by Jacob Abbott
CHAPTER VII.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
"Now, Rollo," said Mr. George, after they had finished breakfast, "thegreat church of the city is St. Paul's, and that of the West End isWestminster Abbey. I have an idea of going to church this morning at theAbbey, and this afternoon at St. Paul's."
Rollo was well pleased with this arrangement; and soon afterwards he andhis uncle sallied forth, and took their way along Whitehall.
Whitehall is a sort of continuation of the Strand, leading, as it does,along the Thames, at a little distance from the bank of the river. It isbordered on both sides by magnificent public edifices, such as the HorseGuards, the Admiralty, Westminster Hall, the Houses of Parliament, andthe Treasury. Conspicuous among these and other similar edifices, and inthe midst of paved courts and green gardens, stands the venerable groupof buildings famed through all the world as Westminster Abbey.
Mr. George and Rollo, when they approached the abbey, saw a current ofpeople moving towards the building. These people turned off from thesidewalk to a paved alley, which led along a sort of court. This courtwas bounded by a range of ordinary, but ancient-looking, houses on oneside, and a very remarkable mass of richly-carved and ornamented Gothicarchitecture, which evidently pertained to the abbey, on the other. Onthe wall of the row of houses was a sign, on which were inscribed thewords, "TO THE POET'S CORNER."
"This must be the way," said Mr. George to Rollo.
So Mr. George and Rollo fell into the current, and walked up the alley.They came, at length, to a low-arched door in the wall of a building,which, from the massive stone buttresses that supported it, and the richcarvings and sculptures which were seen about the doors and windows, andthe antique and timeworn appearance which was exhibited in every featureof it, was evidently a part of the abbey.
"This is the place," said Mr. George to Rollo, "there is no doubt."
Mr. George entered at the door, followed by Rollo, and they were usheredat once into a scene of the most extraordinary and impressive character.They found themselves in the midst of a splendid panorama of columns,statues, monuments, galleries, and ranges of arches and colonnades,which seemed to extend interminably in every direction, and to rise toso vast a height that the eye seemed to be lost in attempting to reachthe groins and arches in which they terminated above. Here and there, atvarious places more or less remote, were to be seen windows of stainedglass, through which beams of colored light streamed down through groupsof columns, and over the carved and sculptured ornaments of screens andstalls, and among innumerable groups and figures of monumental marble.
The place where Mr. George and Rollo entered the church was in the southtransept, as it is called; that is, in the southern arm of the crosswhich is formed by the ground plan of the church. Almost all thecathedral churches of Europe are built in the general form of a cross,the length of which lies always to the east and west.
The main body of the church is called the nave; the head of the cross isthe chancel; the two arms are the north and south transepts; and thespace formed by the intersection of the cross is called the choir. It isin the choir, usually, that congregations assemble and the service isperformed, the whole church being usually too large for this purpose.The space necessary for the use of the congregations is separated fromthe rest of the floor by splendidly-carved and ornamented partitions,which rise to a height of twenty or thirty feet above the floor--thewhole height of the church being often more than one hundred. Thesepartitions are called screens. But in order that the reader mayunderstand all this more perfectly, and also obtain a more full andcorrect idea of the interior of the abbey, I give, on the adjoiningpage, a ground plan of the edifice, which shows very distinctly itsgeneral form, and the relative position of the various parts of it abovereferred to. Near the margin of the drawing, on the right-hand side ofit, is seen the passage way leading to the Poet's Corner, where Mr.George and Rollo came in. On the side which was upon their right hand asthey came in you see the ground plan of the great buttresses whichstand here against the wall of the church. On their left hand is theoctagon-shaped building, called the Chapter House. This building wasoriginally designed for the meetings of the body of ecclesiasticsconnected with the cathedral.[C] In the corner between the Chapter Houseand the church you can see the door opening into the church, where Mr.George and Rollo came in. On entering they found themselves at A, whichis called the Poet's Corner, from the fact that the monuments ofShakspeare, Dryden, Thomson, Goldsmith, and most of the other poets thatare interred or commemorated in the abbey, are placed here.
