Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1891-02-04
STORY OF LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.
stormy History Of 81 Famous Ola Religious
E!Ie in E,l!:i.ni.

stormy His: DRY Of "a Famous Ola Religious |
r!Ie in EI:i.ni.
There WAS Il monk in Williams army |
named Rrmi;rir., who WAS possessed of |
money and influence enough provide |
that eminent commander N.ih Il hig |
boat whose crew was twenty fighting |
mon. And William promised that, III |
ease of victory, he would give this 10y al |
monk the first vacant BiShupric in En- |
gland. He was as good as his word. !
The Bishop of Dorchester presently died |
and Rcmgius was made bishop in his |
room. But RclnigiuS liked not the looks |
at Dorchester. The diocese was tho |
largest in England, but the town was
contcmptiblc. He looked about his
wide jurisdiction to find Il 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 Rrmigius began the building
of Il cathedral church. That was at the
close of the eleventh century. The
front of Lincoln Cathedral is different
from any other-tlat. high. cut straight
across the top. with tu1rcts at tho
corners and the two tall western towers
rising behind it. Across the front runs
a series of queer, rude panels. gro
tesqucly carved with Old Testament
pictures, and inserted (out of orlcr) into
the wall. The greater part of this wall
was built by Remigius. The panels be-
longed to il church which stood here
when that ambitious Norman made his
wise decision.
In 1902 the church was ready for con-
sccration. The day was set and the in
sA.~4s i
Bishops in England were to be present.
And they all canc-all the Bishops of
England-cNccpt two. One was Robert
of Hereford. who was an aStrolowcr. and
| had read secret in the stars which kept
him comfortably at homo. The other
was Remigius himself. Rrmigius was
dead. Robert had read his obituary
written across the sky, and SO he had
staid away.
Fifty years after the building of the
| cathedral there was Il week or two of
fierce fighting. partly beside the church
and partly in the church itself. stephen
and Matilda We're contending for the
[ crown of Enyland: and the two armies
had como to blows i'll 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 prosperrd
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 Il decision Of the matter.
| There had been ill-omcns in the air the
| day before. Stephen had attended mass
in the desccrated cathedral. and when
| he had made his royal offering of d
great candle the candle broke in twain
| in the priests hands; the golden pyN,
| too hung above the altar, had snapped
| it's chain and come down in a 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 it, and was
carried in triumph across England and
lodged in prison.
And after the battle came an earth
quake. The building of Remigius had
now endured not quite Il century, when
of a sudden it was rent from top to bot
tom. And when the next Bishop, Hugh
| of Avalon, came to visit his cathedral
church, he found wall or two, and a
stone pile. You stand before the cathe-
dral front, and look up above the wall
which Remigius built, and you see that
the upper part of it is terminated by two
turrets, each as tall as Il church spirc.
Each turret has Il statue at the top. One
statue represents Bishop, dressed in
his robes, with crozier in his hand and
a inter on his head. This is Bishop
Hugh. The other statue is the figure of
q ragged boy blowing big horn. The
boy, they say. was cowhcrd, who made
contribution out of his scanty earnings
towards the building of this house of God.
He gave hatful of silver pennies. There
they stand, the Bishop and the cowboy.
n perfect equality of honor, teaching
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 n les
son in history. For it is significant that
these two figures, thus standing 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 Nor.
man, the cowboy was n Saxon. And
when you remember how Briton and
, Roman join in this cathedral's name you
see that here are met the four races who
have in turn dominated this island. =
Rev. George Hodges, in Pittsburgh Dis
patch.