The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-05-05
Disraeli and Westminster Abbey.

Abbey, because they do bury fools
there" was the blunt language in which
honest Sir Godfrey Kneller refused to
make his last bed with royalty. So, in
less emphatic TENS, but with no less
distinctness, the late Lord Beacons6eld
declined in advance the anticipated hon
or of a tomb in Westminster Abbey, and
desired and directed" that he might be
buried in the same vault, sin the church
yard at Hughenden, in which the re-
mains of my late dear wife, Mary Anne
Disraeli, created in her own right Wis.,
countess Beaconsfeld, were placed" His
choice, however, was not based upon the
ground on which the sturdy old painter
so fatty declined to repose in the odor of
kingly greatness, for, as has been we'll
said, he must have recognized the fact
"that the plebeians who lie there had wit
and wisdom enough to compensate for
the uncongenial presence of ten thou
sand princely blockheads." Considera.
tions Of an altogether different and ten.
derer character appealed to his heart and
led him to prefer a resting place "in the
churchyard at Hughenden" to the storied
urn and monumental marble with which
England is accustomed to reward those
who have served her we'll or added to her
greatness and glory. The deep devotion
of Lord Beaconsield for his wife accom-
panied him to the tomb, and his last in
structions contain a touch of nature
which brings the whole world in kinship
and sympathy about his grave. After
all, it would seem that even ambition,
the master passion of such lives as Dis
rseli's, fees away at the approach of the
sfinexorable democrat" death, and that
those men who have moved the world
prefer for their last slumbers some spot
hallowed by affection or association to
all the pomp and glory Of loftief and
prouder sepulture.
Since the time when Edward the Con-
fessor founded to the honor of his patron
saint the "Collegiate Church or Abbey Of
st. Peter" the flower of British manhood
and intellect have been accustomed to
find their way to the silent but eloquent
aristocracy of genius and worth which
has slowly been gathering within the
precincts of this temple of fame through
so many generations. The old manu-.
scripts which recount the story Of the
foundation of Westminster Abbey tells
us. that "the devout King destined to
God that place, both for that i: was near
unto the famous and wealthy city of
London, and also had pleasant situa-
ton amongst fruitful fields lying round
about it, with the principal river run
ming hard by, bringing in from all parts
of the world great variety of wares and
merchandise Of all sorts to the city ad-
joining, but chiefly for the love of the
chief Apostle, whom he reverenced with
a special and singular affection" Dean
Stanley gives a similar account of its
foundation, and relates that "while in
Normandy, and casting about for help,
the exiled prince had thrown himself
upon the protection of st. Peter, and
vowed that if he returned in safety he
would make pilgrimage to the Apostle's
grave at Rome" From this VOW the Pope,
however, released him con condition that
he should found or restore monastery
of st. Peter, Of which the King should
be the especial patron" The result was
the erection Of Westminster Abbey,
which was fifteen, years in building, and
which was consecrated on the 28th OF
December, 1865. 1t was subsequently
restored or rebuilt nearly in its present
form by Henry III in 1915. Its honors
were originally reserved for members OF
the royal family, but in course of time
its portals were opened to all who could
earn the right to place there, until ev-
cry foot of its long aisles has become
ihallowed ground, aud almost every stone
in the venerable pile is associated with
the names which have made England
what it is. And yet Disraeli is not the
only iliustrious exile from this grand
assembly, which is almost as conspicuous
for the absence as for the presence OF
greatness. For it misses not only 81 such
men as Fielding, Smollett, Defoe, Shell
ley, Keats, Gray and Pope, but is also
forbidden to count in its membership
either Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lamb,
Thackeray, Burns, Byron or Milton.
Even Shakespeare himself is among those
who do not answer to the roll-call at
Westminster Abbey, but sleeps quietly
by the side of the Avon, with only the
prayer that be may be left undisturbed
in bis peaceful solitude.-BaF;more Sun.