The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-21
ODD ENGLISH FUNERALS.
HOW THE GREAT HAVE BEEN LAID
TO REST IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

Curious Facts and Customs-Apropos
of GIadstone's Interment an En-
GliSh journal Gathers Singular
Facts About His NeighbOrs in
! Death.
From the London Daily News.
1t is computed that in and around West
minister Abbey not less than 5000 bodies are
buried. The long line Of funerals, stretch
ing back right away to that of Edward the
! Confessor, more than eight centuries ago,
affords many a striking scene and many a
startling incident-incldents some of them
! throwing a strong ana interesting light on
the thoughts and feelings and manners Of
/ the past. A funeral that took place here
rather more than a hundred years ago pre-
scnted a very different state of things, and
! was attended BY an accident that was not
! only Of a startling and serious character
| but, if the chroniclcrs of the time may be
| relied upon, afforded incidentally Gu
riously callous condition of public feeling
| lmpressyely contrasting with what would
| be shown under similar circumstances in
! the present day. II was the funeral Of Eliz-
abeth Percy, the first Duchess of North
cumberland, lady well known for her
charity and for her patronage Of litera-
! ture. She had earnestly requested that her
| funeral might be as private as her rank
! would admit. The people came into the alb
/ hey III such numbers however, that the au-
thorities seem to have been. quite over
whelnled, and the clergy and choir could
! with only the greatest difficulty make their
| way from the west door to st. Nlcholas
/ Chapel, where the interment was TO take
IlpaCe. A number of men and boys had clam
! bered on to the TOP of the screen of st.
! Edmund's Chapel and the canopy over the
! tomb of John of Ethan, and as the FUN
| eral procession went by down came screen
| and canopy upon the people below. A scene
| of indescriba BILE confusion folloWedAt that
! time great personages were always burled
| by torchlight and this funeral seems to
! have taken place at 10 O'Clock at night.
! The procession was broken up, the service
| suspended the coffin left amid the ruins
! of the screen, and the dean of the ABBEY
| tbmorously cleared out of the alarming
| scene aud did not venture out to continue
! the service till after midnight. In the An
! nual Register Of that date the amazing
| statement is made that the ceremony was
completed amid cries OF Murder! raised
| by such of the sufferers as had not been
| removed two hours and more after the
! accident had happened"
! Only a few years or so before this-in
| The summer of 1864, that is-another scene
even more extraordinary in its character
broke the solemn peace of the sacred
building. 1t was at the funeral Of the
aged Poulteney. The vault lay near the
! tomb of Edward J. over which hung a
massive canopy of wood On this royal
! tomb number of gentlemen had taken
their stand to witness the funeral, when
! there was great thrush of the crowd To-
ward the confessOT's chapel and IN a mo
ment of unaccountable panic swords were
draw n. and some of the gentlemen on Ed
wards tomb tore down the rafters of the
canopy to beat back the mob, Il stood,
said one who was present, with many
others on the top of the tomb. "A
dreadful conflict ensued. Darkness soon
closed the scene" This funeral also was
at night. and the darkness must. have been
due to the gradual extinction OF the torches
and candles, the weird glare of which must
have added so much to the terrible impress
siveness of a scene of this kind.
OF interrupted funerals in the abbey, the
most remarkable surely must nave been
that of Dryden, If the story quoted-very
dubiously, it is true--by DR.. Johnson in his
lives of the poets is not a very extraordi-
nary invention. When Dean Sprat heard
of Dryden's death, he sent to the family
to say that he would give freehold grave
! and would forego ali fees, and Lord Hall
fax offered to pay all expenses of the
funeral and give $500 for a monument. This
was gladly accepted, and when the APP
pointed night came the dean had the alb
hey light up, the grave opened, the choir
attending, an anthem ready set, and him
self waiting some time without a corpse to
! bury" According to the story, the funeral
cortege had actually been formed, the
body placed in ''velvet hearse,' and
eighteen carriages well filed with the
funeral guests, when the son of Lord JEFF
freys CHANGED to come by, expressed his
indignation that so great a man should
have so hurried and private a funeral, and
actually succeeded in getting the ceremony
postponed under the promise himself to
become responsible for something Worthier
of the poet. He ordered the body to be
| driven over to the undeTtaker's for en-
balming, and there it lay for three days,
the young lordling the next day repudiat-
| ing the whole business as a mere drunken
freak on the part of himself and his COM
| panions. 1t Is a scarcely credible story
but there certainly seems to have been
| something irregular and strange about the
burial. 1t is said that both Lord Halifax
| and the dean were so indignant that they
would hear of no apology and refused to
have anything to do with the matter, and
1t seems certain that DIR. Garth and the
| College of Physicians undertook the funer-
al by subscription, and there is no doubt
that 1t was not until twelve days after
death that the deceased poet was eventu-
ally laid in the abbey.
Addison lay in state in the Jerusalem
| Chamber, and was borne thence to the alb
hey at dead of night. 1.-THE choir sang a
| funeral hymn Bishop Atterbury," says
Macauley lone of those Tories who had
loved and honored the most accomplished
Of the Wings, met the corpse and led the
procession, by torchhght, round the shrine
| of 81. Edmund and the graves Of the Plan
tagents, to the chapel of Henry VII"
| at the head of the Vault" says Dean
| Stanley, "Atterbury offieiated as Dean, In
| his prelates robes. Round him stood the
! Westminster scholars, with their white
tapers dimly lighting up the fretted aisle -
This curious practice of conducting all
great funerals by the light of tapers and
torches was adhered 10 in spite of Puritan
protests till toward the close of the eigh-
teenth century. These night scenes occa-
sionally had something quite terrible about
! them. For instance the body Of Arabella
stuart, a cousin of James I, who died In
the tower under royal displeasure was
brought up by boat at midnight and laid
H,,rtth no eplarOpItVI' ~, tba cOaip If Nf,r,.