Show THE STONE OF JACOB W E curtis in chicago record 3 the most precious relic in all england and to the english in all europe Is an old gothic chair which stands in the chapel of st edward in westminster abbey beside bealda the sword and shield of edward III it is made of black oak in the gothic style and the back Is covered with carved inscriptions including the initials of many famous men the feet are four lions that look like poodle dogs with their tails tz burled their backs the seat la is a large stone about 30 inches long by IS 18 inches wide and 12 inches thick and all the sovereigns df england for the last years have sat upon it when they were crowned the chair is known as the coronation chair and the stone atone la Is claimed to be the same which jacob the son of isaac the son of abraham used as a pillow when he lay down to sleep on the starlit plains of judah that memorable night as he was on his way from beersheba to haran in search of a wife it was then he had his dream and saw angels and U archangels ascending and descending a ladder that reached to heaven and i jehovah came to him and made the great promise which to is being fulfilled V to the jews this very day and jacob took the stone and set it up for a pillar aad poured oil upon it and vowed a 4 0 vow o and called the name of the place methel bethel thi the kings of israel were crowned upon this stone from the time that they P I 1 aed ruled a nation david and saul and I 1 solomon and all the rest the story goes that years before christ at the time of the babylonian at captivity circa daughter of Zedek zedekiah tah 01 the last king king of judea arrived in ireland ire and was married at tara to mon a a prince of the de teman an which to is said to be the celtic name of the tribe of dan the traditions relate that this princess went vo originally gf nally to egypt in charge of the 9 1 prophet jeremiah er emiah her guardian and the palace phanes Ta in which they resided there was discovered in 1886 by dr petrie the archaeologist after some years they went hence to ireland and from circa and helemon queen victoria traces her descent through james I 1 who placed the lion of the tribe of judah upon the british standard jeremiah is said to have concealed this sacred stone at the time of the destruction of jerusalem and the captivity of the jews and to have brought it the stone of the testimony bethal the only witness of the compact between jehovah and israel where it was known as the lia stone wonderful der ful it was carried to scotland by fergus 1 I and thence to london in the year 1200 and has been used at the coronation of every king and queen of england from edward I 1 down to victoria it Is thus the most priceless historical object in the british empire as it was the palladium of israel it is a curious fact that the altars of ireland were called bothel houses of god in the same chapel surrounding the coronation chair in westminster abbey are the graves of six kings five queena queen ts i four princesses a duke and a bishop |