The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-03-14
BRILLIANT SCENES MARK THE
EVENT IN ENGLAND'S CAPITAL
THE ROYAL PRoCESSIoN-
THE KINGS SPEEcH-THE BAT
TIE OF DEMOCRACY.
written for The Catholic Bulletin by
Cecil Underwood.)

CeSII UNDERWOOD.
Democracy may certainly
does mean-larger blessings and bene-
fits for the average man; yet from
an artistic standpoint, compared with
monarchy, it is decided failure. 1t
lacks the picturesque gradation of So
ciety like a range of mountain pines
from the valley to the peak-from the
humble toiling subject, up through
gentlemen and ladies and Knights and
Counts and Viscounts and Barons, and
Dukes and Duchesses-up through all
the gentility and unique millinery till
one reaches the crowned and sceptred
Monarch All this medieval display
of state carriages and scarlet livery.
Grooms-in-W Waiting and Guards of
Honor, Lords of the Household and
Lords of the Stables, Field Marsha1ls
of the Garter and the Golden-Stick,
Lord Stewards and Equerries and
Mistresses of the Robes,-all this me-
dieval pageantry, as your correspon-
dent saw it in London recently, is
bound to capture the eye of the artist
and he would hesitate to exchange the
gorgeous vision for the dead levels
and burning sands of democracy.
Here in streaming London's central
roar, the gaping crowds stood as silent
as the long lines of soldiery while
the State Carriage drawn by six large
beautiful cream-colored horses slowly
moved down toward Westminster. In
this carriage you behold two emblems
Of an old order that is dying-two
shadows of thing that once had sub
stance-his majesty, The King! her
majesty, The Queen! They are on
their way to open Parliament and the
King will speak as of old about 'his'
dominions and "his" people, magma
nominis umbra! We must confess
that we lifted our democratic hat as
the royal pageant passed lifted it out
of pure sentiment for the old dying
order, the ghost of medieval glory
struggling out of the grave.
The Procession.
But the readers of The Catholic
Bulletin are anxious to get glimpse
of the Royal procession, and, in spite
of their democratic birth and training,
they will not object, l fancy, to spend
an hour or so with the Lords and
grand ladies'. 1t is worth the trouble,
if only to glance at the fine costumes
and quaint dresses.
Accordingly we will proceed at once
to the story. Spring was in the air
and the sun shone brilliantly where
the King accompanied by the Queen
drove in state to open Parliament.
Tempted by the fine weather, and
partly, doubtless, drawn by the feeling
that the opening of this particular
ly momentous event, unusually large
crowds lined the whole route from
Buckingham Palace along the Mall to
the Horse Guards Parade, and from
the entrance to the Horse Guards
down Whitehall to Westminster. No
where did the people stand less than
five or six deep. The route was lined
by troops of the Brigade of Guards
Scots, Irish, Coldstream and Grena-
dier-and in the almost summer-like
weather it seemed pity that their
brilliant tunics were hidden under the
sombre and heavy great-coats.
The procession was as admirably
ordered as such ceremonies always
are in London, and there was no un-
toward incident or interruption to mar
the day. A great number of people
had assembled in the immediate neigh
borhood of Buckingham Palace. An
other large mass was collected around
st. James Gate. The Duke of York's
Steps were packed to the last inch of
standing room, and a vast crowd
thronged the Horse Guards Parade. In
the forecourt of the Horse Guards
was drawn up a detachment of little
girls from the Duke of York's School,
gay in their red cloaks, and outside,
reaching up and down Whitehall, was
probably the densest crowd at any
point on the route, many thousand
people having apparently come to the
same conclusion that the best place
at which to see the procession would
be as it swung out from the Horse
Guards into the width of Whitehall.
Here as elsewhere at functions of
streets on the route, were cordons of
mounted troops, the 18th Hussars, and
a large force of police, who kept the
crowd in order with their usual happy
combination of strictness and good
sense. At this point the band OF the
Irish Guards was stationed, and dur
ing the long half hour before the dis
tant cheering told of the approach of
the procession it played industriously
and, as always, extremely well. All
down Whitehall the windows and bal
comics of the Government Offices were
filed with groups of spectators. Down
the wide roadway, with the ribbon of
soldiers and banks of massed people
on either side, there was an almost
continuous passing of vehicles going
southwards, taxicabs, private motor
cars, and Ambassadors gorgeous
coaches. Then, some time before the
arrival Of the procession itself, came
a Royal carriage conveying the Crown
- IL