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the Seraphim, then came the Queen, attended by her maids of honour, then came His Majesty the King-followed by a glittering concourse. Two thrones had been prepared opposite each other very near the chancel, or rather on each side a throne at this end of the nave, and presently on these, while music still continued, their majesties had taken seat. The service then began, and after it had proceeded for some time the king went up to the altar, then sat facing it upon some cathedral chair while the Bishop of Trondhjem anointed his forehead with oil, making the sign of the cross, and afterwards his chest, when the Bishop passed his hand underneath the royal shirt, the oil being contained in a little golden horn said to be as old as any relic in the whole of Norway. Some delay arose in changing the robes His Majesty had on, which were ducal, and had now to be exchanged for royal, by reason of the chains and orders that were suspended round his neck; this was done by dign

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taries of the Church of Norway (Lutheran) in

vestments.

Once more the Bishop came forward, this time bearing in his hands the crown, which, by the assistance of those other ecclesiastics, now became placed on the king's head, and was immediately announced by a herald in loud voice to the assembled multitude, followed by cannon from all the men-of-war in the harbour acting upon some signal from the cathedral tower, and well-sustained, for every ship had twenty-one to fire, English, Prussian, French, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian. When this had subsided, while a very beautiful hymn was being chanted by the orchestra above, and the king had returned to his throne, the queen came before the altar as His Majesty had done and took her seat, entering with with a womanly appreciation into the whole scene. But when the crown was placed upon her head and adjusted by her maids of honour she was led before the king upon

his throne; and there, before all in that stately edifice assembled, made him, with her crown on, a bow that I shall never, while this life continue, be able to forget. One felt

66

as if

ten thousand swords must leap from their scabbards to avenge even a look that might threaten her with insult."

The royal palace of Trondhjem, occupied by their majesties for this occasion, was built entirely of wood, and is the largest of that kind in the whole of Europe; it was here on the day following, that I, with two more Englishmen, met our ambassador, and was presented. The levée was held in a drawing-room of the palace, its walls painted with various figures and designs on wood: it had a ceiling of great height, which gave the room an appearance of enormous size. All bowed low, on either side the whole length of the room, from end to end directly their majesties came in; the spangled habiliments, various decorations and abundant orders which

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