The Project Gutenberg eBook ofWestminsterThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: WestminsterAuthor: Walter BesantRelease date: January 11, 2019 [eBook #58672]Most recently updated: January 24, 2021Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Chuck Greif and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WESTMINSTER ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: WestminsterAuthor: Walter BesantRelease date: January 11, 2019 [eBook #58672]Most recently updated: January 24, 2021Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Chuck Greif and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)
Title: Westminster
Author: Walter Besant
Author: Walter Besant
Release date: January 11, 2019 [eBook #58672]Most recently updated: January 24, 2021
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Chuck Greif and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WESTMINSTER ***
Contents.Index.:A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,V,W,Y.
List of Illustrations(In certain versions of this etext [in certain browsers] clicking on the image will bring up a larger version.)
(etext transcriber's note)
BYSIR WALTER BESANT, M. A., F. S. A.AUTHOR OF “LONDON,” ETC.WITH 130 ILLUSTRATIONS BY WILLIAM PATTEN AND OTHERSNew YorkFREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANYPUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1894 and 1895, by Walter Besant.Copyright, 1895, byFrederick B. Stokes Company.All rights reserved.TOMRS. WILLIAM PATTENIN MEMORY OF HERMANY WANDERINGS IN WESTMINSTER WITH HER HUSBANDWHILE HE WAS ADORNING THESE PAGESAND IN MEMORY OFA STAY IN ENGLAND FAR TOO SHORT FOR HER MANY FRIENDSTHIS VOLUME IS DEDICATEDBY ONE OF THOSE FRIENDSTHE AUTHOR
Thesepapers in their original form first appeared in thePall Mall Magazine. Additions have been made in some of the chapters, especially in the three chapters entitled “The Abbey.” As in the book entitled “London,” of which this is the successor, I do not pretend to offer a History of Westminster. The story of the Abbey Buildings; of the Great Functions held in the Abbey; of the Monuments in the Abbey; may be found in the pages of Stanley, Loftie, Dart, and Widmore. The History of the Houses of Parliament belongs to the history of the country, not that of Westminster. It has been my endeavor, in these pages, (1) to show, contrary to received opinion, that the Isle of Bramble was a busy place of trade long before London existed at all. (2) To restore the vanished Palaces of Westminster and Whitehall. (3) To portray the life of the Abbey, with its Services, its Rule, its Anchorites, and its Sanctuary. (4) To show the connection of Westminster with the first of English printers. And, lastly, to present the place as a town and borough, with its streets and its people.
I hope that, with those who have made my “London” a companion, my “Westminster” may also be so fortunate as to find equal favor.
I must not omit my acknowledgments to the Editors of thePall Mall Magazinefor the costly manner in which they presented these pages. Normust I forget to record my sense of the pains and thoroughness brought to the work of its illustration by my friend Mr. William Patten; nor my sense of the assistance rendered me by Mr. Loftie for many consultations and suggestions; nor my thanks to the Benedictine Fathers of Downside, near Bath, who kindly received Mr. Patten and myself as their guests and showed us what a modern Benedictine House really means, and how the House at Westminster may have been during its five centuries of existence, even such as their own, a Home of Religion and Learning.
United University Club,September, 1895.