The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-06-22

land were crowned and which. tradition
states. is the veritabie stone once used
as Jacobs pillow. II is said TO be a
good omen II the stone gives forth a
sound ike a sigh when the king seats
himself. as that IS an infallible token
that he is Dot only the legitimate SOW
ereign. but viii have q long and pros
porous reign The chair in which the
queen viii sit 10 be crowned is not SO
ancient. having been made IN 1855 FOR
Queen Mary. It was last used in 1881
by Queen Adelaide. After the amounting
the archbishop places the St Edward
crown on the kings head. and the va
rious insignia Of royalty are offered
him. The sword OF state is girt about
him. a Bible is presented TO him. the
solemn tie DeUm" is chanted. and the
act OF enforcement is then considered
complete.
As the crowH is set upon the head OF
the last English Edward and the frs,
Edward OF the house OF SAKE CoburS 4
mighty shout goes up OF God save
the kings'' The peers. till that mo-
ment uncovered, viii put on their coro-
nets and the bishops their miters, while
a fanfare OF trumpets procieims the
abbey. salvos OF cannon carrying the
tidings TO the people outside the walls
Leaving his coronation seat. the king
proceeds 10 the throne or homage.
when. in accordance with a medieval
custom, he receives the allegiance OF his
highborn subjects-first princes OF the
blood. who. with coronets removed.
lightly kiss their sovereign on the
-s..e.
peers imprint their kisses on his hand
Each one repeats the formula in use for
centuries-"I do become your llegeman
Of life and limb and OF earthly worship
and OF faith and truth. which ! viii
bear unto you 10 live and die against all
manner of folk, so help me God" While
this homage is rendered gold and silver
coronation medals are thrown by the
lord treasurer 10 the choir and lower
galleries.
The coronation OF King William and
Queen Adelaide rather than that OF
Queen Victoria has been taken az the
basis for this latest function. as the
latter ceremonial did not include the
browning of a consort. The GROWING
Of Queen Alexandra Will Immediately
succeed that OF King Edward. and not
until this has been done may the peer
esses assume their coronets- Above the
queen as she sies in her coronation
chair will be held a canopy Of cloth Of
gold similar to that which Is held above
the king, only Il will be supported by
four beautiful ducheSses instead OF by
four garter knights The four ladies
who are considered TO have been sig
nally honored by this choice are the
Duchess OF Sutherland. the Duchess OF
Montrose, the Duchess Of Portland and
the Duchess Of Marlborough. The last
named. as is we'll known. was formerly
Miss Vanderbilt and is an American by
birth. She is one OF the most beautiful
Of the quartet and Is the first Amer
lean upon whom has fallen the distinc-
ton Of attending a queen in this ca
pacity.
AS. aside from the solemn import OF
the ceremonial In its civil and ecclesi-
astical aspect. much Of the coronation
grandeur depends upon its meretricious
glare and glitter. an allusion 10 the at
tendsnt expenditure may be excused on
the ground that IL is conspicuously OBJ
trusive.
As compared with former ceremonials
OF the sort, this latest coronation FAR
exceeds in cost any similar function
that has preceded il. The only one that
has approached Il is that Of the last Of
the Georges. and this did not exceed
81. SOC. 600. including Sl25.000 for the cor
onation robe and s225. 600 expended on
the crown.
Queen Vlctoria's coronation cost only
$3.50. 0O0 and that Of William " did not
exceed $3.50. 900. The coronation which
most nearly approached II Ia modern
times was that Of Car Nicholas q
Russia. which reached a total. inciud-
Ing the expenditure by government and
civic authorities, OF see. 900. oo0 SIN the
mere matter OF expense f. not 10 be
thought Of in connection with an event
that viii probably outlive the centu-
ries and survive until remotest times.
To most OF the English people the
coronation ceremony is the concrete
presentation Of that tradition and rev
erence for antique custom that Is in
grained IN the national iife. A king
without a coronation would present 60
them as sorry a spectacle as a king
without a crown. IN fact. the function
and the emblem 90 together and are iB-
tended 70 go down % history one and