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THE LIFE OF
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VII. Design of the Marble Altar-piece, with the original Ornaments, andStatues, erected in King James the Second’s Chapel at Whitehall, which wassav’d from the Fire, and given by Queen Anne to the collegiate Church of St,Peter in Wejlminjler.
Preface to the following Account (in SeElion XI.^ of the Defgn
for the Tomb of King Charles the First.
,( TT has been made a Question, and a Wonder by many, why a particular' " Monument was not erected at Windsor for King Charles the First, after" the Restoration of his Son; especially when the Parliament was well inclined" to have given a good Sum for that grateful Purpose. This has caused several" Conjectures and Reflections; and Intimations have been given, as if the royal" Body had never been deposited there, or else had been afterwards removed by“ the Regicides; and the Lord Clarendon himself speaks softly and suspiciously of“ this Matter, as if he believed the Body could not be found. But to remove" all Imaginations, we shall here insert a Memorandum, or Certificate, sent by“ Mr. John Seivell, Register at Windsor.—Anno 1696, September 21. The same" Vault in which King Charles the First was buried, was opened to lay in a still—born Child of the then Princess of Denmark, now our gracious Queen. On the“ King’s Coffin the Velvet Pall was strong and found, and there was about theCoffin a leaden Band, with this Inscription cut through it, King Charles,“ 164.8. Queen Jane's Coffin was whole and entire ; but that of King Henry“ the Eighth was funk in upon the Breast Part, and the Lead and Wood con-u fumed with the Heat of the Gums he was embalmed with ; and when I laid" rny Hand on it, it was run together, and hard, and had no noisome Smell," As a further Memorandum relating to the King’s Interment, he fays, That" when the Body of King Charles the First lay in the Dean's Hall, the Duke of" Richmond had the Coffin opened, and was satisfied that it was the King’s" Body. This several People have declared they knew to be true, who were" alive, and then present, as Mr. Randue of Windsor, and others; so that he“ thinks the Lord Clarendon was misted in that Matter, and that King Charles“ the Second never sent to enquire after the Body, since it was well known to the“ Inhabitants of the Castle and Town, that it was in that Vault.” To this maybe added, that Mr. Fistoborne, Gent. of Windsor, a Relation of Sir ChristopherWren's, was among those who were present at the Interment of the King,went into the Vault, and brought away a Fragment of King Henry's Pall; heobserved the Vault was so narrow, that it was some Difficulty to get in theKing’s Coffin by the side of the others.
At non Vinsoræ manes jacuere cavernd,
Nec cinis exiguus tantam compefcuit wnbram ;Prostluit busto, diffe claque membra relinquens,Degeneremque rogum , J'equitur convexa tonanti
----- JlUc poftquam fe lumine vero
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rixa polls, vidit quanta, sub noble jaceretNostra dies, risttque sui ludibria trunci.
sect.