Chapter II: Part 2
The ascent to this Chapel is from the east end of the Abbey, by steps of grey marble, under a stately portico, which leads to the gates opening to the body, or nave of the Chapel. Before you enter you may observe a door on each hand, opening into the side aisles, for it is composed of a nave and side aisles, every way answering to the plan of a cathedral. The gates by which you enter the nave are all well worth your observation; they are of brass, most curiously wrought, in the manner of frame work, and the panels being filled with the portcullis and crown; three fleur-de-lis; falcon and fetterlock; the union of the roses of York and Lancaster entwined in a crown; the thistle and crown; the initial R. H. and a crown, and the three lions of England. Being entered, your eye will naturally be directed to the lofty ceiling, which is in stone, wrought with such astonishing variety of figures, as no description can reach. The stalls are of brown wainscot, with Gothic canopies, most beautifully carved, as are the seats, with strange devices, which nothing on wood is now equal to. The pavement is of black and white marble, done at the charge of Dr. Killigrew, once Prebendary of this Abbey, as appears by two inscriptions, one on a plate of brass, infixed in the rise towards the founder's tomb, the other cut in the pavement. The east view from the entrance presents you with the brass chapel and tomb of the founder; and round it, where the east end forms a semicircle, are the Chapels of the Dukes of Buckingham and Richmond. The walls of the nave and aisles are wrought in the most curious figures imaginable, and contain one hundred and twenty large statues of Patriarchs, Saints, Martyrs, and Confessors, placed in niches, under which are angels, supporting imperial crowns, all of them esteemed so curious, that the best masters have travelled from abroad to copy them. The windows, which are fourteen in the upper, and nineteen in the lower range, including the side aisles and portico, were formerly of painted or diapered glass, having in every pane a white rose, the badge of Lancaster, or an H, the initial letter of the founder's name, and portcullises, the badge of the Beauforts crowned, of which a few only are now remaining. In the upper window, east end, Henry VII. is represented in stained glass. The ceiling is of stone, and persons can walk between the roof and ceiling, where there is a spacious room, lighted by Gothic openings through the wall.
_General Admeasurement of the Interior._
Ft. In.
Length of the Nave 103 9
Breadth of ditto 35 9
Height of the Nave to vortex of the Vaulting 60 7
Length of the Aisles 62 5
Breadth of ditto 17 2
Entire Breadth of the Chapel 70 1
Height of West Window 45 0
Breadth of ditto 31 0
_Entrance Porch or Vestibule._
Extent from North to South 28 4
Breadth 24 9
SOUTH AISLE.
1. Lady Margaret Douglas, 1577.
2. Mary, Queen of Scots, 1587.
3. Margaret, Countess of Richmond, 1509.
4. Lady Walpole, 1737.
5. General Monck, Duke of Albemarle, 1670.
In front of this Monument is the Old Royal Vault, containing Charles
II., 1685, King William III., 1702, Prince George of Denmark, 1708,
and Queen Anne, 1714.
Here is a handsome monument, on which lies a lady finely robed, to Lady MARGARET DOUGLAS, daughter of Margaret, Queen of Scots, by the Earl of Angus. This lady, as the English inscription says, had to her great-grandfather, Edward IV.; to her grandfather, Henry VII.; to her uncle, Henry VIII.; to her cousin-german, Edward VI.; to her brother, James V. of Scotland; to her son, Henry I. of Scotland; to her grandson, James VI.; having to her great-grandmother and grandmother, two Queens, both named Elizabeth; to her mother, Margaret, Queen of Scots; to her aunt, Mary, the French Queen; to her cousins-german, Mary and Elizabeth, Queens of England; to her niece and daughter-in-law, Mary, Queen of Scots. This lady, who was very beautiful, was privately married in 1537, to Thomas Howard, son of the Duke of Norfolk, upon which account both of them were committed to the Tower by Henry VIII., her uncle, for affiancing without his consent, and he died in prison; but this Margaret being released, was soon after married to Matthew, Earl of Lennox, by whom she had the handsome Lord Darnley, father of James I., whose effigy is foremost on the tomb, in a kneeling posture. There are seven children besides round the tomb of Margaret, of whom only three are mentioned in history, the rest dying young. This great lady died March 10, 1577.
Next is the magnificent monument to MARY STUART, Queen of Scots, erected by her son, James I., soon after his accession to the English throne. This princess was born Dec. 7, 1542. She was daughter and heiress of James V. of Scotland, who, dying when she was only a week old, succeeded to the crown. Married first, April 28, 1558, at fifteen years of age, Francis, Dauphin of France; secondly, Henry, Lord Darnley, July 29, 1565; and thirdly, Bothwell. Her subjects becoming offended, she was compelled to resign her crown to her infant son, James, by Lord Darnley; she eventually sought refuge in England, but Queen Elizabeth committed her as prisoner to the Earl of Shrewsbury at his houses of Hardwicke and Chatsworth, in Derbyshire, where she remained seventeen years a captive. She was thence transferred to the custody of Sir Amias Paulet, and shortly afterwards tried and condemned for engaging in a treasonable correspondence with the Queen's enemies. She was beheaded in the hall of Fotheringay Castle, in Northamptonshire, February 8, 1587. Her remains were first buried in Peterborough Cathedral; but James had her body privately removed to this Church, in Oct., 1612, under the superintendence of Neile, then Dean of Westminster, and buried in a vault beneath this monument.--_Stone, sculptor._
HENRY, Prince of Wales, eldest son of James I., born Feb. 19, 1593, and after giving great promise of a blessing to his country, died of a fever at St. James's palace, Nov. 6, 1612, in the 19th year of his age, and was buried by the side of his grandmother.
In the same tomb are the remains of ARABELLA STEWART, four children of Charles I.: ELIZABETH of Bohemia, daughter of James I.; Prince RUPERT her son; ANN HYDE, first wife of James II., and ten of his infant children; WILLIAM, Duke of Gloucester, son of Ann, and seventeen of her infant children.
