526 The Dean of Westminster [April 29, 



which involved much historical inquiry, the drawing up of the Coro- 

 nation Service for the new king Charles. Laud's star was now in the 

 ascendant, and Williams, no longer Lord Keeper, was prohibited from 

 coming to Westminster. Laud acted as Deputy-Dean at the well- 

 ordered coronation, the one thing (so far as I can find) for which we 

 at Westminster have special cause to remember him. 



There is a curious sequel to the story of Laud's house. Dr. 

 Ricbard Steward became a Prebendary in 1638, and in 1640 he was 

 Prolocutor of the famous Convocation which continued its sittings in 

 Henry VII. 's Chapel after the Short Parliament had been dissolved. 

 We learn from Peter Heylyn's Life of Laud (pp. 423, 438) that a 

 certain committee ' was desired by the Prolocutor to hold their 

 meetings in his house, situate on the North-side of the Abbey-Church 

 and therefore most convenient both to himself and to them.' The 

 Long Parliament soon afterwards swept away Dean and Prebendaries, 

 and they assigned Dr. Steward's house to their Serjeant-at-Arms. 

 Dr. Steward was nominally Dean after Williams became Archbishop 

 of York, but he died at Paris during the Interregnum. When the 

 King came to his own again, a mandate was sent to the new Dean, 

 Dr. Earles, to exhume the bodies of the Commonwealth leaders who 

 had been buried at the east end of Henry VII.'s Chapel. The re- 

 mains of Pym and others were thrown into a pit in the churchyard 

 ' near the back-door of one of the Prebendaries.' It is the grim 

 irony of history: for this had been Laud's back door. 



When we turn from Deans and Prebendaries and try to picture 

 the interior of the church during our period, we are at a loss for 

 ,^uidance. The pictures of successive coronations are useless, partly 

 because the ordinary arrangement of the church was upset, and yet 

 more because the artists took no trouble to give a correct idea of the 

 bailding. We must pick up what we can from our Chapter books, 

 accounts, and muniments. 



In the time of Dean Neile the altar was well cared for. The 

 great sum of 58Z. was spent on a large ' backe Front of Cloathe of 

 gold and blue velvett.' Out of the palls offered by King James and 

 his Queen at their coronation was made a splendid altar cloth, and 

 another was provided at the cost of 22Z. for daily use. 



Westminster was conservative in its ritual, and had maintained 

 throughout our period the use of copes and wafer breads, which the 

 Puritanism of other places had abandoned. The wafers were, no 

 doubt, of the larger Protestant form ordered in Queen Elizabeth's 

 time, and never since disallowed. Cosin says,* ' Though there was 

 no necessity, 3'et there was a liberty still reserved of using wafer- 

 bread, which has continued in divers churches of the kingdom, and 

 Westminster for one, till the 17th of King Charles.' In 1614 the 

 Parliament decided that the whole House was to receive the Com- 

 munion, not at Westminster Abbey, ' for feare of copes and wafer 



♦ 'Works.' V. 481, cf. 518 f. 



