Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-29

last it became evident to the beselged that
they were lost They held council. The
rabbi presided. Brethren" he said, sit is
plain that it is Gods will that we should
die, but He leaves us a choice of the way.
Shall we iall by the hands of the Christians,
or shall we take our lives ourselyes?" 1t
was fearful alternative, but it had to be
met They put the question to vote, and
majority voted for suicide.
A Deed of Desperation.
They gathered their treasure together and
burned whatever would burn, and buried
what was left. They prayed their last
prayers and said their last farewells. And
then they cut the throats of their wives and
their little children, and of each other.
Last of all died the rabbi. Then the gates
were opened, and in rushed the Jealous
Christians. And when they saw that the
Hebrews were dead, away they hurried to the
Cathedral, and they got the papers out
which were Kept there in the treasury,
which showed their indebtedness to their
Hebrew creditors, and made big bonfire of
them on the stone floor and burned them
every one. You sit down in the great nave
of York Minister and remember about that;
the red light Of that old fire flashes against
the gray walls, and you see that strange
sight which no Christian church-thank
Goodwill ever see again. The world does
move. The congregation which assembled
in the Cathedral the Sunday was there
was considerable improvement over the
men who made that mad bonfire of Hebrew
bills
This island of Great Britain, which has
thrice been conquered, has twice undergone
general overturning of things religious;
once at the Reformation, again at the
Protestant Revolution; and this old town of
York has had its part to play in both. A
ruined hospital and ruined abbey are among
the sights of York. The old cloisters are still
standing where the convalescents walked in
the sun, and you can see where the great
ward was, with little chapel at the end
of it. The Abbey church has a side wall
left, and pillar or two of the supports of
the central tower. The ivy grows over the
broken walls and arches, and the old church
is still beautiful. even in its ruin. Bene-
dictine monks lived in this Abbey, and the
abbot was one of the great men of the land.
He was possessed of several fine country
houses, and enjoyed residence in London.
When he travelled, a great retinue accom-
panied him. He sat in Parliament and
wore mitre like a bishop, and was called
''Mv Lord" When the Reformation came,
they put an end to all this stately living
The monks were turned out, and the Abbey
was pulled down. Some of the stone they
used to build a church, some to mend Jail,
some they put into a lime-kiln, needless of
the fair carvings and turned them into lime
A Famous Battlefield.
Halfa-dozen miles from York is famous
battlefeld-the battlefield of Marston Moor.
Charles and Cromwell were fighting for the
possession of this town of York. And when
Charles lost York, he lost England and his
head. They say that Cromwell turned the
cathedral into barracks for his soldiers, and
broke out the. stained windows, and stabbed
his horses in the nave. These are the chief
entrances of old York into the history of
England.
You walk about the old walls, and over
or under the old gates, or along the ancient
streets where everybody goes in the middle
of the road, for lack OF sidewalks, and you
see one of the queerest old towns in the
world. And you can stop at every street
corner and read page of English history.
George Fox was once imprisoned In the
castle. "Guye Fauxe, 16 April, $780," is
an entry on the baptismal register of the
church OF ST. Michael-le-Belfrey in High
Petergate. Robinson Crusoe" ran away
from York TO enter upon his extraordinary
adventures. Mr.. Richard Turpin, also,
honored the town with his occasional resi-
dence; somewhat against his will, however,
whereof his leg irons ard waist belt (still to
be SEEM bear eloquent witness. And SO
many princes and mobiles, and heroes, and
kings have walked these streets, that the
stoutest memory of the most intrepid tourist
is dismayed. And saints, too, eminent, and
many; of whom somewhat next week, when
come TO speak of the crowning glory Of the
town. its Archepiscopal Cathedral.
G. b,