THE NEW KING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12006, 1 April 1901, Page 6

THE NEW KING.

OPENS PARLIAMENT IN STATE. AN IMPOSING. PAGEANT. Tho King opened tho new session of Parliament on February 14- with great ceremony. Such a pageant (fays the London correspondent of tho Melbourne Argus) has not been witnessed at Westminster since the early days of Queen Victoria. The route from Buckingham Palace to the House of Lords was kept by troops, and though the day was bitterly cold there were enormous crowds of spectators. Theso people had the satisfaction of-seeing hundreds of carriages conveying peers and peeresses to the House of Lords, and some dozen royal equipages with princes, princesses, ushers, goldsticks, silversticks, and pages of honour. Among the members of the royal circlo who thus went down to West* minster were the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, Prince Arthur and Princess Margaret of Connaught, Prince and Princess Christian, Duchess of Argyll, PrineeSß Henry of Battenberg, Duchess of Cornwall and York, Duclimb of Fife, Prince and Princess Charles of Denmark. Tho Duke of Cornwall and York and the Princess Victoria were both suffering from severe colds, and at' tho last moment it was !rl ti i at thcy snoult ' nol lcavo tno P»- acc - The Duke of York's condition is not without anxiety, for H.R.H. has not yet recovered from the effects of that severe- attack of German measles which prevented him attending the late Queen's funeral.

