additions is a very striking feature in the fabric, especially when viewed from the outside. The entire length eastward, from the high altar being no less than 160 feet. one feature in the roof of the choir which exhibits | which the Cathedral has been lengthened by successive very bad taste; the bosses, at the intersections of the ribs, are painted in the brightest colours. We shall be told, no doubt, that this is but a restoration of the ancient decorations; but it should be remembered that of old, every portion of the cathedral was brilliant with colour, and, on great occasions, the nave itself was hung with gorgeous embroidery, the hooks for the sus pension of which are still visible in the pillars. At such a time the picking out in positive colour of isolated portions of the roof, was only giving a repetition of the prevailing hues. Now, however, that the housepainter, with his whitewash-brush, is the decorating artist, these patches of red, and blue, and gold, appear patchy, and tawdry, in the extreme. The east window, over the altar-screen, is the only perfect specimen of the ancient stained-glass of the cathedral. It was taken out and hidden from the iconoclasts during the civil wars. In the area leading to the high altar is the tomb of William Rufus; the remains from which however were removed to the mortuary-chest. Richard, the second son of the Conqueror, also lies near here. In the north and south aisles, which lie on each side of the choir, there are two sanctuary-chapels, which the visitors should not overlook. In the southern aisle we have that of Bishop Fox, the Founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. In the northern aisle is the chantry of Bishop Gardiner. Proceeding further eastward we come to the presbytery-the portion of the cathedral built by Godfrey de Lucy, in 1200, and one of the most beautiful portions of the fabric. In this space are two exquisite chapels, those of Cardinal Beaufort and Bishop Waynflete. The chantry of the former has been much mutilated; but the effigy of the Cardinal, the completer of the restorations of Wykeham, and the re-founder of the Hospital of St. Cross, still rests on the tomb in the red dress and hat representing his spiritual dignity. Bishop Waynflete's chantry exhibits the most beautiful chapel in the Cathedral; it has lately been restored with great care. the presbytery we find a grave-stone nearly twelve feet in length, which was once supposed to have covered the remains of Saint Swithin; but it has since, with more appearance of truth, been considered to belong to Prior Silkstede. Near this tomb is the "Holy Hole,"—the entrance to a stone staircase, which once led down into the western crypt. It is so called because it contained the bones of sacred persons. Walking still father eastward, we at length come to the extreme end of the cathedral, or the Lady Chapel, prolonged beyond the chapels on either side of it for a distance of twenty-five feet. This Chapel was dedicated to the Virgin Mary; and here Queen Mary was married to Philip of Spain. The walls are adorned with fresco paintings, representing the miracles wrought by the Virgin, and which have, by great good fortune, escaped the activity of the whitewasher. This was the last addition to the Cathedral, and was made by Priors Hunton and Silkstede. The manner in In Viewed from the outside, the Cathedral is entirely wanting in that grand pyramidal form of composition which marks the gothic. But to the architectural student it affords an intense feast. Every style, from the Saxon to the latest gothic, is plainly written upon its walls. At the extreme east the Lady Chapel tells of the over-elaborate embellishment which preceded the fall of gothic architecture. In the Presbytery we have, contrasted with it side. by side, the exquisite proportions which marked the style when in its full vigour and beauty at the commencement of the thirteenth century. Still further on we find in the windows of the north transept old Saxon arches mingled with those in the pointed style, and in the centre of the building the Norman tower, massive without being rude, carefully finished, and yet bold in its outline; beyond this again we have the immense nave with the western entrance erected at a time when the Tudor style was just beginning to lavish its fatal blandishments on the sterner and pure forms that obtained of old. The most striking feature of the building on the outside is its length, being from east to west 545 feet long. At an early period the monastery entirely covered up the southern side of the Cathedral, and consequently buttresses and pinnacles were not here needed. Upon the destruction of the adjoining buildings, however, the required additions were not made, and the north side consequently has a very unfinished appearance. The Chapter House, in which King John resigned the sovereignty of the kingdom into the hands of the people, and was absolved from the fearful sentence pronounced against him, was demolished by Bishop Horne, the first Protestant prelate of the see; who also destroyed the cloisters and other portions of the monastery in 1563. Proceeding towards the close of the south-west corner we come upon a curious anagram, upon one of the buttresses, and a little further on another, both of which were placed there to commemorate the opening up of a new communication between the close and the city. The first anagram stands thus: which is interpreted thus:-Private property has yielded to public utility: proceed now by the way that is opened to thee. That way leads to the choir; this to the market. The buildings in the close still retain, in their broken and picturesque outlines, many remnants of the old monastery. Gothic windows and doorways, incorporated with the dingy brick walls of the houses of the prebendaries, seem typical of the manner in which certain remnants of the old Popish ritual and tradition were blended by the Reformers in the new faith they founded. