The Newark journal., 1903-09-11
MARY MS CHAIR MOVED.
Interesting Changes Recently Made
in Westminster Abbey.

in Westminste Abbey.
A great Improvement has re- {
Gently been made in Westminster {
abbey in connection with the cele. s
brated coronation chair, accord {
ing to London cable to fhe st. s
Louis Republic. &
For many years past two chairs &
have stood side by side immedi- Z
ately behind the high altar of the 3
church, facing the tomb of st. ;
Edward the Confessor. 3
The larger of these chairs pos
sesses, of course, a meaning which
to the English people can nevo1
be less than sacred, for it haal
seended to us fronsAthe DAN ]
the greatest of ,PIsIIr.r ~
nets himself, asis the cid home sndy
which il enshrs 70. ,A.,,c.,... , ,'
twentieth centul row ssENp oeusrai Ps.ss
antiquity.
The other chair, -
ignated as the Quo
though by no means irving on evel
interest, stands, of NED
on an infinitely lower lev, -
torical Importance whef'A toases''
pared with King Edwards
1t was manufactured for Qtpn SOLE
Mary II swho was crowned6xouuh
,e,int eoyere1rs with her hush
William III.
At the time of the revoluti
1859 the prince of Orange !.
lutely declined to give way Il
occupy position inferior in 60 b.
nifty to that of his wife, who, "a
the oldest daughter of James IL,
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 I
of the coronation, the special EN-
blems of sovereignty peculiar to
a regnant monarch, for the queen
as we'll as the king. The scepter
and the orb with which Mary II.
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 as 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 kneeling posture, like !
Queer 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 I
end of King Henry Wis chapel.
1t will probably never be used I
again, seeing that we are never IL
likely to behold encouragement /
in England simultaneously with d =
king.
1t ought to be made perfectly
clear, therefore, that this chair
is not the queens chair at all. I
Properly speaking, it should I'M
doubtedly be called Queen Mary.s
chair, for it has never been
rightfully occupied by any queen q
since the year 1859.
King Edwards chair now 70.
mains in sole possession of the :
chapel of the kings. 1t has been
placed upon wooden pedestal
similar in the character of its de l
sign to the perpendicular pen
cling of the fifteenth century al
tar screen adjoining it.
Here it occupies an infinitely !;
more commanding position than
before. 1t at once arrests the eve
of visitors as being almost the =
most prominent object in the !,
chapel.
Added TO this, it will never be n
possible for the grand old chair y
in future to be subjected to the
painful indignities which hava
been perpetrated upon its surface
in the inscription of the names 81
countless worthless people, WIN
seem to have scant reverence for q
country's great traditions.