Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1914-01-28

up N THE long roll of England
kings, running back into the re-
81 mote mists of legendary lore
M which enshroud the early. rulers,
the record of the coronations
stands out with peculiar distinctness.
A coronation, it would seem, is func-
ton that impresses itself upon
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.
temporal ceremony it undoubtedly is.
Some of the elements in it are essen
TALLY earthly, involving the pledging
of homage, the granting of fealtE. But
overshadowing all these is the vast,
subtle influence of the spiritual slgnlt1-
canoe which attends theh kings as
sumption of bauble crown a 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 Englands his
tory and review some of the corona
tons Of the past. 1t seems strange
to find that Alfred the Great, who
rivaled CharIeThagne in the tradi-
tons OF the splendor of his reign,
should never have been crowned as
people understand the word today. He
began to reign over WesseX in 872,
but by $50 he had gained sway over
most OF the present land Of England,
exclusive of Scotland and Wales.
When he attained to this magnifcence
he was formally elected king OF Eng
land by the soldiers of his army, who
clashed their swords on their shields
Alfred was crowned.
Elevated King on Their Shields.
Edward the elders coronation in
%9d was much the same. 1t took
place OH Whitsunday at Kingston-on-
Thames and his soldiers followed the
good old Teutonic custom or 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 enforcement of
king had taken on a particular re-
hgious 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 bnckler, and elevation upon
platform of shields to the accompani-
ment of shouts Of savage approval
constitute the conservation 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, 1865. Per
haps of all England's coronations none
was ever more dramatic than that
Sore at heart over the breaking Of
his forced oath to Duke William of
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 a situation
which onecanreadily appreciate. Look
ing down the misty vista of the crowd
ed nave-much the same then. more
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
teryening months to the glory he
should win at Stamford bridge, and
beyond that the threatened shadow
Of Senlac field. Visions of Harold
Hardrada, the sea king of the north,
of the traitorious Earl Tostig. of
the stout house carries of the Saxon
thames, OF the long lines of armored
Norman men-at-arms, and archers
that came up the Senlac the day OF
that last great fight-all these
throng through the echoing isles of
Westminster, towering over the tombs
of soldiers and statesmen of the past.
They are part Of the heritage OF that
Saxon England bequeathed to the gem
erations that followed her, part of
the memories of Harold, the son of
Goodwin, whose eye was pierced by
Norman arrow just before the
shield wall broke and Saxon England
passed.
Slaughtered People Who cheered.
On Christmas day Of that same
year, or less than IL months later,
another coronation was held in West
minister abbey, when Aldred OF York.