A bust of George Grote, Historian of Greece. Born 17th November, 1794; died 18th June, 1871.

“To the memory of David Garrick, who died in the year 1779, at the age of sixty-three.

“To paint fair Nature, by Divine command—
Her magic pencil in his glowing hand—
A Shakspeare rose; then, to expand his fame,
Wide o’er this ‘breathing world,’ a Garrick came.
Though sunk in death the forms the Poet drew,
The Actor’s genius bade them breathe anew;
Though, like the bard himself, in night they lay,
Immortal Garrick call’d them back to day;
And till eternity, with power sublime,
Shall mark the mortal hour of hoary Time,
Shakspeare and Garrick like twin stars shall shine,
And earth irradiate with a beam divine.”—Pratt.

“This monument, the tribute of a friend, was erected in 1797.”—Webber, fecit. Garrick’s throwing aside the curtain, which discovers the medallion, is meant to represent his superior power to unveil the beauties of Shakspeare. Tragedy and Comedy are assembled with their respective attributes, to witness and approve the scene.

John Ernest Grabe: a curious figure, large as life, representing him sitting upon a marble tomb, contemplating the sorrows of death, and the sorrows of the grave. He was a man deeply skilled in Oriental learning. He died Nov. 3, 1711, aged forty-six, and was buried at Pancras, near London.—Bird, sculptor.

Sir Robert Taylor, Knight, who was a famous architect. He died on the 26th of September, 1788, aged seventy years.

William Camden, the great recorder of our antiquities, who is represented in a half length, in the dress of his time, with his left hand holding a book, and in his right his gloves, resting on an altar, on the body of which is a Latin inscription, setting forth his “indefatigable industry in illustrating the British Antiquities, and his candour, sincerity, and pleasant good-humour in private life.” He was son to Samson Camden, citizen of London, and paper-stainer; was born in the Old Bailey, May 2, 1551, and received the first rudiments of his education at Christ Church Hospital. In 1566, he entered himself of Magdalen College, Oxford, but afterwards removed to Pembroke, where he became acquainted with Dr. Goodman, Dean of Westminster, by whose recommendation, in 1575, he was made second master of Westminster School, and began the glorious work of his Antiquities, encouraged thereto and assisted by his patron, Dr. Goodman. In August, 1622, he fell from his chair, at his house, in Chiselhurst, in Kent, and never recovered, but lingered till Nov. 9, 1623, and then died, aged seventy-four. This monument was repaired and beautified at the charge and expense of the University of Oxford.

In front of Camden’s monument lie the remains of John Ireland, Dean of Westminster, and in the same grave those of his friend, William Gifford, a distinguished critic, satirist, and dramatic annotator. In private life Mr. Gifford was modest and unassuming, and amongst the numerous parties, poetical, political, or religious, none of them ever ventured to recriminate by attacking the moral character of the Editor of the Quarterly Review. He was born at Ashburton, in 1757, and died 1826.

Isaac Casaubon.—This monument was erected by the learned Dr. Moreton, Bishop of Durham, to the memory of that profound scholar and critic, whose name is inscribed upon it, and who, though a native of France, and in his younger years Royal Library Keeper of Paris, yet was so dissatisfied with the ceremonial part of the Romish worship, that upon the murder of his great patron, Henry IV., he willingly quitted his native country, and at the earnest entreaty of James I., settled in England, where, for uncommon knowledge, he became the admiration of all men of learning. He died, 1614, in the fifty-sixth year of his age.

The monument to Casaubon is not without interest to the mind of the curious, as upon close inspection may be seen the initials and date of “good old Izaak Walton” (I. W., 1658), Author of “The Complete Angler.” This renowed piscator has somewhere said that he went into Westminster Abbey to visit the tomb of his departed friend, Casaubon, and while there, in contemplation before his monument, he ventured to scratch his own initials and date upon it.

Sir Richard Coxe, who was taster to Queen Elizabeth and James I., and to the latter, Steward of the Household; a man commended in his epitaph for his religion, humanity, chastity, temperance, friendship, beneficence, charity, vigilance, and self-denial. He was third son of Thomas Coxe, of Beymonds, in Hertfordshire, and died a bachelor, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, December 13, 1623.

A small tablet to the memory of James Wyat, Esq., who was architect of this church, and Surveyor-General of His Majesty’s Board of Works. Departed this life on the 4th day of Sept., 1813.

Above is a monument to Sir John Pringle, Bart. The inscription sets forth that he was Physician to the Army, the Princess of Wales, and their Majesties; President of the Royal Society. He was born in Scotland, in April, 1707; and died in London, in January, 1782.

Edward Wetenhall, M.D., an eminent Physician, who died August 29, 1733. His father was Dr. Edward Wetenhall, who was first advanced to the See of Cork, in Ireland, but was afterwards translated from thence to Kilmore and Ross. He died November 12, 1713, aged seventy-eight.

Dr. Stephen Hales.—Here are two beautiful figures in relief, Religion and Botany; the latter holds a medallion of this great explorer of nature to public view; Religion is deploring the loss of the divine; and at the feet of Botany, the winds are displayed on a globe, which allude to his invention of the ventilator. The Latin inscription is to the following effect:—“To the memory of Stephen Hales, Doctor of Divinity, Augusta, the mother of that best of Kings, George the Third, has placed this monument, who chose him, when living, to officiate as her chaplain; and after he died, which was on the 4th of January, 1761, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, honoured him with this marble.

“About the tomb of Hales, whose fair design
And polish great Augusta caus’d to shine,
Religion, hoary Faith, and Virtue wait,
And shed perpetual tears in mournful state.
But of the preacher, render’d to his clay,
The voice of Wisdom still hath this to say—
He was a man to hear affliction’s cry,
And trace his Maker’s works with curious eye.
O Hales! thy praises not the latest age
Shall e’er diminish, or shall blot thy page;
England, so proud of Newton, shall agree
She had a son of equal rank in thee.”—Wilton, sculptor.

