CHAPTER II Acceseion and Coronation.

Te Aroha News, 21 June 1887, Page 2

CHAPTER II Acceseion and Coronation.

KING WILLIAM was rapidly approaching that bourne from which no traveller returns when the Princess reached her legal majority — eighteen. His dislike for the Duchess of Kent, which during the last year or so of his reign he took no pains to conceal, led him to hope that a regency should not be necessary. Nor was it. He gave a ball on the 24th of May, to celebrate his niece's birthday, but was himself too ill to attend. Less than a month later he was dead. A pretty description is given by Miss Wynn of the manner in which the Princess received the news of her ascension. The King died about midnight, and at five in the morning the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Howley), the Lord Chamberlain (the Marquis of Conyingham), and Sir Henry Halford arrived at the door of Kensington Palace with the news, " They knocked, they rang, they thumped for a considerable time before they could rouse the porter at the gate ; they were again kept waiting in the court yard, then turned into one of the lower rooms, where they seemed forgotten by everybody. They rang the bell, and desired that the attendant of the Princess Victoria might be sent to inform Her Royal Highness that they requested an audience on business of importance. After another delay, and another ring to enquire the cause, the attendant was summoned, who stated that the Princess was in such a sweet sleep that she could not venture to disturb her. Then they said, ' We are come on business of State to the Queen, and even her sleep must give way to that.' It did; and to prove that she did not keep them waiting, in a few minutes she came into the room in a loose white nightgown and shawl, her hair falling upon her shoulders, her feet in slippers, tears in her eyes, but perfectly collected and dignified." At eleven o'clock she met her first Privy Council to receive the homage of her Ministers, of whom Viscount Melbourne was Premier. Greville relates that she was coached in her duties by the Premier, and when she, a slip of a girl of eighteen, met the great men of the Kingdom, she was perfectly composed and showed no sign of fear or embarrassment. " She was plainly dressed " says Greville, " and in mourning. After she had read her speech and taken and signed the oath for the securing of the privileges of the Church of Scotland, the Privy Councillors were sworn, the two royal dukes first by themselves ; and as these two old men, her uncles knelt before her, swearing allegiance and kissing her hand, I saw her blush up to the eyes as if she felt the contrast between their , civil and their natural relations, and that was the only sign of emotion which she evinced. Her manner towards them was verygraceful and engaging. She kissed them both and rose from her chair and moved towards the Duke of Suffolk, who was farthest from her, and too infirm to reach her. She seemed rather bewildered at the multitude of men who were sworn, and who came one after another to kiss her hand, but she did not speak to

