The anthem after the Recognition from Anne to George II, The Queen (King) shall rejoice, was at the coronation of George III and onwards sung after the crowning. In the Communion service the commandments were said from George II till Edward VII, but in the rite of George V, after the introit Let my prayer come up into thy presence, the Communion service begins with The Lord be with you, and proceeds at once to the proper collect O God, who providest for thy people. From William and Mary till George III there was no introit, but from George IV till Victoria the Sanctus was used for the purpose. The declaration against transsubstantiation had a place in the coronation oath from the time of Anne till George III, but since that time has been made (now in a milder form) before Parliament at the time of the king’s accession. The anointing on the breast was omitted from motives of delicacy at the coronation of Victoria (and of the queen consort Adelaide), but has since been restored in the case of the king. The consecration prayer O Lord, holy Father, who by anointing with oil (the old Deus electorum fortitudo) has commenced as at present since the time of George III, and still bears signs of the preface that once introduced it. From the time of Anne the sentence blessing the chrism has been omitted, but the chrism was certainly consecrated beforehand for the anointing of George II. The chrism used in the case of Edward VII was consecrated before the ceremony with the form used by Abp Sancroft, and King George was anointed with chrism of that consecration. The Armill was delivered with a form in the case of the four Georges, but is not mentioned in the rite of Victoria, though it was used; it has since been delivered without any form. The vesting with sandals and buskins has been discontinued since the time of George II. At the crowning the prayer O God, the crown of the faithful was restored for Edward VII to the form in which it appears in the rite of James II, and the prayer after the crowning, God crown you with a crown of glory, which had been omitted from Anne till George III, restored for George IV and then again omitted, was brought back once more for George V; also the old anthem Be strong, which had become an admonition from the time of William and Mary, became once more an anthem for our present king. At the delivery of the Bible only the second section of the form, and that shortened, has been used from the time of King Edward VII. Of the benedictions only two remain, the Aaronic blessing and The Lord give you a fruitful country. The final anthem has been subjected to many changes. In the Communion service the benedictions of the king after the Secret have disappeared and a proper preface, which was for some reason omitted from the rite of Edward VII, was restored to the rite of George V.
Certain changes have also taken place in the coronation of the queen consort. From the time of Queen Adelaide there has only been one anointing, on the crown of the head. The prayer after the anointing, Almighty and everlasting God, we beseech thee of thy abundant goodness, has vanished from the time of Edward VII onwards, and the prayer at the delivery of the sceptre loses its first sentence and begins O Lord, the giver of all perfection. The final anthem has also disappeared in the rite of King Edward VII. In the order of George V the Te Deum is ordered to be sung after the Blessing.
CHAPTER VI
THE FRENCH RITE
I
As we have seen, there was in all probability a Frankish coronation rite in existence in the time of the Merovingians, and certainly in the time of the Carolingian kings, but it seems to have been very variable and without much stability before the tenth century.
A group of orders of the end of the ninth and the beginning of the tenth century may be taken as representing the Frankish or French rite in its earliest and unfixed stage.
Charles the Bald was crowned as king of Lotharingia in 869. The rite[88] begins with an address from Adventius, Bp of Metz, after which the king takes the oath to preserve the rights of Church and people. Another address is then delivered by Hincmar of Rheims, which perhaps is additional and exceptional. Adventius says the prayer Deus qui populis, and then follows a series of nine benedictions said by different bishops, four of the benedictions being identical with forms occurring in the second English recension. The unction follows, Bp Hincmar anointing the king on his right ear, from his forehead to his left ear, and on the crown of his head, with a form beginning Coronet te Deus, which does not occur again and is not to be confounded with the coronation prayer beginning with the same words. Hincmar then recites two benedictions, identical with the last two of the second English rite, and the prayer Clerum ac populum, which here appears for the first time. The king is now crowned, all the bishops uniting, as in ‘Egbert’s’ order, to set the crown on his head, the form used being Coronet te deus corona gloriae, which is found in the second English order and in most subsequent rites. The bishops then give the Sceptre and the Palm, with a form commencing Det tibi Dominus velle et posse.
The Mass which follows the coronation is the Mass for the day.