CHAPTERS ON CORONATIONS.

No. III.

THE REGALIA, 2.

THERE is some reason to believe that King Alfred's crown was preserved in England until the time of the Commonwealth, for in the inventory of " that part of the Regalia which are now removed from Westminster to the Tower Jewel House," we find the following entry: "King Alfred's crowne, of gould wyerworke, sett with slight stones, and two little bells, p. oz. 79, at 31. per ounce, 2487. 10s. Od." The purpose of such strange appendages as the bells is a matter not very easy to discover, and the conclusion of the inventory puts an end to all conjecture, for, after enumerating the various antique regalia, and reciting their value, we find the Vandal record: " All these, according to order of parliament, are broken and defaced."

The other crowns destroyed at this time are thus enumerated in the inventory :

The imperiall crowne of massy gold, weighing 71b. 6oz., valued at 1,110l. os. Od.

The queen's crowne of massy gold, weighing 3lb. 100z., valued at 3381. 3s. 4d.

A small crowne found in an iron chest, formerly in the Lord Cottington's charge, [it was the crown of Edward the Sixth,] of the which the gold, 737. 16s. 8d.

And the diamonds, rubies, &c., 3551. 0s. Od.

Queen Edith's crowne, formerly thought to be of massy gould, but upon triall found to be of silver gilt, enriched with garnetts, foule pearle, saphires, and some odd stones, p. oz. 50, valued at 167. os. od.

The SCEPTRE ROYAL, which the sovereign bears in the right hand, is made of gold, and is two feet nine inches in length: it is richly adorned with precious stones, and the top rises into a fleur de lis of six leaves, three of which are erect and three pendent; out of this flower arises a mound formed of a large amethyst, garnished with precious stones, and upon the mound is a cross pattée of jewels, with a large diamond in the midst.

The sceptre is a more ancient emblem of royal dignity than the crown itself. Homer makes it the only cognizance of the Grecian kings; and the historian Justin declares that the ancient kings of Rome used no other ensign of royalty. The Greek poets describe the gods as bearing sceptres to indicate their empire, and declares that an oath taken on the sceptre was the most solemn that could be sworn. In Jacob's remarkable prediction of the Messiah, we find the sceptre specifically mentioned as the emblem of regal power: "the sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come." Justin tells us that among the Romans the sceptre was originally a spear; but the sceptres described by Homer were simply long walking-staves, designed to show that the monarchs ruled by acknowledged right, and not by force. Le Gendre tells us that in the first race of the French kings the sceptre was a golden rod, almost always of the same height as the king who bore it, and crooked at one end, like a crosier or pastoral staff.

The queen-consort's sceptre in England is formed like the king's, but it is shorter.

QUEEN'S SCEPTRE.

In the inventory of the Regalia destroyed in the time of the Commonwealth, we find the following entries of sceptres :

The sceptre is placed in the king's right hand, and in his left, during the ceremony of investiture, he takes the VIRGE, or rod, which is carried before him in the concluding procession. The distinction between the sceptre and the rod is that the former is surmounted by a cross, and the latter by a dore. This distinction is of very ancient date, and we find that it was observed in the ceremonial of the coronation of Richard the First. The virge of the Eng. lish sovereign is of gold, richly adorned with precious stones; at the top is a globe and cross, surmounted with a dove enamelled white, and the globe is surrounded with a circle of rose diamonds.

The queen-consort's virge is made of ivory, garnished with gold, and surmounted by a dove enamelled white; it is rather more than a yard in length.

QUEEN'S VIRGE, OR IVORY ROD.

In the year 1814 another virge was found at the Jewel Office in the Tower, covered with dust, and hidden on a back-shelf. It was supposed to have been used at the coronation of William and Mary, when both the king and queen were invested with sovereign power.

ST. EDWARD'S STAFF.

ST. EDWARD'S STAFF, which is carried before the sovereign in the procession which precedes the coronation, is a staff or sceptre of gold, four feet eleven inches in length, having a foot of steel about four inches in length, with a mound and cross at the top; the ornaments are of gold, and the diameter of it is upwards of three-quarters of an inch.

