An Empire's Shrine HISTORIC GLORIES OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 108, 8 May 1937, Page 7 (Supplement)

An Empire's Shrine HISTORIC GLORIES OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY

HISTORIC Westminster Abbey, which has witnessed so many past glories, is once again to be the background for a pageant of Royalty and Empire. On May 12, 1937, our beloved Monarch, George the Sixth, and his Queen Consort, the gracious and lovely Elizabeth, are to be the central figures in scenes of , unequalled splendour. More than six centuries have passed since the first joint coronation took place within the Abbey walls. On August 19, 1274, Edward the First and Eleanor, his wife, took the Royal Oath, and were invested with all due pomp and ceremony.

The Abbey itself is not only the loftiest ecclesiastical structure in England, but the loftiest in proportion to its breadth. There is something •olemn in its magnificence—the dim cloisters, ■hadowed with the spirit of antiquity, the quiet and seclusion of former days. Its first founder is popularly believed to have been Sebert, King of the East Saxons, the original pile rising from the ruins of a temple to Apollo. There is rather an interesting story in connection with its dedication. Qreat preparations were made for the consecration, and the appointed Bishop, Mellitus, proceeded with much ceremony to perform the service. On his way, however, he was met by a fisherman, who informed him that the ceremony had already taken place. Amazed, the worthy Mellitus demanded an explanation, and the fisherman went on to explain that St.. Peter, to whom the church was to be dedicated, had appeared to him the previous night. After announcing his intention of consecrating the edifice himself, the Apostle entered the church, which immediately became illuminated. At the conclusion of the service, St. Peter came into the fisherman's boat, and ordered him to cast his net. On drawing it in again, it 'was found to contain a miraculous draught of fishes, one of which the Apostle commanded the fisherman to present to the Bishop to signify that he had relieved him of the task of consecration. Mellitus, who was a wary man, desisted from turning back until he had entered the church personally, and found therein several evidences of the fisherman s tale. When the man produced the identical fish, any lingering doubts that he might have entertained were dispersed, and he reverently abstained from proceeding further in the matter. Whether fact or fancy, this delightful tradition is said to have been the reason why Edward the Confessor selected the place as the site of a religious house which he intended to endow. In 1045 he ordered * the demolition of the old edifice and another built in its place. At his death, his remains were deposited therein in a magnificent shrine. But it is on Henry the Third, who succeeded to the throne in 1216, that we might confer the title of the Abbey's second founder. It was he who began the reconstruction of the fabric which has given us theAbbey as we know it to-day. He determined to rebuild the eastern part of the Confessor's Noiman church, partly to gratify his own architectural tastes, and partly to provide Edward's remains with a more magnificent resting place. He began by building the Lady Chapel to the east of the Norman Aspe, and then, in 1241, he ordered the construction of a sumptuous shrine to contain the body of the Confessor. Later, faced with the difficulty of obtaining sufficient funds for the chapel's completion,

And truly he who here, Hath run his bright career. And served men nobly, and acceptance found, And borne to light and right his witness high, What could he better wish than then to die, And wait the issue, sleeping underground? Matthew Arnold on Westminster Abbey,

he had to pawn many of the precious stone* with which the shrine wil enriched. He lived to see the completion of his work, which took place some twenty-four years le'sr. One of the greatest cererr.onies during his reign was the removal of the Confessor's body to the new shrine in 1269. It is recorded that Master Henry of Westminster superintended work on the Abbey until 1253. It was continued by Master John, of Gloucester (1253-1262), and Master Robert, of Beverley (1262-I2S0). But by the time Master Henry's name disappears from the records, the work was so far advanced that he is generally __. regarded as the architect of the building as a || whole.

While dealing with the Confeasor's cliopel, mention muat be made of the historic coronation chair. This was made of oak by a carpenter named Adam, and he received £5 for his work. A painter was employed to decorate it, but he was evidently an inferior craftsman to Adam, as very little of the original design is now visible. For this work he received the princely sum of £1 7/91 The chair was made by the order of Edward, and was originally used afr the coronation I of his »on. The feet at each corner tako the form of carved lions in a modern design. Above them is the shelf which was made to support the Stone of Destiny brought by the Monarch from Scotland in 1296. According to the familiar legend, the block of hard red sandstone was the same stone that served Jacob as a pillow during his vision. From Bethel the legend traces it to Egypt and Sicily, and thence to Spain, from where it was taken to Ireland to become the Stone of Fate of the sacred Hill of Tara. Later it reached Scotland and Dunstaffnage, and finally to Scone, where the Confessor found it. , Thus says tradition, but there are a number of people who refuse to accept this theory. They believe it to be nothing more than a stone that was encased in a chair of wood, and was associated at Scpne with the coronation of Scottish kings. Who has not heard of the famous poets' corner of the Abbey? It is here that Geoffrey Chaucer sleeps within his sepulchre, and such famous personages as Browning and Lord Tennyson lie side by side. The latter died in 189 I, two years after Browning had passed to rest. Thousands attended his funeral, and there was a constant stream of pilgrims to his tomb, a fitting tribute to the man who had worn the crown of Poet Laureate for 40 years. Perhaps the spirit of Shakespeare the Immortal hovers around the quiet place. We pause here a moment amidst the tombs to repeat softly his famous lines, "All the world's a stage. And all the men and women. merely players. They have their exits and their entrances. . .** Such great names as Newton, Darwin and Livingstone, who «leep within the Abbey walls, will never die. Their bodies perish, it is true, but their deeds are written in the imperishable dust. A shaft of sunlight streams through the window*. It lingers like a benediction among the illustrious dead, as hushed footsteps echoing along the dim corridors, and finally die away altogether. Let us hope that it will shine brightly on the morrow, bringing a message of peace and goodwill from everywhere.