The coffins destined to contain all that was left on earth of what so lately was life, and sprightliness, and generosity, and affection, were in every respect corresponding to the rank of their lamented occupant. The inner receptacle was of mahogany, lined and pillowed with white satin, and enclosed in lead. The magnificent coffin surrounding those was of the finest Spanish mahogany, covered with crimson Genoa velvet, and decorated with the usual mournful and heraldic insignia; the massive handles, &c. were of silver gilt, and the sides divided into compartments by many thousand nails of the same costly materials. A large silver plate on the lid bore the following Inscription: DEPOSITVM, ILLVSTRISSIMÆ PRINCIPISSÆ CHARLOTTÆ AVGVSTÆ, CONSORTISQVE SERENISSIMI PRINCIPIS LEOPOLDI GEORGII FREDERICI, LANDGRAVII THVRINGIÆ, PRINCIPIS COBURGI SAALFENDENSIS, A SANCTIORIBUS CONSILIIS NOBILISSIMI ORDINIS PERESCELIDIS, ET HONORATISSIMI ORDINIS OBIIT SEXTA DIE NOVEMBRIS, ANNO DOMINI MDCCCXVII. This Plate was of an oblong shape, and merely surrounded by a plain border. At the angle of each panel were corner plates, on which was engraved a coronet encircled with palm branches, and the letters P. C. A. the initials of PRINCESS CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA.-A transcript of the preceding Inscription was also engraved on a silver plate inserted on the lid of the interior leaden coffin. The Urn containing the heart of Her Royal Highness was also constructed of Honduras mahogany, lined with lead, and covered with crimson velvet, the sides and top of which were formed into panels, with corner plates, &c. decorated as the coffin. A gold medallion on the lid contained P. C. A.-6TH NOVEMBER, 1817. The coffin for the Infant, like that of the Parent, was of mahogany, covered, &c. the same, with only the difference of white nails. On a plate on the lid was engraved the following Inscription: THE STILL BORN MALE INFANT OF THEIR ROYAL AND SERENE HIGHNESSES AND PRINCE LEOPOLD OF SAXE COBOURG. NOVEMBER 5TH, 1817. On Wednesday the twelfth, His Royal Highness the PRINce Regent visited Claremont, to behold, for the last time, the beloved remains of his departed daughter. The shock was intense, and all the feelings of the Parent were awakened to a degree, which for a considerable time it was found impossible to tranquillize. An unfinished Portrait of her late Royal Highness, from the pencil of Sir THOMAS LAWRENCE, was immediately ordered to Carlton House, where it has ever since been the companion of a Father's solitude, and almost the only apparent consolation to a Father's heart. The final closing of the coffin of the Princess took place on the night of Saturday the fifteenth; during which affeeting ceremony, Prince LEOPOLD'S attention was engaged by his resident Chaplain and Physician in his Serene Highness's private room.-The spectators of the last melancholy duty of shutting up for ever the remains of the Mother and the Child, were Baron HARDENBROCK, Sir ROBERT Gardiner, Colonel ADDENBROKE, and some others of the superior attendants. Every endeavour was made to finish this mournful office before eleven o'clock,-precisely at which hour every night Prince LEOPOLD visited the relics of his beloved partner, and wept over them previous to retiring to bed. Fortunately all was terminated a few minutes before the clock struck, and when the Prince entered to pay his usual visit of solemn mourning, he was not shocked by any peculiar or strange appearance, there being only one coffin substituted for another. As the day approached which was to consign all that could perish of our once lovely Princess to the last cerements of mortality, every exertion, both public and private, was used to give due effect to the solemnity of the occasion. Arrangements were made for the entire suspension of all public business in the Metropolis, and for the performance of Divine service in all Churches and Chapels throughout the kingdom. Amongst numerous other announcements, the following was issued by the Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR. SMITH, MAYOR. "Mansion-house, Nov. 15, 1917. "The LORD MAYOR begs to inform the public, that the Mansion-house, and Guildhall will be closed, and no business will be transacted at either place on Wednesday next, being the day appointed for the Funeral of her late Royal Highness the Princess CHARLOTTE of WALES. "The LORD MAYOR does not presume to dictate to his Fellow-Citizens what line of Conduct they should pursue, as he is