CHRISTENING PROCESSION OF EDWARD VI. 125 and stone, borne by the Earl of Essex, with a towel about his neck." The "chrysom richly garnished, borne by the Lady Elizabeth, the King's daughter, the same for her tender age was borne by the Viscount Beauchamp, with the assistance of the Lord Morley." Lastly came the Prince himself, carried by the Marchioness of Exeter, "assisted by the Duke of Suffolk and the Lord Marquis her husband." The train of the Prince's robe was borne by the Earl of Arundel and sustained by Lord William Howard. "The nurse went equally with him that supported the train, and with her the midwife." A rich canopy was borne over the prince by four gentlemen of the King's Privy Chamber; and CARRYING OF PRINCE EDWARD TO THE FONT. (From an original sketch of the whole procession in the College of Arms.) torches were borne about the canopy by four other gentle men. "Next after the canopy went the Lady Mary, the King's daughter, appointed for the lady godmother, with her train borne by the Lady Kingston." After the Lady Mary, "all other ladies of honour and gentlewomen, in order after their degrees, did follow." In this order the procession, attended by the King's and great nobles' servants, passed through the Council Chamber, along part of the "Haunted Gallery," and so into the "King's Great Watching Chamber," at the upper end of the Great Hall. Thence it passed through the Hall, down the Great Stairs, under Anne Boleyn's Gateway, into the Second or Clock Court, and then along the cloister towards the chapel door. All the way was lined with men-at-arms, attendants, and servants holding torches; and in the courtyard the ground was strewn with rushes; and barriers decorated with rich hangings, were erected, behind which thronged all the dwellers in the palace. No other spectators, however, were present, for access to the Court had been prohibited by proclamation, on account of infection from the plague, which was prevailing at the time. In this manner the procession moved to the chapel door, where a large porch had been erected, "covered with rich cloth of gold or arras, and double-hanged with rich arras, and the floor boarded and covered with carpets." Here, and at every point, were stationed gentlemen ushers. All the body of the chapel and the choir were likewise hung with tapestries, and "the high altar richly garnished with plate DEATH OF JANE SEYMOUR. 127 and stuff." In the middle of the choir had been erected a font of solid silver gilt, "set upon a mount or stage." While the Prince was being prepared for the christening within the "travers," the "Te Deum was sung by the choir, and then he was brought forth and baptized with all the elaborate ceremonial of that age. After the christening had been performed, all the torches were immediately lit, and Garter King-at-Arms proclaimed his name and style in the following form: "God of his Almighty and infinite grace, give and grant good life and long to the right high, right excellent and noble Prince, PRINCE EDWARD, Duke of Cornwall, and Earl of Chester, most dear and entirely beloved son to our most dread and gracious lord, King Henry the Eighth." [Largess! Largess!] The procession then formed again in the same order as before, preceded by the sergeants-at-arms, with the heralds sounding their trumpets, and all the torches lit. Various persons also carried the christening gifts that had been made to the Prince, among which was a cup of gold given by the Princess Mary. Thus they proceeded to the Queen's Bedchamber, into which the Prince was brought by some of the principal persons; the trumpets, in the meanwhile, standing in the utter court within the gate, there blowing, and the minstrels playing, which was a melodious thing to hear." 66 During the baptism Henry VIII. had remained with Jane Seymour in her bedroom, where the Prince was then presented to him, "and had the blessing of Almighty God, our Lady, and St. George, and his father and mother." Very soon after this ceremony the Queen was taken with a serious illness, aggravated by having been allowed by those who had charge of her to eat improper food and catch cold. But all their art and care were unavailing; and on Wednesday, the 24th of October, at two o'clock at night, the soul of Henry VIII.'s third Queen quietly passed away. The grief of the King at her death is said to have been very deep and sincere, though the fact that he at once withdrew from the palace "to a solitary place, not to be spoken with, leaving some of his counsellors to take order about her burial," on the plea that "he could not find it in his heart" to remain, may not unfairly be attributed to a desire to avoid the long and dreary ceremonies that preceded the burial. Next day the corpse was "embowelled," that is, embalmed, "and wax-chandlers and plumbers, and such others did their office about her." On the following day, Friday, the body was removed, with much solemnity, from the room in which she died, on a hearse covered with a rich pall of cloth of gold, and a cross set upon it, to the Presence Chamber, which had been prepared for the lying-in-state. Here the hearse was placed in the middle of the room, with twentyfour tall tapers about it; all the walls were draped with black; and an altar was provided for masses to be said, "richly apparelled with black, garnished with the cross, images, censers, and other ornaments." This done, dead masses were said and dirges sung, day and night for a week, for the repose of her soul; and the ladies of the Court, with the Princess Mary, in mourning habits, with white kerchiefs over their heads and shoulders, "kneeling about the hearse in lamentable wise," kept incessant watch by the body. On the last day of October, the body, after it had been solemnly blessed with holy water and incensed with smoking censers, by the Bishop of Carlisle, her almoner, assisted by the Bishop of Chichester and many other ecclesiastical dignitaries, was removed in procession to the chapel, with the priests and choir singing and carrying tapers. Here the same rites were continued till November the 12th, on which day the coffin was carried to the "Clock Court," where it was placed on a funeral car, drawn by four horses trapped with black velvet, "with four escutcheons of the King's arms and Queen's, beaten in fine gold upon double sarcenet: and upon every horse's forehead a shaffron of the said arms"-decorations evidently much in the style of the modern undertaker. On the bier was a representation of the Queen in her robes of estate-one of those waxwork effigies well known to sightseers in Westminster Abbeywith a rich crown of gold upon her head, all her hair loose, a sceptre of gold in her right hand, and on her fingers rings. set with precious stones, and her neck richly adorned with gold and stones; and under the head a rich pillow of cloth of gold tissue; her shoes of cloth of gold, with hose and smock, and all other ornaments." |