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<v Speaker 1>Chapter fourteen of Unknown London, written by Walter George Bell.

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<v Speaker 1>This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Janet,

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<v Speaker 1>Chapter fourteen, Waxworks in the Abbey. I confess some reverence

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<v Speaker 1>for the waxworks at Westminster Abbey that too often is

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<v Speaker 1>withheld from them, paying to them the respect due to

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<v Speaker 1>the burial customs of our ancestors. Their homeliness too, has

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<v Speaker 1>pleased me. It is part of the topsy turviness of

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<v Speaker 1>things that a show of wax figures of historical personages

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<v Speaker 1>nowadays has no interest for the young, but makes its

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<v Speaker 1>appeal solely to the aged. It is always a pleasure

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<v Speaker 1>to revive the memories of youth, and that we gray

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<v Speaker 1>heads may enjoy in their company. For in our time

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<v Speaker 1>these and their like were the simple joys of our

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<v Speaker 1>growing years. The Blaise Lad of to day, oh horror

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<v Speaker 1>to his grandfather dissimilate He never so well, who is

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<v Speaker 1>familiar with stage heroes and reared to association with Sock

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<v Speaker 1>and Buskin. At a time of life when his sedate

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<v Speaker 1>elders considered an annual visit to the pantomime the limit

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<v Speaker 1>of permissible enjoyment. He affects scorn for mere wax figures.

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<v Speaker 1>Were I the guardian and showman of the abbey waxworks,

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<v Speaker 1>I would exclude the impudent young. Such powers of stimulating

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<v Speaker 1>interest as I might possess, I would give to those

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<v Speaker 1>whom time has sobered. They should see Queen Elizabeth and

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<v Speaker 1>all her panopoly of monstrous fashion. For them alone should

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<v Speaker 1>King Charles the Second stare out of his glass pane,

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<v Speaker 1>and Nelson, with his one good eye gaze into futurity.

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<v Speaker 1>The Duchess of Richmond should stand with her parrot only

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<v Speaker 1>before them. Monk Duke of Albemarle, I say, with regret,

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<v Speaker 1>is to day too dilapidated even to be shown. But

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<v Speaker 1>there are those mentioned, and various others still fit companionship

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<v Speaker 1>for the appreciative audiences of the middle aged and elders,

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<v Speaker 1>whom I would invite to tour with me the abbey waxworks.

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<v Speaker 1>The young scoffer outside the portals would not trouble me.

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<v Speaker 1>The ignorant alone finding credulity in the association of wax

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<v Speaker 1>figures and our glorious abbey, and they are the majority.

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<v Speaker 1>For the average stroller among the tombs would be puzzled

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<v Speaker 1>to give a reason why the effigies are here. They

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<v Speaker 1>are survivals of accustom centuries old. The cherished rite of

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<v Speaker 1>a Roman noble was that of having figures with waxen

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<v Speaker 1>masks representing his ancestors, carried it at his obsequies and

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<v Speaker 1>placed in his hall. And from the Romans the observance

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<v Speaker 1>was handed down. Effigies of English kings were born before

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<v Speaker 1>the body at royal funerals, with pikes reversed, carried at

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<v Speaker 1>the shoulder, and hatchments displayed, and the measured tread of

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<v Speaker 1>armed men, and all the pomp and blaze of heraldry

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<v Speaker 1>as can be traced in records far back to the

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<v Speaker 1>fourteenth century, and where kings led. The practice was followed

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<v Speaker 1>by our great nobles. At the interment of effigies were

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<v Speaker 1>raised high upon a hearse. This was a platform heavily

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<v Speaker 1>draped with black hangings and often decorated with arms and

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<v Speaker 1>sculptor devices, which remained for varying periods in place over

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<v Speaker 1>the grave, or sometimes by the high altar. Ben Johnson

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<v Speaker 1>refers to it in his famous epitaph on the Countess

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<v Speaker 1>of Pembroke. Underneath this sable hearse lies the subject of

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<v Speaker 1>all verse Sydney's sister, Pembroke's mother death. Eret thou hast

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<v Speaker 1>slain another, fair and wise and good as she time

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<v Speaker 1>shall throw his dart at thee. The wax effigies now

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<v Speaker 1>sent aloft to an upper chamber of Abbot John Islap's chapel,

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<v Speaker 1>as if in disgrace and out of joint with the times,

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<v Speaker 1>once stood about among the tombs on the abbey floor.

