The Press. SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1911. THE CORONATION SERVICE.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14072, 17 June 1911, Page 8

The Press. SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1911. THE CORONATION SERVICE.

If, as come fondly believe, those who hare passed through tho Rravo and gate of death still claim their share in earthly lifo and draw near us as wo celebrate our solemnities, what a vast company of royal shades will throng the precincts of Westminster Abbey on Juno 22nd to witness tho coronation of the King! For in tho veins of King Georgo flows the blood of all tho Royal Houses that havo borne sway in England. He traces his long descent through Hanoverian and Stuart, through Tudor tho Yorkist and Lancastrian, through Plantagenet, Angevin, and Norman, through tho old kings from tho loins of Egbert, who first united all England under the rulo of "Wossex. back to that Ccrdic who was ono of tho twin kings of tho West Saxons when in tho early years •of tho sixth century they first made good their footing in England. It is a glorious ancestry nud ono that is most fitting for the representative man of the long-desccndod English race.

And those royal shades, even the earliest of them, will find in the order of tho Coronation much to remind them of their own crowning. Ccrdic himself, though ho will look on many of tho ceremonies with alien eyes, will recognise in the lifting of tho King to his throne by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal after tho crown lias been placed upon hi 3 head/ tho old Teutonic ceromony of Ele\-ation, old even in ■ those remote days when the West-Goths lifted Alaric upon their shields and proclaimed him king. And tho Oath of Fealty that immediately follows when, after tho Archbishop has done his homage, the Prince- of "Wales, the Princes of the Blood Royal, and tho Peers in their order, kneel and make oath, "I do become your liego man of life and limb, and of earthly worship, and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to livo and die against all manner of folks; so help mc God, ,, will sound familiar in tho ears of tho Williams and Henrys of tho Norman and Angevin lines. For indeed no institution of the British Kingdom represents more vividly tho continuity of tho Throne and of tho race itself. Tho Coronation order is unique

among English services and while reflecting in its details the beliefs and language of every period of our history, in essence it remains un-

changed. The first English order is found in the Pontifical of Egbert, himself a man of royal blocd, the friend and correspondent of the Venerable Bede, and the first of the long line of Archbishops of York. But the mor_e immediate basis of tho present servics is tbo recension of Compton, Bishop of London, who, owing to Archbishop Sancroft's non-juring attitude, officiated at tho coronation of William and Mary. And in the Benediction, Archbishop Seeker's fceblo emendation for tho coronation of George 111, "tho merciful superintendence of Divine Providence" still stands in place of the nobler annient form, "the gracious assistance of God's infinite goodness." But the Recognition, tho Oath, tho Anointing, the Investiture, aro all forma hoary with antiquity.... In tho Recognition, flic Archbishop of Canterbury with the great officers of State and Garter King at Arms, presents tho King to his assembled subjects in tho words, "Sirs, "I present you King George, the un- " doubted King of this Realm; wherefore ali you who are come this day "to do your homage and service; Are "you willing to do the same?" And tho people signify their willingness and joy by loud and repeated acclamations, all with one voices crying out, "God rave King George." In the Oath, laying his hand upon the great Bible brought from the Altar by the Archbishop, the Kinig says, "The things "which I have hero before promised, "I will perform and keep; so help !" mo God." And both these striking ! ceremonies date back to days long be- ! fore tho English came to England, when j kings wore freely chosen by the voice !of a free people, and promised to mainItain their subjects' rights.

The anointing, with its spiritual significance, and remote Judaic origin, and the investiture in tho Colobium Sindonis. tho suportunica, tho stole, and the pallium, or Royal robe, and with the symbolical spurs and sword, orb, staff and ring, sceptres, and finally tho crown, date back at least to the days of Charlemagne. The crown itself, which is used in tho service, is traditionally known as Edward the Confessor's —though this, of course, is not actual fact; the chair on which the King is seated before his final enthronisntion, is the chair of Edward 1., with the Scottish "stone of destiny," on -which legend tells in days long; before Fergus carried it to Scotland, iv the fourth century 8.C., the ancient Irish Kings wero wont to be crowned at Tara. Tho glove, presented by the Lord of the Manor of Worksop, is a late surviving symbol of that lofty ideal of the nobility of service which, while it remained alive, kept feudalism sweet.

Tho sarno halo of venerable association attaches to the whole of tho regalia 'used ibroagliout tie august ceremony.

The Golden Eagle, or Ampulla, which holds the sacring oil, is probably tho samo one that wa s used at the Coronation of Henry IV., and linked by legend with the name of Becket, and the Coronation spoon, into which tho oil is poured, is believed to be of the eamo early, date. The rest of the original regalia was melted down by these careful economists and zealous iconoclasts, the members of tho triumphant Long Parliament, but all were remade from tho ancient pattern for the Coronation of Charles II- The staff is modelled on tho Confessor's staff, the chalice and patina on his chance and patina. The pointless sword of Mercy,

preserves in its name, '"'Curtana," tho memory of those o-Id days of chivalry whe-n every knight christened tho blade ho wore. Tho Bible presented as "the most valuable thing that " this world affords," is presented in. accordance with precedent established in the days of Edward VI. And one of the genus in the cross surmounting the State Crown is tho actual gem from the Coronation ring of Edward the. Confessor connected in tho "golden " legende" with tho name of St. John the Divine. In fact, every detail connected with tho Service carries tho mind back to the past, and impresses on King and subject aliko the continuity of our national history. And it is noteworthy that almost tho only change made iv tho Order issued for King George's Coronation is the restoration of tho prayer "Coronet to Deus" and tho ancient anthem "Confortaro" to the placewhich they held in this solemn service from days before the Norman Conquest to the Coronation of James 11. For in this supremo religious symbol of tho unity of our race, thoso "famous men, "uur fathers which begat us," receive in full measure that recognition which at other times is too seldom accorded to them, though it is most justly due.