Church review . r-ence the aisles consecrated by the dustof the illustrious dead of many centur-ies. Much that makes England greatlies here, and one ceases to wonder atthe place she holds among the nationsof the earth when he reflects upon themarvellous accomplishments in art,science, politics, literature, and re-ligion for which these simple namesand monuments stand. There is no more sublimely im-pressive place in all the world thanWestminster Abbey, and never dothese men and women of genius seemmere alive than as they lie dead at ourfeet. A lump rises unbidden into thethroat, and one gazes t
Church review . r-ence the aisles consecrated by the dustof the illustrious dead of many centur-ies. Much that makes England greatlies here, and one ceases to wonder atthe place she holds among the nationsof the earth when he reflects upon themarvellous accomplishments in art,science, politics, literature, and re-ligion for which these simple namesand monuments stand. There is no more sublimely im-pressive place in all the world thanWestminster Abbey, and never dothese men and women of genius seemmere alive than as they lie dead at ourfeet. A lump rises unbidden into thethroat, and one gazes through a mistof tears at the graven letters that spellc ut the names of Livingstone, Glad-stone, Sir Isaac Newton, Shakespeare,O rare Ben Jonson, Tennyson, andChaucer. Here is the resting-place of many ofthe sovereigns of England, from themusty sarcophagus containing thefew ashes of Edward the Confessor tothe tomb of George II. Here has lainfor three centuries the Virgin QueenElizabeth, while not sixty feet away. MEMORIAL was his companion in the harvest-field. Poor Mary Queen of Scots complainsunavailingly to Elizabeth of her treat-ment, and the equally unfortunateLady Jane Grey indites a pathetic mar-ginal note to her father upon a tiny il-luminated prayer-book. Sir- WalterRaleigh proves himself the father ofstupid diarists who prate daily anduninterestingly of the weather, andDemosthenes has a speech written onvellum, whose beauty of diction theordinary visitor is apt to take for sleeps in equal honor the beautifuldust of her hated cousin Mary. In the room of Queen Elizabethstands a marble cradle under whoselacelike canopy is sculptured the tinybaby face of Marys grandchild, theinfant daughter of James I. Anothercurious monument represents Deathissuing from a tomb to hurl his fatalshaft at a shrinking young wife, whileher terrified husband strives to wardoff the blow. Near by stands the old chair inwhich Englands sovereigns are 8 THE CHURCH REVIEW. crowned, and of s
Size: 1943px × 1286px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidchurchrevi01, bookyear1901