Thomas Triplett, D.D., who was born near Oxford, and educated at Christ Church, where he was esteemed a wit, a good Grecian, and a poet. In 1645, he was made Prebendary of Preston, in the Church of Sarum, and had also a living, which being sequestered in the Rebellion, he fled to Ireland, and taught school in Dublin, where he was when Charles I. was beheaded. Not liking Ireland, he returned to England, and taught school at Hayes, in Middlesex, till the Restoration, when he was made Prebendary of Westminster, and of Fenton in the Church of York. He died at a good old age, July 18, 1670, much beloved and lamented.

A bust of Dr. Isaac Barrow, representing this truly great man, who, as the inscription shows, was Chaplain to Charles II., Head of Trinity College, Cambridge; Geometrical Professor of Gresham College, in London, and of Greek and Mathematics at Cambridge. His works have been said to be the foundation of all the divinity that has been written since his time. He died May 4, 1677, aged 47.

Above this monument the arch is plastered and painted with the figure of a stag, which was done by order of Richard II.; the following motto was on the collar:—

“When Julius CÆsar first came in,
About my neck he put this ring;
Whosoever doth me take,
Use me well for CÆsar’s sake.”

It is said he lived three or four hundred years.

William Outram, D.D.—The Latin inscription sets forth that he was born in Derbyshire, fellow of Trinity and Christ Church Colleges in Cambridge, Canon of this Abbey, and Archdeacon of Leicester; an accomplished divine, a nervous and accurate writer, an excellent and diligent preacher, first in Lincolnshire, afterwards in London, and lastly at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, where he finished his life with great applause, August 23, 1679, aged fifty-four. The inscription on the pedestal shows farther, that after a long and religious life, and forty-two years of widowhood, Jane, his wife, died Oct. 4, 1721.

A fine figure of Joseph Addison, Esq., on a circular basement, about which are small figures of the nine muses. The Latin inscription is to the following purport:—“Whoever thou art, venerate the memory of Joseph Addison, in whom Christian faith, virtue, and good morals, found a continual patron; whose genius was shown in verse, and every exquisite kind of writing; who gave to posterity the best examples of pure language, and the best rules for living well, which remain, and ever will remain sacred; whose weight of argument was tempered with wit, and accurate judgment with politeness, so that he encouraged the good, and reformed the improvident, tamed the wicked, and in some degree made them in love with virtue. He was born in the year 1672, and his fortune being increased gradually, arrived at length to public honours. Died in the forty-eighth year of his age, the honour and delight of the British nation.”—He was buried in front of Lord Halifax’s monument, north aisle of Henry the Seventh’s Chapel.—Sir Richard Westmacott, sculptor.

Lord Macaulay.—The body of this eminent historian is deposited close to the statue of Addison. Born October 25th, 1800; died December 28th, 1859.

Near the statute of Addison are two fine busts, one on each side, of Lord Macaulay, by Burnard; and Thackeray, by Marrochetti.

George Frederick Handel.—This is the last monument which that eminent statuary, Roubiliac, lived to finish. It is affirmed that he first became conspicious, and afterwards finished the exercise of his art, with a figure of this extraordinary man. The first was erected in the gardens at Vauxhall, therefore well known to the public. The last figure is very elegant, and the face is a strong likeness of its original. The left arm is resting on a group of musical instruments, and the attitude is very expressive of great attention to the harmony of an angel playing on a harp in the clouds, over his head. Before it lies the celebrated Messiah, with that part open, where is the much-admired air,—“I know that my Redeemer liveth.” Beneath, only this inscription:—“George Frederick Handel, Esq., born Feb. 23, 1684. Died April 14, 1759.”

Sacred to the memory of Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell, Knight of the Bath, M.P., Colonel of the seventy-fourth Regiment of Foot, Hereditary Usher of the White Rod for Scotland, late Governor of Jamaica, Governor of Fort St. George, and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces on the coast of Coromandel, in the East Indies. He died equally regretted and admired for his eminent civil and military services to his country; possessed of distinguished endowments of mind, dignified manners, inflexible integrity, unfeigned benevolence, with every social and amiable virtue. He departed this life March 31, A.D. 1791, aged fifty-two. “Alas, piety! alas, fidelity! like that of old, and warlike courage! when shall you have his equal?”—Wilton, sculptor.

Here also lies the body of his nephew, Lieutenant-General Sir James Campbell, Bart., G.C.H., and C.SS., F.M., who served during the whole of the last war in many distinguished situations; was Commander of the Forces in the Ionian Islands at the general peace of 1814, and died at London upon the 6th of June, 1819, aged fifty-four.

POET’S CORNER, p. 103.

On a tablet is the following inscription:—“To the memory of Mary Hope, who died at Brockhall, in the county of Northampton, on the 25th of June, 1767, aged twenty-five, and whose remains lie in the neighbouring church at Norton, this stone, an unavailing tribute of affliction, is by her husband erected and inscribed. She was the only daughter of Eliab Breton, of Forty Hill, Middlesex, Esq., and was married to John Hope, of London, Merchant, to whom she left three infant sons, Charles, John, and William.

“Tho’ low in earth, her beauteous form decay’d,
My faithful wife, my lov’d Maria’s laid.
In sad remembrance, the afflicted raise
No pompous tomb inscrib’d with venal praise.
To statesmen, warriors, and to kings, belong
The trophied sculpture, and the poet’s song;
And these the proud expiring often claim,
Their wealth bequeathing to record their name.
But humble virtue, stealing to the dust,
Heeds not our lays, or monumental bust.
To name her virtues ill befits my grief—
What was my bliss can now give no relief;
A husband mourns—the rest let friendship tell;
Fame, spread her worth! a husband knew it well!”

