The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1877-08-22

An xEcFfean in Wesff1fnsf Abbey
It's Of no use fer me o try 10 keeI
cut OF the beaten track l did Sc
Westminster Abbey. Like every
thing one has read Of and dreamed o
the Abbey disappoints ct frat. 1t j
a kind Of s~tonecutter's lumber room
with more bad sculpture ia it thar
aay other building ia the world, foI
our English and American people ar
wofally wanting in artistic sense
Witness the busts ia Central ans
Prospect Parks, bareheaded and M
covered in our awful climate. I've
seen Irving in Prospect Park witt
his pate plsstered with slect and ie
icle hanging to his ncse. That i
the penalty for being a great man il
America.
] could not feel the Abbey as ]
wanted to at first. | paid my six
pence and saw the chapels. 1 saw
the beautiful Mary of Scots lying il
marble, not looking at all the devil
she was, and the crooked nosed
Queen Elizabeth looking every inch
the wretch she was. Theu | saw all
the rest Of the rubbish OF monarchy,
lgood monuments % worthless people
and bad sculpture over great people.
In some cases both the tomb aad the
man were bad. In my WEAKNESS
with these huddled monuments and
tablets, and with the set speeches OF
the guide working himself into al en-.
thusiasm over a lecture given to ev-
cry party be had guided for years,
could not enter into the spirit of the
old Abbey. Besides I've a mind 10
confess it, | had on new boots. II
ever you go to Westminster don't
wear new boots.
| heard the afternoon service,
which was choral and very fac. Bat
there came forward q of the can
ons, a middle-sized man, with q face
in which sturdiness and culture were
blended, and when tais canon read
the lessons, especially ths grand per-
Grafton of Jobs last speech, | began
to feel the Abbey had a s0ul in it.
What is the lame Of the canon
who read the lessonz" | asked Of Q
verger.
canon Farrsr,n he said. This,
then, was the author Of the Life Of
Christ" If be could read so intelIi-
gently and powerfully he could sure
" preach. l resolved to look for bis
came in the Saturday evening pa
pers.
Finding that be was to preach on
Sunday morning, ! walked early to
the Abbey, and was fortunate enough
to secure q seat in the nave. And
now the lofty, perpendicular arches
began to take hold of me. As the
sweet boy sopranos aud the exceed
ingly rich bass and tenor voices
cbanted the service, | could feel the
influence of the place-the Oldest
place OF Christian worship in the
world, il is said. How has the Alb
bey stood il all the connections and
crimes and base deeds of English
history like a rock beaten upon by
each days waves, but standing still
the samei
There was q great ihrong. Al
ready FarrGr is coming TO be a great
preacher in Eogland. Give him ten
or twenty years more and men viii
confess that England has no finer
preacher. He carried men by storm.
He preached on the bondage Of sin
and the liberty of righteousness.
Every word was well chosen, Every
thought was fac. The delivery was
good for an Englishman. But the
real eloquence of the sermon lay
where the highest eloquence always
lies, in the weight Of the man behind
the words. Canon Farrar has a
pure and lofty soul, eagerly seeking
the highest ends. AID then he has
that sturdy English pluck that knows
no faltering. He set forth admira-
bly, the contrast between that glori-
Gus young Greek" Alexander, drink
ing himself to death in self-indul-
gence, and the poor, brave, free old
Socrates, with bis cup Of poison.
He pronounced a noble eulogy on
Cromwell and the Puritaas. Ii was
a brave thing to do. Right among
all the monumental decencies CT
Westminster Abbey lie praised the
regicide Puritans in the very Abbey
whose treasures the Roun1head5 had
riied, and whose tombs they had
broken. Then he depicted the wicked
ness of the Restoration period, wheE
England's licentious king took subsi-
dies from France. He called Charles
III. O "perjured recreant now sleeping
in the vaults of the Abbey" Then
be contrasted the English with the
French Revolution, and nobly set
forth to young men the danger of
those vices which are more prevalent
in England, # possible. than in
America. He spoke strongly OF the
subject of intemperance. While be
vas speaking, quietly, bravely, and
with a certain felicity of epithet and
phrase that moved the audience like
electricity. the sun struggled through
the clouds and shot a golden stream
into the windows of the elerestory
above, which fell away down a hun
bred feet or SO through the lofty
ehancel until it lighted on the preach
er. All the thousand associations Of
the Abbey rushed upon me at once,
and tears came to my eyes. For now
there was a soul 10 tit was not
only the burying place of brave men,
but TIE battlefield of a brave man
God has not left himself without a
prophet, even in this our day, to
stand in this ancient place and speak
his word TO the people. As | knelt at
Communion under those venerable
and lofty arches l felt Westminster
Abbey was none other than he house
of God.
l went again in the afternoon.
There were other preachers in Lon
don, but there was ouly one Farrar.
The Abbey was foil to o"er1owing.
The Transcripts were damned, aisles
and all. The choir, the nave, even
the chancel, were full of people from
the four quarters of the globe. The
question " which England is now
seetbing is not Russia or Turkey, but