WHAT A COLONIAL SAW IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

Evening Star, Issue 14634, 2 August 1911, Page 2

WHAT A COLONIAL SAW IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

AN IMPRESSIONIST VIEW OF THE CORONATION. [Specially Written for the 'Evening Star' by Dr W. H. Fitch Err.] It is not a little thing, but a great and memorable, thing, to have been in London on Coronation Day, and on the days immediately preceding and following it. The present writer has seen nearly all the great cities of the world and seen them in many moods, but he lias not yet seen one which compares with London at this precise juncture. It was as though some strong wine were burning in every drop of the great city's blocd. And the Briton takes such an experience in a fashion of his cwn. He docs not effervesce into oratory, as Frenchmen do. He does not organise hims?lf into va.st processions, and blossom into thgs and symbols, as the Americans do. But the general pate of his life is quickened. Fie grows warmly hospitable. He loses his solitary baliit. And in such a mood a city like "London crystallises easily into v?.h crowds. They make their appearance in any neighborhood and on any pretext. On Coronation Day some 60.000 troops, to ?ay nothing of 20,000 police, were in the capital. The parks were turned into miles of tents, and as the soldiers went off duty they betook themselves into the streets, and crowds ot the city were everywhere pricked, as with moving points of flame, with the red uniform of the troops. Horace Walpole, writing of the London of his day at a similar time, said: "This century ought to be called —Tho ' Century of Crowds." " But he never saw or imagined su.-h crowds as those London saw dining Coronation Week. And the vastness is almost iff 6 noticeable tr, in thoir good temper, their obedience to order, the respect of each straggling and much-squeezed human atom to all tin* other atoms being squeezed about him. It is a sober truth that no crowds of exactly the scale and quality of these London crowds have ever gathered before in history. Rome never saw such crowds, or Paris." or Berlin. There may have been crowds of equal scale, but these London crowds are a replica in little of the wholeworld. Men of every race and speech and riime are here ; and they arc not here as spectators and foreigners, hut as fellowritizens. And when before in history did the free citizenship of a single Kmpire .-weep round in curves so vast, or include such diversities of type? This was perhaps the protoundost significance of the great function in Westminster Abbey. In that one golden Injur the Abbey was tho centre and heart of London. London was the nerve centre of the British Isles, set in their girdling seas: the British Isles in their return were the living heart of the great circle of self-governing Dominions, which girdle the world and constitute the British Kmpire. —An Initial Disappointment.—

And what did I sec as 1 studied the prut function oti -Tune 22"? To eyes which eiuerness bad made critical, the first aspect i>: the p-eat Abbey, waiting for the coming of the Coronation of the King, was, it may be frankly admitted, somewhat disappointing. It is not easy to transrnntc into what may be called bridal splendor a building on which lice the shadow of so many centuries. The time-stained walls kept their stains in defiance of all upholstery. The great slope* of seats, north and south and west, were yet almost empty, and the fiwn-colored drapery -upon them looked dull. The deep garter-bluo carpet covering the floor had, by way of compensation, :i look of kingly and indescribable richness. It was fit for the feet of a king to tread. But a. committee of ladies, with the severe feminine sense of harmonies in color, would never have tolerated the great altar carpet. In detail of woik. no doubt, it must be very rich, but as a whole, and looked at from a distance, it seemed to be a patchwork of gaudy and irrelevant colors. It ivs» neither in artistic harmony nor in artistic contrast with the sea blue carpet on which it was stretched, and which underlay the whole scheme of decoration like a sea. The grey brocaded gallery hangings again, cmbec'sed in velvet, when running in long lines, lacked both expression and color. But the decorations of the Abbey were, of course, planned to serve as a mere frame of a great human picture; and as the spectator watched, and from every door the frirt»nru of quests flowed in—each stream a rivulet of 'color—the frame of the picture was riiied. and the whole Abhev put on an aspect of many-tinted splendor. —The Color Scheme. - I; is difficult to describe what may be r-.-Jled the color scheme of the whole scene. It wa« so rich and complex. Scarlet and ?rmine. Hash of jewel, name of gold, dainty flutter of silk, and sometimes a gleam of brass from a breast-plate, or the keener fitter of steel from << sword, or the Hash of a star, or of a line of medals on some soldier's mat—it was delightful; and ocea-t-jrna.lly the delight was* >l:ot through with a thrili of amusement as the critic tried to analyse the great human picture and line] cut its elements. It is difficult to say •whether the Church, the Army, or the Navy expresses itself in more gorgeous attiie wh°n its higher ranks are reached. The bishops, of course, in copo and cassock, hood and gown, with cruss-bearers in front cr' them and chaplains in the rear, were delightfully picturesque. But tho Navy, too. has its artistic splendor:-; and an ad n.aal of the fleet, with heavy gold epaulets on both shoulders, a tow of medals on his bread, and gold braid rneandeiing in broad streamers over his whole person, is an object to move both wonder and admiration. The Army, again, with its brilliant uniforms and gleam of accl and gold, studded the whole human mass with patches of glory. Among tho Indian group were some with turbans of light blue or pure white- above their keen dark faces. .1 he Judges and peers, with their scarlet lobes and shoit white capes, contributed a vivid splash of color to the j-pectadc. Each Peer as ho came in carried with anxious care> his own coronet, and in not a few ca*e*i the owner seemed, when he sat down, not to know what to do with it—whether to put it under his chair like a hat cr carry it on his knee like a baby. —The Feminine Side of It.—

