Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-05-12

| pniiding WAS desecrated by the revo-
lutionists OF 1893 and dedicated IN ~.
great men OF France. When ~.
Bourbons returned they again mad /,
"A church, but the revolution az 1O,o
changed it back to a pantheon. onIy ~
remain 50 till 1850. when IL was o,o,
more made church. only to be .r.
| pantheonised, If such word NAV -.
used in 1870. After the burial =,
Victor Hugo in 1885 ii definitely as
sumed the character Of a psntb.a.
which it will retain until soma f,a,h
political cataclysm re1hurches II again
| Recurring TO the Abbey as tho o,Iv
prototype of any American struc,nr.
| of the same general nature and in,an
ton, IL viii be found not withn,
| monuments connected with our af-
fairs. Chief among them is one r.
Major Andre, executed as spy for bis
| participation In Benedict Arnold's
treason. The figure of Washington On
| the bas-relief has been mutilated tbrss
| different times-"the wanton ,nisc,,;.,
OF some scnooiboy. said Charles Lamb
| filled, perhaps. with a raw notion "a
transatlantic freedom" Lamb oncs
seriously offended Robert South.v hv
slyly limiting that Southey hims.if
might have done the mischief when a
| scholar at Westminster, which vas
| paIpably absurd accusation in view n,
| The fact that Southey was an On
| thusiastic republic at the time.
| Other Americans nave met with ho.
| tlity at tn. Abbey. The case Of Wbi,,
| Ter is too recent to require menton
and some years ago much opposition
was aroused by the proposition O, tn.
late George w. Childs' of PhiladeInh,,
| to contribute memorial window fl,
the English poets George Herbert and 3
| William Cowper. Rut we must r..
member that the church contains
tablet TO the memory OF Henry Wade
worth Longfellow, who was as general.
~ and deeply loved in England az in
tie United States.
A bitter enemy to America and
| Americans was DIR. Samuel johnson
no lies buried in the Abbey and wbo
| seems to have regarded it with feeling.
| of peculiar veneration; for when bs
was composing his famous Latin ep-
| taph for the honorary tablet 70 Oliver
Goldsmith he refused t. listen to a re-
quest that he would use the Language
in which Goldsmith wrote. saying that
he never would consent to desecrats
the walls of Westminster Abbey with
| an English inscription" He was much
more scrupulous than Sir John Young.
who paid stone mason eighteen pence,
or thIrtySiX cents. to carve upon Ben
Jonsons tomb. 80 rare Ben Jonson,"
The stone which bore this legend was
stupidity removed some years ago. II
is curious coincidence that the eigh-
teen pence thus paid corresponded to
the eighteen inches of earth for a
grave in Westminster Abbey which
Johnson demanded and obtained Of
King James |.
But Il memorial like this was Ger
tainly in better taste. than the wax.
work figures which USED to form an ex-
EiDit in the Abbey as late as isse
There was an odd old custom that such
efligies Of great persons deceased
should be carried in their funeral pro-
cessions and then left over their graves
as 4 kind of temporary tombstone. AZ
ter having served this purpose they
We're placed IN a collection OF similar
images, which WAS shown 10 the curl
Gus on payment of a small fee. Moth
n solemn sanctuary could be ina gneds
HAPPILY. nothing of the sort exists
today To interfere with the impression
of awe and SolennitY which the Abbey
creates in those who see it, although
Perhaps nearly equalleG by the human
interest that ali visitors feel in the
tOmbs ana statues of celebrated Eng
lishmen Ia be seen on every side.
Nothing elsewhere in the world resem-
lies it.
OF course, the Cathedral of st. John
the Divine cannot for centuries enter
into comparison with IN ancient fare
like the Abbey. enriched with the ac-
, unGlltions of eight hundred years
but il may occupy Il place of its own,
as much broader in scope as the west
en- world is broader than the British
islands. We are not merely unioa
made up OF thirteen revolted English
colonies-We are q congeres Of many
I'eoples united in national body pc
cuiar to itself. and. more than this
we protect and represent the conti-
.ients of North and South America.
1t would seem that the authorities OF
the Cathedral must have had some
idea of this when they conceived the
design of assigning the seven chape's
which are to surround tie upper END
Of the choir to the various races that
have aided in creating our country.
is intended that each OF these chapes
shall have services conducted in IRIS
language of the race for which it Is de-
signed. and they are already popuafF
-nown as THE Chapels of the
Tongues" They cOUId ne most appro-'
criately occupied by the memorial
statues and tablets Of early explorers
md pioneers. belonging to the Tart'ca-
ar people with whom each Is asso-
lated.