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FUNERAL OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS

THE DUKE Of Kent.

The body of his Royal Highness lay in state for a short time at Woolbrook-cottage, Sidmouth, previous to its final removal from a scene which, but a few days before, was distinguished by all the smiling joys of domestic bliss and social happiness. This ceremony took place on Sunday se'nnight, in a spacious room, which was hung with black cloth, and lighted with 30 wax candles. The coffin and urn were raised upon trestles, and covered with a rich velvet pall, turned up at each end to show the splendid materials of which they were composed.

At the head of the coffin was raised a superb plume of feathers, and three smaller plumes were placed on each side; on the right and left of it were three large wax tapers, in solid silver candlesticks, standing nearly five feet high. The number of persons who were admitted to this solemn spectacle was immense for a country town. The company entered at one door, and, having walked round the Royal remains, made their egress by another. The greatest order and regularity prevail ed.

On Monday the procession towards Windsor commenced, attended by an immense concourse of spectators from the surrounding country, who sincerely lamented the early loss of one to whose future residence among them they had looked with the most pleasing anticipations.

Nearly 30 carriages of the nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood attended the procession about 3 miles out of town. Among them were those of the Right Hon. Lord Rolle, the Right Hon. Lord Graves, Sir J. Kennaway, Bart., Sir Joseph Scott, Bart., Sir Edward Stracey, Bart., Edward Lee, Esq., Henry Stewart, Esq., Thomas Dashwood, Esq., Mr Phillipps,

D. O'Brien, Esq., &c. &c. The carriages which carried the gentlemen and tradesmen of Sidmouth, who had received an appointment from his Royal Highness, followed his remains to a mile beyond the town of Honiton. During that day the cathedral and parochial bells of Exeter tolled for one hour, and most of the shops in the city were closely shut till 12. Upon the arrival of the procession at Bridport, the remains of his Royal Highness were placed in the church there, under a military guard, during the night of Monday.

On the following morning, at ten o'clock, the procession moved in the same order, halting on Tuesday, the 8th, at Blanford; on Wednesday, the 9th, at Salisbury; and on Thursday, the 10th, at Basingstoke; the same arrangement being observed for placing the remains of his late Royal Highness, each night, as at Bridport.

As the mournful procession passed through the cities and towns on the road, the bells of the churches tolled, and the shops were closed. The escort was occasionally formed by the yeomanry cavalry of the respective districts; and in several towns the local authorities received and joined the cavalcade.

On Friday it moved on in the same order to Cumberland-lodge, which is situated in the Great Park, on the south side of Windsor, and arrived there at six o'clock in the evening.

From 12 o'clock on Saturday morning until its ultimate removal in the evening, the body of his late Royal Highness lay in state, and was visited by many persons, who proceeded to the Lodge, notwithstanding the distance was upwards of three miles from Windsor. The spectators entered at the great hall, from whence they proceeded to the drawing-room, a spacious apartment, hung with black draperies, and lighted with wax tapers, fixed in silver

sconces on the walls. The body was placed under a canopy, ornamented with escutcheons; and over the coffin, which was covered with crimson velvet, was a pall, also adorned with them. On each side of the body four large wax lights were burning in massive silver candlesticks. At the head of the coffin sat two gentlemen of his late Royal Highness's household. The spectators passed round the coffin, and then retired.

At 7 o'clock the several departments of the procession, as it was to move from Cumberland-lodge, assembled on the lawn in front of that edifice, where they were marshalled in proper order. About half past nine o'clock the Duke of York, and the Dukes of Clarence, Sussex, and Glocester, together with his Royal Highness Prince Leopold, who had arrived at the Dean's house about 8 o'clock, put on their mourning robes, and went

be deposited, was placed on the moveable car, invented by Sir W. Congreve, for the Queen's funeral. It was then propelled by mechanical power to the platform, from which, by imperceptible machinery, it was afterwards let down into the tomb. This contrivance was invented to alleviate the labour of the bearers, which on former occasions had been found almost insupportable.

The Duke of York, as chief mourner, sat at the head of the corpse, his supporters on either side, and the bearers of the canopy. The Rev. Dean then went through the ordinary ser vice for the dead; the responses being made by the choir. During the performance of that part which begins with, " Man that is born of woman," the coffin was gradually lowered; and at the pronouncing of the words, "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," a small quantity of conseupon the

to the Chapter-house to meet the pro- crated earth was dropped of conse

cession from Cumberland-lodge. Here it underwent a second arrangement, and the arrangement then fixed upon was the arrangement observed in the chapel.

Upon its arrival in that place, the drums and trumpets of the Royal household, the Knight-marshal's men, and the servants and grooms of the Royal Family, filed off without the

door.

At the entrance of the chapel the Dean and Canons, attended by the choir, received the body.