The following is an account of the virges or rods destroyed, with the rest of the Regalia, in the time of the Commonwealth :

:

A long rodd of silver gilt, 11b 5oz., 47. 10s. 8d. One staff of black and white ivory, with a dove on the top, with binding and foote of gould, 47. 10s. Od.

A large staff, with a dove on ye top, formerly thought to be all gould; but upon triall found to be the lower part wood within, and silver gilt without, weighing in all 27 ounces, valued at 351. os. Od.

One small staff, with a floure de luce on the topp, tormerly thought to be all of gould, but upon triall found to be iron within and silver gilt without, 27. 10s. Od.

A dove of gould, sett with stones and pearles, p. oz. 8 ounces, in a box sett with studds of silver gilt, 267. os. Od. The ORB, Mound, or Globe, which is put into the sovereign's hand immediately before the crown is placed upon his head, and is borne in the left hand during the subsequent procession, is a ball of gold, of six inches diameter, encompassed with a band of the same, embellished with roses of diamonds, encircling other precious stones, and edged about with pearl. On the top is a very large amethyst, of a violet and purple colour, near an inch and a half in height, of an oval form, and being encom

THE ORS.

passed with four silver wires, becomes the pedestal of a splendid cross of gold, of three inches and a quarter in height, and three inches in breadth, set very close with diamonds, having in the middle, a sapphire on one side, and an emerald on the other. It is also embellished with four large pearls in the angles of the cross, near the centre, and three more at the end of it. The whole height of the orb and cross is eleven inches. There is another globe among the crown jewels, which was made for the coronation of William and Mary, but it is not now used at the coronation of queens consort.

The orb or globe was assumed as a cognizance by the Emperor Augustus; it was sometimes called an apple, and sometimes a hill, but in all cases it was regarded as the symbol of universal dominion. The cross was added to the globe by Constantine, the first Christian emperor. Suidas, describing the statue of the Emperor Justinian, says, "In his left hand he held a globe in which a cross was fixed, which showed that by faith in the cross he was emperor of the earth. For the globe denotes the earth, which is of like form, and the cross denotes faith, because God in the flesh was nailed to it."

The globe and cross were first introduced as ensigns of imperial authority in western Europe by Pope Benedict the Eighth, who gave them to the Emperor Henry the Second. The combined ornament was called, "The Imperial Apple," and at the coronation of the emperors of Germany, it was borne on the right hand of the emperor, by the Count

Palatine of the Rhine.

2. CURTANA, or the pointless Sword of Mercy, is the principal in dignity of the three swords which are borne naked before the sovereign at the coronation. Mr. Arthur Taylor, in his "Glory of Regality," derives its name from that wielded by Ogier the Dane, in the romances of chivalry; however that may be, it is certain that a sword named Curtana, or Curtein, formed a part of the English Regalia from very ancient times, for Matthew Paris informs us that a sword of that name was carried at the coronation of Henry the Third, by the Earl of Chester. (A. D. 1236.) In the same way, a sword called Joyeuse, supposed to have belonged to the Emperor Charlemagne, was always displayed at the coronation

THE CURTANA.

of the kings of France. Curtana is a broad bright sword, the length of the blade is about thirty-two inches, and the breadth almost two inches; the handle, which is covered with fine gold wire, is four inches long, and the pommel, an inch and threequarters; which, with the cross, which, with the cross, is plain and steel gilt: the length of the cross is eight inches nearly. The scabbard belonging to it is covered with a rich brocaded cloth of tissue, and studded with gilt

ornaments.

3. The SWORD OF SPIRITUAL JUSTICE is pointed, but somewhat obtuse; the length of the blade is

Almost all the English kings from Edward the Confessor, have the globe in their left hand on their coins or seals, as shown in the above engraving; and it seems also to have been frequently so placed when sovereigns lay in state after their decease.

