New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-07-28

impressive corner i'm Westminster Abbey where that
great mans ashes buried. Poets Corner Is a
hackneyed subject. and the present writer has no IN
tention TO prose upon it. But passing mention of
this wonderful group of stried graves will not be
dull. Side by side, under the Abbey floor, within a
few feet of earth sleep Johnson and Garriek, Sher-
idan and Henderson, Dickens and Cumberland and
Handel Garrck's wife is buried in the same grave
with her husband. Close by, some brass letters on
little slab in the pavement disclose the last resting
place of Thomas Campbell. Not far oil is the body
of Macauay while many passer through the man
aisle treads upon the grave OF that astonishing ou
man, Parr who lived in the reigns of nine princes,
and reached the great age of l52 All parts OIL west
minister Abbey will, of course, impress the reYereh-
tial mind. | san experience very strange and full
of awe for instance suddenly to find your steps upon
the sepulchres of such iustrious men as Pitt, FOX
and Grattan and you come, with thrlii OF ihore
than SURPRISE upon such still fresh antiquity as the
grave of the hapless Anne Neville, who was the
Queen of Richard H. But no single spot in
the great Minister can so enthral the imagination az
that strip of stored stone beneath which Garrck aud
johnson, Sheridan and Dickens, Macaulay and Han
del sleep side by side This writer when last he VS.
tied the Abbey found n chair upon the grave OF lr
Johnson aud sat down there TO rest and muse. The
letters on the stone fast wearing away; but the
memory of this sturdy champion of literature can
never perish so long as the votares of literature
love their art and honor the valiant genius which
battlcd-through hunger and toll and contunely-
for its dignity and rcnOwn. II was tender and
right feeling which prompted the burial of GarrIck
close beside Johnson Thew set out together to seek
their fortunes in the great city. They went through
prvation and trial hand in hand. Each found
glory in different way and, although parted after
ward by the currents of fame and wealth, they were
never really parted in affection. IL was TIT they
should at last find their rest together under the
most glorious roof that greets the skies Of England
Fortune gave me a good day at the Tower Of Lon
don The sky lowered. The air was very cold. The
wind blew with angry gusts. The rain fell now and
then in a chill drzze. The river was dark and sui
lem If the spirits of tbs dead come back to haunt
any place they surely come back to haunt this one
and this was a day for their presence. One dark
ghost in particular. seemed present at every step
the baIcfll shade of the grim Duke of GOster. The
little room in which the Princes are said to have
been murdered by his order is shown, and the ora
tory where King Henry VI. is supposed to have met
his bloody DEATH and the Council Chamber into
which Richard rushed, from an ambush behind the
arras 10 denounce the wretchcd Hastings. This lat
ter place is now used as armory; but the same
roof covers il which rang with the bitter invcctiye
of Gloster, the rude camor of his soldiers, and the
cries of his frightened victim, who was piucked
forth from under the table where he had taken ref
noe dragged down stairs and behcadcd on n stick Of
wood in the courtyard. This Tower Is place for such
deeds and YOU almost wonder that they do not hap
pen still i'm lis gloomy chambers The room in which
the Princes were killed is the most murlerOns in as
poct that could be imagined. Ii is an tuner room,
small and dark. barred window in one of Its
walls fronts a window on the other side of the out
side passage by which you approach If. This win
dow is but a few feet from the floor, and doubtless
the murdcfcrs paused 10 look through It rs they
went to their hclsh work upon the poor children of
King Edward. The Taom is empty now. The en-
trance was pointed out to secret passage by which
this chamber could bc-and doubtless was-ap-
preached from the foot Of the Tower The oratory in
which King Henry VI was slaughtcrod-if, indeed,
the story be truc-is where the Jewels are cNh
bitcd in large glass There is a crown here Of
velvet and gold, which was made for poorIttlc Anne
Boleyn. You may pass across the courtyard and
pause on the spot where this unhappy lady was be-
headed and you may walk hence, over the very
ground that her last footsteps raycrsed, TO
the round tower in which She lived Her grave Is IN
the chanccl Of little antique church close by |
saw the cell of Raleigh, aud that dircful chamber
which is scrawled all over with the names and em-
blems of prisoners who therein suffered confinement
and lingering agony, nearly always ending ndcath;
but | saw no saddcr place than Anne l}oryhs tower
Ii seemed in the strongest way eloquent of mute
suffering Ii seemed to cxhae grief and to plead tor
love and pity. W. W.