Historical Description of Westminster Abbey Part 20

On the left is a tablet with a coat of arms over, and a music-book under it:--"Near this place are deposited the remains of BENJAMIN COOKE, Doctor in Music of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and Organist and Master of the Choristers of this Collegiate Church for above thirty years.

He departed this life on the 14th of September, 1793, and in the fifty-ninth year of his age."

ENOCH HAWKINS, Esq., Gentleman of her Majesty's Chapel Royal, and Vicar Choral of this Collegiate Church, who died on the 9th January, 1847, aged fifty.

Upon a tablet that has emblems of music,--"To the memory of JAMES BARTLEMAN, formerly a Chorister and Lay-Clerk of Westminster Abbey, and Gentleman of his Majesty's Royal Chapel. He was born the 19th of September, 1769, died the 15th of April, 1821, and was buried in this Cloister, near his beloved master, Dr. Cooke."

In this walk is erected a monument to W. BUCHAN, M.D., author of the Domestic Medicine, who died in 1805.

A tablet with inscriptions, to Mr. JOHN BROUGHTON, and his wife Elizabeth; she died in 1714, and himself in 1789. Also R. MONK, Esq., died in 1831; his wife CATHERINE, 1832.

"WILLIAM WOOLLETT, born August 22, 1735, died May 22, 1785." The genius of engraving is represented handing down to posterity the works of painting, sculpture, and architecture. A monument with his bust on the top.

Near to this will be seen a tablet in memory of ELIZABETH WOODFALL, younger daughter of the late Henry Sampson Woodfall, having lived many years in Dean's Yard, contiguous to the Abbey, and died 12th February, 1862, at the age of ninety-three.

Having exceeded the bounds at first intended, we shall conclude in the words of an ingenious writer on the subject of this Abbey:--"I have wandered," says he, "with pleasure into the most gloomy recesses of this last resort of grandeur, to contemplate human life, and trace mankind through all the wilderness of their frailties and misfortunes, from their cradles to their graves. I have reflected on the shortness of our duration here, and that I was but one of the millions who had been employed in the same manner, in ruminating on the trophies of mortality before me; that I must moulder to dust in the same manner, and quit the scene to a new generation, without leaving the shadow of my existence behind me; that this huge fabric, the sacred depository of fame and grandeur, would only be the stage for the same performances; would receive new accessions of n.o.ble dust; would be adorned with other sepulchres of cost and magnificence; would be crowded with successive admirers; and, at last, by the unavoidable decays of time, bury the whole collection of antiquities in general obscurity, and be the monument of its own ruin."

The Chapter House and Ancient House of Commons.

On the left as you enter the Chapter House is a stone coffin which was found on the removal of the acc.u.mulated earth and rubbish which for many years had hidden the lower parts of the b.u.t.tresses of the north side of the building; some ancient walls of considerable extent were discovered, and about five or six feet below the surface an ancient stone coffin was brought to light. It possesses great interest from its being the only Roman remains yet discovered. One side of it is beautifully wrought, with a sunk panel, having at each end the conventional Roman ornament called the Amazon shield, while the panel itself is occupied with the following inscription, in the best style of the old Roman lettering--

+-------------------------------+ | MEMORIAEVALERAMAN | | DINIVALERISVPERVEN | |TORETMARCELLVSPATRIFE[CE]R.| +-------------------------------+

from which it appears to show that it is in memory of one Valerius Amandinus, and that his two sons made it to his honour. The lid is wrought with a slight cope, having a Maltese cross, terminating at the foot with a trefoil. There can be no doubt that the coffin once contained the body of this Valerius, which was afterwards displaced for the reception of an ecclesiastic, when the old lid was made in its present shape. The date of the first interment may be ascribed to the 3rd century, while the latter may belong to the 12th century. The skeleton within the coffin is in good preservation, considering the great lapse of time. There was nothing to indicate the rank of the ecclesiastic, for such he probably was; but he must have been a tall man, of great vigour, and barely of middle age.

The Chapter House of Westminster was built in 1250, by Henry III., on the site of the earlier Chapter House belonging to the Abbey, as founded by Edward the Confessor. It was, from its beauty, called "The Incomparable Chapter House." It has been used for three purposes.

I. It was the chamber in which the Abbot and Monks, in the times of the ancient monastery, held their "Chapter," or meeting for discussion and business; their meetings were held once a week. The Abbot and the four chief officers of the convent sat in the ornamented stalls opposite the entrance. The Monks sat on the stone seats round. The culprits, if there were any, knelt to receive their judgment before the Abbot's seat, and were scourged before the central pillar.

II. Almost from the time of its first erection, it was used for the sittings of the House of Commons. The House of Commons came into existence in 1265, and at first sat in Westminster Hall with the House of Lords; but in 1282 they parted, and from that time for nearly 300 years its meetings were held in the precincts of Westminster Refectory (now destroyed), but usually in the Chapter House, which was lent to the Commons by the Abbot for that purpose. The Speaker probably sat in the Abbot's stall, and the Members of Parliament in the seats of the Monks, and on the floor of the house. To the central pillar were attached placards and notices relating to the business or the conduct of the Members. Here were the debates on all the Acts of Parliament, pa.s.sed from the time of Edward I. till the Reformation. There also were, from time to time, convened other a.s.semblies for special purposes. Henry V., in 1421, summoned a meeting of 60 Abbots and Priors, and 300 Monks to discuss the reform of the Benedictine order; and Wolsey, as Cardinal Legate, in 1523, summoned the convocations of Canterbury and York, in order to be on a spot beyond the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The last Parliament which is known to have sat here was that which was a.s.sembled on the last day of the reign of Henry VIII. It will be seen that this building, from having for three centuries been the seat of the House of Commons, has been the scene of the chief acts which laid the foundation of civil and religious liberty of England, and was the cradle of representative and const.i.tutional government, of Parliament, Legislative Chambers, and Congress throughout the world.

III. On the dissolution of the Ancient Monastery in 1540, the Chapter House pa.s.sed into the possession of the Crown; from that time the Dean and Chapter of Westminster have held their meetings in the Jerusalem Chamber.

In 1547, the first year of Edward VI., the House of Commons was transferred to the Chapel of St. Stephen in the Palace of Westminster, in which they remained till it was burned down in 1834. From that time till 1863 the Chapter House was used as the depository of the public records.

During this period it was fitted up with book-shelves, which disfigured and concealed its beauties; its roof was taken down; its windows were filled up; and it was divided into two stories. In 1865, after the removal of the records to the Rolls House, in the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the Chapter House, in the 600th anniversary of the House of Commons, which it had so long sheltered, its restoration was undertaken at the request of the Society of Antiquaries, by Mr. Gladstone, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and by Mr. Cowper Temple, as First Commissioner of Works, and the requisite sum granted by Parliament for the repairs, which, under Mr. Gilbert Scott, have restored it as nearly as possible to its original state. The roof has been entirely rebuilt. The paintings, which were concealed by the book-shelves, are now disclosed; those at the east end, over the stalls of the Abbot and his four chief officers, are of the 14th century, and represent seraphs round the Throne of the Saviour. Those round the walls were painted in the 15th century, by one of the monks of the convent, named John of Northampton, and represent scenes from the Revelation of St. John, with pictures of fishes, birds, and beasts underneath. The figures on each side of the entrance, representing the Angel and the Virgin Mary, are ancient. The central figure is modern, but represents what was formerly there. The tiles on the floor, covered with curious heraldic emblems, are also now seen for the first time. The tracery of the windows has been restored after the model of the one which had been left uninjured on the northwest side. It still remains for them to be filled with stained gla.s.s, according to the original design.

THE END.