Historical Description of Westminster Abbey Part 7

2, 1639, aged twenty-nine.

On the left, or west side of the door, is a monument to the memory of JULIANA, only daughter of Sir Randolph Crewe, Knt., Lord Chief Justice of England. She died unmarried April 22, 1621.

Over the door is the monument of the Right Rev. Dr. BARNARD, Lord Bishop of Londonderry, who died in London, January 10, 1768, aged seventy-two, and was here buried.

VII.--Chapel of St. John.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_Begin on your Left._

1. Sir Thomas Vaughan.

2. Colonel Popham, 1651.

3. Carey, Son of the Earl of Monmouth, 1648.

4. Hugh de Bohun, and Mary his Sister, grandchildren of Edward the First.

5. Carey, Baron of Hunsdon, 1596.

6. Countess of Mexborough, 1821.

7. William of Colchester, Abbot of Westminster, 1420.

8. O. Ruthall, Bishop of Durham, 1524.

9. Thomas Millyng, Bishop of Hereford, 1492.

10. Abbot Fascet, 1500.

11. Mrs. Mary Kendall.

12. Cecil, Earl of Exeter, 1622, and Lady, 1608.

On the left, in this Chapel, is an ancient monument to the memory of Sir THOMAS VAUGHAN, Knight, Chamberlain to Edward, Prince of Wales, and Treasurer of Edward IV. On the top are the mutilated remains of a bra.s.s plate of the Knight.

In the recess of this tomb is a bust to the memory of FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE. Born August 29th, 1805; died April 1st, 1872; buried at Highgate.

"G.o.d is Light." "He was sent to bear witness of that Light."--_T. Woolner, R.A._

Next to this, proceeding on your left hand, is a monument to the memory of Colonel EDWARD POPHAM, an officer in Oliver Cromwell's army, and his Lady.

The inscription on this monument was erased at the Restoration, otherwise it would have been removed. He died at Dover, August 19, 1651.

A tablet to the memory of THOMAS CAREY, second son of the Earl of Monmouth. He was gentleman of the Bedchamber to Charles I.; and is said to have died of grief, in 1648, at the age of thirty-three, for the unhappy fate of his Royal Master.

Under this is a tombstone of grey marble, to the memory of HUGH DE BOHUN, and MARY, his sister, grandchildren to Edward I.

The next monument is to the memory of HENRY CAREY, first cousin to Queen Elizabeth, created Baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfords.h.i.+re, in 1558; was some time Governor of Berwick, Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth, Privy Councillor and Knight of the Garter; but not being preferred as he expected, he laid the disappointment so much to heart, that he languished for a long time on a sick bed, at which the Queen being moved too late, created him an Earl, and ordered the patent and robes to be laid before him, but without effect. He died July 23, 1596, aged seventy-two.

In the middle of the Chapel is the tomb of THOMAS CECIL, Earl of Exeter, Baron Burleigh, Knight of the Garter, and Privy Councillor to James I.; whereon is his effigy, with a lady on his right side, and a vacant s.p.a.ce on his left for another. He died February 7, 1622. The lady on his right side is Dorothy Nevil, his first wife, daughter and co-heiress of the n.o.ble Lord Latimer, who died May 22, 1608; and the vacant s.p.a.ce was left for his second wife, Frances Bridget, of the n.o.ble family of Chandos; but as the right side was taken up, she gave express orders, by her will, not to place her effigy on his left; notwithstanding which, they are all buried together in one vault, as the inscription expresses. She died in 1663.

In the corner to the left is a tablet:--"Sacred to the memory of the Right Hon. ELIZABETH, Countess of Mexborough, who departed this life June 7, in the year of our Lord 1821, aged fifty-nine. Her afflicted husband, John, Earl of Mexborough, hath erected this monument to her memory, in token of his deep sorrow for her loss, and of his sincere love and affection."

WILLIAM of COLCHESTER, Abbot of Westminster, who died in the year 1420, has also an ancient stone monument in this chapel, whereon lies his effigy, properly habited, the head supported by an angel, the feet by a lamb.

THOMAS RUTHALL, made Bishop of Durham by Henry VIII. He had been a Secretary of State to Henry VII., and was by Henry VIII. made a Privy Councillor, and sent on several emba.s.sies abroad. He died, immensely rich, in 1524.

A third is that of GEORGE FASCET, Abbot of Westminster, in the time of Henry VII., of whom we can find nothing material. He died in the year 1500.

On this monument stands the stone coffin of THOMAS MILLYNG, Bishop of Hereford, some time Abbot of Westminster, and Privy Councillor to Edward IV., who died in 1492.

Facing you is a monument to the memory of Mrs. MARY KENDALL, daughter of Thomas Kendall, Esq., and of Mrs. Mary Hallett, his wife, of Killigarth, in Cornwall, who died in her thirty-third year. Her many virtues, as her epitaph sets forth, "rendered her every way worthy of that close union and friends.h.i.+p in which she lived with Lady Catherine Jones; and in testimony of which, she desired that even their ashes, after death, might not be divided, and therefore ordered herself here to be interred, where she knew that excellent lady designed one day to rest near the grave of her beloved and religious mother Elizabeth, Countess of Ranelagh. She was born at Westminster November 8, 1677, and died at Epsom, March 4, 1710."

Above is a monument to ESTHER DE LA TOUR DE GOUVERNET, the Lord Eland's lady. The inscription is in Latin and English, and contains an encomium on her many excellent virtues. She died in 1694, aged twenty-eight.--_Nadaud, sculptor._

VIII.--Chapel of Islip, otherwise Saint John the Baptist.

