A bronze bust in the North-West Tower reminds us of another soldier hero of our time, Charles George Gordon, remembered chiefly for his work in China, in Egypt, and in the Soudan. The story of Gordon’s death at Khartoum in 1885 will never be forgotten. His name and noble character are always kept fresh in our memory by the Gordon Boys’ Home, which does such excellent work in training boys for the army.
South Africa has one direct memorial at Westminster, for in the North Cloister there is a tablet in memory of the men of the Queen’s Westminster Volunteer Corps who fell in the Boer War of 1899–1902. The tablet was put up in 1901, and was unveiled by the Secretary of State for War.
We are reminded of an earlier time in the history of the Volunteers by the monument of George Herries, the first Colonel of the London and Westminster Light Horse Volunteers, of which he was described as the “father.” George Herries was a well-known merchant. He died in 1819, and was buried in the Abbey with military honours. His monument is in the Nave.
We must now look back over the nineteenth century, as we did over the eighteenth, and call to mind many other great men whose graves and monuments we find in the Abbey,—statesmen, writers, and men of science.
As we have been speaking of the political history of England, let us begin with some of the great statesmen.
Lord Chatham, as we have seen, belonged to the eighteenth century. The younger William Pitt, and his great political rival, Charles James Fox, died quite early in the nineteenth century, and their graves and monuments have already been described.
As we enter by the great North Door we see on our left a striking group of three statues. These represent (1) George Canning, the great statesman and orator, who died in 1827; (2) his son, Charles, Earl Canning, Viceroy of India; and (3) their cousin, Stratford Canning, Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe, who was for fifty years our Ambassador in the East.
[D. Weller.
STATESMEN’S CORNER, EASTERN AISLE.
Among other things, George Canning was closely connected with that important political change of the last century, which is known as the Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill. This was the measure which allowed Roman Catholics to be members of Parliament, and removed other disabilities under which they had suffered. The measure did not actually become law until after Canning’s death.