Part 17 (1/2)
EXPLANATION OF THE SUBJECTS.--The Pilgrims are arranged in the following manner:--The Departure from the Tabard, thus:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
1. The Reve. |4. The Knight. |7. The Serjeant of Law.
2. The Manciple. |5. The Yeoman. |8. The s.h.i.+pmanne.
3. Chaucer. |6. The Squire. |9. The Doctor of Physick.
The Arrival at Canterbury, thus:
10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.
10. The Somptnour. |13. The Monk. |16. The Frankelein.
11. The Pardoner. |14. The Prioress. |17. The Plowman.
12. The Parson. |15. The Nun. |18. The Clerk of Oxenforde.
_Arrangement of Portraits in Tracery._
Wickliffe. Strode.
Edward III. Chaucer. Philippa.
Gower. John of Gaunt.
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 h.o.a.ry 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 ill.u.s.trious 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 c.u.mbent posture, in his canonical habit, with his arm resting on a cus.h.i.+on, 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 t.i.tle 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.”