prayers are read, but the first of them was, for some unknown reason, omitted at the coronation of George III.

Almighty and everlasting God, Creator of all things, King of kings, and Lord of lords, give ear, we beseech Thee, unto our humble prayers, and multiply thy blessings upon this thy servant, whom we consecrate our king (or queen). Grant, that by thy inspiration, he (or she) may govern with the mildness of Solomon, and enjoy a peaceable kingdom. Grant that he (or she) may serve thee with fear, and fight for thee with constancy. Defend him (or her) by thy mighty arm, compass him (or her) with thy protection, and enable him (or her) to overcome all his (or her) enemies. Honour him (or her) before all the kings of the earth. Let him (or her) rule over countries, and let nations bow down before him (or her). Establish his (or her) throne with judgment and equity. Let justice flourish in his (or her) days; and grant that he (or she), supported by the due obedience and hearty love of his (or her) people, may sit on the throne of his (or her) fathers many years, and after this transitory life, may reign with Thee in thine everlasting kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

A remarkable change was made in this prayer at the coronation of James I.; the clause in italics was in all the older forms, "whom we elect to be our king," and it was so not only in England, but in the Ordo Romanus, and the authorized form for the coronation of the kings of France; the phrase is even preserved in the ceremonials prescribed by Pope Clement VIII. Several other additions were made at the same time, which are now judiciously omitted—we may instance the following clauses:

Bless, we beseech thee, this our present king and his army with a rich blessing. Establish him on the throne of this kingdom. Visit him as thou didst visit Moses in the bush, Joshua in the battle, Gideon in the field, and Samuel in the Temple; besprinkle him with the dew of thy wisdom, and give unto him the blessing of David and Solomon. Be thou unto him a coat armour against his enemies, and an helmet in adversity. Give him patience in prosperity, and protect him always with thy shield, &c.

These clauses seem to have been omitted at the coronation of James II., and they have not since been restored.

The second prayer is translated literally from the old Latin forms:

O God, which providest for thy people by thy power, and rulest over them in love, grant unto this thy servant, that being devoted unto Thee, he (or she) may so wisely govern his (or her) kingdom, that in his (or her) time the church may in safety and Christian devotion continue in peace; that so persevering in good works, he (or she) may, by thy mercy, come unto thine everlasting kingdom, through thy son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth, with Thee, world without end, Amen.

In the Ordo Romanus, the sovereign is required to remain prostrate before the altar while the above and some similar prayers are recited by the consecrating prelate and his assistants. It is also directed that the prelates should stand, and at every clause make the sign of the cross over the monarch lying at their feet.

The Communion Service is then celebrated, and the epistle and gospel are read by two bishops. In almost all the formularies, it is directed that the former should be taken from the second chapter of the First General Epistle of St. Peter, and the latter from the twenty-second chapter of St. Matthew.

The sermon is usually preached by a prelate specicially nominated for that service by the sovereign: while it is being delivered, the sovereign sits covered, having the bishops his (or her) supporters standing on each side, the lords who carry the coronation swords bearing them erect on the right hand, and the lord high chamberlain standing on the left.

THE OATH.

When the sermon is concluded, the sovereign takes off the cap of state, and the archbishop of Canterbury, being previously provided with the form of words written on a parchment-roll, then proceeds to read to the sovereign the following Declaration:

I,

by the grace of God, of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., do solemnly and sincerely,

in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare, that I do believe, that in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper there is not any transubstantiation of the elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, at or after the consecration thereof, by any person whatsoever; and that the invocation or adoration of the Virgin Mary, or any other saint, and the sacrifice of the mass, as they are used in the Church of Rome, are superstitious and idolatrous. And I do solemnly, in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare, that I do make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the words read unto me, as they are commonly understood by the English Protestants, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation whatsoever, and without any dispensation already granted me for this purpose by the pope, or any other authority or person whatsoever, or without any hope of any such dispensation from any person or authority whatsoever, or without thinking that I am, or may be acquitted before God or man, or absolved of this declaration, or any part thereof, although the pope, or any other person or persons or power whatsoever, should dispense with, or annul the same, or declare that it was null and void from the beginning.

