Note 81 — Chapter V · THE CORONATION OF A KING. THE ENGLISH RITE

The MS. copy of the order which the king himself used is now in the library of St John’s College, Cambridge. Prynne (Canterburie’s Doome, p. 70) accuses Abp Laud of having inserted divers prayers into the order from the Roman Pontifical, an assertion due to either his ignorance or his malice, for the examples which he gives are all in the old English rite. Heylin (Cyprianus Anglicus, ed. 1668, p. 142) states that there was used at the coronation of Charles I a prayer ‘which had been intermitted since Henry VI and was that that followeth: “Let him obtain favour for the people like Aaron in the tabernacle, Elisha in the waters, Zacharias in the temple; give him Peter’s key of discipline and Paul’s doctrine,” which clause had been omitted in times of Popery, as intimating more ecclesiastical jurisdiction to be given to our kings than the Popes allowed of.’ But this prayer does not occur in any of the extant copies of Charles’ rite, nor does it occur in any English order whatsoever, but it does occur in the Roman rite. Heylin seems to have confused this prayer with some other actually in the order.