Читать книгу The Children's Story of Westminster Abbey онлайн

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If one who was not our own countryman could feel this so strongly, is it any wonder that the name of Westminster Abbey is dear to all British folk, men, women, and children, whether at home or across the wide seas? Westminster Abbey is a name that means “home,” and the story of home, almost from the very earliest times of our nation.

And if any one asks how and why this is, it is easy to show him that Westminster Abbey has been part of English history all along, and that if you can read what is written on the old grey stones of Westminster you will know more about the British race and Empire than many books could teach you.

Around the venerable and stately church, where all our Kings, from Edward the Confessor onwards, have been crowned, and where many of our sovereigns and most of our famous men are buried, are memories which speak to us even of the Roman rule in Britain, taking us back nearly to the days of brave Queen Boadicea, whose statue stands on the bridge close by.

Then follow memories of the wild Saxon days, of the conversion of England by St. Augustine, of the Danes, the Normans, the Plantagenets, Tudors, Stuarts, and of many others.