re tombs of children of
Edward II. and Edward III. I noticed a very fine brass monument, which
represents a Duchess of Gloucester in her dress as a nun, dated 1399.
There is, too, the effigy of the Duchess of Suffolk, mother of poor Lady
Jane Grey. The third is St. Nicholas's Chapel, where is seen Lord
Burleigh's monument. The fourth is the Virgin Mary's Chapel, called
Henry VII.'s Chapel, and the ascent to which is by twelve or fourteen
steps. This glorious room consists of a central aisle, with five small
chapels and two side aisles. Here you see the stalls and banners of the
Knights of the Bath, who were formerly installed in this chapel. The
altar tomb of Henry VII. is truly beautiful; Lord Bacon said, "It is one
of the costliest and daintiest tombs in Europe." Here are tombs of his
mother, and the mother of Lord George Darnley, and Mary, Queen of Scots,
and the Duke of Buckingham, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Mary. Here, too,
is a sarcophagus, which is supposed to contain the remains of Edward V.
and the Duke of York, discovered in the Tower in the seventeenth
century, in a box. Charles II., William and Mary, and Queen Anne are in
a vault on the south aisle. George II. and his queen, Caroline, lie
together, a side being taken out of each coffin. The fifth chapel is St.
Paul's. The most striking object here is a colossal portrait statue of
James Watt, the great steam-engine perfecter, if not inventor. This is
by Chantrey, and cost six thousand pounds, and seems quite out of place.
Archbishop Usher lies in this chapel. The sixth chapel, called Edward
the Confessor's, pleased me greatly. In the centre is the shrine of the
monarch saint; it is rich in mosaic adornments. The altar tomb of Henry
III. is very grand, and there is a noble bronze statue of the king.
Edward I. is here, and in 1774 his body was found almost entire. Edward
III. and Philippa, his queen, have tombs. Here, too, was Henry V., the
hero of Agincourt, Richard II. and queen. We were delighted with the two
coronation chairs; in one is the old stone of Scone, on which the early
Scotch kings used to be crowned. Edward I. carried it off, and it has
ever since figured in English coronations. It is a large piece of red
and gray sandstone, and claims to have been the veritable pillow on
which Jacob slept. The seventh chapel is that of St. Erasmus, and leads
to the eighth, which is John the Baptist's. Here rest the early abbots
of the church. It contains a very fi