CHAPTER VIII THE NORTH TRANSEPT, OR STATESMEN'S AISLE "Speak no more of his renown, TENNYSON. SINCE the burial of the elder Pitt in this transept, it has been known as The Statesmen's Aisle, as the corresponding south arm of the transept is called The Poets' Corner. Many other statesmen who have added to England's greatness or aided her materially in councils have found burial here: and others, buried elsewhere, are here commemorated by bust or statue. All the monuments are modern, and many are life-sized white marble statues standing on high pedestals, forming a striking feature of the aisle. Here rest Chatham, Fox, Pitt, the three Cannings, Lord Palmerston and Gladstone. "In no other cemetery do so many great citizens lie within so narrow a space.' 11* In plan, the north transept as already *Macaulay's Essay on Chatham. described (p. 139) consists of four lofty bays in three stages, having broad east and west aisles each partly shut off from the main aisle by the great monuments ranged along the main arcade. The west aisle is readily accessible but the east aisle can be entered only from the north choir aisle (v. p. 640). It was originally divided into three chapels by the use of screens, but only the names of the chapels remain today. Main and side aisles are closely crowded with crowded with monuments little artistic merit, but commemorating many noble names. of The north wall has its lofty height agreeably diversified by division into five rich stages, a large rose window crowning the structure and answering to the rose window of the opposite transept. The lowest stage consists of an arcade of four unequal arches, the two central ones widest, and under these two are the doors of entrance from the street by way of the North or Solomon's Porch. These central arches are supported by round columns having moulded capitals, and stone roses are set in the hollow of the arch moulding. The spandrils of these arches retain fragments of the beautiful vines and figures, delicately executed, with which they were once enriched. In the central spandril a man on horseback suggests the figures of mounted knights on the tombs in the Sanctuary. Directly beneath is the head of a smiling king, perhaps Henry III, whose gratification in the beautiful A SPANDRIL architecture of the transept must have been great. In the easternmost spandril is a fragment of a once beautiful group of three figures, one an angel with very long wings, suggesting an archangel: and two other figures, one sitting with hands on hips, and looking to the east: the middle figure youthful and beautiful, having rounded arms, and turning back to look towards the east, though both of these figures seem to be travelling westward. The angel is earnestly looking towards the east. The second stage of the north wall consists of a delicate, graceful arcade of six equal arches, richly moulded and trefoiled, not surpassed for purity and sim |