The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-08-26
AND OMENS
THRILLING EVENTS WHICH HAVE
WORRIED KINGS.
Supersdtious Incidents Which Have
Clustered Around Coronations OF
New MOnarchs

Some most extraordinary incidents of
superstition have been recorded in con-
nection with some OF our English SOW
ereigns, and also with the ideas of
their subjects respecting them. Natur7
ally enough, these supersLtious events,
speaking generally, cluster around the
accession and the coronation of a new
monarch. The advent of William the
ConquerOr upon the shores Of England
is a notable example of this fact. When
first he landed at Pevensey, on Sept.
%, 1866, the duke advanced in so great
a hurry being DESTROYS of landing un-
opposed, that ne slipped and fell head
long to the ground. a shuuder prompt
ly went round his immediate COmpan-
ions, who were terribly disconnected at
this apparently evil omen. The duke,
however, was fully equal to the ocCa-
sion. He forthwith cutched at the
earth with his hands, eXclaiming loud
ly at the same moment See, my lords,
l have taken possession of England
with both my hands"
An incident not so very dissimilar in
character occurred but a few days lat
er, when the duke was dOning his ar
NOR in readiness for the great battle
which was destined to decide the fate
OF England for many a long century.
His coat of mail was offered him, Dut
| by some misChance it was turned the
wrong way about. once more were his
attendants not little disconnected.
once more did the duke furnish a
prompt and ready explanation of the
uncanny event. AS the hauberk had
been turned around hind part first, so
it's wearer would ere long, so he aver
red, be transformed from a duke into
a king.
Few periods of English history prob
ably have been so rife with Omens as
the reign of the luckless Stephen. On
one occasion an ominous incident was
actually instrumental in preventing
deadly carnage. a contest was just
! about to begin between Stephen and
his rival, Henry, at Wallingford when,
according to Matthew Paris, stephen s
! horse reared turiOusly twice as he ad-
| Vanced to the front to array his battle,
| and twice fell with his fOrefeet fiat to
| the earth and threw his royal rider
The mobiles exclaimed it was a portent
! of evil, and the men murmured among
| themselves" In consequence of this,
the celebrated William de Albini fast
ened himself upon Stephen and pro-
! ceeded to urge upon him the need of
! coming to some friendly terms with the
| young Plantagenet duke.
| None of our English SoVereigns, in
! all probability, has ever been guilty of
! such gross and impiOus profanity as
| King John. He alone with James II,
| went so far as to refrain from partak
| ing of the holy communion at his corO-
| nation. Moreover, he seemed TO have
! been guilty of an irreVerence during
the service which can only be charac-
terized as disgusting. Yet, strange to
say, the superstition of this wre ,ched
! monarch was such that he actually
| gave orders that his remains were to
! be wrapped in monks cOWl and to be
! buried between two saints, in the hope
| that by this means the demons mighE
| be thwarted from attacking him. TniS
| incident explains the unusual position
! of King John tomb right in the very
! center of the choir of Worcester ca
! thedral. At the time of his burial two
Saxon saints, Oswald and Wulfstan by
! name, lay there hard by each other.
1t was felt that it would be suitable to
| inter the superstitious king in between
! these two ornaments of the English
church-a suggestion which was ac-
! cordingly carried into effect.
| These strange events were by no
| means confined to the more supersti-
| tOus period of the Middle Ages. Even
| in the seventeenth and eighteenth CEN
| turtles did they continue to make their
| appearance. No coronation has ever
been so pregnant with unfortunate oc-
! currences as that of the unhappy
| Charles 1. Quite a sensation was pro-
duced by the curious. not to say un-
| fortunate, mistake which attended the
important ceremony of the recognition
| at the commencement of the service.
When the king was duly presented to
| the people for their acceptance the
words of the officiating prelate were
/ succeeded, strangely enough, by a
! deathly silence. Not one solitary voice
was uplifted to hail King Charles as
the undoubted king of his realm. For
| the moment the ceremony was at a
| complete standstill At length, in des-
| peratiOn, the earl marshal and some Of
his assistant officers came forward and
| told the people assembled there that it
was their business to cry out God
| save King Charles!" The hint was
! taken, but it did not succeed in allay-
! ing a most uncomfortable feeling
which pervaded not a few Of those who
happened to be present-Pan Mall
Gazette.
Y. NJ. r.. G. MEETS