It wat. the feminine half of the> peat mass, however, which gave to it that look of vivid grace and splendor of coloring which it possessed. The linos of flawing silk—generally of some soft tint, fawn colored or grey —gave a curious aspect cf softness to the great slopes of human figures rising in nave- and trar.tept. In the peeresses' gallery the triple low white tmther? (which nearly all worei and the long white gloves gave a 6imw-!ike effect. ii> the whole slope. Every where ran the lines of fair brows and of fair faces, Everywhere, too, there was, the flash of jewels---the white fire of the diamond, the red flame of the* ruby, the white softness of pearls, the- gleam of gold on breast and wrist—until it seemed as though some rainbow had fallen upon the slopes cf living figures, and all the prismatic colors were scattered in tiny, broken points among them. That aspect of rich, many-colored beauty in the old Abbey steadily deepened a.s tlie crowds grew and the seats were hlled; until transepts and nave and choir ail seemed so many eloping parterres cf floweis. Later, when all the actor* in the gre:it function—bishops and heralds, knights and chamberlains, great Indies with their train-bnare:*, and nobles with their coronets—moved with stately steps, with ;■> Bi.rt of sacerdotal slowness towavds the great altar, the spectacle for what may be called pomp of color and splendor of setting ccttid hardly be surpassed. And this was in every se-nse fitting. " A great Empire and little minds." sayr, Burke. " go ill together." A magnificent fact ought to be expressed in magnificent symbols. The crowned ruler of more than one-fourth of the human race, as he passes to hift throne, ought to be encompassed with all the splendor that art can plan, or skill contrive, or money btiy John Bull k usually described as being "of the sober, heavy-footed type. He is hardly expected to shine in the jealm of art." But the genius that build* a great Empire can, when need arises, find adequate artistic expression for the Empire. And in the Abbey function this was done nothing less than majestically. Certainly the scale and splendor of the scene would hav« delighted any Australian or Xew Zea-

