him now remains. If, however, Widmore is correct, the traditions concerning Sebert, king of the East-Saxons, are all erroneous. Pennant, and almost every other modern writer, have given the honour of its erection to this pious monarch; but Sebert died in 616, the same year, or shortly after his uncle, Ethetbert, King of Kent, who, about the year 604, erected a cathedral church on the site of St. Paul's.*. The account which has been given us respecting Sebert, as the founder of this abbey, is nearly as follows:-About the year 610, King Sebert founded this church on the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, which was flung down by an earthquake. The king dedicated his new church to St. Peter, who descended in person, with a host of heavenly choristers, to save the Bishop, Miletus, the trouble of consecration. The saint descended on the Surrey side, in a stormy night; but prevailing on Edric, a fisherman, to waft him over, performed the ceremony; and, as a proof, left behind him the chrisms, and precious droppings of the wax candles by which the astonished fisherman saw the church illuminated. He conveyed the saint safely back, who directed him to inform the bishop that there was no farther need of consecration. He likewise directed Edric to fling out his nets, who was rewarded with a miraculous draught of salmons: the saint also promised to the fisherman and his successors, that they would never want plenty of salmon, provided they presented every tenth to his church. This custom was observed till at least the year 1332. The fisherman that day had a right to sit at the same table with the prior; and he might demand of the cellarman ale and bread; and the cellarman again might take of the fishes' tail as much as he could, with four fingers and his thumb erect.+ From such ridiculous mummery and barbarous practices the Reformation has in a great measure delivered us; but such fabulous stories as this are very often the only records of the primitive monasteries and their usages. • Bede, Eccles. lib. II. c. 3. One One of our best writers on this subject continues the history of the Abbey in nearly the following terms:-having found the ground for the monastery, alluding to the Thorney Island, and supposed a founder, though we know him not, and fixed a date when it was probably built; we must imagine it to have been destroyed by the Danes, rebuilt through the influence of St. Dunstan with King Edgar, and appropriated to the order of St. Benedict, and twelve monks, with endowments sufficient for their maintenance. The monastery continued unmolested till Edward the Confessor piously resolved to thoroughly renovate and improve it, which he did, probably entirely in the Norman style, as would appear from the fragments a few years ago standing, and comparing them with the buildings still extant at that period. Edward began the work in the year 1049, completed it, in a most magnificent manner, in 1066, and (endowed it with the atmost munificence. But, as Pennant observes, an abbey is nothing without reliques: accordingly, here were found the veil and some of the milk of the Blessed Virgin. In this latter relic behold a triple miracle: Virgin's milk; milk that lost not its humidity during ten centuries and a half; and, lastly, the milk of a woman who never travelled beyond the boundaries of the Holy Land found in the City of Westminster! The other relics were the blade-bone of St. Benedict; the finger of St. Alphage; the head of St. Maxilla; and half the jaw-bone of St. Anatasia, A more substantial and less dubious relic which afterwards honoured this church, was the body of the pious Edward himself. William the Conqueror bestowed on his tomb a rich pall: and, in 1663, Henry II. lodged his body in a costly ferretery, translating it from its original resting place. In addition to the munificent gifts of the king, the courtiers, following his example, endowed the monastery with large reve aues. Subsequent to the year 1159, in the time of Abbot Lawrence, the out-buildings of the monastery, being greatly decayed, were repaired, and their roofs covered with lead. On the site of the present Henry VII.'s chapel, once stood a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, the first stone of which was laid by Henry III. on the Whitsun-eve of the year 1220. Three years after this the monastery was considerably damaged, and the steward's house entirely pulled down by an infuriated rabble of London citizens, who had a quarrel with the people of the abbey about who was the winner at a wrestling. match. Henry III. with a great shew of piety and zeal for the interests of the church and the priesthood, as would appear by his gifts to the abbot and convent, by his will, and by the transla tion of Edward the Confessor's body, was, nevertheless, most artful, rapacious, and tyrannical to the priests in general. He instigated or encouraged the most shameful exactions from the priests, by the legates and nuncios for the Pope. Houorius III. demanded