1840.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



30.3 



and down this venerable building; particularly the king William and 

 queen Mary, which have been lately so amicably shut up together in 

 the same box. To oblige them therefore, and in compliment to the 

 reverend Dean and Chapter, who permit these noble decorations, I 

 will throw away a moment or two in giving my opinion of them. In 

 the first place, therefore, with all submission to better judgments, I 

 think they are ridiculous and unnatural in themselves, expressing neither 

 figure like statuary, nor colour like painting : secondly, I am humbly 

 of opinion that they would become a puppet-show better than a church, 

 as making a mere farce of what should be great and solemn : and, 

 thirdly, I think them higlily injurious to the characters they represent, 

 as showing them like jointed babies, to the stupid admiration of the 

 vulgar, and the contempt of men of sense ; instead of characterizing 

 their persons, and perpetuating their virtues. 



For all which, and many more reasons, I beg leave to move that the 

 whole present set of waxen worthies may be demolished without be- 

 nefit of clergy, and that all their present patrons and abettors may be 

 substituted in their place; and that, as fast as any futvire reverence 

 should endeavour to seduce his brethren to the like idolatry, he should 

 be immediately chronicled in wax, and shewn with a cap and bells, to 

 distinguish the extent of his understanding, and the perfection of his 

 taste. 



The inclosure, behind the altar, commonly known by the name of St. 

 Edward's chapel, has nothing remarkable in it but certain Gothic an- 

 tiquities, which are made sacred by tradition only, and serve to excite 

 a stupid admiration in the vulgar. 



There is indeed, at the end of this place, a sort of gate to the tomb 

 of Henry V. which was intended for a piece of magnificence, and no 

 cost was spared to make it answer that design ; but the taste of it is 

 so unhappy, and the execution so w'retched, that it has not the least 

 claim to that character. The tomb of that prince challenges attention 

 only because it was his, and because the statue on it has lost its head : 

 to account for which singular injury, we are told a ridiculous tale of 

 its being silver, and that the value of it occasioned the sacrilege. 



One thing, it is true, we meet with in this place, which merits a 

 peculiar regard; that is, a wooden chest of bones, said to be the re- 

 mains of Catharine, daughter of the king of France, and consort of 

 Henry V. If this account is authentic, I think nothing can be a greater 

 violation of decency, or more injurious to the memory of sucTi illus- 

 trious personages, than to expose their relics in so licentious a manner, 

 and make a show of what once commanded respect and adoration. If 

 the clergy are advocates for the decency of burial, as no doubt they 

 are, because of the profits which attend it, why do not those, who have 

 this church under their care, comply but with their common tenets, 

 and grant this indulgence to the ruins of majesty? To be sure I can 

 have no other answer but this, that they bury some for gain, and some 

 they leave unburied for the same reason. 



It is beyond controversy, that there is something extremely shocking 

 in this violence to the secrets of mortality : the ancients had even a 

 superstitious regard for the dust of their ancestors, and surely we are 

 under some obligation to treat ours with good manners : and how the 

 reverend Dean and Chapter can reconcile this principle with their 

 conduct, I leave to the most learned casuist, among them, to determine. 

 If they would hearken to my humble advice, they would not be so very 

 intent on worldly interest, as to neglect worldly reputation : reputation 

 is interest too, and such trespasses as these, in the eyes of men of de- 

 licacy and understantling, are not easily forgiven or forgot. 



The arch at the entrance of Henry the Seventh's chapel, is exceeding 

 grand and ornamental : the steps underneath are a fine preparation for 

 the scene at landing, and the three doors an admirable expedient to 

 favour the perspective w ithin ; but this, and several other beauties, 

 are utterly spoiled by the stalls, which cut off the collateral isles of 

 the chapel intirely, and thereby spoil the beauty and symmetry of the 

 whole. 



The roof of this structure is certainly one of the finest things in the 

 world, I mean in the Gothic style : nothing can be in a better form, or 

 more richly decorated : perhaps had it been more simple it had shown 

 to greater advantage ; but still it is a wonder that one continued 

 cluster of ornament could be contrived to please so much, and answer 

 so well. 



Were the absurd partitions mentioned above thrown down, the roof 

 would appear still more surprising, and the area before more spacious 

 and proportionable : all those tombs which are now shut up in such a 

 manner, that they are no where to be seen as they ought, would then 

 come foreward to the eye, and give an additional grandeur and solem- 

 nity to the scene : the pers|)ective would be finely broke, and every 

 object properly terminate in the founder's maiisoleum, as the principal 

 point of the whole view. 