The next is the monument of MARGARET, Countess of Richmond, mother of Henry VII., by Edmund Tudor, son of Owen ap Tudor, who married the widow of Henry V. of England, and daughter of Charles VI. of France. This lady was afterwards married to Humphrey Stafford, a younger son of Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham, and lastly, to Thomas Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby; but by the two last had no children. The inscription mentions the charities of this excellent Princess; such as giving a salary to two monks of Westminster; founding a grammar-school at Wimbourne, and two colleges, one to Christ, the other to St. John his disciple, at Cambridge. Of this lady's bounty, forty poor women partake every Saturday afternoon, in the College Hall; each of them has twopence, one pound and a half of beef, and a fourpenny loaf of bread. She died in July, 1509, in the reign of her grandson, Henry VIII.--_Torrigiano, sculptor._
Opposite is a figure to the memory of Lady WALPOLE, with the following inscription:--"To the memory of Catherine, Lady Walpole, eldest daughter of John Shorter, Esq., of Bybrook, in Kent, and first wife of Sir Robert Walpole, afterwards Earl of Orford, Horace, her youngest son, consecrated this monument. She had beauty and wit, without vice or vanity, and cultivated the arts without affectation: she was devout, though without bigotry to any sect; and was without prejudice to any party, though the wife of a minister, whose power she esteemed but when she could employ it to benefit the miserable, or to reward the meritorious; she loved a private life, though born to shine in public: and was an ornament to Courts, untainted by them. She died August the 20th, 1737."--_Valory, sculptor._
At the end, a monument to the memories of GEORGE MONCK, and CHRISTOPHER, his son, both Dukes of Albemarle; also, ELIZABETH, Duchess Dowager of Albemarle and Montague, relict of Christopher. George Monck, Duke of Albemarle, was younger son of Sir Thomas Monck, born at Potheridge, Devon, December 6, 1608. He entered the army as a volunteer in 1625, under Sir Richard Grenville. At the death of Cromwell he took an active part in the restoration of Charles II., for which he was loaded with honours, and died in the esteem of his sovereign, in 1670, in the sixty-second year of his age.--_Scheemakers, sculptor._
At this end is the Royal Vault, as it is called, in which are deposited the remains of CHARLES II., who died February 2, 1685; WILLIAM III., who died March 8, 1702, and Queen MARY, his consort, who died December 28, 1694; Queen ANNE, died August 1, 1714; and Prince GEORGE, who died Oct. 28, 1708.
THE NAVE.
From this aisle you enter the nave of the Chapel, the stone ceiling of which is curious, and the gates are brass. Here were installed, with great ceremony, the Knights of the most Honourable Order of the Bath, which order was revived in the reign of George I., in 1725. In their stalls are placed brass plates of their arms, &c., and over them hang their banners, swords, and helmets. Under the stalls are seats for the esquires; each Knight has three, whose arms are engraven on brass plates. The small shelving stool which the seats of the stalls form when turned up is called a _miserere_. On these the monks and canons of ancient times, with the assistance of their elbows on the upper part of the stalls, half supported themselves during certain parts of their long offices, not to be obliged always to stand or kneel. It is so contrived, that if the body became supine by sleep, it naturally fell down, and the person who rested upon it was thrown forward on the middle of the choir.
In the centre, between the Knights' stalls, is the Royal Vault, where their Majesties GEORGE II. and Queen CAROLINE are buried; the Prince and Princess of WALES, two Dukes of CUMBERLAND, the Duke of YORK, Prince FREDERICK WILLIAM, the Princesses AMELIA, CAROLINE, ELIZABETH, LOUISA, ANNE; and the two infant Princes, ALFRED and OCTAVIUS, children of George III., were removed in January, 1820, to the new royal vault at Windsor.
What is chiefly to be admired here, as well for antiquity as fine workmanship, is the magnificent tomb of HENRY VII. and ELIZABETH his Queen, the last of the house of York who wore the English crown. This tomb stands in the body of the Chapel, enclosed in a curious chantry of cast brass, most admirably designed and executed, and ornamented with statues, of which those only of St. George, St. James, St. Bartholomew, and St. Edward, are now remaining. Within it are the effigies of the Royal pair, in their robes of state, lying close to each other, on a tomb of black marble, the head whereof is supported by a red dragon, the ensign of Cadwallader, the last King of the Britons, from whom Henry VII. was fond of tracing his descent, and the foot by an angel. There are likewise other devices alluding to his family and alliances; such as portcullises, signifying his relation to the Beauforts by his mother's side; roses twisted and crowned, in memory of the union of the two Royal Houses of York and Lancaster. There are six compartments, three on the north, and as many on the south side of its base. The first compartment on the south side contains the figures of the Virgin Mary with our Lord in her arms, and that of the Archangel St. Michael. The figures in the scales, though now mutilated, were meant for personal representations of moral good and evil; the Saint is weighing them in his balance; the good preponderates; but the Devil, who is represented by the figure under his feet, is reaching with one of his clawed feet at the scale which contains the figure of Evil, in order, by the addition of his own force, to render that the heaviest. The first figure in the second compartment is doubtless intended for St. John the Baptist, he having a book in his left hand, with an _Agnus Dei_ impressed upon it. The other is a figure of St. John the Evangelist, and the figure of the eagle. The first figure of the third compartment is intended for St. George; the other figure, from the pig's head visible near him, the frequent symbol by which he is denoted, is intended for St. Anthony of Vienna. The first figure in the fourth compartment, north side, is meant for Mary Magdalen, supposing her to hold the box of ointment. The other figure represents St. Barbara, who was the daughter of a Pagan, and dwelt with her father in a certain tower. To this tower adjoined a garden, in which the father determined to build a bath, with the necessary accommodation of rooms, and therein to make windows to the number of two only. Being about to undertake a journey, he left his instructions with the artificers, which his daughter presumed to vary, by directing them instead of two to make three. Upon her father's return, he inquired into the reason of this deviation from his orders; and being told that in allusion to three persons of the Holy Trinity his daughter had directed it, he found that she was become a convert to Christianity; and being exasperated thereat, stimulated the Emperor to a persecution of the Christians, in which she became a martyr to the faith. The first figure in the fifth compartment is intended for St. Christopher, bearing our Saviour upon his shoulder. The other figure is thought to be St. Anne. In the sixth and last compartment, the first figure is intended for King Edward the Confessor; the other figure is a Benedictine Monk. Henry VII. died April 21st, 1509, and his Queen, February 11th, 1502.--_The work of Torrigiano._
EDWARD VI., grandson of Henry VII., who died July 6th, 1553, in the sixteenth year of his age, and seventh of his reign. On the holy table is the following inscription in Latin:--"In place of the ancient altar, destroyed in the civil wars, to the honour of God and in pious memory of Edward VI., who is buried beneath, this holy table, in a gentler age, was placed by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D.D., Dean of Westminster. 1870."
