DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6886#0019
INTRODUCTION.
The Collegiate Church of Westminster may, without fear
of contradiction, be considered as one of the most interesting edi-
fices in the British empire. Its remote antiquity, its edificial
beauty, the character and variety of its architecture, as well as the
ornament it affords to the metropolis, give it a superior distinction.
But when the eye is turned from its general form and features, and
the mind contemplates all that it contains: when it is regarded as
the Mausoleum of our Kings ; as the Sepulchre of Princes and
Nobles; as guarding the dust of so many men who have, by their
courage and virtue, their learning and eloquence, their science
and piety, adorned the times in which they lived, and have left
examples for imitation to succeeding ages: when it is also consi-
dered as the scene of that august, constitutional ceremony which
places the crown on the heads, and delivers the sceptre to the
hands, of the British Sovereigns ; such a combination of character-^
istic circumstances cannot fail to excite those emotions which are
most honourable and improving to the nature of man. Of what
materials must his character be composed, who does not feel his
best sensibilities awakened, his piety animated, his thoughts digni-
Vol. I. d
The Collegiate Church of Westminster may, without fear
of contradiction, be considered as one of the most interesting edi-
fices in the British empire. Its remote antiquity, its edificial
beauty, the character and variety of its architecture, as well as the
ornament it affords to the metropolis, give it a superior distinction.
But when the eye is turned from its general form and features, and
the mind contemplates all that it contains: when it is regarded as
the Mausoleum of our Kings ; as the Sepulchre of Princes and
Nobles; as guarding the dust of so many men who have, by their
courage and virtue, their learning and eloquence, their science
and piety, adorned the times in which they lived, and have left
examples for imitation to succeeding ages: when it is also consi-
dered as the scene of that august, constitutional ceremony which
places the crown on the heads, and delivers the sceptre to the
hands, of the British Sovereigns ; such a combination of character-^
istic circumstances cannot fail to excite those emotions which are
most honourable and improving to the nature of man. Of what
materials must his character be composed, who does not feel his
best sensibilities awakened, his piety animated, his thoughts digni-
Vol. I. d