[C] Such a body of ecclesiastics is called a _chapter_.
The part A, as you see from the plan, is separated from the main portionof the south transept by a range of columns. These columns rise to avast height in reaching the ceiling above. Of course only the placeswhere the columns stand, and the forms of the bases of them, are markedon the plan. In other parts of the floor of the church, as, for example,in the north transept, and along each side of the nave and choir, areother ranges of columns, some square at the base, and others round. Youwill observe, too, that the rows of columns which stand on each side ofthe nave and choir separate the central part of the church from what arecalled the aisles; for the word _aisle_, as applied to a Europeancathedral, does not denote, as in America, a passage way between tworows of seats, or pews, but the spaces outside of the ranges of columns,which extend up and down the body of the church, on each side of thenave and choir.
The aisles, as may be seen by the plan, are not so wide as the nave andchoir. There is another thing also to be noted respecting them that isquite important, though it cannot be seen in the plan--and that is, thatthey are not so high, the roof being carried up to a greater height inthe centre of the church--that is, over the nave and choir--than it isat the sides over the aisles. Thus these ranges of columns not onlydivide different portions of the floor from each other below, but theyalso separate roofs of different altitudes above.
But let us return to Mr. George and Rollo. We left them in the Poet'sCorner, at A. As they looked through the columns near them, they saw thecongregation filling the whole central part of the church.
"Let us go up and find a seat," said Mr. George.
So Mr. George led the way between the columns into the south transept.You can see exactly where they went by looking at the plan. Thistransept was filled with settees, which were placed in two ranges, witha passage way in the middle between them. The front settees were filledwith people, and over the heads of them Mr. George could see that therewere other ranges of settees in the north transept and the choir. Therewere various desks, and pulpits, and oratories, and carved stalls, andcanopies to be seen in the interior, and many separate compartments ofseats, some enclosed by ancient carved oak railings, and others withlarge worsted ropes, of a dark-brown color, drawn across the entrance tothem. Above, clusters of columns and tall pinnacles, rising fromcanopies and screens, ascended high into the air; and between and beyondthem were to be seen gorgeous windows of colored glass, of the mostantique and timeworn appearance, and of enormous size. Over the heads,too, of the congregation of living worshippers, and mingled with them invarious recesses and corners, were to be seen numberless groups andstatues of marble. These statues were, in fact, so mingled with theworshippers, that, in surveying the assemblage, it seemed, in somecases, difficult for a moment to distinguish the living forms of thereal men from cold and lifeless effigies of the dead.
Rollo and Mr. George advanced up the passage way as far as they could;and then, Mr. George making a signal for Rollo to follow him, they satdown on one of the benches where there was a vacancy, and began tolisten to the music. This music came from an immense organ which wasplaced over the screen marked S on the plan, which, as you see,separates the nave from the choir. The tones of the organ were very deepand loud, and the sound reverberated from the arches and columns, andfrom the vaulted roofs above, in a very sublime and impressive manner.
"Can't we go up a little nearer?" said Rollo.<
br />
"We cannot get _seats_ any nearer," said Mr. George.
The seats, in fact, that were in front appeared to be entirely full, andseveral persons were standing in the passage way. Just then a gentlemanand lady came up the passage way to the end of the seat where Mr. Georgeand Rollo were sitting. Mr. George and Rollo moved in to make room. Theysat down in the space which was thus made for them, without, however,acknowledging Mr. George's politeness even by a look.
"Cannot we go up a little nearer?" said the lady.
"We cannot get _seats_ any nearer," said the gentleman. "The seats abovehere seem to be all full."
The lady did not appear, however, to be satisfied, but began to lookanxiously about among the benches nearer to the choir in search of somevacant seat. The choir itself appeared to be full, and the entrance toit was closed by one of the worsted ropes above referred to, and wasguarded, moreover, by two vergers, dressed in an antique and picturesquecostume.
