CHAPTER XXXII.
LAMBETH PALACE.
"Lambeth, the envy of each band and gown."—Pope.
History of the Foundation of Lambeth Palace—Successive Additions and Alterations in the Building—Fate of the Palace during the Time of
the Commonwealth—The Great Gateway—The Hall—Hospitality of the Archbishops in Former Times—The Library and Manuscript Room—The Guard Chamber—The Gallery—The Post room—The Chapel—Desecration of the Chapel—Archbishop Parker's Tomb—The
Lollards' Tower—The Gardens—Bishops' Walk—Remarkable Historical Occurrences at Lambeth Palace—The Palace attacked by the
Insurgents under Wat Tyler—Queen Mary and Cardinal Pole—Queen Elizabeth and Archbishop Parker—The "Lambeth Articles"—The
Archbishop's Dole—The Palace attacked by a London Mob in 1641—Translation of Archbishop Sheldon—The Gordon Riots—The PanAnglican Synod—The Arches Court of Canterbury—The Annual Visit of the Stationers' Company—Lambeth Degrees—St. Mary's Church—Curious Items in the Parish Registers—The Tomb of the Tradescants.
"Immediately opposite to the Abbey and Palace
of Westminster," writes Dr. R. Paulli, in his "Pictures of Old England," "rose the castellated walls
and towers and chapel of the princely residence
which the Archbishops of Canterbury had chosen,
before the close of the twelfth century, as their
town residence, in the immediate neighbourhood of
the offices of state and the tribunals of justice."
And there, he might have added, it rises still, and
frowns down with mediæval and almost feudal
grandeur upon the waters of the river as they flow
calmly on towards the sea, just as they did in the
days of our Norman sovereigns. The palace, it
must be owned, wears a very solemn and even
gloomy appearance, resembling a fortress rather
than an episcopal palace; and there was a time
when it rose still more conspicuous before the
eyes of the citizens of London than now—we mean
when the river was the "silent way" along which
nearly all the traffic and the travellers passed.
The reader will not forget Pope's reference to this
palace in his description of the Thames, in emulation of Spenser, which we have quoted above, as a
motto to this chapter.

LAMBETH PALACE FROM THE RIVER, 1709.
The quiet gardens and venerable towers might
almost be taken as a symbol of the archbishopric
itself. "Its dingy brick, and solemn little windows,
with the reverend ivy spreading everywhere about
its walls," writes Mr. A. C. Coxe, in his "Impressions of England," "seemed to house the
decent and comely spirit of religion itself: and one
could almost gather the true character of the
Church of England from a single glance at this
old ecclesiastical palace, amid the stirring and
splendid objects with which it is surrounded.
Old, and yet not too old; retired, and yet not
estranged from men; learned, and yet domestic;
religious, yet nothing ascetic; and dignified, without pride or ostentation: such is the ideal of
the Metropolitical palace on the margin of the
Thames. I thought, as I glided by, of the time
when Henry stopped his barge just here to take in
Archbishop Cranmer, and give him a taste of his
royal displeasure; and of the time when Laud
entered his barge at the same place to go by water
to the Tower, 'his poor neighbours of Lambeth
following him with their blessings and prayers for
his safe return.' They knew his better part."
As we have already seen, the manor of Lambeth
was given by Goda, sister of Edward the Confessor,
to the see of Rochester, in the eleventh century.
The manor was afterwards seized by William the
Conqueror, who gave part of the lands to his halfbrother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. It was, however,
ultimately restored to its former owners, the see of
Rochester, one of whose bishops, Glanville, erected
here, at the close of the twelfth century, a residence
for himself and his successors whenever they
visited the metropolis. The ancient possession of
Lambeth by the see of Rochester is still commemorated by the payment to the latter, in two
half-yearly sums, of five marks of silver, in consideration of the lodging, fire-wood, forage, and
other accommodations which the Bishops of
Rochester had been accustomed to receive here
whenever they visited London. This house being
afterwards exchanged for other lands with Hubert
Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, became the
episcopal residence. Pennant tells us that it was
the original intention of Archbishop Walter to have
erected here a "College of Secular Monks"—he
meant, of course, of "monks," not of "seculars"—independent of those of Canterbury, but that circumstances obliged him to abandon his purpose.
Archbishops Hubert Walter and Langton successively lived at the Episcopal Manor House at
Lambeth. The latter repaired it, as well as the
palace at Canterbury. His residence here is
proved by some public acts in 1209. Of this
house there is no account or description, and it
seems it was afterwards neglected and became
ruinous. Archbishop Boniface, in 1216, as an
expiation, it is said, for his outrageous behaviour
to the prior of St. Bartholomew's in Smithfield,
obtained a bull from Pope Urban IV., among
other things, to rebuild his houses at "Lamhie,"
or to build a new one on a different site, from
which circumstance he is generally supposed to
have been the first founder of the present palace.
It was gradually enlarged and improved by his
successors, particularly by Chicheley, who enjoyed
the primacy from 1414 to 1443. He was the
builder of that portion of the palace known as
the Lollards' Tower. "Neither Protestants nor
Catholics," says Pennant, "should omit visiting
this tower, the cruel prison of the unhappy followers
of Wickliffe. The vast staples and rings to which
they were chained before they were brought to the
stake ought to make Protestants bless the hour
which freed them from so bloody a period.
Catholics may glory that time has softened their
zeal into charity for all sects, and made them blush
at these memorials of the misguided zeal of our
ancestors."
Cardinal Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury,
who died in 1500, made many additions and improvements to the present palace. He was the
builder of the magnificent brick gateway or principal entrance at the north-west.
Warham having acted as ambassador for King
Henry VII. to the Duke of Burgundy, was, on his
return in 1493, appointed Chancellor of Wells, and
soon afterwards Master of the Rolls. He was
subsequently made Keeper of the Great Seal, then
Chancellor; in 1503 he was raised to the see of
London, and in the year following was enthroned
Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1515 Warham
resigned the Chancellorship, which was bestowed
on Cardinal Wolsey, and retired to his palace.
He was succeeded, in 1533, by Thomas Cranmer,
who, writes the author of "Lambeth and the
Vatican," "may be considered one of the most
distinguished men that Cambridge ever produced,
and the most eminent prelate that ever filled the
see of Canterbury." The part which he took in
favour of the divorce between Katharine of Aragon
and Henry VIII. induced the king to nominate him
archbishop; he was, therefore, eventually raised
to the see of Canterbury, in which capacity he
pronounced the divorce between Queen Katharine
and Henry, and ratified his marriage with Anne
Boleyn—a step which so ingratiated him into the
favour of the king. Cranmer's zeal in the cause
of the Reformed religion frequently led him into
acts of severity towards those whose opinions
differed from his own, from which even the spirit of
the times and the barbarous inhumanity exercised
by the Protestants abroad is neither an excuse nor
an apology. On the death of Edward VI., Cranmer
espoused the cause of Lady Jane Grey; Mary
triumphed, and the ruin and martyrdom of the
archbishop speedily followed.
To Cardinal Pole, who succeeded to the archbishopric, is attributed the foundation of the long
gallery in Lambeth Palace. He was appointed to
the deanery of Exeter by Henry VIII.; but was
abroad when the king abolished the Papal authority
in England, and, not attending when summoned to
return, was proclaimed a traitor and divested of
his deanery. In 1536 he was made cardinal; and
when Mary ascended the throne he returned to
England as legate from Pope Julius III., and had
his attainder reversed by special Act of Parliament.
"Few churchmen have borne so unblemished a
reputation as this eminent prelate, and few have
carried themselves with such moderation and meekness. He died November 17, 1558, being the very
day on which Queen Mary herself died."
Matthew Parker died here in 1575, and was
buried in the chapel. After the Civil Wars, and in
the time of the Commonwealth, when fanatical and
political fury went hand in hand, it was found that
every building devoted to piety had suffered more
than they had done in all the rage of family contest.
The fine works of art and the sacred memorials of
the dead were, except in a few instances, sacrificed
to Puritanical barbarism, or to sacrilegious plunder.
Lambeth House—for by that name, and the Manor
of Lambeth, the archbishops at that time distinguished their residence, and not by the modern
title of palace—fell to the share of the miscreant
regicides Scott and Hardynge, who pulled down
the noble hall, the work of Chicheley, and sold the
materials for their own profit. The chapel they
turned into a dancing-room; and because the
tomb of the venerable Archbishop Parker "stared
them in the face and checked their mirth, it was
broken to pieces, his bones dug up by Hardynge,
to whose share this part of the palace fell; and
opening the leaden coffin, and cutting away the
cerecloths, of which there were many folds, the
flesh seemed very fresh. The corpse thus stripped
was conveyed into the outhouse for poultry and
dung, and buried among the offal; but upon the
restoration of King Charles, that wretch Hardynge
was forced to discover where it was; whereupon
the archbishop had him honourably re-interred in
the same chapel near the steps of the altar."
