THE FUNERAL OF ALPHONSO XII.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2197, 18 January 1886, Page 2

THE FUNERAL OF ALPHONSO XII.

Of all the vast heritage of Spain the ono thing which she certainly has left to her is picturesqueness. As we read the report of King Alphonso's funeral we aro back in the depths of the Middle Ages. At the Escurial, wo are told, " the procession slowly wound up the hill to tho monastery. Whon tho funeral car reached tho principal door it was closed. The Lord Chamberlain knocked for admittance, A voice inside asked,' Who wishes to enter?' Tho doors were then thrown open No one descended to the vault except the Prior, the Minister of Grace and Justice, aud tho Lord Chamberlain. The coffin was placed on a table in a magnificent black marble vault, in which the Kings of Spain lie in huge marble coffins all around. The Lord Chamberlain unlocked the coffin, which was covered with cloth of gold, raised the glass covering from the King's face, then, after requesting perfect silence, _ knelt down and shouted three times in tho dead Monarch's car, 'Senoiy Sonor, Senor.' He then rose, sayiug, according to the ritual, 'His Majesty does not answer. Then it is true the King is dead.' He locked tho coffin, handed the keys to the Prior, and takiiiff up his wand of office, broke it in his hand, and flung tho pieces at the foot of the table." What perfection of mm en sane. In what other country of tho modern world is such a function possiblo? The Vatican itself is comparatively prosaic, and even grotesque, in its ceremonial. As for our English ceremonies, even the solemnest, thoy aro mere puppet shows compared with this magnificently mounted drama,