Part 7

It has been already observed, that in the middle of the east end of the nave is situated the magnificent tomb of Henry VII. this is enclosed with a screen of cast brass, most admirably designed, and executed; this screen is nineteen feet in length, eleven in breadth, and the same in height. It is ornamented with statues, of which those only of St. James, St. Bartholomew, St. George, and St. Edward, are now remaining; and also adorned with other devices alluding to King Henry the Seventh’s family; as portcullises, signifying his relation to the Beaufort’s by his mother’s side; roses twisted and crowned, in memory of the union of the two houses of Lancaster and York, by his marriage; and at each end a crown in a bush, alluding to the crown of Richard III. found in a hawthorn bush, near Bosworth field, where the famous battle was fought in which Richard lost his life. Within the rails are the effigies of the royal pair, in their robes of state, on a tomb of black marble, the head whereof is supported by a red dragon the ensign of Cadwalladar, from whom King Henry VII. was fond of tracing his descent, and the foot by an angel.

At the head of this tomb lie the remains of Edward VI. grandson to Henry VII. who died in the sixteenth year of his age, and the seventh of his reign. A fine monument was erected to his memory by Queen Mary, his sister and successor; it was adorned with curious sculpture representing the passion and resurrection of our Saviour; with two angels on the top kneeling; and the whole elegantly finished; but it was afterwards demolished as a relict of Popish superstition.

On one side of Henry the Seventh’s tomb in a small chapel, in which is the monument of Lewis Stuart Duke of Richmond, and Frances his wife; whose statues in cast brass are represented lying on a marble table under a canopy of brass curiously wrought, and supported by the figures of Faith, Hope, Charity, and Prudence; and on the top is a figure of Fame taking her flight, and resting only on her toe.

On the north side of Henry the Seventh’s tomb is a monument decorated with several emblematical figures in brass gilt; the principal is Neptune in a pensive posture with his trident reversed, and Mars with his head crushed; these support the tomb on which lie the effigies of George Villars Duke of Buckingham, the great favourite of King James I. and King Charles I. who fell a sacrifice to the national resentment by the hand of Felton. His Grace married Catharine, daughter to the Earl of Rutland, who erected this monument to his memory, and lies in effigy on the same tomb by his side. The Latin inscription, after recounting his noble qualities, and high titles, alludes to the story of his death.

Of a later date, and superior in point of design and workmanship, is a noble monument erected to the memory of John Sheffield Duke of Buckingham, where his Grace’s statue in a Roman habit, is laid in a half raised posture on an altar of fine marble: his Duchess is represented standing at his feet weeping. On each side are military trophies; and over all an admirable figure of Time holding several medallions representing the heads of their Graces children. This monument is very justly admired. It has been observed, that the Duke himself appears the principal figure in the group, and though he lies in a recumbent posture, and his Lady is in the most beautiful manner placed at his feet, yet her figure is so characterized, as to be only a guide to his, and both reflect back a beauty on each other. The decorations are allowed to be extremely picturesque and elegant; the trophies at his head, the figure of Time above, with the medallions of his children, fill up all the spaces with such propriety, that little could be added, and nothing appears superfluous. The inscription sets forth the Duke of Buckingham’s posts, and his qualifications as a good poet, and a fine writer; and over his statue is inscribed in Latin sentences to the following purpose:

I lived doubtful, not dissolute. I die unresolved, not unresigned. Ignorance and error are incident to human nature. I trust in an Almighty and All-good God. Thou King of Kings have mercy upon me.

And underneath:

For my King often, for my Country always.

His Grace died in the 57th year of his age, Feb. 24, 1720, leaving the publication of his works to the care of Mr. Pope. He had three wives; the first, Ursula, Countess of Coventry; the second, Catharine, Countess of Gainsborough; the third, Catharine, Countess of Anglesey.

In this isle there is a lofty pyramid supported by two griffins of gilt brass, on a pedestal of the most curious marble, erected to the memory of Charles Montague, Marquis of Halifax, son to George Montague of Horton. He was placed at the head of the treasury in the reign of King Charles I. and undertaking the reformation of the coin, which was then most infamously clipped, he restored it to its proper value. For this, and other public services, he was first created Baron, and then Marquis of Halifax.

Against the east wall at the end of the north isle is a monument in the form of a beautiful altar, raised by King Charles II. to the memory of Edward V. and his brother Richard, on which is an inscription in Latin, to the following purport:

Here lie the reliques of Edward V. King of England, and Richard Duke of York, who, being confined in the Tower, and there stifled with pillows, were privately and meanly buried, by order of their perfidious uncle Richard the Usurper. Their bones, long enquired after and wished for, after lying two hundred and one years in the rubbish of the stairs, lately leading to the chapel of the White Tower, were on the 17th of July 1674, by undoubted proofs discovered; being buried deep in that place. Charles II. pitying their unhappy fate, ordered these unfortunate Princes to be laid amongst the reliques of their predecessors, in the year 1678, and the 20th of his reign.

