grandeur was carried to its height,--I say nothing of
devotion. I did not pretend on this occasion to join in it; I own that my
thoughts as well as my eyes were roaming to other objects, and gathering
around me the thousand recollections of scenic splendor, of terror, of
bigotry, and superstition which were acted in sight of the very walls by
which I was surrounded. Here the murder of Thomas a Becket was
perpetrated; there was his miracle-working shrine, visited by pilgrims
from all parts of Christendom, and enriched with the most costly jewels
that the wealth of princes could purchase and lavish upon it; the very
steps, worn into deep cavities by the knees of the devotees as they
approached the shrine, were ascended by us. There stood the tomb of Henry
IV and his queen; and here was the tomb of Edward, the Black Prince, with
a bronze figure of the prince, richly embossed and enamelled, reclining
upon the top, and over the canopy were suspended the surcoat and casque,
the gloves of mail and shield, with which he was accoutred when he fought
the famous battle of Crecy. There also stood the marble chair in which
the Saxon kings were crowned, and in which, with the natural desire that
all seemed to have in such cases, I could not avoid seating myself. From
this chair, placed at one end of the nave, is seen to best advantage the
length of the church, five hundred feet in extent.

"After the service I visited more at leisure the tombs and other
curiosities of the church. The precise spot on which Archbishop Becket
was murdered is shown, but the spot on which his head fell on the
pavement was cut out as a relic and sent to Rome, and the place filled in
with a fresh piece of stone, about five inches square....

"In the afternoon we left Canterbury and proceeded to Dover, intending to
embark the next morning (Thursday, December 24) for Calais or Boulogne in
the steamer. The weather, however, was very unpromising in the morning,
being thick and foggy and apparently preparing for a storm. We therefore
made up our minds to stay, hoping the next day would be more favorable;
but Friday, Christmas Day, came with a most violent northeast gale and
snowstorm. Saturday the 26th, Sunday the 27th, and, at this moment,
Monday the 28th, the storm is more violent than ever, the streets are
clogged with snow, and we are thus embargoed completely for we know not
how long a time to come.

"Notwithstanding the severity of the weather on Thursday