Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1937-05-13
BY THE COUNTESS OF OXFORD
AND ASQUITH.

BY THE COUNTESS OF OXFORD
AND ASQUITH.
LONDON, May 10 (By Cable).-
George, R. I. Right trust and
we'll beloved cousin, we greet you well
Whereas the twelfth day of May
next is appointed for the solemnity
of our royal coronation,
These are to will and command YOU
| (au excuses set apart to make YOU
personal attendance on us at the time
! above mentioned, furnished and ap.
| pointed as to your rank and quality
to do and perform all such services
| that shall be required and belong unto
| you.
Where of you are not to fail.
And so we bid you most heartily
farewell.
Given at our Court at st. James
this twelfth day of April in the first
year of our reign.
by his majestys command:
(Slgned) Norfolk.
Emma, Alice. Margaret, Countess
DoWager Of oxford and Asquith"
To Preserve Invitation.
These were the words by which ]
was commanded to Westminster Abbey
to attend the coronation service OF
our newly crowned King. Some
body better educated than myself will
inform the public OF the date and
origin of this quaint command. ]
shall frame and preserve it for future
members of my family.
The ceremony which I witnessed
yesterday cannot easily be described
With equal adequacy. 1t is never
easy to describe something which is
mixture of pageantry, symbolism
tradition, solemnity and religion.
For though, to the outward eye. the
magnlflcence Of colors, the coronets
the canopy, the jewels, the uniforms
ana the decoratlons-be faces
and famous men who came from every
part OF the empire-following the
tradition of centuries of crownings of
our former Kings and Queens-will
ever remain memorable in the hearts
and minds Of those who were privi-
legged to be in the Kings coronation
today, the ceremony has far deeper
slgnlhcance than any that has pre-
coded it.
Cynics will say that all the great
court ceremonies in this country are
the same. That at Queen Victoria S
coronation the doors of Westminster
Abbey were open at o'clock am. and
1000 tickets were distributed; in
Hyde Park there was a fair and 1000
booths were erected and it was esti-
mated that the numbers of people
IN the streets who viewed her corona.
ton were between 4OO, 900 and 1000.
That at the coronation of Edward
VII there were fewer and at King
George VS. there were over 1000 900
and 10000 policemen on duty and
that there was just the same enthusi-
asm, loyalty and excitement then as
today.
Deeper Significance.
But they are wrong. The deeper
significance of today's ceremony did
not lie in the number, the LOYALTY
or the enthusiasm Times have
changed unrecognizably since the last
two coronations.
Inc empire over which King George
VI reigns is farther flung, freer to
manage its own affairs, larger and
more independent of central authority
than it was in the days of Queen
Victoria, King Edward or the much
loved father of our present King.
And yet there never was a time in
the history Of this country when the
people over whom our King reigns
were more devoted to the crown.
more faithful in national observance
or more united.
And how has this been achieved?
1t Is not from personal devotion. for
the present King, though highly re-
spected, is not familiar to the man
IN the street, nor has he been much
In London society, nor above all, unless
fine sense OF duty and fundamental
modesty make men the same, does he
IN any way resemble his father.
DO not imagine that our King will
embarrass his daughters in the man.
ner George v did his sons. Whether
from his early naval training or a
mistaken notion that parents keep the
affection IF their rhi1drop Nv, ,.,,44: