To have enjoyed the Coronation procession, I should have come straight
from America to the Hotel Cecil, and straight from the Hotel Cecil to a
five-guinea seat among the washed. My mistake was in coming from the
unwashed of the East End. There were not many who came from that
quarter. The East End, as a whole, remained in the East End and got
drunk. The Socialists, Democrats, and Republicans went off to the
country for a breath of fresh air, quite unaffected by the fact that four
hundred millions of people were taking to themselves a crowned and
anointed ruler. Six thousand five hundred prelates, priests, statesmen,
princes, and warriors beheld the crowning and anointing, and the rest of
us the pageant as it passed.
I saw it at Trafalgar Square, "the most splendid site in Europe," and the
very innermost heart of the empire. There were many thousands of us, all
checked and held in order by a superb display of armed power. The line
of march was double-walled with soldiers. The base of the Nelson Column
was triple-fringed with bluejackets. Eastward, at the entrance to the
square, stood the Royal Marine Artillery. In the triangle of Pall Mall
and Cockspur Street, the statue of George III.
Pages:
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131