On the south side of the tomb of Henry VII., in a small chapel, is a monument to LEWIS STUART, Duke of Richmond, and FRANCES, his wife. The brass effigies are represented as lying on a marble table, under a canopy of brass, curiously wrought, and supported by the figures of Faith, Hope, Charity, and Prudence. On the top is a fine figure of Fame, taking her flight, and resting only on her toe. This illustrious nobleman was son to Esme Stuart, Duke of Lennox, and grandson of James, nephew of James I., to whom he was First Gentleman of the Bedchamber and Privy Councillor, a Knight of the Garter, and Ambassador to France on behalf of Scotland. He died Feb. 16, 1623. His lady was daughter of Thomas, Lord Howard of Bindon, son of the Duke of Norfolk, by Elizabeth, daughter of the Duke of Buckingham. She died Oct. 8, 1639.--You will likewise see here a pyramid, supporting a small urn, in which is contained the heart of ESME STUART, son of the Duke of Richmond and Lennox, by Lady Mary, daughter of the Duke of Buckingham. He died in France, August 15, 1661, aged eleven years, and was succeeded in all his titles by Charles, Earl of Lichfield, his cousin-german, who died December 12, 1672, and is here interred.
This monument was originally of great splendour, hardly surpassed by any in the Abbey, being wholly composed of jet black marble and bronze gilt. The combined effects of neglect, corrosion, and spoliation had at last rendered it an unsightly wreck, when, in 1874, its almost complete restoration was undertaken by the direction and at the sole cost of the Earl of Darnley, who is a lineal descendant in the female line of the ancient Stuart family.
A monument to the DUKE DE MONTPENSIER, who is represented with ducal coronet and robes, and his remains are beneath. On the front of this tomb is the following inscription:--"The most illustrious and Serene Prince, ANTHONY PHILIP, Duke of Montpensier, descended from the Kings of France, second son of the Duke of Orleans, from his earliest youth bred to arms, and even in chains unsubdued; of an erect mind in adversity, and in prosperity not elated; a constant patron of the liberal arts, polite, pleasant, and courteous to all, nor ever wanting in the duties of brother, neighbour, friend, or in the love of his country. After experiencing the vicissitudes of fortune, he was received with great hospitality by the English nation, and at length rests in this asylum for kings. Born July 3, 1775. Died May 18, 1807, aged thirty-one. Louis Philip, Duke of Orleans, erects this monument in memory of the best of brothers."--_Sir Richard Westmacott, sculptor._
The next is an excellent monument to the memory of JOHN SHEFFIELD, Duke of Buckingham, where, on an altar, lies his Grace's effigy, in a Roman habit, with his Duchess, Catherine, natural daughter of the Duke of York, afterwards James II., sitting at his feet weeping. In the reign of Charles II. as the inscription sets forth, he was General of the Dutch troop of horse, Governor of Kingston Castle upon Hull, and First Gentleman of the Bedchamber; in that of James II., Lord Chamberlain; and in that of Queen Anne, Lord Privy Seal, and President of the Council. He was in his youth an excellent poet, and, in his more advanced years, a fine writer. His love of poetry is conspicuous, by the esteem and regard he had for the two great masters of it, who flourished in his own time, Dryden and Pope, to the first of whom he extended his friendship, even after death, by erecting a monument to his memory. To the latter he did honour, by writing a poem in his praise. Over his Grace's effigy are inscribed in Latin, sentences to the following import:--"I lived doubtful, not dissolute--I die unresolved, not unresigned. Ignorance and error are incident to human nature. I trust in an almighty and all good God. O! thou Being of Beings, have compassion on me;" and underneath it.--"for my King often, for my Country ever." His Grace died in the seventy-fourth year of his age, Feb. 24, 1720, leaving the publication of his works to the care of Mr. Pope.--_Scheemakers, sculptor._
The remains of JAMES I. are in the tomb of Henry VII. This Prince reigned over Scotland 59 years, and over England 22 years. He was son to Lord Darnley, by Mary Queen of Scots. He died March 16, 1625, aged 61, after a long and peaceable reign. The remains of his Queen, ANN of Denmark, are in the tomb in front of the monument of Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham. She died March 2, 1619.
On the north side of Henry the Seventh's Chantry, in a chapel, is a very antique monument, decorated with several emblematical figures in brass, gilt, the principal of which is Neptune, in a pensive posture, with his trident reversed, and Mars with his head crouched. These support the tomb on which lie the effigies of GEORGE VILLIERS, Duke of Buckingham, and his Duchess, the great favourite of James I. and Charles I., who fell a sacrifice to national resentment, and perished by the hands of Felton, August 23, 1628, who had no other motive of action but the clamours of the people. CATHERINE, his Duchess, was interred in the same vault, April 8, 1643.