lander. The Australian, like the New Zealnndcr, has the quality of youth, with its quick susceptibilities, ite frank ardors, its joy in braveries of dress and bearing. He loves splendor, although he dees not Gee much of it at home. And when for a moment —as in the groat function in the Abbey—the heavy-footed British Empire breaks into such a glorft of color, it seems, to a good Australian at least, most fit. He sees in it the pride of a great race, and the strength and wealth of a great Empire, reporting themselves, in concrete terms, to the very censes of men. —Great Moments.— But what were the most thrilling moments in the groat function? The first, perhaps, was when, faint and low, and with a curious sense of distance, came the sound of a hymn. It was Luther's hymn ' Kin Feste Burg.' They were " consecrating" the regalia. The crown, the- sccptif, the swords of Justice ?nd Mercy, the orb with its cross, the ivory rod with its dove were being placed on tho altar. They were presently taken off again, while, with the sound of silver trumpets running through the melody, the choir sang "0 God, Our Help in Ages Past' to the old, familiar tune known as St. Ann's. And thc*e two tunes ran in silver threads through the whole musical scheme of the Coronation, breaking out in unexpected pities and to unexpected accompaniments, but always the instiucted ear welii'incd them with delight. It was a thrilling moment, again. when, preceded by a fanfare of trumpets and a '■arazen rattle ot kettle drums, and at tended with rejoicing music, there earn* the procession, ot royal representatives and guests and their suites. All the thrones of Europe, great and small, were represented in that stately procession of shining fibres —from the Crown Prince and Princess of Germany, to the Heir-pre-sumptive of Siam and' Prince Tsai Chen of | China. Amongst these —and not the least striking figure—walked the Hon. John Haves Hammond, the representative of President Taft. This was the Mr Hammond who took part in the Jamieson Raid and was temporarily sentenced to death as a result. Life has strange alternations, but the transition from the condemned i cell at Pretoria to the Coronation scene as I the representative of the great Anglo- ■ Saxon Republic is a very long step indeed, j In the procession, again, walked Prince Henry of Prussia, who might be de- , scribed as the creator of the new German ! Xavy. A little- after him came the dark face' of Prince Kasia of Ethiopia. No wonder each link in this picturesque human chain was watched with breathless interest. The entry, preceded by another fan far? of trumpets, of their Royal Highnesses the Princes and Princesses of the blood royal was for the feminine half of. tho spectators not the least thrilling moment in the whole function. Here came all the great ladies of the Court, each with her train borne by maids of honor and coronet carried by some red-coated soldier. It was curious to note the fixed and sudden attention with which every woman in the audience gazed on each gorgeous figure as it passed. She was noting and assessing every detail of dress and jewel, of look and manner. And the great ladies were conscious of that keen scrutiny, for women dress, not for men, but for other women. Presently, to still louder blasts of silver trumpets, came Her Majesty the Queen, with her household. The Queen's train was Ivorne by a cluster of stately dames; on either side was a gentleman-at-arms: then there followed the Indies of the Royal Household, a cluster of heralds, etc. The whole group defiled with stately slowness to the righthand tide of the altar, and stood waiting for the Kinj. At that moment the whole scene was staged with perfect skill. At the altar stood the Archbishop of Canterbury. On his right were the bishops, a double line of stately figures in scarlet and white. On the opposite side, steed the Queen and her household. The Queen herself was the central and most striking figure of the group. Stroruj masculine faces were on either side of her, and in contrast with them, her face, with its rich mass of hair, its clear-cut profile and pale tint, wore a striking aspect of grace. Part of her long train was cast, as if by accident, in front of the line on which she stood, and it lay like a. pool of rich color on the deep blue carpet. ---The King Comes.--

The rlimax of the great day was, of course, the entry of the King. As he came the music for a moment ceased, and the Westminster boys in the choir gallery above broke cut. a tumult of clear bov'sh voices: " Vivat, vivat, ]on£ live King George!" That thread of schoolboy voices in the Coronation service dates from James 11. It is vain to attempt to enumerate the stately figures that followed the Knights of the Garter, the Lord Chamberlain, all the great officers of the Kind's Household, the Lord High Chancellor, the Archbishops. The most, striking feature of the procession at this stage was the swords and their bearers. The Sword of Mercy, with its broken point, was carried by the Duke of Beaufort. On either side walked, glittering and uplifted steel in hand, a great soldier fit to carry the sword of an Empire—Lord Kitchener and Lord Roberts. And what other nation at the present moment can show two soldiers to surpass these in fame? After these came His Maiesty King George, and passed to the chair waiting far him near to that where the Queen stood. As he stood there, the centre of the whole great scene, he was outshone in splendor of attire bv many of those about him. As yet he wore no crown. His dress was a crimson robe and a short white cape. —The. Homage.—

