Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-04-04
WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
A Young Tennesseean AmOng the
Monuments Of highlands Great Ones
The Obsequies Of Sir Charles LyeII.
To the Union and American:
LONDON, March 15.-"Lyell's Princi-
pies" was the name Of a book which was
very familiar to me in my school days.
From its pages imbibed pretty much all
l snOW-Or, rather knew Of geology. Prot.
Huxley said, in a recent lecture on the sea,
tina. Sir Charles Lyell was the greatest of
modern geOlOgians. And now l have seen
him buried IN Westminster Abbey. Of
him has Dean Stanley wOrthily remarked
that s'the illustriOus student of geology
who has just passed away was the first TO
establish on a sure foundation the doctrine
now so we'll understood and believed, that
the frame of this earth was gradually
brought into its present state by the slow
and silent action Of causes operating, as
we see them operating now, through long
succession Of ages, reaching back beyond
the memory or Imagination Of man."
Most of US are familiar with the burial
service Of the Episcopal Church, and there
are few who viii deny the beauty of its
simplicity as well as appropriateness, but
no one could have been present, as l was,
at the performance Of that sad rite in the
ancient Abbey without having forced upon
him new ideas concerning its sOlemnity
and grandeur.
i had expected TO find a crowd assembled,
so went eayly to the Abbey, but 1 suppose
the wretched weather we are now having
kept many away that would have liked to
come. / obtained a fair position at the
lower end Of Nave, with my back resting
upon the memorial of William Pitt. |
had been in the Abbey before, in the month
Of June last, but 1 was then rather dis
appointed, but now that have had the
opportunity Of viewing some Of the archi-
tectural beauties Of the Continental Cathe-
drals l found myself better able to dis
tinguish and compare the magni6cence
with which ! was surrounded. England's
grand monument looked perfect to me to-
day. The high arched, mosaic inlaid roof,
supported by hundreds of magnifcently
carved columns, stretching away in perspec-
tive with only break at the transcept and
ending with tile curved semi-arch, with its
keystone Immediately above the high altar,
all-blsnding with the melloWed light of
many kD4DlCN " AOmc-AA4oAC ~ oEClA . III
place for the solemn ceremony was about
to witness.
At one o'clock the Abbey bell began TO
toll, aud soon after the swell of the organ
and the voices of the choir echoed through
the vast edifice. 81 am the resurrection and
the life" the first words Of the service for
the dead, thrilled me through and through,
as l heard them, while the boy singers, with
L.. h
sentences, to which Purcell has arranged
such beautiful music allowed the har-
mOny TO swell and die away as if the very
soul was speaking its grief. Following the
choir came the Abbey chapter Of clergy,
including the canons and minOr-canOns.
Then came the venerable and very reverend
Dean of Westminster, an aged but by no
means a decTepit looking man, surrounded
by his veTgers and prOciOrs with their maces
and Wands of Office. Next in the process
sion was the coffin Of polished oak en-
closing, as is usual, a leaden one, in which
lay the body Of Charles Lyell. a deep black
velvetpall was thrown over the coffin, almost
concealing the six men who bore it upon
their shoulders. Many distinguished men
held the edges Of the pail, among whom
recognized Professors Tyndall and Huxley.
The mOurners and mutes followed. Ad-
vancing down the main aisle the procession
passed through the rood screen which di-
Vided the nave from the choir, the brazen
gates were shut and the ceremony began.
The antiphOnal chant was sung, the pOr-
ton Of Scripture appointed was read, and
the gates were thrown open again. The
cOncOurse gathered around the spot in the
side aisle. where a slab had been taken
from the floor. The body was lowered
into the excavation; Dean Stanley con-
signed "earth to earth, ashes 10 ashes, and
dust to dust" the choir sang an additional
anthem, the benedictiOn was given, and
while the mOUrnful drum music Of the
"Dead March" from Saul crashed from the
great Or-au, the nOuTner, the friend and
the sigbt-seer went their several ways.
l did not leave the Abbey, however.
There are two tOmbs Of those who have
lived, worked and gone upon the last jour
ney that everyone seeks when in London.
The first l easily found by the number Of
people clustered around the memorial
stone. Il was a square block Of blush
cOl0red marble let into the floor Of the South
TRANSCRIPT on "Pcets' Corner" On one
side lay Handel, the pioneer among
the composers Of sacred music; on the
other Sheridan, the great dramatic
author Of "The Rivals and the
sSchOJl for Scandal Between was my
present mecca. Il bore the simple inscrip-
tiOn, iulaid in brass: Charles Dickens
Ii was enough. No need Of sounding title
or lingering inscription. l now saw the
reason Of the refusal Of Carlyle and Tenny-
son 10 accept the prOfiered barOnetCy.
Their books will be their chief monument,
while they would seem lost under the ap-
pelIlli0n Of Sir Thomas and Sir Alfred.
| stood at the spot long, and went away
with regret. ! knew that l was standing
on holy grOund-that here were buried all
that England and the world hold famous.
1t seemed very appropriate to notice that
when one raises the eye from the tomb it
rests upon the statue Shakespeare, ''whO is
inclining forward as if to speak and holds
in the hand q scroll bearing his almost in
spired words:
s'The cloud cspp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itsclf,
Yea, an which IL inherit shall dissolve,
And like this Insubstautial pageant faded,
Leave not wrack behind.
Yes, truly, We are such stuff as dreams
are made on; and take the words Of the
poet again in my mouth aud say "a turn
or two I'll take to still my beating mind
II was only after some difficulty and
inquiry from a deaf old pew-oPener that
reached my second shrine. Like the other,
il was built into the floor, and bore an in
scriptiOn in brass. It speaks for itself:
drought over land and sea by faithful
hands, here lies DAVID LIVINGSTONE,
Missionary, Traveller, Philanthropist, born
March 10, 1913, at Blanyre, Lancashire,
died May II, 1873, ii Chitambo's Village,
Ulala.n
''For thirty years his life was spent in an
---------.-L 49, ---------l.-- IL 1919