, civil wars; there is a campaign opened in the bed-chamber. Every body is excluded but the ministers; even the lords of the bed-chamber, cabinet counsellors, and foreign ministers: but it has given such offence that I don't know whether lord Huntingdon must not be the scape-goat. Adieu! I am going to transcribe most of this letter to your

countess.

Yours ever.

To GEORGE MONTAGU, Esq.

Arlington-street, Sept. 24, 1761.

I AM glad you arrived safe in Dublin, and hitherto like it so well; but your trial is not begun yet. When your king comes, the ploughshares will be put into the fire. Bless your stars that your king is not to be married or crowned. All the vines of Bourdeaux, and all the fumes of Irish brains cannot make a town so drunk as a regal wedding and coronation. I

The duchess of Richmond, Mr. Conway's daughter-in-law. Lady Mary Bruce, who married 1st April 1757, Charles duke of Richmond, was the only daughter of Charles last earl of Ailesbury, by his third wife Caroline, daughter of general John Campbell, afterwards fourth duke of Argyle. Lady Ailesbury married secondly the Right Hon. Henry Seymour Conway. [Ed.] 4 Afterwards married to lord Llandaff. [Or.]

5 The countess of Waldegrave. [Or.]

am going to let London cool, and will not venture into it again this fortnight. Oh! the buzz, the prattle, the crowds, the noise, the hurry! Nay, people are so little come to their senses, that though the coronation was but the day before yesterday, the duke of Devonshire had forty messages yesterday, desiring tickets for a ball, that they fancied was to be at court last night. People had set up a night and a day, and yet wanted to see a dance. If I was to entitle ages, I would call this the century of crowds. For the coronation, if a puppet-show could be worth a million, that is. The multitudes, balconies, guards, and processions, made Palace-yard the liveliest spectacle in the world: the hall was the most glorious. The blaze of lights, the richness and variety of habits, the ceremonial, the benches of peers and peeresses, frequent and full, were as awful as a pageant can be; and yet for the king's sake and my own, I never wish to see another; nor am impatient to have my lord Effingham's promise fulfilled. The king complained that so few precedents were kept for their proceedings. Lord Effingham owned, the earl marshal's office had been strangely neglected; but he had taken such care for the future, that the next coronation would be regulated in the most exact manner imaginable. The number of peers and peeresses present was not very great; some of the latter, with no excuse in the world, appeared in lord Lincoln's gallery, and even walked about the hall indecently in the intervals of the procession. My lady Harrington, covered with all the diamonds she could borrow, hire, or seize, and with the air of Roxana, was the finest figure at a distance; she complained to George Selwyn that she was to walk with lady Portsmouth, who would have a wig, and a stick -"Pho," said he, "You will only look as if you were taken up by the constable." She told this every where, thinking the reflection was on my lady Portsmouth. Lady Pembroke alone, at the head of the countesses, was the picture of majestic modesty; the duchess of Richmond as pretty as nature and dress, with no pains of her own, could make her; lady Spencer, lady Sutherland, and lady Northampton, very pretty figures. Lady Kildare, still beauty itself, if not a little too large. The ancient peeresses were by no means the worst party: lady Westmoreland, still handsome, and with more dignity than all; the duchess of Queensbury looked well, though her locks milk

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