The palace had for some time previous to this
been used as a prison for the Royalists; Guy
Carleton, Dean of Carlisle, was one of the persons
committed to it, but he fortunately escaped and
quitted England. Bishop Kennett says, that of
near one hundred ministers from the west of
England who were imprisoned at Lambeth almost
all died of a pestilential fever.
Passing by Grindall and Whitgift, we come to
Archbishop Bancroft, who, as we shall presently
have occasion to state more fully, began the fine
library in this palace, and left his books to his
successors for ever. He died in 1610, and was
buried in Lambeth Church. Of the other improvements in this venerable pile we shall speak in
describing the buildings themselves.
"With the exception of à Becket," writes the
author of "Select Views of London," "there are,
it is supposed, traces of some public act done in
this house by every archbishop, from the time when
the monks of Rochester became possessed of it till
its alienation; for though in some cases the name
only of Lambeth is mentioned, yet it is so explicitly
averred in others that the archbishops were at the
manor house, that it may be presumed this was
their regular inn."
With the exception of the chapel, the whole of
the present structure has certainly been erected
since the above-mentioned period. The palace, as
it now appears, is an irregular but very extensive
pile, exhibiting specimens of almost every style of
architecture that has prevailed during the last seven
hundred years. The walls are chiefly built of a fine
red brick, and are supported by stone buttresses,
edged and coped with stone. The "great gate"
is enumerated among the buildings of the palace
in the stewards' accounts in the fifteenth year of
Edward II. Cardinal Morton rebuilt it about the
year 1490 in the manner we at present see it.
The building, which is chiefly remarkable for its
vast size, consists of two immense square towers,
with a spacious gateway and postern in the centre;
it is built of red brick, with stone dressings, and is
embattled. The arch of the gateway is pointed,
and the roof beautifully groined. Above, is a noble
apartment, called the "Record Tower," where, until
lately, the archives of the see of Canterbury were
deposited. Access to the different storeys, now
used chiefly as lumber-rooms, is obtained by spiral
stairs in the towers.
Passing through the gateway, we enter the outer
court. On the left is a low wall, partly covered
with ivy, separating the palace demesnes from the
Thames and what was once the favourite promenade known as Bishops' Walk, but now the Albert
Embankment. In front appears the Water Tower,
with the Lollards' Tower beyond; and on the right
the Great Hall, now the library and manuscriptroom. It is a lofty structure of brick, strengthened
with buttresses, and ornamented with cornices and
quoins of stone. It is nearly one hundred feet in
length, forty in breadth, and fifty in height. The
roof is composed principally of oak, elaborately
carved, and has in the centre a lofty and elegant
lantern, at the top of which are the arms of the
see of Canterbury impaling those of Juxon, and
surmounted by the archiepiscopal mitre. The
interior is lighted, in addition to the lantern, by
ranges of high windows on either side, in some of
which are heraldic devices in stained glass. Over
the hall door appear the same arms as those above
mentioned, together with the date MDCLXIII;
and at the lower end is a screen of the Ionic
order, on the top of which is the founder's crest,
a negro's head crowned. The whole hall is wainscoted to a considerable height, and the floor is
handsomely paved.
This hall was probably built originally by Archbishop Boniface in the thirteenth century. In
the stewards' account, above quoted, the "Great
Hall" is mentioned. It was "re-edified" by Archbishop Chicheley; and in 1570 the roofing was
"covered with shingles" by Archbishop Parker.
During the Commonwealth the hall is said to have
been pulled down, and the materials sold by Colonel
Scott and Matthew Hardyng, to whom the manor
of Lambeth had been granted. The present hall
was commenced after the Restoration by Archbishop Juxon, precisely on the site of its predecessor, and as nearly as possible after the ancient
model; but it was not finished at his death. Juxon
appears to have been so anxious concerning its
erection, that he left the following direction in his
will:—"If I happen to die before the hall at Lambeth be finished, my executors to be at the charge
of finishing it, according to the model made of it,
if my successor shall give leave."
The reason why such large halls were built in
the houses of ancient nobility and gentry was that
there might be room to exercise the generous hospitality which prevailed among our ancestors, and
which was, without doubt, duly exercised by most
of the possessors of this mansion, though not particularly recorded. What great hospitality Cranmer
maintained, we may judge by the following authentic
list of his household—viz., "steward, treasurer,
comptroller, gamators, clerk of the kitchen, caterer,
clerk of the spicery, yeoman of ewry, bakers,
pantlers, yeomen of the horse, ushers, butlers of
wine and ale, larderers, squilleries, ushers of the
hall, porter, ushers of the chamber, daily waiters
in the great chamber, gentlemen ushers, yeomen
of the chamber, carver, sewer, cup-bearer, grooms
of the chamber, marshal, groom-ushers, almoner,
cooks, chandler, butchers, master of the horse,
yeomen of the wardrobe, and harbingers." Cardinal Pole, his successor, had a patent from Philip
and Mary to retain one hundred servants, a fact
which affords some idea of his hospitality and
grandeur.
Of the hospitality of Archbishop Parker, Strype
gives us the following account:—"In the daily
eating this was the custom: the steward, with the
servants that were gentlemen of the better rank,
sat down at the tables in the hall at the right
hand; and the almoner, with the clergy and the
other servants, sat on the other side, where there
was plenty of all sorts of provision, both for eating
and drinking. The daily fragments thereof did
suffice to fill the bellies of a great number of poor
hungry people that waited at the gate; and so
constant and unfailing was this provision at my
lord's table, that whosoever came in, either at
dinner or supper, being not above the degree of a
knight, might there be entertained worthy of his
quality, either at the steward's or at the almoner's
table. And, moreover, it was the archbishop's
command to his servants that all strangers should
be received and treated with all manner of civility
and respect, and that places at the table should
be assigned them according to their dignity and
quality, which redounded much to the praise and
commendation of the archbishop. The discourse
and conversation at meals was void of all brawls
and loud talking, and for the most part consisted
in framing men's manners to religion, or to some
other honest and beseeming subject. There was a
monitor in the hall; and if it happened that any
spoke too loud, or concerning things less decent,
it was presently hushed by one that cried 'Silence.'
The archbishop loved hospitality, and no man
showed it so much or with better order, though he
himself was very abstemious."
The great hall is now used as a library. Ranged
on each side along the walls are projecting bookcases, containing nearly 30,000 volumes, chiefly
valuable for works relating to theology and ecclesiastical history and antiquities; these, however,
are varied with old English poetry and romances,
and topographical, heraldic, and genealogical works.
A collection of books existed at an early period as
an appendage to the archbishop's household; but
the first reliable date of the foundation of the
present library is 1610, in which year Archbishop
Bancroft left by will "to his successors the Archbishops of Canterbury, for ever, a greate and famous
library of bookes of divinity, and of many other
sorts of learning," provided they bound themselves
to the necessary assurances for the continuance of
such books to the archbishops successively; otherwise, they were to be bequeathed to the "publique
library of the University of Cambridge." Bancroft's
successor—Archbishop Abbot (1611–33)—carried
out these injunctions, and left his own books to
the Lambeth library. But the civil war marked
the crisis in the history of the collection, for when
the Parliamentarians were about to seize on Lambeth Palace, the learned Selden, fearing the danger
of total dispersion, suggested to the University of
Cambridge their right to the books, in accordance
with Bancroft's will, as above mentioned. Very
few of Archbishop Laud's books are here, nearly
all of them having been presented to the library
of St. John's College, Oxford. To Cambridge the
Lambeth books were transferred and preserved,
until, at the Restoration, they were recalled by
Archbishop Juxon (1660–3). That primate's death
occurring before the books could be restored, it
was left to his successor, Archbishop Sheldon, to
see them replaced at Lambeth. This primate presented many books to the library; but not so his
successor, Archbishop Sancroft, who, although he
had many of the MSS. re-bound and preserved,
yet on his resignation presented his collection to
Emmanuel College, Cambridge, of which he had
been master. From Archbishop Tillotson (1691–5)
we hear of no bequests; but his successor, Archbishop Tenison, bequeathed a portion of his library
to Lambeth, a part to St. Paul's Cathedral, and
the remainder to the library which he had founded
in St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. (fn. 1) From 1716 to 1757,
when the see of Canterbury was filled by the
primates Wake, Potter, Herring, and Hutton, few
additions were made; but Archbishop Secker, who
followed next in order, will be gratefully remembered in the library annals as having given all
the books in his own library, which included also
many interesting pamphlets, to the archiepiscopal
collection. To Archbishop Cornwallis we are indebted for presenting and causing the extensive
collection of tracts to be bound and arranged. The
names of Archbishops Manners-Sutton (1805–28)
and Howley (1828–48) are associated with large
bequests of theological lore to the library.