Sir Thomas and Lady Robinson.—This monument to the memory of the Dowager Baroness Lechmere, eldest daughter of Charles Howard, third Earl of Carlisle, and widow of Nicholas Lord Lechmere, afterwards married Sir Thomas Robinson, of Rookby Park, in the county of York, Baronet, on October 28, 1728, and died April 10, 1739, aged forty-four. Sir Thomas, after enjoying many honourable and lucrative employments in the State, spent the latter part of his life in retirement, dying March 3, 1777, aged seventy-six.—Walsh, sculptor.

Edward Atkyns and his ancestors. The first was Sir Edward Atkyns, one of the Barons of the Exchequer in the reigns of Charles I. and II., and of such loyalty as to resist the most splendid offers of the Oliverian party. He died in 1669, aged eighty-two. The second, Sir Robert Atkyns, was created Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Charles II.; was afterwards L.C.B. of the Exchequer under William III., and Speaker of the House of Lords in several Parliaments; a person of eminent learning, as his writings abundantly prove. He died in 1709, aged eighty-eight.—The third, Sir Edward Atkyns, was L.C.B. of the Exchequer at the time of the Revolution; but not approving that measure, he retired from public business to his seat in Norfolk, where his chief employment was healing breaches among his neighbours, which he decided with such exemplary justice, that none refused his reference, nor did the most litigious men appeal from his award. He died in 1698, aged sixty-eight.—The fourth, Sir Robert Atkyns, was versed in the Antiquities of his country, of which his History of Gloucester was a proof. He died in 1711, aged sixty-five years.—The inscription sets forth, that in memory of his ancestors, who have so honourably presided in Westminster Hall, Edward Atkyns, Esq., late of Kettringham, in Norfolk, second son of the last-named Sir Edward, caused this monument to be erected. He died Jan. 20, 1750, aged seventy-nine years.—Cheere, sculptor.A medallion and inscription—“To the memory of the Right Honourable James Stuart Mackenzie, Lord Privy Seal of Scotland, a man whose virtues did honour to humanity. He cultivated and encouraged science; and during a long life, was generous without ostentation, secretly charitable, friendly, hospitable, and ever ready to oblige. He was beloved and revered by all: he had many friends, and not one enemy. He died the 6th of April, 1800, in the eighty-second year of his age. He was married to Elizabeth, daughter of John, Duke of Argyle and Greenwich, his uncle.”—Nollekens, sculptor.

John, Duke of Argyle and Greenwich.—On one side of the base is the figure of Minerva, and on the other of Eloquence; done by Roubiliac, particularly expressive. Above is the figure of History, with one hand holding a book, with the other writing on a pyramid the titles of the hero, whose actions are supposed to be contained in the book, on the cover of which, in letters of gold, are inscribed the date of his Grace’s birth, Oct. 10, 1680, and time of his death, Oct. 4, 1743. The principal figure is spirited, even to the verge of life. On the pyramid is this epitaph, said to be written by Paul Whitehead, Esq.:—

“Briton! behold, if patriot worth be dear,
A shrine that claims a tributary tear;
Silent that tongue admiring senates heard,
Nerveless that arm opposing legions fear’d.
Nor less, O Campbell! thine the power to please,
And give to grandeur all the grace of ease.
Long from thy life let kindred heroes trace
Arts which ennoble still the noblest race;
Others may owe their future fame to me,
I borrow immortality from thee.”

Underneath this, in great letters, is written—“John, duke of argyle and gr—” at which point the pen of History rests. On the base of the monument is this inscription:—“In memory of an honest man, a constant friend, John, the great Duke of Argyle and Greenwich, a General and Orator, exceeded by none in the age he lived, Sir Henry Fermer, Bart., by his last will, left the sum of 500l. towards erecting this monument, and recommended the above inscription.”

Over the door of the Chapel of St. Faith, is the monument of Oliver Goldsmith, M.D., representing the portrait of the Doctor in profile. A festoon curtain, olive branches, and books, are the chief ornaments. Underneath is a Latin inscription, of which the following is the import:—“That he was eminent as a Poet, Philosopher, and Historian; that he scarcely left any species of writing unattempted, and none that he attempted, unimproved; that he was master of the softer passions, and could at pleasure command tears, or provoke laughter; but in everything he said or did, good nature was predominant; that he was witty, sublime, spirited, and facetious; in speech pompous; in conversation elegant and graceful; that the love of his associates, fidelity of his friends, and the veneration of his readers, had raised this monument to his memory. He was born in Ireland, November 29, 1731, educated at Dublin, and died at London, April 4, 1774, and was buried in the Temple burial ground.”—Nollekens, sculptor.

Near to the door of the Chapel of St. Faith is a black marble slab, which covers the remains of Charles Dickens, born Feb. 7th, 1812, died June 9th, 1870. And near to him are the remains of Handel, Cumberland, Macaulay, Sheridan, Garrick, Samuel Johnson, and Thomas Parr, of the county of Salop, born 1483, who lived in the reign of ten Princes: viz., Edward IV., Edward V., Richard III., Henry VII., Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I. He died Nov. 15th, 1635, at the age of 152.

A monument erected to the memory of John Gay, by the bounty and favour of the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, who were the great encouragers of his genius. The masks, tragedy, dagger, and instruments of music, which are blended together in a group are emblematical devices, alluding to the various ways of writing in which he excelled: namely, farce, satire, fable, and pastoral. The short epitaph on the front was written by himself. It is censured by some for its levity,—

“Life is a jest, and all things show it:
I thought so once, but now I know it.”

