side, on a level with the pavement, are two sepulchral images of a smaller size, of the Bishops S. Oswald, and S. Wolstan, between whom he had desired to be laid, in order to secure the absence of evil spirits. * With respect to the monarch himself, history records, that he died the 19th of October, 1216, in the fifty-first year of his age, and eighteenth of his very troublesome reign. From the annals of Walter of Coventry, it appears that he died of a dysentery, at Newark upon Trent, and that his body was carried to Worcester, but his bowels buried at Croxton, in the house of the Præmonstratensian order. It had for many years been supposed, that this was merely a cenotaph, and that the body lay in the Lady's Chapel, in consequence of which, during the late arrangements, the dean and chapter had intended to remove it to that spot; but being anxious to ascertain the fact, an investigation took place on Monday the 17th of July, 1797. Mr. Green, who gives a very accurate and interesting account of this procedure †, says, that they commenced their research by first removing the effigy, and the stone-slab on which it rested; by which means the interior of the monument was laid open, and they discovered two brick partition walls, raised evidently to assist in supporting the superincumbent covering. The spaces between these walls, and the ends of the tomb, were filled with rubbish; but upon removing the end, and one of the pannels at each side, when the rubbish had been cleared away, they found too strong elm boards, origi nally joined by a batten nailed to each end, and which having dropped off, had now left the boards loose. Under these boards lay a stone coffin, containing the Royal corpse, which was observed to have been laid in the coffin, exactly as the figure upon the tomb represented. The skull, instead of being placed as usual, had the foramen magnum turned upwards; the interior part of the os frontis was much decayed; the head in fact was so much damaged, that the ossa maxillaria superiora, or upper jaws, were completely detached from the head, and laying near the elbow of the right arm, and yet retained four of the teeth in sound condition; the lower jaw bones had also been displaced, but these had no teeth remaining; and some grey hairs were still visible on the top of the head, or, more technically speaking with respect to their local situation, on the upper part of the cranium, in the vicinity of the sagittal suture. The ulna of the left arm, which had been folded across the body, was found lying on the breast; the ulna of the right arm was nearly in its proper position; but neither of the radii, nor any of the bones of the hand, could be found: the ossa femorum, tibiæ, fibulæ, or thigh and leg bones, and others of the inferior extremities, were very perfect, and upon some of the bones of the toes, belonging to the right foot, were even found vestiges of the nails. Some large pieces of mortar were found on and below the abdomen, from which there could be no doubt of the body having been removed from the original place of its interment. The dress of the corpse, seems exactly to have corresponded with that of the monumental figure, excepting the gloves on its hands, and the crown on its head, which on the skull in the coffin was found to have been superseded by the celebrated monk's cowl, in which, as a passport through the regions of purgatory, he is stated to have been buried. This once sacred envelope appeared to have fitted the head very exactly, and had evidently been tied, or buckled, under the chin by straps, as part of them remained. The body had been covered with a robe reaching from the neck nearly 'to the feet, and some of its embroidery was still visible near its right knee; it appeared to have been made of strong crimson damask, but the injuries of time rendered it difficult to ascertain this exactly; the cuff to the left hand remained; fragments of the sword, and of its scabbard which had been placed in the left hand, still were in existence, and the scabbard was more perfect than the sword. On the legs there had been an ornamental covering, .9 Covering, tied on the ancles, and extending over the feet, where the toes were visible through its decayed parts. The coffin is of that stone found at Higley, in this county, and totally different from that of which the tomb is constructed; a very considerable fracture runs obliquely through it; the coffin is laid upon the pavement of the choir, without being let into it; and its original covering was the stone upon which the effigy is cut, as that exactly corresponds with it in figure and dimensions. It is to be regretted, that correct drawings of the whole interior were not taken; but the confusion occasioned by the crowds, who impatiently came to see the unexpectedly-discovered remains, ren◄ dered it necessary to shut up the object of their curiosity; which was therefore done on the next day, and the tomb restored to its original condition. On ascending the steps of the altar, the stranger is shewn the stone covering the body of the gallant WILLIAM, DUKE