6 four years old, Fuller tells this beautiful little incident: Being told to pray. by those about her at the last, "I am not able," saith she, "to say my long prayer (meaning the Lord's Prayer); but I will say my short one, Lighten mine eyes, O Lord, lest I sleep the sleep of death.'" This done, the little lamb gave up the ghost.' To the east of Mary's is the tomb of. Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, mother of Henry VII., and foundress of St. John's and Christ's Colleges, Cambridge. The tomb occupying the foreground in the engraving is a splendid example of Torrigiano's work. To the west that of Margaret, Countess of Lennox, mother of the hapless Darnley, husband of Mary Queen of Scots. She died in poverty at Hackney, but was buried here in great state by Queen Elizabeth. Before the altar lie the remains of Charles II., Queen Mary, wife of William III., Queen Anne, and General Monk. Perhaps the most frequented spot in the whole Abbey is the south transept, or, as it is generally called, Poets' Corner. Addison's remark still holds true in a measure: 'In the poetical quarter I found there were poets who had no monuments, and monuments which had no poets.' The use of this portion of the church for the burial of literary men did not become general until after Spenser's burial close to the tomb of Chaucer, and now there are memorials to many writers whose remains do not lie. within the walls. Beginning at the Chapel of St. Benedict, and making the circuit of the Corner,' the most interesting monuments are those to Dryden, Longfellow, Chaucer, Jonson, Spenser, Milton, Shakespeare, Dr. Johnson, Goldsmith, Thackeray, Macaulay, and Dickens. The whole extent of the aisles of both nave and transepts are also occupied with monuments, many of them well worthy of their place both from the deeds of those they commemorate, and the skill with which they have been executed. But a large number have no claim to a place in the church in which they are found, and are from the style of their art either incongruous or ridiculous. They serve chiefly as illustrations of the men and manners of the times in which they were erected. We give as an example of one of the interesting memorials in the nave, the tablet placed there in commemoration of the life and work of John and Charles Wesley. Near the western end of the south aisle of the nave is a fine old oak gallery known as 'the abbot's pew.' It was built by Abbot Islip early in the sixteenth century, and has been used by distinguished visitors from time to time to watch the processions pass up the nave. Part of the old abbot's house now constitutes the Deanery. One of the rooms connected with this part of the Abbey is the famous Jerusalem Chamber. The magnificent old dining-hall adjoining, now used by Westminster School, was also part of the ancient abbot's house, the Jerusalem Chamber being the withdrawing-room. In accordance with the fashion of the age in which it was built, and probably from the subjects of the tapestry hanging on the walls, it received the name by which it is still known. An ante-chamber of somewhat later date is known as 'the Jericho Parlour.' In the Jerusalem Chamber many THE MONUMENT TO THE WESLEYS IN THE NAVE OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY. historic scenes have occurred. Hither Henry IV., who on the eve of starting for Palestine was praying at St. Edward's shrine, being seized with serious illness, was brought to die. Fabyan's Chronicle tells us they for his comfort bare him unto the abbot's place, and laid him down before the fire in this chamber. On coming to himself, and learning that he was in the chamber named Hierusalem, then said the King, "Laud be to the Father of heaven! for now I know that I shall die in this chamber, according to the prophecy made of me beforesaid, that I should die in Hierusalem;" and so he made himself ready, and died shortly after.' It is to this incident that Shakespeare refers when he puts into the mouth of the dying king the words: 'Bear me to that chamber; there I'll lie- and here, if anywhere, occurred the scene so powerfully given by the poet of the crowning of himself by Prince Henry. Within this chamber Sir Thomas More passed four days, and hence, on refusing to take the oath of supremacy, he was taken to the Tower. In 1643 the divines composing the Westminster Assembly did sit in Henry VII.'s Chapel, in the place of the Convocation; but since the weather grew cold they did go to the Jerusalem Chamber, a fair room in the Abbey of Westminster.' The same authority, Robert Baillie, one of the Scotch Commissioners, thus sketches the way in which the Westminster Confession was reduced to form: They follow the way of their Parliament. Much of their way is good, and worthie of our imitation: only their longsomeness is wofull at this time, when their Church and Kingdom lyes under a most lamentable anarchy and confusion. They see the hurt of their length, but cannot get it helped; for being to establish a new plattforme of worship and discipline to their Nation for all time to come, they think they cannot be answerable if solidlie, and at leisure, they do not examine every point thereof.' For five years, six months, and twenty-two days, through one thousand one hundred and sixty-three sessions, the Chapel of Henry VII. and the Jerusalem Chamber witnessed their weary labours. Out of these walls