the battle of Crecy, when Edward III. was
requested to send reinforcements to his son, his reply was: "No; tell
Warwick he shall have no assistance. Let the boy win his spurs[29]."

The ORB, or MOUND (Fr. _monde_), is an emblem of sovereignty, said to be
derived from imperial Rome; and to have been first adorned with the
cross by Constantine, on his conversion to Christianity. It first
appears among the royal insignia of England on the coins of Edward the
Confessor; but Mr. Strutt authenticates a picture of Edgar, "made in the
year 996," which represents that prince kneeling between two saints, who
bear severally his sceptre and a globe surmounted by a cross[30]. This
part of the regalia being inductive of supreme political power, has
never been placed in the hands of any but kings or queens _regnant_. In
the anomalous case of the coronation of William and Mary as joint
sovereigns--the 'other world,' that Alexander wept for, was created; and
the spare orb is still to be seen amongst the royal jewels of England!

The only remaining member of the regalia now in use is St. EDWARD'S
Staff; but whether so called from any of the pilgrimages of the
Confessor--from its being designed to remind our monarchs of their being
but pilgrims on earth--or simply from its being offered with the other
regalia at that monarch's shrine, on the coronation of our kings, we
have not the means of determining. All the regalia are supposed, indeed,
to be in the custody of the Dean, as the successor of the Abbot of
Westminster, at the period of each coronation.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 24: Esther, iii. 10, and viii. 2.]

[Footnote 25: Golden Legende (Julyan Notary, 1503).]

[Footnote 26: Battley's Antiq. St. Edm. Burgi, p. 119.]

[Footnote 27: Memoirs of James II., ed. by Clarke. 2 vols, 4to.]

[Footnote 28: Rot. Parl. iii. 417.]

[Footnote 29: Lingard's Hist. England, iii. p. 51.]

[Footnote 30: Strutt's [Saxon: Horda Angel-c[.y]nnan], v. ii.]

No. 7. _The Royal Vestments_

Of England are amongst the most gorgeous "makings of a king" known to
history. In the robes ordinarily designed to be worn in Parliament; and
consisting of a surcoat of the richest crimson velvet, and a mantle and
hood of the same, furred with ermine, and bordered with gold lace, the
king first makes his appearance on the Coronation day; (on which he
wears a _cap of state_, of the same materials, and at this time only.)
These are, therefore, called his Parliament