At the conclusion of this rather tedious ceremony, everybody knelt
down, and the herald shouted, "The King is dead; pray for his soul."
A moment of silence ensued, which was eventually broken by a blast
of trumpets. Then the organ played a lively strain, and the Herald
proclaimed, "_Le roi est mort, vive le roi_--long live the King!" The
banners waved, the cannon boomed, the bells pealed forth joyously, and
the procession reformed, whilst the officiating clergy sang the _Te
Deum_. As almost all the Kings and Queens of France, with not more
than half a dozen exceptions, from the time of Clovis to that of Louis
XVIII., were buried at St. Denis, the funeral rites were rarely if ever
altered. But with us, although so many of our most illustrious princes
are interred at Westminster, still not a few were buried at St. Paul's;
many at Blackfriars and at Greyfriars, two glorious churches destroyed
in the 17th Century, at Windsor, and in various Cathedrals; so that our
royal funereal ceremonies were not always conducted with such punctual
etiquette as were those of our neighbours.
[Decoration]
THE minute details of the funeral of Mary Stuart, at Westminster
Abbey, prove that it was conducted on the same scale and with the same
ceremonies as the one which preceded it by many years at Peterborough.
King James, her son, was present, and shortly afterwards the sumptuous
monument which we still admire marked the place where her mutilated
remains, translated from Peterborough, found a permanent place of rest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account