Produced by Chris Curnow, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) [etext transcriber's note. Text between <f> and </f> markup was in old-english script in the original.] WESTMINSTER BY SIR WALTER BESANT, M. A., F. S. A. AUTHOR OF “LONDON,” ETC. [Illustration] _WITH 130 ILLUSTRATIONS BY WILLIAM PATTEN AND OTHERS_ New York FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1894 and 1895, by Walter Besant. Copyright, 1895, by Frederick B. Stokes Company. _All rights reserved._ TO MRS. WILLIAM PATTEN IN MEMORY OF HER MANY WANDERINGS IN WESTMINSTER WITH HER HUSBAND WHILE HE WAS ADORNING THESE PAGES AND IN MEMORY OF A STAY IN ENGLAND FAR TOO SHORT FOR HER MANY FRIENDS THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED BY ONE OF THOSE FRIENDS THE AUTHOR PREFACE. These papers in their original form first appeared in the _Pall Mall Magazine_. Additions have been made in some of the chapters, especially in the three chapters entitled “The Abbey.” As in the book entitled “London,” of which this is the successor, I do not pretend to offer a History of Westminster. The story of the Abbey Buildings; of the Great Functions held in the Abbey; of the Monuments in the Abbey; may be found in the pages of Stanley, Loftie, Dart, and Widmore. The History of the Houses of Parliament belongs to the history of the country, not that of Westminster. It has been my endeavor, in these pages, (1) to show, contrary to received opinion, that the Isle of Bramble was a busy place of trade long before London existed at all. (2) To restore the vanished Palaces of Westminster and Whitehall. (3) To portray the life of the Abbey, with its Services, its Rule, its Anchorites, and its Sanctuary. (4) To show the connection of Westminster with the first of English printers. And, lastly, to present the place as a town and borough, with its streets and its people. I hope that, with those who have made my “London” a companion, my “Westminster” may also be so fortunate as to find equal favor.