The Cordova daily times., 1921-04-28

IF THERE is one building more
 than another in London which
 has suffered through the viciSsi-
 tudeS of time it is the church of St. Bartholomew the Great in Smith field. If there is one charitable in- stitution which through long centuries has ministcred 10 the needs of the suf- fering poor it is St. Bartnolomew's hospital, hard by. writes Ernest II. Ram in the Boston Transcript.
 Church and hospital are insepara- bic in their history and associations. They stand together today close to the great meat market of the metropolis. where in ancient times. on the "Smooth-tield" (SmithfieIdD, tourna- ments were held, where the dagger of Waiw"rth struck down Jack Cade, and where martyrs passed through the gate of fire" for conscience sake, the while the cruel and impucHhle heads of the church looked on at their sutreringS
 The history of the hospital has just been told in two Sumptuous volumes by Sir Norman Moore, one of ifs most famous physicians, and this must be our excuse for rediscOvering one of the most fascinating corners of an- Cient London.
 Rahere's Divine Vision.
 It is of the church that one must speak first if we are to have clear cut understanding of all that Is con veyed by the magic word "Bart's." For the noble charity of which Sir Norman Moore discourSes so eloquent ly was originally only part of the larger scheme of the immense church of St. Bartholomew the Great, with it's college of canonS of the Order of St. Augustine, popularly known as the Black Can0nS from the color of their distinctive hood.
 Carry your mind back to the days when Henry I ruled England At tendant on his court was a favOrite named Rahere, who. touched with the religious enthusiasm of the day. deter mined on a pilgrimage to Rome, by this act of penitence hoping to obtain complete forgiveness of his sins. Af- ter much toll he reached the city and duly bewaled his sins: but before long he fell sick, and feeling that his end was nigh he vowed that should he recover he would build a hospital for the healing of the poor.
 One night on his way home he dreamed that he found himself on the edge of deep and dreadful pit, into which he feared to fall, when suddenly St. Bartholomew appeared to him and promised that if he would build a church in Smithfield he should have help. Rohere promised, and when he awOke he felt that this was indeed a divine vision, and that he must obey the beheSt of the blessed saint. So when. after much trouble he obtained from the king a grant of land in Smithfield he set to work to carry out the two-fold task of piety. to build a hospital for the poor and nearby a church.
 Thus arose the hospital of St Bar tholomew and the church. Of the lat ter, Rahere became the first prior; but which was completed first cannot be decided, though it appears that but a short space of time separated the two. This was in the year 1123, and | ever since, for nearly 800 years, the hospital has continued to carry out the objects of its founder
 Beautiful Tomb of the Founder.
 When Rahere died In 1143 he was | buried on the north side of the sanctu- | ary. the customary position for a !! founder, and his grave and tomb have | been preserved to thIs day. The beau- tifui tomb is probably the oldest in | England, for it has endured undese- 1 crated for eight centuries.
 Bit by bit the great church was | completed. It drew immense revenues | from the three days fair held at the 1 Feast of St. Bartholomew, the charter | for which Rahere had obtained ten | years before his death, and to this | festival of trade came merchants from | Flanders and Italy. clothiers from | parts of England, ShOwmen from ey- | eIywhere. In time it outlived it's use fitness and became notorious as an | annual saturnalia, until it was abol- tshed in 1855.
 It is in the church, however, that our interest centPrS-a generous ec- clesiastical pile whose very magnif- cence would have saved 1t from any hand less destructive than that of Henry VIII. The king pulled down the nave. and only the bases of some of the columns are to be found in the church yard today. He built up a western wall 10 make the choir serve