The Sun.
London, England, 1826-05-02 00:00:00

[THE REPRESENTATIVE.]
_ . _

We had been led to imagine, that the way in which
,he attack made, about a fortnight ago, on the Dean
and Chapter of Westminster, had been received by
the House, would have prevented a recurrerree of it,
at least during the present Session. But we find that
we miscalculated the effrontery of the party who made
it. To-night it will be renewed in a shape somewhat
modified,. though in substance the same. We have
already expressed very fully our opinion of the prin-
ciple involved in this discussion. Westminster Abbey
never was a parish church ; it was founded in very
early times as an establishment for a community of
monks. 'By the 27th Henry VIII., this Abbey, like
Woburn, Newstead, and' other Similar institutions,
was dissolved, and became absolutely vested in the
Crown ; under the authority of this Act, Henry VIII.
or his successors, might have conferred it upon a lay-
men, as a private inheritance. The Dean and Chap-
ter hold the Abbey, and the monuments which it con-
tained at the time of the grant, by letters patent from
the Crown. These letters patent are similar in sub-
st;ince and effect to those under which the private
Owners of what was once monastic property hold
their estates, The Dean and Chapter are not, therefore,
either morally ur legally, more liable to be called upon
by Parliament to produce their title than the present
lay possessor of land which was formerly attached to
monastic establishments. The same principle which
would justify Parliament in calling upon the Dean
and Chapter to produce their title-deeds would justify
Parliament in requiring the Duke of Bedford or Col:
Viildinan to show the title by which Woburn or New:
stead Abbey is held. We admit that the Dein and
Chapter hold the Abbey under the trusts and restric-
tions contained in the charter. by which it was con
ferrea upon them. If it can be sliewn that they
'withhold rights or privilege's to which the public
are entitled, the Courts of, Law are open to the ag-
grieved, who may, through this constitutional chan-
eel, obtain every redress. If, for instance, they
exact from the visitors of the Abbey more than they
have a right to demand, or if they exclude the public
from a place which. they are entitled to enter, let
the question be set at rest by a legal adjudication
before the authorized tribunals of the Country:—
The clamour raised against the Dean and Chapter,
on account of charges which are now made for. ad-
mission into the Abbey, appears to us in the highest
degree illiberal. It is alleged, that until the. late
Coronation the naie, and that part of the- Abbey
denominated the " Poets' Corner,' were open to the
inspection of the public, free of all charge. We have
inquired into the truth of this assertion, and find that,
in point 'of fact, the publiC were freely admitted to
these parts of the' Abbey up to the' time here men-
tioned ; but we find, also, that this unrestricted ad-
mission of the' laUblic had brought about a complete
deseeratiOn of these parts, constituting as they do more
than one-half of that venerable gild beautiful
The trade men ofthe neighboiirlibOd, of all grades and
trieitiPilagiii°lfiaiB4',l Itandreoulg6ll theythe Abbey a common
daily carried their
trays and:baskets';' and Sir .Jolin Wrottesley, whose'
memory IS so 'scriipulously minute and riCcurafe'on this
su!)l9ct, must, we Should think, remember that the
nionumenta were inokeit- arid' defaced,' and that the
pavement rind *ells' *ire in a Verk dlfiiinsive state; The

condition into part of the Abbey, in conse-
quince, had fallen, excited loud complaints against
the Dean and Chapter.. They have remedied what
every man not destitute of every spark of feeling, as
well as taste, considered a crying evil : the Church
has been thoroughly -cleaned, the monuments have
been- repaired, and, in order to prevent the recurrence
of the evils which had been so loudly, and, as we
think, so justly complained of formerly, they have
closed the doors against the public, except upon the
payment of an admission fee. This fee forms, we
apprehend, the ground of the charges which are now
made against the. Dean and Chapter : it is not, we
suppose, meant to contend that they were wrong in
cleaning the church and monuments, but that they are
wrong in exacting a fee for permission to view these
monuments: Now -what is the amount of the
fee, about which so much of the time of Parlia-
ment has been consumed ? - Why, it amounts to the
enormous sum of threepence. For threepence
any man may see more than one-half the interior
of Westminster Abbey, and probably more than
half . the monuments which it contains. When-
ever Sir John Wrottesley feels inclined to nourish
his melancholy, and muse over the perishable memo-
rials of human fame, he has only to put his hand in
his pocket and pay ;threepence ; he may then take
his fill of contemplation among the tombs. We are
really surprised that the taste of the worthy Baronet
has not saved him from meddling with a subject so
pitiful ; from making common cause with a faction
whiCh never lets slip an opportunity of attacking the
ecclesiastical institutions of this country. His inven-
tion must be excessively barren if he cannot discover
a better subject on which he may indulge his innocent
love of speech-making. Of the ancient right of ap-
pointing persons to the office of keeping and showing
the monuments, the Dean and Chapter possess the
fullest and most- irresistible evidence. This office was
formerlyconferred by patent ; before the time of the
Commonwealth it was granted for life ; after the Resto-
ration the Dean and Chapter formed the determination
of conferring it only during their pleasure ; and, under
this restriction, the office seems to have been given to
various persons in succession until the close of the se-
venteenth century; when (in 1697? the keeping of
the monuments, and the receipts of the
.profits to be
derived• from shewing them, were assigned to the
members of the choir, in whom they have remained
from that period down to the present time. It is
further mentioned; that the public have a right to
enter the Abbey at all times, free of All charges, to
view monuments erected at the expellee of the Trea-
sury. This is a singular argument ; for the liberty of
erecting these monuments the public paid nothing ;
the Dean and Chapter granted it without a fee. Now,
the public turn round upon -them and. say—" You
made us a present of the space now occupied bypublic
monuments, which you might have disposed of for
large spins to private individuals ; abut having re-
ceived this much fr-om your indulgence, we will exact
more from your weakness; you shall repair and
clean these monuments at your own cost ; you shall
employ and pay people to guard and preserve them,
and we will still compel you to permit us to view them
without offeringyou any compensation for the burden
and expence which we bring upon you." The majority
of the thinking part of the nation is much too ho-
nourable and just to sanction for o 'moment an argu-
ment so monstrous. It is made a ground of complaint
against this body, that they do not make the members
of the choir such an allowance Out of their own reve-
nue as their charter and statutes require. Even ad-
mitting the fact to be as it is here stated, this is a ques-
tion which exclusively concerns the parties themselves;
the public have nothing whatever to do with it ; if the
members of the choir hive ground to be dissatisfied,
either with the amount or the mode of their remune-
ration, the way to obtain redress is open to them.—
But the assertion that the Dean and Chapter make no
allowance to this body is a palpable delusion. They
distribute among them about 1,500/. per annum ; be-
ing the average amount of the collections made at the
door of the Abbey. They might, if they thought
proper, put the money thus received into their com-
mon chest, and pay afterwards to the members of the
choir stated stipends. The fees paid at the door of
the Abbey, thus constitute merely a compensation for
the expense incurred by the Dean and Chapter in
cleaning the Church and preserving the monuments,
together with a liberal remuneration for the loss which
the Dean and Chapter. had sustained in the appro-
priation of a large portion of the Abbey walls to the
erection of public monuments.