Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1920-07-29
WESTMINSTER ABBEY FAILING
INTO DECAY,


scribed as "a desperate state Of
things" and the plea is made to the
English speaking world for funds for
the repair and maintenance Of this
shrine of which 1t stands I'm utmost
need. sum of $1.250.00O is set as
the minimum amount required to
check the ravages Of time and pre-
serve the historic abbey fran further
decay, to restore in so far as is .,cssi-
BILE the enduring glory that Is pecu-
liarly it's own.
That the condition Of the abbey mer-
it's serious attention Ia indicated by
the appearance Of a special westmin-
ster Abbey appeal number Of the Lon
don Times. in which the needs of the
abbey are set forth.
Westminster Is the history Of our
race set in stone," says The Times.
1T is the symbol of our beliefs and
our hopes. 1t bears the impress Of
all our varying moods, seen through
the shifting lights and shadows of
thousand crowded years. There are
garnered all the fruits Of our great
past: there the causes OF the present
and the seeds of the future. To med
itate that marvellous story Is over
whelming: each mind will find in 1t
what that mind brings to 1t. but none
can consider 1t there. compassed
round by the appeals through sight
and touch OF that grand silent chron-
icle without a deepening feeling of
awe. keener perception of possibili-
ties. an outlook wider and more en-
larged. n quickened consciousness of
duty, an awe-stricken sense Of how
unsearchable are the ways Of God to
man.
The abbey has an authentic his
tory of wellnigh n thousand years.
What mind at the beginning Of any
one of these ten centuries could have
imagined the changes that were to
come before it's close? To us who
look back II seems almost inconceiv-
able how some of them have happened
Beneath this roof the story Is around
us which tells how the distracted
kingdom, weakly ruled by the saint
who reared his church in the swamps
OF Thorney island. n kingdom which
had just thrown off the yoke OF one
foreign conQueror and was about to
fall under the sway of another, grew
to be the fruitful mother Of mighty
peoples beyond unimagined seas. and
to carry to the remotest regions Of
the old world and OF the new the re-
hgion and the laws. the manners. the
habits. the letters and the arts. the
ideals and the aspirations she herself
developed under the guardian shadow
OF these walls.
''There Is no work Of human hands
with story which can compare with
this in the richness of it's variety. in
the sweep Of its grandeur. in the he
roic splendor of its chief actors, in its
tragedies. and its glories. in its ad-
mixture OF public virtue with human
frailties. follies and weaknesses. in It's
a..sa a.~t. Iii tzt-
tinuity. more wondrous still. 1t is no
history OF n dynasty or OF n kingdom
that speaks here. 1t Is the history OF
race in every branch of human ac-
t.vity. told generation after genera
ton by the hands that. through good
days and through evil. carried and
banded down the torch.
There Is scarce n field Of thought
or or action, scarce a department Of
science or n branch of art, which Is
not represented. and gloriously rep
resented In these bounds. II Is this
largeness and universality which are
unique in the abbey. In other lands
splendid sepulchres have been set
apart as the last resting places Of
emperors and kings Famous states
have gathered beneath one roof all
that was most renowned for va,or
and for public service. for learning
and for genius among their citizens.
But the glories and the deaths OF
princes. fortunate and tragic. who lie
In this acre sown with royal seed
are but n thread-albeit q thread OF
gold-running through the web Of
endless memories and endless hopes
that n high Providence and many
years had woven. and are still weav-
ing. about this center of all that Is
.t,,ts ~b
our national life.
THE story Is all-embracing, unbro-
ken. widening down from Hastings
to the Great war. from the Saxon
Witan and the kings council to the
parliaments OF the empire and. not
less truly IL less directly. to the Con-
gress of the United States.
THE choice made by william the
{ nqueror Of the abbey as the place
a his coronation was decisive OF its
destiny. From that Christmas day
1866 until now every crowned king
and every queen regnant in the long
line of English sovereigns has been
nnointed and acclaimed on the same
spot. Since Edward brought the
mystic stone Of Scone from Scotland
each Of them has sat in the oaken
chair in which the great Plantagenet
encased it. Cromwell himself did not
choose wholly to break with that au-
gust tradition. He could not venture
to he crowned in the abbey. but. with
that true instinct for some Of the
deepest feelings of English hearts
that was his. his highness the Lord
Protector ordained that in the scarce
less venerable hall he should be in
stalled in the appointed seat OF kings.
"A wise policy. doubtless. led the
conqueror to assume the crown OF
England in the church and before the
tomb Of her Ia Of Saxop hing apd n