The Life of King Edward VII
Argyll, the Earl of Loudoun, Lord Grey de Ruthven, Viscount Wolseley,
the Duke of Grafton and Earl Roberts.
The next personage in this splendid procession of rich-robed noblemen
and gorgeously-clad officials was the Lord Mayor of London and then came
the Marquess of Cholmondeley, as Lord Great Chamberlain, the Duke of
Abercorn as High Constable of Ireland, the Earl of Erroll as High
Constable of Scotland, the Earl of Shrewsbury as Lord High Steward of
Ireland, the Earl of Crawford as Lord High Steward of Scotland (Deputy
to the Duke of Rothesay and Prince of Wales), the Duke of Norfolk as
Earl Marshal of England, the Marquess of Londonderry carrying the Sword
of State, and the Duke of Fife as Lord High Constable of England.
Following these high officers of state came central figures in the
procession--the Duke of Marlborough as Lord High Steward carrying St.
Edward's ancient Crown, the Earl of Lucan carrying the Sceptre, and the
Duke of Somerset bearing the Orb. The Bishop of Ely followed bearing the
Patina, the Bishop of Winchester bearing the Chalice, the Bishop of
London carrying the Bible and then, behind him came the Sovereign of the
mighty little Islands and of an Empire girdling the world in power and
wealth and service to civilization.
His Majesty was clad in Royal crimson robes of state and wore the Order
of the Garter. His train was borne by the Earl of Portarlington, the
Duke of Leinster, the Marquess Conyngham, the Earl of Caledon and Lord
Somers, with Viscount Torrington and Hon. P. A. Spencer, as Pages of
Honour and Lord Suffield, Master of the Robes. On either side of the
King walked the Bishop of Bath and Wells and the Bishop of Durham and
beside them again ten gentlemen-at-arms. Following the bearers of the
Royal train came Admiral Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, the Duke of
Portland, General Lord Chelmsford, the Duke of Buccleuch, Earl
Waldgrave, Lord Belper, various Lords-in-Waiting, Lord Knollys, Sir D.
M. Probyn and Major-General Sir Arthur Ellis.
The services and ceremonies in the Abbey were beautiful and impressive
in the extreme. Enriched with a thousand years' traditions, moulded upon
ancient forms of a sacred and essentially religious character,
symbolizing and expressing a solemn compact between the Sovereign and
his subjects, registering by forms of popular acceptance, homage and
ecclesiastical ritual the final consecration of the King to the
government of his nation, it was a ceremony of exceeding solemnity as
well as of impressive splendour. The great Abbey had been transformed by
tier above tier of seats, covered with blue and yellow velvet, and so
arranged as to form one dazzling mass of brightness and colour when
filled with the peers in their gorgeous robes and peeresses in their
crimson velvet mantles, ermine capes and beautiful gowns. As the King
and Queen entered the Abbey on this eventful day and moved toward their
chairs the choir of trained voices sang with exquisite feeling and sound
the anthem: "I was glad when they said unto me, we will go into the
house of the Lord." The King at different times during the ceremonies
was clad in vestments combining an ecclessiastical character with Royal
magnificence. The dalmatic was a robe of cloth of gold, the stole was
lined with crimson cloth and richly embroidered, the alb, or sleeveless
tunic of fine cambric, was trimmed with beautiful lace. The whole effect
was one of harmonized colour and splendour.
After brief prayer, kneeling on faldstools in front of their chairs, the
King and Queen took their seats and then the Archbishop of Canterbury
turned north, south, east and west and, while the King stood, he said to
the people: "Sirs, I here present unto you King Edward, the undoubted
King of this Realm; wherefore all you who have come this day to do your
homage, are you willing to do the same?" Ringing acclamations of "God
save the King," to the sound of trumpets strongly blown, greeted this
part of the ceremony. The Bible, Patina, Chalice and Regalia were then
borne to the Altar, and the Communion service of the Church of England
proceeded with. Then followed the taking of the Coronation Oath, the
Archbishop of Canterbury first asking His Majesty if he was willing to
do so and receiving an affirmative reply. The questions and answers were
as follows, the King holding a Bible in his hands:
_Archbishop._ Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the
people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the
Dominions thereto belonging, according to the statutes in
Parliament agreed on and the respective laws and customs of the
same?
_The King._ I solemnly promise to do so.
_Archbishop._ Will you to your power cause law and justice, in
mercy, to be executed in all your judgments?
_The King._ I will.
_Archbishop._ Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the
laws of God, the true profession of the Gospel, and the Protestant
Reformed religion established by law? And will you maintain and
preserve inviolably the Settlement of the Church of England and the
doctrine, worship, discipline and government thereof as by law
established in England? And will you preserve unto the Bishops and
Clergy of England and to the Church therein committed to their
charge, all such rights and privileges as by law do, or shall
appertain to them or any of them?
_The King._ All this I promise to do.
