VICTORIA’S CORONATION

Evening Star, Issue 22688, 30 June 1937, Page 3

VICTORIA’S CORONATION

REMARKABLE ‘SPECTATOR’ ARTICLE “ AMUSING BUT NOT EDIFYING " Tho London ‘ Spectator ’ of May 7 reproduces an article which appeared in tho same journal on June 30, 1838, describing Queen Victoria’s Coronation. It reveals that the now popular debunking process is far from being an ultra-modern reaction. Here is the article : “ This week has exhibited the amusing if not very edifying spectacle of a people possessed with one idea—in plain terms, coronation-mad. It was not so much an ebullition of loyalty as a sight-seeing mania. Queen-worship was only _ the proximate cause. John Bull seized on the present occasion—the weak part of his cranium is still the crown —to give himself a holyday; and ho set to work in his usual dogged style. The extent to which the excitement prevailed almost exceeds belief: London being the scene of tho grand manifestation, showed the signs most strongly, but the whole land shared the hallucination ; and in proportion _to the distance from the metropolis *eoms to have been the intensity of ih.e fit. The rush of people to town was extraordinary ; every channel of communication was choked up; and this sudden determination of blood to the head occasioned the symptoms of giddiness and vertigo to which we have adverted. “ The preparations in the line of route for the procession were astonishing, considering tho very ordinary materials of the pageant; which differed little from that on the occasion of the Queen going to the Parliament, except in having' the addition of a train of foreign Ambassadors. One would not imagine that the present was the third coronation that has taken place within 18 years; and was no better as a sight than that of William the Fourth, which gave what is called such ‘ general dissatisfaction.’ But now people thought, ar.d oven hoped, they might never see another. From Hyde Park Corner to the Abbey, the noise of hammers resounded the whole week long; one wondered where all the carpenters came from; and the consumption of timber must have been enormous. Scarcely a house on the line hut had a scaffolding in front, or its oaljouy shored up; and every ‘jetty, frieze, or coigns of vantage,’ was turned to account.* The more wealthy and liberal nobility and the clubs erected seats for their friends, whom they entertained with “ dejeuners ” (pray don’t call them “ breakfasts ”). Among the former, the Duke of Devonshire was conspicuous® for the splendid scale and completeness of his arrangements.’ “(The seats let for hire were, in general, sufficiently commodious; and from St. James’s street to tho Abbey they were almost continuous—sometimes inside, but in most cases erected outside. Precautions were properly taken to have the erections inspected by surveyors, to test their security, and prevent them from projecting over the footpath; the taste was left to the speculators, who in general seem to have dispensed with that article, as a luxurious superfinity. . . From 10 to 30 shillings was the price of a sitting, and in some instances good places bore a premium.' Tickets for the interior of the Abbey were offered and bought on the eve of the ceremony at 20gs, and even more; there were a great many sellers, however, and either the tickets were forged, or they must have been for the nave of the Abbey,. where only the procession entering and returning could be seen. The Earl Marshal apprised the public of the fact that counterfeits were abroad, and the holders would be not merely stopped, but given into custody.” “ The cheering during the progress o.f the pageant was by no means uproarious ; the most remarkable characteristic of the whole affair, indeed, was the absence of all enthusiasm. As the Queen passed the agitation of white cambric and black felt was seen along the line, and hearty were the .greetings of many to their young Queen; but the occasion did not call forth any extraordinary manifestation of public feeling or loyal fervour. The Duchess of Kent and the Duke of Sussex were the most cheered; but all the Royal party were respectfully recognised.

“ As the Queen advanced slowly towards the centre of the choir she was received with hearty plaudits ; the anthem ‘ I Was Glad ’ being sung by the musicians. At the close of the anthem the Westminster boys (who occupied seats at the extremity of the lower galleries on the northern and southern sides of the choir) screeched out at the top of their tuneless voices a kind of chant, ‘ Vivat Victoria Regina.’ The Queen moved towards a chair placed midway between the chair of homage and the altar, on the carpeted space before described, and which is appropriately called ' the theatre.’ There she knelt down on a ‘ faldstool set for her before her chair, and used some private prayers.’ She then took her seat in the chair; and the ceremonial proceeded. “ As Prince Esterhazy walked up to his place a good scene occurred. All the bishops clustered round him and gloated on the wealth which his dia-mond-covered dress so profusely displayed. The Bishop of Exeter, who was engaged at the moment in making his obeisance to some great man on the other side of the Abbey, was so eager to be near the glittering Ambassador, and so zealous in his divided devotion to English rank on one side and Austrian wealth on the other, that, in his haste, he tripped and rolled over at full length on the floor 1 His right reverend brethren hurried to pick him up; and as they gathered round the prostrate Prelate, looked like a set of old alms-woraen, chattering over the body of one of the sisterhood who had been knocked down in a scuffle, or fainted under the influence of a too potent spirit. “ The superb dress of the Archbishop of Canterbury—purple velvet and gold —•and tho glittering and gilded attire of the other churchmen (spoils of the Romish hierarchy)—appeared most tinfit for men who profess to despise po,mp and vanity, and are members of a simple and Reformed religion.” ROLLED DOWN THE STEPS. “ While the tedious ceremony of homage was in progress there was plenty of loud music, till, just as Lord Melbourne’s turn came to ascend the throne, a soft and sweet strain suddenly succeeded the din of harmony; whereupon some wicked person said, 1 Lord Melbourne’s goin°; up to soft music ’ —and then they laughed. “ When poor old Lord Rolle rolled down the steps of the throne a ‘ distinguished foreigner ’ was told that to roll down the steps of the throne at the Coronation was the feudal tenure by which he held bis barony and immense estates. The, information was gravely recorded in a note book..

