I.; the
golden image of St. John the Evangelist stood upon one, that of the
Confessor himself upon the other. The stone basement was entirely
covered with elaborate decorations, glass mosaic, precious stones, and
enamels; and the twisted pillars, also richly decorated, remind the
Italian traveller of those in the cloister at St. John Lateran. Within
the niches sick persons used to crouch all the long night, believing that
this mere proximity to the dead saint would cure their diseases. The
coffin itself is above, raised high, as the old writers tell us, "on a
candlestick, to enlighten the world." It was originally encased in a
wonderful feretory, made of pure gold and decorated with golden and
jewelled images of kings and queens, of saints and angels. This was
melted down, and all the valuable ornaments were sold, when Henry VIII.
suppressed the {72} monastery. The last Abbot, John Feckenham, did his
best to restore some of its former glory to St. Edward's Chapel. He
rebuilt the basement of the shrine, which the monks had concealed before
they fled, and painted over the gaps left by the theft of the mosaic
work. He also rewrote the inscriptions on all the royal tombs, probably
in most cases restoring the ancient words.

* * * * * *

[Illustration: The West End of the Confessor's Shrine, with the Modern
Altar]

* * * *

THE WEST END OF THE CONFESSOR'S SHRINE, SHOWING THE MODERN ALTAR

A small portion of the ancient shrine is given in this illustration, but
we can see the only twisted pillar which retains any of its original
Italian mosaic decoration, and behind the candlesticks is more of this
beautiful work. The altar and the gilded group and cornice over it are
of recent date, _i.e._ the Coronation of King Edward VII. and Queen
Alexandra; the red velvet pall with its blue linen cover were placed over
the tomb of the saint at the same time. A portion of the tombs of Edward
III. and Richard II. show on the south side of the chapel, with the
windows of that of St. Edmund above.

* * * * * *

Neither Feckenham nor Queen Mary could afford to pay for a new golden
top, and the present plain wooden one was perforce substituted. The only
wonder is that the royal chapel was not stripped entirely bare of its
treasures long before our time. The relics, no doubt, were taken at the
suppression of the monastery. The silv