CROMWELL, four of his family, and six officers were buried in the vault at the end of this chapel. Their remains were removed at the Restoration.
The following are also interred in this portion of the Chapel:--JOHN CAMPBELL, Duke of Argyle and Greenwich, 1743. EDWARD VI., ELIZABETH CLAYPOLE, second daughter of Oliver Cromwell, 1658.
NORTH AISLE.
1. Monument to Queen Elizabeth, 1602, and her Sister Queen Mary, 1558.
2. Mary, Daughter of James the First, 1607.
3. Edward the Fifth and Duke of York, 1483.
4. Sophia, Daughter of James the First, 1606.
5. Marquis of Halifax, 1695.
6. Earl of Halifax, 1715.
From hence you pass to the North Aisle, by a door on the right hand, where is a monument to the memory of CHARLES MOUNTAGUE, the first of this family that bore the title of Lord Halifax, son of George Mountague, of Horton. In the reigns of William III. and George I. he was placed at the head of the Treasury, where, undertaking the reformation of the coin, which in those days was most infamously clipped, to the great loss of the public, he restored it to its proper value. For these and other public services, he was first created Baron, and then Earl of Halifax, and died May 19, 1715.
In front of this monument was buried JOSEPH ADDISON; to mark the spot a slab of white marble, inlaid with solid brass letters and devices, has recently been placed by the Earl of Ellesmere. The very appropriate epitaph was the effusion of Addison's friend and contemporary, Thomas Tickle:--
ADDISON.
"Ne'er to these chambers, where the mighty rest,
Since their foundation, came a nobler guest;
Nor e'er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed
A fairer spirit, or more welcome shade.
Oh, gone for ever! take this long adieu,
And sleep in peace, next thy lov'd Mountague."
Egerton, Earl of Ellesmere, Born 1672, Died 1719.
P.C. 1849. _Poole, mason_.
Also one to the memory of Sir GEORGE SAVILLE, created by Charles I. Baron of Eland, and Viscount Halifax, afterwards Earl, and lastly Marquis of Halifax. He was Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal for some time in the reigns of Charles II., James II., and William III.; and, at the beginning of the reign of James II., he was, for a few months, Lord President of the Council. He died April 5, 1695.
Here is the lofty and magnificent monument of Queen ELIZABETH, erected to her memory by James I., her successor. The inscription speaks her character, high descent, and the memorable acts of her glorious reign:--"That she was the mother of her country, and the patroness of religion and learning; that she was herself skilled in many languages; adorned with every excellence of mind and person, and endowed with princely virtues beyond her sex; that in her reign, religion was restored to its primitive purity; peace was established; money restored to its just value; domestic insurrections quelled; France delivered from intestine troubles; the Netherlands supported; the Spanish Armada defeated; Ireland, almost lost by the secret contrivances of Spain, recovered; the revenues of both Universities improved, by a law of provisions, and, in short, all England enriched; that she was a most prudent Governess, forty-five years a virtuous and triumphant Queen, truly religious, and blessed in all her great affairs; and that after a calm and resigned death, in the seventieth year of her age, she left the mortal part to be deposited in this Church, which she established upon a new footing. She died March 24, 1602, aged seventy." Queen MARY, whose reign preceded that of Queen Elizabeth, was interred here likewise. She died Nov. 17, 1558.--_Stone, sculptor._
At the end of this Aisle is a small tomb over which is a figure of a child, erected to the memory of MARY, third daughter of James I., born at Greenwich in 1605; and soon afterwards committed to the care of Lady Knevet, in whose house at Stainwell she died, December 19, 1607, at two years old.
And a child in a cradle, erected to the memory of SOPHIA, fourth daughter of the same King, born at Greenwich in 1606, and died in three days.
Against the end wall is an altar, raised by Charles II. to the memory of EDWARD V. and his brother, who, by their treacherous uncle, Richard III., were murdered in the Tower. The inscription, which is in Latin, gives a particular account of their sad catastrophe, and is in English thus:--"Here lie the relics of Edward V., King of England, and Richard, Duke of York, who, being confined in the Tower, and there stifled with pillows, were privately and meanly buried, by order of their perfidious uncle, Richard, the usurper. Their bones, long inquired after and wished for, after laying 191 years in the rubbish of the stairs (_i.e._, those lately leading to the Chapel of the White Tower), were, on the 17th of July, 1674, by undoubted proofs, discovered, being buried deep in that place. Charles II., pitying their unhappy fate, ordered these unfortunate Princes to be laid among the relics of their predecessors, in the year 1678, and the thirtieth of his reign." It is remarkable, that Edward was born November 4, 1471, in the sanctuary belonging to this Church, whither his mother took refuge during the contest between the houses of York and Lancaster; at eleven years of age, upon the death of his father, 1483, he was proclaimed King; and on the 23rd of June, in the same year, was murdered in the manner already related. Richard, his brother, was born May 28, 1474, and married, while a child, to Ann Mowbray, heiress of Norfolk.
In front of Queen Elizabeth's tomb are the bodies of GEORGE MONCK, Duke of Albemarle, 1670. EDWARD, Earl of Sandwich, 1672.
V.--Chapel of St. Paul.
_Begin on your left._
1. Sir Henry Belasyse, 1717.
2. Colonel Macleod.
3. Sir John Puckering, 1596.
4. Sir James Fullerton.
5. Lord Chancellor Bromley, 1587.
6. Sir Dudley Carleton, 1631.
7. Countess of Sussex, 1589.
8. Lord and Lady Cottington, 1631.
9. James Watt, 1819.
10. Sir Giles Daubeny, 1507.
11. Lewis Robsart, Standard Bearer to Henry V., 1431.
Lord Delaval and Lord Tyrconnel's Banners hang over the place of their
interment.
