In our days the great reason which rendered a strictly hereditary succession to the crown inexpedient does not exist. The adoption of that wise maxim that a monarch can only rule by his ministers, renders the personal qualifications of the monarch of less importance than in former days. Still, even in our time, a remnant exists of the ancient form of election. In the coronation service the king is directed, after entering the church and attending to his private devotions, to take his seat, not on the throne, but on the chair before and below the throne, and there repose himself. Then the first part of the service, called the “Recognition,” is to be proceeded with. In it the archbishop, accompanied by the great officers of state, severally addresses the assembly northwards and southwards, eastwards and westwards, saying, with a loud voice, the king meanwhile standing up, “Sirs! I here present unto you ---- the undoubted king of this realm: wherefore all of you who are come this day to do your homage, are you willing to do the same?” It is not until the people, thus severally addressed, have signified their assent by crying out, “God save the king!” that the ceremony is proceeded with. Harold, though he well knew the dangers attending the step, accepted the crown. Few could have rejected the tempting offer. He was moreover a brave man, and thoroughly imbued with Saxon feeling. He was willing to peril his life for the national peculiarities of his country. He was accordingly straightway anointed, and the Tapestry next exhibits him seated upon his throne, manifesting all the pomp and dignity of a king. The throne is considerably elevated above the floor of the apartment. The sceptre is in one hand, the ball in the other. His officers present him with the sword of justice. On his left hand stands Stigand, in his archiepiscopal robes. The superscription calls him Stigant, which seems further to show that the artist was not an Englishman. Wace the chronicler, who was a Norman, usually calls Harold, Heraut. The inscription gives Stigand his title of Archbishop--ARCHIEPS, a contraction for ARCHIEPISCOPUS. At a period later than that in which we have supposed the Tapestry to have been prepared, he would not have been so denominated. For a variety of reasons Stigand was distasteful to the authorities of Rome. For some years prior to the Conquest, the payment of Peter’s pence had been discontinued, and Stigand, in common with all Englishmen, was looked upon coldly. Stigand, moreover, had succeeded the Norman archbishop, Robert de Jumieges, who had been expelled the country in the rising under Godwin. The Normans were at this time better churchmen than the English. Stigand further, in common with the majority of the Saxon clergy, was an advocate of “the older doctrine of the eucharist;” Lanfranc, who superseded him, was, in common with the authorities at Rome, an ardent maintainer of the doctrine of transubstantiation.