New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-07-04
Miss PATTY GIBsON'S STRANGE AID.
VENTURES

NJsS I!SII eIbsON'S STRANGE 4 ]
VENTURES.
fxehester Cathedral is one VI the :e
middle age ecclesiastical edifices in Il
north OF England that have survived, III
good state of preservation, the wars of IL
Roses, the reign of the TudOrs, and RI
restoration. Those who have visited Z,
chester will remember the grand old pit
1nOssy with age and boar with the antiquit
Of many centuries. From its enduring sea
On Haddow hill it dominates the little sea
port of Hilford Haven. and its gray tower
are seen far away ON the German ocean
which stretches to the eastward. Ever
rood of ground is rich with tradition. Her
are barrOws and crOmlechs Of the prehis
ioric Britons; the wondering hind sometime
surns uR in the pfowed glebe curious urn!
relics Of that long gone age. Hithe
came the Romans with their road building
and military works of defense. Roma,
bricks are built into old Exchester, and or
she south slope of Haddow Hill the anti
guarian may find the exhumed remains o
bssilica, atrium, and cOlonnade, the Vik
sngs OF the north, who, when their owl
land became too turbulent for comfort, tool
ship and sailed the main, finding there the
rest and peace denied them at home. Al
such ports as fIiltord Haven they landed
jOr supplies, taking with strong hands the
corn and cattle refused them by the sturdy
:saxons OF that age. They lett their ruins on
.he rocks along the shore. and the harsh
names of some 1t the peasantry in the re.
Sion around about hetray the fact that not
u few Of the Leofrics and Tostigcs came to
stay.
Exchester Cathedral, however, is compar.
atively modern structure. If one thinks of
the Druids, the invasion of Caesar, and the
reign OF Alfred. 1t was built during the
revival of religious ar: which followed the
preaching Of the first crusade and the tax.
ing of Jerusalem by Robert of Normandy
and his companions. IL was begun before
William Ruins was slain in New Forest; it
was not finished until after Henry l., beat
ing his breast and lamenting his sins, had
died OF a surfeit of stewed lampreys. Its
clustered columns and high-pointed arches
belong to that school of architecture which
Sir Christopher Wren called gothic. but it
is known to more exact writers as the lighter
Saracen.
II you should ever go to Exchester YOU
'xil: be spell.bound by the lofty vistas. mel.
low radiance, and MASSIVE richness of the
interior. Here are naves, transepts, screens,
Gheirs. and pavements of marble, Caen
stene, and mosaic. A dim twilight. enriched
with stains of tnany.colored light from
painted windows. fills the vast spaces. The
graceful columns, standing in clustering
STOupss 1llb UHeIDSclSe5 ike Tree Trunks tar
Up into the arb0real, foliated. and high.
Arching canopy above. Under these grained
arches and through these long drawn aisles
have swept regal and pontlficai pageants.
the proud professions of a day. The silent
splendor of the ancient cathedral is yet
elOguen: with the glory of the ages gone.
but the ieeting creatures of its earlier mag.
nificence arc well-nigh forgotten. Here, in
monumental brass, is the vain immortality
of the de Veres OF Northumberland; and
here is the brown stain in the payment
where William de Hams, fleeing for sane.
tuary after the battle of Lincoln. was slain
betwixt the porch and the altar. But for
She most part. there seems no longer any
human interest in the place. Its antiquity
Ss almost supernatural.
To the American, fresh from the cheap
Hewness of his transatlantic home, an old
English cathedral is like revelation. He |
% oppressed by its curious antiquity, its
enduring massiveness and its historic at.
inOsphere. Familiar as he is with the early |
traditions of the nation whose kinship Le |
claims. he is weighted with the countless |
"reminiscences that crowd upon him in this |
awesome place. These pavements are worn |
by the footsteps of eight centuries. These
sphinx-like carvings have looked upon the |
coming and the going of races of Saxons.
Angles, NOrmans and Mercians. This i'm
mense structure. which has ou:lived so
snany generations, seems more like some
wonderful miracle of nature than work of
mans hands. Its dim, religious light is the
Sight of the grand old forests, unvisited nv
man. of hts native 'a,d. The mellow hui
and infinite perspective are heavenly handi.
work. not human. This marvellous nile has |
lasted hundreds o! years: it will endure
forever.
Exches:er Cathedral made some such i'm
preston as this upon Miss Patty Gibson, of
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, when she visited il in
the summer of 1868. There is nothing TO |
show that the male Gibsons. father and son.
were specially moved by any sight of that
repository of the history and poetry of
ages. They had seen great many cathe.
irals, prisons and old churches. Fred Glib
'on. smart young man, fresh from college,
bought them "awful slow" just now, he ,
would have preferred remaining at the inn
o chat the pretty barmaid and enioy his I
'igar; but the gentle Patty had persuaded c
lin that Exchester was the one thing he I
must not leave unseen when he returned to
he United States. The paternal Gibson '
oted on cathedrals. They were 80 nice I Y
nd cool; and on this bright, warm English | Il
ummer day, he mopped his fat forehead j
9 he waddled down the magnificent vistas. h
thoroughly enjoying himself with the cool ! .
epose within; and occasional glimpses OF I
awthorn and lush greenness withou. held
I'M back to the present life. to his part | G
herein and TO his lumber yards in Oshkosh. a
Mrs. Lavinia Gibson, however, not only s.
ked the calm seclusion Of the venerable
lie, but she believed it her duty to do a
lis and all other sights with conscientious | "
aihstaking. If she had been as young as r,
er daughter, she would have been more a
perhaps: if she had been p
ghter of foot, che would have more en-. "
we'd the cathedrals. As it was, she was | al
mpelled to sit down and rest herself with | e
frequency that sometimes irritated Fred. | cl
i'd even troubled the gentle Patty. But ii
inches were few, and the bases of gothic er
lumns are not comfortable roosting, places nj
r fat people. pc
These stone floors DO make a person SO Ell
sighed poor Mrs. Gibson. drop su
~ on the Oaken steps of the noble choir | ar
If fellow only had his velocipede, now, tn
could see this old tomb on wheels, just be
you took in Niagara Falls, mother, from of
spensiOn Bridge" was Fred's amiable bit W.
an
The figure of the portly Mrs. Gibson gle
eering through Exchester Cathedral on CHI
velocipede tickled the fancy of The
rthy father of the family, and he | it {
ghed husky laugh until the dusky die
hes rung again. and stone etfigy of sci,
ward the Martyr looked down upon him wa
treat amaze. to
Hush, hush, pa" pleaded Miss Patty, the
, haven't half done the cathedral yet, the
We must zee all of the chapel. The not
lie book says that that of St. Thomas is 80 I
of the finest specimens of medieval art BY
10 British isles" her
ATTY is thinking of her St. Thomas in | the
army of the Tennessee" laughed Fred | thrC