WESTMINSTER. 



oil ilic " Game at Chefs," which may be regarded as the firft; 

 produAion of the Englifti prefs. (See Printing.) The 

 honour of being the firll proteftor of printing in England 

 has been frequently affigned to John Iflip : but this mull be 

 erroneous ; for he became a monk only in 1480, and aroie to 

 be abbot only in 1500. To one of his predeceflbrs, there- 

 fore, to Efteney, elefted in 1474, or rather to Millyng, 

 elefted in 1469, is the introdiiftion of printing to be attri- 

 buted. The abbacy of Iflip is however memorable on an- 

 other account. In it was founded, on the 24th of January, 

 1502-3, the celebrated chapel of Henry VII. Having 

 obtained the crown as heir to Henry VI., he refolved to 

 ereft a fumptuous monument for his remains, in the expeft- 

 ation of his canonization. The firft part of the projeft 

 ■was carried into effeft : but the court of Rome requiring a 

 greater fum for compliance with his folicitation than the 

 prudent H-'nry of Richmond cared to beftow, the laft part 

 of the prcjeft was relinquifhed. Weltminfter-abbey was 

 now on tLe eve of great alterations. The fchemes of 

 Henry VIII. bei^an to be put in pradlice. On the 16th of 

 January, 1539-AC ". furrcnder of the whole eftablifhment 

 was executed by abbot Benfon of Bollon, and twenty -four 

 of the monks. The annual revenue is ftated to have then 

 been nearly 4000/.; a fum of great real value, wiien the 

 pound of beef was regulated at one halfpenny, and that of 

 veal and mutton at three farthings. 



Prior to the difiblution of th? monafteries, Henry had re- 

 folved to convert feme of them into epifcopal fees, to be 

 endowed with a portion of the lands or the revenues which 

 that difTolution would place at his difpofal. Of the pro- 

 jefted fees, Weftminiler was to be one ; and on the 17th of 

 December, 1540, the abbey-church was, by letters patent, 

 conftituted a cathedral, with a bifhop, a dean, twelve pre- 

 bendaries, and other inferior officers. The new bifhop was 

 Thomas Thirleby, then dean of the chapel-royal. The late 

 abbot Benfon was, for his ready compliance with Henry's 

 wilhes in the change of the abbey, appointed dean of the 

 new cathedral : certain monks became prebendaries, minor 

 canons, and ftudents in the univerfity : the others were dif- 

 miffed with pcnfions, decrealing from ten pounds down to 

 five marks. The abbatial manfion was converted into a 

 palace for the bifhop, whofe annual revenue is varioufly 

 Hated from fix hundred to eight hundred pounds. The 

 diocefe included the whole county of Middlefex, with the 

 exception of FuUiam, the rural refidence of the bifliops of 

 London. The endowment of the dean and chapter was not 

 completed till the 5th of Auguft 1542, when lands, in va- 

 rious parts of the kingdom, were affigned, of the yearly 

 value of 2598/., out of which, however, the fum of 4C0/. 

 was to be paid for the falaries of five profeffors of divinity, 

 law, phyfic, Hebrew, and Greek, in each of the univer- 

 fities. A farther fum of 166/. ly. ^d. was to fupport 20 

 ftudents in the univerfities ; and two mailers, with 40 gram- 

 mar fcholars, were to be maintained in the fchool of Weft- 

 miniler. The new bifhopric was, however, but of ihort 

 duration ; for on the 29th of March 1550, bifhop Thirleby 

 was required to furrender it to Edward VI., and it was foon 

 afterwards reunited to that of London. Part of the pof- 

 feffions of St. Peter's cathedral were appropriated to the 

 repairs of St. Paul's in London ; whence arofe the proverb 

 of " robbing Peter to pay Paul." In the edicl for fup- 

 preffmg the fee of Weftminiler, no mention was made of 

 the eftablifhment of a dean and prebendaries, &c. ; it be- 

 came confequently a qneftion whether they were to be con- 

 tinued. To remove all doubt on this head, an aft pafTed in 

 parhament, declaring the church ftill to remain a cathedral, 

 with the former eftabliftiment, but within the diocefe of 



London. On the acceffion of Mary to the throne, tiic ic- 

 ftoration of the monaftery to its priftine condition was car* 

 ried into efteA. The abbot, John Fackenham, furvi\-ing 

 Mary, was the only ecclefiaftic of his rank who fat in tl:;- 

 firft parliament of Elizabeth in 1558; and he took th': 

 lowell place on the bifhops' bench. But on the 21ft of 

 May 1560, the monks were again difplaced, and the churc!; 

 again rendered collegiate, on a bafis very fimilar to tb i'. 

