A HALL OF FAME

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 63, 26 December 1935, Page 8

A HALL OF FAME

WESTMINSTER ABBEY. TOMBS' OF THE NATION’S 'GREAT. The picture conveyed to most of us by the word “Abbey” is, perhaps, one of vast grey Avails which once echoed Avith the chanting of monks; of rich, stained-glass AvindoAvs spilling rays of coloured light on ancient AvoodAvork, says a Avriter in the Melbourne “Age.” For some it may conjure up A'isions of beautiful architecture of past days; but feAV, perhaps, will think of it as the last resting place of England’s illustrious dead. Since beforo the Norman Conquest, Westminster Abbey lias watched over the last sleep of the great men and women of our race; and its Avhole atmosphere is alive Avith memories. It is strange to Avatch the quiet of their marble repose, yet to knoAv that these people hated and desired, fought and Avrangled, oA'er things which mean nothing now ; affairs that AA'cre so A r ital to them have passed on; their feuds are almost forgotten. It is to be wondered if their sleep is oblivion, or if they are aAvare of the halloAved spot in which they rest; whether the spirit of the “unknown Avarrior” knoAvs that his worldly fetters lie at the Avest end of the nave, in a grave filled with French soil and covered with a slab ' of black Belgian marble; that the Union Jack, hanging close by, is the same flag that was used at many services at the front; or yet the simple and beautiful Avords that state: Beneath this stone rests the body of a British warrior, unknoAvn by name or rank, brought from France to lie among the most illustrious of the land and buried here on Armistice Day, November 11, 1920, in the presence of his Majesty King George, his Ministers of State, the Chief of the Forces, and a vast concourse of the nation. Thus are commemorated the many multitudes who during the Great War or 1914-18 gave the most that man can give, life itself, for God, for King and Country, for loved ones at home anti Empire, for the sacred cause of justice and the freedom of the ivoild. They buried him among Kings because‘he had done good toward God and his House. Peace of coronation. Here, in this Abbey, before the High Altar, all the British sovereigns since Harold the last ol tho Saxon Kings, have been crowned. Every king and queen since the clays of Edward 1. has sat in the coronation chair to receive their crowns. Edward I. built it to contain the Scono Stone, or the Stone of Destiny, on which all the Celtic kings Aveie crowned. Wandering from chapel to chapel, probably tlie general conclusion is that Henry VlL’s Chapel is the most exquisite. Here, at the hack of the altar, and in the same grave as Henry VII. himself, lies poor timid James I. His beautiful mother, Mary Queen of Scots, Avhose body he had removed from Peterborough Cathedral, Avhere she lay for some years after her execution, lies also m the aisle of this chapel—far from her departed husbands, the gentle Dauphin, in France, the handsome Darnley, in. Scotland and the coarse Earl of BotliAvell, in Denmark. In the south aisle lies Queen Itlizaheth, in the same tomb as her hallsister, Queen Mary. A strange fate lias placed these two together in death, these two who in life knew such hatred for one another, such ardour for their different religions*; and yet they lie together in their last sleep. Under a glorious shrine lies George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham, and beside him his devoted wife. It •will be remembered that be Avas the gallant adventurer avlio from a poor squire rose to acquire a dukedom and great riches in an amazingly short time. His handsome face first attracted tho attention of James 1., avlio, as time went on, came to esteem him next to his son Charles. He was the favourite at the Court of James, and after James’ death became the valued friend and comrade of Charles. It is said that never in the history of England Avas a man so beloved by two kings. Finally, one of his many enemies stabbed him at Portsmouth; but be lived with kings and vests for ever by the side of kings. The Confessor. EdAvard the Confessor is buried in a magnificent tomb, Avhich still remains in fairly good order, in spite of the ra\*ages of time and the disturbing hands of Henry VIII., avlio took the golden shrine covering the tomb to pay his bills of pleasure. This Edward who lived before the Norman Conquest founded the Abbey on tlie site of a little dilapidated church. He built the Norman Abbey, and Avas » buried in bis own high altar; but Henry 11., Avlicn building the present Abbey, removed his body, and to-day the two kings lie side by side in marble magnificence. There is a small altar at the head of Edward’s tomb where the oil used for the anointing of sovereigns at their coronation is consecrated. Around Edward’s tomb are niches which Avere used by pilgrims for praying; it \yas at one ol these that Henry I\ ~ Avhilst praying, Avas taken suddenly ill Avith that violent sickness from Avhicli he never recovered. Nearby lies Queen Eleanor, the mother of the Black Prince; one feels that the cold marble must have thrilled AA'itb pride at the gallant feats of her son. Her two other children lie in St. Benedict’s Chapel under their tiny alabaster effigies; they died as long ago as 1340. This little cliapel can boast of only one Queen, poor slighted Anne of Clevos, the fourth Avifo of Henry VIII. The iron soul of Croimvell is remembered only by a slab of black marble. When Charles IT. came back to claim tlie throne after Croimvell’s death, tlie first thing tho Londoners did was to remove Cromwell's' body and to treat it as they thought it deserved; they decapitated it, the trunk Avas throAvn into a pit at Tyburn, and the head

