Queen Victoria by Richard Rivington Holmes Page A

you, to the uttermost 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 United Church of England and Ireland, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof as by law established, within England and Ireland, and the territory thereunto belonging; and will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England and Ireland, and to the churches there committed to their charges, all such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain to them or any of them?” Having answered these questions in the affirmative, and preceded by the Great Officers of State, Her Majesty went to the Altar, where kneeling, and with her right hand upon the Gospels held before her by the Archbishop, she said, “The things which I have here before promised I will perform and keep. So help me God.” The Queen having kissed the book, and signed a transcript of the Oath, then knelt upon the faldstool while the choir sang, “Veni, Creator. Spiritus.”
    The Archbishop then said the prayer preceding the anointing, after which the choir sang the Coronation Anthem, at the beginning of which the Queen retired to St. Edward’s Chapel with her ladies and train-bearers, and was divested of her crimson robe and kirtle. She then put on the
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of cloth of gold, also in the shape of a kirtle, over a linen gown trimmed with lace, and taking off her circlet of diamonds returned bare-headed to the Abbey, where she took her seat in King Edward’s chair; four Knights of the Garter held over her head a rich canopy of cloth of gold, the Archbishop then anointed the head and hands of the Sovereign, marking them in the form of a cross, and pronouncing the words, “Be thou anointed with holy oil, as kings, priests, and prophets were anointed. And as Solomon was anointed King by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, so be you anointed blessed and consecrated Queen over this people, whom the Lord your God hath given you to rule and govern, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.” A benediction from the Archbishop followed; after which the spurs were presented by the Lord Great Chamberlain, and the Sword of State by Lord Melbourne, who, according to custom, redeemed it with a hundred shillings, and carried it unsheathed during the rest of the ceremony.
    The Queen, who had been invested with the Imperial mantle, or dalmatic robe of cloth of gold lined with ermine, then received the Orb, which she found very heavy. In the investure “per annulum et baculum,” the ring and sceptre, which followed, it was found that the ring was too small, and it was only by great exertion that it could be placed on the third finger, where it caused great pain, and could only be removed after the ceremony by bathing the hand in iced water. The Archbishop having offered a prayer to God to bless Her Majesty and “crown her with all princely virtues,” received the crown from the Dean, and reverently placed it on the Queen’s head. This was no sooner done, than from every part of the Abbey rose a loud and enthusiastic cry of “God save the Queen!” At this moment, the Peers and Peeresses present put on their coronets, the Bishops their caps, and the Kings-at-Arms their crowns; the trumpets sounded, the drums beat, and salutes were fired by signal from the Park and Tower guns. The Bible was then presented to the Queen. She returned it to the Archbishop, who after restoring it to the Altar, pronounced the Benediction, after which the “Te Deum” was sung by the choir, and the Queen was then “enthroned” or “lifted,” according to the formulary, by the Archbishops, Bishops, and Peers, surrounding her, into the chair of homage, where first the Archbishop of Canterbury knelt, and did homage for himself and other Lords Spiritual, who all kissed the Queen’s hand. Then the