KING EDWARD'S CORONATION 61 to the accounts of the Peace rejoicings in 1814, and to the visit of the allied Sovereigns and the review of the Scots Greys in their presence. Who does not remember the terrible shock and trial that came to us when all our hearts and homes were filled with rejoicing at the closely approaching Coronation of the King? The streets were thronged with thousands upon thousands of subjects, all filled with loyalty and expectation, when suddenly in their faces one saw the result of the official notice that "the Coronation would not take place on the following day." All around one were brightness and joy, when like a flash came the intimation which made the soul quake, and we knew that our King was in dire peril. I had been up early and had walked out to see the decorations—and how beautiful they were! I think St James's Street struck me as being in the best taste, the most complete, with the long festoons of flowers, the white doves hovering amid the blaze of colour, and those two splendid statues at the top of the street, Britannia and Peace. I wandered with the crowd down Piccadilly, and saw joy and happiness on all sides, and heard the cheery blows of the hammers as the workmen gave the last |