An awful silence pervaded the spectators in the chapel as the solemn service commenced with the Dean of Windsor's distinct and impressive delivery of the opening verses of the burial service, which occupied him until he reached his stall. The procession then separated to the right and left, and the coffin, which was of such a size as not to allow its passing without some difficulty through the opening of the vault into which it was to

lid. The closing part of the solemn ritual was then read, and the style and titles of the lamented Prince were proclaimed in the usual form by Sir Isaac Heard, who has now arrived at the venerable age of 90, in a clear and dis. tinct voice as follows:

"Thus it hath pleased Almighty God to take out of this transitory life, unto his divine mercy, the most high, most mighty, and illustrious Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathern, Earl of Dublin, Knight of the most noble Order of the Garter, Knight Grand Cross of the most honourable military Order of the Bath, and Knight of the most illustrious Order of St Patrick, fourth son of his late most sacred Majesty King George III., of blessed memory, and third brother of the most high, most mighty, and most excellent Monarch, George IV., by the grace of God of the United King. dom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, King of Hanover, and Duke of Brunswick

and Lunenburg, whom God bless and preserve with health, long life, honour, and all worldly happiness."

Throughout the awful ceremony, all eyes were turned upon their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of York, Clarence, Sussex, and Prince Leopold, whose feelings it is almost impossible to describe. His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, so long the intimate companion and resident under the same roof at Kensington-palace with his lamented brother, in vain rallied his firmness to support him under this trying affliction. Their congenial feelings, the reciprocity of their active and benevolent pursuits, rushed upon his mind; the sudden rupture of their earthly connexion, under circumstances so peculiarly calculated to awaken the most poignant grief, called forth all those sensations which only the good can feel, and his Royal Highness gave vent to his feelings in unrestrained and overwhelming anguish. The grief of Prince Leopold was manifested in a calmer but not less expressive manner. His Royal Highness appeared sunk in abstract contemplation. He now mourned for the husband of his sister -when last in this chapel he wept over the bier of his wife, the beloved and lamented daughter of England. The Dukes of York and Clarence seemed equally to feel the bitter separation to which they were doomed from the object of their fraternal affection. This melancholy scene was rendered still more poignant to them by the sad impression, that mournful as it was, it was but the prelude of the more formal, though equally lamented burial of a parent, who had endeared himself throughout a long reign, by the exercise of the most lasting virtues. Three days will not elapse before these illustrious mourners will have to stand on the same spot, to take a last view of the remains of a beloved parent, sinking into his tomb

VOL. XIII. PART II.

amid the affectionate attachment of a free people. The association of these feelings could not fail to arouse the acute sensibility of their Royal Highnesses, under a combination of circumstances at once so melancholy and distressing.

FUNERAL OF HIS LATE MAJESTY.

Heralds'-College, Feb 10.

"All Peers, Bishops, eldest Sons of Peers, and Privy Councillors, who propose to assist at the interment of his late Most Sacred Majesty King George the Third, of blessed memory, which is appointed to be solemnized in the Royal Chapel of George, at Windsor, on Wednesday evening next, the 15th instant, are requested to signify their intention by letter, addressed to me at this College, on or before Monday next the 14th instant, at 2 o'clock, in order that the necessary ticket of admission may be transmitted to them respectively.

"All Peers, eldest Sons of Peers, and Privy Councillors, are to appear in full dress, black; the Knights of the several Orders wearing their respective Collars; and the Bishops will appear in their Rochets.

" HENRY HOWARD MOLYNEUX
"HOWARD,

"Deputy Earl Marshal."

We have now to describe the ceremonial of lying in state, which spectators are admitted to see from ten this morning till four in the afternoon. Numbers assembled early, at Queen Elizabeth's Gate, leading to the Upper Castle-yard, on the north side of which are the state apartments, wherein the royal corpse lay. The crowd increased from some unforeseen delay in the arrangements, so that there was no admission till eleven, when the gates were opened. An unpleasant confu. sion naturally ensued for awhile. guard of honour was drawn up on the lawn in the Upper Castle-yard. But

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the police officers in attendance directed the public to take a diagonal path from the outer gate to that in the the north-east angle, which leads to the kitchen and buttery offices. At this gate a guard was placed, who admitted a few at a time, to prevent confusion. They were assisted by Knight Marshals' men in black scarves, &c. The company ascended by a narrow old spiral staircase, leading to an old apartment opening into St George's-hall, through which spectators passed into the Great Guard Chamber facing the Terrace, by a passage enclosed by a rail covered with black, and were directed by some of the Life Guards. Thence they proceeded on the left through the Audience Chamber into the Presence Chamber. These apartments, and the drawing-room, were lined, ceiling and walls, with dark purple cloth, partly disposed in folds, or festooned. The Audience Chamber was lighted with 20 double branches on silvered escutcheons; the floor was partly railed off, covered with black, within which was a party of the yeoman in deep mourning.