Four SWORDS are used at the coronation of a British sovereign. 1. THE SWORD OF STATE, which is a large two-handed sword, having a splendid scabbard of crimson velvet, decorated with gold plates of the royal badges in the following order. At the point is the orb or mound, then the royal crest of a lion standing on an imperial crown; lower down are a portcullis, harp, thistle, fleur de lis, and rose; nearer the hilt the portcullis is repeated; next are the royal arms and supporters; and lastly, the harp, thistle, &c., over again. The handle and pommel of the sword are embossed with similar devices in silver gilt, and the cross is formed of the royal supporters, the lion and the unicorn, having a rose within a laurel between them on one side, and a fleur de lis similarly encircled on the other.

SWORD OF THE TEMPORALITY

inches, the pommel an inch and three-quarters, and the cross seven inches and a half. The scabbard is in all respects similar to that of Curtana.

The sovereign's CORONATION RING, called by some ancient writers, "The wedding-ring of England," is colour, on which a plain cross, or cross of St. George, of pure gold, with a large table ruby, of a violet is beautifully enchased. The coronation ring of the

queen consort is likewise gold, with a large table ruby set therein, and sixteen other small rubies set round about the ring; of which those next to the setting are the largest, the rest diminishing in proportion. Investiture by the ring, was the most ancient form of conferring dignity; it was by this ceremony that Pharaoh created Joseph his viceroy over Egypt; it was also a Persian custom, as we have already noticed, and we find many traces of it in the history of the Anglo-Saxons.

The legend of the Coronation Ring is not less singular than that of the Ampulla. It is said that King Edward the Confessor was met by an old man who asked him for alms, and the charitable monarch, being at the moment destitute of money, gave the suppliant his ring. Soon afterwards, two English pilgrims in Palestine having lost their way, were met at the approach of night by this same old man, who led them into a certain magnificent city, which appears to have been the New Jerusalem, the present existence of which was a popular article of faith in the middle ages. The old man entertained them most hospitably, and gave them lodgings for the night. In the morning he informed them that he was St. John the Evangelist, of whom it was believed by many of the ancient fathers, that he was appointed to tarry on earth until the second coming of the Lord Jesus. St. John told the pilgrims, that it was to him in person that the Confessor had given the ring, and he sent it back by them to the king, with a promise that divine grace should encircle every British sovereign who was invested with this ring at the coronation. The sacred ring was long preserved at the shrine of St. Edward, and only brought out at the time of a coronation. It deserves to be remarked, that legends of the appearance of St. John continued to be told so late as the reign of Henry the Eighth; his last visitation was to the King of Scotland, James the Fourth: the appearance of the evangelist is thus described by Pitscottie, whose language we have slightly modernized.

He was a man, clad in a blue gown, and belted about him in a roll of linen cloth; a pair of buskins on his feet, to the great of his legs, with all other hose and clothes conform thereto; but he had nothing on his head save hair of a reddish yellow behind, and the same on his cheeks, which went down to his shoulders; but his forehead was bald and bare. He seemed to be a man about fifty-two years old, and he carried a great pikestaff in his hand.

THE STURS.

The SPURS, called the great golden spurs, are elaborately wrought, both round the outer edge, and at the buckle and fastenings. They have no rowels, but end in an ornamented point, being of that kind which are denominated prick spurs. It is sufficiently notorious, that putting on the gilded spurs, was the ancient investiture of knighthood, just as the hacking them off was the legitimate form of degradation.

The ARMILLE, or bracelets, are of solid gold, and open by a hinge for the purpose of being placed upon the wrist. They are an inch and a half in breadth, and two inches in diameter, and are adorned with chasings of the rose, thistle, harp, and fleur de lis, emblematical of England, Scotland, Ireland, and France; the edges are also garnished with pearls. These ornaments are not now employed in the coronation, and we shall see in a subsequent chapter, that the service appropriated to the bracelets, has been by some strange blunder, transferred to the Armil, or Stole.