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<v Speaker 1>Odd they must have looked in such surroundings, with bright

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<v Speaker 1>costumes and flashing mock jewels, when all around was brown

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<v Speaker 1>and gray, lacking reverence as to day we understand it.

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<v Speaker 1>But they meant no irreverence. Monk's standing figure above his

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<v Speaker 1>own grave was most fitting, for in this posture he died,

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<v Speaker 1>his spirit was unconquerable, like a Roman general and soldier,

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<v Speaker 1>wrote an eye witness of the memorable scene at his passing.

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<v Speaker 1>He died standing almost up in his chair, his chamber

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<v Speaker 1>like a tent, open, and all his officers about him.

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<v Speaker 1>Ben Jonson, it is poet and Roystering Liver who in

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<v Speaker 1>the abbey is buried upstanding. The story runs that Johnson

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<v Speaker 1>begged of King Charles the First a favor. What is

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<v Speaker 1>it said the King give me eighteen inches of square ground?

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<v Speaker 1>Where asked the King in Westminster Abbey, And there he

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<v Speaker 1>stands awaiting the resurrection in the north aisle of the nave,

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<v Speaker 1>in the path of square stones, beneath one marked by

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<v Speaker 1>a small triangular lozenge in which has been recut the

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<v Speaker 1>old inscription or rare Ben Johnson loose sand of Johnson's

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<v Speaker 1>grave when in eighteen forty nine Sir Robert Wilson was

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<v Speaker 1>buried close by, rippled in like a quicksand, and the

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<v Speaker 1>clerk of Works who superintended the operation, saw the two

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<v Speaker 1>leg bones of Johnson fixed the bolt upright in the sand,

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<v Speaker 1>as though the body had been buried in the upright position,

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<v Speaker 1>and the skull came rolling down among the sand from

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<v Speaker 1>a position above the leg bones to the bottom of

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<v Speaker 1>the newly made grave. There was still hair upon it,

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<v Speaker 1>and it was of a red color. Once again, this

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<v Speaker 1>skull from which so much living verse had sprung, was

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<v Speaker 1>seen on the digging of john Hunter's grave, and it

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<v Speaker 1>still had traces of red hair upon it. These wax

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<v Speaker 1>effigies of Westminster Abbey should be accepted not as mere showpieces,

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<v Speaker 1>but as part of our burial ritual that for centuries

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<v Speaker 1>was honored in England. They have seized my errant fancy.

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<v Speaker 1>Left alone with them in this upper chamber, I have

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<v Speaker 1>felt on intimate terms with kings and heroes, a man

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<v Speaker 1>as good as they ay. My sense of living tells

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<v Speaker 1>me better than they. There is not the separation as

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<v Speaker 1>from those who lie below, by all the majesty of

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<v Speaker 1>death and the funeral trappings, carving piled upon carving, richness

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<v Speaker 1>upon richness, about those whom men term illustrious, by which

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<v Speaker 1>vain mortals strive in a pitiful effort to conceal that

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<v Speaker 1>death is the common leveler. The glories of our blood

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<v Speaker 1>and state are shadows, not substantial things. There is no

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<v Speaker 1>armor against fate. Death lays his icy hand on kings,

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<v Speaker 1>scepter and crown must tumble down, and in the dust

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<v Speaker 1>be equal made with the poor, crooked scythe and spade.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the message which every demarcade and chapel in

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<v Speaker 1>our glorious abbey gives. These wax figures are men and women,

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<v Speaker 1>not heroes, really, as like the living presentment as their

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<v Speaker 1>framers could make them. As they lived, walked and talked

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<v Speaker 1>a little stiff, No doubt, but not with the stiffness

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<v Speaker 1>of those recumbent effigies in colder marble and bronze that

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<v Speaker 1>lie upon the tombs. Was ever there a more kindly

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<v Speaker 1>figure of King Charles the Second than this, and Wax

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<v Speaker 1>in the islip chap little bibolous. Perhaps the nose has

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<v Speaker 1>appeared to me not quite kind, or is it merely

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<v Speaker 1>the effects of time darkening the soft substance of which

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<v Speaker 1>it is composed. He holds his arms in disjointed fingers,

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<v Speaker 1>as if suffering internal pain to which the full eyes

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<v Speaker 1>seek to give expression, that homely pain which monarchs who

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<v Speaker 1>have dined not wisely but too well share with lesser folk.

