Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-03-17
LONDON, ENGLAND.
Westminster AMey.
Written BY Mrs. F. MacKfunOu.

1t has often been said that ''if one
wishes to find an American in London
90 to the Poets Cornerin Westminster
| Abbey and sit there until he arrives y
And one always finds people sitting on
the benches provided for tourists,
mournfully thinking up quotations, OF
else strolling about tracing with their
canes or umbrellas the Inscriptions on
| the stones of the floor / remember
doing the same thing myself, and while
trying to decipher an old inscription of
unconsciously placing my foot upon the
stone covering over the grave of Charles
Dickens. quickly stepped aside. 1t
seemed almost proclamation even to
stand aside and read the plain, strong
name in the floor and know that he,
having done with life, had been brought
here and left where there could be no
longer any wonderings or any surmises.
Westminster Abbey owes its traditions
and its present name, revered in the
bosoms of the English people, to the
fact that the early English Kings were
inferred within it's wallsand through its
early associations the Norman rulers
learned to forget their foreign paternity
and to unite in fellowship and affection
with their Saxon fellow subjects There
is no other church in the world except
perhaps the Kremlin at Moscow where
royalty is SO intimately associated. In
the Abbey the Sovereigns were crowned
and buried under one roof, whereas in
Russia the coronation takes place in
one church, the marriage in another,
while third is reserved for the
reception of the dead. The earliest
foundation Of Westminster Abbey is
wrapped in obscurity, but is attributed
by the early chroniclers to the British
King Lucias a. D. 1884,, or 70 King Sebert
A. d. GIG, its site being then called
"Thorny Island;" but it is really
peninsula of the purest sand and
gravel, which may be seen in the
foundation Of the Abbey. The Island
is named from this circumstance:
"Sebert, nephew of Ethelbert, King of
Kent and King of the East Saxons,
having received baptism from the hands
of Millitus, Bishop of London, pulled
down Pagan Temple at a place called
Thorny, from being overgrown with
thorns, about two miles from London,
and founded upon the place church to
the honor of ST. Peter" 1t is supposed
to have been replaced by an abbey
called Westminster (AInste4 west of
st. Pauls.) In order to really appreci-
ate Westminster Abbey one must know
a little of its history, but of course
here we can only speak of the import
ant parts connected through all these
centuries with the building. The first
editice Of stone erected on the site was
built by Edward the Confessor between
1866 and 1865. The Pyx House, low
apartment 10 feet long by 80 feet wide
and divided by central range of eight
plain pillars, is really all that remains
Of it now. King Edward gave to it's
treasury costly gifts and vestments to
be used on the day of the sovereign's
coronation; and here the Kings and
Queens Of England haverbeen crowned
from Edward I to Queen Victoria. On
the Festival Of the Holy Innocents,
Dec. %, 1865, the new abbey was
dedicated and the King, who died
eight days afterwards, was by his own
desire buried in front of the high altar
in the church of which he had Just
witnessed the completion. Dec 2Sth,
1865, on the S0Oth anniversary, there
was magnificent Choral Service here,
Dean Stanley preaching most eloquent
descriptive sermon taken from ST. John
X 81, 22;-"And it was at Jerusalem,
the feast of the dedication, and it was
winter. And Jesus walked into the
Temple in Solomon's porch.' The
music was selected from composers who
either in the past or present were
connected with the Abbey. The words
of the hymn for the introit commencing
"Hark, the sound of Holy Voices were
written by DR.. Wordsworth, Canon and
Arch-deacon of Westminster. The
Abbey as it now stands was for the
most part rebuilt by Henry III 122O-
1869 out of regard to the memory of
Edward the First, and covers the same
ground. The early portion was built of
green sandstone. The Jerusalem
Chamberis built of this stone. Purbeck
marble and Caen stone were used later
and in some Of the old Cloisters magne-
sian limestone, similar to that of the
new Houses of Parliament, was used.
The enormous and massive building
stands on a level with the adjacent
causeway, not having a basement story
like St. Paul's, built on a fine close sand
secured only by its broad, wide
spreading foundations. Henry III in
1920 erected chapel dedicated to the
Virgin, and quarter of a century later
he took down the old Abbey of the
Confessor and erected the existing
Choir, trancepts, and chapel now
called Edward the Confessor's Chapel,
where the remains of the Confessor
now rest, having been removed from
before the high altar to this shrine.
The remainder of the building was
completed under the Abbots, the
western parts of the nave and aisles
having been erected between the 18th
and 18th centuries. The western front
and its great window were the work of