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concealing the tawdry monuments of later centuries which had filled up the arches, were draped with blue and amber; the floor of the theatre, or great platform on which the Coronation was to take place, and of the nave, was carpeted with deep blue; and the altar was vested in red and adorned with gold plate. Soon after 7 A.M. the privileged spectators began to seek their places, and in an hour or two all the galleries were thronged with an assemblage of a most striking and representative character, including Peers and Peeresses in the robes of their ranks; Members of the House of Commons in Court dress or uniform, with their wives, daughters, or sisters; distinguished foreign visitors, the members of the Diplomatic Body; Cabinet Ministers, the Colonial Prime Ministers, Privy Councillors, Judges, Civil servants, and representatives of municipalities and of various religious denominations. Between 9 and 10 A.M. the Sub-Dean of Westminster, Canon Duckworth (who through the greater part of the service discharged, by the King's permission, the functions which otherwise would have fallen to the aged Dean, Dr. Bradley) and the Prebendaries took the Regalia from the Jerusalem Chamber to the Chapel of Henry VII. There the Bishops of Bath and Wells and of Oxford sang the Litany (which, in order somewhat to curtail the Coronation service, was not included in it, as according to custom it would have been). The Regalia were dedicated, and then borne back to the temporary, and very tastefully constructed, annexe, at the west end of the church, whence they were carried in front of their Majesties up the nave and placed on the altar.

On the appearance, first of the Queen, and then of the King, the Westminster boys in the triforium, according to privileged custom, hailed them with the salutations-" Vivat Regina Alexandra!" and "Vivat Rex Eduardus!" Their Majesties passed up the nave to their respective places in the theatre, in a stately and magnificent procession, including kings of arms, heralds and pursuivants, high Court officials, the Royal Standards of England, Scotland, Ireland and of the Union, all the great officers of State, most of them carrying, by hereditary right, portions of the Regalia or other insignia of Sovereign State, and, immediately before the King, the Bishops of Ely, London and Winchester, bearing, respectively, the Patina, the Bible and the Chalice, while, to the right and left of his Majesty moved the Bishops of Durham and of Bath and Wells. The King was robed in crimson, with the Collar of the Garter, and with the Cap of State on his head, and the Queen in robes of cloth of gold, with a purple train broidered with gold.

The service began with the Recognition. The Archbishop of Canterbury, vested in a rich embroidered cope of cream damask, with, on his right hand, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Lord High Constable, the Earl Marshal, and Deputy Garter King-of-Arms, said in a loud voice-" Sirs,

I here present unto you King Edward, the undoubted King of this Realm; wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage, are you willing to do the same?" At the same moment the King rose and faced towards the body of the church, whereon there were loud and joyous and repeated cries of "God save King Edward!" together with a flourish of trumpets. The Communion Service was then at once begun, there being included a special prayer for the King, and thanksgiving for his recovery. The sermon being omitted, immediately after the recitation of the Nicene Creed the Coronation Oath was administered to the King by the Primate, his Majesty, whose responses were given in a clear, sonorous voice, solemnly promising to govern the People of the United Kingdom and all its Dominions "according to the statutes in Parliament agreed to and the respective Laws and Customs of the same "cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed"; and, to the utmost of his power, to 'maintain the Laws of God, the true Profession of the Gospel and the Protestant Reformed Religion established by Law," and to maintain "the settlement of the Church of England as by law established," and all such rights and privileges of the Bishops and Clergy, and of the Church committed to their charge, "as, by law, do, or shall, appertain to them or any of them."

