Historical Description of Westminster Abbey, Its Monuments and CuriositiesAnonymous
History
Historical Description of Westminster Abbey, Its Monuments and Curiosities
Anonymous
Westminster Abbey
Colonel ROGER TOWNSHEND.--Here is a sarcophagus, supported by two Indians,
on the front of which is represented in bas-relief, the fall of this great
commander, with his officers attending him in his dying moments. This
monument is decorated with military trophies, and beneath is the following
inscription.--"This monument was erected by a disconsolate parent, the
Lady Vicountess Townshend, to the memory of her fifth son, the Honourable
Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Townshend, who was killed by a cannon-ball, July
25, 1759, in the twenty-eighth year of his age, as he was reconnoitring
the French lines at Ticonderagoe, in North America. From the parent, the
brother, and the friend, his social and amiable manners, his enterprising
bravery, and the integrity of his heart, may claim the tribute of
affection. Yet, stranger, weep not! for though premature his death, his
life was glorious, enrolling him with the names of those immortal
Statesmen and Commanders, whose wisdom and intrepidity, in the course of
this comprehensive and successful war, have extended the commerce,
enlarged the dominion, and upheld the majesty of these kingdoms, beyond
the idea of any former age."--_Eckstein, sculptor._
Above is a tablet to Mrs. BRIDGET RADLEY, wife of Charles Radley, Esq.,
Gentleman Usher and Daily Waiter of James II., who erected this monument
to her memory. She died November 20, 1769.
A monument to Sir JOHN CHARDIN, Bart., and is very emblematical, alluding
to the travels of this gentleman, by which, as his motto expresses, "_he
acquired his fame_." The globe, round which a number of geographical
instruments are represented, exhibits a view of the different countries
through which he travelled; and the motto beneath refers to the dangers he
providentially escaped, for which he ascribes to God the glory. A journal
of his travels into the Eastern countries he has published--a book in high
esteem.--_Henry Cheere, sculptor._
Beneath is a monument with this inscription:--"Sacred to the immortal
memory of Sir PALMES FAIRBORNE, Knight, Governor of Tangier, in the
execution of which command he was mortally wounded by a shot from the
Moors then besieging the town, in the forty-sixth year of his age, October
24, 1680." The following is the epitaph, written by Mr. Dryden:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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