"Edward," said the lady in a moment to the gentleman by her side, whoappeared to be her husband, "I see a place where I can get a seat."
So she rose and walked up the passage way, followed by the gentleman.She went to one of the forward settees, where there were some ladiessitting who were not very close together, and asked them to move in, soas to make room for her. She then crowded into the space which was thusmade, and looked up to her husband with an expression of greatsatisfaction on her countenance.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "now she is satisfied. A woman never cares howlong her husband stands in aisles and passages, so long as she has agood seat herself."
Mr. George was not a great admirer of the ladies, and he oftenexpressed his opinion of them in a very ungallant and in quite toosummary a manner. What he said in this case is undoubtedly true of someladies, as every one who has had occasion to witness their demeanor inpublic places must have observed. But it is by no means true of all.
In this particular instance, however, it must be confessed that Mr.George was in the right. The gentleman looked round, when he found hiswife was seated, to see whether the place he had left was still vacant;but it was occupied; and so he remained standing in the passage way, bythe side of his wife, during all the service. It was very plain,however, that this circumstance gave his wife no concern whatever. Sheseemed to consider it a matter of course that, provided the lady in suchcases was seated, the gentleman might stand.
In the mean time, Mr. George and Rollo remained in the seat they hadtaken. The service appeared to them very complicated. The differentportions of it were performed by different clergymen, who were dressedin white robes, and adorned with the various other insignia ofsacerdotal rank. The places, too, in which they stood, in performingtheir ministrations, were continually changed, each clergyman beingescorted with great ceremony to the desk or pulpit at which he was toperform his part by a verger, who was clothed in an antique dress, andbore an ornamented rod in his hand--the emblem of his office.
In one place there was a choir of singing boys, all dressed in white,who chanted the responses and anthems. The other parts of the servicewere cantilated, or _intoned_, as it is called, in a manner which seemedto Mr. George and Rollo very extraordinary. In fact, the whole sceneproduced upon the minds of our travellers the effect, not of a religiousservice for the worship of God, but of a gorgeous, though solemn,dramatic spectacle.
When, at length, the service was ended and the benediction waspronounced, the congregation rose; but Mr. George perceived that thosewho were in the part of the church near them did not turn and go backtowards the Poet's Corner, where they had come in, but stood and lookedforward towards the choir, as if they were expecting to advance in thatdirection.
"Let us wait a minute," said Mr. George, "and see what they will do."
In a few minutes the verger removed the worsted cords by which thepassage ways in and through the choirs had been closed, and then therecommenced a general movement of the congregation in that direction. Thepeople, as they walked along, paused to look at the monuments that werebuilt in the walls; at the statues and groups of allegorical figuresthat were placed here and there in niches and recesses; at the oakcarvings in the screens; the canopies and the stalls; at thestained-glass windows, with the gorgeous representations which theycontained of apostles and saints; and at all the other architectural andsculptured wonders of the place.
The congregation passed out from the choir into the nave through a sortof gateway in the screen beneath the organ, at the place marked O in theplan; and then, spreading out on each side, they passed between thecolumns into the aisles, and thus moved slowly down the nave and theaisles, surveying the monuments and sculptures as they proceeded. Theydid not stop long at any place, but moved on continually, though slowly,as if it were not the custom to walk about much for the purpose ofviewing the abbey on Sunday.
All this part of the church was entirely open, there being no pews orseats, nor any fixtures of any kind, except the sepulchral monuments atthe sides. The floor was of stone, the pavement being composed, in agreat measure, of slabs carved with obituary inscriptions, some of whichwere very ancient, while others were quite modern. The whole atmosphereof the church seemed cold and damp, as if it were a tomb.