In the middle of this Chapel formerly stood the monument of Abbot ISLIP; it consisted of a ground plinth, or bas.e.m.e.nt, on which was an alabaster statue of the Abbot, who was represented as a skeleton in a shroud or winding sheet. Over this was a canopy, on which was anciently a fine painting of our Saviour on the Cross, destroyed by the Puritans in Cromwell's time, who were enemies to everything that favoured Popish idolatry, though ever so masterly. Islip was a great favourite with Henry VII., and was employed by him in decorating his new chapel, and in repairing and beautifying the whole Abbey. He dedicated his own chapel to St. John the Baptist, and died May 12, 1532, and was buried in his own chapel.

On the right is the tomb of Sir CHRISTOPHER HATTON, and his Lady, in reclining att.i.tudes on cus.h.i.+ons. Sir Christopher died September 10, 1619; and his widow erected this memorial of his virtues and of their own affectionate union.

On the left, opposite the Chapel of Islip, are two very ancient monuments of Knights Templars. The first, that of EDMUND CROUCHBACK, son of Henry III., so called, as some affirm, from the deformity of his person; but according to others from his attending his brother in the holy wars, where they wore a crouch or cross on their shoulders as a badge of Christianity.

From this Prince the House of Lancaster claimed their right to the crown.

On the base, towards the area, are the remains of ten knights, armed, with banners, surcoats of armour and cross-belted, representing, undoubtedly, his expedition to the Holy Land, the number exactly corresponding with what Matthew Paris reports, namely, Edward and his brother, four Earls, and four Knights, of whom some are still discoverable, particularly the Lord Roger Clifford, as were formerly, in Waverley's time, William de Valence, and Thomas de Clare.

The next ancient monument is to the memory of AYMER DE VALENCE, second and last Earl of Pembroke of this family; he was third son of William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, "whom he succeeded in his estates and honours.

He was employed in the Scottish wars in the reigns of Edward I. and II.

Edward II., in 1314, appointed him general of all his forces from the Trent to Roxborough. He was appointed to attend Isabel, the Queen Mother, to France, and there murdered, on June 23rd, 1323."

The Countess of Lancaster's tomb is seen from the choir, but from this part is hid by the monument of Lord Ligonier; it is canopied with an ancient Gothic arch, the sides of which were decorated with vine branches in relief, the roof within springing into many angles, under which lay the image of a lady, in an antique dress, her feet resting upon lions, and her head on pillars, supported by angels on each side. This monument covered the remains of AVELINE, Countess of Lancaster, daughter of William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle and Holdernesse, by Isabella daughter and heiress of Baldwin, Earl of Devon. This lady married Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, son of Henry III., but died the very year of her marriage, Nov.

4, 1293.

On the right is a monument to the memory of General WOLFE, who was killed at the siege of Quebec, 1759. He is represented falling into the arms of a grenadier, with his right hand over the mortal wound: the grenadier is pointing to Glory in the form of an angel in the clouds, holding forth a wreath ready to crown him, whilst a Highland sergeant looks sorrowfully on: two lions watch at his feet. The inscription as follows:--"To the memory of James Wolfe, Major General and Commander-in-Chief of the British Land Forces on an expedition against Quebec, who, after surmounting, by ability and valour, all obstacles of art and nature, was slain in the moment of victory, on the 13th of September, 1759, the King and the Parliament of Great Britain dedicate this monument."--_Wilton, sculptor._

On the right hand wall, side of Wolfe, is a monument to the memory of Bishop DUPPA, tutor to Charles II., a man of such exemplary piety, lively conversation, and excess of good nature, that when Charles I. was a prisoner in Carisbrooke Castle, he thought himself happy in the company of so good a man. He was born at Greenwich, and educated first at Westminster School, and then at Christ Church College, Oxford, of which he was afterwards Dean; and being selected for the Preceptor to the then Prince of Wales, was first made Bishop of Chichester, from thence translated to Salisbury, and after the Restoration to the See of Winchester. He died March 26, 1622, in the seventy-fourth year of his age.--_Burman, sculptor._

Beneath is a tablet, "Sacred to the memory of JOHN THEOPHILUS BERESFORD, eldest son of Marcus Beresford, and the Lady Frances, his wife, Lieutenant in the eighty-eighth regiment of foot, who died in the twenty-first year of his age, at Villa Formosa, in Spain, of wounds received from the exploding of a powder magazine, at Ciudad Rodrigo, after he had pa.s.sed unhurt through eight days of voluntary service, of the greatest danger during the siege, for which he received the thanks of the Commander-in-Chief. Brave and zealous in his military duties, animated by a strong feeling of piety to G.o.d, and distinguished by his ardent filial affection and duty towards a widowed mother, he has left to her the recollection of his rising virtues as her only consolation under the irreparable loss she has sustained by his death. Born, Jan. 16, 1792, and died Jan. 29, 1812; interred with military honours, in the fort of Almeida.--'_Yea, speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul._'--Wisdom of Solomon, chap. iv., verse 11."--_Westmacott, sculptor._

Next to this is a tablet to the memory of Sir JAMES ADOLPHUS OUGHTON, Commander-in-Chief of his Majesty's forces in North Britain. The inscription is a recital of his military employments, and a record of his death, which took place April 14, 1780, in the sixty-first year of his age.--_Hayward, sculptor._

On the floor is the image of an Abbot in his ma.s.s habit curiously engraved on bra.s.s, representing JOHN DE EASTNEY, who died March 4, 1498.