His Majesty, when he had said these words passed to the Altar, knelt
down and with his hand on the Bible said: "The things which I have here
before promised I will perform and keep. So help me God." After signing
the Oath the King returned to his chair. A hymn, a prayer by the
Archbishop and an anthem followed. Meanwhile His Majesty, after being
relieved of his crimson robes by the Lord Great Chamberlain and of his
cap of state, proceeded to King Edward's Chair, near the Altar and, and
while four Knights of the Garter in their magnificent robes and
insignia--the Earl of Rosebery, Earl of Derby, Earl of Cadogan and Earl
Spencer--held over him a Pall of golden Silk, the Archbishop, assisted
by the Dean of Westminster, anointed him with holy oil on the crown of
the head, on his breast and on his hands. His Grace of Canterbury
concluded this part of the ceremony with the words: "And as Solomon was
anointed King by Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet, so be you
anointed, blessed and consecrated King over this People whom the Lord
your God hath given you to rule and govern. In the name of the Father,
and the Son and the Holy Ghost, Amen." The King, after a brief prayer by
the Archbishop then resumed his place in King Edward's Chair and was
robed by the Dean of Westminster with cloth of gold and symbolic girdle.
INCIDENTS OF THE CEREMONY
Various typical or symbolic functions were then performed. The Lord
Great Chamberlain touched the King's feet with a pair of golden spurs as
constituting the ancient emblems of Knighthood; a Sword of State, with
scabbard of purple velvet, was then handed with elaborate ceremony to
the Archbishop who, after placing it upon the Altar and delivering a
short prayer proffered it to His Majesty about whom it was girt by the
Lord Great Chamberlain, His Grace of Canterbury giving the following
injunction: "With this sword do justice, stop the growth of iniquity,
protect the Holy Church of God, help and defend widows and orphans,
restore the things that are going to decay, maintain the things that are
restored, furnish and reform what is amiss and confirm what is in good
order; that by doing these things you may be glorious in all virtue; and
so faithfully serve our Lord Jesus Christ in this life that you may
reign for ever with him in the life that is to come." The King then
placed the Sword upon the Altar from which it was presently taken and
held drawn from the scabbard before him during the rest of the
ceremony. The Dean of Westminster then invested His Majesty with the
Armilla, or gold bracelets, and with the Imperial mantle of cloth of
gold, while the Archbishop presented the Orb of Empire--a golden ball,
made originally for Charles II. with a band covered with gems and a
cross set in brilliants. As he did so His Grace said: "Receive this
Imperial Robe and Orb; and the Lord your God endow you with knowledge
and wisdom, with majesty and with power from on high; the Lord clothe
you with the robe of righteousness and with the garments of salvation."
The next incident was the placing of a gold ring--carried off by James
II. in his flight, and afterwards recovered in Rome by George IV.--upon
the fourth finger of the King's right hand with an Episcopal injunction
to receive the ring as "the ensign of kingly dignity and of defence of
the Catholic faith." Then came the presentation of the Sceptre by the
Archbishop as the ensign of kingly power and justice, and the rod of
equity and mercy, while the Duke of Newcastle as Hereditary Lord of the
Manor of Worksop, had the privilege or right of placing a glove upon the
King's hand. Following this came the central and most dramatic feature
of the ceremonies--the placing of the Crown upon His Majesty's head by
the Archbishop of Canterbury. As the action was performed the venerable
Abbey shook with the acclamation of "God Save the King" while the
trumpets blared and the scene, already brilliant with varied splendours,
flashed in added beauty when the Peers and Peeresses put on their
glittering coronets. A brief prayer and the presentation of a copy of
the Bible by the Archbishop followed with a benediction ending in the
words: "The Lord give you a fruitful country and healthful seasons;
victorious fleets and armies and a quiet Empire; a faithful Senate, wise
and upright Counsellors and magistrates, a loyal nobility and dutiful
gentry; a pious and learned and useful Clergy; an honest, industrious
and obedient community."
After the _Te Deum_ was sung by the choir, His Majesty for the first
time took his place upon the Throne surrounded by the leading officials,
nobles and clergy, and listened to a brief exordium from the Archbishop,
ending with the hope that God would "establish your Throne in
righteousness that it may stand fast for evermore." Then came the
impressive ceremony of Homage. First the Archbishop of Canterbury,
kneeling in front of His Majesty with all the Bishops in their places,
repeated an oath of allegiance. Then the Prince of Wales, taking off his
coronet, knelt in front of the King and the other Princes of the blood
royal knelt in their places and repeated the quaint mediaeval formula in
which they swore "to become your liege man of life and limb and of
earthly worship, and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and
die against all manner of Folks." At this point occurred an abbreviation
of the ceremony as well as an _impromptu_ change in the proceedings. As
the Prince rose from his knees touched the Crown on his father's head
and kissed his left cheek in the the formal manner prescribed, the King
rose, threw his arms round his son's neck for a moment and then took his
hand and shook it warmly. After the homage of the Heir Apparent each
Peer of the realm should have followed the traditionary form in the
order of his rank and touched the Crown and kissed the King's cheek.
This was modified, however, so as to enable each grade of the nobility
to perform the function through its representative of oldest patent--the
Duke of Norfolk, the Marquess of Winchester, the Earl of Shrewsbury, the
Viscount Hereford and the Baron de Ros. After this had been done the
trumpets once more sounded their acclaims and the audience joined in
shouting "God save King Edward."
A short but stately ceremony of crowning the Queen then followed. The