The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1899-10-07
NEXT N
The Procedure In ~Enthronins the
Prince OF wales WIN BE the same
as n the Fifteenth Century.

When the time comes for a new king
of England the College of Arms will
proclaim him, just as they have pro-
claimed every monarch for hundreds
OF years past Times change and dy-
nastieS. We are less like the English.
men OF Edward |. than we are like the
modern Japs. We talk a different
tongue, we eat different foods, we wear
different clothes, we think different
thoughts. Nothing is the same except
the columns on Stonehenge and the
College Of Arms. The college abides,
varying by not so much as a detail OF
procedure or a button on q uniform.
What is is good and cannot be improved.
Therefore, the business OF proclamation
viii be the same In the twentieth CEN
fury as 1t was in the fifteenth.
When the time unhappily comes for
a new king 10 reign the privy council
will meet and declare the throne to
have devolved on the prince of Wales.
Orders will at once be given to the earl
marshal and the officers of the College
Of Arms to proclaim him. The first
proclamation will be made in the court
yard Of st. James palace, where the
guard is changed. Garter King, the
chief officer Of the college, will make
the proclamation In solemn form, with
the earl marshal, the knights, the her
aids and the pursuivants in full uniform
and mounted hard by. At this proch-
nation the monarch Is present, sitting
at the window where all his predeces-
sors have sat.
That Is the chiefest of the proclama-
tons, but the news haste be carried far
and wide to the distant cities, the rank
Of the proclaiming officer descending
as the business proceeds. The second
pronouncement Is made at Charing
Cross, and the third at the corner of
Chancery lane.
At this proclamation there will be
a modification OF the ancient form,
owing TO the disappearance OF Temple
Bar. Within the city OF London the
lord mayor and sheriffs preserve their
ancient sovereignty, and allow no ruler
within their gates except after permis-
sion has been asked and granted. The
old form was for the junior PURSUANT
to rap at the gate and show his warrant
for proclamation. Then the lord mayor
ordered the gates TO be opened. and
joined in the stately procession. The
ceremony win doubtless remain, bar
ring the knock at the gate, which does
not exist. In the provinces the proch-
nations are made by the local mayors.
Being proclaimed and crowned. the
king has to offer to fight for his throne,
In the olden times, when a king reigned
by the power Of his right arm, this was
a necessary formality, and because 1t
was necessary once It Is done still. But
the king no longer does his own fight
Ing. He has a champion, the hereditary
champion OF England, whose duty 1t Is
TO do battle with all corners for the
crown. The champion is always a
member of the Dymoke family. When
the king is crowned this champion
rides into Westminster hall, mounted
and in full armor, just as the champion
was 600 years ago. He is accompanied
by the earl marshal and the lord great
chamberlain, also on horseback. The
hall is crowded with ticketed sight
seers. A proclamation is read by one
of the heralds, challenging anybody
who disputes the right of the sovereign
to combat in an open space. The cham
pton throws down his gauntlet as a
guarantee Of good faith, and then the
hearts Of all the ladies Autter in an
t~icipalon of a fight. But 1t Is ali a
Disappointing sham. II some e~nterpris-
ing person were to take up the chal-
, lenge and the gauntlet he would prob
ably be u in by the police for Great
ing a disturbance. The herald takes
up the glove and hands 1t back to the
champion, and then the king is firmly
seated on his throne.-London Mail.