The sketch-book of Geoffrey Crayon, gent[pseud.] together with Abbotsford and other selections from the writings of Washington Irving .. . cks upon this distant shore oftime, telling no tale but that such beings had been, and hadperished; teaching no moral but the futility of that pridewhich hopes still to exact homage in its ashes, and to live inan inscription. A little longer, and even these faint recordswill be obliterated, and the monument will cease to be amemorial. Whilst I was yet looking down upon these grave-stones, I was roused by the sound of the abbey clock, rever-berating from but
The sketch-book of Geoffrey Crayon, gent[pseud.] together with Abbotsford and other selections from the writings of Washington Irving .. . cks upon this distant shore oftime, telling no tale but that such beings had been, and hadperished; teaching no moral but the futility of that pridewhich hopes still to exact homage in its ashes, and to live inan inscription. A little longer, and even these faint recordswill be obliterated, and the monument will cease to be amemorial. Whilst I was yet looking down upon these grave-stones, I was roused by the sound of the abbey clock, rever-berating from buttress to buttress, and echoing among thecloisters. It is almost startling to hear this warning of de- WESTMINSTER ABBEY 139 parted time sounding among the tombs, and telling the lapseof the hour, which, like a billow, has rolled us onward towardsthe grave. I pursued my walk to an arched door opening tothe interior of the abbey. On entering here, the magnitudeof the building breaks fully upon the mind, contrasted withthe vaults of the cloisters. The eyes gaze with wonder atclustered columns of gigantic dimensions, with arches spring-. SouTHEAST Corner of the Cloisters, Westminster Abbey ing from them to such an amazing height; and man wanderingabout their bases, shrunk into insignificance in comparisonwith his own handiwork. The spaciousness and gloom ofthis vast edifice produce a profound and mysterious step cautiously and softly about, as if fearful of disturbingthe hallowed silence of the tomb; while every footfall whispersalong the walls, and chatters among the sepulchres, makingus more sensible of the quiet we have interrupted. 5. It seems as if the awful nature of the place presses downupon the soul, and hushes the beholder into noiseless rever-ence. We feel that we are surrounded by the congregatedbones of the great men of past times, who have filled historywith their deeds, and the earth with their renown. 140 THE SKETCH-BOOK 6. And yet it almost provokes a smile
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