Jews and Coronations

<plain_text><page sequence="1">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. By the Rev. S. SINGER, (Read before the Society on April 19, 1903a) This Society has a fine sense of the fitness of things and times if not of persons, and it was arranged that I should make a few re? marks on Jews and Coronations on the morrow of the day originally fixed for the coronation of Edward VII. The serious illness of the King rendered this arrangement inappropriate, and the proposed lecture was for the moment abandoned. But though the whole idea was thus shorn of its topical glamour, I have been held to my promise, and I now redeem it. After this preamble, I trust your expectations will not be abnor? mally raised as to the value of what will be placed before you this evening. The fact is, the material is not so abundant as I had hoped, or perhaps I should rather say that I am not so gifted with the sleuth-hound's scent of some of my friends and colleagues for hidden away material of interest to the Anglo-Jewish historian. However, I must do my best with my limitations from whatever cause. I divide this lecture into two parts?the one dealing with Jews as personally affected by the coronation of English sovereigns, the other treating of Jewish influence upon the Coronation Service. In pre-expulsion days the Jews were not specially affected by the accession of a new monarch. No tallage was imposed, and the new king simply walked into the rights which his predecessor enjoyed over the person and property of the Jews. In the Middle Ages the Jews of the German empire were compelled to pay a coronation tax on the accession of a new ruler. In Italy, too, on the appointment of a new pope, a tribute of spices was imposed. But such taxes were unknown in England. It is remarkable that the first English coronation of which we have a full and cir 79</page><page sequence="2">80 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. cumstantial account is that of Richard I., 3rd September 1189. Stubbs (Const. Hist., i. 496) says that it was carried out in such splendour and minute formality as to form a precedent for all subsequent ceremonies of the sort. The event has been often de? scribed, and, as every one here knows, it was full of melancholy interest to the Jews of this country. Let us glance at the sources from which later accounts have had to draw. The original autho? rity1 was a writer formerly described as Benedictus Abbas (Benedict of Peterboro'), but now virtually known to be Richard Fitz Nigel.2 He was a contemporary writer, and, as the King's Treasurer, was probably an eye-witness of what he relates. Mr. J. H. Round dis? putes the view that some now lost Exchequer record was used by Richard Fitz Nigel, and contends with much ingenuity that the author of the Gesta wrote from his own knowledge. Fitz Nigel's account is followed by Roger of Hoveden,3 also a contemporary, but not an eye-witness,4 adding matters of very little importance, and making a few changes which, as we shall see, do not improve the narrative. The next is Roger of Wendover,5 a younger contem? porary, who uses Hoveclen. Matthew Paris,6 a later writer, born about 1200 or a little earlier, repeats Wendover. The fullest account of the Jewish incident is that by William of Newburgh,7 also living at the time of the coronation of Richard but not present, and giving what seems like an expanded version of Benedict. So that we get the following genealogical sequence :? Benedict Abbas. William of Newbuegh and Hoveden. Wendover and Matthew Paris. 1 Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi, Benedicti Abbatis, ed. Stubbs (1867), ii. 83, 2 J. H. Round, The Commune of London, p. 201. 3 Chronica Magistri Rogeri de Hoveden, ed. Stubbs, p. 11. 4 He was in Yorkshire on the death of Henry II. and during the accession and early years of Richard I. 5 Chronica sive FLores Historiarum* 6 Both in his Historia Awjlorum, Historia Minor, ed. Madden, ii. 9 ; and in Chronica Majora, ed. Luard, ii. 350. 7 Historia Rerum Anglicarum, ed. Howlett, i. p. 293.</page><page sequence="3">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 81 All but the last, be it remembered, were living at the time, 1189, of which they speak. There is also a brief allusion to the incidents in Ralph of Coggeshale's contemporary Ghronicon Anglicarwn (ed. Stevenson, p. 27); and a further reference may be found in another contemporary, Ralph de Diceto's Ymagines Historiarmin (ed. Stubbs, ii. p. 69). Let me now read to you the translation of the first of these documents. Richard Fitz Nigel's account runs as follows :1? Meanwhile the King had divested himself of his crown and royal robes, and had put on a crown and garments of a lighter sort, and thus arrayed he went to dine. And the archbishops and abbots and the other clergy sat with him at his table, each one according to his order and dignit3r. The earls, however, and barons and knights sat at other tables and feasted magnificently. To them while dining entered the chiefs of the Jews, despite the King's prohibition. And because the King had on the previous day by public edict forbidden any Jew or woman to come to his coronation, the courtiers stretched forth their hands against the Jews, robbed and scourged them and with blows cast them out of the King's court. Some they slew, some they left half dead. But one of those Jews, who was called Benedict, a Jew of York, was so severely beaten and wounded that his life was despaired of; he was in such terror of death that he accepted baptism from William, tfie prior of the church of St. Mary of York, and received the name of William. Thus he escaped the peril of death and the hands of the persecutors. But the people of the city of London, hearing how the courtiers had raged against the Jews, attacked the Jews of the city and spoiled them, and slew many of both sexes, set fire to their houses, and reduced them to dust and ashes. Nevertheless a few of them escaped that slaughter, shutting themselves in the Tower of London, or they lay hid in the houses of their friends. On the following day, when the King heard what had been done, he sent his servants through the city and had a number of these malefac? tors arrested and brought before him. Three were hanged on the gallows, by order of the court, one of them because he had stolen the property of a Christian, and the other two because they had set fire to the city, whence the houses of Christians were burned. Then the King sent for the man who had already from being a Jew been made a Christian, those being present who had seen him baptized, and asked,him if he were a real Christian (effectus). He answered, No, but that in order to escape death he had allowed the Christians to do with him what they pleased. Thereupon the King asked the Archbishop of Canterbury, many 1 See Appendix I. VOL. V. Jf</page><page sequence="4">82 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. being present, archbishops and bishops, what was to be done with him. The Archbishop replied, less discreetly than he should, saying, " If he will not be a God's man, let him be the devil's man." (Si ipse homo Dei esse non vult, sit homo diaboli). And so he who had been a Christian returned to the Jewish law (ad legem Judaicam). On the following day the King received the homage and oaths of fidelity from the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and barons of his land. Meanwhile the King sent messengers and letters through all the counties of England, commanding that the Jews should suffer no forfeiture, that they should be left in peace. But before the publication of that edict (the) Jews who were in the town of Dunstable were converted to the Christian faith, and baptized, and divorced their wives. A similar thing happened in many cities of England. We will next take Roger of Hoveden's account:1? While the King was seated at table, the chief men of the Jews came to offer presents to him, but as they had been forbidden the day before to come to the King's court on the day of the coronation, the common people, with scornful eye and insatiable heart, rushed upon the Jews and stripped them, and then scourging them, cast them forth out of the King's hall. Among these was Benedict, a Jew of York, who, after having been so maltreated and wounded by the Christians that his life was despaired of, was baptized by William, prior of the church of St. Mary of York, in the church of the Innocents, and was named William, and thus escaped the peril of death and the hands of the persecutors. The citizens of London, on hearing this, attacked the Jews of the city and burned their houses, but by the kindness of their Christian friends, some few made their escape. On the day after the coronation, the King sent his servants, and caused those offenders to be arrested who had set fire to the city ; not for the sake of the Jews, but on account of the houses and property of the Christians which they had burned and plundered, and he ordered some of them to be hanged. On the same day, the King ordered the beforenamed William, who from a Jew had become a Christian, to be presented to him, on which the King said to him, " Who are you ?" He replied, " I am Bene? dict, thy Jew, of York." On this the King turned to the Archbishop of Canter? bury and the others who had told him that the said Benedict had become a Christian, and said to them," Did you not tell me that he had become a Chris? tian ?" To which they answered,'6 Even so, my lord." Whereupon he said to them, " What are we to do with him ?To which the Archbishop of Canter? bury, less circumspectly than he might, in a spirit of anger, made reply, " If he does not choose to be a Christian, let him be a man of the devil;}) whereas 1 See Appendix II.