he grave by the seven
sons of his sovereign, he was buried here in 1806, when Dean Milman, who
was present, "heard, or seemed to hear, the low wail of the sailors who
encircled the remains of their admiral." They tore to pieces the largest
of the flags of the "Victory," which waved above his grave; the rest were
buried with his coffin.

The sarcophagus of Nelson was designed and executed for Cardinal Wolsey by
the famous Torregiano, and was intended to contain the body of Henry VIII.
in the tomb-house at Windsor. It encloses the coffin made from the mast of
the ship "L'Orient," which was presented to Nelson after the battle of the
Nile by Ben Hallowell, captain of the "Swiftsure," that, when he was tired
of life, he might "be buried in one of his own trophies." On either side
of Nelson repose the minor heroes of Trafalgar, Collingwood (1810) and
Lord Northesk; Picton also lies near him, but outside the surrounding
arches.

A second huge sarcophagus of porphyry resting on lions is the tomb where
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, was laid in 1852, in the presence of
15,000 spectators, Dean Milman, who had been present at Nelson's funeral,
then reading the services. Beyond the tomb of Nelson, in a ghastly
ghost-befitting chamber hung with the velvet which surrounded his lying in
state at Chelsea, and on which, by the flickering torchlight, we see
emblazoned the many Orders presented to him by foreign sovereigns, is the
funeral car of Wellington, modeled and constructed in six weeks, at an
expense of L13,000, from guns taken in his campaigns.

In the southwest pier of the dome a staircase ascends by 616 steps to the
highest point of the cathedral. No feeble person should attempt the
fatigue, and, except to architects, the undertaking is scarcely worth
while. An easy ascent leads to the immense passages of the triforium, in
which, opening from the gallery above the south aisle, is the Library,
founded by Bishop Compton, who crowned William and Mary, Archbishop Seeker
refusing to do so. It contains the bishop's portrait and some carving by
Gibbons.

At the corner of the gallery, on the left, a very narrow stair leads to
the Clock, of enormous size, with a pendulum 16 feet long, constructed by
Langley Bradley in 1708. Ever since, the oaken seats behind it have been
occupied by a changing crowd, waiting with anxious curiosity to see the
hammer strike its bell, and tremulously hoping to tremble at the
vibration.

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