Then, after many prayers, and the blessing, the nobles headed by the Archbishop, came to do homage to the newly-crowned King. The Archbishop knelt down and vowed to be faithful, and, rising, kissed the King's cheek, and then slowly made way for the Prince of Wales, who in his turn knelt and promised fidelity to his father, and kissed him on the cheek. Then all the nobles did the same in order of their importance and rank. There are very precise rules about all this. Those who bear title of the same rank take precedence of one another according to the ancientness of the title they bear. But the whole question of title is a puzzling one and we cannot go into it here.
After this came the crowning of the Queen. A great pall of gold was supported at four corners by four duchesses, who held it up while the Queen knelt before the King to swear to be true to him always. She was then anointed and crowned, and as her crown was put on her head by the Archbishop the coronets of all the peeresses flashed on to their wearers' heads at the same moment, as the peers' coronets had done at the moment the King was crowned.
The service was ended by the Holy Communion, and the King and Queen, wearing their crowns and looking like a fairy king and queen, went back in their royal coach to their palace, and the show, so far as Westminster Abbey was concerned, was ended. Westminster Abbey will always be associated with this great and splendid ceremony, which has been described so minutely, and whenever you visit the Abbey you will think of King George's coronation.
Before leaving the Abbey there are some things you must certainly see. The first is the tomb of the 'Unknown Soldier.' This was a wonderful idea thought of after the Great War. So many thousands of men in the army gave their lives for their country, unknown and uncommemorated, that the body of one, unidentified, was chosen as a symbol for the rest, and buried with all the ceremony given to the most honoured dead of the nation. There the humble warrior lies, surrounded by the dust of kings and statesmen, authors, poets, and sages. Other countries imitated this idea, and now each nation of the Great War has its 'Unknown Soldier's' grave. In the Abbey, besides the many splendid statues, there is a set of curious wax figures, only eleven in number, representing Queen Elizabeth, King Charles II., King William and Queen Mary, Queen Anne, Admiral Nelson, and five other persons of less importance.
So much for Westminster Abbey, the crowning-place of kings and the burial-place of kings and great men.
St. Paul's Cathedral cannot claim the coronation of the kings, but it is a splendid building, with its great dome overlooking London far and wide. We can climb up through the belfry to the gallery which encircles the dome, and, looking down upon the street below, see the people crawling about like ants. Around us the pigeons flash their wings in the sun, and beyond the houses we can catch a glimpse of the gray river flowing down to the sea. Inside St. Paul's there is a great gallery running all around the dome, and if you stand at one side of this and whisper gently, the whisper runs round the walls, and reaches the person standing on the opposite side many yards away, across a great space. This is very curious, and because of it the gallery is called the Whispering Gallery.