</page><page sequence="5">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 83 he ought to have answered, "We demand that he shall be brought to a Christian trial, as he has become a Christian, and now contradicts that fact." But inasmuch as there was no person to offer any opposition thereto, the aforesaid William relapsed into Jewish wickedness (reversus est ad Judaicam pravitatem). After a short time he died at Northampton, and he was refused burial in the common cemetery, as well of the Jews as of the Christians, on the one hand because he had been a Christian, and on the other because, like a dog who returns to his vomit, he had relapsed into Jewish wickedness. You will notice the discrepancies between the two accounts. They are not without significance. Hoveden puts it that the recalci? trant Archbishop said of the recusant Jew, "If he will not be a Christian, let him be the devil's man." The original of Benedict Abbas is " Si ipse homo Dei esse non vult, sit homo diabolic Again, Benedictus Abbas' account ends with, " And so he who had been a Christian returned to the Jewish law," which Hoveden interprets and expands into " The aforesaid William (the Jew's baptismal name) lapsed into Jewish wickedness." " He returned like a dog to his vomit." Boger of Wendover1 has also a strange variant of one part of the coronation story. He says : " The courtiers laid hands on the Jews, although they had come in secret, and when they had robbed and frightfully scourged them, they cast them out of the church." There is no reason to suppose that they came secretly, and it was assuredly not into the church they went. No Jew of those times would have entered a church. There is one peculiarly pleasant remark in Hoveden's account. He tells us that some of the Jews made their escape " by the kindness of their Christian friends." It is clear that amid all the frenzy of the mob, and at no little danger to themselves, some of the Christian intimates of the Jews offered a refuge to the latter in their hour of need. Of William of Newburgh 2 an extract of some length may be read in Mr. J. Jacobs' " The Jews of Angevin England " (p. 99). William of Newburgh has a slightly different account of the story of Benedict of York, which Mr. Jacobs has not included in his extract, and which it may be interesting to cite. " That Benedict, however, who, as has been related, received Christian baptism under compulsion, not believing 1 See Appendix IV. 2 See Appendix III.</page><page sequence="6">84 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. it truly in his heart but making only an empty confession with his mouth (inani tantum oris confessione aerem verberans), was on the following day brought before the King and questioned whether he was a Christian. He replied that he had been compelled by the Christians to be baptized, but that in his mind he had always been a Jew, and that as such he wished to die, since it was not possible for him to live any longer, for that with the wounds he had received the previous day his death was imminent. Cast forth from the presence of the King, the Jew apostatised from Christianity, and thus became twice as much a child of Gehenna as he had been before." William adds that Benedict died a few days after; Hoveden locates the Jew's death at Northampton. Bendictus Abbas seems to imply that the Jew survived. Mr. Jacobs points out (p. 100) that the accounts differ as to the originators of the riot. According to Benedict Abbas, the Jews bringing gifts were attacked by the atriales, the nobles about the court; Hoveden speaks of the crowd (plebs); William of Newburgh ascribes the beginning of the trouble to " a certain Christian" (quidam Ch?istianus); Ralph de Diceto (Ymagines, ed. Stubbs, ii. 69) describes the mischief-makers as foreigners (pax Judceorum, quam ab antiquis temporibus obtinuerant, ab aliengenis interrumpitur). The exclusion of women from the coronation is already mentioned in Benedict Abbas, but he gives no reason for this exclusion. Matthew of Paris (on the authority, probably, of Ralph of Coggeshale) attri? butes the exclusion of women as well as of Jews to the fear lest they should exercise a magical influence on the King at his coronation. Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, did not long survive Bene? dict of York, with whose baptism and relapse he was associated. Baldwin's character was " at once wavering and impulsive" (Diet, of National Biography, iii. 32). On the year before Richard's coronation Baldwin took the Cross, and in 1190 set out on the Crusade. He died at Acre on November 19 of that year. For a Jewish account of the incidents above narrated, see Appen? dix V. Jacob of Orleans was one of the victims of the massacre. Seven centuries in time, and more than seven centuries in thought and sentiment, intervene between the coronation of Richard I. and that of Edward VII. Instead of being cast forth, robbed, and massacred</page><page sequence="7">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 85 because they had ventured near the scene of the coronation, many Jews were present on August 9, 1902, as honoured guests in West? minster Abbey, Jewish peers, commoners, and their wives, and others, and, best sign of all, the Chief Rabbi. Until recent times, I cannot find that Jews " assisted " in any direct way in coronation ceremonies. Their connection with that function seems to have been of a very remote character indeed. Thus Lord Hervey, in his " Memoirs of the Reign of George the Second," relates " that, in contrast to his father, George II. was very fond of pageantry and splendour, and that his Queen Caroline wore an immense quantity of gems at her coronation. Unfortunately, however, George I. had distributed Queen Anne's pearls among his German favourites: only one pearl necklace was left for his daughter-in-law, and the deficiency was eked out by a quantity of magnificent pearls borrowed from Court ladies, Jews, and jewellers." 1 On the accession of George III. the Jews " testified their duty " to the throne. Board of Deputies, Minute Book, No. I. p. 2. [That] i4 Jacob Franco, Benjn. Mendes Da Costa, Jacob Gonsales, Moses Da Costa, Isaac Salvador, Isaac Jesurun Alvares, Isaac Fernandes Nunes? In the Name of the Community of Portuguese Jews, wait on His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Chamberlain of His Majesty's House? hold, to desire His Grace would favour them in humbly presenting to His Majesty that His Majesty's most faithful and loyal Subjects, the Portuguese Jews, being so small a Body, have not had the Honour to address, but have been permitted to testify their Duty to the Sovereign on his Accession to the Throne. They, in the like manner, most humbly beg Leave to condole with His Majesty on the Demise of the late King, whose sacred Memory will ever be revered, and to congratulate His Majesty on His Majesty's Accession to the throne of these kingdoms, humbly craving the Continuance of His Majesty's Favour and Protection, which they hope to merit by an unalterable zeal for His Majesty's most sacred Person and Service, and by promoting to the utmost of their Abilities the Benefit of His Majesty's Realms. London, ye 21st Novr. 1760. To His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Chamberlain of His Majesty's Household, &amp;c. &amp;c. &amp;c.5J 1 Douglas Macleane, The Great Solemnity, p. 149.</page><page sequence="8">86 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. A deputation also waits on Sir Wm. Irby, Bart., Chamberlain to H.R.H. the Princess Dowager of Wales (mother of George III.), on the 24th November 1760, to present the following address :? In Behalf of the Community of Portuguese Jews who, having been per? mitted to testify their Duty to His Majesty, humbly beg Leave to condole with Her Royal Highness the Princess Dowager of Wales on the Decease of his Late Majesty of Glorious Memory, and to congratulate Her Royal High? ness on the King Her Royal Son's Accession to the Throne, whose exalted Virtues, nourished and implanted under Her Royal Highness' Maternal Care, assure all His Majesty's subjects of a happy and glorious Reign. That the Almighty may shower down His choicest Blessings on Her Majesty, Her Royal Highness, and Her Most Illustrious Progeny, and that they may ever adorn the Throne of these Kingdoms to the latest Times shall be their most fervent Prayer. Sir William receives the deputation very courteously, and the same day returns the written acknowledgments of the King's mother. He concludes his letter thus :? The Princess therefore has given me Her Commands in Her Name to return the Community Her most sincere Thanks on the Occasion. Their fervent Prayers offered up to the Almighty, joined with their good Wishes in favour of the King Her Son, of Herself, and of every Branch of Her Royal Family, cannot fail to afford Her perfect satisfaction. I may venture to assure your Community it will be the greatest Happi? ness of Her Royal Highness's Life (which may God of His great mercy long preserve amongst us) to see the King Her Son promote and maintain the true Interests, Liberties, and the Prosperity of his loyal People. These addresses were, it appears, presented by the Portuguese alone without taking into counsel the German section of the com? munity, and accordingly we find Mr. Aron Franks, a distinguished representative of the German congregation, protesting against this action. The result was an undertaking on the part of the committees mutually to consult each other, and to co-operate " whenever any public affair should offer that may interest the two nations," and the practical formation of a joint Committee of Deputies, the first meet? ing at which deputies from the two German synagogues in Duke's Place and in Magpie Alley (Leadenhall Street) were present, being held Hth December 1760. Board of Deputies, Minute Book, No. I. pp. 32, 33. On February</page><page sequence="9">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 87 24, 1820, the Deputies resolve to offer to George IV. condolences on the death of his father, and congratulations on his own succession. A sub-committee is formed to prepare an address, consisting of Messrs. I. M. Da Costa, Jos. Cohen, Jacob Mocatta, I. Van Oven, Meyer Salomons. To the King's Most Excellent Majesty. Most Gracious Sovereign, We, your Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the Deputies appointed by the several congregations of Jews in London, in behalf of those congregations and in behalf of our Brethren resident throughout the United Kingdom, most humbly beg leave to lay at the foot of your Majesty's Throne the expressions of our heartfelt condolence for the loss of our beloved and ever to be revered Monarch, your late Royal Father, and to offer to your Majesty the Assurance of our Fealty and Allegiance. The Pious and liberal sentiments which ever swayed the Action of our departed Sovereign have not failed to leave