On your left hand is a monument to the memory of Sir HENRY BELASYSE, Knt., Lieutenant-General, some time Governor of Galway in Ireland, and afterwards of Berwick-on-Tweed, in the reign of William III. He died December 16, 1717, aged sixty-nine. Bridget, wife of his only son, W. Belasyse, Esq., died July 28, 1735, aged twenty.--_Scheemakers, sculptor._
Next this, one--"To the memory of Lieutenant-Colonel CHARLES MACLEOD, who fell at the siege of Badajos, aged twenty-six years. This monument is erected by his brother officers. In Lieutenant-Colonel Macleod, of the forty-third Regiment, who was killed in the breach, his Majesty has sustained the loss of an officer who was an ornament to his profession, and was capable of rendering the most important services to his country." Vide Marquis Wellington's Dispatch, 8th April, 1812.--_Nollekens, sculptor._
Sir JOHN PUCKERING, Knt., and his Lady, remarkable, as his inscription sets forth, for his knowledge in the laws, as well as piety, wisdom, and many other virtues. He was Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England four years, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in which office he died, April 30, 1596. His epitaph, in Latin, over his effigy, is thus translated:--
"The public cares and laws engaged my breast;
To live was toilsome, but to die is rest.
Wealth, maces, guards, crowns, titles, things that fade,
The prey of time and sable death are made.
VIRTUE INSPIRES MEN.
His wife this statue rears to her loved spouse,
The test of constancy and marriage vows."
"I trust I shall see the Lord in the land of the living."
Sir JAMES FULLERTON and his Lady, with an epitaph:--"Here lie the remains of Sir James Fullerton, Knight, First Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Charles the First (Prince and King), a generous rewarder of all virtue, a severe reprover of all vice, a professed renouncer of all vanity. He was a firm pillar to the Commonwealth, a faithful patron to the Catholic Church, a fair pattern to the British Court. He lived to the welfare of his country, to the honour of his Prince, to the glory of his God. He died _fuller_ of faith than of fear, _fuller_ of consolation than of pains, _fuller_ of honour than of days."
In the middle of this Chapel is a table monument, on which lie the effigies of Sir GILES DAUBENY, created Lord Daubeny in the first year of the reign of Henry VII., and Dame ELIZABETH, his wife. He seems to have been a man of great authority in the reign of Henry VII., as he was Lord Lieutenant of Calais, in France, Lord Chamberlain to his Majesty, Knight of the Most noble Order of the Garter, and father of Henry Lord Daubeny, the first and last Earl of Bridgewater of that surname, by Elizabeth, of the ancient family of the Arundels, in Cornwall. He died May 22, 1507, and his lady in 1500.
JAMES WATT: he is represented with compasses forming designs, seated on an oblong pedestal. The inscription as follows:--"Not to perpetuate a name, which must endure while the peaceful arts flourish, but to show that mankind have learned to honour those who best deserve their gratitude, the king, his ministers, and many of the nobles and commoners of the realm, raised this monument to James Watt, who, directing the force of an original genius, early exercised in philosophical research, to the improvement of the steam-engine, enlarged the resources of his country, increased the power of man, and rose to an eminent place among the most illustrious followers of science, and the real benefactors of the world. Born at Greenock, 1736, died at Heathfield, in Staffordshire, 1819."--_Chantrey, sculptor._
Sir THOMAS BROMLEY, Knight, Privy Councillor to Queen Elizabeth, and eight years Chancellor, in which office he died, April 12, 1587, to the grief of all good men. The eight children depicted on this tomb, were all by his Lady, Elizabeth, of the family of Fortescue.
Sir DUDLEY CARLETON, afterwards made Viscount Dorchester, for his eminent services to Charles I. and his father, both abroad and at home. He was a person versed in the languages, customs, and laws of most of the European nations, and was entrusted both by James I. and his successors, with the most important foreign negotiations. After the death of James I., he was sent to Holland, and was the last deputy who voted in the Assembly of the States, which great privilege the crown of England possessed from the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign to this period. He died Feb. 15, 1631, aged fifty-seven.
FRANCES, Countess of Essex. This great lady was the wife of Thomas Ratcliffe, Earl of Sussex, Lord Deputy of Ireland, and Knight of the Garter, &c., and daughter of Sir William Sidney, of Pensehurst, Knight. By her last will, having outlived her husband, she instituted a divinity lecture to be read in this Collegiate Church, gave 5,000_l._ towards the building of a new College in Cambridge, now called Sidney Sussex College; and left a sufficient yearly revenue for the maintenance of one master ten fellows, and twenty scholars, either in the said new college, or else in Clare Hall. She died April 15, 1589, aged fifty-eight.
Next to this is a monument of black marble, very remarkably different from every other in the Abbey. On the top of it is a circular frame of gilt brass, enclosing the bust of ANN, Lady Cottington, wife of Francis, Lord Cottington, Baron of Hanworth, so created by Charles I. She was daughter of Sir William Meredith, of Denbighshire, by Jane, his wife, of the family of the Palmers, in Kent, and died February 22, 1633, in the thirty-third year of her age, having had four daughters and a son, all of whom died before their father, who, on a table monument beneath, lies in effigy, resting on his left arm; and over a satyr's head is this inscription in English: "Here lies Francis, Lord Cottington, of Hanworth, who, in the reign of Charles I., was Chancellor of his Majesty's Exchequer, Master of the Court of Wards, Constable of the Tower, Lord High Treasurer of England, and one of the Privy Council. He was twice Ambassador in Spain, once for the said King, and a second time for Charles II., now reigning, to both of whom he most signally showed his allegiance and fidelity, during the unhappy civil broils of those times; and for his faithful adherence to the Crown (the Usurper prevailing) was forced to fly his country; and, during his exile, died at Valladolid, in Spain, June 19, 1652, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, whence his body was brought, and here interred, by Charles Cottington, Esq., his nephew and heir, in 1679."
