INTRODUCTORY ESSAY ON REGAL STATE AND CEREMONIAL, AND A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE CORONATION CEREMONY, ETC. BY WILLIAM J. THOMS, FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, 1838. TO HER MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY THE QUEEN. MADAM, I HAVE the honour to dedicate to Your Majesty the following volume, which I have ventured to designate "The Book of the Court;" and I beg leave, most respectfully, to tender my grateful thanks for the distinction which Your Majesty has conferred upon me, by granting me Your Majesty's gracious permission so to do. May I be allowed to add to this expression of thanks, my fervent prayer for Your Majesty's long and happy reign, and that, -while under Your Majesty's governance, the country may boast of the same high honour in arms, and glory in the liberal arts, which distinguished it in the reign of Elizabeth,-Your Majesty may, under Providence, secure those advantages to Your people, without the heavy cares and ceaseless anxieties which their purchase entailed upon that illustrious Queen. |