The Burial of the Duke of Wellington
The pageant attending the burial of the Duke of Wellington, in St. Paul's Cathedral, was the most impressive that London had ever witnessed. The funeral car upon which his casket was borne to the tomb was made of gun metal from cannon captured on the battlefield of Waterloo. Old Temple Bar was entirely draped in black, as were all the public buildings; for, with great ceremony, the Duke had been honored with free citizenship of the City of London, and "the City" was burying an honored citizen, as well as the nation's hero. As the great procession reached the Cathedral, headed by the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen of the City, followed by Royalty and the Chiefs of the Army and Navy, with rank and file, and by thousands of citizens, the "Great Tom" pealed out in deepest tones the number of years "The Iron Duke" had lived upon the earth, eighty-three. Born near Dublin, Ireland, May 1st, 1769; died September 14th, 1852. While the organ played his funeral dirge, the casket of the Duke was lowered through the floor of the chancel until it rested, temporarily, upon the tomb of Admiral Nelson in the crypt beneath.
Tennyson, the poet laureate, in his ode upon the death of the Duke of Wellington opens Stanza IV. with, as it were, an inquiry from Lord Nelson:
With banner and with music, with soldiers and with priest,
With a nation weeping and breaking on my rest?
Mighty Seaman this is he
Was great by land as thou by sea.
Thine island loves thee well, thou famous man,
The greatest sailor since our world began.
Now, to the roll of muffled drums,
To thee the greatest soldier comes;
For this is he
Was great by land as thou by sea."