THE TURNIP-FLY, (Athalia centifolia.) THE following is a more detailed description of the little insect already noticed *. Mr. Yarrell has described the hymenopterous insect, shown in the engraving, as having proved equally injurious. The substance of the following account is extracted from his valuable paper in the Transactions of the Zoolo gical Society of London. After noticing the beetle we have already described, he continues,

But the destroyer of a very large proportion of the turnip-crop, on the light and chalky soils of this country, during the last dry Summer, (1834,) is an insect of a different kind, and one that happily does not make its appearance in great numbers, except at wide intervals, and during those seasons that are remarkable for the almost total absence of rain. The first public notice I am acquainted with on the subject of this particular insect, and the extent of the injury it inflicts, is in the Transac tions of the Royal Society for 1783, in which W. Marshall, Esq., an agriculturist in Norfolk, details at some length the particulars of the appearance of the turnip-fly during 1782. In that year many thousands of acres were ploughed up, and the season was too far advanced to attempt the growth of a second crop.

It was observed (says Mr. Marshall,) in the canker-year above mentioned, that prior to the appearance of the cater pillars, great numbers of yellow flies were seen busy among the turnip-plants, and it was then suspected that the canker was the caterpillar state of the yellow-fly. Since that time it has been remarked, that cankers have regularly followed the appearance of these flies. From their more frequently appearing on the sea-coast, and from the vast quantities which have I believe been observed, at different times, on the beach washed up by the tide, it has been a received opinion among the farmers, that they are not natives of this country but come across the ocean, and observations this year greatly corroborate the idea. Fishermen upon the eastern coast declare, that they actually saw them alight in cloud-like flights; and from the testimony of many, it seems to be an indisputable fact, that they first make their appearance upon the eastern coast, and moreover, that, on their first being observed, they lie upon and near the cliffs, so thick and so languid, that they might be collected into heaps, lying, it is said, in some places two inches thick; from thence they proceeded into the country, and even at the distance of three or four miles from the coast they were seen in multitudes resembling a swarm of bees.

From whatever source these insects first reached this country, there is little doubt of their being at the present time naturalized.

Early in July, 1835, the yellow fly was again seen in abundance upon the young turnips, and it was recollected by some that this was the fly which prevailed also in the year 1818, and which was followed by the caterpillar, which they knew by the name of the blacks. Another observer said, 'It is of no use hoeing these turnips, for I perceive this year a fly which is the fore-runner of the nigger caterpillar.'

These predictions were soon verified. The female fly, by means of a delicately serrated instrument under the tail, is enabled to make a small aperture on the under-surface of the leaf of the turnip, in which she deposits a single egg, and each female pro duces and deposits in different places about twenty of these eggs. In eight or ten days the eggs are hatched, and the dark-coloured caterpillars crawl forth, and commence the work of destruction, by feeding voraciously on the soft part of the leaf of the turnip, leaving the fibres untouched; after a few days they cast their black skins, and then assume one of a more slaty or gray appearance; they still continue, however, to feed on the leaves, passing from one to another. The destruction is complete; a whole field, in a very short time, presenting only an assemblage of skeleton-like leaves, and this too even when the turnip has attained a considerable size. The See Saturday Magazine, Vol. VII., p. 181.

The fly itself is about a quarter of an inch in length, the breadth of the wings extended, about twothirds of an inch; the larva, or caterpillar, is from half an inch to five-eighths in length.

the water were three or four inches higher near one end of the cistern than near the other: there would be a larger amount of water, a greater number of particles pressing on the bottom of the cistern at the former part than at the latter. Each particle presses on that which is beneath it; and as there would be a loftier column of particles at one part of the cistern than at another, those particles which are near the bottom of the heavier column would press on those that surround them, and force them upwards; in order, in fact, to allow room for themselves to escape from some of the pressure which they experience. There continues to be this pressure until the surface is level in every part, when, as all parts of the liquid near the bottom are equally pressed, no one can yield to another, and they all remain in equilibrium, (a word which means equal-balanced).