an indelible impression of love and respect on the minds of all his subjects ; and the blessings resulting from the administration of equal laws and the enjoyment of civil and re? ligious liberty have more especially endeared his sacred memory to the Members of the Jewish community. Whilst we bow with humility and resignation to the decree of the Almighty, who has called our beloved Sovereign from this transitory exist? ence to a more blissful state, we derive consolation from the contemplation of prospective happiness ensured to us by a continuance of the benignity evinced during your Majesty's Regency. We most humbly entreat your Majesty to condescend to accept our sincere congratulations on your Majesty's accession to the exalted Throne of your Illustrious ancestors. We most devoutly thank the Almighty for the re-establishment of your Majesty's health, and beg leave to offer our Congratulations on your Majesty's recovery from the serious and reiterated Afflictions and sufferings which your Majesty has endured. Impressed with the most sincere sentiments of duty and devotion, the Jews of this Kingdom entreat your Majesty to regard them among your Majesty's most faithful and loyal subjects. They beg to assure your Majesty that it is their earnest wish and fervent Prayer that your Majesty may be blessed with uninterrupted Health, and that your Majesty's subjects may long enjoy the blessing of your Mild and Paternal sway. A deputation of six members of the Board sought an interview with Lord Sidmouth, access to whom had been facilitated by a letter of introduction from Mr. N. M. Rothschild, and his lordship pro</page><page sequence="10">88 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. sented the address in their name to the king at the first subsequent levee. On the death of George IV. and accession of William IV. in 1830, a similar loyal address was prepared. In the course of it they entreat his Majesty to " believe that there are not in your Majesty's widely spread Dominions any Hearts that beat more true to the touch of National Feeling than those of the Jews of this Realm. They anxiously seek every opportunity to evince how strictly they identify their Interests with those of the State, so long the Happy Asylum of their Fathers, their own beloved country." Expressions of loyal attachment to Queen Adelaide follow. On the present occasion there was a very strong desire to present this loyal address in person to the sovereign, but again, on the advice of Mr. Rothschild, whose opinion had been asked and whose judgment was regarded as decisive in all questions of communal tactics, it was resolved to present the address through Sir Robert Peel, Secretary of State. Mr. Moses Mocatta energetically but vainly protested against this course, and drew the attention of the community to the encouraging manner in which Quakers and other Dissenters had been received by the King and their addresses had been replied to. It was not till the accession of her late Majesty that the address of the Jewish community was received by the sovereign in person. The details were left in the hands of Mr. Moses Monte fiore, six deputies, and three gentlemen not members of the Board, being chosen for the purpose of a deputation. " Their grief " at the death of his late Majesty " they avowed was assuaged by the accession of a Princess whose virtues add lustre to her crown, and who on the moment of ascending the Throne has given utterance to sentiments that must be responded to by every British bosom."1 Moses Montefiore, as Sheriff of London, received Queen Victoria on her first visit to the city after her accession in 1837. He was knighted on that occasion. Among all the sermons and prayers preserved in various col? lections I have so far not been successful in tracing a single sermon or special prayer composed by Jews on the occasion of a coronation of a 1 Minute Book, No. II. p. 119.</page><page sequence="11">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 89 sovereign of this country. Of course I except the coronation of his Majesty King Edward. There are numerous prayers and addresses on such occasions as the death of a sovereign or of distinguished members of the royal family, or at the birth of a prince or princess, or in times of war or on the declaration of peace, but neither in the Montefiore nor in the Jews' College library, in the collections of the Rev. A. L. Green, Alfred Newman, Asher Myers, or Israel Solomons, or in the British Museum, is there a single one of the kind I refer to. Nor is the omission remarkable. The coronation is essentially associated with the State Church, and it is questionable whether celebrations, such as occurred in most places of worship throughout the British Empire on the coronation of Edward VII., were ever held before. Even on the present occasion these services were quite spontaneous, there were no official directions issued. In the Liturgy of the Church of England there is no form for use in places of worship on the actual day of the coronation, but there is a form for use on the anniversaries of the event. But in former periods, though no religious services at the coronation seem to have been held outside Westminster Abbey, or wherever else (as Winchester) the coronation was held, the accession and coronation of a new ruler was signalised by the pub? lication of a number of verses in which the grief at the death of the predecessor is quaintly entwined with joy at the installation of the successor. That the Jews bore their part in such performances may be seen from the poem of Joseph Abendanon on the death of William III. This elegy he concludes with a congratulation to Queen Anne.1 In this Abendanon was following a good English precedent, that of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. These learned bodies were in the habit of publishing volumes containing verses by various hands on public occasions, and especially on the accessions of new sovereigns. I propose now to limit my remarks to these last-named collections. An account of these may be found in Wordsworth's Scholce Academicce, pp. 164 and 267. My own notes were made from copies of the poems contained in the British Museum and the University Library, Cambridge. The verses were in 1 See Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society, ii. 115.</page><page sequence="12">90 JEWS AND COKONATIONS. very many languages. The favourite tongue was Latin, but verses were also written in Greek, English, Anglo-Saxon, Welsh, French, German, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Ethiopic, Syriac, Phoenician, Palmyrene, Etruscan, and?Hebrew. Of Hebrew verses there are many sets. As to the merits of these compositions it is hard to speak. The printer has usually done his worst with them, and it is therefore fair to attribute some of the lameness and grotesqueness of these poems to the same cause. But I enter rather fully into this matter, because it is thus possible to name a number of English Christians who must have had some knowledge of Hebrew before they could venture at all to write verses in that language. Some of the writers were indeed famous scholars. The earliest of these collections that I have seen is ?cadem?e Oxoniensis Pietas, addressed by the University of Oxford to James I. on his accession in 1603. In this there are only a few badly jumbled words of Hebrew, but W. Thorne (Regius Professor of Hebrew) explains that his Hebrew could not be printed for lack of type (" Interserenda hoc in loco Hebraice pluribus explicata. Sed enim Typographo deerant character es "). The Cambridge volume of the same year, Threno-thriambeuticon, contains no Hebrew. But it is different with my next example, which comes from Cambridge. This is entitled Musarum Cantabrigiensiwn Lucius et Gratulatio, and is dated 1658. The "Mourning" is for Oliver, the "Congratula? tion " for his son Richard. In the volume there is a Hebrew poem by no less a person than R. Cudworth, Master of Christ's College, who had been a member of the Whitehall Conference in 1655. The heading is interesting, and I give it in Appendix V., with some other citations. It is not without a shock that one finds two years later (1660) the same Dr. Cudworth addressing a "Lament and a Eulogy"?the former on the death of Charles I., the latter on the restoration of Charles II. To this same volume Thomas Smith (Chief Librarian) also contributes some Hebrew verses in the form of an anagram and acrostic. In the same year the University of Oxford produced its tribute in a volume Britannia Re diviva. Edward Pococke, then Professor of Hebrew and Arabic, limits himself to Arabic and Latin, but there are Hebrew verses by three</page><page sequence="13">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 91 hands: John Wall (Prebendary of Christ Church), R. Button (Public Orator), and Thomas Cawton of Merton College. In 1689 William and Mary were greeted by both Universities. The Musae Cantabrigienses included Hebrew odes by the Hebrew Pro? fessor (V. Stubbs), and by Ellis of Christ's. A really fine poem (printed exceptionally in pointed Hebrew) by John Bagwell distin? guished the Vota Oxoniensia of the same year. Thomas Edwards of Christ Church also has a Hebrew poem in the same collection. The accession of Anne, it will be remembered, was the subject of part of Joseph Abendanon's poem referred to above. It may be mentioned in passing, that naturally on the accession of a new sovereign a change of name was made in the prayer for the royal family. I have in my possession a MS. of the formula as changed in the Dublin Synagogue in the reign of Anne. But the MS. con? tains no other points of interest. To return to the Universities. In 1702 Oxford and Cambridge presented the usual tributes. In the Pietas et Gratulatio of Oxford, Thomas Hyde has a Persian song with Hebrew " Epiphonema." Robert Clavering (of University College) has a Carmen Hebraicum Compositum et Pentametrum. "No less than three others contribute Hebrew verses of a peculiarly extra? ordinary grotesqueness. These are J. Wallis (Magdalen College), B. Marshall (Christ Church), and " J. T." (e Coll Reg. Scholaris de Taberda). Cambridge in 1702 Parentat et Gratulatur, with three Hebrew poems by S. Townsend (Jesus College), P. Allix (King's), and Arthur Ashley Sykes (Corpus Christi Coll.). In 1714, on the