persuaded they will do what is suitable on that melancholy occasion." By order of the LORD MAYOR, (Signed) "FRANCIS HOBLER." At Windsor also, every preparation was made for the reception of the Royal Corpse, both at its previous resting-plaće and at its tomb. That tomb which, in 1810, his Majesty ordered to be constructed at the east end of St. George's Chapel, for the burial-place of himself and successors, as well as of the Royal Family. This edifice was first raised by HENRY VII. for a similar purpose; but that Prince afterwards altering his intentions, began a more noble structure at Westminster, and this fabric remained neglected, until Cardinal Wolsey obtained a grant of it from HENRY VIII. and, with a profusion of expeuse unknown in former ages, designed and began here a most sumptuous monument for himself, from whence the building obtained the name of "WOLSEY'S TOMB-HOUSE." This Royal Mausoleum adjoins the east end of St. George's Chapel, where it made a most ruinous appearance until the year 1800, when his Majesty ordered the windows and other external parts to be repaired. In the year 1810, his Majesty was determined to construct within its walls a Royal Dormitory. An excavation was formed of the whole length and width of the building, to the depth of fifteen feet from the surface, and in this the sepulchre is constructed. The dimensions of the tomb are 70 feet in length, 28 in width, and 14 in depth. The receptacle for bodies on the sides of the tomb are formed by massive Gothic columns, of an octagon shape, supporting a range of four shelves, each of which, in the space between the columns, will contain two bodies: the whole range of each side admitting 32 bodies. At the east end are five niches for the reception of as many coffins. In the middle, 12 low tombs are erected for the Sovereigns, and the sepulchre will thus contain 81 bodies. The columns are of fine Bath stone, and the shelves of Yorkshire granite. A subterraneous passage is formed from the vault under the choir of St. George's Chapel, in which an aperture is made, near the ascent to the Altar for the bodies to descend; and from the columns springs a vaulted roof entirely over the tomb. In this cemetery are deposited the bodies of the Princess Amelia, who was interred Nov. 13, 1810; and the Duchess of Brunswick, interred March 31, 1813. And now, may we be permitted to turn our attention to another illustrious and venerable Personage of the Royal Family,-the revered Constructor of this sacred Mausoleum,-the glory of that Family, the pride of his subjects, who is not dead, and yet who partakes not of the joys or the afflictions of his kindred or his people. Withdrawn from all eyes but those that watch to supply his necessities; in silence and in darkness, to him there is neither sun, nor moon, nor kingdom, nor wife, nor children, nor subjects! He is alone in the midst of the living, and almost as far removed from them as from the dead. The little world in which he dwells is a solitude, peopled only by imagination; but the inhabitants of it are not those that haunt the guilty mind, even when reason is not overthrown.—It is said, that ministering Angels are the companions of his thoughts in the loneliness of that circle, by which he is cut off from rational intercourse either with this world or the next. Yet he is not forsaken in his hoary hairs, nor in his deep humiliation, by HIM, whose loving-kindness is better than life and all its pleasures, if all its pleasures could be enjoyed for ever. A creature, an intellectual creature, may be debarred from communion with every thing and every being in the universe, except his Creator. The venerable father of the British people, we have reason to believe, whatever else may have failed him, is happily conscious of that presence, which is the hope of earth, and the joy of heaven. The band of mercy may but have shut him up from the sight of evils that would have grieved his eyes, and wrung his heart, had reason been preserved to him to the end of his lengthened days." THE LORD IS HIS KEEPER!" and that Omnipotence, which amidst so many perils has preserved and blest him, may yet disperse the gloom that shrouds his setting sun, and bid its evening beains descend in glory! Removal, and Interment of the Remains, of Her Koyal Highness the late Princess Charlotte. BRIGHT BE THE PLACE OF THY SOUL! As THY SOUL SHALL IMMORTALLY BE; Lord Byron. It will be an era in the history of our country, that after thirteen days of voluntary and unaffected mourning