The great hall was converted to its present use
by Archbishop Howley in 1834, previously to which
time the books were arranged in some galleries
over the cloisters which were then standing. The
bequests of successive primates are generally distinguished by their arms or initials on the outside
cover of the books, while autographs and memoranda
on the title-pages record noted names, and supply
links of ownership. Among those autographs may
be found the names of Cranmer; Foxe, the "martyrologist;" Tillotson; Tenison; Henry Wotton,
the well-known writer on architecture; the more
famous one of Charles I., attached to a "Life of
Archbishop Laud;" and several of less note. It is
in this way that the interest of the books is identified with much that is historical. An exhaustive
catalogue of the library and art treasures in the
palace, with a full description of its illuminated
manuscripts and ancient chronicles, was published
in 1873 by the Archbishop's librarian, Mr. S. W.
Kershaw. Space does not admit of our entering
at any great length into a description of the varied
contents of this library; but we may state that
among the ancient printed books is one of great
rarity: this is "The Chronicles of Great Britain,"
and was printed by Caxton at Westminster in 1480.
There are about five other works printed by Caxton
in the library, although imperfect. The "Golden
Legend," printed by the celebrated Wynkyn de
Worde, also finds a place here; as also does the
"Nuremberg Chronicle" (the library had two
copies), and the fifteenth century MSS., known as
the "St. Alban's Chronicle." Of illuminated MSS.,
there are about thirty examples of the various
styles of art in this library; one of the most rare
being the little MS. known as the "Gospels of
Mac Durnan," written about the year 900, and
presented by King Athelstan to the City of Canterbury. The school of English art is represented
most notably in the copy of the New Testament,
printed on vellum, known as the "Mazarine,"
from the fact of the first copy having been discovered in the library of that cardinal.
This Mazarine Bible, when complete, is of great
rarity and value, and only four perfect vellum
copies are known. Another interesting example of
English art is a MS. known as the "Dictyes and
Sayings of the Philosophers;" and in this illumination the author is represented as introducing a
tonsured personage, who presents a copy of the
work to King Edward IV., accompanied by his
queen and their son, afterwards Edward V. Walpole, in his "Royal and Noble Authors," has given
an engraving of this miniature, and it has also been
engraved by Strutt.
There is in the library only one book which is
known for certain to have belonged to Archbishop
Parker, and that is a treatise entitled "De Antiquitate et Privilegiis Ecclesiæ Cantuarensis." The
library contains, inter alia, an original impression
of the scarce plan of London by Aggas, together
with a series of prints of the archbishops of the
see from the Reformation downwards, collected by
Archbishop Cornwallis.
In 1875 a donation was made of theological
books from the collection of the late Professor
Selwyn, of Cambridge, one of the honorary curators
of this library. This gift supplied many deficiencies
in modern works.

THE LOLLARDS' TOWER, LAMBETH PALACE.
Dr. Ducarel, who was the Archbishop's librarian,
is recorded in "Walpoliana" as a "poor creature,"
and not very anxious to oblige those who wanted to
consult the library. From some incidental hints
given by Horace Walpole, it may be inferred that
a century ago the Archiepiscopal Library was not
very easily available to scholars and literary men.
One late librarian, Dr. Samuel Maitland, who
died in 1866, deserves mention in these pages.
Born about the year 1790, he graduated at Trinity
College, Cambridge, and was for some time a
barrister of the Inner Temple. He, however,
applied himself to the study of church history, and
entering into orders, became librarian and keeper
of manuscripts here, under Archbishop Howley,
who conferred on him the Lambeth degree of D.D.,
in recognition of his learning and long and able
services, and on whose death, in 1848, he resigned
his appointment. He was the author of many
learned works, amongst
which we may specify—"Two Inquiries into the
Grounds on which the
Prophetic Period of Daniel
and St. John has been supposed to consist of 1,260
years;" "The
Dark Ages:
being a series
of Essays, intended to illustrate the
State of Religion and Literature in the
Ninth, Tenth,
Eleventh, and Twelfth Centuries;" "Essays on
Subjects connected with the Reformation in
England;" "Eruvin, or Miscellaneous Essays
on subjects connected with the Nature, History,
and Destiny of Man," &c. He was also the
compiler of an "Index to such English books
printed before the year 1600, as are in the Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth."
The first complete catalogue of printed books
which was formed on the plan of the Bodleian
Catalogue, was drawn up by Dr. Gibson (afterwards
Bishop of Lincoln), the editor of "Camden's
Britannia," who was some time vicar of Lambeth,
and also librarian here. This catalogue is deposited in the manuscript library. In 1718 it was
fairly copied by Dr. Wilkins, in three folio volumes,
and has been continued by his successors to the
present time. In 1873–4 the whole of the books
and manuscripts underwent a complete repair, by a
special grant from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
It may be added that the archbishop allows the
library to be open to students, and, indeed, to all
respectable persons, on application, every Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday during the year, vacations
excepted.

THE CHAMBER IN LAMBETH PALACE IN WHICH THE LOLLARDS WERE CONFINED.
Before quitting the hall, we may remark that a
stone on the building gives the date of the erection
1685; but a leaden pipe attached to the walls,
running from the roof to the ground, to carry off
rain-water, bears the date 1663. The pipe appears
to be in a very good state of preservation; and a
coat-of-arms, supposed to be that of Bishop Juxon,
can be plainly observed on it. To account for the
difference in date, it is supposed that the pipe
belonged to an old building which stood on the site
of the present structure.
A building of modern date, adjacent to the
library, serves as the manuscript-room; it was put
into thorough repair a few years ago, and rendered
fire-proof. Here are preserved some 1,300 manuscripts of the highest interest, together with the
records of the palace, which are kept in patent
"Reliance" safes. Some of the documents date
from a very early time, and one of them, it is
alleged, bears the signature of Canute.
Among the "curiosities" of Lambeth Palace
preserved in the manuscript-room is the habit of
a priest, consisting of a stole, manuple, chasuble,
cord, two bands marked P, and the corporal;
also a crucifix of base metal, a string of beads,
and a box of relics. Here also is kept the shell
of a tortoise, believed to have lived in the palace
gardens from the time of Laud (1633) to 1753,
when it perished by the negligence of the gardener;
the shell is ten inches in length, and six and a half
inches in breadth.
From the south-east corner of the hall a flight
of stairs leads up to the Guard-chamber; it is a
large state room, fifty-six feet long by twenty-seven
feet wide, and is so called from having formerly
contained the armour and arms appropriated to
the defence of the palace. By whom the arms
kept for this purpose were originally purchased
does not appear, but they seem to have regularly
passed from one archbishop to another. The
author of "Select Views of London" says: "Archbishop Parker gave them to his successors, provided they were accepted in lieu of dilapidations.
They were undoubtedly purchased by his successor,
and so on; for Archbishop Laud says that he
bought the arms at Lambeth of his predecessor's
executors. In the plundering of Lambeth House,
in 1642, the arms—the quantity of which had been
extremely exaggerated in order to increase the
popular odium against Laud—were removed. They
were, however, restored afterwards, or replaced
with others; for some of the old muskets and
bandoleers of an ancient make remained during
Archbishop Potter's time in the burying-ground,
the wall of which was pulled down by Archbishop
Herring, and the arms disposed of elsewhere."
The guard-chamber is now used as a state diningroom. The principal feature which distinguishes
the apartment at present is its venerable timber
roof, which somewhat resembles that of the great
hall, but is much less ornamented; the windows
likewise are pointed, and of an ancient make.
Over the door of this chamber is the date 1681,
which shows that there were some reparations made
to it in Archbishop Sancroft's time. The lower
part of the walls of the apartment is covered with
oak wainscoting, above which are hung half-length
portraits of many of the archbishops, the most
interesting of which, perhaps, are those of Laud,
Cardinal Pole, Chicheley, Warham, and Arundel.
To the list of archiepiscopal portraits have been
lately added those of Archbishops Sumner and
Longley; the latter, by Richmond, is hung in the
drawing-room. A portrait of Archbishop Laud,
and also an etching of his trial in Westminster Hall,
are to be found among the etchings of Hollar.
Leaving this chamber, we pass on to the chapel
through a narrow gallery, which contains numerous
portraits of ecclesiastical dignitaries, a small portrait
of Martin Luther on panel, and also a splendid
engraving of Old London. Descending the stairs
at the end of this gallery, we enter the vestibule
of the chapel. This apartment is sometimes called
the "post-room," probably from the fact of the
ceiling being supported in the centre by a stout
pillar. It is on record that the builder of this
tower, Archbishop Chicheley, "found during his
time the impossibility of punishing all heretics with
death, therefore whipping and other severe and
degrading punishments were consequently resorted
to." This so-called post-room has been by some
considered as expressly set apart for that purpose;
the pillar serving for the purpose of securing the
unfortunate heretics, confined in the room above,
while undergoing the degrading punishment of the
lash.
