The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1914-01-22

~N THE long roll of England's
kings, running back into the re-
mote mists of legendary lore
which enshroud the early rulers,
the record of the coronations
stands out with peculiar distinctness.
A coronation, it would seem, is func-
tion that impresses itself upon a
mans mind. 1t is something that is
not forgotten. Even the ancient
chroniclers, who romanced upon so
many subjects, were inclined to stick
to the sober truth when it came to
describing the events that attended
the coronation of kings.
For that is what the coronation has
always meant in Christian lands A
temporal ceremony it undoubtedly is.
Some of the elements in it are essen
TALLY earthly, involving the pledging
of homage, the granting of fealty. But
overshadowing all these is the vast,
subtle influence of the spiritual signifi-
canoe which attends theh kings as
sumption of bauble crown, bauble
only in outward shape, because it is
symbolical of so many other things
that are not to be understood in SO
many words.
Perhaps it will not be amiss to cast
an eye backward over England's his
tory and review some of the corona
tions of the past. 1t seems strange
to find that Alfred the Great, who
rivaled Charlemagne in the tradi-
tions Of the splendor of ais reign,
should never have been crowned as
people understand the word today. He
began to reign over Wessex in 872,
but by 1856 he had gained sway over
most Of the present land of England,
exclusive of Scotland and Wales.
When he attained to this magniticence
he was formally elected king of Eng
land by the soldiers of his army, who
clashed their swords on their shields
and shouted his name That was how
Alfred was crowned.
Elevated King on Their Shields.
Edward the elders coronation in
901 was much the same 1t took
place on Whitsunday at Kingston-on-
Thames and his soldiers followed the
good old Teutonic custom of elevat-
ing him on their shields Edward the
Martyr. however, was officially anoint-
ed and crowned at st. Dunstan at
the same spot in 975, which shows
that already the enthronement of a
king had taken on particular re-
ligious significance in the eyes OF
the SaXons, who were the Englishmen
of that day. No more would the votes
Of wild warriors, the clamor of sword
on buckler, and elevation upon a
platform of shields to the accompani.
ment of shouts of savage approval
constitute the consecration of an Eng.
lish king.
Harold, last of strictly English
kings of Saxon stock, was crowned by
Alfred, archbishop of York, in West
minister abbey on January S, 1866. Per
haps of all Epgland's coronations none
Sore at heart over the breaking oi
his forced oath to Duke William oi
Normandy, terribly worried by the
threatened double invasion of his
realm, torn this way and that, con
scious that he was surrounded By
Norman spies, he occupied situation
which honecanreadily appreciate. Look
ing down the misty vista of the crowd
ed nave-much the same then, more
3 than eight centuries ago, as it is to
day-streaked with the winter sun
light falling through the high win
dows, perhaps he saw across the in
tervening months to the glory he
should win at Stamford bridge, anC
beyond that the threatened shadow
of Senlac field. Visions of Harold
Hardrada, the sea king of the north
Of the traitorious Earl Tostig, o
the stout house carles Of the Saxol
thames, of the long lines of armoret
Norman men-at-arms, and archer
that. came up the Senlac the day o
that last great fight-all thes,
throng through the echoing isles o