Underneath are these verses, by Mr. Pope, who lived always in great friendship with Mr. Gay:

“Of manners gentle, of affections mild;
In wit a man, simplicity a child;
With native humour temp’ring virtuous rage,
Form’d to delight at once and lash the age;
Above temptation in a low estate,
And uncorrupted e’en among the great;
A safe companion and an easy friend,
Unblamed through life, lamented in thy end;
These are thy honours; not that here thy bust
Is mix’d with heroes, or with Kings thy dust;
But that the worthy and the good shall say,
Striking their pensive bosoms—Here lies Gay!”

He died December 4, 1732, aged forty-five.—Rysbrack, sculptor.

Nicholas Rowe, Esq., and his only daughter. On the front of the pedestal is this inscription:—“To the memory of Nicholas Rowe, Esq., who died in 1718, aged forty-five; and of Charlotte, his only daughter, wife of Henry Fane, Esq., who, inheriting her father’s spirit, and amiable in her own innocence and beauty, died in the twenty-second year of her age, 1739.” Underneath, upon the front of the altar, is this epitaph:—

“Thy reliques, Rowe! to this sad shrine we trust,
And near thy Shakspeare place thy honour’d bust.
Oh! next him skill’d to draw the tender tear,
For never heart felt passion more sincere;
To nobler sentiment to fire the brave,
For never Briton more disdained a slave;
Peace to thy gentle shade, and endless rest,
Blest in thy genius, in thy love, too, blest!
And blest, that timely from our scene remov’d,
Thy soul enjoys that liberty it lov’d!
To these so mourn’d in death, so loved in life,
The childless parent and the widow’d wife,
With tears inscribed this monumental stone,
That hold their ashes, and expects her own.”Mr. Rowe was Poet Laureate, and author of several fine tragedies; and, just before his death, had finished a translation of Lucan’s Pharsalia.—Rysbrack, sculptor.

James Thomson, author of the Seasons, and other Poetical Works. The figure of Mr. Thomson leans its left arm upon a pedestal, holding a book in one hand, and the Cap of Liberty in the other. Upon the pedestal, in bas-relief, are the Seasons; to which a boy points, offering him a laurel crown, as the reward of his genius. At the feet of the figure is the tragic mask and the ancient harp. The whole is supported by a projecting pedestal, and in a panel is the following inscription:—“James Thomson, Ætatis 48, Obit 27 August, 1748. Tutored by thee, sweet Poetry exalts her voice to ages, and informs the page with music, image, sentiment, and thought, never to die!” Erected 1762.—Spang, sculptor.

William Shakspeare.—Both the design and workmanship of this monument are extremely elegant. The figure of Shakspeare, and his attitude, his dress, his shape, his genteel air, and fine composure, all so delicately expressed by the sculptor, cannot be sufficiently admired; and those beautiful lines of his that appear on the scroll are very happily chosen:—

“The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve.
And, like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Leave not a wreck behind.”—The Tempest.

The heads on the pedestal, representing Henry V., Richard III., and Queen Elizabeth (three principal characters in his plays), are likewise proper ornaments to grace his tomb. In short, the taste that is here shown does honour to those great names under whose direction, by the public favour, it was so elegantly constructed: namely, the Earl of Burlington, Dr. Mead, Mr. Pope, and Mr. Martin. It was designed by Kent, executed by Scheemakers, and the expanse defrayed by the grateful contributions of the public, 125 years after his death. He died April 24, 1617, in his 53rd year, and was buried in the great church at Stratford.

In front of this monument are buried Dr. Johnson, Garrick, Henderson, Sheridan, Campbell, and Cary.

“To the memory of Mrs. Pritchard, this tablet is here placed by a voluntary subscription of those who admired and esteemed her. She retired from the stage, of which she had long been the ornament, in the month of April, 1768, and died at Bath in the month of August following, in the fifty-seventh year of her age.

“Her comic vein had every charm to please,
’Twas nature’s dictates breathed with nature’s ease:
E’en when her powers sustain’d the tragic load,
Full, clear, and just, the harmonious accents flow’d;
And the big passions of her feeling heart
Burst freely forth and shamed the mimic art.
Oft on the scene, with colours not her own,
She painted Vice, and taught us what to shun;
One virtuous track her real life pursu’d,
That nobler part was uniformly good;
Each duty there to such perfection wrought.
That, if the precepts fail’d, the example taught.”
W. Whitehead, P.L.

Hayward, sculptor.

Above is a bust to Robert Southey (Poet Laureate); born August 12, 1774; died March 21, 1843.—Weekes, sculptor.

Thomas Campbell, LL.D., Author of “The Pleasures of Hope,” thrice Lord-Rector of the University of Glasgow, founder of the Polish Association, &c. He was born July 27, 1777; died at Boulogne, June 15, 1844; and was buried with great public solemnity, near this spot, on the 3rd of July following. As a classic poet, a warm philanthropist, a staunch friend of literary men, he possessed the highest qualities of mind and heart. His Patriotic Lyrics breathe the very spirit of British freedom and independence; while his other poems—all models of composition—are richly imbued with the spirit of moral and religious sentiment. This statue, from the classic chisel of W. C. Marshall, R.A., was erected on the 1st of May, 1855. The pedestal as it now stands, was the gift of a lady (sister-in-law of Dr. Beattie, the Poet’s physician and biographer). The highly appropriate Lines inscribed upon it are taken from “The Last Man:”—

“This spirit shall return to Him
Who gave its heavenly spark;
Yet think not, sun, it shall be dim
When thou thyself art dark!
No—it shall live again, and shine
In bliss unknown to beams of thine,
By Him recall’d to breath
Who captive led captivity.
Who robbed the Grave of Victory,
And took the sting from Death!”