There are few tombs in Europe more famous than that of Henry VII. 

 neither indeed are there manv which deserve to be more so. The 



undertaking, in itself, was vast and surprizing, the cost prodigious, 

 and the execution exceedingly difficult and laborious. And vet the 

 artist has succeeded in it to admiration; there is hardly a part in it 

 that is not excellent, from the chief figures to the minutest point of 

 the decoration : the statues of the king and queen are grand and noble, 

 and the bas-relief on the sides below, beautiful and expressive. I am. 

 of opinion the workman, wdioever he was, was equal to the noblest 

 scheme of this nature, and would have made a figure even amongst 

 the ancients. What a pity it is, therefore, that such a genius, and so 

 much art should be lavished away on a thing entirely out of taste, and 

 which, at the same expence and study, might have been made the 

 wonder of the world ! To explain myself farther on this head, nothing 

 can be more stupid than the laying statues on their backs, in such a 

 situation, that it is impossible they should ever be seen to advantage, 

 and of course, that all their perfections must be utterly thrown away. 

 In the next place, the brazen inclosure, which surrounds this tomb, 

 wonderiul as it may be, considered by itself, is a monstrous blemish, 

 with regard to the thing it was intended to preserve and adorn; be- 

 cause it rises abundantly too high, and intercepts the view intirely 

 from the principal objects. 



Without doubt, the statues of the king and queen, ought to have 

 been in living attitudes, erect, and bold, and the decorating figures 

 should have formed a corresponding group, which in every light, 

 should have stood the test of criticism, and given the spectator an in- 

 tire satisfaction : a few more steps too should have been added to 

 raise the foundation higher ; a magnificent arch might have been thrown 

 over all, and the boundary below should have been only a guide, not 

 an incumbrance to the prospect. 



Yet, erroneous as the taste of this fine monument may be, it may be 

 called excellent to that which prevailed several years after in the 

 reign of king James I. as may be seen by the wretched things, which 

 were erected at his command, to the memory of queen Elizabeth, and 

 his mother, Mary queen of Scotland : in these all the blunders that can 

 be imagined, are collected together : want of attitude and expression, 

 harmony and proportion, beauty and decoration : nay, the very columns, 

 which support the superstructure, are of different sorts of marble, and, 

 to make the figures splendid and natural, they are painted and dressed 

 out to the life, as if they were just retired from a drawing-room, and 

 laid down there for a little repose. 



But these w hims seem to be again out of repute in the reign of his 

 son, as appears by the monuments of the Dukes of Richmond and 

 Buckingham : in these there are several fine figures in brass, and 

 something like meaning and design; though even then they had not 

 learned to distinguish the principal characters, and place them in such 

 attitudes, as should command the spectator's first and last attention and 

 regard. 



Both these faults are intirely avoided by Rysbrack, in the monument 

 erected in the honour of the late Duke of Buckingham : there the 

 Duke himself is the principal figure in the group, and though he is in 

 a cumbent posture, and his lady, in the most beautiful manner, sitting 

 at his feet, yet her figure is characterized in such a manner as only to 

 be a guide to his, and both reflect back a beauty on each other. 'Jhe 

 decorations are exceedingly picturesque and elegant: the trophy at 

 his head, the fitiger of Time above, with the meials of his children, 

 fill up all the spaces with so great propriety, that as very little could 

 be added, nothing can be spared. In a word, I have yet seen no orna- 

 ment that has pleased me better, and very few so well. 



I will conclude my remarks on the Abbey, with some brief reflections 

 on the use of sepulchral monuments in general, which will, at once, 

 serve to illustrate what has been said on the tombs already erected, 

 and likewise be of some service to the statuary in designing those 

 which may succeed hereafter. 



However amiable fame may appear to the living, it is certainly no 

 advantage to tlie dead : whatever dangers they have dared, whatever 

 toils they have undergone, whatever difficulties they have surmounted, 

 the grave is deaf to the voice of applause, and the dust of the noble 

 and vulgar sleep in the same obscurity together. It is possible the 

 conscious spirit may have an idea of the honours that are paid to his 

 ashes ; but it is much more probable, that the prospect of this im- 

 aginary glory, while he lived among us, was all the pleasure it ever 

 could aftbrd him. I make this observation, because most monuments 

 are said to be erected as an honour to the dead, and the living are 

 supposed to be the least concerned in them : whereas on the contrary, 

 there are few but what were rather founded in compliment to the 

 builder's vanity, than in respect to the name they are inscribed with. 

 One man's fame is made the foundation of another's, who ordered this 

 sentence to be made his epitaph ; here lies Sir Philip Sidney's friend. 

 Some there are that mention only the names of the persons whose dust 

 they cover, and preserve a noble silence with regard to the hand who 

 raised them ; but even here, the dead can receive no benefit from such 



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