Books on the Coronation continue, of course, to appear. Much
pains, we doubt not, have been spent on The Coronation Book, by Jocelyn H. T. Perkins, M.A. (Isbister and Co., 10s. 6d. net), who, as Sacrist of Westminster Abbey, may be supposed to have an official claim to deal with the subject. Mr. Perkins speaks of "the splendid ceremonial which once surrounded the 'hallowing' of our English Monarchs, and of which only a fragment remains to-day." The "fragment" seems to most of us considerable, and on the whole not inadequate. • No ceremonial could be adequate to the occasion. The centre of gravity has, so to speak, shifted its place. The Warrior-King of England was in one way a far more important, in another a far less important, personage than the constitutional ruler of Britain on either side a the seas. Taken as a whole, whatever may have been dropped or curtailed, this Coronation must mean far more than any of the great functions which have preceded it. Still, the lore which Mr. Perkins has industriously collected is full of interest. The illustrations, too, aro copious and instructive.—Imperial and Royal Coronations, by the Very Rev. Archimandrite Eustathius Metallinos (Henry Frowde, 2s. 6d. net), gives a comparative view of the Greek, Russian, and English Coronation Services, the prayers, &c., being given both in Greek and English, while the needful preliminary information is supplied by an introduction. We note with pleasure the Archimandrite Metallinos's good wishes for friendship between the Greek and Anglican Churches. On our side there need be no difficulties as long as we do not surrender our liberties. But are there none on the other ? Would not a bride of the Anglican Communion be required to renounce, not to say anathematise it, were she to marry an orthodox Greek ? —The Crowning of Monarchs, by the Very Rev. A. P. Purey-Cust, D.D. (Isbister and Co., is. net), is a reprint of a paper published some five years ago in Good Words.—With these may be mentioned, as an appropriate gift for the coming time, Victoria, the Good Queen and Empress, by Eleanor Bailey (Wells GardnerA Walton. and Co., is.), now in a fourth edition. This is a miniature volume weighing some two ounces. Other volumes of the same kind have been published, having for their subjects the King and the Queen, of whom short biographies are given. These may be safely commended as pleasing memorials of a great occasion. There is also a Coronation Autograph Book, with designs by Charles Robinson, and the Midget London, which may serve as a useful and easily portable guide.—With these we may not inappropriately connect a work planned and executed on a much larger scale, The King Alfred Millenary, by Alfred Bowker (Mac- millan and Co., 7s. 6d. net). This is "a Record of the Proceedings of the National Commemoration." There was a commemoration of King Alfred's birth at Wantage in 1849, but not on a very striking scale. Mr. Frederic Harrison must have the credit of advocating an adequate celebration of the Millenary as long ago as 1888 (in "A New Calendar of the Lives of Great Men "). He returned to the subject in 1897. In the following year Sir Walter Besant took up the subject in an address delivered in the Win- chester Guildhall. The writer of this volume was in the chair, as Mayor of the city, on that occasion, and he must feel much satisfaction in the success which has followed his efforts. The volume which he now gives is, as regards both the text and the illustrations, worthy of the occasion.
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