The Children's Book of LondonMitton, G. E. (Geraldine Edith)
History
The Children's Book of London
Mitton, G. E. (Geraldine Edith)
London (England) -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
After this came the crowning of the Queen. A great pall of gold was
supported at four corners by four duchesses, who held it up while the
Queen knelt before the King to swear to be true to him always. She was
then anointed and crowned, and as her crown was put on her head by the
Archbishop the coronets of all the peeresses flashed on to their
wearers' heads at the same moment, as the peers' coronets had done at
the moment the King was crowned.
The service was ended by the Holy Communion, and the King and Queen,
wearing their crowns and looking like a fairy king and queen, went back
in their royal coach to their palace, and the show, so far as
Westminster Abbey was concerned, was ended. Westminster Abbey will
always be associated with this great and splendid ceremony, which has
been described so minutely, and whenever you visit the Abbey you will
think of King George's coronation.
Before leaving the Abbey there are some things you must certainly see.
The first is the tomb of the 'Unknown Soldier.' This was a wonderful
idea thought of after the Great War. So many thousands of men in the
army gave their lives for their country, unknown and uncommemorated,
that the body of one, unidentified, was chosen as a symbol for the rest,
and buried with all the ceremony given to the most honoured dead of the
nation. There the humble warrior lies, surrounded by the dust of kings
and statesmen, authors, poets, and sages. Other countries imitated this
idea, and now each nation of the Great War has its 'Unknown Soldier's'
grave. In the Abbey, besides the many splendid statues, there is a set
of curious wax figures, only eleven in number, representing Queen
Elizabeth, King Charles II., King William and Queen Mary, Queen Anne,
Admiral Nelson, and five other persons of less importance.
So much for Westminster Abbey, the crowning-place of kings and the
burial-place of kings and great men.
St. Paul's Cathedral cannot claim the coronation of the kings, but it is
a splendid building, with its great dome overlooking London far and
wide. We can climb up through the belfry to the gallery which encircles
the dome, and, looking down upon the street below, see the people
crawling about like ants. Around us the pigeons flash their wings in the
sun, and beyond the houses we can catch a glimpse of the gray river
flowing down to the sea. Inside St. Paul's there is a great gallery
running all around the dome, and if you stand at one side of this and
whisper gently, the whisper runs round the walls, and reaches the person
standing on the opposite side many yards away, across a great space.
This is very curious, and because of it the gallery is called the
Whispering Gallery.
[Illustration: ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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