Travels in England | Page 7

Ademar of Valence, Earl of Pembroke, son of Ademar of Valence. Joining to these is (3) that of Aveline, Countess of Lancaster.
In the second choir is the chair on which the kings are seated when they are crowned; in it is enclosed a stone, said to be that on which the patriarch Jacob slept when he dreamed he saw a ladder reaching quite up into heaven. Some Latin verses are written upon a tablet hanging near it; the sense of which is:
That if any faith is to be given to ancient chronicles, a stone of great note is enclosed in this chair, being the same on which the patriarch Jacob reposed when he beheld the miraculous descent of angels. Edward I., the Mars and Hector of England, having conquered Scotland, brought it from thence.
The tomb of Richard II. and his wife, of brass, gilt, and these verses written round it:
Perfect and prudent, Richard, by right the Second, Vanquished by Fortune, lies here now graven in stone, True of his word, and thereto well renound: Seemly in person, and like to Homer as one In worldly prudence, and ever the Church in one Upheld and favoured, casting the proud to ground, And all that would his royal state confound.
Without the tomb is this inscription:
Here lies King Richard, who perished by a cruel death, in the year 1369. To have been happy is additional misery.
Near him is the monument of his queen, daughter of the Emperor Wenceslaus.
On the left hand is the tomb of Edward I., with this inscription:
Here lies Edward I., who humbled the Scots. A.D. 1308. Be true to your engagements.
He reigned forty-six years.
The tomb of Edward III., of copper, gilt, with this epitaph:
Of English kings here lieth the beauteous flower Of all before past, and myrror to them shall sue: A merciful king, of peace conservator, The third Edward, &c.
Besides the tomb are these words:
Edward III., whose fame has reached to heaven. A.D. 1377, Fight for your country.
Here is shown his sword, eight feet in length, which they say he used in the conquest of France.
His queen's epitaph:
Here lies Queen Philippa, wife of Edward III. Learn to live. A.D. 1369.
At a little distance, the tomb of Henry V., with this legend:
Henry, the scourge of France, lies in this tomb. Virtue subdues all things. A.D. 1422.
Near this lies the coffin of Catherine, unburied, and to be opened by anyone that pleases. On the outside is this inscription:
Fair Catherine is at length united to her lord. A.D. 1437. Shun idleness.
The tomb of Henry III., of brass, gilt, with this epitaph:
Henry III., the founder of this cathedral. A.D. 1273. War is delightful to the unexperienced.
It was this Henry who, one hundred and sixty years after Edward the Confessor had built this church, took it down, and raised an entire new one of beautiful architecture, supported by rows of marble columns, and its roof covered with sheets of lead, a work of fifty years before its completion. It has been much enlarged at the west end by the abbots. After the expulsion of the monks, it experienced many changes; first it had a dean and prebendaries; then a bishop, who, having squandered the revenues, resigned it again to a dean. In a little time, the monks with their abbot were reinstated by Queen Mary; but, they being soon ejected again by authority of parliament, it was converted into a cathedral church--nay, into a seminary for the Church--by Queen Elizabeth, who instituted there twelve prebendaries, an equal number of invalid soldiers, and forty scholars; who at a proper time are elected into the universities, and are thence transplanted into the Church and State.
Next to be seen is the tomb of Eleanor, daughter of Alphonso King of Spain, and wife of Edward I., with this inscription:
This Eleanor was consort of Edward I. A.D. 1298. Learn to die.
The tomb of Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VII.
In the middle of this chapel is the shrine of St. Edward, the last King of the Saxons. It is composed of marble in mosaic: round it runs this inscription in letters of gold:
The venerable king, St. Edward the Confessor, A heroe adorned with every virtue. He died on the 5th of January, 1065, And mounted into Heaven. Lift up your hearts.
The third choir, of surprising splendour and elegance, was added to the east end by Henry VII. for a burying-place for himself and his posterity. Here is to be seen his magnificent tomb, wrought of brass and marble, with this epitaph:
Here lies Henry VII. of that name, formerly King of England, son of Edmund, Earl of Richmond, who, ascending the throne on the twenty- second day of August, was crowned on the thirtieth of October following at Westminster, in the year of our Lord 1485. He died on the twenty-first of