his head. It is in shape similar to the high-backed chairs which were fashionable in England about a century ago; its height is six feet seven inches, its depth twenty-five inches, and the breadth of the seat measured withinside is twenty-eight inches. At the height of nine inches from the ground there is a ledge which supports the celebrated Stone of Destiny, which Edward I., or Longshanks, brought from Scotland as a memorial of his conquest of that country. This stone was originally the royal seat of the kings of Ireland; they called it Liafail, or "the stone of destiny," and attributed so much importance to it, that they named the island in honour of it, Innisfail, or "the island of destiny." According to the monkish legends, this was the identical stone which served Jacob as a pillow when he saw the miraculous vision in Bethel; they tell us that it was brought by Gathol, king of the Scuths, or Scots, to Brigantia, a city of Gallicia in Spain, and that it was removed from thence to Ireland by Simon Brech, the leader of a body of Scots, about seven hundred years before the birth of Christ. From these invaders Ireland received the name of Scotia, which it retained until within a century of the English invasion. Fergus, a descendant of Simon Brech, being compelled to leave Ireland in consequence of civil wars, led a body of emigrants to Argyleshire, and brought with him the stone of destiny, which he deposited at Dunstaffnage, about three hundred years before the birth of Christ. All his descendants were installed on this stone seat, and it was believed that when the rightful heir took his seat, the stone emitted loud and harmonious musical sounds, but that it remained silent whenever a pretender attempted to be crowned. The real history of the stone is scarcely less curious than that ascribed to it in the legend. We learn from sacred history that the earliest altars were made of unhewn stone; indeed, the Chaldee word for altar, signifies literally, "stones orderly erected," and God himself directs Moses, "If thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it thou hast polluted it.” (Exod. xx. 25.) This reverence for unhewn stones led to their being used as idols. We read of the children of Israel in the age of their corruption, that "they set them up images and groves in every high hill and under every green tree." (2 Kings xvii. 10.) Here the Hebrew word Matzebah, which our translators have rendered "image," properly signifies, "a stone pillar." So also in the Levitical law: "Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land to bow down before it: for I am the Lord your God." (Levit. xxvi. 1.) Here the word Matzebah, rendered "standing image," signifies simply a stone pillar. In consequence of these perversions, the erection of the Matzebah was entirely prohibited, when Moses recapitulated the law to the children of Israel. The worship of stone pillars was very common in the East; Clement of Alexandria declares that rude stones were the object of adoration in those lands where the art of statuary was not understood; Pausanias mentions several such pillars in Boeotia, where they were probably introduced by the Phoenician colonists; and Arnobius declares that the pagans of Northern Africa consecrated pillars of stone for idols so late as the fourth century of the Christian era. Superstition connected stone seats with the administration of justice, which was regarded as a right delegated to rulers by the gods. This custom lasted to a very late period; a marble bench anciently stood at the upper end of Westminster Hall, where the king in person, and at a subsequent period his chief judges, heard the pleas of those who complained of injury, and hence the chief criminal court of the realm is now called the Court of King's Bench. The Irish stone of destiny appears from the ancient records of Ireland to have been an altar, an idol, and the throne of the kings; and it was therefore viewed with three-fold reverence. A remarkable prophecy identified its fortunes with those of the royal line of the Scots, which is thus given in the old monkish rhymes: That is: Ni fallat fatum, Scoti, quocunque locatum Tenentur regnare ibidem. Or Fate is false, or where this stone is found, It was on account of the importance attached to this prophecy that Kenneth removed the stone from Dunstaffnage to Scone, where, for more than four hundred and fifty years, it was used as a throne at the coronation of the Scottish kings. Its removal to England was felt by the entire people of Scotland as a national humiliation, and they stipulated for its restoration at the treaty of Northampton, A. D. 1328. Writs for sending it back were issued by Edward III., but from some unexplained cause they were never executed. When James I. ascended the throne of England great importance was attached to this fulfilment of the prophecy connected with the stone of destiny, and so deep was the impression thus produced on the minds of the Scottish people, that in the reign of Queen Anne it reconciled many to the Union, who would otherwise have opposed that measure. A close examination of the stone induces us to believe that it is a block of red sandstone, containing a more than ordinary proportion of ferruginous matter; it certainly is not an aërolite, as several authors have asserted. Its dimensions are, twenty-two inches in length, thirteen in breadth, and eleven in depth. At each end are two short iron chains. The chair itself was anciently decorated with carving, gilding, and painting, but its beauty has been long since effaced. At modern coronations it is covered with cloth of gold, but we could wish that the decorations of this very interesting relic of antiquity should be restored as nearly as possible according to the ancient pattern. The Ampulla. The AMPULLA, or Golden Eagle, in which the holy oil for anointing the kings is preserved, is a vessel of pure gold, in the shape of an eagle with expanding wings, nearly seven inches in height and weighing about ten ounces. The old historian Walsingham, in his account of the coronation of Henry IV., connects the use of this Ampulla with a very singular legend:Henry IV., according to the historian, was anointed with the identical holy oil which the blessed Virgin gave to St. Thomas the Martyr, archbishop of Canterbury: that is, to Thomas à Becket, whose extreme pride and insolence form so remarkable a part of the history of Henry II. Becket received this extraordinary boon when he was in exile, and the Virgin assured him, that whatever kings of England should be anointed with this oil, they would become merciful rulers and distinguished champions of the church. It may be curious to remark, that Walsingham, or, as he is more frequently called, "the worthy monk of St. Alban's," is not very scrupulous respecting the purity of the language he attributes to the Virgin, for the word which we have rendered "champions," literally signifies boxers, or heroes of the prize-ring,-a kind of champions not very well suited to the defence of the church. This oil, preserved in a golden eagle and stone jar, was long lost, but it was at last miraculously brought to light. While Henry, the first duke of Lancaster, was waging war in foreign parts, the aforesaid eagle and jar were delivered to him by a holy man, to whom the place of its concealment was divinely revealed. He gave it to the most noble Prince Edward, commonly called the Black Prince, who deposited it in the Tower of London. It was enclosed in a box secured with more than ordinary care; but the box itself by some accident was put astray, so that the holy oil could not be used at the coronation of Richard II. In the year of grace 1399, Richard II., having made an inquisition into the treasures bequeathed to him by his ancestors, found the eagle and jar, together with a manuscript in the handwriting of "St. Thomas of Canterbury," containing the prophetic description of all the advantages and blessings that the kings of England would derive from being anointed with this holy oil. He was so struck with the enumeration, that he wished the ceremony of his coronation to be repeated, and applied to the archbishop of Canterbury for the purpose. The prelate obstinately refused, declaring that unction was a sacrament, which, like the sacrament of baptism, could not be administered a second time. Richard took the eagle and jar with him when he made his |