with all her efforts, she could not make it answer; it would make a coarse mark, where there should be a fine one, and then again, it would not make any mark at all. In her haste, arising from the excitement which this produced, she dipped her pen too far into the ink-stand, and the next moment, a large drop fell from it upon her book.

16. "Oh dear!" said she, "even if I try to be good-natured, I can't; even the pen and ink seem to be trying to see what they can do to vex me." She took some blotting paper and laid it upon the ink, but so carelessly that the liquid spread in every direction. This called forth another exclamation from Maria, about the blotting paper, and a wish that Mr. S. would not keep such miserable, wortnless stuff to sell. She laid away her writing, and took out her Arithmetic. Though quick at figures, she had scarcely furnished her last sum, when the class in that study was called out.

17. Thus passed the day. Being commenced in such a way, we should expect little else than that it would be closed in a similar manner. Maria continued irritable and unhappy. She made, sometimes, a little effort to overcome her wrong feelings; but every little thing that opposed her in any way, instantly excited them again; and, at last, when night came, she actually went away, all alone, resolved that, at least, no one should see her any longer in such a state.

LESSON Χ.

THE INTERMENT OF WILBERFORCE IN WESTMINSTER

ABBEY.

1. NEARLY a thousand years ago, a convent was founded on the river Thames a few miles west of London, and as the name Minster was then applied to a monastic church, this was called, from its position, the west minster. A town sprung up around it, which gradually extended down the river towards London, which was itself also gradually extended up to meet it. The Abbey increased in wealth, and building after building was erected in the style of Gothic architecture common in those days. At last the monastic institution, which held its seat there, was suppressed, and the magnificent edifice was converted to public purposes.

2. This celebrated building, or rather cluster of buildings, for, from a little distance, it exhibits to the eye a splendid group of chapels, halls, spires and towers, which appear more like a village than a church, is Westminster Abbey, and is now far within the limits of London, i. e. of what is popularly called London. Volumes after volumes have been written, and engravings unnumbered have been executed, to describe and illustrate its history, its apartments, its monuments, its chapels, and the imposing magnificence of its ancient architecture. It is now the object of public attention chiefly from splendid ceremonies of state which are performed in the interior, and from the fact that the highest posthumous honour that can be paid in England to a soldier, a statesman, a poet, or a philosopher, is, to give his ashes a place under its marble floor.

3. It was a day in the month of August, 1833, that the body of William Wilberforce was to be deposited there; and, a little after one o'clock, a long procession issued from the Parliament House, very near the Abbey, and, passing though the large concourse of people which filled the street, they entered the iron gate, and thence through the great Gothic door, at the west front of the Abbey. As the procession passed in, they found themselves ushered into the lower end of a most magnificent hall, with a paved floor, and lofty vaulted roof, and rows of grouped columns on each side, the spaces between which were ornamented with monuments of every possible form and design, the work of many centuries.

4. The effect upon the feelings, produced by coming, under such circumstances, into such an interior, is almost overwhelming. The lofty height of the painted arches above, the richly carved columns and cornices, the immense windows, and the splendid perspective before, as the eye turns up the church, which extends hundreds of feet, all impress the mind with emotions of the highest kind.

5. Of course only a small part of so immense an interior as this, can be employed for purposes of oral address. This part is an enclosure on the floor of the church, towards the remoter end, and from this enclosure a spacious area extends on each side, into wings which form a part of the main building, giving to the whole interior the form of a cross, the usual form of the churches erected in the middle ages. The lower end of this enclosure is formed by the organ, and within it are a pulpit and ranges of seats for a congregation, the whole being called the Choir.

6. The procession was arranged in a straight line, extending up the church, a little to the left of the centre. Presently, a choir of about thirty singing boys and twenty men appeared. They came in from a side door, and advanced in a line parallel with the other procession. The boys, who were from eight to fourteen years of age, were all arrayed in rich dresses. Half of their number wore crimson velvet small clothes and blue stockings, the upper garment was a kind of loose frock-coat, ornamented with red and yellow frogs and gold lace. Others wore white robes, and all carried before them a book of manuscript music, containing the burial service.

7. The men were clothed variously. Some wore long black gowns. Others were in white; some with scarfs, thrown over one shoulder, and tied under the other arm; several bore in their hands a black wand. Next following this choir of singers, came the members of the House of Peers. Then the pallbearers, walking on each side of the coffin. The pall, which entirely concealed the coffin, was of rich black velvet, with silken fringe and tassels. On the top of it, six or eight long black plumes were waving. Attendants followed the bier with similar plumes in their hands. The family and friends of the deceased, accompanied by many of the clergy and invited friends, closed the procession.

8. In this situation, the double procession stood waiting for the signal to advance. It was a moment of solemn silence, and most affecting interest. As

the eye glanced up the Abbey, the clustered columns which supported the lofty roof, the Gothic arches springing from their summits and sustaining its fretted vault, produced a strong effect. The mellow light which came through the large painted windows, added not a little to the saddening influence of the

scene.

9. A note from the organ was the signal to advance. The choir commenced the chanting of the burial service, at the same moment that the procession, following the bier, moved forward. The notes of the organ and the voices of the choir, as they approached it, seemed to mingle together along the arches of the Abbey, and produced an effect which it is almost impossible to describe. The solemn appearance of the procession, its slow and measured tread, the soft and subdued voices of the singers, the notes of the distant organ, and the multitude of monuments meeting the eye in every direction, contributed to deepen the impression.

10. As the procession approached the choir, a large iron gate was thrown open, to admit them to that part of the Abbey in which the opening for depositing the body was made. It was in one of those projecting areas, the transept, as it is called, which have been already described. The strong iron gate which led off from the back of the organ to the left hand, guarded the entrance to that side of the transept. The train of singers, the united friends, the clergy, the Lords and Commons, all passed through in succession, while the sad and solemn notes of the funeral service were echoing along the aisles of the Abbey.