Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Observations Made In A Visit To The Tombs In Westminster Abbey,
haps it is a likeness , but it is too large for life . The amiableness of his Queen , and his love for her , were remarkable . He cursed the palace of Sheene , because it was the place of her death , and ordered it to be destroyed ; which shewed his affection as a husband , and his weakness as a man . EDWAED ' S SWORD .
In a small space between Richard ' s tomb and that of his grandfather are the sword and shield of Edward the Third . The shield seems to have been more injured by time than by fighting . The sword rests in a small niche cut in the moulding , to keep it upright ; is about seven feet long , much too heavy for use , and was carried before Edward , through France , during the conquest of that
kingdom . Perhaps this terrible weapon never killed a man ; if it did , I should be inclined to think it was the man who carried it . HIS TOMB . Edward the Third , with his great beard , and his Queen Philippa , with her great hips , lie together . Her fatherthe Earl of ' HainauIthad many daughters . A marriage
, , having been proposed in council , between Edward and a daughter of that house , it was thought necessary to send over an embassy , in which was an English Bishop , who deemed it highly prudent to choose that lady who had the largest hips , as the most likely to establish a race of robust warriors . The design produced the effect ; for from her broad hips descended a numerous race of savageswho
, butchered one another for one hundred and seventy years , till they extinguished the very name of Plantagenet ; and till onl y two persons remained of that fertile house , Henry the Seventh and his wife ; and they retained a sovereign contempt for each other , merely because one wore a white rose , the other a red .
HENRY THE THIRD . At the feet of Edward the First lies his father , Henry the Third , in a superb tomb , which carries the striking marks of finery , although it has stood the batteries of time five hundred years . If we compare this shewy sepulchre with the plain one of his son Edwardand compare their charactersit inclines us to thinkthe
, , , weaker the man , the fonder of ornament . Henry is much the same in his tomb , as out , asleep . In 1229 , during the very fire of youth , if fire can be said to exist which never warms , at the age of twenty-five , he led a fine army into Bretagne , to play at marbles . Nothing tends more to enervate that martial spirit of a people which is ever necessary for their protectionthan
, introducing trifling amusements , instead of regular discipline . The want of this spirit was severely felt by the Britons , who , instead of repelling their invaders , called in the Saxons , who conquered both . The same want of spirit was felt after the battle of Hastings , when the English tamely submitted to be . robbed of their all .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Observations Made In A Visit To The Tombs In Westminster Abbey,
haps it is a likeness , but it is too large for life . The amiableness of his Queen , and his love for her , were remarkable . He cursed the palace of Sheene , because it was the place of her death , and ordered it to be destroyed ; which shewed his affection as a husband , and his weakness as a man . EDWAED ' S SWORD .
In a small space between Richard ' s tomb and that of his grandfather are the sword and shield of Edward the Third . The shield seems to have been more injured by time than by fighting . The sword rests in a small niche cut in the moulding , to keep it upright ; is about seven feet long , much too heavy for use , and was carried before Edward , through France , during the conquest of that
kingdom . Perhaps this terrible weapon never killed a man ; if it did , I should be inclined to think it was the man who carried it . HIS TOMB . Edward the Third , with his great beard , and his Queen Philippa , with her great hips , lie together . Her fatherthe Earl of ' HainauIthad many daughters . A marriage
, , having been proposed in council , between Edward and a daughter of that house , it was thought necessary to send over an embassy , in which was an English Bishop , who deemed it highly prudent to choose that lady who had the largest hips , as the most likely to establish a race of robust warriors . The design produced the effect ; for from her broad hips descended a numerous race of savageswho
, butchered one another for one hundred and seventy years , till they extinguished the very name of Plantagenet ; and till onl y two persons remained of that fertile house , Henry the Seventh and his wife ; and they retained a sovereign contempt for each other , merely because one wore a white rose , the other a red .
HENRY THE THIRD . At the feet of Edward the First lies his father , Henry the Third , in a superb tomb , which carries the striking marks of finery , although it has stood the batteries of time five hundred years . If we compare this shewy sepulchre with the plain one of his son Edwardand compare their charactersit inclines us to thinkthe
, , , weaker the man , the fonder of ornament . Henry is much the same in his tomb , as out , asleep . In 1229 , during the very fire of youth , if fire can be said to exist which never warms , at the age of twenty-five , he led a fine army into Bretagne , to play at marbles . Nothing tends more to enervate that martial spirit of a people which is ever necessary for their protectionthan
, introducing trifling amusements , instead of regular discipline . The want of this spirit was severely felt by the Britons , who , instead of repelling their invaders , called in the Saxons , who conquered both . The same want of spirit was felt after the battle of Hastings , when the English tamely submitted to be . robbed of their all .