New-York tribune., 1883-03-18
VISITS or THE LYING TO THE DEAD.
From Notes and Queries.

From Notes and queries.
In 1854 the cotins containing the bodies or
Charles V. and hrs descendants were removed from
the vault in front of he high altar in the church OF
the Esoorial to their final resting place in the Pan
theon. As the body OF Charles V: was Pia;cea IN
his marble sarcopbagus." writes Sir w. Stirling
Maxwell ("COister Life OF Charles w., 1898, p.
279) "t the coverings were removed To enable Phihp
" 10 come face 10 face with his great ancestor.
The corpse was found TO be quite entire, and even
some sprigs of sweet thyme folded ~ the winding.
sheet retained, said the frIars. all their vcrnal
fra agrance after the lapse OF four score winters
But once more the resolute countenanee of the
victor of Muhbrrg was to be seen by a degenerate
successor. Toward the end of the eighteenth CEN
tury Charles Ill. of Spain, at the request OF the
aulhor of Vathek, ordered the marble SarcOphagus
which contained the body of the famous Emperor of
tho West to be removed from Its niche aud the lid
to be raised he features, so well known from the
portTails BY Titan, were still unchanged, and the
wild thyme, gathered in the Vera of Plasrncia by
the JerOmte iriars more than two centuries before,
was fresh and sweet.
In 1913 whio II passage was being constructed
under the choir of 81. Georges Chapel, Windsor,
an aperture was accidentally made IN one of the
walls of Henry Wills vault. Three collins were
seen, and it was supposed that one of them might
ho ID the remains OF Charles l. lhe vault was ex-
amned III the presence OF George w. and other dis
tnguished persons, among whom was Sir Henry
llalfOrd, and TO the work pub lShed by him An
Account of the Opening of the Coffin of Charles L.,
4to. 1919 am indebted for tho details of the IN
terestlng incident
On opening the coffin supposed TO contain the re-
mains of the unfortunate monarch the body was
about the face adhered closely that being de-
tached II found to retain impress of the royal
Countenancea circumstance hich 10 ardent loyal
il would douOtlcss recall the legend of ST. Vcron-
lea. The head was found TO be separate from the
body, and the black hair of the head cut short
ut the neck, to facilitate the hcadsman's task. But
no crcumstantial evidence was required 10 prove
thar the remains of Charles |. had ut last been
found. The long oval iace and the brown pointed
beard, which the pencil Of Nandyck has rendered
so familiar to us, were at once recognized. Mhen
the face was first seen the left eye was fnll aud
open, but it vanished almast immediately on ex-
posuro to the air. Alter a short time. when the
identity of the remains placed beyond doubt,
the coffin was closed and the vault was fastened
up. .
One more interview with the dead must be told,
though in this case the body had not been oIl-
balmed Some years ago the family vault of the
Stanhope family was, for some necessary reason,
opened and the ,lid of the coffin which contained
the body OF the famous earl the author OF the Let
ters was by accideni removed. The skeleton was
reclining on white satin coverlet. and the Uranium
propped up cushion of the same material with
q conrtly air of repose which very remarkable
and which made great impression on those who
present l was not an eye witness OF the
event, but relate the occurrence as II was told to
me.
Ii may be mentioned incidentally that the late
earl was not originally buried in the family vault
but in the church at Bretby.