The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-06-30
THE ROYAL APPROACH.
THE DUKE OF WHALING
 TONS
VELLING-
Trained Horse Backed Into tho Kings
 Presence.

In the recollections of the duke ot
 Wellington, by Sir William Fraser, it i;
 mentioned that two great officers are
 appointed for special occasions only
 These are the lord high constable and
 the lord high steward of the kingdom
 On the occasion of the coronation of
 George " the duke was nominated tc
 the function of lord high constable. On
 either side of the champion of England
 and adding greatly to the splendor of
 the function, were the lord high con
 stable and the deputy earl marshal
 When the champion enters Westmin-
 ster hall during the banquet, he rides . between these two great officers from
 the principal door up to the king $
 table-the king being seated under the
 window at the farther end.
 After the customary challenge made
 by the kings champion to any one who should dispute the right of the monarch, and the throwing down of the glove, the king drinks to the health of the champion in a goblet of gold, which he then and there pre-
 sents him. This being done, it is the duty of the champion, the lord high constable and the earl marshal to rein their horses backwards until their exit at the door by which they entered the palace yard,
 The duke of Wellington with his practical good sense, anticipating the scene of tumultuous enthusiasm which was certain to occur, took care to ob- tain for the occasion a well trained steed from the establishment across the river since known as Astley's. Accordingly an animal of handsome appearance and dignified demeanor was selected, and backward movement being unusual to horses, the steed upon whom so much honor was conferred was carefully drilled day after day for Some weeks to move in an inverse di- rection around the circus. In time he became quite perfect and equally in sensible to the efforts of persons made to disturb his equanimity No amount of cheering, nor throwing up of hats, nor noises of any kind induced the anil mal to swerve from his backward path.
 The great day arrived. The king was in his seat. The peers and peer esses, and everything that was great in the kingdom had found their proper locality in Westminster hall, the noble building raised by William Rufus-for his bedroom. The great doors were thrown open, and sight which eclipsed all other sights enchanted the specta- tors. The champion of England in brilliant arnor entered between his supporters. Nothing could be more 
 The hero of Waterloo wearing his coronation robes and his ducal coro- net placed rather forward on his brow, and bearing in his right hand the baton of field marshal, bestrode with great dignity his noble steed, duly capar- isoned for the occasion. The sight was irresistible. The peers, peeresses and commoners rose to their feet; a wild burst of cheering echoed through that vast and picturesque roof. What 1 was the horror of the spectators, what l was the dismay of the sovereign, and | what must have been the feelings of the iron soul that had confronted death in every shape unmoved when | the intelligent animal that he rode, | assuming that the nOlSe was prellH- mary to his turning round as he had | been trained to do, instantly did this | and advanced toward the sovereign | with his head pointing to the door by | which he had entered Westminster hall
 As the children say at the end of a story, What did they do then?" Some of those in attendance with great diff iculty succeeded. to use a sailors eX- oression, in slowing the animal round and possibly by dint of holding the oridle and caresses. enabled the great luke to approach George the magnif- ,ent in a decorous and dignified man. ler.-Detroit Journal.