Rollo's attention was strongly attracted by the monuments that theypassed by in their walk. Many of the sculptures were larger than life,and they were represented in various attitudes, and with variousaccompanying symbols, according to the character or position in life ofthe men whose exploits were commemorated by them. There were effigies ofmodern men, studying books, or working with mathematical instruments, orlooking attentively at globes. There were rude sculptures of crusaders,lying upon their backs on slabs of stone, their faces and formsblackened by time, their noses and ears broken off, and sometimes withan arm or a foot wanting. Then, as a contrast to these, there werebeautiful representations of ships and sea fights, all exquisitelychiselled in the whitest of marble. There were angels and cherubs inevery imaginable form and position, and countless other varieties ofstatues, bas reliefs, and inscriptions, which excited in Rollo, as hewalked among them, a perpetual sentiment of wonder.
"Cannot we walk about here a little while," said Rollo, "and look atthese images more?"
"No," said Mr. George, "not to-day. It seems not to be the usage."
"I do not see any harm in it," said Rollo. "It is just like walking in aburying ground."
"True," said Mr. George; "but it seems not to be the usage. We will comesome other day."
* * * * *
Rollo and Mr. George did come another day, and then they walked aboutentirely at their ease, and examined as many of the monuments, anddeciphered as many of the ancient inscriptions, as they pleased. Theyalso walked about to visit what are called the chapels. The chapels in aEuropean cathedral are small recesses, opening from the main church, andseparated from it by an iron railing, or a screen, or something of thatsort. They are ornamented in various ways, and contain variousmonuments, and in Catholic cathedrals are used often for specialservices of religious worship. You will see the places of the chapels inWestminster Abbey by referring again to the plan on page 82. Most ofthem are built around the head of the cross. There are six smallones,--three on each side,--marked B, C, D, F, G, I, and another at thehead--the largest and most splendid of all. This last is called HenryVII.'s Chapel. The tombs of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth are in thischapel, one on each side of it, as marked in the plan. The names of theother chapels are as follows: B, St. Benedict's; C, St. Edmond's; D,St. Nicholas's; F, St. Paul's; G, St. John the Baptist's.
There is also another chapel in the centre, which is, in some respects,the most interesting of all. It is marked H on the plan. Here the bodiesof a great number of the ancient kings of England are interred.
* * * * *
As Rollo and Mr. George walked about among these monuments andtombstones, now that there was no congregation of worshippers present togive a living character to th
e scene, the whole aspect and feeling ofthe chapels and aisles through which they wandered seemed cold, anddamp, and subterranean, so as to impress them continually with the ideathat they were in chambers consecrated, not to the living, but to thedead. In fact, Westminster Abbey, whatever may have been its originaldesign, is now little else than a tomb--a grand and imposing, but dampand gloomy, tomb. It is so completely filled in every part with funeralmonuments that the whole aspect and character of it are entirelychanged; so that, from being a temple consecrated to the service of God,it has become a vast sepulchre, devoted almost wholly to commemoratingthe glory of man.
Mr. George did not go to St. Paul's that afternoon to church, as he hadat first intended. He said that one such display as he had witnessed atWestminster Abbey was spectacle enough for one Sunday. He accordinglydetermined to postpone his visit to the great cathedral of the city tillthe next day; and on that afternoon he took Rollo to a small dissentingchapel in the vicinity of their lodgings, where the service consisted ofsimple prayers offered by the pastor as the organ of the assembledworshippers, of hymns sung in concert by all the congregation, and of aplain and practical sermon, urging upon the hearers the duty ofpenitence for sin, and of seeking pardon and salvation through aspiritual union with Jesus the Redeemer.
"Well," said Mr. George to Rollo, as he came out of the chapel when thecongregation was dismissed, "the service at the abbey, with all thosechantings and intonations of the performers, and all the ceremonies, anddresses, and solemn paradings, makes a more imposing spectacle, I grant;but it seems to me that the service that we have heard this afternoon ismodelled much more closely after the pattern of the meeting which Jesusheld with his disciples the night before he was betrayed. At any rate,it satisfies much more fully, as it seems to me, the spiritualhungerings and thirstings of the human soul."