El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-10-16

Continued from page 1, this seetiOnJ
place in Europe. took England back
with a jerk to the middle ages. for
England is the Oldest monarchy Of the
west, all the others with the possible
execution of Austria-Hungary belong
ing TO the relatively newly rich.
England had TO do a lot Of rehearsing
and delving into WOrm-eaten parch-
ments TO get up the program Of Ed
ward WIS coronation. When it came it
was a reproduction Of Edward Is. the
costumes, the ritual the homage, the
Oaths, were just medieval England-nO.
the oaths were different, for England
has at various times found il necessary
TO tighten those securities on her kings
but all the externals Of the ceremony
belonged to the world before Columbus.
Back to the Childhood of the Race.
The japanese OF 81. whose ordinary
dress is khaki uniform OF the kind
which now covers millions of obscure
fighters will be crowned on NOvem Der
10 with ritual and costume datin~ from
the childhood of the oldest race on
earth
One Of the highest officials connected
with the coming solemnity asked me
with particular emphasis to tell the
people Of America that the real differ
ence between the coronations Of Euro
pean monarchs and that of the emperor
Of Japan was that they were religious
ceremonies while this was national
There is point in the distinction which
is here drawn, yet as a matter OF fact
the japanese coronation is also deeply
religious.
But Shinto is a national religion in
an unusual sense. it is nation worship.
and the underlying spiritual aspect Of
the rites and ceremonies which the
emperor viii perform in November is
the Japan Of today worshipping Japan
Of yesterday.
At the coronation the emperor, like
the rulers Of the dead civilizations OF
the other end of Asia, is high priest
as well as monarch. The acts which he
performs at the coronation are the last
triangular stone on the apex Of the
huge pyramid of ancestor worship
which, beginning with the family, ends
with the sovereign, the father Of the
nation
An Offering To His Ancestors
The central features Of the cere-
mony are the emperors informing the
spirits of his ancestors that he has
assembled the throne and his offering to
them the first fruits of the land. Every
orthodox Japanese begins the day with
mOmentary act Of worship at the
family god helf-wOrship, or
rather affectiOnate remembrance OF
his dead father and mother
At intervals he worships the gen
eral ancestors of his family, the head
of the family officiating. At longer
intervals he worships thu ancestors or
his clan-a still bigger circle. At the
coronation and on other national oc-
casions he worships the ancestors OF
the nation and the divinely descended
emperor as head of the nation is inter-
mediary between earth and heaven.
That is the spirit Of the ceremony,
the mechanism is simple in the ex-
treme-the last example left on earth
Of the primitive simplicity Of prehis-
tOric man
There are no great cathedrals here.
the soaring stones OF which enshrine
a nations history like Reims or West
All the hnf1Ifnng new
they are being built now of plain white
wood, no nails are used; the posts are
secured by tough twigs Of vine They
are raised above the ground on poles. !
exactly like the primitive dwellings
which you may see all over Malaga
The timbers were cut at the end OF !
July according to old ShintO rites |
which make the telling Of lumber some |
thing Of ceremony in itself First the |
workmen were purified (bathed) by |
Shinto priests. The first tree TO be /