THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1902. THE CORONATION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 26, 26 June 1902, Page 16

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1902. THE CORONATION.

*2&£& ■ • W\ ( fnf British throne stands no longer on the postJ£* !RU Reformation belief in the divinity that ♦ doth W\ \ I «&• hedge a king.' The splendid coronation cereu|s££s> if monies that are taking place at Westminster yK^f&j~ Abbey this week, and the popular enthusiasm ffljkJ% w i fc h which they are surrounded, furnish a w* striking illustration of the truth of Tenny- » son's saying that the throne of Great Britain is broad-based upon the people's will : firmly planted upon a groundwork of personal worth in the Ruler, on the popular weal, and on the innate respect of the people for constituted authority in the State. From the days of ' Good King Edward 111.,' of sainted memory, to those of the late Queen Victoria, few British Sovereigns reached the inner hearts of the people over whom they held immediate rule. They were, to a far greater extent than at present, hedged off from vulgar approach by an almost impenetrable barrier of court usages and court etiquette ; they seldom ' showed themselves to the pecple ' in familiar guise as in the present day; and the principle of personal rule to which they adhered was not on all occasions conducive to that deep-rooted popular respect and veneration which constitute the best safeguards of a throne. The first Charles defined the relations between a king and his subjects in the following terms : ' The people's liberties strengthen the king's prerogative, and the king's prerogative is to defend the people's liberties.' But the First Charles had somewhat of the fatality of the Second, who Never said a foolish thing, Nor ever did a wiee one. And their ideas of ' the people's liberties' were pretty well on a par with those entertained by Louis XV. of France, who, when the storm of the Great Revolution was beginning to gather, boxed the cars of his grandson for having dared to give utterance to humanitarian views, and prophesied : ' You will lose your crown one day or other if you talk at this rate.' William IV. — as Justin McCarthy points out in his History of Our Own Times — ' held to and exercised the right to dismiss Ministers when he pleased and because he pleased.' AVith his death the long era of personal rule closed for ever in England. 'Jhe late Queen Victoria was the first actual British constitutional Sovereign. At a somewhat critical period iv the history of European monarchies she popularised British Royalty by her personal viitues and her prudent regard for the limitations of her office ; and during her long day— which saw the fall of many a royal house — her throne was buttressed round about with a popular reverence and affection, such as made JbiVERARD of Wurtemburg the best-beloved of the princes of his day. The mantle of the late Queen's popularity covered all her house. Whatever his defects or limitations Edward VII. was, as Prince of Wales, exceedingly popular in England. The events of his brief reign, and especially those surrounding his coronation, go to show that this popularity is neither on the wane nor likely t<» diminish. He

