The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-12-28
HOW KING ]. y G
Will. BE CROWNED,

Will. BE CROWNED.
The Event Will be the One me
Of N 9 x5t
Year.
It is understood that the coronation,
which will be the chief event OF lll e'.A>'
years season, is to be considerably Shotll
of its ancient glories. therein folloWlns
tho precedent set by William ! Y, and ac-s
cepted by the late Queen. There mas
been some grumbling at the delilllte
abandonment of the procession from tile
Tower TO the Abbey and the banquet ~ +
Westminster Hall, hut most people VII
agree that things are better as they are.
The reason why the change was 11laoe
seventy years ago is well known George
Tvs love of ostentation and profuse
expenditure had thoroughly sickened ms
subjects, who were mot in the least edi-
fed by such a ceremonial as Scott mas
recorded in a famous letter. WITH inc
unhappy Queen clamoring at the aoorl
which had been closed on her as mucn
by her husbands neglect as by$her own
folly. Greville tells us that when Viii
liam ". came to the throne it was de-
cided that the Coronation was TO pc
confined to the ceremony in the Abbey
and cost as little money and as little
trouble as possible" 1t was thus
found possible to bring the estimates
within 10000. whereas in the previous
reign they had amounted to 324o, eo9.
The Coronation went off we'll" wrote
Greville' land whereas nobody was salts.
fed Eefore it, everybody was after it.
1t is not likely that the ancient pageants
or the Coronation banquet will ever
again be Instituted, although it is IN
derstood that the King, who is wisely
anxious to crafty any reasonable WISH
in his subjects. will allow himself to be
seen by as many Of them as possible
on the way to the Abbey. Thus the
Court of Claims, which sat this week for
the purpose of adjudicating on the right
of certain subjects to take part in the
ancient, reverend and picturesque cere-
monies of the Coronation, has found it's
labors greatly ligf,tened-how greatly on
~ those versed in the history OF land
tenures can guess, though others may
now read it a large in the, handsome and
learned volume of English Coronation
Records Constable and Co., BIS. I'd.
net, which has Just been edited by Mr.
Leopold G. Wickham Legg, of New Col
lege, Oxford. Mr.. Legg's aim was to
collect "a series of documents which will
give the consecutive history of the Cor
onation in England. from the earliest
times down to the Coronation of Queer.
Victoria'' 1t is very interesting to no
tice the persistence of the general form
of Coronation through all the changes
in nonessential parts Of the ceremony
It is so long since we elected our NOM
ina1 rulers that many of us forget that
a King was ever on the footing OF
Roman Consul or an American Presl-
dent. Yet a survival Of that early prac-
tice is still to be heard in the Coronation
Service. .'Sirs,'' said the Archbishop OF
Canterbury after Queen Victoria had en-
tered the Abbey and shown herself IN
the prescribed ritual to her people on all
sides, II here present to you Queen Vic
toria, the undonbted Queen of this
Realm: Wherefore. All You who are
come this Day to do your Homage, Are
you willing to do the same?" In this
rite. now purely formal, we see the re-
naming shadow Of the old Teutonic Gus
tom of choosing the most capable or
popular man in the nation to be Its
leader or ruler. The curious in these
matters will find in Mr.. Legg's able and
comprehensive work a full account OF
the gradual change in the Coronation
ceremonies from the days of st. Colum-
bia to the nineteenth century.
The petitions on which the Court OF
Claims had to adjudicate, along with the!
more numerous ones that only arise when
the Coronation banquet is in question. IL
lustrate q specially interesting survival
of our past history. The feudal system,
curious and often misunderstood as it is,
now only survives in the services which
the Lords of certain manors claim the
right to offer to the King at his Corona
ton Originally, as every schoolboy
ought to know, lands were granted by the
Sovereign to his great vassals on condl-
ton of their aid to him in war. Often
they felt that they held their estates by
the sword in more senses than one.
Blount. that amusing authority on land
tenure, tells us that in the sixth year
of King Edward the first, after the MAX
ing the Statute of Quo Warranto in the
Parliament held at Glocester, the King
by his justices, questioning certain Of his
great subjects, by what title they held
their lands; among others, John Earl
Warren and Surrey, being called and de-
manded Ey what Warrant he held his.
Showed them an old sword, and unsheath-
IL,
my Warrant: my ancestors coming into
this land with William the Bastard, did
obtain their lands by the sword, and I am
resolved with the sword to defend them
against whomsoever shall endeavor to
dispossess me; for that King did not
himself conquer the land and subdue IT.
but our progenitors were therein assist
ants and sharers'' When the old mil
itary tentres were finally abolished at
the restora ton, it was thought well to
retain certain honorary services which
had been connected with or had replaced
the older obligation to go to battle when
the Sovereign required it. Littleton tells
us that tenure by ''Grand Sergeanty" is
where man holds his lands or tenements
of our Sovereign Lord the King by such
services as he ought to do in his own !
proper person to the King, as to carry /
the banner of the King, or his lance, or
to lead his army, or to be his Marshal.
or to carry his sword before him at the
Coronation, or to be his carver, or his
butler, or to do other like services. A
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