The next is a very old Gothic monument, erected to the memory of LEWIS ROBERT, or ROBSART, a foreigner, but standard bearer to Henry V., a Knight of the Bath, and afterwards of the Garter, and at length created Lord Bourchier. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of St. Bartholomew Bourchier, and probably a relation to Geoffrey Chaucer, the old English poet.
On leaving this Chapel, on your right is a monument to the memory of WILLIAM PULTENEY, Earl of Bath, with a medallion and urn, supported by Wisdom and Poetry. The inscription is as follows:--"Erected to the memory of William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, by his brother, the Hon. Harry Pulteney, General of his Majesty's Forces, 1764, Ob. July 7, 1767, Æt. eighty-one."--_Wilton, sculptor._
CHARLES HOLMES, Esq., Rear-Admiral of the White; who is represented in a Roman habit, leaning against a cannon mounted on a sea carriage; an anchor, cable, and flag in the back ground.--"He died the 21st of Nov., 1761, Commander-in-Chief of his Majesty's fleet stationed at Jamaica, aged fifty. Erected by his grateful nieces, Mary Stanwix and Lucretia Stowe."--_Wilton, sculptor._
In front of the monument to Admiral Holmes, is an old gravestone, plated with brass, with Latin inscription, to JOHN of WINDSOR, nephew of Sir William of Windsor, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the reign of Edward III. He died April 4, 1414.
Near this spot was buried JOHN PYM, the celebrated Parliamentary orator, who died December 13, 1643; and also JAMES USHER, Archbishop of Armagh, 1656.
VI.--Chapel of St. Edward.
1. Henry the Third, 1272.
2. Queen Eleanor, 1290.
3. Henry the Fifth, 1423.
4. Queen Phillippa, 1369.
5. Edward the Third, 1377.
6. Margaret Woodville, Daughter of Edward the Fourth, on which is
placed a Sword and Shield of State, carried before Edward the Third,
1316.
7. Richard the Second and Queen, 1399, 1394.
8. Coronation Chair of Edward the First, 1297.
9. Coronation Chair made for Mary, Wife of William the Third.
10. Tomb of Edward the First, 1307.
11. Shrine of Edward the Confessor, 1065.
12. Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, 1397.
13. John of Waltham, Bishop of Salisbury, 1388. Pavement laid down in
1260.
The first curiosity that commands your reverence is the ancient venerable shrine of ST. EDWARD, once the glory of England, but now defaced and robbed of its beauty, by the devotees of this extreme pious man, all of whom were proud to possess some stone or dust from his tomb. This shrine was erected by Henry III. in 1269, to receive the remains of St. Edward, upon his translation from the shrine built by Henry II., upon the canonization of Edward, King of England (third of that name, and the last of the Saxon race), by Pope Alexander III., in 1163, who caused his name to be placed in the catalogue of saints, and issued his bull to the Abbot Laurentius, and the Convent of Westminster, enjoining, "That his body be honoured here on earth, as his soul is glorified in heaven." He died in 1065. How costly the shrine, &c., was, appears by a record in the Tower.--_Parl. Roll. 51st of Henry III._ "Henry III., with consent of the Abbot and Convent of Westminster, pledged the jewels belonging to the body and shrine of Edward the Confessor to foreigners, being necessitated on account of heavy emergencies; the value of the said jewels amounted to £2,557. 4_s._ 8_d._"
On the south side of the shrine, EDITHA, daughter of Goodwyn, Earl of Kent, and Queen of St. Edward, lies interred. The writers of those times commended her for beauty, learning, prudent economy, gentle manners, and inimitable skill in needlework, having wrought with her own hands the curious and magnificent robes the King used to wear on his collar days. She died at Winchester, Jan. 15, 1073. Part of a Latin epitaph on this excellent Princess has been handed down, and is to this effect:--
"Success ne'er sat exulting in her eye,
Nor disappointment heaved the troubled sigh;
Prosperity ne'er sadden'd o'er her brow,
While glad in trouble she enjoyed her woe:
Beauty ne'er made her vain, nor sceptres proud,
Nor titles taught to scorn the meaner crowd.
Supreme humility was awful grace,
And her chief charm a bashfulness of face."
Near this was buried MATILDA, Queen of England, daughter of Malcolm, King of Scots, and wife to Henry I. She died May 1, 1118. This Queen would, every day in Lent, walk from her palace to this church barefoot, and wearing a garment of hair. No verse or stone to mark the place of interment are to be found.
On the north side of this Chapel is an ancient tomb of admirable workmanship and materials, the panels being of polished porphyry, and the Mosaic work round them of gold and scarlet; at the corners of the table are twisted pillars, gilt and enamelled, and the effigy of HENRY III. upon it is of gilt brass, finely executed. He died in 1272, after a troublesome reign of fifty-six years, aged sixty-five, and was buried by the Knights Templars, of whose order his father was the founder, with such splendour, that Wykes, the Monk, says, he made a more magnificent figure when dead, than he had done while living.--_Cavalini._
Near that of Henry III. is a small monument in memory of ELIZABETH TUDOR, second daughter of Henry VII., who died at Eltham, in Kent, Sept. 14th, 1495, aged three years, from whence she was removed in great funeral pomp, and here buried.
