At the north-east angle of the Choir is the beautiful Tomb of the venerable Founder and first Prior of the Monastery. This monument, supposed to have been erected at the beginning of the fourteenth century, was restored by Prior Bolton. Its preservation is still ensured by a legacy bequeathed for the purpose of keeping it in constant repair. [Illustration] The effigy of Rahere is doubtless a likeness; he is habited in black robes; two Canons kneel at his feet, reading from a Bible open at the 51st chapter of Isaiah, with the following words:--“The Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” Below him on the front of the monument are four splendid coats of arms, sculptured and painted; and above him a rich canopy with ogee arches. The tomb is altogether a handsome and interesting work. On the opposite side of the Choir, directly facing Rahere’s Tomb, and on a level with the triforium, is a beautiful oriel window erected by Prior Bolton; it communicated with his house at the east end of the church. He could see therefrom whether the Canons were properly performing their duties; the centre spandril contains his rebus, the Bolt and Tun. [Illustration] There are some other interesting monuments in the Choir; one to Robert Chamberlain, in dark brown or black marble, it represents a man in armour kneeling under a canopy and two angels drawing aside a curtain. [Illustration] [Illustration] Very near this is the Monument of James Rivers, with the following inscription:-- “Within this hollow vault there rests the frame Of the high soul which once informed the same; Torn from the service of the state in ’s prime By a disease malignant at the time. Whose life and death designed no other end Than to serve God, his country, and his friend; Who when ambition, tyranny, and pride Conquer’d the age, conquer’d himself and died.” Beyond this, in the South Aisle, is a magnificent and elaborate one of coloured marbles and giltwork, to the memory of Walter Mildmay, founder of Emmanuel College, Cambridge; he held office under Henry VIII., Edward VI., was Chancellor of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth, and with Lord Burleigh was deputed to treat with Mary Queen of Scots, and to deliver to her a letter from Elizabeth at Fotheringay Castle, charging her with treason and conspiracy. [Illustration] There is a curious one to the Smallpage family, containing two heads, the one a male, the other a female in ruffs, of the period 1558, this in dark marble. [Illustration] Another to Edward Cooke, with the following lines:-- “Unsluice your briny flood; what! can you keep Your eyes from tears, and see the marble weep? Burst out for shame, or, if you find no vent For tears, yet stay, and see the stones relent.”