Historical Description of Westminster Abbey, Its Monuments and CuriositiesAnonymous
History
Historical Description of Westminster Abbey, Its Monuments and Curiosities
Anonymous
Westminster Abbey
On the left, near the door, is a marble slab to the memory of JOHN
CATLING, who died March 3, 1826, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. He
was Verger and Sacrist, successively, of this Collegiate Church under five
Deans, the duties of which he performed with the most zealous and
undivided attention, for the long period of fifty-two years, respected by
his superiors for the fidelity, respectability, and humility, with which
he filled the offices, and beloved by all who knew him in private life,
for the many virtues which adorn the man. Lady LONDONDERRY was buried
underneath it.
A tablet to the memory of HARRIET, wife of the Rev. John Bentall, one of
the Ushers of Westminster School. She died August 7, 1838.
The next is an epitaph remarkable for its quaintness, and inscribed to the
memory of WILLIAM LAURENCE, in these lines:--
"With diligence and truth most exemplary,
Did William Laurence serve a Prebendary;
And for his pains, now past, before not lost,
Gain'd this remembrance at his master's cost.
Oh! read these lines again!--you seldom find
A servant faithful, and a master kind.
Short-hand he wrote; his flower in prime did fade,
And hasty death short-hand of him hath made.
Well couth he numbers, and well-measured land;
Thus doth he now that ground whereon you stand,
Wherein he lies so geometrical:
Art maketh some, but thus doth nature all."
_Ob. Dec. 28, 1628, Ætat. 29._
A tablet to the Rev. GEORGE PRESTON, A.M., who was several years
Under-Master of Westminster School. He died September 8, 1841, aged
fifty-two.
Near to this is a tablet lately erected to the memory of WILLIAM MARKHAM,
D.D., Archbishop of York, who died November, 1807, aged eighty-eight, and
was buried near this spot.
On your left is a tablet to the memory of EDWARD AUGUSTUS WEBBER, a King's
scholar, son of James Webber, D.D., Dean of Ripon, and Canon of this
Church; who was drowned in the River Thames, June 11, 1833, aged
seventeen, and buried near this spot. The inscription is as
follows:--"H.S.M. Edoardus Augustus Webber, Jacobi Webber, S.T.P., ecclesæ
Riponensis Decani, et hujusce Præbendarii filius natu secundus in amne
Thamesi, eversa turbine navicula e quatuor mersis adolicentibus unus
periit die 11 Junii, 1833, anum agent 17mo. Alumno suavissimo
desideratissimo, id quod parentes miseri perferre nequibant, præceptores
condiscipulique tranquam fratrem lugertes ademptum pro more ac pietate
Westmonasteriensi exequias reddiderunt."
The last worthy of note in this Walk is that to the memory of WILLIAM
EGERTON GELL, Esq., who, after a long and severe affliction, departed this
life on the 17th of May, 1838, aged fifty-six years; in him many will have
to deplore the loss of a generous and kind-hearted friend. "Comfort the
soul of thy servant, for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my
soul."--_Cundy, sculptor._
WEST WALK.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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