Now the Archbishop of Canterbury begins his four-fold challenge—east, west, north, and south—to the homage of the great audience : " Sirs, T here present unto you King Georce. the undoubted King of this realm. Wherefore, all you who are come this day to do your homage, and service, are you willing to do the same?" The doubt up to that moment was whether a single human voice could challenge and command the hearing of so vast an audience. But the Archbishop settled that doubt in a moment. He still keeps that broad-vowelled fullness, the sharp-cut consonants of his Scottish stock, and his voice ran full and clear up to the groined roof. And from each point of the compass came, sudden and sharp, with a sort of explosive eff-vt, the reply: "God save King George." The Bishop of London, who read the ("iospel, has a thinner voice, but his style is easy and natural, and there is a curious carrying quality in his voice which makes it more penetrating than some voces of greater apparent range. The Archbishop of York, who was the preacher, and who i ondensod some sound theology and much good sense into the brief five minutes, lias again a noble voice. Everybody waited with eager interest for the administering of the oath to the King, for then, for the first time, the King's voice might be heard. His Majesty remained sitting, with capped head, while immediately before him stood the tall figure of the Archbishop of Canterbury. His strong, masterful voice rang out: " Sir, is your Majesty willing to take the oath ?" and the whole audience hushed to a deep silence to hear the response. But the King was content to reply in accents which were clear to those who were about him. but which failed to reach the great crowd.

—The Anointing.—

Many, no doubt, watched with curious interest the anointing of the King, and those verj medieval performances. the presenting of the spurs, the investiture of the robe and ring, the gift of the sceptre, etc. But the supreme act of the whole great function was the actual crowning. The King sat in King Edward's chair, beneath it the famous stone, round which are wrapped such strange myths. With full, resonant voice the Archbishop recited the noble prayer, etc.: "0 (Jod, the evowner of the faithful." Then he took the crown from the Dean of Westminster, and for a moment held it up. In its front burned the great diamond known as the Star of Africa ; above it shone the red fire of the Black Prince's ruby. The Cardinal of York's sapphire shines on the other side of the circle. As the Archbishop slowly placed the crown on the King's head the stillness through the great Abbey deepened. But when the crown actually touched the King's head there was

- A Sudden Turn in the Ritual.— Every peer had up to this sat uncoroneted,

and as most of them are bald-headed their contribution to the general color scheme had been very ineffective. Now each peer rises to his feet, and, lifting his coronet, places it on his head, and in a moment the whole mass of the peers shines and glitters fro.n end to end with jewels. Then, with a burst of sound, and with a delightful note of spontaneity, came the shout that Tang along the nave and transepts and up to the groined roof: " God save the King." The whole function in the Abbey had its elements both of majesty and beau'.y which will be long remembered. And yet, how rich in paradox is the whole Coronation service ' It is, perhaps, well that an ecclesiastic, and not the Prime Minister, should put the crown on the, head of the King, for the Coronation is a religious, rather than a political, act. But anyone who judged the Constitution under which we live by the ritual of the Coronation service would conclude that it was hopelessly undemocratic. But we are content that medieval forms should cover democratic facts. This is the characteristic British method. We Icvs to keep the old formulae, though we charge them with a new meaning. The wine is new, but the bottle must still be of r*n ancient pattern. Perhaps tue mest sinking proof of the- medieval cleiric.it in the Coronation scene was the part in it assigned to the Press. All the represeiuatives of modern journalism—i-vl ti-ey were a very brilliant company—were parted into what is called the trifonm). a dark gallery high up in ine very roof of the Abbey, ami most of them had to contemplate" the scene they had to describe through tiny loopholes in the stonework of the upper arches .vhich bear the groined roof. Now, it was the task of the Press to make that p-eat scene visible and audible to the wh.ne. oi' the outside world. But for the Tress, the great scene of the Coronation might as well have been performed in a dark chamber or on a desert island. It could make no appeal to the intelligence and imagination of the outside world. And the officials responsible for the Coronation practically packed all the representatives of the Press into an unlit garret, and then expected them to describe what was Happening ;n the drawing room.