The suburban citizen., 1902-04-05
THECOMING CORONATION
MOST OF THE OLD EMBLEMS HAVE
BEEN DESTROYED.


Is Very Ancient - ola Regalia De-
strOyed In 1640-High Antiquity OF
the Ceremonies.
The regalia Of England which will
be used at the coronation OF King
Edward VII. is, with the possible
exception OF the ampulls, or yes,
sci from the Holy Oil OF Chrism,
end the spoon used in that part of the
ceremony, comparatively modern,
none being older than the reign Of
Charles IL. Even the so-called "crown
Of st. Edward" was made in that reign.
The reason for this is that common
wealth caused the destruction Of all
the regal emblems, and when Charles
came to his own again he had to order
an entire new set The outfit which
Is exhibited TO the public in the Jewel
house of the Tower Of London consists
OF several pieces-the imperial crown,
| st. Edwards crown, the queens crown,
the Prince OF Wales's coronet, the
queens diadem, st. Edwards staff, the
sceptre with the cross, the rod Of
equity, the queens sceptre, the ivory
| sceptre, the curtana or pointless sword
Of mercy, the sword Of justice, the
bracelets and spurs, the ampulla and
spoon and a salt cellar used at the
banquet and several vessels of gold
| used in the sacrament
Queen Henrietta Maria saved some
of the crown jewels from the vandal
hands OF the roundheads by taking the
pieces 10 the continent with her for the
purpose OF borrowing money on them,
and these were recovered at the restor-
alton and replaced. At the same time
the regalia OF Scotland was carried
away and saved from seizure by the
address Of the wife Of George Ogilyie
Of Barras governor OF the Castle Of
DunOttar, wherein they had been
placed for safety. Seeing that the
castle must surrender this lady, acting
in concert with the wife Of the Rev.
James Granger, minister Of Kineff,
contrived to smuggle out the precious
articles in bundles of lint They sub
sequently passed through various vi
cissitudes, at one time being buried in
alton they were recovered and are now
shown at Edinburgh Castle. The
Scottish crown and many Of the other
pieces date back to the time of King
Robert Bruce and are therefore much
more ancient then the English regalia.
What befell the English regalia was
much more deplcrable. Parliament by
enactment Of August 9, 1910, ordered
the surrender OF the contents of the
jewel room to the commissioners hav-
ing charge Of the sale Of "the late
kings property" and directed these
| gentlemen to "cause the same to be
totally broken up" which there is
every reason to believe they did with
great tboroughness, Nothing was
| spared - not even the filagree work
crown Of King Alfred the Great, a re.
lie which any Englishman would re-
spect. one might fancy. According tC
the story, the notoriously rabid repub
lican, Henry Marten, was charged
with the superintendent Of the inven
tory and the execution of the decree
He was accompanied by the poet
George Withers, to the chapel Of the
treasury at Westminster, where the
regalia was found in an ancient iron
chest, which was opened without cere
mony, whereupon the poet amused him
self and his companions by putting Oh
the royal crown and robes and carry
ing the sceptres. "He first marched
around the room with n stately gait
and afterwards, with a thousand ridl
culous and apsh actions, exposed the
| sacred ornaments to contempt ont
| laughter" 1t is interesting to note
when oliver Cromwell lay in state il
Somerset House opinion had so fal
veered that his image was dressed IL
royal robes of velvet and gold lace, ant
that at bis head, on high stool, lay
an imperial crown Of gold, and tha
later, when the figure was made t.
stand erect, the crown was placed
upon Its head
The idea Of a royal sceptre being
mislald like an ordinary piece OF fur
niture is incongruous, but such al
accident has happened. In 1914
beautiful gold rod, adorned with many
Jewels, was found covered with dus
lying at the back Of a shelf of thu
jewel house. Nobody had never hearC
Of such an article, After much dis
cusson it was identified as a sceptr'
made for the coronation Of Queer
Mary III.
The coronation ring, sometimes calleC
the wedding ring Of England" is
ruby, engraved with a st. George
cross. II Is not known to be ancient
For many centuries the English king
used at their coronations a ring whlcl
had an interesting history, If tradition
can be believed. 1t is told in the "GOl
den Legend rs follows:
A certain "fayre old man" asked Si
Edward for aims, who being shor
Of cash, gave him the ring. Soon after
ward two English pilgrims lost thei
way In the Holy Land when ther
came 20 them a fayre ancient man