Elfric stood by his father, amidst the crowd of thanes, near the rood screen, for he had spent the last few days at Kingston, and there his father had found him, and had embraced him with joy, little dreaming of the change which had come over his darling boy.
“Look, father, is he not every inch a king?” Elfric could not help exclaiming, forgetting the place and the occasion in his pride in his king and his friend.
He would have been one of the four boys who bore the royal train, but it had not seemed advisable on such a day to offend Dunstan too seriously.
The mass proceeded after the royal party had all taken their places, and the coronation service was incorporated into the rite, following the Nicene Creed and preceding the canon.
Kneeling before the altar, the young prince might well tremble with emotion. Before him stood the archbishop, clad in full pontifical vestments; around were the most noted prelates and wisest abbots of England; behind him the nobility, gentry, and commonalty of the whole country—all gazing upon him, as the archbishop dictated the solemn words of the oath, which Edwy repeated with trembling voice after him.
“In the name of the ever-blessed Trinity, I promise three things to the Christian people, my subjects:
“First, that the Church of God within my realm shall enjoy peace, free from any molestation.”
“Second, that I will prevent, to the utmost of my power, theft and every fraud in all ranks of men.”
“Thirdly, that I will preserve and maintain justice and mercy in all judicial proceedings, so that the good and merciful God may, according to His mercy, forgive us all our sins, Who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen.”
Then followed a most solemn charge from “Odo the Good,” setting forth all the deep responsibilities of the oath Edwy had taken, and of the awful account to be rendered to God of the flock committed to his youthful charge, at the great and awful day of judgment.
Then the holy oil was solemnly poured upon the head of the kneeling boy, after which he made the usual offertory of “gold, frankincense, and myrrh,” at the altar, emblematical of the visit of the three kings of old, who from Sheba bore their gold and incense to the Lord.