The Sun.
London, England, 1827-01-22 00:00:00

THE ROYAL VAULT.

The free-stone edifice adjoining the east end of St. George's
Chapel, in which, in the year 1810, his late Majesty caused the
Royal vault to be constructed, was originally built by King
Henry VII. as a burial place for himself and his successors ; but
that Prince afterwards altering his purpose, began the more noble
structure in Westminster Abbey, and the edifice at Windsor wa,
suffered to fall into decay, until Henry VIII. presented it to Car-
dinal Wolsey, who commenced its repairs upon.a magnificent plan, •
and intended it to be his tomb. At the time of Wolsey'a disgrace
the design had been so far executed, that 4,2501. had been paid
to the statuary, and 380/. sterling to the gilder, for the work the,.
in part done. In the year 1616, the statues and gilt figures of the
t mib, which were of exquisite workmanship, were carried off as •
plunder by Cromwell's soldiers. The same dilapidation was ex-
tended to the splendid monuments of Edward IV. and Henry
VIII. near this spot. Henry the Sixth's also adjoins that of his
rival Edward, and suggested Pope's plaintive lines—
. " Let softest strains ill-fated Henry mourn,
And palms eternal flourish round his urn.
" Here, o'er the martyr King, the marble weeps,
" And fast beside him once-fear'd Edward sleeps.
" Whom not th' extended Albion could contain,
" From old Belerium to the German main,
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ployed in preparing for a new pavement, they perceived'wd.e'a're emsmail
aperture in the side of the, vault, which curiosity soon rendered
• sufficiently large to admit an easy entrance to the interior part.
This was found to contain a leaden coffin seven feet long, with a
perfect skeleton immersed in a glutinous liquid, with which the
body (Edward the Fourth's) was thought to have been embalmed,
although some supposed that the liquid and sediment contained in
the coffin were simply water and, earth, to which all • bodies
resolve. This exhumation occurred 307 years after the inter-
' ment, and the remains were exposed to the mutilation of the
labourers and others who flocked to the chapel; the consequence
of which was, that some carried off fragments of the hair, and
others a tooth, a finger, &c., till the tomb was closed, and a re-
fusal given to explore the vault where Henry the Vlth had been
interred.
In April, 1813, while the workmen were employed in making
a subterraneous passage from the middle of the choir to the new
Royal mausoleum, they accidentally broke away a part of the
vault of Henry the VIM!), but which was not then opened. The
, precise spot of Henry's vault being thus ascertained, and as some
historians have given different accounts concerning the place of
interment of Charles the First, in particular Lord Clarendon, in-
timating in his History of the Rebellion, that on search being infidel

by order of King Charles 11. after the restoration, the body could
not be found, a strong desire prevailed to satisfy the doubts thus
excited. His present Majesty (then Prince Regent) being at
Windsor, on Thursday, April 1, the day after the funeral of the
Duchess of Brunswick, was consulted about the mode of exploring
these Royal remains, which he directed to be immediately done in
his presence. Sir Henry Halford attended his Majesty to the
vault; when the leaden coffin was cut open by the plumber,
from the head to a :little below the chest, a body appeared co-
ivered over with cere-cloth ; on carefully stripping the head and
'face, the countenance of Charles 1. immediately appeared in fea-
tures apparently perfect as when he lived. The severed head had
been carefully adjusted to the shoulders; and the most perfect re-
semblance to the portraits was remarked in the oval shape of the
head, the pointed beard, &c. On lifting up the head, the fissure
made by the axe was clearly discovered by Sir H. Halford ; and
the flesh, though somewhat darkened, was found to be in a
tolerably perfect state. In the same vault was also found a de-
cayed leaden coffin, containing the remains of Henry VIII., which
consisted of nothing more than the skull, with some hair on the
chin, and the principal limb bones in a perfect state. There were
also found in this vault the coffins of Queen Jane Seymour, and
of a still-born child of Queen Anne.

The following extract from Wood's Athence Oxonienses, de-
scriptive of the funeral of Charles L, will, as connected with the
subject before me, be found interesting

" Mr. Herbert was in waiting, te, receive the body after the
execution, and he and Bishop Juxon charged themselves with the
interment, as the last sad office they enuld pay to their departed
King. They applied to the Parliament for leave to bury it in
King Henry the Seventh's Chapel in Westminster Abbey, but that
was refused, because it would attract many spectators, as
the times then were, was judged unsafe and inconvenient.' They
;hen resolved to inter it in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle,
laving obtained from the committee of Parliament permission so
-o do. Several Kings had been interred there, as Henry VI.,
Edward IV., Henry VIII., &e. The corpse was accordingly
!arried there on the ith of February in a hearse, attended by
about a dozen gentlemen, who had been about the person of the
King at Carisbrook Castle, arid other places. After some deli-
beration, Herbert pitched upon the vault where Edward IV. had
been interred; but while the workmen were employed in remov-
ing the stones, some Noblemen came thither, namely, the Duke
if Richmond, the Marquis of Hertford, the Earl of Lindsey, and
with them Dr. Juxon, Bishop of London, who had licence from
Parliament to attend the King's body to the grave. One of these
Lords, beating gently on the pavement with his staff, perceived a
hollow sound, and thereupon ordering the stones and earth to be
removed, they discovered a descent into a vault, where two coffins
were laid near one another, the one very large, of an antique
.arm, the other very little. These they supposed to be the bodies
if King Henry VIII. and Queen Jane Seymour, his third wife,
is indeed they were. The velvet palls that covered their coffins
seemed fresh, though they had lain there above 100 years.
" The Lords agreeing that the King's body should be in the
same vault interred, being about the middle of the choir, over
tgainst the 11th stall upon the Sovereign's side, they gave order
o have the King's name, and year he died, cut in lead ; and
his girdle, or circumscription of capital letters of lead, put
tbout the coffin of the King, had only these words—' King
Charles, 161,8.' _ . .

" The King's body was then brought from his bed-chamber
town into St. George's Hall, whence, after a little stay, it was
.vith a slow and solemn pace (much sorrow in most faces being
hen discernible), carried by gentlemen of quality in mourning.—
Fhe body being by the bearers set down near the place of burial,
die Bishop of London stood ready with the service-book in his
lands, to have performed his last duty to the King his master;
'nit it would not be suffered by Colonel Whitchot, the Governor
if the Castle, by reason of the Directory, ' to which,' said he.
he and others were to be conformable.' Thus went Charles to

&is grave, in the 48th year of his age, and 22d year and 10th
nonth of his reign."

ROYAL POSTHUMOUS LETTER.

THE Attempts to Suppress " THE POSTH
HUMOUS LETTER OF HIS LATE ROYAL HIGH-
NESS THE DUKE OF YORK ;" by misleading one Class,
if the Public; Journals, and bribing another, WILL FAIL.
-No Document has appeared of late, of so important and inte-
esting a Character.
I can fearlessly pledge myself to the Public, that no Protestant,
lo Admirer of the Constitutional Principles which unite
CHURCH and STATE," will rise from the perusal of this
valuable Legacy of the Sentiments of the lamented Duke of
YORK, as to the Accusation of Mr. Wardle—his Speech in Par-
iament—his Conduct as Commander-in-Chief—and his Claims
,pon Public Gratitude, without feelings of complete satisfaction.
I invite, therefore, the Public, with confidence to decide for
hemselves upon the Genuineness of the ROYAL VOSTHUM-
)US LETTER.

The Public arc the best Judges, an not interested Writeri.
CLERC SMITH,
Bookseller to the Royal Family

;6, St. James's-street.