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Having thus entered into solemn contract with the Nation and with the Church, the King was anointed to his Royal Office. For that purpose he laid aside his Cap of State and was disrobed of his outer crimson robes, and in a red tunic reaching to the knees took his seat in the chair of St. Edward, under which was the Stone of Destiny. While four Knights of the Garter, Earl Cadogan, Earl Spencer, the Earl of Rosebery and the Earl of Derby, held a pall of yellow silk over his head, the Sub-Dean stood by with the ampulla and spoon brought from the altar, and the Archbishop, having previously said a beautiful and appropriate prayer, anointed the King on the head, the breast and the hands. Meanwhile the choir sang Handel's anthem, "Zadok the Priest," composed for the coronation of George II. Loud and spontaneous invocations of blessings on the anointed Monarch broke from all parts of the Abbey, and the King was then invested, one by one, with all the sacred and symbolic vestments and insignia of his Royal State. The Sub-Dean placed upon his Majesty the SuperTunica. The Lord Great Chamberlain, kneeling, touched the King's heels with the Golden Spurs, brought from and taken back to the altar. Over the "Kingly Sword," lying on the altar, an impressive prayer was said by the Archbishop, who then, assisted by his brother of York and other prelates, delivered it into the King's right hand. It was girt round him by the Lord Great Chamberlain, and after receiving a brief, but noble and impressive, exhortation on the duties which it. symbolised, the King ungirded it, and offered it as an offering

"to God and to the altar in token that his strength and power would first come from God and Holy Church." Then, by a quaint survival from a distant day, the Marquess of Londonderry, who first received the sword after the King had ungirded it, "redeemed" it for the traditional price of a hundred shillings, and drawing it from its scabbard bore it naked before his Majesty for the rest of the ceremonial.

The investiture continued by the vesting of the King by the Sub-Dean with the Armilla, an embroidered band of cloth of gold, and the Imperial Mantle, or Dalmatic-this last gorgeous robe being made of four breadths of cloth of gold, woven with the rose, thistle and shamrock, and wrought with silver eagles. Then to his Majesty, thus splendidly attired, and sitting again in St. Edward's Chair, were successively delivered by the Archbishop (having been brought from the altar) the Imperial Orb with the Cross, the Ring-"the ensign of Kingly Dignity and of Defence of the Catholic Faith"-and lastly the two Sceptres -the Sceptre with the Cross and the Sceptre with the Dove, symbolising respectively "Kingly Power and Justice" and Equity and Mercy."

Only the Crown itself remained to be bestowed. Over it, lying on the altar, a solemn petition was offered for the sanctifying of the King by the Archbishop, who then, accompanied by other Bishops, again approached St. Edward's Chair. To him the Dean of Westminster, supported by the Sub-Dean, brought the Crown from the altar, and, not without difficulty, the venerable Primate raised and placed it on the King's head. Thereon shouts of acclamation burst from every quarter, and the electric light suddenly flashed out on a scene of almost unexampled splendour. In every direction were to be seen the most distinguished, by birth and by achievement, of Englishmen and the noblest and most beautiful of Englishwomen, the latter adorned with innumerable flashing jewels, and almost all, men as well as women, clad in richly hued garments which, in very many cases individually beautiful, made up, amid the grey of the ancient Gothic arches, a singularly attractive combination of variegated colour. At the same moment, moreover, the Peers donned the coronets they had previously been carrying in their hands.

When the roar of acclamation had subsided, the Archbishop recited a few words of solemn and inspiring exhortation, and after the chanting of an anthem, "Be strong and play the man," to music by Sir Walter Parratt, Master of the King's Music, there came the presentation of the Bible, the copy offered being the gift of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Then, kneeling in his kingly robes, and holding his two sceptres one in either hand, his Majesty was blessed by the Archbishop before the people; and rising sat down on his Throne-theoretically, but not actually, "lifted" there by the prelates-and received the Primate's exhortation to "hold fast from hence

forth the Seat and State of Royal and Imperial Dignity." Then followed the rendering of homage, first by the Archbishop and Bishops, then by the Prince of Wales and other Princes of the Blood Royal, and then by the five premier nobles-the Duke of Norfolk, Marquess of Winchester, Earl of Shrewsbury, Viscount Falkland and Lord De Ros-on their own behalf and that of their respective orders in the Peerage, while the Homage Anthem, "Kings shall see and princes also shall worship," set to music by Sir Frederick Bridge, was sung. Two touching incidents occurred during the homage. The aged Archbishop, wearied with the long service, had difficulty in rising from his knees, whereon the King himself took him by the right hand to help to raise him, and afterwards clasped his hand with a gesture of spontaneously cordial regard. Also when the Prince of Wales, having taken the oath as the King's "Liege man of life and limb," kissed his Royal father on the left cheek, touching his Crown the while with his right hand, the King caught the Prince's left hand and affectionately returned the salute.