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<v Speaker 1>No formal sovereignty is limed here the lined face the

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<v Speaker 1>somewhat ridiculous wig give only the man I would take

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<v Speaker 1>Charles the Second, given the choice in preference over all

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<v Speaker 1>the other company of Wax. Queen Elizabeth I do not

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<v Speaker 1>covet She lies gloriously in marble, a sovereign and a tutor,

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<v Speaker 1>recumbent in that great canoped cenotaph which James the First

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<v Speaker 1>placed in King Henry the Seventh Chapel to her memory,

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<v Speaker 1>A panion tomb to that in the opposite ambulatory to

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<v Speaker 1>marry Queen of Scots. The one woman his mother, the

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<v Speaker 1>other her executioner. Both memorials raised by the same hand.

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<v Speaker 1>Was ever before a son so placed to fulfill such

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<v Speaker 1>a task. Elizabeth and Wax as posed as the Queen,

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<v Speaker 1>a stout, matronly figure, over dressed in arraignment of gorgeous

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<v Speaker 1>needlework and lace, overloaded with mock jewels. Wax does not

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<v Speaker 1>lend itself to the similitude of majesty, and she could

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<v Speaker 1>be masterful. Listen to her talking to the stout yeoman

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<v Speaker 1>gathering in harness at Tilbury. I know I have but

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<v Speaker 1>the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I

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<v Speaker 1>have the heart of a king, and a king of

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<v Speaker 1>England too. There is the tudor ring. This effigy is preposterous,

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<v Speaker 1>not human. The orb held in one hand and the

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<v Speaker 1>scepter in the other are merely the showman's additions to

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<v Speaker 1>an unsatisfying figure. Better than this is Nelson, so gaunt

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<v Speaker 1>and frail, for at least it is unpretentious. The Admiral

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<v Speaker 1>is dressed in blue coat with a massive gold lace

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<v Speaker 1>and curious flat buttons, white chersimeir breeches, and silk stockings,

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<v Speaker 1>and huge cocked hat overshadowing the pale face, all save

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<v Speaker 1>the coat being closed that he actually wore a little

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<v Speaker 1>dapper gentleman. Has it struck you, how strangely untrue is

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<v Speaker 1>Nelson the exemplar of them all, to the type of

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<v Speaker 1>the British sailor, so hardy, bluff and weathered. The image

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<v Speaker 1>of Elizabeth, oldest of this company, was contemporary, for it

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<v Speaker 1>has mentioned in King James the First's reign. When on

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<v Speaker 1>King Christianis of Denmark's coming to the abbey, it was beautified, amended,

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<v Speaker 1>and adorned with royal vestments. Little of the original remains

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<v Speaker 1>in the present figure, save perhaps the face, which may

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<v Speaker 1>be from the authentic death mask, being worn out in

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<v Speaker 1>the eighteenth century, with the remnants of an old, dirty

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<v Speaker 1>rough and nothing else to cover her five and for

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<v Speaker 1>such a queen. The figure was remade in seventeen sixty

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<v Speaker 1>by order of the Chapter to commemorate the bicentenary of

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<v Speaker 1>the foundation by Elizabeth of the Collegiate Church of Westminster.

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<v Speaker 1>The wax effigy of Charles the Second used to stand

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<v Speaker 1>over his now unadorned grave in Henry the Seventh's Magnificent chapel.

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<v Speaker 1>Others of royal lineage are William the Third and Mary,

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<v Speaker 1>a couple much admired in less critical days than these,

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<v Speaker 1>and buxhom homely Queen Anne Catherine, Duchess of Buckinghamshire, proud

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<v Speaker 1>of her royal descent as a natural daughter of James

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<v Speaker 1>the second, makes a noble wax figure, and one must

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<v Speaker 1>believe that it was the subject of her personal care.