At the feet of Henry III. is an ancient monument of ELEANOR, Queen of Edward I. On the sides of this monument are engraven the arms of Castile and Leon, quarterly, and those of Fontheiu, hanging on vines and oak leaves; and round the copper verge is embossed this inscription, in Saxon characters: "Ici gist Alianor iadis Reyne de Engletere femme al Rey Edeward Fiz (lerey Henry efylle alrey deespaygne econtasse de) puntif del alme deli Deu pur sa pite eyt merci. Amen." Translation:--_Here lies Eleanor, formerly Queen of England, wife to King Edward son of King Henry, daughter of the King of Spain, and Countess of Ponthieu; upon whose soul may God for His pity have mercy. Amen._ The upper line is visible on the south side, the words within brackets are concealed under the tomb of King Henry V., the remainder is on the north side. It is remarkable, the body only of this Queen lies here interred, and her heart in the choir of the Friars Predicants in London. She died Dec. 27, 1290.--_Cavalini._
The chantry of Henry V. is next, on each side of which are images as large as life, guarding, as it were, the staircases ascending to it. Beneath is the tomb of that glorious and warlike Prince, HENRY of MONMOUTH (so called from the place of his nativity). On the upper slab lies a headless and otherwise mutilated figure of the King, carved in oak, which was originally covered with silver; the head appears to have been cast in silver; but this, Camden says, "was gone when he wrote his Britannica, in the reign of Elizabeth." This Prince was guilty of great extravagances in his youth, and is said, with Sir John Falstaff, to have belonged to a gang of sharpers; yet, upon his advancement to the crown made a most excellent King, and, by the memorable battle of Agincourt, acquired to himself and the English nation immortal glory. He died in France, Aug. 31, 1422, in the thirty-fourth year of his age, and the tenth of his reign. In the chantry above, is the saddle, helmet, and shield, supposed to have been used at Agincourt, brought here at his interment.--_John Anderne, sculptor._
The next is an ancient tomb to the memory of PHILLIPPA, third daughter of William, Earl of Hainault, and Queen of Edward III., with whom she lived forty-two years, and bore him fourteen children. Harding tells us, that when an embassy was sent to choose one of the Earl's daughters, a certain English Bishop advised to choose the lady with the largest hips, as promising a numerous progeny. She died August 15, 1369; and the King, her husband, bestowed a profusion of expense in performing her exequies and erecting her tomb, round which were placed as ornaments the brazen statues of no less than thirty kings, princes, and noble personages, her relations.
Adjoining to this is the tomb of EDWARD III., which is likewise covered with a Gothic canopy. On a table of grey marble lies the effigy of this Prince, though his corpse was deposited in the same grave with the Queen's, according to her request on her death-bed. This tomb was surrounded, like the former, with statues, particularly those of his children, six of which remain on the south side of the tomb; viz., Edward, Joan-de-la-Tour, Lionel, Edmund, Mary, and William. He died June 21, 1377, aged sixty-four.
Here is likewise a monument in memory of MARGARET, daughter of Edward IV., by Elizabeth Woodville, his Queen, which had once an inscription upon it, showing her name, quality, and age, being only nine months. She died April 19, 1472.
Between the Chairs are placed the shield and sword carried before Edward III., in France. The sword is seven feet long, and weighs eighteen pounds.
Under a large stone, once finely plated with brass, lies the great THOMAS of WOODSTOCK, Duke of Gloucester; he was brother to the Black Prince, and sixth and youngest son of Edward III. He was murdered at Calais, Sept. 8, 1397.
Next adjoining to this is a tomb, erected to the memory of RICHARD II. and his Queen; over which is a canopy of wood, remarkable for a curious painting of the Virgin Mary and our Saviour still visible upon it. This Richard was son of Edward the Black Prince, and grandson of Edward III., whom he succeeded at eleven years of age. He was murdered on St. Valentine's day, 1399. In the same tomb lies his Queen, ANNE, daughter of Charles IV., and sister of Wenceslaus, Emperor and King of Bohemia, who brought him neither dowry nor issue. She died at Shene, June 7, 1394, after being married twelve years.
THE CORONATION CHAIRS.--The most ancient of them was made to enclose the stone (which is reported to be Jacob's Pillar), brought with regalia from Scotland, by Edward I., and offered to St. Edward's shrine, in the year 1297 (after he had overcome John Baliol, King of Scots, in several battles). In this chair all the reigning Sovereigns have been crowned since Edward I. The other chair was made for Queen Mary II. At the coronation, one or both of them are covered with gold tissue, and placed before the altar, behind which they now stand, surrounded by several monarchs, who seem to guard them even in death.
Above those chairs, along the frieze of the screen of this Chapel, are fourteen legendary sculptures, respecting the Confessor. The first is the trial of Queen Emma; the next the birth of Edward; another is his coronation; the fourth tells us how our saint was frightened into the abolition of the Dean-gelt, by his seeing the devil dance upon the money casks; the fifth is the story of his winking at the thief, who was robbing his treasure; the sixth is meant to relate the appearance of our Saviour to him; the seventh shows how the invasion of England was frustrated by the drowning of the Danish King; in the eighth is seen the quarrel between the boys Totsi and Harold, predicting their respective fates; in the ninth sculpture is the Confessor's vision of the seven sleepers; the tenth, how he met St. John the Evangelist in the guise of a pilgrim; the eleventh, how the blind were cured by their eyes being washed in his dirty water; the twelfth, how St. John delivers to the pilgrims a ring; in the thirteenth they deliver the ring to the King, which he had unknowingly given to St. John as an alms, when he met him in the form of a pilgrim; this was attended with a message from the saint, foretelling the death of the King; and the fourteenth shows the consequential haste made by him to complete his pious foundation.
Before leaving this Chapel you will observe a large plain tomb, composed of five slabs of grey marble; two make the sides, two the ends, and one the cover. This rough unpolished tomb enclosed the body of the glorious King EDWARD I., of whom we have just been speaking. He was son of Henry III., and born at Westminster, June 17, 1239, named Edward, in honour of St. Edward, his father's patron and predecessor, and afterwards Longshanks, from his tall and slender body. He is called Edward I., because he was the first of that name after the Conquest. He died July 7, 1307, after a reign of thirty-four years, and a life of sixty-eight. This tomb was opened in 1774, by permission of Dr. Thomas, then Dean of Westminster, granted to the Society of Antiquaries, a deputation of whom, with the Dean, attended the process. The body was perfect, having on two robes, one of gold and silver tissue, and the other of crimson velvet; a sceptre in each hand, measuring near five feet; a crown on his head, and many jewels; he measured six feet two inches.
