The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-12-12

precincts. The original treasury door.
| still here. has three locks. the keys Of
! which were In the hands of separate
officers of the old monastery. and the
| consent of all three was necessary be-
| fore the treasury could be opened. Here
In the eastern aisle Is the old Bible
| desk with chained Bible restored to
its place by the late Bishop Parry.
THE BECKETT SHRINE.
| The shrine of Thomas a'Becket Is
| known to every one, and the extent OF
| the former rallied space around it may
! be readily perceived by examining the
| floor. on which the depression made in
| the stone by the feet Of the pilgrims Is
plainly visible. Stairs there are, too,
| worn into ruts by the feet of pious pill
grims to this shrine, In the centuries
| long past. In connection with the
! shrine also my attention was called
to the windows of rich thirteenth GEN.
tury glass, which, in spite of the fact
that they represent so "Popish" a cir
cumstance az the miracles performed
at the tomb of st. Thomas. remain one
of the most priceless treasures of early
| glass coloring in England, and, indeed,
| in all Europe.
Old Chapels there are in several
places in the cathedral. or, rather, re-
| oesSes where chapels once were, and
| the cloisters outside. where the monks
were wont to pace uD and down and
tmeditate, are beautiful, indeed. Tombs.
old, older and oldest meet the eye, the
remotest date being that of 100, in the
time of Anselm. About the last look
| had was peep into Cathedral libra
ry, where the vulgar eye Of the usual
| tourist Is not permitted to intrude, and
even l had to content myself with a
rapid journey around the room, owing
| to shOrtness of time. I saw a collec-
tion of exquisite cameos-rows and
rows of old vellum manuscripts. I was
| generously permitted to hold in my
arms the famous old "Breeches Bible"
| the first Bible actually printed in Eng-
| lish (queer old script 1t looked, tool,
and the first English translation OF the
New Testament as, WELL Fat, musty,
smelling old skin-covered tones they
were. brown with age and ragged with
time. the creamy old vellum leaves as
soft to the touch as velvet.
ANOTHER CURIOSITY.
But Canterbury Is the seat of not
only one of the finest of old English
history-making cathedrals, but of also
| quite the very Oldest Christian church
| in all the kingdom of England This
| little old house of worship came into
existence as early as 1888 A. D., as near
| ly as can be reckoned, and was the
| guide book Sayeth, probably devoted
| first to the Blessed Virgin, and after
| ward to A. Martin, of Tours, and by
whose name it has always since been
known. They say that in the writings
of the Venerable Bede" that 1t was
said to have been erected during the
| time of the Roman occupation of Eng
| land, and remained unmolested even
during the times of Hengist and Horsa.
the barbarians, until the Christian re-
| ligion again came to England forever
| 1t Is not what one would call beau
tiful antiquity, but is nevertheless in
tensely interesting. as the old Roman
portions Of 1t are clearly distinguish
able, and the more recent Saxon and
| Norman additions quite as much so.
| The chief object of interest here is
the font which is tub-shaped. consist
ing of a rim, three tiers and base.
The diameter of the actual basin Is
one foot. ten inches. the circumference
round the outside being eight feet, two
inches. and the height of the whole
thing but three feet from the floor 1t
is of Saxon workmanship and of solid
stone.
CHANGING THE SUBJECT.
l am sure that every one interested
in voice development, or singing. or
both, has heard and read of the FAM
Gus teacher, Marchesi, of Paris. She Is
no doubt the most important of French
teachers, probably the most expensive,
and certainly the one most talked
about. BY some her praises are loud
ly sung, and it is certain that her best
known pupils, such as Melba. and a
few others. are indeed lovely and
would be a credit to any one. By
some, also, she is most horribly talked
down. as having ruined their voices,
neglected them for other richer pupils
and so on to no end Of uncompliment-