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king in Gilgal, 1 Sam. xi. 15. Abimelech was made king 
by the plain of the pillar in Shemesh (margin " by the oak 
of the pillar"), i.e., the pillar that Joshua set up under an 
oak, "that was by the sanctuary of the Lord," Josh. xxiv. 
26. So " the king (Joash) stood by a pillar, as the 
manner was," 2 Kings xi. 14. Do not our thoughts at once 
revert to the " Coronation Stone " in Westminster Abbey ? 
It is very interesting, but at the same time very singular, 
to find that a remnant of ancient superstition of pre-historic 
times occupies so important a place in one of our most 
solemn ceremonies. A sovereign might as well be crowned 
without a crown as without the old " Lia Fail," the " Stone 
of Destiny." This stone was certainly brought from Scot- 
land, where it had long been the inaugural stone for the 
kings of Scotland at Scone. The legend is, that upon it the 
destiny of Scotland hangs. It was brought from Ireland 
by the Scoti when they took possession of Argyll, &c. It 
was brought from Spain to Ireland, and from Africa into 
Spain, thus following one of the supposed routes of Celtic 
immigration. Wherever it originally came from, it is at 
least a very ancient inaugural stone, and still remains so. 
The pillars seem also to have been used as memorials or 
witnesses. Thus, when Jacob and Laban made a covenant, 
and raised a heap or cairn as a witness, Jacob took a stone 
and set it up for a pillar, even as he had done at Bethel ; 
unless, indeed, the heap alone was the witness, and the 
pillar the representative of the Lord, who was to watch 
between them (Gen. xxxi. 35). So, also, Saul set him up a 
pillar after his victory over Amalek; for the Septuagint and 
Vulgate translations both read " pillar," instead of " place." 
Absalom had raised up for himself a pillar in his lifetime ; 
for he said, " I have no son to keep my name in remem- 
brance; and he called the pillar after his own name," 2 Sam. 
xviii. 18. If any reliance can be placed on the legends of 
