Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-02-20

Same nradiction cannot always be
made with reference to the succession
of European monarchs. Thus. for in
stance. though the present Car vas
crowned with great pomp at Moscow.
as all the world still remembers, ii is
not by any means matter of course
that q Car should be crowned. The
emperors of Germany, who We're also
theoretically emperors of Rome, We're
supposed to be crowned at Rome.
at Milan at Aachen and at Aries, but
many of them were never crowned at
ALL With the Kings of England it has
always been de rigueur to be crow ned
by the Archbishop of Canterbury. and
since the time of Edward the Con-
fessor the coronation has always been
in the Abbey of Westminster. which he
founded, and where his bones were
laid
The rite of coronation. or. more
strictly. of amounting, was regarded in
the middle ages somewhat in the
light of a sacrament. which conferred
a special character upon its recipient.
and more than one of the earlier Eng
lish Kings had their sons crowned
during their own lifetimes, in order to
assure their succession by addition of
special character to their personal
claims.
For the ordering of all the process
sionS and Of whatever in the corona ton
ceremony is not distinctly ecclesias-
teal the earl marshal of England IS re-
sponsible. This office is held by the
Duke of Norfolk. who inherits it from
Thomas Plantagenet Earl of Norfolk,
a brother of Edward II. The cere-
mony itself is provided for in the
"Liber RECALLS" a special service book
carefully kept in the archives of West
minister Abbey. In this formulary q
series of questions TO be addressed 10
the King or Queen, and their proper
answers are prescribed, as we'll as the
formal coronation oath, which me
sovereign has to pronounce i'll dis
tinct and audible voice. This corona
ton oath has grown very much like
the British constitution. from the oath
taken by William the ConQueror. the
main point of which was the under
taking to maintain the laws of Ed
ward the ConfeSSor. In its present
form it has existed since the corona
ton of William and Mary in 1889. It
begins with the promise TO grant and
confirm all the laws and customs OF
my predecessors. and especially those
of the glorious King Saint Edward.
and the latest addition to its Capitula
lions is that for which William and
Mary came to the throne. to maintain
the true profession of the Gospel and
the Protestant reformed religion as it
is established by law"
With the exception of this stipula-
ton, everything in the ceremony be-
longs to the middle ages. The clergy
engaged, including, besides the Arch
bishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop
of York, the Bishop of Winchester
tChano ellor of the Order of the Carter
and the other bishops of the Estab
lished church. the dean and chaplain of
Westminster, are vested not in the
plain black and white commonly as
ISOLATED with their offices. but in
gorgeous Capes or cloaks. The great
officers of state wear under the robes
of their respective offices habiliments
belonging to the days of the first
Tudor King-the end of the fifteenth
century. The earl marshals official
staff. otherwise known as the college
of arms. comprising the Garter King,
the heralds and pursuiVantS, wear
gorgeous tabards emblaZoned with The
arms of Great Britain and Ireland.
OF the great officers OF state Who
accompany the sovereign at his coro-
nation most now hold by hereditary
right. One of them, the lord con-
stable, is no longer in existence at
ordinary times, but q lord constable is
appointed for the day OF a coronation.
the great Duke of Wellington having
been the appointee when Queen Vic
toria was crowned. The great cham
berlainship of England-an office quite
distinct from that of the lord cham
herlain, who is only court officials
held jointly by three different in
heritors, one or all of whom may be
chosen to officiate. The great steward
ship of Scotland. another hereditary
Office. is vested in the Prince of Wales
as Duke of Rothesay. Among these
great Offices of state, which are not
dozen in number. including those of
Scotland and Ireland only three are
not neutrality-suspicious. of lord high
chancellor lord keeper and lord nigh
admiral. The last of these is in abey-
ance, or. more properly, lin com
mission" its functions being dis
charged by the lOfuS OF me al
miralty: the second is held by the
Marques of Salisbury, and the first.
ard greatest. by the Earl of Halsbury.
The charactersticalIy English para
doX of this whole arrangement is that
Lord Salisbury, personally the most
important of the whole group, will at
the coronation of the new King be in
IN officially subordinate position. with
nothing important to do, while the
Duke of Norfolk, whose ceremonial
functions will predominant over those
of all other non clerical partiCipa nts
ana who, as premier duke and earl
takes precedence of all but royal
princes, will as earl marshal rank only
IS eight in order of the great officers
OF state.
Accompanied by all these function
ares, as well as by his consort, the
new King will arrive at the west door
of the Abbey preceded by the eight
,rumpeters of the Household Cavalry
whose part it is to play the special
flourish" dating from the time of
Charles II. prescribed for the highest
occasions of state. In the Abbey
first and foremost, must be the peers
and peereSseS in their own right,
robed. for once in their lives, in the
scarlet and ermine of their respective
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