The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1902-08-12
OF King Edward. the Most Bril-.
liant Affair in History.

L. Stead, telegraphed as follows To the
New York Journal and Cincinnati Trib-
lne:
Commercial Tribune.
London, Aug. 9.-And the Carpenter
Of Nazareth said to the fishermen of
Gslilee on the eve of his betrayal:
This do In remembrance of me
The upper chamber" where this
was spoken was rude, unfurnished and
mean; and the bread and wine of which
the humble meal consisted was but the
ordinary fare Of the Eastern peasant;
the guests were poor, unlettered men;
their Master was one already marked
for martydom as . hereto blasphemer,
and before the next morning had dawn |
ed all 'forsook him and fed" Yet after |
the lapse Of nineteen centuries the
climax Of supreme ceremony by which |
the British race celebrated today the
crowning Of Its monarch was the observ-
ance In the most glorious human tenn
pie, built with hands by the lordliest
race Of men, Of the sacrament Of the
last supper. The communion service
which closed the long, elaborate ritual
Of the coronation was not ouly the most
imposing and most splendid Of the long
series Of spsctacles presented In the
Abbey, IL was the most Impressive and
the most significant homage which the
world, with its pomp. has ever paid To
the superior glory and sublimer grand
eur of the Gslilessn-
Communed as Sinners.
When the newly crowned KIM and
Queen keel: before the altar to par
take Of the bread and wine, they laid
aside their crowns and communicated
- sinners saved by grace on the same
footing as the meanest of the subjects.
II Is true that the King was habited
In rainment stiff with golden embroid-
cry, and that the diamonds around the
neck Of the Queen glistened like dew
drops in the morning sunbeams; that
the high altar blazed with jewels, and
that the gold plate on the tomb of Anne
of Cloves was worth Kings ransom;
and true, also, that ''all the pomp and
vauities Of this wicked world" were
conspicuously represented in the crowd
ed congregation. But not even this
DISSEMINATION. which made the Duchess
plaster her person with $500 900 worth
of diamonds, could destroy the solemn
majesty of the simple rite which recall
ed the upper chamber At Jerusalem 10
the midst Of the Abbey Church OF
Westminster, and asserted even In the
heart Of the vanity fair Of the world
that. higher than all earthly potentates.
greater than any King or Emperor, was
Jesus of Nazareth, the Jew "despised
and rejected of men," who TO this day,
so far as the solemn words OF the sedste
rites can 60, is ''exalted above all prin.
cipalities and powers, the King of Kings
and Lord Of Lords"
i Homage to OverIord.
That was 70 me, at least, the supreme
impression left on my mind by the cor
IO1osiOa VI mug WeHas II " aS aOt d
much the exaltation and enthronemenl
of the King rs homage which that King
rendered 70 his own overload
The world, the flesh and the devil
were TO the fore, no doubt The Gen
erals fresh from the devastation of South
A frica were the observed of all behold
. ers; in the Kings box, Immediately
above the place where he knelt in pray
. er, sat conspicuous. Mrs. George Keep
! pei. Sarah Bernhardt WAS also report
ed TO be present, and bevy Of fair Ia
dies, "whom the King delighted tG
honor" resplendent in fine attire, filled
the tier above the royal box.
But although the cynic may sneer anG
the devout grieve, the net impression
of the whole ceremonial was deeply sn6
intensely religious The King had ipsI
returned from the very brink Of the
grave, and the sojourn In the valley o.
the shadow Of death gave q solemnity
TO the scene which none of the gaudy
and erotesque accessories OF the scene
J not even the Peers coronets, were able
to disturb
II Must Tread Over Graves.
"Where our Kings are crowned, >
said Jeremy Taylor, their ancestor,
be inferred, and they must walk Over
their grandsires' heads to take the
lcrown."
That's true OF all coronations, buI
never before has British King beer
Icrowned under circumstances so cal
lculated to fill the mind with q sense ol
awe
or the coronation itself. which cul
minated In the communion service,
what Is TO be said save that 1t was su.
perbly beautiful expression In melody
and in color Of the deepest emotions
which can stir the human heart and ap.
peal TO the imagination of man The
Abbey itself was but the fitting frame
and setting Of the ceremonial.
The last great ceremony / witnessed
there was the burial Of Gladstone; the
first was the jubilee Of Queen Victoria
in 1887. Whether for JOY or for grief,
whether TO register the solemn vows OF
monarchs or their crowning, or TO give
expression to the lamentations of q ma
tion bereaved of its chief-the Abbey,
with its "long-drawn aisles," has been