CHAPTER II THE SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE AND THE CORONATION REFERENCES: Taswell-Langmead's English Constitutional History, 204235; Anson's Law and Custom of the English Constitution, ii. 57–84; Nineteenth Century and After, for September, 1902, article on Coronation of King Edward VII., by Sir Wemyss Reid. CCORDING to legal theory "the King never Continuity of Office. dies." By this it is meant that the kingly office is perpetual. The individual may die, but the office continues, and the royal dignity is transferred upon the "demise" of a king the Kingly to his successor. No recognition is taken of any interval of time which may intervene; for example, the reign of Charles II. is dated in England as beginning in 1649, at the death of his father, instead of in 1660, when he actually began to rule. No recognition is taken of the eleven years constituting the Cromwellian period, or the period of the Commonwealth. The theory is a convenient one and obviates much possible confusion. Its evolution is a matter of interest. The principle of heredity has always played an important part in determining the succession to the English throne. The claim based on he- The reditary right, however, has not at all Succession. times been considered conclusive, and the national assembly, whether Witan or Parliament, has always had the power of electing and deposing kings. King Edward VII. occupies the throne to-day by virtue of an Act passed by Parliament in 1700-1701, and might be set aside by the same authority at any time. Yet the principle of heredity has always been an important factor in determining the succession. The present English nationality is made up of various elements. The Celts, Danes, Normans, Germans, and others have combined to form the English people. Of these elements the Germanic or AngloSaxon is the most important. Says Taswell-Langmead, "The Germanic element has always constituted the main stream of our race, absorbing in its course and assimilating each of the other elements." The Germanic element, too, has an especial importance for the purposes of our discussion, since the governmental institutions of England are of Anglo-Saxon origin. The late Professor Freeman was not dealing with sentiment but with historic reality when he spoke of the English people in its three homes, Germany, England, and America. The genesis of English institutions is to be sought, then, in the forests of Germany, and Cæsar and Tacitus are the earliest historians of the English people. The King and the Popular Assembly set forth in the pages of Tacitus develop into the King and Parliament of England, and, I might add, into the President and the Congress of the American Republic. Our retrospect should begin, then, with a glance at Saxon times. During the Anglo-Saxon period, or during that period extending from the Anglo-Saxon conquest to the coming of the Normans in 1066, the English kingship was elective, as it has since continued to be. The Witan, or Witenagemot, the predecessor of the present Parliament, or, more properly, of the House of Lords, was composed of the influential men of the realm and had power to elect the King. The power of the Witan was absolute, and it might elect whomsoever it saw fit, but as a matter of custom it was influenced by several considerations. In the first place the Witan was expected to choose the King from the Royal Family, and did so under ordinary circumstances. The late King's eldest son, other things being equal, had the best. chance for election. If he had reached manhood and were not manifestly incompetent," he was usually chosen to the kingship. In these warlike times, however, when the most important duty of the King was to lead his people in battle, the minor, though next in the order of hereditary succession, was frequently passed by. Thus in 871 the minor children of Ethelred I. were passed over in favor of Alfred, the younger brother of the late King. Neither is this an isolated instance. In several other cases of a similar character the Witan refused to elect the member of the Royal House next in the order of succession. The wisdom of this course was particularly conspicuous in the case of Alfred. An infant king struggling against the waves of the Danish invasion would be not unlike Dame Partington in her contest with the Atlantic Ocean. Also, if an emergency seemed to demand it, the Witan did not hesitate to pass over not only the hereditary claimant, but even the entire |