The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-27 00:00:00

IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY

(THIS DAY).

This afternoon the greatest Englishman of our
day was solemnly interred in Westminster Abbey.
They managed those things, however, we cannot
but think, with far greater solemnity in the time of
our grand-fathers. For, is it not related that
some seventy or eighty years ago, six Princes of
the Blood Royal bore the funeral pall of David
Garrick, Play-A ctor, Theatrical Manager, Wit
and Dramatist, when the remains of that accom-
plished mimic were laid in the grave in that same
old Abbey at Westminster ? To-day, howbeit, no
Princes of the Blood proffered the like tribute of
respect and admiration to all that was yet left for
the nation still to honour of the foremost Statesman,
Administrator, and Parliamentary Tactician of
the age of Victoria. Ten Cabinet Ministers, how-
ever, bearing the Pall of the Lord Viscount
Palmerston, Knight of the Garter, and what
not, of that venerable and Patriotic English-
man, who was yet Prime Minister of England
while breathing his last, although arrived at the
great age of Eighty-one--Ten Cabinet Ministers,
we say, bearing his pall, formed a very noble sub-
stitute for the Six Princes of the Blood who bore
the pall of David Garrick. Among the concourse
of illustrious personages, moreover, who were to-day
assembled together under the ancient roof-beams of
Westminster Abbey to pay their last tribute of re-
spect to the great name of Palmerston, was con-
spicuously observable the Heir Apparent to the
Crown of these Realms, his Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales. Other members of the Royal Family
were also present—very noticeable among them being
his Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief.
There, too, were all the great dignitaries of the
State. The new Premier, late Chief Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs. The Lord High Chan-
cellor. The Archbishop of Canterbury—adminis-
trators—Lords temporal and spiritual—most of the
leading members of both Houses, and besides these
leaders of men in our generation, a vast concourse
gathered together within the Abbey walls from the
ranks of the general multitude. Nevertheless, al-
though there were no doubt immense numbers
present to take part, if only spectators, in to-day's
proceedings, those proceedings were hardly worthy
(beyond the simple fact of those numbers) of a
great national ceremonial. In point of fact, the
only Public Funeral worthy of the name as a
National Demonstration, within the range of our
own remembrance, was that which conducted the
remains of the great Duke of Wellington to the
scene of his sublime sepulture in St. Paul's
Cathedral. In no way comparable to that,
of course, was the Funeral ceremony of this
afternoon ; it was by . comparison a Public
Funeral, as it were, in undress. No Earl
Marshal of England or Deputy Earl Marshal
presided over the conduct of the day's proceedings.
No Garter King at Arms stood beside the open
grave, and after reciting the names, styles, and
titles of the deceased notability, broke his wand of
office in token of the close of the great man's
career, and cast the fragments of it afterwards upon
the coffin below. Along the path of the Procession
from Cambridge-house, Piccadilly, to the Western
Porch of the old Abbey, at Westminster, there
were (for such honour as the fact we are here an-
nouncing may be deemed to confer) almost as many
people as lined the roadways and footpaths to wel-
come Garibaldi on his arrival in London. Within
the sacred edifice, however, were far greater num-
bers than were assembled together there a few
years since to witness the solemn interment of the
remains of Lord Normanby.
Within the Abbey the general arrangements were
as follows :—The nave was appropriated to the oc-
cupation of those who have been successful appli-
cants for tickets. They represented the public, and
necessarily their number was limited to about 1,500.
The choir was set apart exclusively for the mourners
and relatives of the deceased, the members of Lord
PalmeErston's Cabinet, the dean and canons, the
minor canons, and the choristers.
In the south transept, familiarly known as Poets'
Corner, there was a lofty gallery erected, rising to
the string course of the triforium. This gallery
was devoted to the use of the inited peers and com-
moners who had received special invitations, and
who assembled in the Jerusalem Chamber. The
sacrarium in front of the altar was set apart for the
Right Hon. the Lord Mayor and such other repre-
sentatives of provincial corporations present on the
occasion. The " eagle," or lecturn, from which the
lessons are commonly read, was removed, and upon
that spot, when the body was borne into the choir
it was rested during the performance of the earlier
portion of the burial service. As the south transept
is familiarly known as Poets' Corner, so the north
bears its title, the " Statesmen's Transept." Such
indeed it is, for there rests all that was mortal of
Canning, Pitt, Fox, Castlereagh, Wilberforce, and
the " Great Earl"—Chatham. It will be remem-
bered that beneath the western arches of this tran-
sept there is a succession of colossal marble monu-
ments. The one nearest to the door, opening into
St. Margaret's Churchyard, is Lord Chatham's.
Next to it, and nearer to the choir, is an immense
marble construction representing the Sea God and
Britannia mourning their heroes, whose names are
engraved upon shields suspended upon a trophy.
The inscription upon the pediment of this monu-
mental structure tells that the King and Parliament
erected it to commemorate the valour of three offi-
cers, Captain W. Bayne, Captain W. Blair, and
Lord Robert Manners, who served under Sir G.
Brydges- Rodney. Close to the foot of this monu-
ment the vault was constructed which received the
remains of our late Prime Minister—the grave
beyond it, and more in the centre of the transept,
being that of Charles James Fox. On the opposite
side is Canning's. In the centre, again, beyond
Fox's, and nearer the choir, are the graves of Pitt
and Castlereagh.
The procession commenced to form at Cambridge
House shortly before 12 o'clock, and moved off in
the following order :

Two hundred of the London Irish Volunteers.
Sixty of the Romsey Volunteers.
Corporation of Bolton.
Corporation of Salford.
Corporation of Dunstable.
Donor Harbour Board.
Corporation of Stirling.
Corporation of Oxfard."
Corporation of Sunderland.
Corporation of Birmingham.
Corporation of Wolverhampton.
Corporation of Bradford.
Corporation of Macclesfield.
Corporation of Liverpool.
Corporation of Portsmouth.
Corporation of Southampton.
Corporation of Glasgow.
Corporation of Edinburgh.
Corporation of Tiverton.
Loudon Irish Volunteers.
Romsey Volunteers.
Corporation of Romsey.
Corporation of Sandwich.
Corporation of Hastings.
Six Officers of the Naval Reserve.
Trinity House Corporation.ry