A scene of singular grace and beauty followed in the anointing of Queen Alexandra by the Archbishop of York, while the canopy, or pall, which had been held over the King at his anointing, was borne above her Majesty by the Duchesses of Portland, Marlborough, Sutherland and Montrose. Then, having received the Ring, the Queen was crowned by the Archbishop of York, and at the same moment all the Peeresses took their coronets from their laps and raised them to their heads. The effect of this simultaneous action was extremely pleasing. The Queen's special part of the ceremonial was then concluded by her investiture by the Northern Primate with the ensigns of queenly dignity-the Sceptre and Ivory Rod, after which her Majesty proceeded to her Throne, making a deep obeisance towards the King as she passed him.

The office of the Holy Communion was then resumed at the offertory sentences, when the King and Queen made their traditional oblations kneeling, crownless, on faldstools in front of the altar and remained there till the Consecrated Elements were administered to them by the Primate and the Dean of Westminster. Thereafter they again received and put on their Crowns, took their Sceptres in their hands, and remained in their chairs till the end of the service.

Such in bare outline was the great solemnity of the Coronation of King Edward the Seventh and Queen Alexandra, carried out in all its details, thanks to careful previous rehearsal, with reverence, dignity and exactitude. Their Majesties approached the Abbey by way of the Mall, the Horse Guards' Parade, Whitehall and Parliament Square, and returned to Buckingham Palace by Parliament Square, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Pall Mall, St. James's Street, Piccadilly, Hyde Park Corner, and Constitution Hill. Their procession by these routes was in the highest degree representative of the Forces of the

Crown-Naval and Military, Regular, Auxiliary and Volunteer, Colonial and Indian. The Honorary Indian Aides-deCamp to his Majesty, who were among the most striking features of this splendid cavalcade, were their Highnesses the Maharaja of Cooch Behar, the Maharaja (Sir Pertab Singh) of Idar and the Maharaja Sindhia of Gwalior. Immediately preceding the State Coach conveying their Majesties rode escorts of the Royal Horse Guards, of Indian Cavalry, and of Colonial Cavalry. Along both routes the cheers of the multitudes were in a special manner, and with intense enthusiasm, concentrated upon the King and Queen, but there was also great applause for Lord Kitchener and Lord Roberts and, too, for the Indian Princes. All over the country and throughout the Empire religious services and rejoicings of all kinds marked the Coronation Day, and on the following day (Sunday) services. in celebration of the Coronation and in thanksgiving for the recovery of the King were universally held. Never indeed was a national festival kept with more signal evidences of profound participation in its meaning by all classes of the population.

On the Coronation Day the King addressed to the Prime Minister a letter in which having explained that, for various reasons, he felt that he would not be able to make adequate use of Osborne House (which had been left him by Queen Victoria) as a Royal residence, he expressed his gracious wish to offer that estate as a gift to the nation. "As Osborne," his Majesty wrote, "is sacred to the memory of the late Queen, it is the King's wish that, with the exception of those apartments which were in the personal occupation of her Majesty, his people shall always have access to the house which must ever be associated with her beloved name. As regards the rest of the building the King hopes that it may be devoted to national purposes and be converted into a convalescent home for officers of the Navy and Army, whose health has been impaired in rendering service to their country. If, in order to give full legal effect to the King's wishes, it is found that an application to Parliament is necessary, the King trusts that Mr. Balfour will see that the necessary steps are in due course taken." (This was done.) The King received (Aug. 11) the Lord Mayor, Viscount Duncannon, and Sir Savile Crossley, M.P., who presented the Coronation gift of 115,000l., subscribed by all classes of his Majesty's subjects. There were nearly 20,000 donations in pence given by working people. The King, in receiving the gift, expressed the pleasure he took in the fact that the tribute included the offerings of the poorer as well as the richer among his subjects, and his great gratification that in this year such considerable progress had been made towards the attainment of the object he had in view when he originated his Hospital Fund. His Majesty then handed the Coronation gift to the Prince of Wales, to be applied to the augmentation of the fund.

Of the ceremonials ancillary to those of the actual Corona

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