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<v Speaker 1>The dying Duchess, a poor, desolate soul who had outlived

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<v Speaker 1>her husband and all her children, displayed quite remarkable interest

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<v Speaker 1>in her own funeral preparations. She sent for Garter King

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<v Speaker 1>at Arms to come to the death bed, and feared

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<v Speaker 1>dying before the pomp should come home. Why, she asked peevishly,

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<v Speaker 1>don't they send the canopy for me to see? Let

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<v Speaker 1>them send it though all the tassels are not finished.

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<v Speaker 1>She made her ladies vow to her that if she

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<v Speaker 1>should lie senseless, they would not sit down in her

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<v Speaker 1>presence before she was dead. What great to do over

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<v Speaker 1>so commonplace a thing as a passing. Artistically, the prettiest

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<v Speaker 1>of the waxworks is that of her son, the young Duke,

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<v Speaker 1>who has shown recumbent as the body was brought from Rome.

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<v Speaker 1>The Duchess of rich Sischmann died seventeen o two arranged

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<v Speaker 1>for her waxwork in her will. It was to stand

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<v Speaker 1>at the corner of the Great East Window, to be

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<v Speaker 1>as well done in wax as could be dressed in

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<v Speaker 1>the robes and coronet that you were at the coronation

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<v Speaker 1>of Queen Anne, and to be under clear crowned glass,

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<v Speaker 1>and none other. A mister Goldsmith of London was the artist.

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<v Speaker 1>The imperious lady also directed in her testament that her

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<v Speaker 1>favorite parrot should accompany the figure as it is shown

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<v Speaker 1>these and Lord Chatham in scarlet robes, and the mere

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<v Speaker 1>blocks of some other kings and queens, upon which no

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<v Speaker 1>ornament remains complete, the company of the ragged Regiment, as

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<v Speaker 1>it has been termed. These figures at Westminster are mostly

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<v Speaker 1>the living effigies made for the funerals, but not the

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<v Speaker 1>two of most recent date Chatham added in seven teen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy nine, when the custom of bearing effigies has ceased

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<v Speaker 1>to be observed. Owes's appearance among the wax group to

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<v Speaker 1>the desire of the minor canons and lay vicars who

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<v Speaker 1>act out their scanty incomes by the fees paid by

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<v Speaker 1>visitors to make the show more attractive. The great Statesman

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<v Speaker 1>proved such a draw that the charge for ignition was

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<v Speaker 1>raised from threepence to sixpence. Dean Stanley, to whose memorials

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<v Speaker 1>I am a debtor quotes the laudatory notice of a

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<v Speaker 1>guide book of the year seventeen eighty three lately introduced.

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<v Speaker 1>It says, at a considerable expense, the eagerness of connoisseurs

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<v Speaker 1>and artists to see this figure, and the satisfaction it affords,

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<v Speaker 1>justly places it among the first of the kind ever

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<v Speaker 1>seen in this or any other country. Nelson's introduction is

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<v Speaker 1>still more remarkable, for, unlike the first pit, he does

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<v Speaker 1>not lie in the abbey, Saint Paul's holds the bones

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<v Speaker 1>of that incomparable sailor. And to Ren's Cathedral. His coffin

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<v Speaker 1>was borne through the streets of London on a great

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<v Speaker 1>funeral car, which afterwards was deposited there. Sightseers flocked in

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<v Speaker 1>thousands to see it, deserting Westminster to the monetary loss

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<v Speaker 1>of the officials of the abbey. They met the competition

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<v Speaker 1>by setting up this wax figure of the naval hero.

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<v Speaker 1>It is said to have been the speculation of the vergers,

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<v Speaker 1>whose enterprise was justified by results. For the crowds returned

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<v Speaker 1>the show was not seemly, but after all, the Vergers

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<v Speaker 1>might have retorted that they did only as their predecessors

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<v Speaker 1>had done, For in medieval London there was competition, not

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<v Speaker 1>less lively in the rival attractions of the sacred relics

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<v Speaker 1>of Saint Paul's and Westminster. End of Chapter fourteen two