WESTMINSTER ABBEY. "When I behold, with deep astonishment, Whome all the world which late they stood upon Life is a frost of cold felicitie, And death the thaw of all our vanitie." CHRISTOLERO'S Epigrams, by T. B. 1598. ON one of those sober and rather melancholy days, in the latter part of autumn, when the shadows of morning and evening almost mingle together, and throw a gloom over the decline of the year, I passed several hours in rambling about Westminster Abbey. There was something congenial to the season in the mournful magnificence of the old pile; and as I passed its threshold, it seemed like stepping back into the regions of antiquity, and losing myself among the shades of former ages. 5. Minster (A.-S. minstre or mynster; Low Lat. monasterium). In Germany and in England this title is given to several large cathedrals or cathedral churches; as, York Minster, the Minster of Strasburg, etc. It is also found in the names of places which owe their origin to a monastery; as, Westminster, the minster or monastery of the West. Westminster is a city and borough, and forms the west portion of London. Westminster Abbey is in the form of a Latin cross; it is 511 feet long by 203 wide across the transepts. For the word abbey see p. 8, line 155. I entered from the inner court of Westminster School, 10 through a long, low, vaulted passage, that had an almost subterranean look, being dimly lighted in one part by circular perforations in the massive walls. Through this dark avenue I had a distant view of the cloisters, with the figure of an old verger, in his black gown, moving along their shadowy 15. vaults, and seeming like a spectre from one of the neighboring tombs. The approach to the abbey through these gloomy monastic remains prepares the mind for its solemn contemplation. The cloisters still retain something of the quiet and seclusion of former days. The gray walls are discolored by 20 damps, and crumbling with age; a coat of hoary moss has gathered over the inscriptions of the mural monuments, and obscured the death's-heads and other funereal emblems. The sharp touches of the chisel are gone from the rich tracery of the arches; the roses which adorned the keystones have lost 25 their leafy beauty; everything bears marks of the gradual dilapidations of time, which yet has something touching and pleasing in its very decay. The sun was pouring down a yellow autumnal ray into the square of the cloisters, beaming upon a scanty plot of grass, 30 10. Westminster School was founded by Queen Elizabeth. It retains the old dormitory of the abbey, and the old refectory of the abbot is now used as the Hall of the whole establishment. There is a "foundation" for forty boys, who are called "Queen's Scholars." Many distinguished men have been pupils there; among them, Ben Jonson. 11. Subterranean (from Lat. sub, under, and terra, the earth), under the surface of the earth, underground. 14. Cloisters (Fr. cloître; A.-S. claustr; Lat. claustrum, an enclosed place, from Lat. claudere, to shut or shut in), covered passages extending around the inner walls of monasteries; the monks had their lectures in them. Similar rooms elsewhere are sometimes called cloisters. 15. Verger (Fr. verge, a rod, from Lat. virga, a rod), an officer who carries a wand before a judge as an emblem of authority; also an attendant upon a church dignitary, as upon a bishop; also a pew-opener, or attendant in a church. 18. Monastic, pertaining to a monastery (a house of religious seclusion for monks or sometimes for nuns) or to its inmates. 22. Mural, pertaining to a wall. (Lat. murus, wall.) in the centre, and lighting up an angle of the vaulted passage with a kind of dusky splendor. From between the arcades the eye glanced up to a bit of blue sky or a passing cloud, and beheld the sun-gilt pinnacles of the abbey towering into the azure heaven. 35 As I paced the cloisters, sometimes contemplating this mingled picture of glory and decay, and sometimes endeavoring to decipher the inscriptions on the tombstones which formed the pavement beneath my feet, my eye was attracted to three figures, rudely carved in relief, but nearly worn away by 40 the footsteps of many generations. They were the effigies of three of the early abbots: the epitaphs were entirely effaced; the names alone remained, having no doubt been renewed in later times (Vitalis. Abbas. 1082, and Gislebertus. Crispinus. Abbas. 1114, and Laurentius. Abbas. 1176). I re- 45 mained some little while, musing over these casual relics of antiquity, thus left like wrecks upon this distant shore of time, telling no tale but that such beings had been and had perished; teaching no moral but the futility of that pride which hopes still to exact homage in its ashes, and to live in 50 an inscription. A little longer, and even these faint records will be obliterated, and the monument will cease to be a memorial. Whilst I was yet looking down upon these gravestones, I was roused by the sound of the abbey clock, reverberating from buttress to buttress, and echoing among the 55 41. Effigies (Lat. effigies, an image; Lat. e or ex, out, forth, and fingere to fashion). An effigy is commonly the head, bust, or full-length portrait in sculpture, etc. 44. Vitalis. Abbas. 