A few days after, Horace appears to have modified his opinion. I wonder whether the corns of his self-esteem had been trodden on in the interim?
"Well then, this great king is a very little one. He has the sublime strut of his grandfather (or a cock-sparrow), and the divine white eyes of all his family on the mother's side. His curiosity seems to have consisted in the original plan of travelling, for I cannot say he takes notice of anything in particular. The mob adore and huzza him, and so they did at the first instant. They now begin to know why, for he flings money to them out of the window; and by the end of the week, I do not doubt they will want to choose him for Middlesex. His court is extremely well ordered, for they bow as low to him at every word as if his name were Sultan Amurath. You would take his first minister for only the first of his slaves. I hope this example, which they have been good enough to exhibit at the Opera, will civilize us. There is, indeed, a pert young gentleman who a little discomposes this august ceremonial; his name is Count Holck; his age, three-and-twenty; and his post answers to one that we had formerly in England ages ago, called in our tongue, a royal favourite."
On August 30, his Majesty arrived at Cambridge, en route for York races. The vice-chancellor at once waited on the king with the heads of houses, and "showed him the elephant." After walking wearily through the town and its sights, Christian got off by inviting the vice-chancellor to supper. He arrived at York the next day with a retinue of one hundred and twenty persons, and shirked a grand entertainment which the mayor and corporation insisted on giving him. He returned to London viâ Manchester, where "he was particularly gratified by viewing the stupendous works of the Duke of Bridgewater, at which he expressed both astonishment and pleasure."
On September 4, Christian returned to town, after performing the great feat of travelling nearly six hundred miles in seven days. On September 8, we find him, after the Opera, going to take a view of the house of Mrs. Cornelis, in Soho Square, of which Casanova gives us such fragrant details. The rooms had been got up "regardless of expense," more than two thousand wax candles being lighted; and the king opened the ball with the Duchess of Lancaster. Among the persons present, I notice the Russian General Filosofow, but am unable to discover what had brought that arch-intriguer to England.
On September 12, a magnificent entertainment was given Christian at Sion House, by the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland. The account of the festivities reminds us of the later days of Vauxhall, for there were fifteen thousand coloured lamps; and the temple erected in the inner court was ornamented with transparent paintings that had a very happy effect. Among the company were their royal highnesses the Princess Amelia and the Dukes of Gloucester and Cumberland.
On September 17, Christian arrived in Oxford with the principal members of his suite, and was received in great pomp by Dr. Durell, the vice-chancellor. After seeing all the sights, he was taken to the theatre, where, in full convocation, the king had the honorary degree of D.C.L. conferred upon him. The same honour befell Bernstorff, Schimmelmann, Holck, Düring, and Bülow, while Struensee had the honorary degree of Doctor of Physic conferred upon him, being the second foreigner to whom this honour had been granted. I wonder how much Christian understood of the elegant Latin speech in which Dr. Vansittart, Regius Professor of Law, presented him? From Oxford, Christian visited Ditchley Park, Blenheim, Buckingham, and Stow; and we can quite agree with the polite writer in the "Annual Register," who says: "His journeyings are so rapid, and his stay at places so short, that if he is not a youth of more than common talents, he must have a very confused idea of what he sees." Horace Walpole, writing to Sir H. Mann, under date September 22, speaks very severely on this head, but, I am afraid, with more justice than usual:
"I can tell you nothing but what you know already about the King of Denmark hurrying from one corner of England to the other, without seeing anything distinctly, fatiguing himself, breaking his chaise, going tired to bed in inns, and getting up to show himself to the mob at the window. I believe that he is a very silly lad; but the mob adore him, though he has neither done nor said anything worth repeating; but he gives them an opportunity of getting together, of staring, and of making foolish observations. Then the news papers talk their own language, and call him a great personage; and a great personage that comes so often in their way seems almost one of themselves raised to the throne. At the play of the Provoked Wife, he clapped whenever there was a sentence against matrimony,—a very civil proceeding when his wife is an English princess!"[67]
On the 19th, a very grand entertainment was given by their Majesties to the King of Denmark at the queen's house, at which the Princess Dowager of Wales, the Duke of Gloucester, and a great number of the nobility, were present. Covers were laid for one hundred and seventy; and after the entertainment there was a ball, which Christian opened at nine o'clock with the queen; after which, George III. walked a minuet with the Duchess of Ancaster. The King of Denmark, who always kept it up to the last, did not retire till half-past four in the morning.
But the grandest affair of all was the dinner given to Christian by the City. The lord mayor and aldermen proceeded in their state barges to fetch the king from the Stairs, at New Palace Yard, and conveyed him to Temple Stairs, where he landed, and took some refreshments offered by the Benchers. Judging from an engraving in the "Gentleman's Magazine," the scene on the river must have been very gay; and in those days, when the Thames still possessed some claim to the epithet of silvery, the king doubtless enjoyed the animated scene.
From the Temple, the king proceeded in the City state coach to the Mansion House, preceded by the Honourable Artillery Company, and the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, the freedom of which Christian had deigned to accept. On arrival, there was the inevitable address read by Mr. Recorder, from which it is worth while to extract one passage, which seems to show that the force of lying could no further go:—