The statue represents the Poet in his academic robes of Lord-Rector and the relieved figure, with the torch, the triumph of immortal Hope, as described in the following lines:—

“Eternal Hope! when yonder spheres sublime
Peal’d their first notes to sound the march of Time,
Thy joyous youth began, but shall not fade.—
When all the sister planets have decayed,
When wrapped in fire, the realms of ether glow,
And Heaven’s last thunder shakes the world below,
Thou, undismayed, shall o’er the ruins smile,
And light thy torch at Nature’s funeral pile!”
“Pleasures of Hope.”

[For these and the preceding lines, see Campbell’s Poems.]

Affixed to the pillar is a tablet—“Sacred to the memory of Christopher Anstey, Esq., formerly a scholar at Eton, and fellow of Trinity College, in Cambridge: a very elegant poet, who held a distinguished pre-eminence, even among those who excelled in the same kinds of his art. About the year 1770, he exchanged his residence in Cambridgeshire for Bath, a place above all that he had long delighted in. The celebrated poem that he wrote, under the title of the Bath Guide, is a sufficient testimony; and after having lived there thirty-six years, died in the year 1805, aged eighty-one, and was buried in Walcot Church, Bath.”—Horwell, sculptor.

A tablet with a fine medallion,—“Sacred to the memory of Granville Sharp, ninth son of Dr. Thomas Sharp, Prebendary of the Cathedrals and Collegiate Churches of York, Durham, and Southwell, and grandson of Dr. John Sharp, Archbishop of York. Born and educated in the bosom of the Church of England, he ever cherished for her institutions the most unshaken regard, whilst his whole soul was in harmony with the sacred strain—‘Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will towards men;’ on which his life presented one beautiful comment of glowing piety and unwearied beneficence. Freed by competence from the necessity, and by content from the desire, of lucrative occupation, he was incessant in his labours to improve the condition of mankind. Founding public happiness on public virtue, he aimed to rescue his native country from the guilt and inconsistency of employing the arm of Freedom to rivet the fetters of Bondage, and established for the Negro Race, in the person of Somerset (his servant), the long disputed rights of human nature. Having, in this glorious cause, triumphed over the combined resistance of Interest, Prejudice, and Pride, he took his post amongst the foremost of the honourable band associated to deliver Africa from the rapacity of Europe, by the abolition of the Slave Trade; nor was death permitted to interrupt his career of usefulness, till he had witnessed that Act of the British Parliament by which ‘The Abolition’ was decreed. In his private relations he was equally exemplary; and having exhibited through life a model of disinterested virtue, he resigned his pious spirit into the hands of his Creator, in the exercise of Charity, and Faith, and Hope, on the 6th day of July, A.D. 1813, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. Reader, if on perusing this tribute to a private individual, thou shouldest be disposed to suspect it as partial, or censure it as diffuse, know that it is not panegyric, but history.—Erected by the African Institution of London, A.D. 1816.”—Chantrey, sculptor.

Above is a bust of Charles de St. Denis, Lord of St. Evremond.—This gentleman was of a noble family in Normandy, and was employed in the army of France, in which he rose to the rank of Marshal; but retiring to Holland, he was from thence invited by Charles II. into England, where he lived in the greatest intimacy with the King and principal nobility, more particularly with the Duchess of Mazarine. He had a very sprightly turn both in conversation and writing. He lived to the age of ninety, and was carried off at last by a violent fit of the stranguary, September 9, 1703. Though he left France, as it may be imagined, on account of religion, yet in his will he left twenty pounds to poor Roman Catholics, and twenty pounds to poor French refugees; besides other legacies to be disposed of to those in distress, of what religion soever they might be.

Matthew Prior.—The bust was done by order of the King of France. On one side of the pedestal stands the figure of Thalia, one of the nine Muses, with a flute in her hand; and on the other, History, with her book shut; between both is the bust of the deceased, upon a raised altar of fine marble; on the outermost side of which is a Latin inscription, importing that while he was busied in writing the history of his own times, Death interposed, and broke both the thread of his discourse and of his life, Sept. 18, 1721, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. Over the bust is a pediment, on the ascending sides of which are two boys, one with an hour glass in his hand, run out, the other holding a torch reversed; on the apex of the pediment is an urn, and on the base of the monument a long inscription, reciting the principal employments in which he had been engaged; particularly that, by order of King William and Queen Mary; he assisted at the Congress of the Confederate Powers of the Hague, in 1690; in 1697 was one of the Plenipotentiaries of the Peace of Ryswick: and in the following year was of the embassy to France and also Secretary of State in Ireland. In 1700, he was made one of the Board of Trade; in 1711, First Commissioner of the Customs; and lastly, in the same year, was sent by Queen Anne to Louis XIV. of France, with proposals of peace. All these trusts he executed with uncommon address and abilities, and had retired from public business, when a violent cholic, occasioned by a cold, carried him off; by which the world was deprived of an invaluable treasure, which he was preparing to lay before the public.—Rysbrack, sculptor. Bust by Coizevox.

“Sacred to the best of men, William Mason, A.M., a Poet, if any, elegant, correct, and pious. Died 7th of April, 1797, aged seventy-two.”—It is a neat piece of sculpture. A medallion of the deceased is held up by a figure of Poetry, bemoaning the loss.—Bacon, sculptor.

Thomas Shadwell.—This monument was erected by Dr. John Shadwell, to the memory of his deceased father. The inscription sets forth that he was descended from an ancient family in Staffordshire, was Poet Laureate and Historiographer in the reign of William III., and died November 20, 1692, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. He was author of several plays, and was satirized by Dryden, under the character of Ogg, in the second part of Absalom and Architophel. He died at Chelsea, by taking opium, and was there buried.—Bird, sculptor.

John Milton.—He was a great polemical and political writer, and Latin Secretary to Oliver Cromwell; but what has immortalized his name, are those two inimitable pieces, Paradise Lost and Regained. He was born in London in 1604, and died at Bunhill (perhaps the same as Bunhill Fields) in 1674, leaving three daughters behind him unprovided for, and was buried at St. Giles’s, Cripplegate. In 1737, Mr. Auditor Benson erected this monument to his memory.—Rysbrack, sculptor.

