The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1903-10-03
MARY Us c1AIR '
lntsFestng Changes Recently Made
in Westminster Abbey.

Gently been made in Westminster
abbey il connection with the cele.
brated coronation chair, accord.
inc TO a London cable to the st.
Louis Republic.
For many years past two chairs
have stood side by side immedi.
ately behind the high altar of tho
church, facing the tomb of st.
Edward the Confessor.
The larger of these chairs pos
sesses, of course, a meaning which
to the English people can never
be less than sacred, for it has de-
scended to us from the days of
"the greatest of the Plantage-
nets" himself, and the old stone
which it enshrined unites our
twentieth century with a hoary
antiquity.
The other chair, commonly des.
ignated as the "Queen's Chair"
though by no means lacking in
interest, stands, of necessity, up
on an infinitely lower level in his.
torical Importance when com
pared with King Edwards chair.
1t was manufactured for Queen
Mary H., who was crowned as
joint sovereign with her husband,
William III.
AT the time of the revolution in
1859 the prince of Orange absO-
lutely declined to give way, or to
occupy a position inferior in dig
nifty to that of his wife, who, as
the oldest daughter of James H.,
had by no means an incOnsidera-
bic claim upon the crown of Eng
land.
The difficulty, therefore, could
only be solved by placing the two
of them upon a precisely equal
footing. With this end in view, it
was necessary to furnish, in view
of the coronation, the special EN-.
blems of sovereignty peculiar to
a regnant monal Oh, for the queen
as we'll as the king. The scepter
and the orb with which Mary IL.
was duly invested may still be
seen among the regalia in the
tower of London.
1t was also considered desira.
bic for a special chair to be made,
as nearly al possible resembling
King Edwards chair in its gen.
eral shape and details. Into this
chair, then, Queen Mary was lift
ed, and while seated there she
was anointed and crowned, in
stead of undergoing these cere.
monies in a kneeling posture, like
Queen Alexandra and other
queen cOnsOrts.
This chair has now been re.
moved to an altogether different
position. 1t stands in the small
chapel at the extreme eastern
end of King Henry Wis chapel,
1t will probably never be used
again, seeing that we are never
likely to behold a queen-regnant
in England simultaneously with a
king.
1t ought to be made perfectly
clear, therefore, that this chair
is not the queens chair at all
Properly speaking, it should IN
%doubtedly be called Queen Mary's
chair, for it has never beer
rightfully occupied by any queer
since the year 1889.
King Edwards chair now re
mains in sole possession of tn,
chapel of the kings. 1t has beer
placed upon a wooden pedesta
similar in the character of its de
sign to the perpendicular pen
cling of the fifteenth century al
tar screen adjoining it.
Here it occupies an inhnitel,
more commanding position thar
before. 1t at once arrests the ey,
OF visitors as being almost tn,
most prominent object in tn,
chapel.
Added to this, it will never b,
possible for the grand old chat
In future to be subjected to tn.
painful indignities which hav
been perpetrated upon its surfac
In the inscription of the names O
countless worthless people, VIII
seem to have scant reverence TO
a c%ountry's great traditions.
TrachOma Patients.