New-York tribune., 1893-12-31
DEAN STANLEY.
E--lffa WORK
sra GENERAL REpUTAT1ON-IIis WORK
Az DEAN or WESTMINSTER.

6y Mr.. Murray. was. ] Imagine. primarily III
teresting 70 Americana not because ne was Dean
Stanley. but because he was Dean OK west
mins,er. He was. IN truth. . very amiable and
interesting figure In the ecclesiastical ire of
England hut there 10. perhaps. no other single
title 10 fame. among the many titles he had
which would by itself very long preserve MIS-
memory with the general public here and still
iess with the public In America. He was
nrpacher but not frrt-rate preacher n thc"-
Iogian but not OF high theological authority.
/ historian whose method was hardly scientific.
4 yolunninous author who wrote no one hrs'-
rate book nor was be. rs writer "f any very
high literary distinction. When his place IN
the list Of eminent men has to he settled "
may Be- said Of him. IA he said OF Lord Lyt'on
when he was asked To bury him In Westminster
Abbey. that his great reputation his combna-
tion OF qualities and the great variety Of his
attainments appeared to Justify an honor. which
no one point taken sinEiy. would have insured
him.
80 long a. those who knew Dean Stanley per-
eonally live. his place n secure. He had that
oua,ityko rare in men which only he de-
scribed by the word charm. Men and women
attached themselves to him irrespectivcly of his
great talents or great reputation. and he I'M
douhtcdiy had both. The Abbey was not only
an ecclesiastical cdince. not only an English
Pantheon: II wns In his time a social centre.
Nc and his wife attracted people of the most
various kinds ana the drawing room 81 tn"
Dcxncry was to many of them Rs Significant M
the nave and trRnsepts 81 IN" church Itself
at any rate some of them visited the drawing
room pretty often who were not often seen IN the
Interior Of the abbey itself This was true during
Lady Augusta stanley's time and remained tru"
after her iamcntcd death. Americans hav" caurc
10 remember and regret that accomplished lady:
for 10 Americana. M Americans and because
they wtrc Americans. she showed frequent
and Rteadfast Kindness.
In almost all respects Stanley WAS mn Ideal
custodian Of Wcstminstcr Abbey mot In all. for
oven his present biographcr points out that the
business interests of the Abbey suffered IN his
hands Perhaps thcrc hns never been u I"nn
Of Westminster who 40 maenincd his onr"-l
mean IN the good sense There never was ono
who took broader or more lima aginativc Views -
his duty. or who had a higher conception OF the
place which the Abbey holds In the HE OF the
nation. Nor can Americans forget that. In
staniey's mind. the English nation included the
America lie fully recognized the identity OF
race which entitled. as he thought. Americans a.
well as Eng!ishmen to monumental honors IN
this church Of monuments. lie once expressed.
perhaps rather crudey. his readiness. and indeed
his eager desire. to bestow the honor OF burial
in the Abbey upon some American VINO by the
Americans themselves should be thought TO de-
serve It. hone ne never saw or heard OF the
extremely comic but not too grateful or rever-
ent, reply which came from all over the United
States The names suggested were the names OF
living men, I'VE are not anxious to oblige the
Dean. We can find him body at once. There
10 Jones. True. Jones is still living. but every
it<ot htirict N
or anywhere else" and 50 on. This was In part
an echo Of the most sober English comment on
Etanleys supposed eagerness to enrich the Abbey
with further memorials of dead celebrities. His
enem!es-for ne had many enemies-summed all
this up in the hideoIs jest which fastened on MIN
the sobriquet Of the body-snatcher. His enemies.
Il 10 hardly necessary to add. were. FOR the most
part Acknowledgment. and also laymen. Of The
Church Of England who hated him for his liberal
ism In matters Of discipline and matters OF faith
alike
The Dean made a clear distinction in his own
mind between the Abbey as church and the
Abbey as a resting place for illustri'ns English
men: for many also unhappily. who are not and
never were illustrious. Mr.. Protheroe says. In
his rather ambitious way:
THE Abbey was. to his eyes. the material
Y embodiment Of his ideal Of a comprehensive Ma
tonai Church the outward symbol Of the har-
monious unity In diversity which pervades the
English Commonwealth. a monument reared In
stone to that intimate union Of Church and State
out OF which the English Constitution has been
evolved
Historically, that IL a just view. and II 1,
DO nof)commend itself to all Americans. It is be-
cause there are Americans who choose 10 Gu;
themselves on from the stock whence they spranr
70 sever the historical continuity of their race
and to recommence the history Of the world from
the Fourth of July 1875 The Church is not that
element In the life of the mother country o!
which We. our fathers. though; most often
With affection. But In Judging Stanley We have
to think Of him a. q Churchman. and We may
the more readily consent 10 think Of him as
Churchman because Of his liberalism. Some
times ne spi ared TO regard himself as Chris
tian first and a Churchman afterward n point
Of view abhorrent to the mere ecclcsiastic and st
more 50 to the mere bigot. lie was for toera-
ton. and he hardly cared for federation which
was not also sympathetic. lie defined for him
self the aim which ne set before himself Dean;
the effort to make the Abbey "more and more
the centre of religious and national lifc In truly
liberal spirit" lie acted upon that. and because
he acted upon It, a whirlw!nd ~ anathcmas
sometimes blew about his ears. lie wrote:
80 long as Westminster Abbey maintains i's
hold on the affections or respect of III" English
Church and nation. - long will IL remain II
OlandinE proof that there is IN the trucst feeling
q human nature. ana in the highest aspirations
Of religion. something deeper and wider than the
partial Judgments of the day. and the technical
distinctions Of sects"
Yes but ~ you TAX. that view you will i,r Ike
" to hear from the sects The straiter sect In his
own Church ~ England. where blgotry may b"
less narrow but is often not less intense than
among the sects outside 81 II. hated him. The!
sevi!ed him not only because ne opened the All
bay ~ Churchmon who differed from him ana
among Themselves. bmt because he would II ne
could hava opened II 10 clergymen VIII" were not
Of the Church and did oI.n II. under certain re-.
stfictions. to laymrn II was In "A prophetic spirit