Near this tomb is a large stone, plated with brass, to the memory of JOHN of WALTHAM, the twenty-sixth Bishop of Salisbury, anno 1388. He was master of the Rolls in 1382, then Keeper of the Privy Seal, in the year 1391, and died Lord High Treasurer of England to Richard II., in 1395.
In this Chapel was interred the heart of HENRY D'ALMADE, son of Richard, King of the Romans, brother of Henry III. He was sacrilegiously assassinated in the Church of St. Silvester, at Viterbo, as he was performing his devotions before the high altar. Simon and Guido Montford, sons of Simon de Montford, Earl of Leicester, were the assassins, in revenge for their father's death, who, with their brother Henry, was slain in the battle of Evesham, in fighting against their lawful sovereign. The picture of this murder the inhabitants had painted, and hung up in the church, where we are told it still remains. This murder happened in 1270, and in the year after the body of Henry was brought to England, and buried in the monastery of St. Helen's; but his heart was put in a cup, and placed near St. Edward's shrine, of the removal of which we have no account.
Upon a careful perusal of the guide-book to this portion of the Abbey, it will not be uninteresting to observe that the bodies of six kings, five queens, two princesses, a duke, and a bishop are deposited in this remarkable receptacle of the dead.
Before entering the Chapel of St. John, on the right or east side of the door, is a monument erected to the memory of JANE, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Pulteney, and wife of Sir Clippesby Crewe, Knt. She died Dec. 2, 1639, aged twenty-nine.
On the left, or west side of the door, is a monument to the memory of JULIANA, only daughter of Sir Randolph Crewe, Knt., Lord Chief Justice of England. She died unmarried April 22, 1621.
Over the door is the monument of the Right Rev. Dr. BARNARD, Lord Bishop of Londonderry, who died in London, January 10, 1768, aged seventy-two, and was here buried.
VII.--Chapel of St. John.
_Begin on your Left._
1. Sir Thomas Vaughan.
2. Colonel Popham, 1651.
3. Carey, Son of the Earl of Monmouth, 1648.
4. Hugh de Bohun, and Mary his Sister, grandchildren of Edward the
First.
5. Carey, Baron of Hunsdon, 1596.
6. Countess of Mexborough, 1821.
7. William of Colchester, Abbot of Westminster, 1420.
8. O. Ruthall, Bishop of Durham, 1524.
9. Thomas Millyng, Bishop of Hereford, 1492.
10. Abbot Fascet, 1500.
11. Mrs. Mary Kendall.
12. Cecil, Earl of Exeter, 1622, and Lady, 1608.
On the left, in this Chapel, is an ancient monument to the memory of Sir THOMAS VAUGHAN, Knight, Chamberlain to Edward, Prince of Wales, and Treasurer of Edward IV. On the top are the mutilated remains of a brass plate of the Knight.
In the recess of this tomb is a bust to the memory of FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE. Born August 29th, 1805; died April 1st, 1872; buried at Highgate. "God is Light." "He was sent to bear witness of that Light."--_T. Woolner, R.A._
Next to this, proceeding on your left hand, is a monument to the memory of Colonel EDWARD POPHAM, an officer in Oliver Cromwell's army, and his Lady. The inscription on this monument was erased at the Restoration, otherwise it would have been removed. He died at Dover, August 19, 1651.
A tablet to the memory of THOMAS CAREY, second son of the Earl of Monmouth. He was gentleman of the Bedchamber to Charles I.; and is said to have died of grief, in 1648, at the age of thirty-three, for the unhappy fate of his Royal Master.
Under this is a tombstone of grey marble, to the memory of HUGH DE BOHUN, and MARY, his sister, grandchildren to Edward I.
The next monument is to the memory of HENRY CAREY, first cousin to Queen Elizabeth, created Baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, in 1558; was some time Governor of Berwick, Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth, Privy Councillor and Knight of the Garter; but not being preferred as he expected, he laid the disappointment so much to heart, that he languished for a long time on a sick bed, at which the Queen being moved too late, created him an Earl, and ordered the patent and robes to be laid before him, but without effect. He died July 23, 1596, aged seventy-two.
In the middle of the Chapel is the tomb of THOMAS CECIL, Earl of Exeter, Baron Burleigh, Knight of the Garter, and Privy Councillor to James I.; whereon is his effigy, with a lady on his right side, and a vacant space on his left for another. He died February 7, 1622. The lady on his right side is Dorothy Nevil, his first wife, daughter and co-heiress of the Noble Lord Latimer, who died May 22, 1608; and the vacant space was left for his second wife, Frances Bridget, of the noble family of Chandos; but as the right side was taken up, she gave express orders, by her will, not to place her effigy on his left; notwithstanding which, they are all buried together in one vault, as the inscription expresses. She died in 1663.
In the corner to the left is a tablet:--"Sacred to the memory of the Right Hon. ELIZABETH, Countess of Mexborough, who departed this life June 7, in the year of our Lord 1821, aged fifty-nine. Her afflicted husband, John, Earl of Mexborough, hath erected this monument to her memory, in token of his deep sorrow for her loss, and of his sincere love and affection."
WILLIAM of COLCHESTER, Abbot of Westminster, who died in the year 1420, has also an ancient stone monument in this chapel, whereon lies his effigy, properly habited, the head supported by an angel, the feet by a lamb.
THOMAS RUTHALL, made Bishop of Durham by Henry VIII. He had been a Secretary of State to Henry VII., and was by Henry VIII. made a Privy Councillor, and sent on several embassies abroad. He died, immensely rich, in 1524.
A third is that of GEORGE FASCET, Abbot of Westminster, in the time of Henry VII., of whom we can find nothing material. He died in the year 1500.
On this monument stands the stone coffin of THOMAS MILLYNG, Bishop of Hereford, some time Abbot of Westminster, and Privy Councillor to Edward IV., who died in 1492.
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Historical Description of Westminster Abbey, Its Monuments and CuriositiesChapter II: Part 2
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