The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-01-24
STORY OF LINCOLN CATHEDRAL


stormy History Of a Famous Old Religious
Pile in England.
There was q monk in Williams army |
named Remigius who was possessed of
money and influence enough to provide
that eminent commander with a big
boat, whose crew was twenty fighting
men. And William promised that, in
case of victory he would give this loyal
monk the first vacant Bishopric in En-
gland. He was as good as his word.
The Bishop of Dorchester presently died
and Remigius was made Bishop in his
room. But Remigius liked not the looks
at Dorchester. The diocese was the
largest in England, but the town was
contemplate. He looked about his
wide jurisdiction to find q 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 Remigius began the building
of cathedral church. That was at tho
close of the eleventh century. Tho
front of Lincoln Cathedral is different
from any other-flat, high, cut straight
across the top, with turrets at the
corners and the two tall western towers
rising behind it. Across the front runE
series of queer, rude panels, gro-
tesquely carved with Old Testament
pictures, and inserted tout of order) into
the wall The greater part of this wall
was built by Remigius. The panels be-
longed to church which stood here
when that ambitious Norman mado his
wise decision.
In 1902 the church was ready for con-
secration. The day was set and the in
vitations 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 he had
staid away.
Fifty years after the building of the
cathedral 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
|
had 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 ill-omens in the air the
day before. Stephen had attended mass
in the desecrated cathedral, and when
he had made his royal offering of a
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 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 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 q
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 church spire
Each turret has 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 o1
a ragged boy blowing big horn. The
boy, they say, was cowherd, who made
a 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 hand),
and teaching another lesson, also 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 ON
veins to-day. The Bishop was Nor
man, the cowboy was a Saxon. Ano
when you remember how Briton and
Roman join in this cathedral's 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