'Tall' Royal Titles.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 26, 26 June 1902, Page 1

'Tall ' Royal Titles.

The procession of titles conferred upon King Edward VII. at his coronation this week is quite modest and unpretentious compared with those of certain others of the world's rulers. The title * Defender of the Faith ' — conferred on King Henry VIII, in his Catholic days by Pope Clement — has its counterpart in the style ' Commander of the Faithful ' affected by the Sultan of Turkey, and in that of ' Emir-al-Mumenin,' or 'Prince of Tiuc Believers,' adopted by the Sultan of Morocco. The Ameer of Afghanistan writes himself down ' Zia-ul-Mitatiwadin,' or ' Light of Union and Religion.' The Emperor of Japan calls himself the Mikado or Honorable Gate — an appellation which recalls the Turkish ' Sublime Porte' (or Gate). Menehk of Abyssinia claims to be' King of Kings' (Negus Negust '). So does the Shah of Persia (' Shah-in-Shah '). And so, likewise, did the Kings of Burmah, The boy Emperor of China soars much higher. He styles himself variously 'Tien Whang' ('Divinely August'), ' Whang Ti ' (' August Ruler '), ' Wan Sui, Wan Wan Sui ' ('Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand Years' — that is everlasting), and 'Tien Tse,' or 'Son of Heaven.' But for ' charmin' variety' and thunderous sound, commend us to ex- King Theebaw of Burmah, who was deposed by the British in 1885. Here is his moderate list: 'His Most Glorious Excellent Majesty ; Lord of the Ishaddan ; King of Elephants ; Master of Many White Elephants ; Lord of the Mines of Gold and Silver, Rubies, Amber, and the Noble Serpentine; Sovereign of the Empires of Thunaparanta and Tampadipa and other Great Empires and Countries, and of all the Umbrella- Wearing Chiefs; the Supporter of Religion; the Sun-Descended Monarch; Arbiter of Life and Gteat Righteous King; King of Kings; and Possessorof Boundless Dominions and Supreme Wisdom,' Here we pause for breath. * The Shah of Persia calls his royal self the ' Luminous Star of the Firmament of Crowned Heads, the Sun of the Heaven of Royalty.' Abdul Hamid of Turkey is (among other splendid things) ' the Shadow of God upon Earth.' The King ot Achem in his day called himselt ' Sovereign of the Universe.' He of Monomotapa shared with half a do/en others the dignity of being ' Lord of the Sun and Moon.' Here were the olden titles of the Kings of Arracan : ' Emperor of Arracan, possessor of the White Elephant and the two Earrings, and in virtue of this possession legitimate heir of Pequ and Bramn, Lord of the twelve provinces of Bengal and the twelve Kings who place their heads under his heel/ The tragedy of Bombastes Furioso contains no more exquisite bit of bathos than the concluding po. tion of the st) le and titles of the Kings of Ava. Here is the list :— ' King of Kings, whom all others should obey, as they are the cause of preservation of all animals, the regulator of the seasons, the absolute master of the ebb and flow of the sea, brother to the sun, and King of the twenty-four umbrellas.' Prize-fighters to the Fore. At one coronation, and only one, in English history, prizefighters played almost as prominent a part as the Bench of

Bishops or the old nobility. The art of 'scientific' fisticuffs was re-introduced into England some time after 1740. It was one Broughton who introduced the pri/e-ring, boxing-gloves, and fights to a finish. A hard-hitting slogger named Jackson followed him in 1795 and established what' are substantially the present rules of the game. The cra/e caught a violent hold on the public fancy, and Jackson became as great a hero as a brilliant Spanish matador, or as Wellington after Waterloo. The high nobility became his pupils— George IV., the Dukes of York and Clarence, Lord Byron, and ' everybody who was anybody ' ; and for half a century ' the .fancy ' sparred under royal favor and countered and drew biood f torn 'claret-jugs' and knocked teeth out of 'potato-traps' until the game became too ' crooked ' even for the mughs and pickpockets, and it died at last — for a space — from its own sheer rottenness. But in its hey-day, the coronation of King George IV. took place at Westminster Abbey on June iq, 1821. The door-keepers had an anxious task, and, instead of the plumed and gilded officials and police of to-day, they were assisted by 'bodyguards of prize-fighters who weie hired to maintain order. Jackson— King George's ' coach ' — commanded at one door, Cnbb at another, and the lesser ' bruisers ' of the day overawed possible offenders elsewhere, and the august ceremony— which was carefully rehearsed on the previous clay and cost about a quarter of a million sterling — passed oil without mishap. It was, perhaps, the first time that a body of professional 'bruisers' assisted in such a capacity at a coronation. The present^ King had, as Pnnce of Wales, a weakness for the 'fancy', but it has probably evaporated, and, however much he might relish a good ' mill ' inside a twenty-foot ring, he would not desire the presence of such gentiy at his coronation.