deserves the good-will of Irish people for the liberality of ilft v personal views on questions intimately affecting their national well-being ; and of Catholics for his marked evidences of good-will towards our ecclesiastics and ecclesiastical institutions, and for the fact that, on May 3, 1901, shortly after his accession, he broke through the bonds of a court custom that dated back to the Reformation, and received in formal audience a deputation consisting of members of the English Catholic hierarchy, the Catholic nobility, and the Catholic School Commictee. Who does the beet his circumstance allows Does wtll, acts nobly. * A story is told to the effect that a noted provincial beauty was once introduced to King George IV,, who politely hoped that she had been 'entertained with the gaities of London.' 'Oh yes, please your Majesty,' said the pretty Malaprop, ' I have seen every sight in London worth seeing except a coronation.' This happily rare spectacle in later Britith_ history is, after sixty-five years, being exhibited to the British public, and upon a scale of magnificence which puts into the shade the comparatively quiet celebrations that surrounded the coronation of Queen Victoria and William IV., and recalls the splendor that marked the crowning of the Fourth George. At the striking pageantry of to-day the King sits in the curious old coronation chair that is still preserved in Westminster Abbey. Beneath its wooden seat lies a roughly shaped block of stone which is supposed to be identical with the Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny, which, according to ancient tradition, was brought to Ireland by the Tuath-l)e-Danaans, and upon which the Ard-Righs or High-Kings of Erin were inaugurated in subsequent times at Tara. In the early years of the sixth century the final settlement of the Dalriads (Irish) in Sco land took place. Fergus MacEro seized upon the sovereignty of the country, established a monarchy, and had the Stone of Destiny carried thither in order to give more solemnity to his coronation and to give his dynasty the benefit of the ancient prophecy, according to which a sovereign of his race should never fail to sit upon the throne founded upon it. The Lia Fail is said to have been preserved during many centuries in the Monastery of Scone. In the year 1300 it was brought to England by Edward I. and deposited in Westminister Abbey, and is believed to be identical with the block of stone upon which King Edward VII. will be crowned to-day. ' The prophecy [regarding the Stone of Destiny],' says Lady Ferguson in her Irish before the Conquest * has not hitherto failed in its accomplishment ; for Queen Victoria is a true descendant of the Scotic [Irish DalriadicJ line. Some of our antiquaiies, however, maintain that the Lia Fail still remains at Tara, and point to a standing pillar stone on a mound [the 'Croppies' Grave '] yet remaining as the veritable Stone of Destiny.' * There arc certain significant ceremonies in connection with the coronation of King Edward VII. which ought to have a special interest for Catholics. (1) In accordance with ancient Catholic usage he is clothed with a cope, such as was worn by Charlemagne when he was crowned in Rome by the Pope eleven hundred years ago, and which is still preserved among the treasures of St. Peter'«. (2) The apostolic usage of anointing the sick with oil was retained by the Reformers in the Prayer Book of Edward VI. It was abolished— to the great regret of Bishop Forbes and of many earnest Anglicans of later days — in the Book of Common Prayer of Queen Elizabeth. It is, however, retained in the coronation service. This is in accordance not alone with Catholic, but with Jewish custom as well. Jewish kings and high-priests were anointed with oil. They were probably crowned as well. The ceremony of anointing kings with holy oil was practically universal in Europe in the old Catholic days. In the days before the Conquest English kings were solemnly inducted into authority at Bath, Winchester, Kingston-upon-Thames, and Westminster. The chroniclers invariably mention the ' hallowing ' or ' anointing ' of English kings of that period. They rarely specify the act of coronation or crowning. But crowning is mentioned in the case of William I. and other kings of the Norman line ; and the Mass and the anointing, and the other religious ceremonies that marked the solemn inaugura-

tion of the reign of Richard 1., are they not recorded by the chroniclers of the time with a glowing wealth of gilded detail ? * (3) One other curious old Catholic ceremony is still retained at the coronation of British Sovereigns. On the third finger of the King's right hand is placed a ring of plain gold, adorned with a large ruby, on which is engraved the cross of St. George. This ceremony is accompanied by the following significant form of words : The Archbishop of Canterbury, placing the ring upon the royal finger, says : * Receive this ring, the ensign of kingly dignity and of defence of the Catholic faith, that as you are this day consecrated head of the kingdom and people, so rich in faith, and abounding in good works, you may reign with Him who is King of Kings, to Whom be glory and honor forever and ever. Amen.' (4) The Queen, as a sacred person, is also clothed with imitations of the old Catholic vestments—to wit, the colobium sindonis, which corresponds to the alb of our priests ; a stole, worn deacon-wise over the right shoulder ; a dalmatic of cloth-of-gold ; and a pallium regale, somewhat resembling the chasuble worn at Mass. * The coronation of a sovereign according to the ancient Catholic use is full of religious significance. It is briefly summed up as follows by a writer on liturgical subjects : ' The ceremony, as given in the pontifical, chiefly consists (1) in the admonition which the bishop (usually a metropolitan) gives on the duties of the royal dignity, and the promise on the part of the sovereignelect to fulfil them ; (2) the Litany of the Saints is sung while the soveieign-elect lies prostrate before the altar ; (3) the bishop anoints the king with oil of catechumens on the right arm and between the shoulders : (4) the bishop, after Mass has begun, presents him with the sword, places the crown on his head and the sceptre in hi 3 hand, and enthrones him. Finally, the new king makes the bishop an offering of gold at the offertory, and afterwards receives Communion, the bishop giving him wine (not the Precious Blood) from the chalice.' * At present the coronation of an English sovereign is practically altogether a civil function. It is a singular circumstance that the Catholic Duke of Norfolk, as Hereditary Earl-Marshal, has control over all the arrangements and public ceremonies in connection with this coronation. Outside of children's story-books it is not given nowadays to any king to feel How sweet a thing it ib to wear a crown Within whose circuit is Elysium, And all that poets feign of bliss and joy. But we trust that the new crowned King will have in his day as great a measure of happiness as is ever likely to fall to the lot of royalty— above all, we hope that his reign will be marked by peace, prosperity, wise and equal laws for every part of the British Isles and the Empire at large, and that it may witness the redressing of old wrongs and the free and useful play of representative institutions and of every thing that makes for true and solid progress.