At the east end of the same isle is a vault in which are deposited the bodies of King James I. and Anne his Queen, daughter to Frederic II. King of Denmark.

Over this vault is a small tomb adorned with the figure of a child, erected to the memory of Mary the third daughter of James I. who was born at Greenwich in 1605, and died at two years old.

There is also another monument on which is the representation of a child in a cradle, erected to the memory of Sophia, the fourth daughter of the same King, who was born at Greenwich in 1606, and died three days after.

In the same isle is a lofty monument erected to the memory of Queen Elizabeth by King James I. her successor. The inscription represents her character, high descent, and the memorable acts of her glorious reign, “That she was the mother of her country, and the patroness of religion and learning; was herself skilled in many languages, adorned with every excellence of mind and person, and endowed with princely virtues beyond her sex: that in her reign religion was refined to its original purity; peace was established; money restored to its just value; domestic insurrections quelled; France delivered from intestine troubles; the Netherlands supported; the Spanish Armada defeated; Ireland, almost lost by the secret contrivances of Spain, recovered; the revenues of both universities improved by a law of provisions; and, in short, all England enriched. That she was a most prudent Governess, forty-five years a virtuous and triumphant Queen; truly religious, and blest in all her great affairs; and that after a calm and resigned death in the 70th year of her age, she left her mortal part to be deposited in this church, which she established upon a new footing, till by the word of Christ she is called to immortality.” She died March 24, 1602.

In the south isle is a lofty and pompous tomb erected to the memory of Mary Queen of Scots, the mother of King James I. who flying into England from her rebellious subjects, was taken prisoner, tried and condemned for conspiring the death of Queen Elizabeth, and on the 8th of February 1587, beheaded on a scaffold erected in the hall of Fotheringhay Castle, in Northamptonshire. She was afterwards pompously interred by order of Queen Elizabeth, in the cathedral church of Peterborough; but upon the accession of her son to the throne of England, he ordered her remains to be removed from thence, and placed near this monument.

Near the last monument is a tomb enclosed with iron rails, on which lies a Lady also finely robed, the effigies of Margaret Douglas, daughter of Margaret Queen of Scots by the Earl of Angus. Her son the Lord Darnely, father to King James I. is represented foremost on the tomb kneeling, with the crown over his head, and there are seven other of her children represented round the tomb. This great Lady, though she herself never sat on the throne, had, according to the English inscription, King Edward IV. to her great grandfather; Henry VII. to her grandfather; Henry VIII. to her uncle; Edward VI. to her cousin german; James V. of Scotland to her brother; Henry I. of Scotland to her son; James VI. to her brother. Having to her great grandmother and grandmother two Queens, both named Elizabeth; to her mother, Margaret Queen of Scots; to her aunt, Mary the French Queen; to her cousins german, Mary and Elizabeth Queens of England; and to her niece and daughter-in-law, Mary Queen of Scots. This great Lady died March 10, 1577.

In the south side is likewise the monument of Margaret Countess of Richmond, mother to Henry VII. by her first husband Henry Tudor. She was afterwards married to Humphry Stafford, a younger son to Humphry Duke of Buckingham, and at last to Thomas Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby; but by the two last had no children. The inscription mentions the charities of this humane and generous Princess, particularly her founding two colleges at Oxford, Christ Church and St. John’s; and a grammar school at Winbourne. She died in July 1509, in the reign of her grandson Henry VIII.

At the east end of this isle is the royal vault of King Charles II., King William III., Queen Mary his Consort, Queen Anne, and Prince George.

Over these royal Personages are their effigies (except that of Prince George) in wainscot presses; they are of wax work resembling life, and dressed in their coronation robes.

Another wainscot press is placed at the corner of the great east window, in which is the effigy of the Lady Mary Duchess of Richmond, daughter to James Duke of Richmond and Lenox, dressed in the very robes her Grace wore at the coronation of Queen Anne.

On leaving this isle you will be shewn in another wainscot press the effigies of General Monk, who had a great share in the restoration of King Charles II. to the throne of England, and was interred in a vault appropriated to him and his family. He is represented in armour, and his ducal cap is generally made use of by those who shew this chapel, to receive the bounty of those who visit it; these persons having no share of the money paid for seeing it.

Thus have we given a description of every thing remarkable in the Abbey, and that venerable pile adjoining to it, called Henry the Seventh’s chapel; we have mentioned and described the monuments in both that are worthy of notice, and we shall conclude this article with the following reflections, extracted from an ingenious writer, on this subject.