accession of George I., Cambridge slightly modi? fies its formula to Deflet et Gratulatur. Philip Bouquet (Professor of Hebrew) has some curious Hebrew verses, and there are others by J. Imber (Trinity Hall), L. Imber (ibid.), and A. Clarke (Corpus Christi Coll.). The Oxford volume (as usual Pietas et Gratulatio) has some fluent lines by John Gagnier (who, it may be recalled, gave the reading of the inscription on the Bodleian Bowl adopted by Tovey). J, Stephens (Christ Church), T. Troughear (Ling. Hebr. Prelector), and W. Wilkinson also contributed Hebrew verses. In 1727 the Oxford volume contains Hebrew poems by Robert Landavensis (Regius Professor of Hebrew) and John Pettingal (Jesus College). In the Cambridge Lucius et Gaudia, the Hebrew Professor, Philip</page><page sequence="14">92 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. Bouquet, has some Hebrew verses, and there is this curiosity. The Arabic Professor (L. Chappelow) has a Carmen Arabicum, propter defectum Typorum, Literis Hebraicis expressum. But by the accession of George III. (1760) Cambridge had acquired Arabic type, as the new Luchts et Gratulationes show. Here W. Disney (Regius Professor of Hebrew) has a copy of Hebrew verses, full of misprints. Samuel Hallifax (Trinity Hall) and J. Steele (ibid.) also contribute Hebrew poems to the collection. The Oxford Pietas et Gratulatio was not published till a year later (1761). It contains five Hebrew poems by Thomas Hunt (Regius Professor of Hebrew), Benjamin Kennicott, B. Wheeler (Trinity), J. Sparrow (Lincoln), and J. Stubb. It would appear that the custom ceased with George III. There do not seem to have been any later volumes of this kind. Had Ephraim Luzzatto reached London three years before he did, he would no doubt have given us a Hebrew poem on George III.'s accession. He wrote a poem, however, on the arrival in England of Queen Charlotte. This was published in 1766. The well-known Hebrew translation of " God Save the King" was evidently made by Hyman Hurwitz for the coronation of William IV. It was first published in Hurwitz's Hebrew Grammar, 1831. Another Hebrew rendering?this time of "God Save the Queen"?was made during the reign of Queen Victoria for use in the Bombay Jewish school. Its author was Dr. M. Steinschneider. Here I may make a digression to mention that in the Pietas Acad. Cantab. (1738), on the death of Queen Caroline, there is a set of verses of Israel Lyons, " L. S. informatur." This is the only such copy of verses by a Jew, and it posseses little merit. There is extant " A Sermon occasioned by the Demise of our late Venerable Sovereign, King George the Third, and on the Accession of our gracious Lord King, George the Fourth, de? livered at the Synagogue, Denmark Court, Strand, on Wednesday, February 16, a.m. 5580 ( = 1820), by Rabbi Tobias Goodman." As this is probably one of the first English sermons delivered in a London Synagogue (Goodman's English sermon of 1817 was also printed), and as, moreover, I have had no other opportunity in this essay to give such a citation, I will extract some passages which refer to the new king (pp. 18 and 19 of the pamphlet).</page><page sequence="15">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 93 We are compelled, therefore, necessarily to infer from the foregoing passages, that not only the soul of our late venerated and much beloved Monarch, will survive the dissolution of its earthly tenement, but also that his name will be perpetuated in the succession of a son (whom God preserve !), King George the Fourth, worthy to become inheritor of the glories of the House of Brunswick, and likewise of the transcendent virtues and immortal honours of his illustrious sire ; under whose mild, benignant, and paternal reign the children of the house of Israel have enjoyed uninterrupted protection and security, while their dispersed and afflicted brethren have in former times groaned under the severe bondage of contumelious slavery, or suffered in the silent agony of unavailing woe, beneath the galling lash of unrelenting persecutors. Then let us, O house of Israel! deeply impressed as we must be, on this solemn day, and on the awful occasion of our assembling in this sanctuary, standing as we do in the august presence of the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, propitiate his exalted Majesty, the King of kings, the Lord of Hosts, to receive into immortal blessedness, the soul of our late lamented Monarch, and to shed the rays of his eternal glory on his illustrious successor, that he may be enabled to walk in all the ways of his pious father, in righteousness and truth ; that his reign may be prosperous, long, and happy ; and that the people of the realms over which he is appointed to rule and have dominion, may have cause every day to return thanks to the Almighty God, for having placed upon the English throne a Monarch who, conformably to the words of the holy prophet, "will do justly?and love mercy?and walk humbly with his God." Then will the Almighty's blessing be upon the land, declining commerce will again uplift its drooping head, the earth will bring forth its produce in abundance; then will the Lord continue to hearken unto the cry of the needy, and the hungry shall be fed from the lap of plenty; the widow and the orphan shall be cheered, and the dejected spirit shall sing joyful praises to its Creator. But this sermon wras in no sense a " Coronation " function. For after Rabbi Tobias Goodman's address (which it will be noted is an eloquent if idealised picture of the Georges and their ways) the Prayer composed by Chief Rabbi Hirschell on the death of George III. was recited. A "Coronation" Service, pure and simple, does not seem to have been held then or later, until the days of Edward VII. I come now to the second part of this paper: What has been the Jewish influence upon the Coronation Service? If you take the " Form and Order of Service " as at first designed for the coronation of their Majesties King Edward VII. and Queen Alexandra, you find</page><page sequence="16">94 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. it consists of nineteen sections.1 Take away the first section, "The Preparation," i.e. the arrangements before the service ; the last, " The Recess," or the order of departure of their Majesties ; the section devoted to the coronation of the Queen, and the Litany and the Communion which are of course characteristically Christian, it is not too much to say that the rest is saturated with the Hebraic spirit. Nearly the whole of the majestic function, including both ceremonies and prayers, not only in the latest Coronation Services but in a still more marked degree in the earlier ones, to which we shall also refer, is an echo of ancient Hebrew law and custom. Let us look at it a little closer. The " entrance into the church " is greeted with an anthem on the 122nd Psalm: "I was glad when they said unto me, We will go into the house of the Lord." What is called " the Recognition," where the Archbishop presents the King to the people, seems to be suggested by the manner in which Samuel presents Saul to Israel, and the priest Jehoiada presents the boy king Joash to the men of Judah. I do not know whether you will think there is anything indicating Jewish restiveness in the rubric regard? ing the sermon, concerning which it is said, " One of the bishops begins the sermon which must be short and suitable to the great occasion "? but it is remarkable that nearly all the coronation sermons were preached from Old Testament texts, or based upon Old Testament notions. The present sovereign escaped without any, but the text for Bishop Blomfield's sermon at Queen Victoria's coronation was from 2 Chron. xxxiv. 31, 44 And the king stood in his place (or rather on his platform), and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, to keep His commandments, &amp;c, with all his heart, and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book." Cranmer addressed the child king, Edward VI., dissuading him from the idea that his oath was taken to the Pope. " Your Majesty is God's vicegerent and Christ's vicar within your own dominions, and to see?with your predecessor Josiah?God truly worshipped and idolatry destroyed." 1 See D. Macleane's The Great Solemnity of the Coronation of the King and Queen of England, 1902; and J. E. C. Bodley's The Coronation of Edward the Seventh, 1903.</page><page sequence="17">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 95 The text chosen by Archbishop Sharp at the coronation of good Queen Anne was, " And queens shall be thy nursing mothers," which you will admit was a very appropriate text, full of actuality, considering that Anne was the mother of seventeen children, though unfortunately only one of them lived to the age of ten years. Every one in the least familiar with the Bible knows how much importance was attached to the king's anointment. Reference occurs to it already in the Book of Judges, in the parable of Jotham, where the trees wish to anoint a king over themselves. It was the type of God's spirit "honouring God and man." What a part has been played in every Christian monarchy by that sentence of David, " I will not stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed " I The person of even a foreign king like Cyrus became sacrosanct, because he too was regarded as the Lord's anointed. Among no people is the reverence for the person of the sovereign, endued by anointment with some mystic semi-divine sanctity, greater than among Jews. The prescribed benediction on beholding a king is, " Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast imparted of thy glory to flesh and blood " (Talmud, Ber. 58). Earthly sovereignty is a reflex of the heavenly. It is the Hebrew spirit that speaks in Shakespeare's Richard II.:? " Not all the waters in the rough rude sea Can wash the balm from an anointed king." The Anthem at the Anointing is from 1 Kings i. 39, 40: " Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon, &amp;c." The Archbishop makes formal reference, too, to this precedent after performing the act of Anointing. And so we might continue. After the Anointing was the presenting of the Spurs and Sword, which ceremony, though con? nected with the customs of mediaeval chivalry, is also reminiscent of Ps. xlv. 4, 5, " Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth, meekness, and righteousness." The ring is placed on the fourth finger of the right hand. Transferring of a ring as by Pharaoh to Joseph, by Ahasuerus to Haman and Mordecai, implies</page><page sequence="18">90 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. the imparting of royal authority. It is also typical of marriage between the sovereign and his people. The choice of the fourth finger of the right hand is certain since Henry "VII., and is no doubt older. Macleane, p. 93, quotes Ecclesia Redaurata, ii. 430, by Heylin, and RastePs reply to Jewel, 1565, "Where did you ever read that the man should put the wedding-ring upon the fourth finger of the left hand of the woman and not on the right, as had been many hundred years continued ?" In Jewish marriages the ring is also placed on the right hand, but on the first finger. Two sceptres are used : (a) sceptre with cross; (b) rod with dove. The first signifies kingly power and justice; the second, usually called the Rod or Verge or Warder, signifies equity and mercy. As Macleane points out (p. 96), the two sceptres are combined in the insignia of the Divine Shepherd in Psalm xxiii. : " Thy rod and thy staff shall comfort me." I would also suggest Genesis xlix. 10 as a parallel. The armillse or bracelets, which are of solid gold, opening by means of a hinge for the purpose of being worn on the wrist, recall a similar ornament worn by the first King of Israel. You will remember the messenger who brought to David the news of Saul's death. " And I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither to my lord" (2 Sam. i. 10). The oath and the actual crowning need not detain us long, they are so manifestly Jewish?though not exclusively Jewish; but the most interesting point about them is that it was usually a priest who administered the oath and who placed the crown on the King's head. The 13th section of the Coronation Service is the presenting of the Holy Bible. It was probably introduced for the first time at the coronation of William III. and Queen Mary, though it may have been earlier. Here we find a case of rever? sion to Old Testament or Jewish practice. This section was slightly condensed in the service as used in August 1902. In the older versions, the Jewish tone is still more pronounced. The Archbishop having said, "We present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world possesses. Here is Wisdom; this is the Royal Law; these are the lively Oracles of God," the words followed, " Blessed is he that readeth and they that</page><page sequence="19">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 97 hear the words of this Book, that keep and do the things contained therein, &amp;c." 1 Can one help thinking of the Deuteronomic law? We read (Deut. xvii.) that when the King of Israel " sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, he shall write him a copy of the law in a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites; and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep and do all the words of his law; that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren (17, 18), and that he may prolong his life in the kingdom.,, A still more striking parallel is to be found in the coronation of the boy-king Joash, where it is said (2 Kings xi. 12) that Jehoaida the priest "put the crown (or diadem) upon Joash and (gave him) the testimony; and they made him king and anointed him ; and they clapped their hands and said, God save the king." In the form used before the last three coronations these texts were actually referred to. In Section XVI. of the Coronation Service reference is made to the Coronation Medals, thrown among the people as largess. The oldest Coronation Medal is that of Edward VI., and this bears a curious Hebrew inscription. For an account of this see Appendix VIII. I trust I shall be pardoned for briefly dwelling with a certain predilection, for which old tastes and labours must be my excuse, upon the liturgical side of the Coronation Service. From the eighth century onwards there have been six recensions of the English Coronation Service. What strikes the Jewish reader in the perusal especially of the earlier ones is the preponderance of Old Testament phrases and allusions. Take for instance the following2 from a service sometimes called the Corona? tion Order of Ethelred II., certainly written before the Conquest, and possibly used at the consecration of Harold and William the Conqueror. From England the consecratory prayer spread to the Continent. With certain modifications it reappears in the Coronation Service of Charles I. 1 Maskell, Mon. Mit., ii. 128 (ed. 1882). 2 L. G. Wickham Legg, English Coronation Records (1901), p. 24. VOL. V. a</page><page sequence="20">98 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 0 Almighty and everlasting God, Creator and Governor of Heaven and Earth, Maker and Ruler of angels and men, King of kings and Lord of lords, who didst cause thy faithful servant Abraham to triumph over his enemies ; didst give many victories to Moses and Joshua, the governors of thy people; didst exalt thy lowly servant David unto the height of a Kingdom, and didst save him from the lion's mouth and from the hand of the beast and of Goliath ; and didst also deliver him from the evil javelin of Saul and from all his enemies ; didst enrich Solomon with the unspeakable gift of wisdom and peace, graciously give ear to our humble prayers, and multiply thy blessing upon thy servant [N.], whom in lowly devotion we do elect to the Kingdom of the Angles or of the Saxons, and ever cover him with thy powerful hand, that he, being strengthened with the faith of Abraham, endued with the mildness of Moses, armed with the fortitude of Joshua, exalted with the humility of David, beautified with the wisdom of Solomon, may please thee in all things, may always walk uprightly in the way of righteousness, may nourish and teach, defend and instruct, the church of the whole realm with the people committed to his charge, and like a mighty king minister unto them the government of thy power against all enemies, visible and invisible, that the sceptre depart not from the royal throne of the Angles and Saxons, but by thy help may reform their minds to the concord of true faith and peace; that being underpropped by due obedience and honoured with the condign love of this his people, he may through length of years stablish and govern by thy mercy the height of the glory of his fathers ; and being defended with the helmet of thy protection, covered with thy invincible shield, and all clad with heavenly armour, he may gloriously triumph, and by his power both terrify infidels and bring joyful peace for those that fight for thee; bestow on him the virtues with which thou hast adorned thy faithful servants, with manifold blessings, and set him on high in the government of his kingdom and anoint him with the oil of grace of the Holy Spirit, &amp;c. In the Liber Regalis?the 4th recension?used probably at the coronation of Edward II., and the basis of the Coronation Service of Charles I., there is beside this prayer a still stronger Judaic tint? " Yisit him as thou didst visit Moses in the Bush, Joshua in Battle, Gideon in the field, Samuel in the Temple;.besprinkle him with the dew of thy wisdom, &amp;c." In the oldest known service for the coronation of an English king, taken from a ninth-century Pontifical, after the staff has been given into the King's hand, the old Pentateuchal blessing is pro? nounced almost word for word as it occurs in Gen. xxvii. 28, 29, and xlix, 25, 26. " Almighty God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the</page><page sequence="21">JEWS AND COKONATIONS. 99 fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine; let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: blessed be he that blesseth thee, and God shall keep thee, and the Almighty shall bless thee with the blessing of heaven above, on the mountains and on the hills, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of grapes and fruit: blessings of the fathers of old, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, shall be upon thy head" (Wickham Legg, p. 11). The Coronation Order of Charles I. uses almost the same words. When the King has been girt with his sword he is exhorted to remember (Legg, 260) "of whom the Psalmist did prophesy, saying, Gird thee with thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty, and with this sword exercise thou the force of equity and mightily destroy the growth of iniquity, protect the Church of God and his faithful people, and pursue Heretics no less than Infidels." In the Coronation Order of James II. (ib. 302), the pursuit of heretics no less than infidels was for obvious reasons not demanded of the King. Again, what could be more Jewish in language and spirit than this (Wickham Legg, p, 257), which occurs in the Liber Regalis?the 4th recension used in Latin at the coronation of Edward II., and (in English) at the coronation of Charles I. " The Archbishop : ( Vere dignum et justum est): It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee, O Lord, holy Father, Almighty and everlasting God, the strength of the chosen and the exalter of the humble, who in the beginning by the pouring out of the flood didst chasten the sin of the world, and by a dove conveying an olive branch didst give a token of reconcilement unto the earth ; and again didst consecrate thy servant Aaron a priest by the anointing of oil and afterwards by the effusion of oil didst make kings and prophets to govern thy people Israel, and by the voice of the prophet David didst foretell that the countenance of the Church should be made cheerful with oil. We beseech thee, Almighty Father, that by the fatness of thy creature, thou wilt vouchsafe to bless and sanctify thy Servant [N.] (Charles), that in the simplicity of a dove he may minister peace unto his people, that he may imitate Aaron in the service of God; that he may attain the perfection of government, in council and in judgment, and that by</page><page sequence="22">100 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. the anointing of this oil thou mayest give him a countenance always cheerful and amiable, to the whole people, &amp;c." In reading these passages, and many others might be cited, one can almost imagine them the work of some deft constructor of a Piyut mosaic. Old Testament allusions are everywhere predomi? nant. In the latest recensions the order of service has undergone considerable change, as well as compression here and there; but the Hebraic character still pervades the ceremony and the liturgy, though happily no one regards this in the light of an alien invasion. And so the last coronation, like the first, draws from Hebrew sources, and is informed with the Hebrew spirit of righteousness. But never was there a greater call for that spirit than now. For our sovereign is crowned king over the greatest empire on earth. That empire is made up of many races and creeds. It can only hold together if, while they mutually tolerate each other, the sovereign also, himself of one religion, respects, protects, and honours them all. "A just ruler of men," said a King of Israel,1" one that ruleth in the fear of God, will be as the light of morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds "?i.e. not shining brightly and cheer ingly on some, and casting a dark shadow upon others, but irradiating all alike with the impartial beams of his royal solicitude. That, I believe, is already, and will continue to be, the result to Jews among others of the last coronation. 