, 1874-02-21


acteriatics Of Westminster Abbey, that whic
most endears it to tho naton and gives NOR
forco to its name, ia not that Kings are croune
there, or buried there; not ita school; not it
monastery. its chapter, or it's sanctuary, or th
fact that it is the resting-plaee Of famous En-
glishmen; it ia not only Rheims Cathedral an'
! st. Depy's both in one, but it is what th
! Pantheon was intended to be in France, wha
the Valhaila is in Germany what Santa Croce i
to Italy. 1t is this which inspired the saying o
| Nelson,
VICTORY Or WESTMINSTER ABBEY
and which las inteztwined. it with so mani
eloquent passages OF Macaulay. It is this
which gives point to the allusion Of recent Non
! conformist statesmen, least inclined to draw il
lustrations from ecclesiastical buildings. 1t il
this which gives most prohise Of vitality tc
| the whole Institution. Kings are no longer
buried within its walls; oven the splendor oi
pageants have ceased to attract. But the desire
to be buried there is as strong .as ever. !. . .
As the couucu Of the Nation and tho Courts Of
the Law have pressed into the Palace Of
Westminster, and eDgirdled ths very
Throne itself, SO tho ashes Of tho great
citizcns Of England have pressed into the sepul.
chre, and surrounded them as with . guard Of
honor after their DEATH"
OF tho dead Queens who sleep within the
mouruful msgnlhcence" of the old place, Mr.
Kingsley spoke thus beautifully: "In the south
aisle OF Henry the Wills Chapel lies in royal
pomp che who Was SO long Englanda baue, tho
daughter Of debate,-poor
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.
English and Scot alike have forgotten the stream
OF noble blood she cost their nations, and lock
sadly and pityingly upon her e1tigy. Why not2
"'Nothing is left Of her
Now, but pure. woman1y.f
And in the corresponding aisle upon the north
pcoplo demanded from the son Of Mary Stuart,
lies even sadder figure still the poor
QUEEN ELIZABETH
To her indeed, in her last days, vanity OF yani-
ties, al was vanity. Tyrones rebellion killed
her. This fruit have OF all my labors under
the sun; and, with whole book OF Ecclesias-
tcs written Oh her mighty heart, the old
crowned Ioness coiled herself up in her
lair, refused food, and died; and has
her place hencoforth opposite to her dear
havo slain her il she could, and whom she had at
last to alay. They have made up their quarrel
now"
He thus closed his lecture, after describing
THE GRAND OLD ABBEY,
with tta forests OF columns its 'sErand heights
and severe proportions" the beauty OF its lofty,
nany-colo1ed roof, ~ only poet and one daily
familiar with it, could desEribe it: " "One word
more: It may be not merely sentimental, but
foolish and dangerous, to wish for too much; as
faucied her fairy palaco was incomplete until
she had q Roc's egg to suspend from the dome,
and, trying to get that one forbidden thing, lost
her fairy palace and all its treasures. And yet
/, Canon OF Westminster, long for q Roc's egg
for our old Abbey,-fancying that, 80 far from
helping todestroy, it may help to preserve those
sacred wal1s,-even for the dust OF somo great
American. The day may conc-1 trust il will
come before I die-when, in that great new
cloister which it is proposed to build outsde and
fiu with the heroes of-Heaven grant-the next |
Thousand years, We may have charge Of
moro than one great Colonial But |
lust because you are not Colonia1s,-
still, however worthy and aple in stdtu !
because you are full-grown aud |
uation,-a man whom England, |
through many pangs and many sins, has borne |
nto the world, Therefore, I long for the tomb
II at least /
-. ONE GREAT AMERICAN"
or that American who slept for such brief /
eaapn there, he touchingly said: 'Ah, that we T
:ould have kept him as token that the great
Abbey and all its memories OF 800 years do not I
,e1ong to Us alone nor to the British Empire t
lone and all its Colonies, but to America like
rise! That, when an American enters beneath |
hat mighty shade, he trcads on common an-
estral ground, as sacred to him as to us."
Alr. Hngsley's lecture, besides being finished
nd scholarly, more like beautiful essay than
nything else,-was one continued expression Of
he friendship no feels for us,-a friendship +
'hich we feel ia SINCERE, especially since >ho de-
les ever having entertained towards us-of tho
!orth-the bitter feelings which hare been at
tibuted to him. 4, T. f.