The Presence Chamber was lighted by twenty silver sconces, each contain ing two wax lights. On the left, a number of the yeomen of the Guards, dressed in deep mourning, their halberts hung with black crape, were drawn up in a line. You now entered the Audience Chamber, which was that in which the remains of our veverable Sovereign were placed. Here a mournful splendour was thrown over the scene by a profusion of wax lights displayed in rows on each side, and at the end of the room. A temporary throne was erected, richly hung with black cloth, under which the coffin was placed on a platform. Captain Cipriani attended in close waiting. The throne, steps, and footstool, under the organ gallery, where the pic

ture of Handel is placed, were covered with black.

At the head of the coffin sat Lord Graves (one of the Lords in Waiting), as chief mourner; he was supported by Sir George Campbell and Colonel Wotley. At the end of two hours Lord Graves was relieved by Lord Delawarr, and the two supporters by by Colonel King and the Hon Cavendish Bradshaw.

At the foot of the coffin were placed two heralds, Francis Martin, Esq., Windsor; Joseph Hawker, Esq., Richmond. These gentlemen were attired in their official costume, and were likewise relieved occasionally by two other Heralds, Edmund Lodge, Esq. Lancaster; George Martin Leake, Esq. Chester. In other parts of the chamber, and within the railing by which the royal coffin was separated from the public, were four of the late King's Gentlemen Ushers, four Pages, two Grooms of the great Bed-chamber (Messrs Chalmers and Seymour) together with ten Gentlemen Pensioners, all clad in deep mourning, and wearing silk scarves.

THE INTERMENT.

At half past five o'clock, a strong body of cavalry, composed of detachments from the 1st and 2d LifeGuards and the Oxford Blues, formed two lines, extending from the entrance to the lower court, down Castlestreet, and for a considerable distance up High-street and Park-street. The space in the centre of the two lines was kept clear for the convenience of those who had tickets of admission to the lower court. Some confusion arose while the cavalry were taking their position, and the feet of one or two individuals suffered from the trampling of the horses. But, on the whole, as much order and regularity were preserved as could possibly be expected under the peculiar circumstances of the case, when an immense concourse

of people was rushing forward to obtain admittance to the lower court, through which the funeral procession was to pass to St George's Chapel. On the terrace, to the right of the entrance into the court, a large detachment of the Life Guards and Oxford Blues were stationed. They afterwards formed a line within a few feet of the platform, and thus protected from excessive pressure those persons who were fortunate enough to procure stations immediately adjoining to that temporary erection. At six o'clock orders were given to admit those who had procured tickets from the Groom of the Stole, and a furious rush immediately took place. Sufficient precautions had, however, been taken to prevent any person forcing his way without the necessary credential. Those who came to see the procession at first lounged up and down the Castle-yard, as if uncertain as to the point from which it could be seen to the best advantage; but, at last, the necessity of settling in some one fixed point or other, became apparent to them, and in many cases they fixed upon the very worst points of view which could have possibly been selected. The platform was similar to that erected on the occasion of the funeral of the late Queen, and extended down the south aisle to the west-gate, and up the nave to the choir. It was covered entirely with black cloth, with a railing on each side of about three feet in height, also covered with black. Immediately with out this railing a space was left for the soldiery, by whom it was afterwards lined, and for the Eton boys, who were permitted to be present, to the number of near a hundred. In the north aisle, benches were erected in a gradual ascent to a considerable height, for the accommodation of those who had received tickets, who formed part of the procession. Over the descent to the Royal cemetery, a magnificent canopy of purple velvet was erected, sur

mounted by a crown and cushion. The cornice was formed of a richly gilt Gothic scroll, from which depended festoons, each charged with a royal escutcheon. This kind of canopied temple, or baldaquin, had a very imposing effect.

The ordinary lights of the Chapel being insufficient to render the cere mony distinct, the number of candles was increased; branches were affixed to every Knight's stall and around the altar, and three large brass chandeliers were suspended from the ceiling, each containing an immense number of wax lights. This had the desired effect, and the effulgence was sufficient to enlighten every part of the building. Additional seats were raised on each side of the altar for the foreign ministers, and for those illustrious individuals who attended the funeral. Besides this, the Organ-loft, which contained 94 persons, was prepared for the reception of people of distinction. These were the only places allotted for spectators; consequently the numbers admitted to witness the funeral service were extremely limited. Such was the demand for tickets, that we have heard of even fifty guineas having been offered for one to the aisle, without success.

The Choir was prepa

red with a magnificence far exceeding what had been witnessed at the late Royal funerals.

Soon after 8 o'clock the 3d regiment of Guards, in white gaiters, were marched on that portion of the platform which joined the Gothic porch, from whence the funeral procession was to issue, without the south door of St George's Chapel. Some difficulty was encountered in marshalling them, and a considerable delay was the consequence. They were ultimately formed in two lines, one on each side of the platform. They rested on their reversed arms. Many of them carried flambeaux, but the lights were not distributed with any degree of regularity.

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