THE ANCESTOR 221 procession from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey would be far less fatiguing than a long perambulation through the streets previous to what must at best be a very tiring ceremony. Surely it is not disrespectful or unreasonable to suggest that the arrangements should be made so that not only will the king and queen be saved much unnecessary fatigue, but also that the ceremonies should be such that they should have some symbolism and illustration of the history of the English Monarchy. Mr. Pemberton's book is described in the preface as ' intended for readers requiring the Coronation Service with the briefest possible notes.' The aim of the book, therefore, was excellent ; and it is a pity that the execution should be marred by certain inaccuracies. But this is scarcely sur- prising, for with the possible exception of one book, whence has been derived the description of the frontispiece (the picture of a coronation at Corpus Christi, Cambridge), Mr. Pemberton does not seem to have read any of the volumes of the Henry Bradshaw Society, which has dealt largely with the coronation services. With the exception of this, and of Mr. Maskell's work, it is not clear that Mr. Pemberton has consulted any recent work on the subject. The following is a fair example of the errors into which Mr. Pemberton has fallen. On page 20 it is stated that ' with the exception of a few minor details this form of service [King James I.'s] has remained practically unchanged down to the present time.' This shows that Mr. Pemberton can hardly have heard of the very important changes, affecting not only the wording, but also the arrangement of the service, that were carried out in 1685 and 1689, and which were considerably more than changes ^of a few minor details.' In the account of the vestments, Mr. Pemberton has been misled by the use of the term ^ dalmatic robe ' for pallium regale into describing it as a dal- matic ' peculiar to the office of Deacon.' Had he but looked carefully at the frontispiece of his book, he would have noticed that the pallium regale is shaped like a cope. Mr. Pemberton evidently shakes his head seriously over the term ' Protestant ' in the coronation oath, forgetting that it was put there with a definite purpose after the events of James II.'s reign ; and we are in no way satisfied that Mr. Pemberton's definition of a Sacrament (p. 8) as a * godly state of life' is compatible with that found in the catechism of the Church of which he appears