Under Milton is an elegant monument erected to the memory of Mr. Gray. This monument seems expressive of the compliment contained in the epitaph, where the Lyric Muse, in alt-relief, is holding a medallion of the Poet, and at the same time pointing the finger up to the bust of Milton, which is directly over it.

“No more the Grecian muse unrival’d reigns;
To Britain let the nations homage pay:
She felt a Homer’s fire in Milton’s strains,
A Pindar’s rapture in the lyre of Gray.”Died July 30, 1771, aged fifty-four, and was buried at Stoke.—John Bacon, sculptor.

Samuel Butler.—This tomb, as by the inscription appears, was erected by John Barber, Esq., Lord Mayor of London, that he who was destitute of all things when alive, might not want a monument when dead. He was author of Hudibras, and was a man of consummate learning, wit, and pleasantry, peculiarly happy in his writings, though he reaped small advantages from them, and suffered great distress by reason of his narrow circumstances. He lived, however, to a good old age, and was buried at the expense of Mr. Longueville, in the churchyard of St. Paul, Covent Garden. He was born at Strencham, in Worcestershire, in 1612, and died in London, 1680.

Edmund Spencer.—Beneath Mr. Butler’s, there was a rough decayed tomb of Purbeck stone, to the memory of Mr. Edmund Spencer, one of the best English poets, which being much decayed, a subscription was set on foot, by the liberality of Mr. Mason, in 1778, to restore it. The subscription succeeded, and the monument was restored as nearly as possible to the old form, but in statuary marble. His works abound with innumerable beauties and such a variety of imagery, as is scarce to be found in any other writer, ancient or modern. On this monument is this inscription:—“Here lies (expecting the second coming of our Saviour Christ Jesus) the body of Edmund Spencer, the Prince of Poets in his time, whose divine spirit needs no other witness than the works which he left behind him. He was born in London in 1553, and died in 1598.”

Ben Jonson.—This monument is of fine marble, and is very neatly ornamented with emblematical figures, alluding, perhaps, to the malice and envy of his contemporaries. His epitaph—“O Rare Ben Jonson!”—is cut in the pavement where he is buried in the North Aisle. He was Poet Laureate to James I., and contemporary with Shakspeare, to whose writings, when living, he was no friend, though, when dead, he wrote a Poem prefixed to his Plays, which does him the amplest justice. His father was a clergyman, and he was educated at Westminster School while Mr. Carden was Master; but after his father’s death, his mother marrying a bricklayer, he was forced from school, and made to lay bricks. There is a story told of him, that at the building of Lincoln’s Inn, he worked with his trowel in one hand, and Horace in the other; but Mr. Carden, regarding his parts, recommended him to Sir Walter Raleigh, whose son he attended in his travels, and upon his return entered himself at Cambridge. He died the 16th of August, 1637, aged sixty-three.—Rysbrack, sculptor.

POETS CORNER WESTMINSTER ABBEY

On the left is a monument to Michael Draiton. The inscription and epitaph were formerly in letters of gold, but now almost obliterated, and therefore are here preserved:—“Michael Draiton, Esq., a memorable Poet of his age, exchanged his laurel for a Crown of Glory, anno 1631.

“Do, pious marble, let thy readers know
What they, and what their children, owe
To Draiton’s name, whose sacred dust
We recommend unto thy trust:
Protect his mem’ry, and preserve his story;
Remain a lasting monument of his glory;
And when thy ruins shall disclaim
To be the treasure of his name,
His name, that cannot fade, shall be
An everlasting monument to thee.”

This gentleman was both an excellent poet and a learned antiquarian.

Over the monument to Ben Jonson is a window given by Dr. Rogers; it represents David and St. John, the poets of the Old and New Testaments.—Clayton and Bell.

Barton Booth, Esq., elegantly designed and well executed. His bust is placed between two cherubs, one holding a wreath over his head in the act of crowning him: the other in a very pensive attitude, holding a scroll, on which is inscribed his descent from an ancient family in Lancashire, his admission into Westminster School, under Dr. Busby, his qualifications as an actor, which procured him both the royal patronage and the public applause. He died in 1733, in the fifty-fourth year of his age; and this monument was erected by his surviving widow in 1772.—W. Tyler, sculptor.

Mr. John Phillips.—The bust of this gentleman, in relief, is here represented as in an arbour interwoven with laurel branches and apple trees; and over it is this motto—“Honos erat huic quoque Pomo;” alluding to the high qualities ascribed to the apple, in that excellent poem of his called Cider. He was son of Stephen Phillips, D.D., Archdeacon of Salop; was born at Bampton, in Oxfordshire, December 30, 1676, and died at Hereford, Feb. 15, 1708, of a consumption, in the prime of life.

Geoffrey Chaucer.—This has been a very beautiful monument in the Gothic style, but is now much defaced, and is generally passed over with a superficial glance, except by those who never suffer anything curious to escape their notice. Geoffrey Chaucer, to whose name it is sacred, is called the Father of English Poets, and flourished in the fourteenth century. He was son of Sir John Chaucer, a citizen of London, and employed by Edward III. in negociations abroad relating to trade. He was a great favourite at court, and married the great John of Gaunt’s wife’s sister. He was born in 1328, and died Oct. 25, 1400. This monument was erected by Nicholas Bingham, of Oxford, in 1556.

