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FRANCIS LANCELOTT, ESQ. Queens of England. Vol.1.

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FRANCIS LANCELOTT, ESQ.
Queens of England. Vol.1.
page 340



and had gowns and hoods of white woollen cloth." The crafts that followed were dressed "in cloth gowns of black to the calf of the leg, and narrow tippets of black cloth about their necks." Besides this, the procession was "met on its way by divers abbots and monks, bearing torches, and chaunting anthems and dirges ;" and all " the parish churches were lit up with torches and candles." On reaching the abbey, the body was taken out of the car, carried inside the stately edifice, and placed on the royal hearse, which was surrounded with banners, and covered with a rich pall, on which was blazoned the arms of Elizabeth, with her motto, " Humble and reverent." This done, the procession retired for the night; the lords and ladies to Westminster palace, and the citizens to their respective homes. Esquires, heralds, monks, and ladies, watched the royal remains in the night, and the next morning they were consigned to their resting-place. The Bishop of Lincoln chaunted the mass for the dead ; Rochester preached the funeral sermon, from the text of John : " Have pity on me, my friends, for the hand of the Lord hath touched me." As before, the Princess Katherine attended as chief mourner, and, in accordance with state etiquette, was the only person who offered at the mass ; but afterwards, she and her sister, Anne, and the other ladies of honour, as a parting tribute, made an offering of thirty-seven palls, five of them being presented by the two Princesses. After the ladies had departed, the palls were removed, and the body lowered into the grave ; the solemn funeral service being read by the Bishop of London. Sir Thomas More, in a touching elegy, which he wrote upon Elizabeth of York, at the time of her death, makes her to say: " Adieu mine own dear spouse, my worthy lord, The faithful love that did us both combine, In marriage and peaceable concord, Into your hands now do I clean resign, To be bestowed on your children and mine ; Erst were ye father, now must ye supply The mother's part also, for here I lie. Farewell my daughter, Lady Margaret; iod wot, full oft it grieved hath my mind, That ye should go where we might seldom meet, Now I am gone, and you have loft behind ;Oh mortal folk, but we bo very blind ;What we least fear full oft it is most nigh, From you depart Ifirst, for lo ! now here I lie. Adieu Lord Henry, loving son, adieu, Our lord increase your honour and estate ; Adieu my daughter Mary, bright of hue, God make you. virtuous, wise, and fortunate ; Adieu sweetheart, my little daughter Kate, Thou shalt, sweet babe, such in thy destiny, Thy mother never know, for lo ! now here 1 lie. Lady Cecily, Anne, and Katherine, Farewell my well beloved sisters three , Oh Lady Bridget other sister mine, Lo, here the end of worldly vanity ; Now well are ye that earthly folly flee, And heavenly things love and magnify ; Farewell, and pray for me, for lo ! now here I he." The expense of Elizabeth's funeral amounted to two thousand eight hundred and thirty-two pounds seven shillings and three-pence. Henry the Seventh survived his Queen but seven years; and from the hour of her death, the detestable vice of avarice became his ruling passion. Through the arts of his infamous ministers, Dudley and Empson, he, by benevolences extorted from parliament, and by oppressive fines wrung from individuals, daily added to his enormous wealth, which, in ready money alone, is said to have amounted to about two millions. As a proof of liis attention to the smallest profits, Bacon tells us, that he had seen a book of accounts kept by Empson, and subscribed in almost every leaf by the King's own hand. Amongst other articles, are the following: "Item; Received of such a one, five marks for a pardon, which, if it do not pass, the money to be repaid, or the party otherwise satisfied;" Opposite to the memorandum, the King had written in his own hand, " otherwise satisfied." Henry made several efforts to again enter the pale of matrimony ; but he desired a bride more for the dower than for the woman, and his projects failed. He died of gout in tho stomach, in the spring of 1509, and was buried beside his Queen, in tbe beautiful chapel in Westminster abbey, which bears hu name. The magnificent tomb of Henry the


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