It appears, therefore, that as soon as the surface of a liquid becomes, from any cause, out of the level place, and does not cease until the level is again direction, a commotion and a kind of struggle takes attained. There is a very pretty experiment which shows this tendency of liquids to maintain a perfect level, and to descend whenever an opportunity offers for so doing. Fig. 1 represents the section of a vessel or basin, which exhibits the paradoxical property of never becoming full, however much water may be poured into it. The vessel looks neither like a sieve nor a cullender: no holes can be seen in it, and no water is seen to flow from

Fig. 1.

A little inspection of its construction will, however, enable us to solve this riddle. It may be seen that the vessel is sufficiently thick to have a groove

or channel cut in it. At the bottom of the vessel at a, there is a small opening, which leads into a channel ascending to the point b, and from thence descending to the point c, where it is enclosed in the

No. II.

THE LEVEL SURFACES OF LIQUIDS.

THERE is not presented to us in the whole range of our experience, any instance of a level surface more perfect than the general surface of a liquid. A still lake or pond, or the water in our cisterns and waterjugs, are all equally level at the surface. They require none of man's agency to make them so, for they become so whether he wills it or not. We take advantage of this property to assist us in determining the level of a piece of ground in surveying. A bubble of air is enclosed in a tube, containing a liquid; and the surveyor places the tube horizontally, and knows when it is quite level by observing that the bubble of air is in the middle of the length of the tube. The liquid has then no tendency to drive the air-bubble in one direction more than another, and therefore the bubble remains in the middle, from which circumstance the surveyor knows that any piece of wood or other surface, on which the tube is resting is level. This tube he calls a spirit-level. The liquid employed in the tube is usually coloured spirit, because pure spirit, or alcohol, is never frozen, however great the cold may be to which it is exposed.

The reason of this perfect level, to which the surface of a liquid attains, is, that liquids, like every other body, tend towards the centre of the earth; and that as the particles of water move freely among themselves, any unequal pressure is soon communicated to surrounding parts. Suppose now that we had a large cistern of water, and that the surface of

when water is poured into this vessel, some of it enters the little channel at a, and ascends as fast as more water is poured into the vessel. Just before the vessel is quite full, the water ascends to that part of the channel which begins to turn downwards, and immediately on attaining that level, the water flows down the outer channel as fast as it is poured into the vessel, provided that it be not done too quickly. There is a conveyance for carrying off the water from the lower cistern at c, by a concealed pipe, not shown in the figure.

Here then we have an instance of the tendency of water to keep a constant level, whether it branch out into two or three streams, or remain in one body. The water ascends in the narrow channel just as fast as in the broad open part of the vessel; and when it arrives at the level of the bend in the channel, instead of rising still higher in the vessel, it turns into the descending part of the channel, and so flows out.

Fig. 2.

This property has been made the ground-work of an amusing experiment. Fig. 2 is a philosophical toy, called the Cup of Tantalus. A little figure of a man or boy is sitting in the cup, and his face is made to express great anxiety to obtain something to drink, but that he can never obtain. If we pour water into the cup, it will rise just to the level of his chin, but no higher, and the little martyr to thirst is obliged to keep his lips dry whether he will or no.

The mystery is ingenious, and is very similar to the experiment which we last described. A double tube passes through the body of the figure, having an ascending part, whose mouth is within the cup, and communicating with the water, and a descending part, whose mouth, M, is concealed in the hollow, DC, of the vessel. When the water is poured into the vessel, it ascends the tube in the interior of the figure; but as the tube bends downwards, when it reaches the level of the chin of the figure, no sooner does the water in the vessel reach that level than it begins to descend the tube to м, and so escapes; leaving the head of the figure quite untouched by the water. The tube in the figure being very small, its course cannot well be traced; but the subjoined figure (fig. 3,) will show the principle more clearly. The shorter leg of the bent tube is open to the water, and when the latter ascends to the level of the bend in the tube,

Fig. 3.

it flows over that bend, and escapes at the exterior mouth of the tube.

Fig. 4.