The chapel is considered by far the most ancient
part of the palace, being probably part of Archbishop Boniface's original erection. It is in the
earliest style of English pointed architecture, being
lighted on the sides by triple lancet-shaped windows,
and on the east by a window of five lights, set
between massive and deep masonry. It consists
of a body only, measuring seventy-two feet in
length, twenty-five feet in breadth, and thirty
feet in height; but it is divided into two parts by a
handsome carved screen, which, curiously enough,
is painted. Previous to the Civil Wars the windows
were adorned with painted glass, put up by Archbishop Morton, representing the whole history of
man from the creation to the day of judgment.
The windows being divided into three parts, "the
two side lights contained the types of the Old
Testament, and the middle light the anti-type and
verity of the New Testament." Archbishop Laud,
on taking possession of the palace—to use his own
words—found these windows "shameful to look
on, all diversly patched like a poor beggar's coat,"
and he repaired them. "This laudable action of
the prelate," writes Dr. Ducarel, in his "History of
Lambeth," "which would now be justly esteemed
a mark of good taste and liberality, formed in that
narrow age of Puritanical bigotry the subject of a
criminal charge, it being alleged against him on
his trial, 'that he did repair the story of those
windows by their like in the Mass Book;' but this
he utterly denied, and affirmed that he and his
secretary made out the story as well as they could
by the remains that were unbroken. These
beautiful windows were all defaced by our outrageous reformers in the last century, who, under
pretence of abhorring idols, made no scruple of
committing sacrilege." The roof of the chapel,
which is flat and divided into compartments, is
embellished with the arms of Archbishop Laud.
The interior of the chapel is fitted up with a
range of pews or stalls on each side for the officers
of the archbishop's household, with seats beneath
for the inferior domestics. The altar-piece is of
the Corinthian order, painted and gilded; and the
floor is paved with black and white marble in
lozenge-shaped slabs.
The only interment that appears to have taken
place here is that of Archbishop Parker, who died
in 1575. His body, by his request, was buried at
the upper end of this chapel, against the communiontable, on the south side, under a monument of his
own erecting, bearing a Latin inscription by his old
friend, Dr. Walter Haddon. The spot where
Parker's body now rests is marked by the following
words cut in the pavement immediately before the
communion rails:—
"Corpus Matthæi Archiepiscopi Tandem Hic
Qviescit."
In the western part of the chapel is a monument,
with a long inscription to his memory, placed there
by Archbishop Sancroft.
During the Civil Wars, in 1648, when Lambeth
Palace was possessed by Colonel Scott, the chapel
was turned into a hall or dancing-room, and the
ancient monument of Parker's was destroyed. Nor
was this all. We are further told that his body, by
order of Matthew Harding, a Puritan, was dug up,
stripped of its leaden covering (which was sold), and
buried in a dunghill, where it remained till after the
Restoration, when Sir William Dugdale, hearing of
the matter accidentally, immediately repaired to
Archbishop Sancroft, by whose diligence, aided by
the House of Lords, the bones were found, and
again buried in the chapel, in the spot above
indicated.
Underneath the chapel is a spacious crypt, which
probably dates from the middle of the thirteenth
century. It consists of a series of substantial stone
arches, supported by short massive columns. The
roof, which is about ten feet from the ground, is
finely groined.
Retracing our steps through the "post-room,"
we come to one of the most interesting portions of
Lambeth Palace, namely, the building called the
Lollards' Tower. It was erected by Archbishop
Chicheley, in the early part of the fifteenth century,
as a place of confinement for the unhappy heretics
from whom it derives its name. The building is
constructed chiefly of brick, and is embattled.
Chicheley's arms are sculptured on the outer wall,
on the Thames side; and beneath them is a Gothic
niche, wherein at one time stood the image of
St. Thomas à Becket. The prison in which the
Lollards were confined is at the top of the tower,
and is reached by a very narrow winding staircase.
Its single doorway, which is so narrow as only to
admit one person at a time, is strongly barricaded
by both an outer and an inner door of oak, each
three inches and a half thick, and thickly studded
with iron. The dimensions of the apartment within
are twelve feet in length by nine in width, and
eight in height; and it is lighted by two windows,
which are only twenty-eight inches high by fourteen
inches wide on the inside, and about half as high
and half as wide on the outside. Both the walls
and roof of the chamber are lined with oaken
planks an inch and a half thick; and eight large
iron rings still remain fastened to the wood, the
melancholy memorials of the victims who formerly
pined in this dismal prison-house. Many names
and fragments of sentences are rudely cut out on
various parts of the walls.
In 1873 the Lollards' Tower, having fallen into a
very dilapidated condition, was thoroughly repaired.
The old roof was removed, the flooring renewed,
the old side walls re-faced with new stone, every
stone and brick ascertained to be faulty taken
out and replaced with sound materials, and the
whole structure restored. The tower for many
years was used as a lumber-room, but since its
restoration it has been occupied by the Bishop of
Lichfield as a town house.
In addition to the apartments already mentioned,
there are the "Presence Chamber," the "Steward's
Parlour," and the rooms in the new buildings which
now serve as the residence of the archbishop. The
Presence Chamber is a fine ancient room, thirty
feet by nineteen. The precise time of the erection
of this part of the palace is not known. This room
is at present remarkable only for the stained glass
in the windows. Two of these contain portraits
of St. Jerome and St. Gregory, with the following
verses:—
ST. HIERONIMUS.
"Devout his life, his volumes learned be,
The sacred writt's interpreter was he;
And none the doctors of the Church amonge
Is found his equal in the Hebrew tonge."
On the second window:—
GREGORIUS.
"More holy or more learned since his tyme
Was none that wore the triple diadem;
And by his paynefull studies he is one
Amonge the cheefest Latin fathers knowne."
In this room many causes relating to Merton
and All Souls' Colleges at Oxford have been
decided in presence of the Archbishops as Visitors.
The present buildings, used as the archiepiscopal
residence, owe much of their unity and stateliness
to Archbishop Howley (1828–48), who not only
rebuilt the principal palace front on the south, but
restored much of the older portions. The work
was carried out under the direction of Mr. Blore;
they were several years in progress, and the entire
expense was little short of £60,000. The gardenfront of the palace is of Tudor character, and with
its bays and enriched windows, battlements, gables,
towers, and clustered chimney-shafts, is very picturesque.
The gardens and grounds, together with the
palace, cover about sixteen acres of ground. "Here
were formerly," as John Timbs informs us in his
"Curiosities of London," "two fine white Marseilles fig-trees, traditionally planted by Cardinal
Pole against that part of the palace which he
founded: these trees," he continues, "were more
than fifty feet in height and forty in breadth, their
circumference twenty-eight and twenty-one inches.
They were removed during the late rebuilding, but
some cuttings from the trees are growing between
the buttresses of the library." The terrace is named
Clarendon Walk, from having been the scene of
the conference between the great and wise Earl of
Clarendon and the ill-fated Laud. It is with regret
we add, that "Bishops' Walk," with its pleasant
elm-trees, trodden by the feet of so many visitors,
both lay and clerical, was swept away to make
room for the Embankment in front of new St.
Thomas's Hospital.
There is extant a curious etching, by Hollar,
of the river-side at Lambeth, including Lambeth
Palace, or Lambeth "House," as it was called.
In other respects it was in his time much the same
as now, except that a grove of trees stands where
now rises St. Thomas's Hospital.
Of the "remarkable occurrences" which have
taken place at the palace, space will only allow
us to speak briefly. Archbishop Anselm ordained
Sampson, Bishop-elect of Worcester, both deacon
and priest, together with the Bishop of Hereford,
in 1096, at Lambeth. In 1097, he ordained Hugh,
Abbot of St. Austin, at Lambeth, in the chapel of
the church of Rochester, where the archbishop
then lodged. He likewise presided in 1100 at
the council held at Lambeth which announced the
legality of the intended marriage of Henry I. with
Matilda, the daughter of Malcolm, King of Scotland.
Archbishops Ralph, Corboyl, Theobald, Richard,
and Baldwin, were all consecrated at Lambeth;
and though, as we have said, we have no account
of Becket's being there, yet on the vacancy of the
see of Canterbury by his death, the suffragan
bishops, in pursuance of the order of Richard
de Luci, assembled at that place, and, if not
unanimously, they at least with one voice, made
choice of Roger, Abbot of Bec, to be his successor;
but he would not accept the trust.
From "Collins's Peerage" we learn how that, in
1345, the nineteenth year of Edward III., John
de Montfort, Duke of Brittany, did homage to the
king in Lambeth Palace.
In 1367 the consecration feast of William of
Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, was kept here
with great magnificence by Archbishop Langham.
In 1381, during the insurrection of Wat Tyler,
the rebels not only beheaded Archbishop Sudbury,
then Lord High Chancellor, but plundered this
palace, and burnt most of the goods, books, and
remembrances of Chancery. Sudbury's Register
Book fortunately escaped destruction, and is still
at Lambeth. The damages done by this lawless
banditti were repaired in a great measure by
Arundel and Chicheley; but much was left for
their successors to do, as may be reasonably concluded from the sums of money expended by
Morton and Warham.