1 2 Samuel xxiii. 3, 4.</page><page sequence="23">APPENDIX i Benedict Abbas' Account of the Jews and the Coronation of Richard I. [Benedictas Abbas.] Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi Benedicti Abbatis, ed. Stubbs (1867), vol. ii. p. 83. Interim rex deposuit coronam suam et vestes regales, et leviores coronam et vestes snmpsit: et sic coronatus venit prandere. Et arcliiepiscopi, et episcopi, et abbates et alii clerici sedebant cum eo in mensa sua, unusquisque secundum ordinem et dignitatem suam. Comites vero et barones et milites sedebant ad alias mensas et epulabantur splendide. Pranclentibus autem illis, principes Judseorum contra probibitionem regis supervenerunt. Et quia rex die prsecedenti proliibuerat communi edicto, ne Judseus vel mulier ad coronationem suam veniret, curiales injecerunt manus in Judeeos, et spoliaverunt eos et verberaverunt eos, et plagis impositis ejece runt eos a curia regis : quosdam vero interfecerunt, quosdam semivivos reli querunt. Unus autem ex Judaiis illis, qui Benedictus Judseus Eboracensis vocabatur, adeo graviter verberibus et vulneribus affectus est, quod de vita illius desperatum est, et sic timore mortis perterritus suscepit baptismum a Willelmo priore eeclesise Sanctse Marise Eboraci; et vocatus est Willelmus. Et sic evasit mortis periculum et manus persequentium. Audiens autem plebs civitatis Lundonioe quod curiales ita ssevirent in Judaeos, irruerunt in Judseos civitatis et spoliaverunt eos, et multos inter? fecerunt utriusque sexus; et domos illorum succenderunt, et in cinerem et favillam redegerunt. Pauci tarnen illorum evaserunt illam interfectionem, includentes se infra turrim Lundoniarum, et in domibus amicorum suorum latitabant. Insequenti die cum rex audisset hsec fieri, missis servientibus suis per civitatem, fecit comprehendi quosdam malefactorum illorum et sibi prse sentari. Tres vero illorum per Judicium curiee suspensi sunt in patibulo .* unus quia furtum fecerat in re cujusdam Christiani; duo quia incendium fecerant in civitate, unde domus Christianorum combustse sunt. Deinde 101</page><page sequence="24">102 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. misit rex pro viro illo qui jam de Judseo factus erat Christianus, prae sentibus illis qui viderant baptizare eum ; et interrogavit eum, si esset Christianus effectus. Ipse vero repondit 4&lt; Non," set ut mortem evaderet permisit sibi fieri a Christianis quod volebant. Tune interrogavit rex arehiepiscopum Cantuariensem, prsesentibus multis archiepiseopis et episcopis, quid esset de illo faciendum. Eespondit archiepiscopus minus discrete quam deberet dicens, " Si ipse homo Dei esse non vult, sit homo diaboli," et sic re versus ille qui fuerat Christianus ad legem Judaicam. In crastino vero recepit rex homagia et fidelitates de archiepiseopis et episcopis, abbatibus, comitibus et baronibus terrae suse. Interim misit rex nuncios et litteras per omnes comitatus Angliae pro hibens ne aliquis forisfaciat Judaais, sed pacem suam habeant. Sed pruisquam edictum illud publicatum esset, Judaei qui erant in villa Dunestaple con versi sunt ad fidem Christianorum, et baptiz?ti sunt, et uxores suas despon saverunt. Similiter fiebat per plures civitates in Anglia. II Roger of Hoveden's Account. Chronica Magistri Rogeri de Hovedene, ed. Stubbs, vol. iii. pp. 12-13. Dum autem rex in mensa sederet, venerunt prineipes Judseorum de ferentes regi munera, sed quia prohibitum erat eis die hesterna, quse pras teriit, ne ad curiam regis die coronationis suaa accederent, plebs superbo oculo, et insatiabili corde, irruit in Judseos, et spoliavit eos, et plagis im positis ejeceruut eos ab atrio regis. Inter quos erat Benedictus Judseus Eboraci, qui cum a Christianis ita persecutus esset, et vulneratus, ut de vita desperaret, baptizatus est a Willelmo, priore ecelesiae Sanctse Marias Eboraci, in ecclesia Innocentum, et vocatus est Willelmus, et sie evasit mortis peri culum, et manus persequentium. Quod cum cives Lundonienses audissent invaserunt Judseos civitatis, et domos eorum combusserunt, et illos inter fecerunt, pauci tarnen evaserunt beneficio amicorum suorum Christianorum. In crastino autem coronationis regis misit rex servientes suos, et com prehendi fecit malefactores illos, qui civitatem incenderunt, non propter Judaeos, sed propter domos et facilitates Christianorum quas incenderunt et rapuerunt, et de illis quosdam fecit suspendi. Et eodem die fecit rex praefatum Willelm um, qui de Judaeo factus est Christianus, sibi praesentari; et ait Uli, " Tu quis es %" et respondens dixit " Ego sum Benedictus Judaeus tuus de Eboraco;" et conversus rex ad arehiepiscopum Cantuariensem et caeteros, qui dixerant ei praedietum Benedictum factum fuisse Chris tianum, ait illis : u Nonne dixistis mihi, quod ipse Christianus est ?" et responderunt illi, " Etiam, domine." Et ait illis: " Quid ergo faciemus de</page><page sequence="25">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 103 eo ?" cui archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, minus circumspecte quam esset necesse, respondit in spiritu furoris sui, "llle Christianus esse non vult, homo Diaboli sit:" debuerat enim respondisse: " Petimus de eo Judicium Christianorum, desicut ipse Christianus sit factus, et modo contradicit." Sed quia non erat qui resisteret, prsefatus Willelmus reversus est ad Judaicam pravitatem qui postmodum parvo interlapso tempore ohiit apud Northam toniam, et factus est alienus a communi sepultura Judseorum, similiter et Christianorum, turn quia factus fuerat Christianus, tum quia ipse, sicut canis reversus ad vomitum, rediit ad Judaicam pravitatem. Ill William of Newburgh's Narrative. Historic*, Berum Anglicarum (William of Newburgh), Book IV. ch. i. (ed. Howlett, i. 293). De primordiis regis Ricardi et de Us qux in ejus coronatione contigerunt. Anno a plenitudine temporis quo Veritas de terra orta est m0c?lxxx0ix?, sedi Apostolicee preesidente demente, Henrico autem Frederici filio arcem Romani imperii tenente, et Francis imperante Philippo, Ricardus, illus trissimi regis Anglorum Henrici secundi filius, defuncto patri successit. Hie patre sepulto, hereditati mox transmarine incumbens, nobilium simul et plebium sollemnibus votis gaudiisque excipitur ; rebusque trans mare mature dispositis, in Angliam, qua3 ejus cum desideriis prsestolabatur adventum, opportune transvehitur ; cunctis ex ejus edicto custodiis per Angliam relaxatis, ut scilicet ad introitum no vi principis esset lsetitia generalis. Quippe sestua bant tune carceres reorum multitudine, sub expectatione vel discussionis vel supplicii: sed eo regnum ingrediente pestes illse carcerum per ejus clementiam sunt egresses, confidentius fortasse de -cetero grassaturse. Statuto die unctionis regise, convenit Lundonias psene universa regni nobilitas, de partibus quoque transmarinis copiosa virorum spectabilium multitudo. Ricardus igitur, solus regum a seculo ita nominatus, Lundoniis est consecratus in regem, et sollem niter coronatus a Balduino Cantuariensi archiepiscopo tertio nonas Septem bris; qui dies ex prisca gentili superstitione malus vel iEgyptiacus dicitur, tanquam quodam Judaici eventus prsesagio. Dies enim ille Judaeis exitialis fuisse dignoscitur, et iEgyptiacus magis quam Anglicus ; cum Anglia, in qua sub rege priore felices et incliti fuerant, repente illis in iEgyptum, ubi patres eorum dura perpessi sunt, Dei judicio verteretur. Res quidem recentis memorise est, nullique ignota prsesentium ; sed operae pretium est pleniori relatu transmittere ad posteros tarn perspicui circa gentem perfidam et blasphemam superni judicii monumentum. Convenerant ad sollemnem Christiani principis unctionem ex cunctis Anglise finibus non tantum nobiles</page><page sequence="26">104 JEWS AND CORONATION^. Christiani verum etiam primi Judaeorum. Caventes enim iidem hostes veritatis ne forte habita sub rege priore felicitas minus eis arrideret sub novo, ejus deeentissime bonoranda primordia et favorem non disparem amplitudine munerum redimendum duxerunt. Verum ille vel minus jam eos aceeptans quam pater, vel nescio quid praecavens, superstitiosa quadam de consilio quorundam cautela, edicto, ut dicitur, interdixit eis ingressum vel ecclesiae dum coronaretur, vel palatii dum post coronationis sollemnia convivaretur. Expletis igitur missarum sollemniis, rex fulgens diademate cum pompa magnifica ad convivium intravit. Contigit autem, eo discumbente cum omni frequentia nobilium, populum circa palatium observantem tumultuari. Judaei siquidem turbis immixti, fores sic regias introibant. Unde indignatus, ut fertur, quidam Christianus, Judseum palma percussum ab ingressu januae arcere curavit, regium objectans edictum. Quo exemplo plures accensi, Judaeos cum contumelia repellebant: factoque tumulta, indisciplinata cum turbine turba accurrit; credentesque regem talia mandasse, tanquam freti auctoritate regia in multitudinem Judaeorum ad fores regias observantium pariter irruerunt. Et primo quidem percutiebant pugno impie, mox vero vehementius efFerati sustulerunt ligna et lapides. Porro Judsei fugam