Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-20

crown OF st. Edward is set by the arch
bishop Of Canterbury upon the brow OF the
first monarch Of the house Of Saxe-Coburg-
King Edward VII.
As this is done all that vast gathering
of peers and peeresses, who till then have
stood bareheaded. will put on their coro-
nets, the bishops their mitres and the COM
! moners and aldermen their velvet caps. and
from corner to corner of that mighty abbey
will spring the cry, God save the King!'
while the heralds sound their salutes, to be
taken up without the walls by the deeper
mouthed cannon at the tower and Windsor
castle.
While this is In progress King Edward
rises. and as the shouts subside and the
great choir breaks into the solemn "Te
Deum," he turns and proceeds to the
Throne Of Homage" placed in the center
Of the 'theater." Here Is then enacted the
most medieval and also the longest and
most trying of all the coronation rites.
First come the lords spiritual to kneel be-
fore the king, pronounce the words of hon.
age and kiss his hand. The princes Of the
blood ascend the steps OF the throne, and
with their coronets removed and with
fingers lightly touching the royal crown, re-
peat their homage, at the close Of which
they kiss the kings cheek. Last come the
peers of the realm, who repeat the pro-
cedure. save that they kiss the hand in
stead Of the cheek. The ceremony closes
with nine great cheers given by the COM
moners. with another God save the Kingl"
at the end.
The words of the Act OF Homage, hon
orable through long centuries, are: II,
Wellington Tor whatever the speakers title
may bel. do become your liegeman of life
and limb, and Of earthly worship, and Of
faith and truth which l will bear into you
to live and die against all manner OF folk.
so help me God" While this Is in progress
the lord treasurer throws to the choir and
lower galleries the gold and silver corona
tion medals.
Drowning the Queen.
In the meantime Queen Alexandra will
have been crowned in much the same man
ner as her royal husband, the archbishop OF
York attending her, as his brother OF Can
terbury waits upon the king. She does not,
however, take any oath, nor Is she pro-
claimed through the abbey.
It Is all of 2 O'Clock when the procession
starts to retrace it's way down the long
nave. King Edward is again robed in the
royal cloak Of purple-the color prescribed
as kingly by that old Witlaf of Mercia, who
ruled in Britain In the days when the
Roman invasion was still a recent memory
and the crown of Saxon Edward is on his
head. In his right hand he carries the
scepter with the cross, in his left the orb.
Again king and queen enter the state coach,
and the eight cream-colored horses whirl
them away between lines Of the cheering
populace of their capital.
The progress back to Buckingham palace
Is by a longer route than the one followed
in coming to the Abbey. II leads through
Parliament street, Trafalgar square, the
Strand. Fleet street and the Thames en-
bankment. On the day following the king
and queen will take an even longer drive
through London ~thoroughfares. that the
millions may have an opportunity to see
and cheer, and it is for these professions
that such great sums are being paid for
seats or windows.
In no other respect does the change that
has come over England with the passing
years appear than in this Of the prices
paid for a view Of the new-crowned king.
The first Of the Edwards was to be seen
by subjects for half a fsrthing, the figure
asked for a seat from which to view his
coronation progress. This was doubled in
the day of Edward II. and had again risen
to half a penny at the accession Of Edward
III. Prosperity doomed the market for the
march of Richard ii, to see whom the good
folk Of the time paid a whole penny. From
that the price has gone steadily up; 2
pence for the procession OF Henry v. 4
pence for that of Henry VIII. 6 pence for
that OF Good Queen Bess, and even a shil-
ling for James l. To see the present king
seats are selling freely fer from IS to $40.
while windows seating four or FIVE per-
sons bring about $500 without any trouble
whatever. 1t has been said that a colonial
millionaire has paid 1880 for a window
In the West End. but this figure seems
somewhat improbable. even for this day OF
prosperity and patriotism.
II is this sort Of thing. however. which
raises so greatly the total cost Of King
Edwards coronation. Where the govern
ment spends its e2OO. 900. the public spends.
at . conservative estimate. ak times as