In the account given of the convocation assembled by Archbishop Arundel in St. Paul's Cathedral,
in June and July, 1408, it is related that after the
session of July 26, the bishops, abbots, priors,
chancellors of the two universities, doctors of
divinity and laws, deans, archdeacons, "and other
venerable persons eminent in every branch of
literature, to a number not easily to be computed,"
were entertained with elegance, and with great
profusion of viands, by the archbishop in his
manor of Lambeth.
In 1446 Archbishop Stafford held at Lambeth a
convocation of all the prelates resident in London,
to deliberate about the payment of a tenth imposed
by the Pope. The king's prohibition was offered
as a plea for not agreeing to this demand. In 1481
the bull of Pope Innocent IV. against the rebellious
subjects of Henry VII. was exhibited to Archbishop
Morton "in a certain inner chamber within the
manor of Lambeth."
In the year 1501, Katharine of Arragon, afterwards Queen of Henry VIII., on her first arrival
in England, "was lodged with her ladies for some
days at the archbishop's inne at Lambeth." It
was afterwards honoured with the frequent presence
of royalty. In 1513, during a visit, it is presumed,
from Henry VIII. to Archbishop Warham at this
palace, Charles Somerset was created Earl of
Worcester.
In 1533, Archbishop Cranmer confirmed at
Lambeth the marriage of Henry VIII. with Anne
Boleyn; and three years afterwards the same
prelate, "being judicially seated in a certain low
chapel within his house at Lambeth," by a definitive
sentence annulled the marriage between the same
parties; the queen, in order to avoid the sentence
of burning, having confessed to the archbishop
some just and lawful impediments to her marriage
with the king. A little before the latter event—namely, on the 13th of April, 1534—the commissioners sat at Lambeth to administer the oath
of succession to the Crown, upon the heirs of the
same Queen Anne, to the clergy, and chiefly those
of London that had not yet sworn. On the same
day were conveyed thither from the Tower Bishop
Fisher and Sir Thomas More, the only layman at
this meeting, to tender their oath to them; but
both of them, as readers of history know, refused.
In 1537, the archbishops and bishops, by virtue
of the royal commission, held various meetings at
Lambeth Palace, to devise the "Godly and Pious
Disposition of a Christian Man," usually styled,
from the composers of it, "The Bishops' Book,"
but were obliged to separate on account of the
plague then raging at Lambeth, and persons dying
even at the palace gate.
In the rout of the Scots army, in 1542, the Earl
of Cassilis, who was one of the many persons taken
prisoners, was sent to Lambeth Palace, and was
kept there on his parole.
Several circumstances respecting Cardinal Pole
are noticed as having happened here by Strype,
Burnet, and other authors. Queen Mary is said
to have completely furnished Lambeth Palace for
his reception at her own cost, and to have frequently
honoured him with her company. "In 1554, on
his arrival from the Continent, having presented
himself at court, he went from thence in his barge
to his palace at Lambeth; and here he soon afterwards summoned the bishops and inferior clergy,
then assembled in convocation, to come to him
to be absolved from all their prejudices, schisms,
and heresies. The following month all the bishops
went to Lambeth to receive the cardinal's blessing
and directions."
"On the 21st of July, 1556," says Strype, "the
queen removed from St. James's in the Fields into
Eltham, passing through the park to Whitehall,
and took her barge, crossing over to Lambeth unto
my lord cardinal's palace; and there she took her
chariot, and so rid through St. George's Fields to
Newington, and so over the fields to Eltham, at
five o'clock in the afternoon. She was attended
on horseback by the cardinal, &c., and by a conflux
of people to see her grace, above ten thousand."
In the winter of the same year the queen removed
from St. James's through the park, and took her
barge to Lambeth, where she visited Cardinal Pole.
After dinner she resumed her journey to Greenwich,
where she kept her Christmas.
In 1558 Cardinal Pole died at Lambeth Palace.
His body lay in state forty days, when it was
removed to Canterbury Cathedral for interment.
Queen Elizabeth was a frequent visitor here
to Archbishop Parker; and the confidence she
reposed in that prelate induced her to employ him
in many affairs of great trust. On his first promotion to the archiepiscopal see, she committed to
him in free custody the deprived Bishops Tunstal
and Thirlby, Bishops of Durham and Ely respectively, whom, we are told, he entertained most
kindly. Tunstal survived his confinement only
about four months, and was buried in Lambeth
Church; Thirlby, however, continued to be the
archbishop's "guest" for upwards of ten years, and
was buried near his brother bishop.
On one occasion when Queen Elizabeth visited
Archbishop Parker—possibly during one of her
"progresses"—the following circumstance is said
to have occurred:—The queen was never reconciled to that part of the Reformation which allowed
the marriage of ecclesiastics; and, unfortunately,
Parker had not only written a treatise on the lawfulness of marriage, but had absolutely entered into
the holy state prior to the repeal of the statute
forbidding celibacy. The haughty Elizabeth, although elegantly entertained by the archbishop and
his lady for several days, could not at her departure
refrain from venting her resentment in the following
rude manner. Addressing herself to Mrs. Parker,
by way of taking leave, she said: "Madam, I may
not call you; mistress, I am ashamed to call
you; yet though I know not what to call you, I
thank you."
In 1571, we read, the queen "took an airing in
St. George's Fields," previous to which she had an
interview with the archbishop at Lambeth Bridge.
It appears, according to Strype's "Life of Parker,"
that the prelate had in some degree, about this
time, fallen under the queen's displeasure by speaking freely to her concerning his office. The archbishop relates this incident in a letter to Lady
Bacon:—"I will not," he writes, "be abashed to
say to my prince that I think in conscience in
answering to my charging. As this other day I was
well chidden at my prince's hand; but with one
ear I heard her hard words, and with the other, and
in my conscience and heart, I heard God. And
yet, her highness being never so much incensed to
be offended with me, the next day coming on
Lambeth Bridge into the fields, she gave me her
very good looks, and spake secretly in mine ear,
that she must needs continue mine authority before
the people to the credit of my service. Whereat,
divers of my arches then being with me peradventure
mervailed; where peradventure somebody would
have looked over the shoulders, and slily slipt away,
to have abashed me before the world."
Grindall, Parker's successor in the archbishopric,
soon fell under the queen's displeasure, and it does
not appear that she ever honoured him with a visit.
Archbishop Whitgift, however, seems to have been
more fortunate, for it is reported that Elizabeth was
entertained by him no less than fifteen different
times, and that she frequently stayed here for two
or three days together. James I. was likewise
an occasional visitor of Whitgift; and the last
occasion was on the 28th of February, 1604, when
the prelate lay on his death-bed. It was during
the primacy of Whitgift that an important event
occurred at Lambeth Palace which has linked its
history more closely than anything else with that
of the Established Church. This was none other
than the Conference where the famous "Lambeth
Articles" were propounded for the signature of the
clergy. Macaulay mentions these articles thus:—"A class of questions, as to which the founders
of the Anglican Church and the first generation
of Puritans had differed little or not at all, now
began to furnish matter for fierce disputes. The
controversies which had divided the Protestant
body in its infancy had related almost exclusively
to Church government and to ceremonies. There
had been no serious quarrel between the contending
parties on points of metaphysical theology. The
doctrines held by the chiefs of the party touching
original sin, faith, grace, predestination and election,
were those which are popularly called Calvinistic.
Towards the close of Elizabeth's reign, her favourite
prelate, Archbishop Whitgift, in concert with the
Bishop of London and other theologians, drew up
the celebrated instrument known by the name of
the 'Lambeth Articles.' In that instrument the
most startling of the Calvinistic doctrines are
affirmed with a distinctness which would shock
many who, in our age, are reputed Calvinists.
One clergyman, who took the opposite side and
spoke harshly of Calvin, was arraigned for his
presumption by the University of Cambridge, and
escaped punishment only by expressing his firm
belief in the tenets of reprobation and final perseverance, and his sorrow for the offence which
he had given to pious men by reflecting on the
great French Reformer." The precious document
itself, which is thus connected in name with
Lambeth, may be read in extenso in Southey's or
any other "History of the English Church," and
so we may be spared the necessity of quoting it
here; we may, however, merely add that the
"Lambeth Articles" were nine in number, and
ultra-Calvinistic in their character. They were
drawn up by Dr. Whitaker, Master of St. John's
College, Cambridge, and Regius Professor of
Divinity in that University, at the request of
Archbishop Whitgift, who sought to impose them
on the clergy of the Established Church. They
were rigidly suppressed, however, by order of
Queen Elizabeth; and so strictly were her injunctions executed, that for many years a printed
copy of them was not to be obtained "for love or
money." They were brought forward, some ten
years later, at the Hampton Court Conference, but
only to be rejected. The Irish Protestant Church,
however, adopted them in 1615.