inierunt; in fuga nonnulli csesi usque ad mortem, quidam etiam protriti perierunt. Venerant autem illuc cum ceteris duo nobiles Judaei Eboracenses, Joceus scilicet et Benedictus; quorum prior evasit, sequens vero, dum plagis im positis segnius fugeret, comprehensus, ut mortem differet Christum coactus est confiteri ductusque in ecclesiam illico baptizatus est. Interea rumor gratis simus, quod scilicet rex omnes Judaeos exterminari jussisset, totas incredibili celeritate percurrit Lundonias ; moxque infinitus indisciplinatorum populus, tarn ex ipsa civitate quam ex illis quos illuc ex provinciis plurimis unctionis regiae sollemnitas traxerat, armatus accurrit, spirans praedarum et caedis in populum Dei judicio cunctis invisum. Porro cives Judaei, quorum multitudo Lundoniis habitare dignoscitur, cum illis qui undecunque confluxerant, in domos se proprias receperunt. Circumdantur a frementibus populis fortiter que oppugnantur ab hora nona usque ad sol is occasum eaedem domus; quas quoniam propter fabricam firmiorem effringi non poterant, et f?rentibus machinae deerant, igne tectis immisso, horrendum cito colluxit incendium ; quod et laborantibus Judaeis exitiale fuit, et furentibus Christianis in nocturno opere lucis adjutorium praebuit. Nec solis Judaeis specialiter in eos accensus ignis nocuit, quia, discretionis nescius, nonnullas quoque proximas Christianorum aedes corripuit. Videres repente clarissima urbis loca flammis civilibus, tanquam hostilibus, miserabiliter conflagrare. Judaei vero vel in propriis torrebantur aedibus, vel egredientes excipiebantur ensibus. Multum sanguinis in brevi fusum est. Verum cito satietatem caedium induxit fortius excandescens cupido praedarum, vicitque avaritia crudelitatem. Denique omissis caedibus, expilandis aedibus et diripiendis opibus rabies avara incubuit. At hoc Christianos versa vice Christianis fecit</page><page sequence="27">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 105 infestos; dum alius alii quod forte rapuerat invideret, et praedanti studio ne amicis quidem et sociis impia semulatrix avaritia pareeret. Nuntiantur haee regi festive in palatio cum omni procerum frequentia convivanti; mittitur a latere ejus Bannulf us de Glam villa, regni procurator, vir potens et prudens, cum aiiis seque nobiiibus, ut vel flecteret vel frenaret audaces. At id frustra. In tanto enim tumultu nullus eorum aut vocem auscultavit aut faciem honoravit, quin potius quidam indisciplinatores fremere adversus eos cceperunt, et ut maturius recederent terribiliter denun tiaverunt. Ulis igitur effrenatam rabiem consulte declinantibus, tanta licentia quanta et audacia usque ad sequentis diei horam secundam desaeviere prae dantes, et tune saeviendi magis satietas vel lassitudo quam vel ratio vel reverentia principis praedantium sedavit furorem. Hoc eatenus inaudito regiae civitatis eventu, et egregie incboato perfidee gentis exitio, et nova Christianorum contra inimicos crucis Christi fiducia, insignitus est regni illustrissimi regis Ricardi dies primus, plane non tantum juxta regulam qua jubentur ambigua in melius potius quam in deterius derivari, verum etiam juxta signification em aptissimam Christianas in diebus ejus promotionis praesagus. Quid enim aptius portendit, si quid portendit quod regiae consecra tionis ejus diem pariter et locum blasphemae gentis nobilitavit exitium, quod in ipso regni ejus exordio hostes Christianas fidei cceperunt juxta earn cadere et infirmari ? Non ergo sic moveat quemquam vel urbis in quadam ejus parti in cendium, vel insulsus ille fervor indisciplinatorum, quominus praeclari eventus bonus fiat piusque interpres: cum et hujus modi supernse moderationis ordini militent, impleatque Omnipotens plerumque voluntatem suam valde bonam per hominum etiam nequissimorum voluntatem et actionem valde pravam. Sane rex novus, cum esset ingentis animi et ferocis, indignatus, et dolens quod in suae coronationis sollemniis regnique primordiis sub ejus prsesentia talia contigessent, aestuabat, anxius quidnara super his esset agendum. Tantam quippe et sine exemplo majestatis regiae laesionem dissimulare atque multam dimittere, et regi nimis indecorum et regno quoque noxium vide batur ; cum tantae atrocitatis dissimulatio per impunitatis fiduciam impro borum ad attentanda similia nutritura foret audaciam. Porro in infinitatem reorum multitudinem censurae regiae vigorem exercere prorsus erat impos sibile: nam praeter nobiles cum rege convivantes, quorum tantus erat numerus ut regii amplitudo palatii angusta videretur, fere tot um civitatis populum et fere totas nobilium familias, qnae cum ipsis nobiiibus ad unctionis regiae sollemnia venerant, odium Judaeorum et praedarum illecebra ad memorati operis patrationem contraxerant. Dissimulari ergo oportuit quod vindicari non potuit; Deo nimirum ordinante ut qui divinae in perfidis et blasphemos ultionis ministri exstiterant, humano propter hoc judicio minime sisterentur. Superni quippe examinis ratio exigebat ut blasphemi illi, qui tempore superioris principis supra modum cervicosi et protervi in Christianos fuerant, in successoris ejus primordiis humiliarentur.</page><page sequence="28">106 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. Benedictus vero ille, qui, ut dictum est, lavaerum Cliristianum coactus acceperat, corde quidem non credens ad justitiam sed inani tandum or is confessione aerem verberans, in crastino perductus ad principem, interrogatus est ab eo an esset Christianus? Qui respondit se a Christianis baptizari coactum, sed animo semper fuisse Judaeum, et talem se malle mori, cum jam non posset vivere, plagis enim pridie acceptis urgebatur ad mortem. Ejectus ergo a facie principis, Judasis est redditus apostata Christianus, factusque filius Gehennas duplo quam prius, post dies paucos defecit, ad hoc tantum Christianus factus, ut apostata moreretur. Princeps autem post cladem Judaeis pacem edicto sancivit; qua tamen, ut suo loco narrabitur, non diu sunt fruiti, superno utique judicio exigente blasphemae gentis superbiam severius castigari. IY. The Account in Matthew of Paris and Roger of Wendover. Matthcei Pariensis Chronica Majora, ed. Luard, vol. ii. pp. 350-1 ; and Roger of Wendover, Mores Historiarum, ed. Hewlett, vol. i. pp. 166-7. Huic coronationi multi Judaeorum interfuerunt contra regiam pro hibitionem; qui die prsecedenti communi edicto interdixerat, ne Judsei aut mulieres interessent propter magicas incantationes, quae fieri solent in coro nationibus regum. Sed curiales, quamvis occulte venissent, injectis manibus, spoliaverunt eos et diris verberibus affecerunt, et ab ecclesia illos eicientes [quosam interfecerunt], quosdam semivivos reliquerunt. Audiens autem vulgus civitatis quod curiales ita saeviebant in Judseos, irruerunt in illos qui in civitate remanserant; multisque utriusque sexus ex eis interfectis, et domibus subversis et succensis, aurum eorum et argentum, cartas et vestes preciosas rapuerunt. Qui autem ab hac clade evaserunt, fugerunt ad turrim Londoniarum, et in domibus ami eorum suorum in locis diversis la titan tes, de suo damno multos divites reddiderunt. Hsec persecutio in ortu jubilaei sui, quern annum remissionis appellant, inchoata, vix per annum conquies cere potuit. Nam contraria ratione, qui debuit eis annus esse remissionis, factus est illis jubilaeus confusionis. In crastino autem cum rex talem cognovisset eis illatam injuriam, quam propriam reputabat, quosdam eorum fecit comprehendi, quorum tres culpabiles deprehensos per judicium curiae suse jussit suspendi; unum vero, quia furtum fecerat de re cujusdam Chris tiani, duos, quia incendium fecerunt in civitate, unde domus Christinnorum sunt combustae. Audientes autem Christiani per Angliam in locis diversis constituti quod apud Londoniam actum est de Judaeis, irruerunt in eos ubique; maximamque ex eis stragem facientes, et eorum spolia diripientes, multos immisericorditer peremerunt. Sed rex Ricardus in crastino coro nationis suae, cum homagia et fidelitates a regni magnatibus suscepisset,</page><page sequence="29">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 107 prohibuit ne quisquam Judasis forisfaciat, sed pacem snam habeant per omnes Anglise civitates. Omnia commercia rerum venalium per totum regnum constituta sunt unius ponderis et mensurae." V. Ephraim of Bonn's Narrative. Tbe following text is taken from Hebr?ische Berichte Uber die Juden? verfolgungen w?hrend der Kreuzz?ge, edited by Neubauer and Stern (Berlin, 1892), p. 69. An English translation of the passage (derived from the Emek Habacha, ed. Wiener, Hebrew Appendix, p. 9) is given by Mr. Jacobs (Jews of Angevin England, p. 107). The narrative in the body of the Emek Habacha is a curtailed version of Ephraim's account:? fcnpjn D*n ?k3 t^d n?ym *d jpni dwd bvcwb yn fpnm *rn rmri vrnyfo Tya mm mate nna }n3 n&amp;sw -fr?h Dpw ova wi ann^arK m isian Dsn "kdi nsroo an Dy not? tj6 pro n^N rnatan jraa ntD*6 own )bm nmn t^ k&gt;an^&gt; Dna iwx Dwm d^pn dhwsi ova d*rAjn DntDia ntw t^d hv main rn*r? omnsn ixa^ paa ?5? nn*6 nn?a nywn ?am yn* *6 t^dhi .ana i^ynn maim t^dS nnaiD^ on^njD Dmnaa onn^i d.na rnan5&gt; i^hm dhwh n? nwni? ^dh ann nna n&amp;) d.n^a nmy m onvpoi b?k dh^bo Dna unrw lywa *a mi fea t^dh yn* ?bi .dbti nnp ^y iwVnKD apy* 'n pnaion onyjn pn nan p? nyi^n n?ioi nrn ?