. Ireland in London. pposed to regulate theadmissions of monuments, &c, ha3 been at timesstrangely perverted. At no time have Irishmenbeen particularly warmly welcomed; the refusalof one Dean to allow a memorial to Balfe, the dis-tinguished composer, to be placed in the Abbey, is• only equalled by, and may be contrasted with, theunseemly willingness of another in allowing theauicide Castlereagh to rest in the same plot ofground aa the patriot Grattan—an insult totho lattera great and valued memory. Irish visitors to the Abbey now glance with feel-ings akin to disgust to the narrow ship ofgroun
. Ireland in London. pposed to regulate theadmissions of monuments, &c, ha3 been at timesstrangely perverted. At no time have Irishmenbeen particularly warmly welcomed; the refusalof one Dean to allow a memorial to Balfe, the dis-tinguished composer, to be placed in the Abbey, is• only equalled by, and may be contrasted with, theunseemly willingness of another in allowing theauicide Castlereagh to rest in the same plot ofground aa the patriot Grattan—an insult totho lattera great and valued memory. Irish visitors to the Abbey now glance with feel-ings akin to disgust to the narrow ship ofground separating the graves of the saviour andthe destroyer of Irish liberty. The shamefulmanner, too, in which Grattans grave is hiddenunder the kneeling-boards of the pews in theNorth Transept looks not unlike a premeditatedinsult, while the conspicuous statue of cut-throatCastlereagh arrests everybodys attention. Room could not be found for a bust of Balfe by-Dean Stanley, but he easily found space for a grave. MEMOniAX TO BALFE. (and a memorial) for Darwin, whose remains were-welcomed to the Valhalla to which those of Byronwere refused admittance. Of Irish art there is notmuch in the Abbey, but the small quantity in-cludes such a masterpiece as Foleys fine statuejjfEarl Canning, which almost touches those of his-father, George Canning, and his relative, Strat-ford Canning. There are, besides Foleys work,,such creditable productions of Irish art as the ad«mired monument to Sir George Hope, by PeterTurnerelli, the clever sculptor (whose somewhatrare portrait we are enabled to give), andSebastian Gahagans bust of Dr. Charles Burney,the eminent musician. Turnerellis work is atthe west end of the nave, and Gahagans in the-south aisle, in what ia know as the MusiciansCorner. The number of Irish men and women who havebeen thought worthy of a place in this nationalPantheon is very great, in spite of all prejudices-Even several Catholics have been interred herosince the Reformation
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidirelandinlon, bookyear1889