INTERIOR OF THE GREAT HALL, LAMBERT PALACE, 1800.

LAMBETH PALACE. 1. The Cloisters. 2. Entrance to Lambeth Palace. 3. Doorway leading from Chapel. 4. Crypt under the Chapel. 5. Entrance to Cloisters. 6. Garden Front of Lambeth Palace.
Archbishop Abbot, who was appointed to the
see of Canterbury in 1611, was accused by the
Duke of Buckingham of living at too costly a rate
for an archbishop, and of entertaining people who
were not well affected to the king and his court.
On this occasion he replied to Secretary Conway:
"When King James gave me the archbishopric,
he charged me that I should carry my house nobly,
and live like an archbishop, which I promised him
that I would do; and all that came to my house
of the civil sort I gave them friendly entertainment,
not sifting what exceptions the duke made against
them. . . . But I meddled with no man's
quarrels; and if I should have received none but
such as cordially and in truth loved him, I might
many times have gone to my dinner without company."
Apropos of the banquets in the great hall, we
may state that Mr. Fenton, a distinguished chef de
cuisine under one of the archbishops during the
present century, left to his family a valuable legacy—the recipe for "Fenton's Canterbury Sauce." His
grace was not a gourmand, but he liked a good
dinner, and knew both a good dinner and a good
cook when he had got one.
Although the dinners in the great hall have
ceased to take place, and the fragments, therefore,
are no longer given to the poor as of old, a substitute for the latter custom is still in practice, in
the shape of the archbishop's bounty or "dole,"
which has been dispensed before the principal
entrance of the palace every week down to the
present time: it consists of money, bread, and
provisions, which are given to thirty poor parishioners of Lambeth, ten receiving it in turn on
different days.
Going back again to the early part of the seventeenth century, we must speak of Laud, who was
translated to the archbishopric from the see of
London on the death of Abbot in 1633. This
prelate unfortunately lived in troublous times; and
Evelyn records, in his "Diary," under date April 27,
1641—apparently as an eye-witness—the fact of
"the Bishop of Canterbury's palace at Lambeth
being assaulted by a rude rabble from Southwark."
A few days later the palace was again attacked by
a London mob. As we learn from the "Comprehensive History of England," "Laud's friend,
Pierce, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, had called
the Scottish war of 1640–41 'bellum Episcopale'
(a war for Episcopacy), and such the English people
were disposed to consider it. During the sitting
of the convocation, a libel or paper was posted
up at the Royal Exchange, inviting the London
apprentices, who were rather prone to mischief, to
rise and sack the archiepiscopal palace of Lambeth.
The invitation was accepted, and on the night of
the 11th of May, a mob, consisting almost entirely
of apprentices and youths, fell upon the said palace.
But Laud had had time to fortify and garrison his
residence; the rioters were not very numerous,
and he 'had no harm.' Laud, in noting the
occurrence in his 'Diary,' says: 'May 11. Monday
night, at midnight, my house at Lambeth was
beset with 500 persons of the rascal riotous multitude. I had notice, and strengthened the house
as well as I could, and, God be blessed, I had no
harm.' Clarendon represents the mob to have
been much greater, for he tells us that 'the rabble
of mean, unknown, dissolute persons amounted to
the number of some thousands.' Since then,' adds
Laud, 'I have got cannon, and fortified my house,
and hope all may be safe; but yet libels are constantly set up in all places of note in the city.'"
Ten days afterwards Laud made the following
entry in his "Diary:"—"One of the chief being
taken, was condemned at Southwark on Thursday,
and hanged and quartered on Saturday morning
following." The victim, it appears, was quite a
youth, and the horrid punishment of treason was
awarded to him by the court lawyers because there
happened to be a drum in the mob, and the
marching to beat of drum was held to be a levying
of war against the king. Clarendon says that
"this infamous, scandalous, headless insurrection,
quashed with the deserved death of that one varlet,
was not thought to be contrived or fomented by
any persons of quality."
In their accusations against Archbishop Laud,
the Puritan House of Commons charged him with
setting up and repairing Popish images and pictures
in the window of his chapel in Lambeth Palace.
The archbishop, in his defence, urged that the
Homilies of the Reformed and Established Church
allowed the historical use of images, and that Calvin
himself permitted them in that sense; and that
the Primitive Christians approved of, and had in
their houses, pictures of Christ himself.
Laud was beheaded by the Parliamentarians in
January, 1644, and his body was interred in the
church of Allhallows, Barking, near Tower Hill.
After this event the see of Canterbury was vacant
nearly seventeen years, during which period, as we
have shown above, Lambeth Palace was nearly
demolished.
From Evelyn's "Diary," under date of August 31,
1663, we glean the following particulars concerning the ceremony attending the translation of Dr.
Sheldon to the archbishopric:—"I was invited,"
Evelyn writes, "to the Translation of Dr. Sheldon,
Bishop of London, from that see to Canterbury,
the ceremonie performed at Lambeth. First went
his grace's mace-bearer, steward, treasurer, comptroller, all in their gownes, and with white staves;
next the Bishops in their habites, eight in number;
Dr. Sweate, Deane of the Arches; Dr. Exton,
Judge of the Admiralty; Sir William Merick,
Judge of the Prerogative Court, with divers Advocates in scarlet. After divine service in the chapel,
perform'd with musiq extraordinary, Dr. French
and Dr. Stradling (his grace's chaplaines) saied
prayers. The Archbishop in a private roome
looking into the Chapel, the Bishops who were
Commissioners went up to a table plac'd before
the altar, and sat round it in chaires. Then Dr.
Chaworth presented the commission under the
broad seale to the Bishop of Winchester, and it
was read by Dr. Sweate. After which the Vicargeneral went to the vestry, and brought his grace
into the chapell, his other officers marching before.
He being presented to the Commissioners, was
seated in a greate arm chaire at one end of the
table, when the definitive sentence was read by the
Bishop of Winchester, and subscribed by all the
Bishops, and proclamation was three times made at
the Chapell dore, which was then set open for any
to enter and give their exceptions, if any they had.
This don, we all went to dinner in the greate hall
to a mighty feast. There were present all the
nobility in towne, the Lord Maior of London,
Sheriffs, Duke of Albemarle, &c. My Lo. Archbishop did in particular most civily welcome me.
So going to visite my Lady Needham, who liv'd at
Lambeth, I went over to London."
"During the great Plague in 1665," writes Miss
Priscilla Wakefield, "the piety of the Christian and
the magnanimity of the hero were displayed by
Archbishop Sheldon. He continued in his palace
at Lambeth whilst the contagion lasted, preserving,
by his charities, multitudes who were sinking under
disease and want; and, by his pastoral exertions,
procured benevolences to a vast amount."
When Archbishop Sancroft was deprived, in
1690, he left behind him his nephew, who, refusing
to give up peaceable possession, was "dispossessed"
by the sheriff and imprisoned, whilst Tillotson
was installed in the palace. Evelyn, who narrates
this fact in his "Diary," also tells us how he "Din'd
at Lambeth with the new Archbishop, and saw the
effects of my green-house furnace set up by my
son-in-law." Here, in successive meetings of the
Commissioners, was settled the plan of Chelsea
College, the project of Charles II., as already
mentioned. (fn. 2) Among the Commissioners were
Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Stephen Fox, and John
Evelyn, whose "Diary" records their proceedings
from time to time.
Queen Mary II. paid a visit here to Archbishop
Tillotson in 1694, as appears from an entry in the
churchwardens' accounts of "five shillings paid to
the ringers" on that occasion. This was only a
few weeks before the archbishop's death. In the
preceding year the archbishop had called an
assembly of the bishops at Lambeth Palace, when
they agreed to several regulations, which were at
first designed to be enforced by their own authority;
but upon more mature consideration it was judged
requisite that they should appear under that of
their Majesties in the form of royal injunctions.
The queen was at different times consulted by the
archbishop concerning this business, and it is not
unlikely that it was the subject of their conversation
on the occasion of the visit above mentioned.
Both of Dr. Tillotson's successors, Archbishops
Tenison and Wake, lived and died here, and the
former was buried in the parish church close by
the palace. Dr. Wake was the author of "The
Church of England and its Convocations," and
several other theological works; he was celebrated
especially for his controversy with Bossuet, and
his project of union between the English and
Gallican Churches.
Hutton, Secker, Cornwallis, and Moore, who
were archbishops successively from 1757 to 1805,
likewise ended their days here, and were all buried
in Lambeth Church.
