The Marquis of Londonderrysaid, he would take the present opportunity of correcting an error which had gone abroad respecting what passed on a former evening relating to the Coronation. He believed, that the noble Earl opposite had stated, that the peers were to do homage to their Sovereign in the same manner as at the Coronation of George 4th., and not of George 3rd.
The Marquis of Londonderrythen wished to inquire, whether the noble Earl had taken into further consideration the suggestion which had been made by the noble Viscount on a previous evening, as to the procession of the peeresses. From all the information he could collect, he believed, that such a ceremony would very much tend to aid the trades people in this town. He believed, that if the noble Earl, or the select vestry of the Privy Council, to use the words of a noble Viscount, continued in their determination of smuggling in the Peeresses by Poets' Corner, and herding them together, where they could not be seen, depriving them, thereby, of all motives to spend large sums of money on their trains and other decorations, the ceremony would be found to be extremely unpopular among the fair class of visitors. As he believed that the arrangement of the affair depended on his Majesty's gracious pleasure, and not upon the will of the noble Earl opposite, or his select vestry, he wished to know whether the noble Earl had made any representations 366 to his Majesty on the subject, in consequence of the suggestion of a noble Viscount, and whether it was intended to allow the procession to take place? He thought that a procession was more especially requisite on the approaching occasion, because her Majesty was to be present, whereas the last Coronation was not attended by any Queen.
§ Earl Greyrepeated, what he had stated before, that the homage was to be paid according to the precedents of George 3rd. and George 4th. With respect to the question put by the noble Lord, relative to the procession of Peeresses, he begged leave to refer the noble Lord to the orders given to the Earl Marshal.
Viscount Strangfordsaid, that even at the risk of seeming importunate, he would beseech the noble Earl to take into consideration the question of the Peeresses' procession. He would tell the noble Earl, that this was no trifling matter. The trades people of this metropolis were discontented with the parsimony of the noble Earl. If this part of the ceremony were to cost the country one farthing in the way of additional taxation, he should be the last man in the House to propose any thing of the kind; but the truth was, that this procession, by taking the money out of the pockets of the rich, and putting it into the pockets of the poor, would enable the poor to pay the taxes, and thus benefit them and the revenue at the same time. The fact also was, that the manufacturing poor wanted bread. They had now an opportunity of earning some, and he knew that the noble Earl was too good a patriot to allow that opportunity to be lost. What, after all, would be the expense of a few hundred planks to make a platform? He would drive a bargain with the noble Lords opposite, and in order to obtain the suffrage of one of their colleagues, he would propose that the platform should be made of Baltic timber, instead of British Canadian. He was perfectly disinterested on this subject. He, unfortunately, had no lady for whom he felt sufficient interest to warrant him in thus troubling their Lordships. But many of their Lordships had ladies, and it was their bounden duty to gratify their ladies in all possible ways, as far as was consistent with the public service. Now if he should have the honour of being consulted by any of those noble ladies, he protested that he should advise them not 367 to give their noble Lords any peace, by day or by night, until they had carried their point, and were allowed to display their trains at the Coronation, as voluminously and gorgeously as ever their grandmothers or great-grandmothers had done before. He did entreat the noble Earl not to consider this as a laughable matter. The noble Earl would do more for the manufacturers of Spitalfields, if he enabled them to provide half a dozen comfortable meals for their families, than if he empowered them to send half a dozen Members to Parliament. Let them have the benefit of second thoughts, for second thoughts were oftentimes excellent; and as there was an amended Reform Bill, why should there not be an amended programme of the Coronation?
The Marquis of Clanricardesaid, that if there should be any parsimony, or any saving of the money of the rich at the ensuing Coronation, the blame would not belong to his Majesty's Ministers, or to the Privy Council; because the ladies, whether they sat with their trains under them all day long, or walked about till they were tired, must still wear the same costume. The persons of whom the artisans of this town would have to complain, would be those noble Lords, who, by going into the country and absenting themselves from the Coronation, would avoid spending any money on decorations.
§ The Marquis of Londonderry rose, but was interrupted by exclamations that there was no question before the House. He said that he had only one observation to make. He apprehended that if there should be no procession, there would be no occasion for trains at all.
§ The conversation ceased.