that a tax, amounting to the sum of the portions of two prebends and two monks, should be paid by every cathe dral and monastery to the holy see. To these most enormous exactions the Parliament strongly objected; yet the king, who so often stood in need of the Pope's protection, encouraged the legates in their demands; and this monastery suffered considerably. While, however, Henry allowed the monastery to be drained of its revenues, he resolved, in the year 1245, to take the abbey down and rebuild it. The king died in the year 1272; and it is not known what progress had been made in the church at that time. Fabian informs us, that the choir was not completed till thirteen years afterwards. This much, however, is certain, that Henry lived long enough to attend divine service in this church; and himself actually assisted the king of the Romans, and other great personages, to remove the coffin of Edward the Confessor to its present situation. Mr. Malcolm, on whose authority I have stated this, but who does not inform s whence his authority was derived, imagines, as well he might, that that this ceremony of removing the coffin of St. Edward must Lave been grand and impressive. It is an easy matter to fancy this scene: the new shrine, covered with riches and sparkling mosaic; the exquisite carving, fresh from the sculptor's 'hands; the superb dresses of the religious; and music to fill the mea sure. A short time previous to the rebuilding of the church, Abbot Richard de Crokesley had erected a chapel near the north door, and dedicated it to St. Edmund. It was taken down with the rest by Henry III. Shortly after this the pavement before the high altar was laid. Ware, who died in 1283, was buried under it. A dreadful fire, in the year 1297, greatly damaged the Abbey, and also destroyed part of the palace adjoining these damages were, however, shortly repaired; and in the year 1376, the Abbot Langham, extended the church westward very considerably. This worthy Abbot was succeeded by Nicholas Litlington; he also made additions to the Abbey to a great extent: this he did partly by the sums of money left by Langham. "He built the present College hall, the kitchen, the Jerusalem Chamber, the Abbots's house, now the Deanery, the Bailiff's, the Cellarar's, the Infirmars, and the Sacrist's houses; the Malt-house, afterwards used for a dormatory for the King's scholars, and the adjoining tower, the wall of the infirmary garden, and a water mill; and finished the south-west sides of the cloisters." * Abbey Litlington died in 1386, consequently the buildings still remaining are, at least, about 430 years old. The rebuilding of the Church, &c. was carried on during the whole of the reign of Richard II.; and continued by the Abbot, William of Colchester, who died in 1420. He was succeeded by Richard Harweden, who zealously proceeded with the nave. Abbot Estney, who died in 1498, did a great deal towards the finishing it, and made the great east window. The last abbot was John Islop. During his time many additions • Widmore, who quotes from the Abbey Records, ditions were made to the Church; but the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. put a stop to all farther improvements; and it remained unfinished till Sir Christopher Wren completed the towers. In the 8th and 9th years of William III. the House of Commons granted an annual sum for repairing it; and in the 9th of Queen Anne an Act passed allowing 40007. a year towards the same excellent purpose. The like sum was afforded by Acts of the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th of Geo. II. In the year 1738, however, the works were at a stand for want of money; and a petition was presented, which was referred to a Committee of the whole House. The assistance, however, which was granted, was inconsiderable, and that even was not paid till some time after. It appears, says Malcolm, that the Dean and Chapter had, from the time of their foundation to 1733, expended 20,912l. 17s. 11d. out of their dividends on the church and its dependencies, and applied the fees for monuments and burials to the fabric. The sums received from shewing the tombs are divided among the gentlemen of the choir and officers of the church. The repairs of Henry the Seventh's Chapel are out of their province, and belong to the office of the King's Board of Works. Of the great repairs at present making in this venerable abbey, I will speak at length when I come to describe its various architectural beauties and general character. The Chapel of St. Mary, commonly called Henry VIlth's Chapel, was built in the reign of that monarch, when Islop was abbot of the monastery, who, assisted by the king's ministers, laid the first stone of that "wondrous building" on the 24th of January, 1502.* It was designed by Sir Reginald Bray, and built under the direction of the prior of St. Bartholomew's, as master of the works. The • Malcolm: but Pennant says, the first stone was laid on the 11th of February, 1503. |