“ The loudest cheering was for the largesse, or Coronation medals, by all; next for the Duke of Wellington, by the Tories; and Lords Grey and Melbourne, by the Whigs. Lord Lyndl- - looked around for a cheer, but was disappointed, and seemed as if he was. Tho prettiest sight in the Abbey was the Queen’s ‘ body guard ’ of Maids of Honour, all dressed alike, simply and in good taste. There were some shocking frights, male and female, with coronets. “ The musical part of the ceremony was a libel on the present state of the art in this country : for the Queen has had a composer thrust upon her who cannot compose. She had appointed l Bishop; but the intrigues of another Bishop (Charles of London) and Sir Georg© Smart procured the latter the situation, despite Her Majesty’s wish. It is the duty of the composer to the Queen to write an anthem for her Coronation—and it is an opportunity which any man competent to the task would eagerly have caught at: but the place heretofore held by Blow, Croft, Green, Boyce, and A,ttwqod, now, for the first time, degenerates into a sinecure; and England, in the presence of the representatives of every European sovereign, seems (not is) unable to offer the tribute which music in every other country presents to a new monarch. “ Both the tenure of the Crown and the state of public manners in England have undergone so many modifications within the last 200 years that a Coronation has become an unimportant, almost a superfluous ceremony. It adds nothing to* the stability of the Throne; and as to the validity of a modern sovereign’s title, how little occasion is felt to exist for putting it to public test may be seen by the recent almost noiseless abolition of the office of Champion, which—formerly one of prime importance—we have just seen swept away among the crumbs of the banquet. “ If the ceremony of crowning is to be kept up, then we would gladly associate with jt, first, a greater public communication, and, secondly, a less ridiculous ritual. At present any atom ot rational purpose is so smothered, in a garnish of antiquated follies that it may reasonably be doubted whether the actors themselves on the scene are not secretly ashamed of their official antics, tfie whole ceremony of the Coronation is full of the amplification and the posture-making of a semi-barbarous age, and of that love of noise and tinsel which barbarians and children are undexstood to share in common. CAUSTIC ON PEERAGES.

The list of Coronation Peerages comprises a few respectable names—and that is the best to be said of it. With one exception, the Peers created or elevated are persons whose public services have not entitled them to any distinguished mark of the Royal favour. The Earl of Mulgrave, acting by and with the advice of Lord Morpeth, has ruled Ireland as she never was ruled before by English Viceroy. It is to be supposed that Lord Mulgrave prefers the French ‘Marquis’ to the Saxon Earl ’; and in that case, though we may differ with him in taste, we are not sorry that so unimportant' a wish has been gratified. But who are the other noblemen and gentlemen whom the Queen delights especially to honour at this time? Taking the official list as it stands in the ‘ Gazette ’ we find 1. ‘ William, Baron Ring ’ —son of a worthy, hard-headed, old Whig; who perhaps would' not have thanked his Sovereign for a Viscountcy and an Earldom. But his son is to be Viscount Ockham and Earl of Lovelace. What has the young Lord King done to deserve this promotion? The ‘ Globe ’ suggests the only reason for it; Lord King married Lord Byron’s daughter, and in the Noel family was the extinct Barony of Lovelace. Another and more probable reason for the revival of this romantic-sounding title in Lord King, is that he is the nephew of that everready Ministerial ‘ friend in need ’ Lord Ebrington. 2. ‘ Laurence, Dundas,’ is to be Earl of Zetland. This is an orthodox ‘ elevation ’ —one after the old style. Lord Dundas possesses one of the remaining rotten boroughs—Richmond ; and can sometimes return the Member for Orkney and Zetland. If anybody can mention another reason for the bestowal of an Earldom on _ Lord Dundas, we shall willingly proclaim it. 3. ‘Anthony Adrian, Earl of Kintore,’ is to be Baron Kintore. Few persons had heard of the existence of the said

* Anthony Adrian ’ till they saw his name in the ‘ Gazette.’ Ho is, we believe, a Scotch lord, who keeps or did keep a pack of hounds in some distant county; but why or wherefore he has been preferred to an English Peerage. is what the public are asking. Probably there is a job at the bottopx of this ‘ elevation.’

4. ‘ Cornelius, Viscount Lismore,’ is to sit in the House of Lords as Baron Lismore. This insignificant Irish nobleman has property in Tipperary. 5. Lord Rossmore,_ once a rather doubtful person in his politics, sends two of his sons, honourable Westenras, to support Lord Melbourne’s Government in the House of Commons: hence bis English Peerage. 6. Lord Carew can influence the elections in Wexford; and therefore he is made a Baron of tho United Kingdom. 7. Mr William Francis Spencer Ponsonby belongs to a family which has always managed to get a considerable sum of the public money in one shape or another, with Earldoms and Baronies to boot'. Thrust out of the representation of Dorsetshire, Mr Ponsonby is compensated with the name, style, and title of Baron de Mauley (of the ancient Barony of which name his wife is coheir), for his ineffectual support of the Whig interest in that county. 8. 9, 10. Sir John Wrottesley, Mr Charles Hanhury Tracy, and Mr Paul Methuen owe their Peerages to the election contests they have stood, and the seats they have lost: They were all respectable commoners, and will doubtless make very decent Conservative Lords, at the command of the Premier and the Court.

11. The Marquis of Carmarthen —a person of whose merits and politics we must confess our entire ignorance—is to he Lord Osborne. He is the son of tho Tory Duke of Leeds, and will counterbalance his vote. The entire list consists of 12 elevations and new creations. There is not one which suggests the idea of superior ability or merit.”