OF HAMILTON, who fell at the battle of Worcester, between the Parliamentary army and Royalists, in 1651. About the middle of the action he received a slug shot in the leg, by which the bone was so much shattered, as to oblige him to be brought into the eity, where he was of course taken prisoner; but being lodged at the commandery, and Cromwell, with a due humanity, having sent his own surgeon, Trappam, to him, the duke was so much encouraged by his assurance that he was not in any danger, that he paid no attention to the representations of Sir Robert Cunningham, the king's physician, who was found among the prisoners, and who was of opinion that the loss of blood, and the constant drain which must ensue from the wound, would be fatal to him, unless he submitted to amputation. This confidence, however, was so injudicious, that he soon found his strength decay, and closed an early career, in the thirty-first year of his age; sensible, when too late, of his danger, he sent his last thoughts to the duchess, written by his own hand, a short time before he expired, We We now return to the right to the CHAPEL OF PRINce ArTHUR, the general design of which is the history of the union of the two contending parties, that under the distinct banners of a white and red rose, had recently deluged the nation with a waste of kindred blood. This chapel is surrounded on all sides, except the east, with highly ornamented open work, in the fashion of the Gothic screens, and contains the tomb of this amiable young prince, who was elder brother of the ferocious Henry. It may now be justly reckoned as the most curious and elaborate part of the cathedral, particularly since it has been cleaned and repaired, and those ornaments exposed to view, which were formerly covered, and indeed completely hidden, by repeated coats of white. wash. The top terminates in an arched roof, with open-work battlements and pyramids; the inside of the roof is fretted very curiously with the prince's arms in the centre; and there are various coats of the Royal arms at each end. In the centre, is the tomb of white marble, with an inscription in the black letter: "Here lyeth buried Prince Arthur the first begotten Sonne of the Right Renowned King Henry the Seventhe Our Lord God on thousand five hundred and two." The ornaments of the outside deserve particular notice; on the north are several statues of saints, and escutcheons supported by angels; the south side, being of a greater altitude, has several pillars with five ranges of images of virgins, bishops, kings, confessors, &c. There are also a representation of our Saviour crowned; and the arms of England as then borne, with the quarterings of De Burgh for the Earldom of Ulster, and of Mortimer, Earl of March: the supporters being then a greyhound collared, and a lion gardant. Here are also many symbols of the contending parties; a Rose in the Sunbeams for the House of York; ⚫ Green'f Survey, York; a Fesse of Pheons, or arrows, within a band, indicative of mutual concordance; a falcon displayed within an open fetterlock flourished with roses, which was a device of the Dukes of York; also one rose including another, alluding to the union of York and Lancaster: all these accompanied by the plume of Ostrich feathers, the portcullis of Beaufort, Fleurs de Lis of France, Pomegranate of Spain, &c. The particulars of the death of this young prince being highly descriptive of the manners of those times, we shall make some extracts from an ancient MS. preserved by Leland.* It is there recorded "that immediately after his death, Sir Richard Poole his chamberlaine, with others of his councell, wrote and sent letters to the king and councell to Greenwich, where his Grace and the queene's laye, and certified them of the prince's departure. The which councelle discreetly sent for the king's ghostly father, a fryer observant, to whom they showed this most sorrowfull and heavye tydings, and desired him in his best manner to shewe it to the kinge. He in the morninge of the Twesdaie following, somewhat before the tyme accustomed, knocked at the king's chamber dore; and when the kinge understood it was his confessor, he commanded to lett him in. The confessor then commanded all those there present to avoide, and after due salutation began to saie, si bona de manu Dei suscepimus, mala autem quare non sustineamus? and so shewed his grace that his dearest sonne was departed to God. When his grace understood that sorrowfull heavy tidings, he sent for his queene, saying, that he and his queene would take the painefulle sorrowes together, and after that she was come and sawe the king her lord, and that naturall and painfulle sorrowe, as I have heard saie, she with fulle great and comfortable wordes besought his grace, that he would first after God remember the weale of his owne noble person, the comfort of his realme, and of her. She then saied, that my ladye his mother, had no more children but him onlye, and that God by his grace had ever preserved him, and brought him where he was. * Leland's Collectanea, Vol V. p. 373. Over |