serene, on which was written, as legibly as under the picture in the council-chamber at Calcutta, Mens æqua in arduis; such was the aspect with which the great proconsul presented himself to his judges." The only other event of any interest associated with Westminster Hall - the last occasion also on which it presented the striking splendour of ancient times-was the coronation of George the Fourth, which was solemnised on the 1st of August, 1820. At the magnificent banquet, the king sat on a gorgeous throne, on a raised dais, immediately under the great window at the south end of the hall. At long ranges of tables were seated the guests, including the peers, and the knights of the different orders, in their robes; every ceremonial was followed which had been in use in the days of the Tudors and Plantagenets; and lastly, the champion Dymoke rode into the fine old hall attended by the Duke of Wellington as High Constable of England, and the Marquis of Anglesea as lord high steward, both of them also on horseback. The total expense of the coronation ceremony of George the Fourth, the pageant of a day, was estimated at one hundred and fifty thousand pounds. 1 CHAPTER XIV. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. Early Places of Worship on Its Site Erection of the Present Edifice - Scenes and Ceremonies in It Poets' Corner Chapels of St. Edmund, St. Nicholas, St. Paul, Edward the Confessor, Islip, Henry the Seventh- Cloisters - Jerusalem Chamber - Chapter House. WILLINGLY Would we enter into a detailed history of Westminster Abbey, and dwell at leisure on its ancient monuments, its architectural magnificence, its host of romantic and historical associations. But volumes might be written on the subject, while the character of the present work compels us to restrict ourselves to a brief history of the venerable pile, and the principal objects of interest which are contained within its walls. Perhaps there is no other religious structure in the world which awakens so many heart-stirring emotions, or which can boast so many exquisite specimens of ancient art, or so many interesting monuments to the illustrious dead. Who is there who has ever found himself beneath the roof of Westminster Abbey, without being struck with feelings of admiration and awe, or without being sensitive of the influence of the sublime? Who is there who has ever wandered among its tombs of departed kings and warriors, of statesmen and poets, without becoming the moralist of an hour; or who has ever quitted its walls, without being impressed with sensations of not unpleasing sadness, in which the selfishness of the present hour is entirely absorbed in memories of the past? "When I look," says Addison, "upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies within me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow; when I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind. When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great day when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our appearance together." Such are the reflections which many have felt in wandering through Westminster Abbey, but which none have so beautifully described. "Unrivalled work of ages that have gone, How dear to me is thy religious pile, Each ancient tomb, and each familiar aisle ! Through the stained glass to mark the sunbeams pour Their blood-red tints upon the marble floor; While bards and monarchs of the ancient time, The earliest notice which we find of there having been a place of worship on the site of the present Westminster Abbey is the account given by Sporley, one of its monks, who dates its erection to about the year 184, when King Lucius is reported to have embraced Christianity. Usher informs us, on the authority of Fleta, that even at this early period it was "specially deputed for the burial of kings, and as a treasury or repository of their royal ornaments." According to the old monkish writers, the church built by King Lucius continued to be a place of Christian worship either till the persecution of the Christians in Britain, in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, or till the irruption into the island of a large body of pagan Saxons, about the fifth or sixth century, when, on one of these two occasions, it was converted into a temple of Apollo. In this state it is said to have remained till about the year 610, when, having been flung down by an earthquake, Sebert, King of the East Saxons, erected a new church on the ruins of the pagan temple, Mellitus, Bishop of London, instigating him to persevere in his pious work. In connection with the consecration of the new church, a curious legend is related, which for centuries obtained universal credence. Every preparation having been made for the ceremony, St. Peter, to whom the church was intended to be dedicated, is said to have descended, on a stormy night, on the Lambeth side of the river, and to have prevailed upon one Edric, a fisherman, to ferry him over to the opposite side. to wait for him, the saint proceeded in the direction of the abbey, which was shortly afterward miraculously illuminated, accompanied by the voices of angels singing choral hymns. On his return to the fisherman, St. Peter desired him to tell the bishop that the church had no need of further consecration; and, in proof of the truth of the man's story, the chrism, and droppings of the wax candles, were found the next day in the church. The saint further desired Edric to cast his nets into the water; who, having done so, drew them Desiring the fisherman |