“However amiable fame may be to the living, ’tis certain no advantage to the dead, whatever dangers they have dared, whatever toils they have undergone, whatever difficulties they have surmounted; the grave is deaf to the voice of applause, and the dust of the noble and vulgar sleep in the same obscurity together. ’Tis possible the conscious spirit may have an idea of the honour that is paid to his ashes; but ’tis much more probable, that the prospect of this imaginary glory, while he lived among us, was all the pleasure it ever could afford him. I make this observation, because most monuments are said to be erected as an honour to the dead, and the living are supposed to be the least concerned in them: but one man’s fame is made the foundation of another’s, in the same manner with the gentleman’s, who ordered this sentence to be made his epitaph; HERE LIES SIR PHILIP SIDNEY’S FRIEND. Some there are that mention only the names of the persons whose dust they cover, and preserve a noble silence with regard to the hand that raised them; but even here, the dead can receive no benefit from such disinterested affection; but the living may profit much by so noble an example. Another thing that displeases me is the manner of the inscriptions, which frequently mistake the very design of engraving them, and as frequently give the lie to themselves. To pore one’s self blind in guessing out _Æternæ Memoriæ Sacrum_, is a jest, that would make Heraclitus laugh; and yet most of them begin in that pompous taste, without the least reflection that brass and marble can’t preserve them from the tooth of Time; and if men’s actions have not guarded their reputations, the proudest monument would flatter in vain. Sepulchral monuments should be always considered as the last public tribute paid to virtue; as a proof of our regard for noble characters, and most particularly as an excitement to others to emulate the great example.

“It is certain there is not a nobler amusement, than a walk in Westminster Abbey, among the tombs of heroes, patriots, poets, and philosophers; you are surrounded with the shades of your great forefathers; you feel the influence of their venerable society, and grow fond of fame and virtue in the contemplation: ’tis the finest school of morality, and the most beautiful flatterer of imagination in nature. I appeal to any man’s mind that has any taste for what is sublime and noble, for a witness to the pleasure he experiences on this occasion; and I dare believe he will acknowledge, that there is no entertainment so various, or so instructive. For my own part, I have spent many an hour of pleasing melancholy in its venerable walks; and have been more delighted with the solemn conversation of the dead, than the most sprightly sallies of the living. I have examined the characters that were inscribed before me, and distinguished every particular virtue. The monuments of real fame, I have viewed with real respect; but the piles that wanted a character to excuse them, I considered as the monuments of folly. I have wandered with pleasure into the most gloomy recesses of this last resort of grandeur, to contemplate human life, and trace mankind thro’ all the wilderness of their frailties and misfortunes, from their cradles to their grave. I have reflected on the shortness of our duration here, and that I was but one of the millions who had been employed in the same manner, in ruminating on the trophies of mortality before me; that I must moulder to dust in the same manner, and quit the scene to a new generation, without leaving the shadow of my existence behind me; that this huge fabric, this sacred repository of fame and grandeur, would only be the stage for the same performances; would receive new accessions of noble dust; would be adorned with other sepulchres of cost and magnificence; would be crouded with successive admirers; and at last, by the unavoidable decays of time, bury the whole collection of antiquities in general obscurity, and be the monument of its own ruin.”

ABBOTS LANGLEY, a village in Hertfordshire, situated to the east of Kings Langley, and three or four miles to the S. W. of St. Alban’s, to whose abbey it once belonged. It is famous for being the birth place of Nicholas Breakspeare, who was made Pope by the title of Adrian IV. and had his stirrup held by the Emperor Frederic while he dismounted: but notwithstanding his pride, it is a still more indelible stain to his memory, that when Sovereign Pontiff, he suffer’d his mother to be maintained by the alms of the church of Canterbury. This place gives the title of Baron to the Lord Raymond, who has a seat in this neighbourhood.

ABBS COURT, in the parish of Walton upon Thames in Surrey. The Lord of this Manor, which is also called APS, used formerly upon All-Saints Day to give a barrel of beer, and a quarter of corn baked into loaves, to as many poor as came. This charity was begun in the days of Popery, in order, as ’tis supposed, to encourage the prayers for deliverance of souls out of purgatory.

ABCHURCH _lane_, 1. Gracechurch street.☐ 2.Lombard street.☐ See _St._ Mary Abchurch.

ABEL _court_, Rosemary lane.

ABEL’S _buildings_, Rosemary lane.†

ABINGDON _buildings_, Old Palace yard.

ABINGDON _street_, near Old Palace yard.

ACADEMY _court_, Chancery lane.

Acorn _alley_, Bishopsgate street, without.*

ACORN _court_, Bishopsgate street, without.*

ACTON (EAST) a village six miles from London, a little to the north of the Oxford Road, noted for the medicinal wells near it, which are frequented in the summer months.

ACTON (WEST) a village in the road to Oxford, situated seven miles from London.

