The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1885-04-29

-pipers and fddlers-the tourist is con.
stantly moving to the sound of music.
One Of our party, who had been up and
down the lake so often that he had got
ten tired of dropping sixpences into the
perpetual hat, said, on one of our excur-
sions, to the old Scotchman who passed
it around, mot another penny /" The
bonneted piper meekly took his seat, and
in little while 1.-The Star Spangled
Banner" was struck up, and played with
great vigor. When the hat for tue third
time made its rounds, the American
heart of our companion was so stirred
that all his sixpences went.
The old church at Bowness dates back
five hundred years, and is well-preserved
specimen of the architecture of that peri
cd. Along the nave, quaint wooden
arches spring across from the tops of the
pillars, inscribed on each side with verses
from Scripture in black letter.
DWELL, in his Cathedral, speaks of
THE great east window of divine surprise"
The east window in Bowness church was
such to us. 1t was made of the fine
stained glass rescued from Furness Abbey
at its destruction, and was filled with
medallion pictures, wrought with rare
delicacy and feeling. In one of the aisles
we were shown one of the few chained
Bibles that yet remained in England, the
chain being strong and ponderous enough
to pull cart.
One of the most delightful excursions
tourist can make from Bowness is to
Furness Abbey, which, by the help of
steamer and rail, he can accomplish and
return in day, leaving several hours on
his hands for sightseeing. We stepped
on board rapid little steamer, the
Cygnet, and were soon flying down the
lake. The beauty of the shores of Win
dermere is something beyond description
The cultivation of the wooded slopes is
perfect, and from end to end thay are
studded with villas, hidden away amid
their parks. No wonder that Words
worth and Southey and Coleridge and
Christopher North and Dr. Arnold and
Ruskin seem to grow extravagant over
the dream-lke beauty of this scenery
One of our party insisted upon quoting
Wordsworth at every turn, till the rest
were ready to cry hold T.
a few miles brought US to Lakeside,
the station where we took train to Fur
ness. Its walls are so completely cover
ed with ivy and Towering vines that it
might readily be mistaken for the pic
turesque lodge at the entrance of a gen
tleman's grounds. The day was one of
rare clearness the sky held that " in
communicable blue so seldom seen in
England. We followed the windings OF
the River Leven through valleys stepped
in verdure down to INVERSION, thence to
the large manufacturing town of Dalton
The passage of the INVERSION Sands is
robbed of all its peril now, but in the
ancient times to cross them was the only
way to reach Furness Abbey. The tide
washed out tar inland every trace of path
way, so that no traveller, save at the risk
of his life, dared to cross them without a
guide. We were whirled safely over,
without a thought of danger, to the door
of what eight hundred years ago was the
abbots house.
The old monks had rare eye for rich
lands and picturesque sites. There is
scarcely monastlc ruin In the three
kingdoms that has not been chosen with
an eye to these points.
| Inc COuq ueIluS INOTLnduS LOO wei knew
how to search out the choice spots of the
realm, otherwise this little peninsula in
the North of England would not have
been the centre Of such grand estate as
Count Stephen, of Boulogne, made over
to the Cistercian monks, who, in 1927
here founded Furness Abbey.
Had Stephen ever imagined that he
was to become King of England twenty
years after-for at this time Prince Will
liam, son of Henry l., had not persisted
in the White Ship-he would perhaps
have held on to his rich possessions. As
it was, he gave them to the church in a
pious mood, in order, as be said, to Sc
cure the salvation of his own, his wife
Matilda's, and his uncle's Henry L.
souls" The revenues from these vast
possessions, arising from the fisheries, the
iron and coal mines, as well as from the
rich lands, enabled the Norman monks
whom Stephen transported thither, tC
erect vast monastic pile, which in time
became the largest In the kingdom. The
abbots reigned like feudal lords, and soor
lost sight OF St. Bernard 9 strict rules foi
the regulation Of the order. Twelve
hundred armed men were kept as retain
ers in the Abbey, and at times the monks
and the abbots themselves led scandalout
lives. At the suppression of monastic
houses, everything belonging to the Alb