The palace very narrowly escaped destruction
during the Gordon Riots in 1780. The first alarm
was given on Tuesday, June 6th, when a party, to
the number of 500 or more, who had previously
assembled in St. George's Fields, came to the
palace with drums and fifes, and colours flying,
crying, "No Popery!" Finding the gates shut,
after knocking several times without obtaining any
answer, they called out that they should return in
the evening, and paraded round the palace all that
day. Upon this alarm, it was thought necessary
to apply to the Secretary at War for a party of
soldiers for the security of the palace; accordingly,
a party of the Guards, to the amount of one hundred
men, commanded by Colonel Deacon, arrived about
two o'clock that afternoon, when sentinels were
immediately placed upon the towers of the palace
and at every convenient avenue. The mob still
paraded round the house, and continued so to do
for several days, notwithstanding the number of the
soldiers. In this alarming situation, Archbishop
Cornwallis, with his wife and family, were with
great difficulty prevailed upon to quit the palace,
whither they did not return till the disturbances
were entirely ended. The military remained at
Lambeth for upwards of two months, during which
period there were from 200 to 300 men quartered
in the palace.
A good story is told of Archbishop MannersSutton (1805–28) by the Honourable Miss Amelia
Murray, in her "Recollections." "It happened
once that Lord Eldon and the Archbishop dined
with the King (George III.), and the former became
rather communicative and merry over his port.
At last he said, 'It is a curious fact, sir, that your
Majesty's Archbishop and your Lord Chancellor
both married their wives clandestinely! I had
some excuse, certainly, for Bessie Surtees was the
prettiest girl in all Newcastle; but Mrs. Sutton
was always the same pumpkin-faced thing that she
is at present.' The king was much amused;" as,
indeed, he well might be.
Coming down to more recent times, we find
Lambeth Palace used for the holding of meetings
of prelates of the Reformed Anglican Church at
home and in the colonies. The first of these
meetings—called the Pan-Anglican Synod—was
held here, under Archbishop Longley, in the autumn
of 1867. It was attended by upwards of seventy
bishops, from England, Ireland, the colonies, and
America; but beyond the issuing of an address,
couched in very general terms, nothing definite
seems to have resulted from this great ecclesiastical
gathering.
In 1876 the great hall, or public library, was
used as the Arches Court of Canterbury, for the
trial of cases brought before the Dean of the Court
of Arches under the "Public Worship Regulation
Act." The west end of the apartment was fitted up
as a court for the accommodation of the bar, the
reporters, witnesses, &c., and the east end was
barriered off for the general public. The judge,
Lord Penzance, occupied the archbishop's chair.
The first two cases tried here were those of the
Rev. Charles J. Ridsdale, of St. Peter's, Folkestone,
and the Rev. Arthur Tooth, vicar of St. James's,
Hatcham, for ritualistic proceedings in their respective churches.
There are still one or two items of interest concerning Lambeth Palace which we must not omit
to mention. Here, for instance, every year during
the month of December, the officials of the
Stationers' Company still wait formally upon the
archbishop in order to present him with copies of
certain almanacks which they have the privilege of
publishing, and which were formerly not allowed to
be issued except with the sanction of the Established
Church. The officials and their servants were in
former times entertained by the archbishop, on the
occasion of these visits, with a copious supply of
cakes and ale. This curious custom had a somewhat singular origin, which is now not generally
known, or, more probably, is now "generally forgotten," though recorded by Sylvanus Urban in the
Gentleman's Magazine for 1800:—"On the annual
aquatic procession of the Lord Mayor of London
to Westminster, the barge of the Company of
Stationers, which is usually the first in the show,
proceeds to Lambeth Palace, where from time
immemorial they (the Stationers) receive a present
of sixteen bottles of the archbishop's prime wine.
This custom originated at the beginning of the last
century. When Archbishop Tenison enjoyed the
see, a very near relative of his, who happened to
be Master of the Stationers' Company, thought it
a compliment to call there in full state and in his
barge, when the archbishop, being informed that
the number of the company on the barge was
thirty-two, thought that a pint of wine for each
would not be disagreeable, and ordered, at the
same time, bread and cheese and ale to be given
to the watermen and attendants; from this accidental circumstance it has grown into a settled
custom. The Company, in return, present to the
archbishop a copy of the several almanacks which
they have the privilege of publishing."
Of course, since aquatic processions on the
Thames have been discontinued, the barge of
the Stationers' Company no longer performs the
journey to Lambeth Palace; but the present of
the almanacks is still made to the archbishop,
although somewhat nearer the end of the year;
the honorarium of "cakes and ale" for the bearer,
however, seems to be forgotten.
The Archbishops of Canterbury used formerly
to keep their own barge, in which they crossed
the Thames to the House of Lords or to Whitehall Palace. Their favourite landing-place on the
opposite side of the water was Whitehall Stairs,
the picturesque gateway of which, represented on
page 444, was standing till the present century.
Degrees are occasionally conferred at Lambeth
on individuals who have risen to eminence among
the English clergy, though they have not graduated
in early life at one of the great universities. They
are, however, a legacy from times anterior to the
Reformation, when the Archbishop of Canterbury
had the recognised right of conferring them, as
being the permanent legate for the Pope of Rome.
The privilege was specially confirmed to the see of
Canterbury by that self-elected Pope, Henry VIII.,
in April, 1534, and it is still occasionally exercised
by the archbishop.
The parish church of St. Mary, Lambeth, is
situate near the water-side, and adjoins the palace.
The whole of the building, with the exception of
the tower, was pulled down and rebuilt in 1851.
"Sufficient of the original fabric of the church,"
writes Mr. Tanswell, in his "History of Lambeth,"
"has been preserved to enable us to assign the
latter end of the fourteenth century as the date of
its foundation. The later character of the details
of the chapels on the north and south sides of the
chancel lead to the conclusion that the church,
when first erected, consisted of a nave, chancel,
and tower only, and that these chapels, which are
the property of the Howard and Leigh families
respectively, were added at a subsequent period."
Mr. W. Newton, the author of "London in the
Olden Time," says that the antiquity of the existing
church is not known, and that it was "originally
a Gothic structure, a portion of which is supposed
to date from about the end of the fifteenth century."
This, however, is scarcely the case, for in the
Bishops' Registers at Winchester is a commission
against such of the inhabitants of Lambeth as
refuse to contribute to the rebuilding and repairs
of the church, dated 1374. Three years afterwards
there was another commission to compel the inhabitants to build a tower for their church, "then
newly built," and to furnish it with bells. Mr.
Newton adds: "The building has been much altered
from its original state, and is now (1855) rather a
heterogeneous combination of various styles of
architecture, likely to afford but little interest to
the architectural student." From this statement,
however, we venture to disagree.
In January, 1851, the work of restoration was
commenced, according to the plans and under the
direction of Mr. Philip Hardwick, and it was completed in little more than a year. Care was taken
that the outline of the original foundations should be
preserved, and that, wherever possible, the ancient
detail should be reproduced. The church, as it
now appears, consists of a nave, north and south
aisles, and porch, chancel, and chapels; the fine
western tower remaining without alteration. The
arcades in the nave have been carefully restored,
and the walling above them has been carried up
to the original height and pierced with clerestory
lights, the whole being surmounted by an open
timber roof, divided into seven bays by arched
trusses, resting on the ancient corbels. The
chancel is divided from the nave, and the Howard
and Leigh Chapels from the chancel, by three
lofty arches. The large east window, of five lights,
with the upper part filled with foliated tracery, is
furnished with stained glass, and is inscribed to
the memory of Archbishop Howley. The west
end of the church is lighted by a large circular
window filled with geometrical tracery, and the
organ is placed immediately beneath it. There are
extensive galleries on both sides of the church, and
also at the west end. The flooring is closely and
uniformly paved, and most of the walls are wainscoted.
In the old building, on the wall over the entrance
to the chancel, were placed the royal arms as borne
by Queen Anne, with the figures of Fame and
Devotion, the one sounding a trumpet and the other
holding a flaming heart. These were afterwards
placed at the west end of the north gallery. At
the restoration of the church, the old altar-piece,
which displayed a painting of Moses and Aaron
supporting the tables of the Law, was removed, and
is now placed against the wall of the north gallery.
The present altar-piece is of carved oak, enriched
with gilding and arabesque painting.
The east end of the old north aisle was called
Howard's Chapel, from its having been built, in
1552, by Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk (many
of whose family are here interred); and that of the
south aisle, Leigh's Chapel, built in the same year
by Sir John Leigh (son of Ralph Leigh, lord of the
manor of Stockwell), who, with his lady, lies buried
here. At the bottom of the middle compartment
of the south-east window, painted on a pane twentyfour inches by sixteen, was the picture of the
pedlar and his dog, of which we have spoken in a
previous chapter. (fn. 3) At what time this memorial
was first put up there is no mention, but such a
portrait certainly existed in 1608, there being in
the churchwardens' accounts of that year an entry
of "two shillings, paid to the glazier for a panel of
glass for the window where the picture of the
Pedlar stands." In 1703 a "new glass Pedlar"
was put up, at the expense of two pounds; but this
was removed from where it was then placed, in
the year 1816 (when the church was repaired and
"beautified"), to the window above mentioned,
which was much more conspicuous.

