Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-22
WRITTEN FOR THE DrspArcH.i

A Long Line of Bishops, Some of Them
Quite Notable.
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPArcH.I
HE nrst syllable of the name Lincoln" is
British; the second syllable is Roman, The
hrst syllable occurs in the names of other
towns which the Britons founded, such as Dub
lin; the second occurs in the names of other
towns which the Romans founded, such as
Cologne. The full name of the old town in the
old times was "Lindum Colonia." The second
syllable tells us. then, that there was once a
Latin colony upon this spot "Lin" means pool,
and dun" means hill; so the men tell us VIII .
are learned in the Celtic tongue And so the
nrst syllable gives US glimpse of the place on
which the colony was planted Here is his
tory and picture in one word.
The most prominent object in Lincoln is the
hill. which is high and steep. The pool has
Deen mostly improved away 1t was little more
at best than big marsh. The drains have
dried it up. On the top of this windy hill the
Br1tons had town before anybody in their
island had ever heard that such people as the
Romans had existence on the planet; that is to
say, about 1000 years ago. And when the
Romans came (and conquered as their habit
was), they turned the little old town into a
walled camp. There are still traces of their
occupation. There is still standing the arch
way of one of the gates of that ancient wall.
You stand beneath it and look up at the great
stones which the Roman soldiers laid in their
places, and you remember that, while that
mortar was yet soft Christ may have been
preaching under the skies of Syria. You can read
in the museum the names of Roman captains
possessors and lost their lives in the savage
warfare. I'VE, their comrades, erect these
tablets to their memory"
Then came the Saxons. And, by and by,
Paulinus, the missionary, who converted the
Mayor of thetown and persuaded him to build
church. And, after that, the Danes; destroy
ing Christianity second time, and leaving as
the chief trace of their presence the word
coin are most of them gates" Finally came
the Normans, and William built the castle,
which you can see to-day.
How a Monk Became a Bishop.
THERE was a monk In Williams army named
Remigius, who was possessed of money and
influence enough to provide that eminent COM
mander with a big boat. whose crew was 20
fighting men. And William promised that,
in case of victory, he would give
this loyal monk the first vacant
word. The Bishop of Dorchester presently
died and Remigius was made Bishop in his
room. But Kemigius liked not the looks OF
Dorchester. The diocese was the largest in
looked about his wide Jurisdiction to find a
better. And presently he lighted upon this
fine hill of Lincoln and here made his choIce
and the diocese of Dorchester became the
diocese of Lincoln.
At once Rem1gius began the building of a
Cathedral church. That was at the close of the
eleventh century. The front of Lincoln Cathe-
dral Is different from any other-fiat, high, cut
stralght across the top, with turrets at the
corners and the two tall western towers rising
behind it. Across the front runs series of
queer. rude panels grotesquely carved with
Old Testament pictures, and inserted tout of
into mai
wall was built by Remigius. The panels be-
longed to church which stood here when that
ambitious Norman made his wise decision.
In l092 the church was ready for consecra-
tion. The day was set and the invitations
were distributed All the Bishops In England
were to be present. And they all came,
all the Bishops of England-except two.
One was Robert of Hereford, who was an
astrologer, and had read a secret in the stars
which kept him comfortably at home. The
other was RemIgius himself. Remigius was
dead Robert had read his obituary written
across the sky, and so had stayed away.
Not Scene of Peace.
FIFTY years after the building of the Cathe-
dral there was week or two of fierce
fighting. partly beside the church and partly in
the church itself. Stephen and Matilda were
contending for the crown of England; and the
two armies mad come to blows in Lincoln.
Matilda held the castle; Stephen seized the
great stone church. The two buildings stand
close together upon the summit of the same
hill. So the fighting prospered back and forth;
the Cathedral being filed with soldiers, stones
and arrows being flung from the vantage of
the roof. At last, upon Candlemas Day. there
was decision of the matter. There had been
illomens in the air the day before. Stephen
had attended mass in the desecrated Cathedral,
and when he had made his royal offering of
great candle the candle broke in twain in the
priests hands; the golden pyX, too, hung above
the altar, had snapped its chain, and come
down in sorry tumble. 1t looked bad for
Stephen. And the omens proved true prophets.
The desecrator of the Cathedral went out to
the battle and lost ii. and was carried in
triumph across England and lodged in prison.
And, after the battle, came an earthquake.
The building of Remigius had now endured not
quite century. when of a sudden it was rent
from top to bottom. And when the next
Bishop, Hugh of Avalon, came to visit his ca
thedral church. he found a wall or two and
stone pile You stand before the Cathedral
front, and look up above the wall which Remi-
gius built, and you see that the upper part OF it
is terminated by two turrets, each as tall as
church spire. Each turret has a statue at the
top. One statue represents bishop, dressed
in his robes, with crozier in his hand and a.
mitre on his head. That is Bishop Hugh. The
other statue is the figure of ragged boy blow
ing big horn. The boy, they say, was a cow
herd, who made contribution. out of his
scanty earnings. toward the building of this
house of God. He gave hatful of silver pen
Mes 1nere tney SLanu Ine DlSHOp anu Lne
cowboy. in perfect equality of honor. teach
ing a lesson in religion (that God
cares more for what a man brings IN
his heart than for what he carries in his handy.
and teaching another lesson, also lesson in
history For it is significant that these two
figures, thus standiug side by side at the front
of Lincoln. represent the two great nations
who were then contending for the mastery of
England, and whose united blood flows in our
veins to-day. The bishop was Norman. the
cowboy was Saxon. And when you remem-
ber how Briton and Roman join in this Cathed-
RAILS name you see thar here are met the four
races who have in turn dominated this island.
Did Not Suit the Time.
HUGH, OF Lincoln, was good bishop in a
bad time He lived in q day when the
princes of the church were fallen into such
sin that the most popular poem of the time
was fierce satire abusing all the prelates from
the pope down, called bishop Goliath" He
was too good for the easy-living laymen of
Lincoln, and they knew it. They wanted very
different bishop. But the king was seized for
the moment with reforming zeal; he desired.
H. inf of uhn