for the loss of our amiable Princess, the period aunounced for her interment was a day of most solemn and devout observance, not only throughout this vast Metropolis, and amongst all sects and denominations of Christians, but throughout the whole realm of Britain. The Churches were generally opened as on Sunday, and were crowded in a remarkable degree; appropriate discourses were delivered; and, wherever the Preacher alluded personally to the deceased object whose Funeral was the occasion of their assembling, the feelings of the hearers, as well as his own, were but too promptly indicated by their gushing tears. No awful ceremony of this kind, on the demise of any of our rulers, or of any branches of their illustrious families, has ever, we believe, been marked by so general and unequivocal a testimony of unfeigned sorrow and regret. The Parochial Churches and the different Chapels, both of the Establishment and of Dissenters, exhibited the signs of public grief, by the covering their pulpits, desks, and galleries, with the sad emblems of Mourning. Beside the shops being shut up with a strictness equal to the observance of the sacred Sabbath; the ordinary business of the town was suspended, and most private houses had their window shutters entirely closed. All that custom ordains as the signs of external sorrow were to be seen every where, in the public streets, in the parks, and in the most retired and obscure parts of the Metropolis. Unconfined to those with whom a change of dress is no consideration, the same sentiment operated with equal effect upon thousands whose condition approaches closely to difficulty and poverty. Among those inferior classes, there were few who could find the means of procuring any black, that did not eagerly put on the visible demonstrations of their unaffected sorrow. The Charity children in several parishes bore the signs of mourning. The Courts of Law, the Custom House, the Public Offices, the Royal Exchange, &c. were closed. Orders were sent to all the Dockyards to prohibit the usual transaction of business. British vessels, and those of all other nations, hoisted their colours only half-mast high; and on the River Thames, and at the different sea-ports, minute-guns were fired all night. The tolling of the great bell of St. Paul's, accompanied by the bells of all the other churches, excited much feeling in the evening, when the mourning crowds were assembled on Blackfriar's-bridge; and when the solemn effect was increased by the stillness of the river, and by the soft clearness of the moonlight. The removal of the bodies of the Princess and the Royal Infant from Claremont being fixed for six o'clock on Tuesday evening, the 18th, a numerous party of the 10th, or Prince's Own Regiment, arrived at five. Several of them were stationed in the park, near the paling, to prevent diorder; and, at the appointed time, a mourning coach and six drove up to the grand entrance of the house; soon after which the coffin, containing the corpse of the infant, and the urn, were brought out and placed in the coach; directly after, Sir ROBERT GARDINER and Colonel ADDENBROKE followed and entered the coach. The hearse then drove up; and the state coffin, containing the remains of the Princess, borne by ten men, was brought out and placed within it. The hearse, drawn by eight horses, was then driven completely out of sight, to prevent the Prince seeing it when he came out. The coach which was to convey him being announced to be in readiness, his Serene Highness then came out and entered it, attended by the Rev. Dr. Short, in his full robes. The Baron HARDENBROCK, two Gentlemen Ushers, Lady J. THYNNE, Mrs. CAMPBELL, Mrs. Lewis, and Mrs. PHILLIPS, went in the other mourning coaches, Every thing was conducted with the greatest regularity and solemnity, and no sounds were audible but the deep sighs of the few afflicted spectators who were admitted into the park. Before half-past six o'clock the procession began to move, preceded by upwards of thirty horsemen, three a-breast, in full mourning; and the whole was followed by a party of the 10th dragoons. Both Walton and Hampton-court bridges were mentioned confidently as roads for the procession, but it was, we understood, finally determined to go over Walton-bridge, in consequence of the Commanderin-Chief having ordered General BOLTON to direct a party to ride over the two roads, and report which was the best; and, in consequence of their report being in favour of Walton, that was preferred. |