1082, etc. In Vitalis's time the first history of the abbey was written by one of his monks. Gislebert was the author of various scholastic treatises. Lawrence procured from the Pope the canonization of the Confessor. 46. Casual (Lat. casus, a fall; fr. cadere, to fall, to happen), accidental. 55. Buttress (Fr. bouter, to thrust, or aboutir, to border on, to abut), a structure of masonry or brickwork, built to resist the horizontal thrust or pressure of another structure, as of a wall. Buttresses are much used in Gothic architecture. cloisters. It is almost startling to hear this warning of departed time sounding among the tombs, and telling the lapse of the hour, which, like a billow, has rolled us onward towards the grave. I pursued my walk to an arched door opening to the interior of the abbey. On entering here, the magnitude of the building breaks fully upon the mind, contrasted with the vaults of the cloisters. The eyes gaze with wonder at clustered columns of gigantic dimensions, with arches springing from them to such an amazing height; and man wandering about their bases, shrunk into insignificance in comparison with his own handiwork. The spaciousness and gloom of this vast edifice produce a profound and mysterious awe. We step cautiously and softly about, as if fearful of disturbing the hallowed silence of the tomb; while every footfall whispers along the walls, and chatters among the sepulchres, making us more sensible of the quiet we have interrupted. 65 70 It seems as if the awful nature of the place presses down upon the soul, and hushes the beholder into noiseless reverence. We feel that we are surrounded by the congregated bones of the great men of past times, who have filled history 75 with their deeds, and the earth with their renown. And yet it almost provokes a smile at the vanity of human ambition, to see how they are crowded together and jostled in the dust; what parsimony is observed in doling out a scanty nook, a gloomy corner, a little portion of earth, to those 80 whom, when alive, kingdoms could not satisfy; and how many shapes and forms and artifices are devised to catch the casual notice of the passenger, and save from forgetfulness, for a few 62. Vaults (Ital. volta, a turn; Lat. volvěre, to roll). In architecture, an arched ceiling or roof. 77. Provoke (Latin pro, forth, and vocare, to call), to call out, to cause, to occasion. 78. Jostled (Fr. jouster, to knock). To jostle is properly to thrust or push with the elbows. 79. Parsimony (Lat. parcere, to spare; parsimonia, or parcimonia, sparingness, frugality). The word usually denotes an excess of frugality, niggardliness, stinginess. short years, a name which once aspired to occupy ages of the world's thought and admiration. 85 95 I passed some time in Poets' Corner, which occupies an end of one of the transepts or cross aisles of the abbey. The monuments are generally simple, for the lives of literary men afford no striking themes for the sculptor. Shakespeare and Addison have statues erected to their memories; but the greater 90 part have busts, medallions, and sometimes mere inscriptions. Notwithstanding the simplicity of these memorials, I have always observed that the visitors to the abbey remained longest about them. A kinder and fonder feeling takes place of that cold curiosity or vague admiration with which they gaze on the splendid monuments of the great and the heroic. They linger about these as about the tombs of friends and companions; for indeed there is something of companionship between the author and the reader. Other men are known to posterity only through the medium of history, which is contin- 100 ually growing faint and obscure; but the intercourse between the author and his fellow-men is ever new, active, and immediate. He has lived for them more than for himself; he has sacrificed surrounding enjoyments, and shut himself up from the delights of social life, that he might the more intimately 105 commune with distant minds and distant Well ages. may the world cherish his renown; for it has been purchased, not by deeds of violence and blood, but by the diligent dispensation of pleasure. Well may posterity be grateful to his memory; for he has left it an inheritance, not of empty names and 110 sounding actions, but whole treasures of wisdom, bright gems of thought, and golden veins of language. 86. Poets' Corner. This is said to have derived its name from the fact that the poet Chaucer was the first literary man buried there. Some authors not buried in the abbey have monuments in it. 89. Shakespeare. Born 1564; died 1616. 90. Joseph Addison. 1672-1719. His reputation rests principally upon his numerous Essays, written for the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian. 91. Medallions, circular tablets on which figures are embossed. They resemble medals. (Fr. medaille; Ital. medaglia; a coin of half a certain value, from Latin medietas, half, from medius, in the middle of.) |