The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-04

Revolution, when the church was desecrat-
ed and turned into a cotton-spinning fac
tory. The reyolutionists opened the coffin
and found the corpse entire and in an eX
traordinary state Of preservation. The
municipal authorities took possession of il,
and made a penny peep-shOw OF the body,
the people crowding from all parts OF Paris
to see the sight. Finally after the peace
of 1915, George " gave orders that the re-
mains should be deceutly Inferred at St.
German, and a Latin inscription marks
the spot.
Mary II n Smallpox Victim.
Mary II, wife of the Dutch William, died
of virulent smallpox December rs, 1894
and was not buried unit, March ;. 1895.
There was a contest writes Miss
Strickland, respecting the propriety OF
the Parliament being dissolved according
to the old custom on the death of the
sovereign, but this was overruled, and
all the members of the House of Commons
were invited to follow as mourners at
her funeral-for the first and only time
in English history
The pail was borne by the chiefs of the
illustrious houses of Howard, Seymour,
Grey, and Stanley. The primate, Teni-
son, preached with simplicity and ear
nestness," and throughout the ceremony
the booming of the cannon at the Tower
was heard. a Jacobite clergyman had the
audacity to take for his text the verse,
Go see now this cursed woman, and bury
her, for she is kings daughter -
Queen Anne died of apoplexy at Ken
sington Palace August /. IVA. Her dying
agonies were so prolonged, and the issues
that hung upon her fate were so momen-
tous. that when the end at length came
the people never tired of repeating to one
another Queen Anne is dead. Queen
Anne is dead" thus giving rise to the
popular use of the phrase to denote state
news. The Lords Justices, who assumed
the regency pending the arrival of the new
KING, buried her with great solemnity in
Henry WIS chapel on Tuesday. August "a
George /, dying in his coach at Osna-
bugh, was buried at Hanover, and after
this for upward of a century, royal rup-
erals conformed to one type.
Royal Funerals at Night.
All royal funerals until 1887 took place
at night The procession started at .
took an hour to file into the chapet. and
the ceremonies were not concluded until
near Midnight. Various explanation of
the custom, which is not confined to The
royal family. have been put forward The
most probable solution seems to be that IN
pre-Reformation times il was usual to
take the body overnight TO the church.
and there to sing "Dirige" and "Placebo'
which, as a matter of history, form the
basis OF our present Church of England
burial office. Mass was sung next morn
ing and the body committed to the tomb
After the Reformation, "Dirige" and mass
dropped out. but the old custom of tax
ing the body to the church by night.
though bereft of its meaning. lived on and
became in time part of the court eti-
quette
Queen Caroline OF Anspach u727. Fred
erick, Prince OF Wales Q751), and George
II l160) were all buried with dazzling !
pomp at Westminster Abbey grew
some ceremony in each ease preceded the /
funeral The body of an English sover- I
eign is always embalmed. the bowels be-
ing first removed. George II died Octo-
her %. 1850, and on November his body /
having been embalmed, the royal bowels |
were privately Inferred in Henry WIS |
chapel mourning coach and six drew
up TO the Abbey, the front seat OF
which were two noblemen and on the
back seat of which lay a box rather long
covered with purple velvet and gold nails
to which were fixed four golden handles
Eight yeomen of the Guard put rankin
through each handle, which was supported
by two OF them, and SO carried the boz