 which had been eftabhfhed by her father, Henry VI 11. 

 The laft dean of EHzabeth's appointment was the learned 

 Lancelot Andrews, afterwards bifhop of Winchefter, dean 

 of the chapel-royal, and a fpecial favourite of James I. 

 Since the reftoration by Ehzabeth, if we exclude the ge- 

 neral diforganization of fimilar inftitutions, in confequence 

 of the internal diforders which commenced in the reign of 

 Charles I., the collegiate eftablifhment of the abbey-church 

 of Weftminfter has undergone no material alteration. 



Abbey-Church Such is briefly the hillory of the reli- 

 gious eftabhfhment on Thorney, to which modern Weft- 

 minfter is indebted for its origin and profperity. Of this 

 eftablifhment, the church remains in a great meafure entire ; 

 the buildings appropriated for the abbot and the monks have 

 undergone great alterations ; but their general arrangement 

 may ftill be traced, and they are ftill allotted for the refi- 

 dence of the perfons attached to the fervice of the church 

 and the dependent fchool. For a fully detailed defcription 

 of this celebrated church, of its architeftural beauties and 

 defefts, of the fepulchral monuments it contains, of the cere- 

 monies performed within its walls, and for a recapitulation 

 of the important tranfaftions connefted with its hiftory, 

 recourfe muft be had to the various works publifhed fpe- 

 cially on the fubjeft. This church is a diftinguilhed fpeci- 

 men of that mode of architedlure, commonly but abfurdly 

 ftyled Gothic, a term which, however improper, moft writers 

 ftill continue to employ, though no fpecific ftyle or clafs of 

 building is defined by it. Erefted in the 13th century, 

 when buildings in this ftyle of architefture were well under- 

 ftood, and fliilfuily conftrufted, it would doubtlefs have pof- 

 feffed, if not the fpacioufnefs, at leaft the light and airy and 

 elegant appearance for which fuch ftruftures are generally 

 remarkable. But by the introduftion of fepulchral monu- 

 ments, elevated above the level of the choir, many of them 

 magnificent indeed in themfelves, but certainly mifplaced as 

 far as regards the internal arrangement of the building, that 

 attraftive appearance muft very early, perhaps from the be- 

 ginning, have been injured. Owing to thofe encroachments, 

 it has been neceffary to bring forward the prefent choir 

 much beyond its ufual ftation, not only intercepting the 

 tranfepts, but advancing a confiderable way into the nave, 

 or body of the church. The building confifts of a nave 

 and two fide ailles, feparated by ranges of tall, flender, 

 cluftered columns, fupporting the roof raifed to a great ele- 

 vation, ftill further increafed in appearance by the narrow- 

 nefs of the fpace between the columns. The length of the 

 whole edifice within the walls is 360 feet, the breadth of the 

 nave and aifles 72 feet, the length of thecrofs or tranfept 195. 

 Theinfertion of St. Edward's chapel in the choir is particu- 

 larly unfavourable ; for that important divifion of the build- 

 ing was from the beginning very Ihort : nor is it eafy to dif- 

 cover the reafon of this deviation from general ufage. On 

 entering the great weftern door, the whole body of the 

 church difplays itfelf to view in a very ftriking manner. 

 Loftinefs, lightnefs, and elegance, are its marking features ; 

 but thefe features are much obfcured, and diftrafted by the 

 numerous difcordant monuments, which fill up the open 

 fpaces, and cover the walls. The nave is feparated from 

 the choir by a fcreen ; and eaft of the latter is a chapel, 



raifed 



