Shechem," (the earliest royal appointment, perhaps, of which we have any traces in history;) and of Joash having the "crown put upon him" while he "stood by a pillar, as the manner wast." Subsequently, and among the northern nations, the practice 66 was to form a circle of large stones, commonly twelve in number, in the middle of which one was set up, much larger than the rest: this was the royal seat; and the nobles occupied those surrounding it, which served also as a barrier to keep off the people who stood without. Here the leading men of the kingdom delivered their suffrages, and placed the elected king on his seat of dignity." From such places, afterwards, justice was frequently dispensed. "The old man early rose, walk'd forth, and sate HOMER'S Odyss. Pore's Tr. г. 496—10. Thus arises the name of our Court of King's Bench. + 2 Kings, xi. 12, 14. * Judges, ix. 6. At the coronation of our kings, the royal chair is now disguised in cloth of gold; but the wood-work, which forms its principal parts, is supposed to be the same in which. Edward I. recased it, on bringing it to England. Shakspeare's RICHARD III. inquires "Is the Chair empty? Is the Sword unswayed? Is the King dead? The empire unpossessed ? What heir of York is there alive but We?" And the Earl of Richmond describes him, in admirable allusion to the foregoing facts, as "A base foul stone, made precious by the foil Of England's chair, where he is falsely set *." No. 2. Of the Crowns. We can only speak to the growth and antiquity of their present "fashion," none of those now used being of older date than the reign of Charles II. This monarch issued a commission for the "remakeing such royall ornaments and regalia" as the rebellious * Richard III. Parliament of his father had destroyed*, in which" the old names and fashions" were directed to be carefully sought after and * In the Archæologia, vol. xv. art. 24, is "A true and perfect Inventory of all the Plate and Jewells now being in the Upper Jewell House of the Tower, in the charge of Sir Henry Mildmay, together with an appraisement of them, made and taken the 13th, 14th, and 15th daies of August, 1649;" containing the following account of "crowns," &c. demolished: "The imperiall crowne of massy gold, weighing 71b. 6 oz. valued at The queene's crowne of massy gold, weighing 3lb. 10 oz....... A small crowne found in an iron chest formerly in the Lord Cottingham's charge, &c.: The gold. £. s. d. 1110 0 0 338 3 The diamonds, rubies, sapphires, &c. 355 The globe, weighing 1lb. 54oz.. Two coronation bracelets, weighing 7 oz. (with three rubies and twelve pearls). Two sceptres, weighing 11 oz. ...... A long rod of silver gilt, 1lb. 5 oz. ..... 0 0 57 10 0 36 0 0 60 0 "The foremencion'd crownes, since the inventorie was taken, are, according to ordr of Parliamt, totallie broken and defaced." A second inventory, containing "that part of the regalia" found at Westminster, mentions "King Alfred's crowne of gould wyer worke, sett with slight stones, and 2 little bells, p. oz. 791, at £3. per oz., £248. 10s. Od." retained*. Upon this authority, we still have the national crown with which our monarchs are actually invested called St. EDWARD'S, although the Great Seal of the Confessor exhibits him wearing a crown of a very different shape. Whether the parent of our present crowns were the Eastern fillet, in the tying on which there was great ceremony, according to Selden, the Roman or Grecian wreath, a corruptible crown" of laurel, olive, or bay, — or the Jewish diadem of gold, — we shall leave to antiquarian research. "This high imperial type of [England's] glory" has slowly advanced, like the monarchy itself, to its present commanding size and brilliant appearance. From the coins and seals of the respective periods, several of our Anglo-Saxon princes appear to have worn. only a fillet of pearl, and others a radiated diadem, with a crescent in front. Ethelstan's crown was of a more regular shape, * See Sir Edward Walker's Account of "The Preparations for His Majesty's Coronation," &c. 8vo. Lond. First printed 1820. resembling a modern earl's coronet. On king Alfred's there was the singular addition of "two little bells;" and the identical crown worn by this prince seems to have been long preserved at Westminster, if it were not the same which is described in the Parliamentary Inventory of 1642, as "King Alfred's crowne of gould wyer worke, sett with slight stones." Sir Henry Spelman thinks, there is some reason to conjecture that "the king fell upon the composing of an imperial crown;" but what could he mean by this accompaniment? Gradually the crown grew from ear to ear, and then from the back to the forehead; sometimes it is represented as encircling a cap or helm, and sometimes without. William the Conqueror and his successor wore it on a cap adorned with points, and with "labels hanging at each ear*;" the Planta * Taylor, p. 65. The Saxon Chronicle says of the Conqueror: "He was very worshipful. Thrice he bore his king-helmet every year, when he was in England: at Easter, he bore it at Winchester; at Pentecost, at Westminster; in midwinter, at Gloucester. And there were with him all the rich men over all England," &c.—Sax. Chron. 189, &c. |