_ THK STATE COACH. For the first time in 40 year, what is known the King and Queen The late Sovereign very larely rode m .t. The bock seat, in her time, was large and soft, like a small feather bed and the vehicle hung upon huge straps, and oscillated most uncomfortably. A fortnight ago it was nut into the hands of the coachbuilders, who altered the seats, counteracted the oscillation, and regilt almost the whole of the carriage. It i, a huge, ungainly vehicle, ovor 20ft long, and weighs more than four tons. It has one advantage. The occupants can be well seen by the spectators, for tho sides and front are all thick plate-glass. The coach was built aftor a German or. Flemish design by George 111, and was used at the three succeeding coronations, The panels. ar.e .painted by Cypriani. As it passed along the route, drawn by eight creamcoloured hones, in magnificent showy harness, it looked not unliko tho Cinderella coach of fiction, and attracted almost as much attention as the royal personages within it. ™? SCENE IK THE LORDS. But the great spectacle was not the royal carriage, but the sceno within the Houso of Lords. The Chamber was densely crowded by jieers and peeresses, arranged, not according to politica'l distinctions, but as nearly as circumstances would permit to the order of precedence. Tim three front rows on each side of the Chamber were allotted to peers, tho dukes, of course, being the nearest to the throne, and the four rows to tho rear were allotted to" peeresses. Peeresses also occupied the side galleries, the strangers', and the small square . gallories, usually flowed to members,of the Commons. It was quite a peeresses' day, for not 200 peers were present. The body of the Houße was occupied by the judges, dressed in robes and fullbottomed wigs, and by the bulk of the peers —also in l their robec—who could not find room on the three long lines of seats above referred to, Tho bishops, of whom some nine or ten wore present, wore their scarlet and orminc mantles, and not the usual lawn sleeves and rochet in which the church-going publio are accustomed to see them. It wa3 a brilliant sceno, for. in addition to their robes, the peers wore their collars and badges —those who had any—and the peeresses, though in deep mourning, wore many diamonds, They had low-cut bodices, short sleeves, flowing gowns of various kinds of crepo, black jet, black gloves, and black ostrich feathers. Many of them wore ornaments of diamonds and pearls, tiaras, circlets, necklaces, armlets. These flashed like constellations in a dark background. Diplomatists were present, many of whom in brilliant uniforms, oxcepting the cheery representative of the American Republic, who was in plain evening dress, ENTEMNG TOE CHAMBER. The Roy,al procession was marshalled in tho rooms behind, the Peers' chamber. AIJ being ready, it passed-through the painted gallery, crowded with privileged spectators, and eo into tho-Upper House. Pursuivants and heralds in their quaint, resplendent uniforms, or tabards, led the war, bowing to the throne as they passed before it, and ranged themselves on oithor side. After them came officers of the Household, the Marquis of Salisbury, a splendid figure, in his'robes of office, the Earl Marshal, and the Lord Chamberlain, who also grouped themselves near the steps of the throne. Next' followed the Marquis of Londonderry, carrying the sword of6tatc. This duty usually devolves upon tho Prime Minister, and when the Queen opened tho Parliament in 1886 he exercised his right. But owing to Lord'Snlisbury's increasing years the Postmaster-general acted for him. Behind Lord Londonderry tho Duko of Devonshore, jr. his robes, carried (as President of the Council)- a scarlet and gold cushion bearing the Imperial crown. Following him was tho Marquis of Winchester (premier marquis), with the cap of maintenance, on a short staff. It is the heraldic theory that crown and nap must not bo touched by any hands but those of tho Sovoreign, The crown is the most historic of all belonging to the regalia. It contains a sapphire from the crown of Charles 11, another sapphire from the ring of Edward the Confessor, and in front of the ctown a lar"o spinel ruby, the largest stono of all, worth £110,000. Tho composition of the crown includes 2783 diamonds, 277 pearls. 11 emeralds, 5 rubies, and 17' sapphires. The cap of maintenance (meaning defence) is a long-poaked Tudor .hat, with a rim of ermine. Behind'the stale officials carrying these emblems eaaie the King and Queen. The King was in a- Field'marshnl's scarlet uniform, and as ho is not yet crowned he wore, or rather carried, a plumed cocked hat. His purple velvet train was of great length and fulness, carried by two pages, and under his long ermine cape could bo seen the blue sash of the Order of the Garter. The Queen was in a black crepe drcs=, and wore a similar train to the King's, edged with ermine, also borno by pages. She had likewise a long black veil fastened to the hair with a very small diamond crown, and wore deep neeklots of pearls and diamonds. The Sovereign and his consort walked hand in hand to the foot of the throne, bowing right and left. Before ascending tho dais they both bowed to the throne. Tho two chairs were arranged, the King's slightly in advance of the Queen's. The princerees and members of the Royal family, who had followed the Sovereign into tho chamber, ytetO' grouped to tho King's right, and the officers of state to tho left. It was noticed that as the King withdrew his hand from the Queen's, when she ascended tha dais, her Majesty stooped to kisa the tips of his fingers. THK TUANSUBSTAXTIATIOX OATH. After the King and Queen had sat down by a slight wave of his Majesty's hand the assemblage were commanded to rcpume their seats'. At this stage the Lord Chancellor advanced to the foot of tho throne, and in a kneeling position took the King's declaration against transubstantiation, the mass, and the invocation of saints. It is a long form of oath, and King and Chancollor read it from separate copies, but in so low a tone that few could hear it. At tho end the Chancellor handed the King a scarlet-bound copy of tho New Testament, which his Majesty kissed. It wan notable that while tin's ceremony was proceeding tho Duke of Norfolk, a Roman Catholic, was standing close at the foot of the throne in his capacity of Earl Marshal. And I may here mention that before the close of tho day a petition of 30 Catholic peers was presented to tho Lord Chancellor, stating that while they submitted to the law which required this royal declaration, framed in the time of Charles 11, when religious animosities were bitter, it was painful to them as Catholics to discharge their duties while having to hear expressions which could not but cause pain to millions of his Majesty's subjects. Tho petition .suggested fresh legislation to abolish this form of declaration, ■ coscirsiox. Before the King had completed his declaration the faithful Commons had arrived at tho bar of the House, I should rather say such of them as could scramblo there. It was an awful crush, and the Speaker, to provent his robes being torn off his back, as once happened to a predecessor, surrounded himsslf with a Bmall staff of stalwart policemen. Two or three of tho Commoners were badly crushed, and several had their hats smashed and coats torn. The King read his speech from a, sheet of paper in a voice which penetrated, to every part of tho chamber.' At its conclusion he took tho Queen's hand, and tho ■two desoended the dais together, bowing right and left, and the royal procession returned to the robing rooms. The whole ceremony was concluded within half an hour. The King and Queen had a splendid reception from the populaco on their return to Buckingham Palace.