New-York tribune., 1901-09-23
ROYAL WINCHESTER.
WITH ITS PERSPECTIVE OF A THOr.
SAND YEARS AND A MEMORY MORE
PRECIOUS THAN sCuLPT-
URED BRONZE.

PRECIOUS THAN SCULPT
URED BRONZE.
winchester, September 70
winchester is an ancient town where MIL
enaiS eon'hemoration has gray stage set
ting and where traditions are lost in the draar,,
distances of a storied past At the end Of nav,
week IT Will celebrate with oratory and dr.
matte art the glorious reign of Alfred the crs,+
ana Mr. Thornycroft's colossal statue Of t,s
saxon King will be unveiled The Archbsbor
OF canterbury is to preach in the cathedral 81,
hehry irving is TO recite, Lord Roseberv Is n
deliver an oration the Bishop of winchestar =,
to entertain large party at Farnham Castle
ana great throng OF visitors is to be enticad
into various side shows and drawn to the un
Veihhg ceremonies in order to make good the
deficiency in the subscriptions for the monu-
ment A thousand years may have passed sfncs
the Saxon King sat at the feet of ST. Swithi,
and held court in the capital of wessex: bu,
the shopkeepins spirit survives the vicissitude,
or time, and subscriptions are eked out by half
crowns and shings In milenary celebration
Statues have at least compensating ad-
vantage. whatever may be their artistic merits
or oefects They serve to settle historical con-
troversies. There can no longer be any douh,
respecting the birthplace of King Alfred for
Count Gleichen's statue of him is in the market
place of Vantage, and that puts an end TO IN
necessary controversy without adventitious heIp
from the great White Horse cut in the turf or
from the Blowing Stone described in tom
Browns Schoodays." Winchester has stoutly
claimed the honor of being the burial place OF
the famous King; but the chroniclers who bore
witness to the fact were removed by century or
two from his death Both the time when and the
place where the first great Englishman breathed
his last can only be conjectured. Assir's con-
temporary record breaks off before the Kings q.
death, and Ethelwerd. Simeon of Durham, Will
! lam Of Malmesbury and the monks of Hyde do
not agree in details. His last resting place can
not be identified among the wooden mortuary
chests in the presbytery of the cathedral and a
harm marks the site of the abandoned Abbey Of
Hyde 20 which the Kings coffin was reputed to
have been removed by Henry I. Some of the
! leaden chests were subsequently taken to the
! cathedral and others were sold for few shil-
linSs for the sake of the stone slabs with an
cieDt inscriptions Antiquarians and historians
have not known with any approach TO proba-
bility where the dust of the great and good
King has been scattered. A monument
, needed to determine the question, and to put
end to CHASTITY tales of desecration of royal
tombs Mr.. Thornycroft has supplied a statue
large enough to deal comprehensively with the
subject.
The Oldest portions of the cathedral the tran
septs with Bishop Walkelns early Norman
work. were built nearly two centuries after King
Alfred's reign, and the black marble font was
sculptured several generations later. Gray and
tirneworn as is the venerable edifce. in which
every period of English architecture can be
studied from the Norman Conquest TO the Tudor
era of enrichment, not stone was in its place
when Winchester was .he capital Of Alfred's
Wessex OF the Saxon church then on the site
of the composite cathedral not trace remains;
and three centuries before it was built there had
been an earlier one on the same ground, which
had been built after the arrival OF ST. Augustine
IN the Isle of Thanet. Even in the seventh CEN
turv Winchester had its dreamy reaches Of
mythical mast with the Arthurian cycle of TO-
nance the Roman occupation, and a white castle
as the stronghold of ancient British tribe
Nothing is left of the generations before Alfred
the Great except the name OF the town anu tne
quaint relic which is shown In the hall Oh the
county court to swarms of American Nsi'ofs
every year as King Arthurs Round Iaole'
overlaid with Tudor paint and veneerlnS. Other-
wise it is the Norman Winchester on Wllilah Oh
Wykeharn with its transformed cathedral anu
picturesque quadrangle Of the older school,
which survives in ancient Wessex 1hese
precious memorials. with the West Gate the
rJospitaI of ST. Cross the quaint hall OF the
County Court rebuilt from Norman Castle
and the ruins of wolversey Palace. with the
remains of a Saxon keep, form an environments
which appeals to the imagination with al 'he
! potent fascination of splendid associations
While historical identifications of buildings or
sites with Alfred the Great may De WhlllSi0a'
caprices of credulous conjecture, the OLD TOWN
has retained the distinction OF ancient olsni'S
o,d an atmosphere and local color of its own
r ION n
hold Of royaI power. it is now small catheuIai
town on the sloping side of a line OF chalA his'
and has neither -uufacturins industries nv
tba sirns of rust and decadence. II mas the
ssrsnitv of a Elective and beautiful Old ~se
after a useful life devoted 70 hlgh aims am
noble thoughts. That is the impression W. -
is left uuon the sensitive nina aIter
through High-st.. and restful ghnlpSeS Vi
sra1 cathedral from the verdant Close OF VI
the Quaint quadrangle of the old school, OF y. t
picturesque hospital church OF ot- Cr0ss -
the meadows of the Itchen- WncheStei nos
manned apart from the hustle and energy "
modern English life. but splendid archi'e.
and noble traditions have been sources VI
! n;rstio, and it has not fallen into decay -
has nav buildings here and there. ana soii'
brisk looking shops but tranquility is 'he p'
vaiIing note and the environment mas pee
dignity suggestive of intellectual NE aiiu Il
ence for a glorious past The catheuia- -.
; s,,oo, oy William of Wykeham tmpart u''
,inctive character to the old town. ana VIZ
one stands in front of the new statue OF hine
.1fra5 mr. hunts for the spot where ST. S"l'iii
/ buiIt his bridge over foaming trout su
| Winchester is at unity with itself ana ho'
variance with the stored memories Oh d '''
sand years. s The
| 81 switbiu trained Alfred for his reign as ul'
i ovarIord of Wessex Mercia and Northuino
i'm with love OF ledlHtHS'