ADAM-A-DIGGING _yard_, Peter street, Westminster.*

ADAM AND EVE _alley_, 1. Barnaby street.* 2. by West Smithfield.*

ADAM AND EVE _court_, 1. Oxford street.* 2. Tottenham court road.* 3. West Smithfield.* 4. Hatchet alley, Whitechapel. 5. Petticoat lane.*

ADAM AND EVE _yard_, 1. Homerton.* 2. Ratcliff highway.*

ADAM’S _court_, 1. Little Broad street.† 2. Pig street.† 3. Sharp’s buildings, Duke’s place.† 4. Near Swan’s close.†

ADAM’S _mews_, 1. Audley street.† 2. Charles street near Mount street.†

ADAM’S _yard_, Hockley in the Hole. †

ADDINGTON, a village in Surrey, three miles from Croydon, situated at the descent of a high spacious common to which it gives name. Its church, though said to be above 300 years old, is still very firm. But what is most remarkable, is, that the Lord of the Manor held it in the reign of Henry III. by the service of making his Majesty a mess of pottage in an earthen pot in the King’s kitchen at his coronation; and so late as the coronation of King Charles II. Thomas Leigh, Esq; then Lord of the Manor, made a mess according to his tenure, and brought it to his Majesty’s table, when that King accepted of his service, though he did not taste what he had prepared.

ADDISON’S _yard_, Peter street, Westminster. †

ADDLE _hill_, Great Carter lane, Thames street.

ADDLE _street_, Wood street, Cheapside.

ADMIRALTY _court_. This court, which is held in Doctors Commons, was formerly under the direction of the Lord High Admiral, as it is now under the Lords of the Admiralty, who here take cognisance of all causes relating to merchants and mariners. The proceedings are in the Civil Law. The plaintiff gives security to prosecute, and if cast, to pay what shall be adjudged, and likewise to stand to all his proctor shall transact in his name. But in criminal cases, as the trial of pirates, and crimes committed at sea, the process, by a special commission, is by a judge, jury and witnesses, a Judge of the Common Law assisting: on which occasion the court is commonly held at the Session-house in the Old Bailey. The officers of this court are the Judge of the Admiralty, who must be a Civilian, an Advocate and Proctor, a Register, and a Marshal, who carries a silver oar before the Judge.

ADMIRALTY _office_, an edifice built with brick and stone, on the west side of the street, opposite to Scotland yard. The east front, which is that represented in the print, has two deep wings, and is entered by a very lofty portico supported by four very large stone columns of the Ionic Order, to which there is an ascent by a few steps.

The importance of this building is what recommends it to notice. The portico, which was intended as an ornament, rather disgusts than pleases, by the immoderate height and ill shape of the columns.

In this office are transacted all martime affairs belonging to the jurisdiction of the Admiralty, who here regulate the affairs of the navy; nominate Admirals, Captains, and other officers to serve on board his Majesty’s ships of war, and give orders for the trial of those who have failed in their duty, or been guilty of other irregularities.

ADMIRALTY _office yard_, Whitehall.☐

ADSCOMB, in Surrey near Croydon, is the seat of William Draper, Esq; the paintings and furniture of which are fine.

ADVOCATES _of Doctors Commons_. See DOCTORS COMMONS.

AFFIDAVIT _office_, in Symond’s inn. This office belongs to the Masters in Chancery, where one or more of them constantly attend to take affidavits, and there all affidavits belonging to the Court of Chancery are filed.

AFRICAN COMPANY. The English first sent ships to Africa on account of commerce about the year 1553, from which time the trade to that country was carried on by private hands till 1588, when Queen Elizabeth, by her letters patent, erected a company, for the more effectual promoting of that trade, which then was only for gold, elephants teeth, and Guinea pepper; for the use of negroes was not yet introduced into America.

This company was greatly encouraged during the reigns of James I. and Charles I. but the Dutch taking several forts on the coast of Africa from the Portuguese, committed great depredations on the English, upon which Charles II. the better to enable his subjects to carry on that trade, incorporated a body of merchants, in the year 1662, by the title of _The Company of Royal Adventurers of England to Africa_: but the subscriptions for carrying on this precarious commerce not answering the expectation of the incorporated merchants, they were soon involved in debt, and reduced to such difficulties as rendered them unable to continue their trade to advantage; wherefore they agreed for a certain sum, to surrender their charter to the crown, and to assign all their estates and effects both at home and abroad to certain merchants, who intended to erect a new company, for the more effectual carrying on a trade to Africa: these merchants the King incorporated in the year 1672, and these were the Royal African company, who had a power to trade from the port of Sallee, to the Cape of Good Hope, exclusive of all the King’s other subjects, during the term of a thousand years.

By virtue of this royal grant, the company made a considerable progress in erecting forts, and settling factors: but their trade being laid open by parliament in the year 1697, they were rendered unable to support their forts, it was therefore enacted, that all private traders to Africa should pay ten _per cent._ to the company for that purpose.