CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12481, 22 April 1901, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

CORONATION CEREMONIES.

A long and interesting account of the Coronation of Edward VI., on Feb. 20, 1546, “ written with Arch-

bishop Cranmer’s own band,” lias been sent to. th;e London, Spectator ” by th® .Dean of Ely. At the Monastery of Westminster, 'where the ceremony was carried out, a “ goodly stage ” was erected, hung w.th Cloth of Gold and arras, in the centre, on a raised dais, being the coronation chair. The altar and tombs were .hung with costly arras and adorned with jewels. “ At nine of the clock the choir in their copes, children' in scarlet wearing surplices, and ten Bishops, with their mitres on their heads,” set forth to receive the Archbishop of Canterbury. Blue cloths had been laid from the chapel to the King’s Palace, and along the path came “ gentlemen 2 and 11 in order, then Esquires 2 and 2 in order. Lords 3 arid 5 in order,”- Judges, Earls and Ambassadors, the Lord Mayor of Londoh and the great officers of State, all richly dressed. The “King’s Majestie’s Person Royal,” preceded by the Lord Chancellor, walked under a canopy borne by the four Barons of the Cinque Ports, the Bishop of Durham and the Earl of Shrewsbury being on either side. The members of the P'rivy Chamber, and a great crowd of soldiers and servants, of the Household followed. At the place of coronation the Archbishop was borne in a chair and showed to the people at the north side of the stage, saying, “Sirs, Here I present unto you King Edward, the rightfull inheritor of the Crown of this Realm whose Coronation', Unction, and Confirmation, is this day appointed by the nobles of this Realme where'for all yee that be come this digy to do rruw

homage service and bounder duty be ye willing to do the name.” The people then “cried in a loud voice-and si, ‘Yea, yea, yea,’ and cried ‘Kg Edward, 1 and praid Jesu save Kg Edward.” The same formality was gone through 01 each of the other sides of the. stage,-and then -prayers and psalms were sung. The Hake of Somerset, Lord Protector, held the crown in his hand while a Te Deuni was sung, “the organs going and the trumpets playing on the battlements.” Then the Crown of England was set on the King’s head, the sword, sceptre, ball, golden rod - and spurs being presented in turn. Following this the nobles and lords in order “kissed his Graces right foot and after -held their hands between his Graces hands and kissed his Graces left cheek, and so did their homage.” The Archbishop said mass, and the - King presented to the altar a pound of gold, a loaf of bread and a chalice with, wine, and the ceremony ended with the announcement of a general'pardon to all offenders.

rOBXUNES FROM

Kicks and ha’pence are popularly supposed to express the extremes of bad and good fortune, and it ■ will come as a surprise to

those who accept the wise saws of the country folk as a gospel of life to learn that if the two do not aclually run together something very similar has happened in .the foundations of fortunes , through floggings. At one time it was considered unseemly for a royal prince . to be flogged, and when He ary VIII. was having his son Edward educated a “ whip-ping-boy” was procured in the person of one of the Fitz-Pat ricks of Upper-Osspry, whose, duty it was to act >s proxy for the prince, and ofl'er his own person for the punishments earned by his royal master. The “whipping-boy” became a great favourite, and when Edward ascended the throne he bestowed substantial estates and honours upon, the nmch-wh.pped youth. Will Murray, who, was “ vhipping-boy ” . . for Charles 1.-—a position which was no sinecure—-was similarly rewarded by the, Merry Monarch, who, when he came into power, made him Lord Hunringtower and Earl of Dysart, endowing b;m with valuable estates. Titus Oates was another gentleman who profited by drastic punishment. He was flogged for his perjuries from Aldgate to Newgate and back, and in satisfaction for this indignity, which history‘ states that he richly deserved, ■ William of Orange, on ascending the throne, granted him a pension, of £SOO a year. As recently as 1044, William Henry Barber, a London -lawyer, who was sent to penal servitude for forgery ■ and flogged during its course for a breach of prison discipline, was ascertained to be innocent. Ho was rest mod, brokenhearted, to his friends, and awarded by Parliament 1 a solatium of ££ooo. Shortly afterwards a shopkeeper named Dunne, who had suffered a similar indignity, was proved to be innocent,, and was -released from the chain gang at Norfolk Island. A 'Subscription of ,£2OOO was raised for hina j in Australia, and, going inio sheep-farm-ing with the money, he amassed a large . fortune, - which -he left to charities. : The Lapukins, one of the wealthiest families in Russia', owe'- their position to the knouting of an ancestress who fell under the displeasure of the cruel and insolent. Czarina Elizabeth. She was publicly flogged in the Market Place,, her tongue, was torn out, and she was banished to Siberia. Elizabeth’s successor, Peter 111., .restored her, bestowing on her, a, .sum of : £IOO,OOO and valuable estates. Despite these striking instances, however, the business will have to be reduced to a cash basis before flogging can be accepted as this leng-sought-for royal read td fortune.

CLIMATE AND ENERGY.

Contrasting American and English methods in one o! a series ,of articles on trade competition) the London correspondent of the New

York “Sun,” attributes the greater measure of vitality in American commercial life,' , the strenuous whirl of never-ceasing enterprise, in at least a substantial measure, to - the' effects of climate on energy./ The experience of those Americans who have come to London to set the Thames on fire by , American methods aas been, he says, that •‘the price of progress is-collapse.”- They are forced to realise ultimately 1 that they cannot work so hard or; so continuously according to American standards, without breaking down. It is not a question of acclimatisation, but of altered conditions. Indolence, admits the “Bun’s” correspondent, may be an increasing national vloe in. England, but, nevertheless, the additional; fact • remains that the ozoneless atmosphere of London will not support the same consummating energy of business-rife that; the. , freer atmosphere of 1 he west will, hence the necessity for more generous vacations- in English commercial circles. As a consequence of this necessity the • English commercial man is leaning more and more towards short hours cf work and substantial week-ends in the country. It is a recognised thing noW for many men who. can afford it to cease work from Friday afternoon until Tuesday morning, to the exasperation of those American cousins who skip across the honing-pond in the pation. of settling their business with the same celerity as attaches to their home methods. The “ Sun’s ” vonespondent takes care to point out that his remarks apply only so far as he is concerned, to intellectual exertion, although, he adds, “if the habits of the people are any criterion, they apply in an even greater degree to physical labour,” He instances “ the present moment,” when, four days aftt r Christmas, the majority of the mills and'factories of Great Britain are idle and silent. It is a case of the majority ruling, and the majority will not return to their work the day after a Bank holiday. Even taking the charitable view, the writer concludes', that the enervating climate of England justifies the British workman in being very good to himself, the fact remains that by so doing he handicaps himself, in his competition with foreign producers. To Ills credit, it. must be added, that he does not add vicious self-indulgence to his idleness us any great extent.'