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The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. / From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria cover

The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. / From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria

Chapter 979: CORONATION OF WILLIAM IV.
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About This Book

The volume traces British political, parliamentary, and military developments from the accession of George III through the early nineteenth century, chronicling changes of ministry and cabinet, debates over colonial taxation and the American conflict, parliamentary controversies involving figures such as Wilkes and Warren Hastings, questions of Catholic relief and slave-trade abolition, and responses to the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars, including major naval and continental campaigns, the union with Ireland, and domestic legislation on finance, civil liberties, and parliamentary reform.

CORONATION OF WILLIAM IV.

The coronation of William IV. took place on the 8th of September. The ceremony was shorn of the grotesque pageantry of chivalric times, and was confined to the interior of the abbey. The royal procession moved in state carriages from St. James’s Palace, and was escorted by the cavalry. His majesty was saluted with hearty cheers from the multitude, such as greeted his father in the most palmy days of his reign. His majesty, the first naval king that ever sat on the British throne, was dressed in an admiral’s uniform. As the procession passed, the bands which were stationed at different points played the national anthem, which tended to excite the enthusiasm of the people. In conformity with precedents, the coronation was distinguished by the grant of new honours. Three marquesses, four earls, and fifteen barons were created; and this increase of the peerage was afterwards succeeded by the addition of twenty-eight names to the list of baronets of the United Kingdom, for the express purpose of carrying the reform bill.