OLD WHITEHALL STAIRS. (See Page 443.)
The churchwardens' books contain some interesting and curious items concerning the old
church. It appears that it contained, in preReformation times, no less than five altars: they
were dedicated respectively to the Blessed Virgin,
to St. Thomas, to St. George, to St. Nicholas, and
to St. Christopher. Then there are the "accounts
of Wardens of the Brethren of Sent Crystover, kept
within the church of Lambeth in the time of
Henry VIII.," from which it appears that the
stipend paid to Sir William Webster, the priest,
"for one year and one quarter," amounted to the
sum of £8 6s. 8d. In the reign of Queen Mary
is a charge for replacing an altar in the Norfolk
Chapel, on the revival of the old religion: "1557.
Paid to Nicholas Brymsted, for making up the
syde awtor in my Lady of Norfolke's Chapel, and
paving in the churche, and for sande, 4s. 2d."
This chapel, it appears, was consecrated in 1522,
for in the churchwardens' accounts for that year
are the following entries:—"Payd for candyls
when the chapel was hallowed, 2d." "To my
lady's grace for cloth for the ambys, £1." Under
date of 1567 the following entry occurs:—"Payd
for mending a piece of glasse in the crucifixe in
the Dewk's (Duke's) Chapel, 1s. 4d."

LAMBETH CHURCH (1825).
The ancient pulpit must have been a curiosity in
its way; for by the above-mentioned accounts it
appears that in 1522 a new pulpit was erected in
this church, at a cost of twenty shillings, and the
old one was valued at eightpence only. The new
pulpit continued in use till the year 1615, when
Archbishop Abbot gave another at a cost of £15.
It was placed against the south-east pillar of the
nave, and was furnished, after the Puritan fashion
of that time, with a hour-glass, of which, however,
there are no remains, though it is mentioned twice
in the churchwardens' accounts. The pulpit and
reading-desk were subsequently removed to another
position at the entrance from the chancel to the
nave.
The parish registers begin with the year 1539.
In the churchwardens' accounts are the following
entries respecting them:—
"1566. Payd for paper ryall, for the christenynge
boke, 6d.
Payd Matthew Allen, by consente of the hole
parishe, for new writing of the olde boke of
baptisme, marriage, and burial, 6s. 8d.
"1574. For ii quere of paper to make a boke, 8d.
"1593. Payd to the curat for writinge our boke of
christenings, weddings, and burials, 2s."
During the Commonwealth the banns of marriage
were often published in towns upon market-days,
and the marriage ceremony was performed by a
civil magistrate. In the Lambeth registers is an
entry of, at all events, one such marriage:—
"1653, Nov. 7. Mark Perkins and Margaret Payne,
married by Thomas Cooper, Justice of the Peace."
Lambeth has numbered among its rectors many
men who have risen to eminence, of whom we
may mention Dr. Hooper, afterwards Bishop of
St. Asaph, and subsequently Bishop of Bath and
Wells: he was the author of several works in
defence of the Church of England. Dr. Gibson,
the editor of "Camden's Britannia," and author
of the "Codex Juris Ecclesiastici;" he resigned
the rectory on being raised to the bishopric of
Lichfield. Dr. B. Porteus, afterwards Bishop, in
succession, of Chester and of London. His
successor, Dr. Vyse, rector of the parish during the
latter part of the last century, was the son of a
clergyman at Lichfield, the contemporary and friend
of Dr. Johnson. To him Dr. Johnson addressed
two letters, printed in "Boswell," soliciting him to
ask the Archbishop of Canterbury to present to
the Charterhouse Hospital a nephew of the learned
Grotius.
The church contains some interesting monuments, including those to the memory of several of
the archbishops, but they were, of course, shifted
from the positions which they originally occupied
when the rebuilding of the fabric took place in the
year 1851.
Here repose the bones of the brave old primate
Bancroft, of the meek Secker, and of the learned
Tenison, who successively sat in the archiepiscopal
chair. Archbishops Cornwallis and Hutton, too, are
likewise interred here, as also are Bishops Thirlby
and Tunstall. The body of Thirlby was accidentally discovered when Archbishop Cornwallis was
buried in 1783. The body, which was wrapped
in fine linen, was moist, and had evidently been
preserved in some species of pickle, which still
retained a volatile smell, not unlike that of hartshorn; the face was perfect, and the limbs flexible;
the beard of a remarkable length, and beautifully
white. The linen and woollen garments were all
well preserved. The cap, which was of silk, adorned
with point lace, was in fashion like that represented
in the pictures of Archbishop Juxon. A slouched
hat, with strings fastened to it, was under the left
arm. There was also a cassock, so fastened as to
appear like an apron with strings, and several small
pieces of the bishop's garments, which had the
appearance of a pilgrim's habit.
Besides the above-mentioned, here, or in the
churchyard, rest the bodies of Dollond, the noted
maker of telescopes, and founder of the well-known
firm in St. Paul's Churchyard; Madame Storace,
the vocalist; and Moore, the author of the tragedy
of the "Gamester." Here, too, sleep in peace
Ashmole, the antiquary, and the Tradescants, whose
united collections of natural history formed the
nucleus of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. Of
the Tradescants we have spoken at some length
in our account of their house at South Lambeth. (fn. 4)
In 1662, a table monument of free-stone was erected
here by the widow of John Tradescant the younger,
covered on each of its four sides with sculptures:
at each corner is the representation of a large tree,
seeming to support the slab; at one end is a hydra
picking at a bare skull; on the other are the arms
of the family. On one side of the tomb are ruins,
Grecian pillars and capitals, an obelisk and pyramid;
and on the opposite a crocodile, shells, &c., and a
view of some Egyptian buildings. Having become
very much dilapidated, this monument was repaired
in 1773; but having again become almost illegible,
it was entirely repaired by subscription, in 1853,
in accordance with the original form and design.
The tomb, which is raised on a granite plinth, has
upon it the following inscription:—
"John Tradescant, died A.D. MDCXXXVIII. Jane
Tradescant, his wife, died A.D. MDCXXXIV. John
Tradescant, his son, died 25th April, A.D. MDCLXII.
John Tradescant, his grandson, died 11th September,
A.D. MDCLII. Hester, wife of John Tradescant the
younger, died 6th of April, A.D. MDCLXXVIII.
"Know, Stranger, ere thou pass, beneath this stone
Lye John Tradescant, Grandsire, Father, and Son.
The last died in his Spring; the other two
Lived till they had travell'd Art and Nature through,
As by their choice Collections may appear,
Of what is rare in land, in sea, in air;
Whilst they (as Homer's Iliad in a nut)
A world of wonders in one closet shut.
These famous antiquarians that had been
Both gardeners to the rose and lily queen,
Transplanted now themselves, sleep here; and when
Angels shall with their trumpets waken men,
And fire shall purge the world, these hence shall rise,
And change this garden for a Paradise.
"This tomb, originally erected on this spot in year 1662,
By Hester, relict of John Tradescant the Younger,
Being in a state of decay,
Was repaired by Subscription in the year 1773.
"After lapse of nearly two centuries since its erection,
It was entirely restored by Subscription in the year 1853."
The fund for the restoration of this tomb—about
£100—was raised under the direction of the late
Sir William Hooker, the distinguished botanist and
curator of Kew Gardens; Sir Charles G. Young,
Garter King-at-Arms; the Rev. C. B. Dalton, Rector
of Lambeth, &c. It was an old debt to the
memories of these first of English gardeners and
naturalists; men who did so much to minister to
"the inclinations of kings and the choice of philosophers."
Dr. Ducarel, in his "History of Lambeth," tells
us that a beacon was formerly placed on the top of
the tower of this church; and in Hollar's view of
the palace, engraved in 1647, and also in his view
of London from Lambeth, it is plainly shown.
The beacon also appears in the view of Lambeth
from the Thames in "Nichols' History," and in a
view taken by a Florentine artist in the suite of
Cosmo, Duke of Tuscany, in 1669. There are no
remains of it in existence now.
Readers of English history will not have forgotten that it was under the shelter of the old
church tower, on a wet and dreary night in
December, 1688, that Mary of Modena, having
crossed the river from the Horseferry in a tiny
boat, sat crouching, with her infant son in her
arms, till the companions of her flight could find
the coach that should convey her safely to Gravesend. Miss A. Strickland draws a touching picture
of the scene. "On that spot, which has been
rendered a site of historic interest by this affecting
incident, the beautiful and unfortunate consort of
the last of our Stuart kings remained sitting, with
her infant son fondly clasped to her bosom . . .
Mary Beatrice looked back with streaming eyes
towards the royal home where her beloved consort
remained, lonely and surrounded with perils, and
vainly endeavoured to trace out the lights of Whitehall among those that were reflected from the
opposite shore along the dark rolling river." It
is a satisfaction to know that her patience was
rewarded, and that she and her child made their
escape to France from this country.