throughout the vast edifice gave profound solemnity to a scene that can
never pass from recollection.

When the service had closed, an intelligent verger acted as my guide. New
chapels and aisles seemed to open in all directions. Before we had
completed the circuit, it seemed as if we were going through another
Westminster Abbey. In one cornear is the "Warrior's Chapel," crowded with
the tombs of knights whose effigies, in full armor, lie recumbent on
elaborate bases. Henry IV. and his second queen lie in the Becket Chapel
under an elegant canopy, between two immense Norman pillars. On the other
side, between two other pillars, lies the Black Prince, with recumbent
statue in full armor. Suspended above the canopy are his coat of mail and
the helmet and shield he wore at Cressy.

In the center of this chapel, and between these two monuments, formerly
stood Thomas à Becket's famous shrine. The chapel was added to the
cathedral for the express purpose of receiving his remains. At the height
of the pilgrimages, about 100,000 people are said to have visited it every
year. The steps that lead to it show how they were deeply worn by
pilgrims, who ascended in pairs on their knees. Where stood the shrine the
pavement has also been worn deeply down to the shape of the human knee by
pilgrims while in prayer. Each pilgrim brought an offering, and nothing
less than gold was accepted. Not alone the common people, but princes,
kings and great church dignitaries from foreign lands came with gifts.
Erasmus was here in 1510 and wrote of the Becket shrine that it "shone and
glittered with the rarest and most precious jewels of an extraordinary
largeness, some larger than the egg of a goose."

The brilliant duration of these pilgrimages came finally to a sudden end.
During the Reformation, Henry VIII. seized and demolished the shrine. The