The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-11-21

4
/ by their faded color and other
! tokens of wear, are more highly
! priced and attract d greater degree of
envious admiration than entirely new
ones: and that is at the coronation OF
British sovereign. At this function
all the peers and peeresses OF the
| realm arc compelled to appear In
Westminster Abbey wearing robes
capped with mniver and barred with
ermine, the number of the ermine bars
cordins TO the wearer's rank In the
peerage. This rule also applies to the
peeresses, who are likewise restricted,
by order of the Earl Marshal, In tho
their trains, which vary from train
of two yards in the case of a duchess
TO only one yard for a mere baroness.
The train of q countesss coronation
robe Is yard and half.
The majority of the peerages of the
realm are of modern creation. and
therefore most Of the robes seen at a
coronation are exceedingly new. But
there are some Of them where the
crimson color of the velvet IS old and
faded and the miniver dingy and even
bare in spots. They are the robes that
We're worn at the coronation of
Charles H., and at every subsequent
coronation, by the ancestors of their
present possessors. These robes. as
we'll as the coronets. are heirlooms in
many of the families.
The coronation robes are different
from the parliamentary robes, which.
instead of crimson velvet, are of red
cloth and are without capes, but bar
red With white fur, according TO the
degree of the wearer
There seems to be some doubt as to
when coronation robes were first worn.
- fashion, however, seems to have
C. &c from France, about the twelfth
century and in the reigns of Edward
" NEF-l and II
peers above the rank of baron were
allowed robes, the wearing of which
was intended to emphasize the fact
that their owners were in a measure
the equals. that is the peers, of the
sovereign.
Until the reign of Edward III. the
wearing of ermine was strictly con-
fined to the members of the royal fam
ny, and It was only during the Wars
OF the Roses, when the authority
the great mobiles increased that it's
use WAS extended to the peers and
peeresses Of the realm
Win regard 10 the wearing of cor
by the peers and the peercsses at the
moment when the prinates crown the
King and the Queen-their use seems
TO date from the reign of Edward ILL.,,
though 1t was only at the coronation
OF Charles II. that they were first
conceded to the bsrons. Coronations
are, indeed, the only occasion Of their
eyer being worn, and King George,
ike his father, has issued Very strin-
gent orders, through the Duke of Nor
onets should be of plain silver silt
ana crimson velvet, bordered with err
nine and should in no case be adorned
with either real or counterfeit jewels
or precious stones
Tho only other times that coronet
Hgures IN the career of u peer or OF a
peerless is at their funeral, when it
Is laid on their coffin, reposing on a
velvet cushion.
some of these coronets have queer
rates Tho late George w. Childs, of
having acquired by pur-
chase in London the coronet worn by
the poet Lord Byron at the coronation
Of George w., had the crimson velvet
i iea removed. turned 1t upside down,
had a Split lamp inserted, and used
u on his dinner table as a rechaud, or
als h-Warmer II would be interesting
:, 70 know what has become of it since
his death.
People cannot be too careful when
either selling or leasing their houses
ABOUT !, seeing that no family papers or
documents are left hidden away in
bureaus, cupboards, writing desks, etc.
Thus, the Due de Montebello Ca grand
son OF that Marshal I,annes who was
oiie OF tHe most famous OF Napoleon's |
generals, and who fell at the battle
Of Essling, a cannon ball carrying OFF
noth his less), has Just instituted u |
sun against q London book dealer of |
the name of EIughen for the recovery
81 q quantity Of family papers relating
to the duca house of Montebello ip:1
,luding al the commissions Ngranted.I
to- Marshal I.annes, namely. his com. |
missions as colonel, as brisadier- gem
efnl, as general OF division. as field |
marshal, as grand cross or grand
eagle of the Legion OF Honor. his in.
'ltatlon TO the coronation Of the En-
leror and a notification by General |
Ouroc, grand master of the imperial
according 10 him, in the
lame of Napoleon, the so-calletl
grand and small entree" at the pal
zee, that Is to say, the liberty OF ac-
less to the monarch at all times. These
documents We're offered for sale to
he present duke by Mr. IIughen for
$1,000, But the duke declined to pay,
md instead' Of that sued the would
% vendor for the unlawful possession5I
arr t,H.l