The memorial window to Chaucer, immediately over his tomb, is intended to embody his intellectual labour, and his position amongst his contemporaries. At the base are the Canterbury Pilgrims, showing the setting out from London, and the arrival at Canterbury. The medallions above represent Chaucer receiving a commission, with others, in 1372, from King Edward III. to the Doge of Genoa, and his reception by the latter. At the apex, the subjects are taken from the moral poem entitled “The Floure and the Leafe.” “As they which honour the Flower, a thing fading with every blast, are such as look after beauty and worldly pleasure; but they that honour the Leaf, which abideth with the root, notwithstanding the frost and winter storms, are they which follow virtue and during qualities, without regard to worldly respects.” On the dexter side, dressed in white, is the Lady of the Leafe, and attendants; on the sinister side is the Lady of the Floure, dressed in green. In the spandrils adjoining are the Arms of Chaucer. On the dexter side, and on the sinister, Chaucer impaling these of (Roet) his wife. In the tracery above, the portrait of Chaucer occupies the centre, between that of Edward III. and Philippa his wife; below them Gower and John of Gaunt, and above are Wickliffe and Strode, his contemporaries. In the borders are disposed the following arms, alternately: England, France, Hainhault, Lancaster, Castile, and Leon. At the base of the window is the name Geoffrey Chaucer, died A.D. 1400, and four lines selected from the poem entitled, “Balade of Gode Counsaile.”

“Flee fro the prees, and dwell with soth fastnesse,
Suffise unto thy good though it be small;”
*** ***
“That thee is sent receyve in buxomnesse;
The wrastling for this world asketh a fall.”

This window was designed by Mr. J. G. Waller, and executed by Messrs. Thomas Baillie, and George Mayer, 118, Wardour Street, London, 1868.

Explanation of the Subjects.—The Pilgrims are arranged in the following manner:—The Departure from the Tabard, thus:

The Arrival at Canterbury, thus:

Arrangement of Portraits in Tracery.

Above is a neat monument to the memory of John Roberts, Esq., the very faithful Secretary of the Right Honourable Henry Pelham, Minister of State to George II. This marble was erected by his three surviving sisters, in 1776.—Hayward, sculptor.

Abraham Cowley.—This monument, though apparently plain, is very expressive; the chaplet of laurel that begirts his urn, and the fire issuing from the mouth of the urn, are fine emblems of the glory he acquired by the spirit of his writings. The Latin inscription and epitaph on the pedestal is thus translated into English:—“Near this place lies Abraham Cowley, the Pindar, Horace, and Virgil of England; and the delight, ornament and admiration of his age:—

“While, Sacred Bard, far worlds thy works proclaim.
And you survive in an immortal fame,
Here may you, bless’d in pleasant quiet, lie!
To guard thy urn may hoary Faith stand by!
And all thy fav’rite tuneful Nine repair
To watch thy dust with a perpetual care!
Sacred for ever may this place be made,
And may no desp’rate hand presume t’ invade
With touch unhallow’d this religious room,
Or dare affront thy venerable tomb!
Unmov’d and undisturb’d, till time shall end,
May Cowley’s dust this marble shrine defend!”

“So wishes, and desires that wish may be sacred to posterity, George, Duke of Buckingham, who erected this monument to that incomparable man. He died in the forty-ninth year of his age, and was carried from Buckingham House, with honourable pomp, his exequies being attended by persons of illustrious characters of all degrees, and buried August 3, 1667.” His grave is just before the monument, as appears by a blue stone, on which is engraven his name.—John Bushnell, sculptor.

Affixed to the pillar, on the left, is a tablet to the memory of Mrs. Martha Birch, who was daughter of Samuel Viner, Esq., and first married to Francis Millington, Esq., afterwards to Peter Birch, Prebendary of this Abbey. She died May 25, 1703, in the fiftieth year of her age.

The next monument was erected to the memory of Mr. John Dryden, by the late Duke of Buckingham, who valued his writings so much that he thought no inscription necessary to spread his fame.—“J. Dryden, born 1632, died May 1, 1700. John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, erected this monument, 1720.”—Scheemakers, sculptor.

Against the screen of the Choir, is the monument of Robert South, D.D., who is represented in a cumbent posture, in his canonical habit, with his arm resting on a cushion, and his right hand on a Death’s head. In his left he holds a book, with his finger between the leaves, as if just closed from reading; and over his head is a group of cherubs issued from a mantling, beneath which is a long Latin inscription, showing that he was scholar to Busby, and student at Christ Church, Oxford, and Public Orator of that University; that, by the patronage of Lord Clarendon, he was made Prebendary both of Westminster and Christ’s, and afterwards Rector of Islip, where he rebuilt the parsonage-house, and founded and endowed a school. His sermons have a peculiar turn, and are still much admired. He died July 8, 1716, aged eighty-two.—Bird, sculptor.

Between this and Dr. Busby, a small portion of Ann of Cleves’ monument is to be perceived. She was sister of the Duke of Cleves, was contracted in marriage to Henry VIII., and received with great pomp on Blackheath, January 3, 1539, married to the king on the 9th, and in July following divorced, with liberty to marry again; but being sensibly touched with the indignity put upon her, she lived retired in England, with the title of Lady Ann, of Cleves, and saw the rival who supplanted her suffer a worse fate. She survived the King four years, and died in 1557.

A still more unfortunate Queen lies near this last, without a monument; viz., Anne, Queen of Richard III., and daughter of Nevil, the great Earl of Warwick. This lady was poisoned by that monster of cruelty, her husband, to make way for his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of his brother, Edward IV., and sister of the unhappy youths he had caused to be murdered in the Tower, which marriage he never lived to consummate, being slain at the battle of Bosworth Field.

Above is a tablet to Dr. Vincent, with the inscription thus translated:—“Here rests whatever is mortal of William Vincent, who having received his education in this College, returned to it when he had completed his academical studies, and from the situation of Junior Usher, arose to that of Head Master; he was at length exalted to the office of Dean of the Church, for which he entertained the greatest affection: on the subject of his life, his literary attainments, and his moral character, let this monumental stone be silent. He owes his origin to the respectable family of the Vincents, of Shepy, in the county of Leicester; he was born in London, 2nd November, 1739, and died on the 21st December, 1815.”