&gt;nn bip no 5w n*ya ponn ^p n? maara njnp.n rm nrc&gt;pi&gt; man ii&gt; jrrona a"h? ???nopi d*prw Tina .nyn nrvoa non inn riK? ny d*pwai mainna T^m aino d*did : niep3 jrmn ban Here there is no mention of tenths being brought as tribute. The reading is (wealthy men), not rynt^yD (tithes). There are other verbal cor? rections to be made in Mr. Jacobs' version. There is, again, no such error in the Neubauer-Stern text as there is in Wiener's?to the effect that Richard was crowned at Orleans. In the Wiener text the word Orleans has slipped in by dittography; it makes no sense. It is interesting to note that the houses of the Jews are termed " their towers." The Jews were indeed among tbe first to build stone houses in England. Mr. Jacobs (p. 98) states that " R. Jacob of Orleans, also known as R. Tarn, was one of those massacred at the coronation of Richard I." The R. Jacob of Orleans, mentioned by Ephraim of Bonn, was indeed known as R. Tarn, but of course he was not the famous Kabbi of that name. On this R, Jacob see Gross, Gallia Judaica,</page><page sequence="30">108 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. p. 36. Further, there is no mention of a " Chief Rabbi" in Ephraim ; R. Jacob is simply termed " distinguished." Here, again, the text varies from Mr. Jacobs' version. Then the Hebrew *pD^r6 does not mean " to convert" but "to destroy." The amended English translation would run as follows :? "In the year [of Creation] 4950 [ = Sept. 1189 to Sept. 1190] evil was brought upon Israel from heaven. For there was raised up a king in the Isles of the Sea, called Angleterre. And it happened on the day whereon he was established as king, and the royal crown was set upon his head, in the city of London, in the royal palace which is without the city, there were gathered thither many folk from France and from the Isles of the Sea. And there came likewise the Jews, the chiefs and the wealthy among them, to bring a gift to the king. Then began wicked men to say that it was not allowed for Jews to look on the crown of the king with which monks and priests crowned him on the day that he was crowned king. And they thrust them forth and maltreated them. And the king knew it not. Then there came a rumour in the city saying, The king has ordered to destroy the Jews. Then they began to smite them and overthrow their houses (and) their towers, and they slew of them about thirty men. And some of them killed themselves and their children. And in this place was slain the distinguished Rabbi Jacob of Orleans, for the hallowing of the Name. And the king knew nothing through all this, for when he heard the noise of the crowd in the city he asked: What is this noise of a tumult ? And the doorkeeper replied, It is nothing but the lads sporting and making merry. And it came to pass afterwards when the truth was made known to him, he [the king] gave orders to bind the doorkeeper to the tails of horses, dragging and casting him through the streets and alleys of the city till his spirit departed, and he died a miserable death. Blessed be the Lord that giveth vengeance ! " VI. Notes to the Account op the Congratulatory Hebrew Verses on the Accession op English Sovereigns. (i.) The only Hebrew words (by W. Thorne) which appear in the 1603 volume are these curiously mangled lines? pir6 n^n :yib nom iwtyyh n:rp This is meant, perhaps, for? ?S r6an 'nr? nom JiTdt^</page><page sequence="31">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 109 (ii.) Cudwortli's poem (1658) is thus entitled? oy hi nttvba bnan awan hid by rwp irb&amp;Doi nnaan i^n? msbnnn ^y mmm In the 1660 volume (Swo-rpa) Cud worth has a KnaPini TWp on Charles I. and Charles II. (iii.) John Wall's poem (1660) has these lines? uvnata nnm yvm i^n? nan in pi I^d inn niiT *a may tb ibw6 iw oy.n ntDX vn R. Button's verses end? nn rra v^v nny nyih dw bisb^ (iv.) T. Smith's poem (in Swa-rpa 1660) has this anagram? enmity p Bni&gt;ina=ir6:)b&gt; p n?ipi nen (v.) T. Edwards (1689) has this line? utaa run on? td This evidently shows knowledge of the Rabbinic identification of Edom and Rome. John Bagwell's poem on William and Mary runs thus? nnsan aha *n&amp;na *k *npt*n nn^'iij nn -upy^ rvna ^n *vjniB&gt; nn?| D*sna 310? a&amp; JO r?p:i wu$o Ksn Dai w.^ya n?!&gt;9j yw K-ini *pV nisi nnq nipx jpafrn np-i nyw \a;i? n: nna| Di* y*pn n^n Dai naia n'1^3 m? y^io wn; -i^ki ^ini nfcn. pypj</page><page sequence="32">110 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. iWrn ^ bnbp %yy -nap |n ?q^pjn D31 w'y ?21 d^w? J3 hy_ (vi.) In 1702 Joseph Abendanon's "Elegy" on William III. ends with a " Congratulation " to Anne? mom in^n roiDjn rotam niKBn^ uwh &amp;n ?ni d^n m*r6 roy hdhi nop hm arm : roc -on 2iD bin ni?n ima* wx* (vii.) P. Bouquet's poem on George I. (1714), ends thus ? d*d^mk fay. nran DHmO b D^J D^pD DW JD *6 DIpHDD DiK-nax *6 dwd ab English, Scots, and Welsh are called upon to rejoice and praise the name of George. Not Patrick (Ireland), not Taffy or David (Wales), not San Jagos (Spain), not Andrew (Scotland), but George (the patron Saint of England) is the new king's name. L. Imber's poem in the same volume is called? Gagnier's poem (same date) ends thus? D*31 D?K itoc mr wpn D^rra bs ropl D^nv *7j3 DDn ivq; rijn n^p njoyp oy?a Dnp abya rrjay. aon jn nyp ?vb rr nb? natan mo by</page><page sequence="33">jews and coronations. Ill Bouquet was evidently pleased with his composition, for in 1727 he practically repeats the refrain? D^rra dhki DnnvD pnoia prw DSDraniKa m nanb dikyuk Kb, oipnaa Kb Dia* p Kb Dvn Kb Daabo Kin DDDViniKi Here are some variations : we have the Britons, Shots and the Cimri. (viii.) From W. Disney's poem (1760) I extract the following :? vniaK bK Dib^n DDabn an nao na*^a DnnaKa no Kin niK naK ibKD ib nao ^k obiyb rrrn D*D^a Kin *n T?aK d^d.^d^ n* aD" T*1K* 1KDDD TKDD bna* i?m *n* *pD* vd^d }dk d*sy ba V1DK*1 jdk (ix.) From Ephraim Luzzatto's Dniyan *aa n^k (London, 1766), p. 85? . d* aba n*aK wb&amp;n anva i?m m^a .?raab aiaa*bpD inx&gt; aibnp riK k*anb ,Di*a d*np nin my my ; ib nDnDn TnK ** by *nai ,Di*na kvd* ,b*a* tk ibon ;-|bn iab d*b nayo *a ,ban nny mnaan d^bd ?ba^ 3?nn &amp;m ia*D*b *a qbon *aab nKiaai .taibnp nKa nan ,nKa nan ; n*n it^Ba .dikhb w ibon ,Dib^* d* bK d*d mniaaa Kin ; n*b* *a*a vby rwn k*n ,nmn DnyDt^d by nvon paiai ?nyb Dinn Danp **a *a</page><page sequence="34">112 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. VII. The Legend of the Coronation Stone. A full account of the history of the Scone Coronation Stone, removed by Edward I. from Scotland to Westminster, may be found in Stanley's Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey (pp. 60-66 ; 492-502). From the geological examination of the stone it seems impossible that it can have come from Bethel. The Coronation Stone is of a dull reddish or purplish sandstone, whereas the rocks round Bethel are formed of strata of limestone. Geikie says: 44As a geologist I would say that the stone is almost certainly of Scottish origin" (W. F. Skene, The Coronation Stone, 1869, last page). It is not necessary to do more than allude to the legend connecting the stone with Palestine. The stone was identified with that on which Jacob rested at Bethel, when he beheld the angels ascending and descending the ladder (Gen. xxviii. 11-12). According to another legend, the stone was the same as that on which Abraham intended to offer Isaac; the Midrash, in fact, identifies these stones of Jacob and Abraham as one and the same (Pirke R. Eleazar, eh. 35). Later on, the Sohra or Holy Rock, still extant within the Temple area at Jerusalem, was regarded as the stone referred to. Stanley gives the following account of the legend so far as the British Isles are concerned:? " In the capital of the Scottish kingdom was a venerable fragment of rock, to which, at least as early as the fourteenth century, the following legend was attached: The stony pillow on which Jacob slept was by his countrymen transported to Egypt. Thither came Gathelus, son of Cecrops, King of Athens, and married Scota, daughter of Pharaoh. He and his Egyptian wife, alarmed at the rising greatness of Moses, fled with the stone to Sicily or Spain. From Spain it was carried off by Simon Brech, the favourite son of Milo the Scot, to Ireland. It was thrown on the seashore as an anchor; or (for the legend varied at this point) an anchor which was cast out, in consequence of a rising storm, pulled up the stone from the bottom of the sea. On the sacred Hill of Tara it became ' Lia Fail,' the * Stone of Destiny.' On it the kings of Ireland were placed. If the chief was a true successor, the stone was silent; if a pretender, it groaned aloud as with thunder. At this point, where the legend begins to pass into history, the voice of national discord begins to make itself heard. The Irish anti? quarians maintain that the true stone still remains on the Hill of Tara. But the stream of Scottish tradition carries us on. Fergus, the founder of the Scottish monarchy, bears it across the sea from Ireland to Dunstaffhage. In the walls of Dunstaffnage Castle a hole is still shown, where the stone is said to have been laid. With the migration of the Scots eastward, the stone was moved by Kenneth II. (a.D. 840), and placed on a raised plot of ground at</page><page sequence="35">I*. *" - 11' ^^^^^ THE CORONATION CHAIR AND STONE.</page><page sequence="36">JEWS AND CORONATIONS. 113 Scone." Since Edward I.'s time the stone (encased in a chair) has remained at Westminster. Mr. J. Jacobs (Jewish Encyclopedia, iv. p. 276) adds: " The Anglo-Israelites make much of this connection ?f Jacob's stone with the coronation chair, and largely base upon it their claim to the identification of the English people with the Lost Ten Tribes." VIII. The Coronation Medal of Edward VI. In 1545, Henry VIII. had a medal struck to commemorate his recogni? tion as head of the Church. The obverse of the medal bore a bust of the King, royal badges, and a Latin inscription. On the reverse was a Hebrew inscription running thus:? nnriD wrvn*m *k^mk mini na naiDKi ibo "a w?&amp; tr?nran \vby can jvcd which is evidently intended to signify: "Henry VIII., triple King" {i.e. King of England, France, and Ireland], " of the faith defender, and of the Church of England and Ireland, under Christ, supreme head." EDWARD VI.'S CORONATION MEDAL {obverse). When Edward VI. was crowned in 1547 a coronation medal was struck. VOL. V. H</page><page sequence="37">114 JEWS AND CORONATIONS. This was "the first coronation medal executed in England" (Hawkins* Franks and Grueber, Medallic Illustrations of the History of Great Britain and Ireland, London, 1885, vol. i. p. 54). In imitation of Henry VIII.'s medal, this also contains a Hebrew inscription, of the same quaint composition. It is punctuated, and runs thus :? EDWARD VI.'S CORONATION MEDAL (reverse). wpn a nj#a This is obviously intended to mean: " Edward VI., by the grace of God, King of England, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith and, in the earth, of the Church of England and Ireland, supreme head. Crowned King in the year 1546." The date (1546) is according to the old style, when the year began on March 25 ; the coronation occurred on February 20. Of both these medals very fine specimens may be seen at the British Museum. There is another Edward VI. Coronation Medal, bearing a Hebrew inscription, in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris (see Hawkins, i. 55).</page></plain_text>