THE ROYAL PROCESSION TO PARLIAMENT. (Page 267.)
THE Plate represents the large open space before the principal entrance to the House of Lords. The state carriage is very massive, and profusely decorated with carving and gilding. It is drawn by eight cream-coloured horses, the off-horse of each pair being led by one of the King's footmen. The coachman and footmen wear scarlet turned up with blue; the postillion blue; and these liveries are almost covered with broad gold lace. His Majesty is usually accompanied in the carriage by a Lord of the Bedchamber, and the Groom of the Stole, who assist him to robe after he arrives at the House. A yeoman of the guards walks on each side of the carriage. A strong detachment of the horse-guards accompanies the carriage; others of those guards keep the middle of the street clear from carriages and horse and foot passengers, till the procession is closed. The manner of that duty is accurately represented in the Plate.
The Master of the Horse precedes his Majesty in a state chariot drawn by six horses; as also do some of the other great officers of state, in three coaches drawn each by six horses. The portico on the right of the Plate is the principal entrance to the House of Lords. The house with a balcony is Waghorn's coffee-house, with an entrance into the lobbies of the House, and is principally appropriated to the use of the peers or members of the House of Commons, who may be desirous of taking refreshments. Almost immediately under this house is the entrance to the cellar or vault in which Guy Faux and the other conspirators of 1605 lodged the barrels of gunpowder, designed at one blow to annihilate the three estates of the realm, when assembled in parliament. The adjoining house, whose gabel-end is seen, is the Ship tavern. The house in the foreground to the right is the Star and Garter tavern. All the buildings contiguous to these, in the Plate, contain apartments and offices of the two houses of parliament, with the exception of the lofty gabel-end crowned with a turret, which is the south end of Westminster-hall.
The Gothic building on the left of the Plate is Henry the Seventh's chapel. The flag seen over the roof is placed on the top of St. Margaret's church. The modern building beyond, with wings projecting and higher than the centre, is the Ordnance-office.
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