anybody, nor did she make the slightest difference in her manner or show any in her countenance to any individual of any rank, station or party. I particularly watched her when Melbourne and the ministers and the Duke of Wellington and Peel approached her. She went through the whole ceremony, occasionally looking at Melbourne for instruction when she had any doubt what to do, which hardly ever occurred, and with perfect calmness and self-possession, but at the same time with a graceful mo.lesty and propriety particularly interesting and ingratiating." Lord Melbourne, the Whig Piemier, though a statesman of only mediocre ability, was a man of great courtesy and a gentleman, and he remained the Queen's fast friend through life. The Coronation took place on June 28th at Westminster Abbey. The morning was wet, and the hundreds ot thousands of people who weie eaily astir in the hope of obtaining a view of the fair young queen, had their loyalty and their patience tested, by having to stand for hours in the mud and rain. It is estimated that fully half-a-million ol people came in from the country to witness the spectacle. The hour fixed tor the solemn ceremonial was noon, but before seven those of the ''privileged classes" who were entitled to a seat within the walls were there, resplendent in diamonds, ostrich feathers, and magnificent uniforms. Miss Martineau, in her description of the spectacle, says :—": — " The stone architecture contrasted finely with the gay colours of the multitude. From my high seat I commanded the whole north transept, the area with the throne, and many portions of galleries, and the balconies, which were called the vaultings Except a mere sprinkling of oddities, everybody was in full dress. The scarlet of the military officers mixed in well, and the groups of the clergy were dignified ; but to the unaccustomed eye the prevalence of court dresses had a curious effect. I was perpetually taking whole groups of gentlemen for Quakers, till I iccollected myself. The Earl Marshall's assistants, called gold sticks, looked well from above, flitting about in white breeches, silk stockings, blue laced frocks, and white sashes. The throne, covered, as was its footstool, with cloth of gold, stood on an elevation of four steps in the centre of the area." At ten o'clock the sound of cannon announced ..hat the Queen had entered her carriage, and by and by she appealed in a royal robe of crimson velvet, furred with ermine and bordered with gold, the collar of the Order of the Gaiter round her neck, and a small circle of gold round her head. Three swords were borne before her, the emblem of justice, of defence, and the blunted cuitanse — the sword of mercy, betokening that the Sovereign alone can pardon a convicted criminal. Her train was borne by the eight fairest girls to be found amongst the daughters of the dukes and marquises, all in cloth of silver, with roses in their hair. An eye-witness says :—": — " The Queen came in as gay as a laik, and looking like a girl on her birthday. However, this only lasted till she reached the middle of the cross of the Abbey, at the foot of the throne. On her rising fiom her knees before the faldstool, after her private devotions, the Archbishop of Canteibury turned her round to each of the four corners of the abbey, saying in a voice so clear that it was heard in the inmost recesses, ' Sirs, I here present unto you the undoubted Queen of this realm. Will ye all swear to do her homage ?' Each time he said it there were shouts of ' Long live Queen Victoiia!' and the sounding of trumpets and the waving of banners, which made the poor litttle Queen turn first very red and then very pale. Most of the ladies cried, and I felt I should not forget it as long as I lived. The Queen recovered herself after this, and went through all the rest as if she had often been crowned before, and seemed much impressed by the 'service, and a most beautiful one it was. The seivice was drawn up by St. Dunstan about the year 979, and, with a very few modifications, has been used ever since. The Communion Service is its foundation. An ingot of gold was offered by Her Majesty, and after a brief sermon by the Bishop of London, the Archbishop administered the solemn oath to guard and do justice to her people, to observe the laws, and defend the Church. The anointing followed, no empty ceremony, but the outward sign of the Holy Spirit of rule and authority. Four Knights of the Garter, in their blue velvet mantles, held a canopy of cloth of gold over the Sovereign's head, while the Dean of Westminster, taking the golden Ampulla from the altar, poured into the spoon some ot the oil, with which the Archbishop traced the cross on her head and hands, pronouncing the words, " Be thou anointed with holy oil as kings, priests, and prophets were anointed," while the choir chanted the anthem of the anointing of Solomon. Then he gave her his solemn benediction. She looked like a child receiving her father's blessing as she knelt, and all the bishops around joined their voices in a solemn Amen. The Primate then placed her on the throne, or rather St. Edward's Chair, so named from Edward the Confessor. Beneath the seat lies a rough stone, called in Erse the Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny. Tradition declares it was Jacob's pillow at Bethel, whence it was brought to Cashel, where the kings of Munster sat on it to be crowned. In 513, King Fergus having conquered part of Scotland, carried it thither, and Scottish kings took their seat on it till 1896, when Edward 1., thinking he had annexed Scotland, brought it to Westminster, and placed it where it has ever since remained

Here the Queen received the ring betrothing her to her people, the orb of empire, a small globe surmounted by a cross, and the sceptre of rule. There as the Queen sat, the Archbishop placed the Crown of England on her head, and at the same moment the peers and peeresses simultaneously put on their coronets, the bishops their mitres, the heralds their caps, the trumpets sounded, the drums beat, the cannon outside fired, the Tower guns answered, the mighty cheer within and without rent the air. The Archbishop then presented the Bible to her Majesty, and again led her to the throne, after which he was the first to do homage, followed by the lords spiritual (the other bishops) and the lords temporal in regular order, according to theii lank. Each removed his coronet, touched the crown on the Queen's head, and spoke thus : " 1 do become your liegeman of life and limb, and of earthly worship, and faith and love I will bear unto you, to live and die against all manner of folks. So help me, God." One of the barons, Lord Rolle, an old man past eighty, while ascending the steps of the throne to do her homage, fell, and it is related as an instance of her kindly impulsiveness that the Queen moved forward, and tried to help him. This little incident drew forth ecstatic shouts. And so ended the brilliant ceremonial of the Queen's coronation. May it be many years before such a ceremonial again take place !