hence the chief criminal court of the realm is now called the Court of King's Bench.

The Irish stone of destiny appears from the ancient records of Ireland to have been an altar, an idol, and the throne of the kings; and it was therefore viewed with three-fold reverence. A remarkable prophecy identified its fortunes with those of the royal line of the Scots, which is thus given in the old monkish rhymes:

That is:

Ni fallat fatum,

Scoti, quocunque locatum
Invenient lapidem,

Tenentur regnare ibidem.

Or Fate is false, or where this stone is found,
A king of Scottish race will there be crowned.

It was on account of the importance attached to this prophecy that Kenneth removed the stone from Dunstaffnage to Scone, where, for more than four hundred and fifty years, it was used as a throne at the coronation of the Scottish kings. Its removal to England was felt by the entire people of Scotland as a national humiliation, and they stipulated for its restoration at the treaty of Northampton, A.D. 1328. Writs for sending it back were issued by Edward III., but from some unexplained cause they were never executed.

When James I. ascended the throne of England great importance was attached to this fulfilment of the prophecy connected with the stone of destiny, and so deep was the impression thus produced on the minds of the Scottish people, that in the reign of Queen Anne it reconciled many to the Union, who would otherwise have opposed that measure.

A close examination of the stone induces us to believe that it is a block of red sandstone, containing a more than ordinary proportion of ferruginous matter; it certainly is not an aërolite, as several authors have

asserted. Its dimensions are, twenty-two inches in length, thirteen in breadth, and eleven in depth. At each end are two short iron chains.

The chair itself was anciently decorated with carving, gilding, and painting, but its beauty has been long since effaced. At modern coronations it is covered with cloth of gold, but we could wish that the decorations of this very interesting relic of antiquity should be restored as nearly as possible according to the ancient pattern.

The Ampulla.

The AMPULLA, or Golden Eagle, in which the holy oil for anointing the kings is preserved, is a vessel of pure gold, in the shape of an eagle with expanding wings, nearly seven inches in height and weighing about ten ounces. The old historian Walsingham, in his account of the coronation of Henry IV., connects the use of this Ampulla with a very singular legend :Henry IV., according to the historian, was anointed with the identical holy oil which the blessed Virgin gave to St. Thomas the Martyr, archbishop of Canterbury: that is, to Thomas à Becket, whose extreme pride and insolence form so remarkable a part of the history of Henry II. Becket received this extraordinary boon when he was in exile, and the Virgin

assured him, that whatever kings of England should be anointed with this oil, they would become merciful rulers and distinguished champions of the church. It may be curious to remark, that Walsingham, or, as he is more frequently called, "the worthy monk of St. Alban's," is not very scrupulous respecting the purity of the language he attributes to the Virgin, for the word which we have rendered "champions," literally signifies boxers, or heroes of the prize-ring,-a kind of champions not very well suited to the defence of the church.

This oil, preserved in a golden eagle and stone jar, was long lost, but it was at last miraculously brought to light. While Henry, the first duke of Lancaster, was waging war in foreign parts, the aforesaid eagle and jar were delivered to him by a holy man, to whom the place of its concealment was divinely revealed. He gave it to the most noble Prince Edward, commonly called the Black Prince, who deposited it in the Tower of London. It was enclosed in a box secured with more than ordinary care; but the box itself by some accident was put astray, so that the holy oil could not be used at the coronation of Richard II. In the year of grace 1399, Richard II., having made an inquisition into the treasures bequeathed to him by his ancestors, found the eagle and jar, together with a manuscript in the handwriting of "St. Thomas of Canterbury," containing the prophetic description of all the advantages and blessings that the kings of England would derive from being anointed with this holy oil. He was so struck with the enumeration, that he wished the ceremony of his coronation to be repeated, and applied to the archbishop of Canterbury for the purpose. The prelate obstinately refused, declaring that unction was a sacrament, which, like the sacrament of baptism, could not be administered a second time. Richard took the eagle and jar with him when he made his

unfortunate Voyage to Ireland, and on his return resigned them to the custody of the archbishop of Canterbury at Chester, saying, "It is manifestly the will of God that I should not be anointed with this holy oil; that solemn sacrament is reserved for some more favoured monarch." The archbishop kept these precious treasures until the usurpation of Henry IV., who was the first English sovereign anointed with this precious oil.

The legend of the Ampulla used at the coronation of the French kings is still more extraordinary. It is said to have been brought from heaven by a dove to St. Remy, when he was performing the ceremony of the coronation of Clovis. Hincmar, in his life of St. Remy, thus narrates the legend:-" And behold a dove, fairer than snow, suddenly brought down a phial in his mouth full of holy oil. All that were present were delighted with the fragrancy of it, and when the archbishop had received it, the dove vanished." Another historian, quoted by Menin, is rather more particular in his relation:- "When he that bore the chrism was absent and kept off by the people, lo! suddenly no other doubtless than the Holy Spirit appeared, in the visible form of a dove, who carrying the holy oil in his shining bill, laid it down between the hands of the minister." The oil of this mystic vessel was declared by the Romish priests to be undiminished by use, and this was gravely put forward as a standing miracle until the time of the French Revolution. At the coronation of Charles X. the priests had the folly to proclaim in the public papers that a phial containing some of this invaluable unction had been preserved from the destruction of the rest of the Regalia, to anoint the head of a monarch so devoted to the interests of the Romish church.

The original Ampulla given to Thomas à Becket was not destroyed with the rest of the Regalia in the time of the Commonwealth; but it was renovated for the

coronation of Charles II., and at the same time a new spoon was prepared into which the oil is poured by the consecrating prelate. The spoon, like the eagle, is of chased gold, and is adorned with four large pearls in the broadest part of the handle.

Kings were anciently anointed on the head, the bowings of the arms, on both shoulders, between the shoulders, on the breast, and on the hands. There are only three distinct anointings in modern coronations, on the head, breast, and hands, which were said by Becket to indicate glory, holiness, and fortitude. Great importance was attached to this unction, for Shakspeare represents Richard II. declaring on the invasion of Bolingbroke:

Not all the water in the rough rude sea,
Can wash the balm from an anointed king.

The rich IMPERIAL CROWN of gold with which the monarchs of England are crowned, is still called St. Edward's crown, though it was actually made for the coronation of Charles II., the more ancient crown