came the Directory, the Longer and the Shorter Catechism, and that famous Confession of Faith which alone within these Islands was imposed by law on the whole kingdom; and which alone of all Protestant Confessions, still, in spite of its sternness and narrowness, retains a hold on the minds of its adherents, to which its fervour and its logical coherence in some measure entitle it.'" The Jerusalem Chamber also witnessed the labours of the two companies of scholars who between the years 1870 and 1884 carried out the revision of the translation of King James's 1611 version of the Bible. The room is a fine old apartment, hung with ancient tapestry, and possessing a very handsome fireplace. Some years ago the ancient oak roof was restored, a flat modern ceiling being cleared away, and thus permitting the old beams to be seen. The portrait of Richard II., the earliest known contemporary painting of an English sovereign, which now hangs to the south of the communion table in the choir, hung for many years in this chamber. It is impossible to linger, as one is tempted to do, over the chapterhouse, the cloisters, and the still extant traces of the ancient Abbey. The chapter-house, under the skilful restoration of Sir Gilbert Scott, has resumed something like its ancient appearance, and is a very fine specimen of thirteenth century architecture. It is entered from the east walk of the cloisters. The roof is supported by a beautiful clustered pillar of Purbeck marble, and the house itself is fifty-eight feet in diameter. Here the old meetings of abbot and monks were held; here later on, from the reign of In 1540 it Edward I. until 1547, the House of Commons regularly met. passed with the monastery to the crown, and never having been restored, the chapter meets in the Jerusalem Chamber. Westminster Abbey abounds in rooms and nooks and out-of-the-way corners-all full of varied antiquarian interest. A walk through the triforium not only enables the visitor to get unrivalled views of the great building as a whole, but brings before him many relics of past centuries, and makes it easy for him to understand how on great occasions thousands of people can be accommodated in these spacious galleries. The Chapel of the Pyx, the muniment room, the library, all possess features of special value. But perhaps the most curious corner is the upper room in Abbot Islip's Chapel, past with strange distinctness, and bring us suddenly into close communion with bygone centuries.' The north door of the Abbey is at present (1890) undergoing restoration, the rose window having been renewed in what is believed to be its original aspect. A short distance from this stands the church of St. Margaret's, Westminster, dwarfed, indeed, by its huge neighbour, but serving at the same time as an admirable scale by means of which to gauge the great proportions of Westminster Abbey. St. Margaret's is the church of the House of Commons, and, except St. Paul's and the Abbey, is the oldest foundation in London, having been founded by the Confessor and dedicated to Margaret, the Martyr of Antioch. It was rebuilt in Edward the First's time, restored by Edward IV., and again in the unfortunate modern fashion in 1877-1878. Many important assemblies were held in this church during the Commonwealth; here Hugh Peters, Calamy, Owen, Baxter, Lightfoot, Burnet, Sprat, and a host of other well-known men, have preached. The east window, a splendid specimen of Gouda work, was originally ordered by Henry VII. for his own chapel, but not finished in time. It was presented by Henry VIII. to Waltham Abbey, and after a series of adventures was purchased for St. Margaret's in 1758. Among those buried in the church are Milton's second wife, Katherine Woodcocke, James Harrington, and John Skelton. Memorial tablets have been put up to Sir Walter Raleigh, who was beheaded in Old Palace Yard and buried in the chancel, and to Caxton, who is buried in the churchyard. Memorial windows have also been erected recently to Sir Walter Raleigh, John Milton, Sir Thomas Erskine May, Lord and Lady Hatherley, and Lord Frederick Cavendish. A window in commemoration of Queen Victoria's Jubilee, with an inscription by Robert Browning, was erected in 1887. London is not the seat of an archbishop, and therefore contains no Canterbury Cathedral or York Minster. But it does contain the residence of the Primate, Lambeth Palace, the building which for over six hundred years has been the London residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury. Situated on the south bank of the Thames, nearly opposite the Houses of Parliament, the cluster of towers and buildings comprising the Palace forms one of the most picturesque objects in London. An engraving of it stands at the head of this chapter. Four in the long succession of archbishops have been noted for their building propensities. The fine Early English Chapel was built by Archbishop Boniface about 1245. Like most buildings of its class, it has suffered much at the hands of foes and restorers, but is undoubtedly the most ancient structure of the group. It is 72 feet long and 25 broad, and is divided by an old oak screen erected by Laud. One archbishop only, Parker, who died in 1575, lies within its walls. Adjoining the east end is a handsome old panelled room, known as 'Cranmer's Parlour,' which also communicates with the private apartments. The chapel |