was set up on a post in Westminster Hall. It Avas 20 years before a high wind managed to remove this gruesome object. The reprobate but lovable Charles 11. lies here—his We intrigues over ; the sAveefc voice of Nell Gwynne and the arrogant babble of tho Countess of Castlemaine are stilled. The tomb of EdAvard I. (not the Confessor) is the largest and plainest in the Abbey. It Avas he avlio built the beautiful crosses in memory of his beloved Avife Eleanor. She died at ■Grantham in the north, and in having her body removed to London at every place Avhere her bearers rested en route he had a cross erected. Charing Cross, the last, perhaps derived its name from the Avords “C’here Reine” (Fr. Dear Queen). It was the prettiest gesture a king ever made. Today they lie side by side in the Abbey. Above the dust of Henry V. are preserved the saddle, SAVord, and helmet that he used at Agincourt; their services over, they hang in the reflected glory of his deeds. Poets' Corner. Poet’s Corner is rather croAvded; the men of old did not seem to think that space in the Abbey Avas limited. Ben Jonson, a frie. \d of Shakespeare, was buried standing upright in ground 18 inches square. Here, above the doorAvay, is a flight of stone steps ■ they are tho original stairs used by the monks Avhen the Benedictines liad a small monastery attached to the Abbey in the Confessor’s time; the grooves mark the passing feet of the monks. In the dark cloisters and vaults underneath the Abbey are kept the relics of the ancient monastery. It is now used as a museum. Up a Avinding stair, over one of the chapels, you Avill find the famous AvaxAvorks Avhich Avere originally made to rest on the Abbey graves until permanent memorials Avere ready. They are probably very true to life; Elizabeth and Charles 11. are said to be exact in every detail. Nelson, too, is here in wax, though his body lies in St. Paul’s. Tho Chapter House, Avitli its original tiled floor, AA'as a place of assembly for the monks, and later Avas used as a House of Commons —being tlie only House of Parliament England had at tlie time. The Crown jewels Avere kept here before they were taken to the ToAver. And so one could go on and on in this great storehouse; it would take many days to explore and examine all tlie curious relics in this A’ast building, and even Avith that done there would still he the cloisters which perhaps are just as alluring, and St. Margaret’s, close by, therein Sir Walter Raleigh is buried, and where. the famous Pepys, that most inquisitiA-e of citizens, Avas married. According to tradition, a temple to Apollo once stood on the Abbey site, so this spot has always been a place of devotion; small Avonder it lias been described as having unearthly beauty —“This history of our race carved in stone.” Taking a last look as you turn to go, the statues seem like a white blur in that dim religious light, and you think that if you listen, you might hear the low chanting of the monks and the soft tread of their passing feet.