THE REV. CHARLES CLARK

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7756, 9 January 1891, Page 6

THE REV. CHARLES CLARK

" WESTMINSTER ABBEY." " The Valhalla of Britain," as Westminster Abbey has been aptly called, formed tbe subject for the lecture of the Rev. Charles Clark last night. The subject is a most interesting oue, and from its very interest it is exceedingly difficult for a lecturer in an hour and three-quarters to condense all that could be said upon it. The Poets' Corner in the Abbey itself would be sufficient to form the material for many lectures, and is most enticing alike to the lecturer and audience. The Abbey itself has grown up with the British nation. It is so intimately connected wich our naCional life, and is the receptacle of all our honored dead, that there are but few amongst English-speaking nations for whom its history has not some charm. Even so far removed as we in these colonies are from the site of this national burial place, it is bard to refrain from feeling deeply interested when as was the case last night, the various monuments and objecCs of interest in the Abbey are brought so vividly before our minds. In a few words of introduction Mr Clark sketched the history of the Abbey from the earliest times, and incidentally expressed the opinion that the Conquest was one of the best things that could have happened to New Zealand, inasmuch as it brought into the country that monastic life which in those days was the light and seat of learning, thereby refining and elevating the national life. Mention of the coronation chair, wbich forms one of Che most notable objects in the Abbey, as it is one of the most ancient, led Mr Clark on to discourse upon the various kings and queens of Euglaud, whose dust ia enshrined in the Abbej, and of whom so many memorials exist. Speaking of King Harry the Fifth, Mr Clark described him most aptly as the Hector of his age, and recited with great power and purity of elocution that grand battle harangue which Shakespeare lias put into his mouth, commencing " Once more unto the breach." Then passing rapidly onward, the lecturer spoke of the beautiflc.ition of the Abbey carried out by Henry VII., and referred to the institution by that monarch of a choir of monks to sing masses for the repose of his soul until the end of the world. " I have been in the Abbey many times," said Mr Clark, " but never saw chose monks." Then came an animated aud most powerful description of the two epochs iv the life of Anna Boleyn—the gorgeous pageant of her coronation in Westminster Abbey aad the mournful procession to her death on Tower Hill. The coronation of Elizabeth was next referred to, and then Mr Clark paid a tribute to the bravery and prowess of an Englishman of the Commonwealth, Drake, and referred with reprobation to the action of Charles 11. iv disinterring the bones of Cromwell and others. The action of Dean Stanley in perpetuating the memory of thesu brave men was spoken of as concrasting strougly with the wreaking of vengeance on the dust and bones of the patriots by the Merry Monarch. Then leaving the Monarchs of England for those who owned a wider realm —the poets and men of letters—Mr Clark, in a few brief sentences, described the monuments of those who are buried in tbat most interesting portion ,of the Abbey—Poets* Corner. Commencing with Chaucer, the father of English poesy, the bead roll of genius was dealt with. Coming down to the dead of later days, an eloquent tribute was paid to the memorie - ot Dean Stanley, Lady Augusta Stanley, Root. Browning aud his talented wife, W. M. Thackeray, and last, but not least, Charles Dickens. To this latter, as might be expected from one who is so devoted an admirer and so ant a student of his works, a special tribute of loving memory was paid. So on through the record of the best and purest of England's sons. The eloquence of the lecturer took his audience, finally concluding with an eloquent peroration, in which the example set by those who had parsed away was he.d up as worthy of imitation. But Mr Clark pointed out it was not alone in the Abbey that those whose lives had been marked by heroism or high qualities were laid. Though it was, as had been said, the church of the nation, yet there were outside of it, sleeping in country churchyards, many, the records of whose lives—simple as they might appear—were as full of self-sacri-fice and of devotion to their country and the welfare of others as any who had been laid to rest in the Abbey amidst the sorrow of a nation. To-night the series of these fascinating lectures, which has been all too short, will come to a close. As Mr Clark opened his renewal of acquaintance with Christchurch audiences in a work of his favorite master Dickens, so he closes his stay amongst us with recitals from some of his best known books. To-night we shall be able. once more to go on tbat memorable shooting party with Mr Pickwick, to realise the full effect of that atoning self-sacrifice of Sydney Carton, to meet with Mrs Macawber, and, above all, once again that most charming of the author's many creations, Dr. Marigold. No doubt there will be, as there ought, a large attendance on the occasion.