Doctor Richard Busby.—On this fine monument is the effigy of this learned grammarian in his gown, looking earnestly at the inscription. In his right hand he holds a pen, and in his left a book open. Underneath, upon the pedestal, are a variety of books, and at the top are his family arms. The inscription is very elegantly written, and highly to his praise; intimating that whatever fame the school of Westminster boasts, and whatever advantage mankind shall reap from thence in times to come, are all principally owing to the wise institutions of this great man. He was born at Lutton, in Lincolnshire, September 22, 1606; made Master of Westminster College, December 23, 1640; elected Prebendary of Westminster, July 5th, 1660, and Treasurer of Wells, August 11th, the same year; and died April 5th, 1695.—Bird, sculptor.

Affixed to the pillars in this cross are two tablets; one to the memory of Dr. Anthony Horneck, who was born at Wettenburgh, in Zealand, but educated at Queen’s College, Oxford; was King’s Divinity Professor and Chaplain, a Prebendary of this Church, and Preacher at the Savoy. He died of the stone, January 31, 1696, aged fifty-six. The other to the memory of Dr. Samuel Barton, a Prebendary of this Church, and a person of admirable genius and learning. He died September 1715, aged sixty-eight.

In front of Dr. Barrow’s monument, lies the remains of that once celebrated poet, Sir William Davenant, who, upon the death of Ben Jonson, succeeded him as Poet Laureate to Charles I., but having lost his nose by an accident, was cruelly bantered by the wits of the succeeding reign. He was a vintner’s son at Oxford, whose wife, being a woman of admirable wit and sprightly conversation, drew the politest men of that age to their house, among whom Shakspeare was said to be a frequent visitor. His education was at Lincoln College, where he became acquainted with Endimion Porter, Henry Jermain, and Sir John Suckling. He died in 1668, aged sixty-three.

Not far from Davenant lies Sir Robert Murray, a great Mathematician, and one of the founders of the Royal Society, of which he was the first President, and while he lived the very soul of that body. He died suddenly, July 4, 1673, in the garden at Whitehall, and was buried at the King’s expense.

In front of Dryden’s monument, is an ancient stone, on which, by the marks indented, has been the image of a man in armour. This covers the body of Robert Haule, who, at the battle of Najara, in Spain, in Richard II.’s time, together with John Shakel, his comrade, took the Earl of Denia prisoner, who, under pretence of raising money for his ransom, obtained his liberty, leaving his son as a hostage in their hands. Upon their coming to England, the Duke of Lancaster demanded him for the King; but they refused to deliver him up without the ransom, and were therefore both committed to the Tower, from whence escaping, they took sanctuary in this Abbey. Sir Ralp Ferreris and Alan Buxal, the one Governor, the other Captain of the Tower, with fifty men, pursued them, and having, by fair promises, gained over Shakel, they attempted to seize Haule by force, who made a desperate defence, but being overpowered by numbers, was slain, August 11, 1378, in the choir before the prior’s stall, commending himself to God, the avenger of wrongs. A servant of the Abbey fell with him. Shakel they threw into prison, but afterwards set him at liberty, and the King and Council agreed to pay the ransom of his prisoner, 500 marks, and 100 marks a-year. Some years afterwards Shakel died, and was buried here in 1396.

Under the pavement, near Dryden’s tomb, lie the remains of Francis Beaumont, the dramatic writer, who died in London in 1628, and was buried here, March 9, without tomb or inscription.

The new stained glass windows at the south end of the Transept of the Abbey were executed by Messrs. Thomas Ward and J. H. Nixon, 1847: description as follows:—

In the centre of the Rose Window, the name “Jehovah;” in the circle surrounding the figures of angels.

In the large circle of surrounding lights are thirty-two separate subjects taken from the principal incidents, miracles, and events in the life and sufferings of our blessed Redeemer.

The height of the figures are nearly three feet. The subjects selected for this circle are as follows:

The decorations which surround this circle are scrolages and ornaments of mosaic work on coloured grounds suited to the rest, among which are also interwoven the following symbols:—

In the left quatrefoil, at the corner, are the arms of the Abbacy; in the right the arms of the reigning sovereign; in the head of the arches beneath are figures of angels holding scrolls.

The subjects for the twelve lower windows are selected from the Old Testament, and are as follows:—

Having thus noticed what is usually considered most interesting in the interior, we will take a glance at the exterior. We have already observed that the form of the Abbey is that of a cross, in which you are to consider Henry the Seventh’s Chapel has no part. The south side answered exactly to the north in the original plan, by attending to which, you will be able to form a true judgment of the whole. The cloisters on the south side were added for the conveniency of the monks, and the contiguous buildings are of a still later date.

What will principally engage your attention, in viewing the outside of this building (the new towers excepted), is the magnificent portico leading to the north cross, which, by some, has been styled the Beautiful, or Solomon’s Gate. This portico is Gothic, and extremely beautiful; and over it is a most magnificent window of modern design, admirably executed. The entire height of the north front to the top of the centre pinnacle is one hundred and seventy feet.

The north side of the Church, between the west front and the Transept, is supported by nine graduated buttresses; each has a turreted niche, wherein are placed full length statues of the founders and principal benefactors of this Church.

The towers at the west end were raised under the directions of Sir Christopher Wren, and terminate with pinnacles at the height of two hundred and twenty-five feet. The Exterior length of the Abbey is four hundred and sixteen feet; including Henry Seventh’s Chapel, five hundred and thirty feet.

Having now pointed out what is accounted most worthy of observation in the construction of this ancient Abbey, both without and within it, we shall next say a word or two of—