After the sovereign has repeated this declaration, a silver standish is brought, and he subscribes his name to it on the top of his desk or faldstool. The archbishop then begins to administer the Coronation Oath.

Sir (or Madam), Are you willing to take the oath usually taken by your predecessors ?

Sovereign.

I am willing.

Archbishop. Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, according to the statutes in parliament agreed on, and the respective laws and customs of the same?

Sovereign. I solemnly promise so to do.

Archbishop. Will you, to your power, cause law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgments?

Sovereign. 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, within the kingdoms of England and Ireland, the dominion of Wales, and the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and the territories thereunto belonging, before the union of the two kingdoms (of England and Scotland)? And will you preserve

unto the bishops and clergy of England and Ireland, and to the churches there committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges as do or shall appertain unto them or any of them? Sovereign. All this I promise to do.

The sovereign then goes to the altar, and, laying his hand upon the Gospels, takes the following oath :

The things which I have herebefore promised, I will perform and keep, So help me God.

The sovereign then kisses the book, and signs the oath.

The ancient oath of the English kings, and the form of its administration, is thus described in Thomas of Walsingham's account of the coronation of Richard II.

"The king swore in the presence of the archbishop and the nobles near at hand, who alone could hear him, first, that he would permit the church to enjoy its liberties; that he would honour it and its ministers; that he would keep good faith; that he would interdict rapacity, and all manner of iniquity, in every rank.

66

Secondly, that he would cause the good laws of the land to be observed, and especially the laws of St. Edward, king and confessor, whose body was reposing. in that very church, and that he would cause bad laws to be abrogated.

"Thirdly, that he would not be a favourer of persons, but would execute justice indifferently between man and man, and would always incline to mercy as he expected from God.

"The archbishop then advancing, recited the oath to the people which the king had taken, and asked all present, if they would have such a prince to rule over them? The spectators assented with a shout of applause."

This oath agrees in substance with those taken by subsequent kings down to the reign of Henry VII., when we find an additional clause, which stands thus in the original form:

Do ye graunt the rightfull lawes and customes to be holden and permitt yow, after your strenght and power such lawes, as to the worshipe of God shall be chosen by your people, by yow to be strengthened and defendid? The king shall answer, I graunt and permitte.

The oath at the coronation of Edward VI. was altered in consequence of the Reformation, and the form which it then assumed was as follows:

Will ye grant to keep to the people of England, and other your realms and dominions, the laws and liberties of this realm, and other your realms and dominions?- -I grant and promise. You shall keep to your strength and power, to the church of God, and to all the people, holy peace and concord ?- -I shall keep.

You shall make to be done after your strength and power, equal and rightful justice in all your dooms and judgments, with mercy and truth ?- -I shall do.

Do ye grant to make no new laws but such as shall be to the honour and glory of God, and to the good of the commonwealth, and that the same shall be made by the consent of your people as hath been accustomed ?- -I grant and promise.

The more ancient form of the oath was revived at the coronations of Mary and Elizabeth; but at the coronation of the latter, a reservation of the royal prerogative was made in the clause referring to the rights of the church, and a clause was introduced by Henry VIII. in a copy of the sovereign's oath which he corrected with his own hand.

When James I. was crowned, a far more important change was made, which has been the subject of much angry and unprofitable controversy. We shall first insert the clause in the original Latin, as it stands in the Liber Regalis:

Tertia Quæstio.-Concedis istas leges et consuetudines esse tenendas et promittis per te eas esse prolegendas et ad honorem Dei corroborandas quas vulgus elegerit secundum vires tuas.

The phrase in italics is fairly represented in the oath of Edward VI. by "made by the consent of the people;" and it is evident, both from the words themselves, and from the records of the oaths of the Plan