The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-05-11


is number six, and Is vastly interesting
from the fact that it contains, besides
the tombs of several old kings-one of
which is Henry V's, whose head, cast
in solid silver, was stolen at the Refor-
nation, but whose helmet, shield and
saddle are still to be seen over his tomb
the two coronation chairs sti1l used
at the coronation of the sovereign Of
| this kingdom. One of these chairs con-
| tains the famous stone of Scone, on
which the Scottish kings were crowned,
and believed by some to have been
| Jacobs pillow. 1t was carried off by
Edward l from the abbey of Scone,
| Scotland, in token of his conquest Of
that country, and the Scots held that
wherever 1t was carried the Supreme
| power would go with 1t. This was q
most interesting little chapel indeed. l
must not forget to say, apropos of the
belief that this stone was Jacobs pill
| low, that 1t Is quite large enough to
have been a pillow anyway, whether it
was or wasn't. 1t answers all require
ments as to size, at any rate.
Some Eloqcnt Effigics.
| The next chapel is st. Erasmus, and
is only an unimportant little room, but
leads to St. Johns chapel, No. s, which
contains the tombs of many of the
early abbots of this minister. No. 8 is
st. John the Baptist's, and has nothing
in 1t but old bones again, and In No. 10
is full length statue of Sarah Siddons,
as Lady Macbeth, her greatest part,
| you remember, with her brother, John
Kemble, as Cato. She is buried near
here in dilapidated and worn-out old
! churchyard; and what l like about
Westminster Abbey is, that while there
may not be any more room left there for
the burying Of illustrious bones, still
| If you are very great or very good, you
may have a memorial statue or bust of
| yourself there, anyway. There are a
| great, great many memorials here of
| people buried, not here, but in all the
different parts Of the world; people who
have done good in the world, ,Aither by
word or deed, and the sermons preached
| by these mute effigies are more potent
by far than the churchly sentences ut
tered here twice every day by curates,
Wears, deans or bishops.
| The remaining chapels are Of no in
terest, as compared to the more impor-
| tant things that claim ones attention.
My verger here took leave of me, as l
had already robbed him OF more of his
time than / had bargained for, and l
went into the poets corner, which Is
one of the most delightful parts inside
| the abbey, and is a veritable treasure
| room, having in it memorials of almost
all the great and beloved men and wo-
men of English and American ltera-
ture The body of Chaucer, the father
of English poetry, lies here; the Spencer
of the "Farie Queen" statue of
| Shakespeare, who Is not buried here,
| however, and the tombs of Thackeray
and Dickens, who deserve tombs here, If
| anybody does. Our own Longfellow Is
represented by bust and under it are
to be found the little withered bouquets,
single flowers, and bits of ivy, even,
which are left by the Americans who
come here. A low relief of that angelic
woman, Jenny Lind, is here also, in the
purest white marble, and on it is carved
Il Know That My Redeemer Liveth,"
which she used to sing so divinely.
| Cells Of the Ancient Monks.
Leaving the corner ! went out and
| walked along the old cloisters, which
are interesting again as tombs of people
noted in the church, both Roman and
English, and in literature, as well as
in war There are some very old cells
1 ,trIi icta ha1 wi n,r
heavy, clumsy old wooden doors, and
are as dark as midnight and very small.
In these the monks of old used to live
and work, mortifying the flesh very
much by so doing, fancy, for they are
very damp and dreadful and tenanted,
1 imagine, by the evil spirit of rheu-
matism.
The chapter house and crypt is very
| massive octagon room of stone, with
great old stone benches in it, in which
the members of the house of commons
met for 800 years; and 1t is here, the
guide book says, that must have oc-
Cured all the great struggles for liberty
against the crown, even up to the time
of the Reformation, for here parlia-
ment sat down to the death of Henry
VIII. The next thing l saw was the
Jerusalem chamber, which had a per-
nit to see This is so called because of
the colored glass which decorates it,
which was brought from Jerusalem
There are some very fine tapestries on
It's walls, also, which are wonderful to
behold. The infinite patience, the great
amount of time and painstaking care
and the artistic ability of the women
who used to spend their days in EN-
broidering on these pieces of needle
work, Willing away the time when their
lords were away in the wars, simply as
tound one You will be most interested
to know that in this Jerusalem cham
ber the Westminster assembly of di-
vines sat for five and half years, pro-
ducing the Assembly Catechism" and
Confession of Faith" followed, after
long interval, by the committee for the
revision Of the Holy Scriptures, which
august body of learned men gave to the
world the Revised New Testament and
has recently completed the revision of
the Old Testament.
Taking n Farewell Glance.
I wanted last general look around,
and so went in again and looked over
the transepts and the nave, all of which
are rich in every kind of memorial to
the departed good and great of this
world Old warriors of England. great
statesmen, wonderful actors and ac-
tresses, who have adorned their profess
sion and raised 1t to level of the arts,
philanthropists, composers, sculptors.
artists, great singers, are all represent
ed here and placed about the aisles
where, as.I said before. they preach their
mute sermons to the present generation
day after day. Now, that L look back
and remember. I can think of 1t only
as huge and impressive church, very
grand and beautiful to look at from
without, with so much detail about It's