The strong tendency of water to maintain a constant level at different parts of its surface is strikingly shown in a piece of mechanism, called the Hydrostatic Bellows. The experiment is sometimes called the Hydrostatic Paradox, from the strange result at which we arrive. Fig. 4 represents two boards, connected by edges of leather, which admit of the boards being separated more or less from each other, much in the some manner as the two boards of a pair of bellows. The leather sides are perfectly watertight at their connexion with the boards. A small hole is made in the upper board, and into this a pipe is fixed, which ascends to some height. When the apparatus contains nothing but air, the upper board almost rests upon the lower, as the leather sides form into a number of folds. When water is poured down the tube it enters between the boards, and gradually lifts up the upper one, notwithstanding the large surface of the board compared with the small diameter of the pipe. Suppose, for instance, that the tube becomes half-full of water, while a portion also is situated in the bellows; the surface of the water in the tube is at a higher level than the surface of that in the bellows; and thus arises that pressure and forcible straining after equality of position, to which we lately alluded. But so long as the upper board remains in one position, that adjustment cannot take place; accordingly, the water in the tube, by pressing on the water in the bellows, makes the latter press upward against the upper board, and urges it up with great force, insomuch that a few ounces of water in the tube will raise, not only the upper board of the bellows, but several heavy weights placed upon it. If the pipe were half an inch in diameter, and the boards of the bellows were two feet square, and if half a pint of water were poured into the tube, the water would raise the upper board with upwards of a thousand pounds weight pressing upon it. It is true that the distance through which this enormous weight would be lifted is not above a thirty-sixth part of an inch; but the fact, that it will be raised even that small amount, is sufficiently remarkable.

If the tube be half an inch in diameter, whatever weight of water there may be in the tube, as many times that pressure will be exerted on the inner surface of the upper board of the bellows, as there are circular half inches in the surface of that board; it is on this account that such a small quantity of water in the tube will exert such an enormous pressure within the bellows. But we have now to mention a very remarkable extension of this law. If the tube contain air instead of water, and if that air can be made to press with more than its usual force on the water beneath, the water will be forced up against the upper board, and will raise it, just the same as if the tube contained water. This truth is shown in a striking manner. A man stands upon the upper board of the bellows, and applying his mouth to the top of the tube, blows down through it; and as he does so, the board on which he stands rises gradually upward, lifting him at the same time. It has a very uncommon effect to see a man raise himself by blowing through a tube. The explanation is this: by blowing forcibly into the tube, he adds to the air already existing in the tube an additional quantity from his own lungs, so that a large quantity of air is confined in a small space. Whenever this occurs, the air exerts a powerful pressure; and in this instance the pressure is felt by the water beneath, which is forced up against the upper board of the bellows, in the same manner as when the tube contained water instead of air. This power of raising a great weight by a small pressure, has caused this experiment to be called the hydrostatic paradox: the term hydrostatic being applied to anything which relates to the pressure and equilibrium of liquids.

If a water-butt with a tight-fitting cover be completely full of water, and a tall tube be fixed in the top of the butt, and the pipe be filled with water so as to form a communication with the water in the butt, the butt will burst asunder with great violence by the pressure of the water contained in the pipe.

When water confined in one vessel can communicate with water confined in another vessel, a pressure exerted upon any part of the water is transmitted throughout the whole of the liquid. Thus in fig. 5, the vessel N contains another vessel K within it, the bottom of which, v v, is not fixed, but simply suspended. If into the neck of the outer vessel we attach firmly a tube N', and pour water into it so as to fill N and K, and a portion of the tube above 1, considerable pressure will be exerted upon the water in the two vessels, but it will be equal in both, and so equally distributed, that if the bottom v v of the inner vessel be supported only by slight threads or horse-hair, it will not be detached from K; the reason is, that the downward pressure is counteracted by the upward pressure and these two forces destroy each other.

WITHOUT reason, as on a tempestuous sea, we are the sport of every wind and wave, and know not, till the event hath determined it, how the next billow will dispose into a quiet harbour.-LUCAS. of us; whether it will dash us against a rock, or drive us

LONDON:

JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PARTS, PRICE SIXPENCE.

Sold by all Booksellers and Newsvenders in the Kingdom.