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. CROSS. a About a mile out of Winchester, situated amidst the beautiful water-meadows, lies the ancient Hospital of St. Cross, or St. Croix, which after the Cathedral forms the most interesting sight of Winchester and its neighbourhood. It is a strong feature in the human heart to look back and conjecture of the manners and customs of our ancestors, to endeavour to find out how people lived ages ago. The poetry of the past reigns more or less in every breast; in very few people's eyes is newly-moulded brick as interesting an object as an old sculptured stone; yet bearing the marks of the handiwork of man. This healthy feeling of deep interest in the past will find ample gratification in a visit to St. Cross. There you see not only the outward fabric, such as housed our forefathers seven hundred years ago, but the very spirit and inward life of the place preserved amidst the progress of the nation like some "fly in amber." This Hospital was founded in the early part of the thirteenth century-the period at which the majority of religious houses and charitable institutions sprung up-by Henry de Blois, bishop of Winchester, and brother of King Stephen. It was originally founded for the support of "thirteen poor men past their strength," and it was provided that they should have lodging, clothing, and a daily allowance of wheaten bread, meat, and ale; and it was also provided that a hundred others, the poorest that could be found in the city, of good character, should be dined in a common. hall, called 'The Hundred Mennes Hall,' with the right to carry away so much of their allowance as they could not consume. According to the foundation there was to be a master, a steward, four chaplains, thirteen clerks, and seven choristers for the church. ters, one after another, however, had so succeeded in The mas absorbing the income of the charity by the time that Wykeham was appointed Bishop, that he was obliged to have recourse to the law to recover the alienated property. This property was then of the annual value of £400,-no inconsiderable sum in those days. A vast increase to this income was made by Cardinal Beaufort, bishop of Winchester,-who endowed it in 1444, with land to the value of £500 yearly; at the same time appointing, that in addition to the existing number of persons in the establishment, there should be maintained two priests, thirty-five brethren and three sisters to act as nurses to the sick of the commu. nity. To accommodate this large number of persons he almost rebuilt the Hospital, giving to the enlarged building the beautiful title of Domus Eleemosynaria Nobilis Paupertatis-or the Alms-House of Noble Poverty. The Hospital was fleeced of a considerable portion of its revenues by Henry VIII.; nevertheless, enough was left for the maintenance of thirteen brethren, a master, steward, and chaplain-the present establishment; and the funds have within the last hundred years so raised in value, that the post of master has been a sinecure of considerable emolument. But more of this anon. One fine summer day the writer of this, having heard much of this old Hospital, and of the horn of ale and manchet of fine bread doled out at the porter's lodge to all poor travellers, determined to constitute himself of that class for once, and to make a pilgrimage thither for the purpose of quaffing the fine old ale so hospitably provided for him, free of all charge, by the good Bishop de Blois. The entrance into the Hospital is through a small court, on one side of which lies the 'Hundred Mennes Hall,' now turned into a brewhouse-on the other the stables, the further end being bounded by the great gateway, over which rises the tower, in which there is a statue of its builder, attired in his cardinal's hat, and kneeling before the Holy Cross-the emblem which gives the Hospital its name. The imagination is given sometimes to run riot with us all; and the writer had been painting to himself the worthy porter standing at the gate, with the horn of nutty ale, ready to do the hospitalities of the place as a true brother of the fraternity mindful of his founder's desire should do. He pictured the huge horn, with the rich October frothed and foaming, tendered with a welcome hand, and the fine manchet of wheaten bread placed on some oaken trencher ready to his hand. He painted a little picture in his mind of almsgiving at the gate, and knocked at the porter's lodge fully expecting to find it realised. But, alas! he found it a rapidly-dissolving view, as the following curious colloquy with that functionary vill show-the writer being, for the nonce, the 'Poor Traveller :' Poor Traveller knocks at the porter's lodge, and the door is opened by a thin, hungry-looking old man, in the dress of the fraternity-a black gown with a silver cross on the left shoulder. Poor Traveller, smilingly, as in expectation of a treat.-'You give away some ale and wheaten bread the gallery from which the benediction was given of old to travellers, do you not?' Porter. Please to come in, Sir-fine day, Sir; it's our own allowance as we gives to gentlemen, Sir.' Poor Traveller.-'Your own allowance! why, I thought everyone had a right to demand ale and bread by virtue of the bequest of that very respectable old gentleman, the Bishop de Blois?' Porter. Oh yes, Sir; poor trave lers, Irish and such as them. Here's what we give them, Sir,' (opening a drawer in a kitchen table, and displaying a heap of stale pieces of bread and dirty-looking crusts.) Poor Traveller (quite satisfied about the bread.)— 'But what of the ale: surely you give everyone his horn of ale?' Porter. Oh yes, Sir; there's the ale,' (pointing to a dirty little four-gallon cask in one corner of the room,) with the horns they drunk out of; we never think of giving them to gentlemen.' Poor Traveller thinks to himself, 'Oh! come then, the right thing will come at last.' (Aloud)—' Well, what do you give to gentlemen?' Porter, taking from a shelf a wretched attempt at a gothic jug, such an one as is marked 'The last new pattern, 9d.,' in the cheap crockery-shops-pours out a good quarter of a pint into a dirty black horn; then deliberately cuts a round off a half-quartern loaf, and places it upon one of the new-fashioned platters. Poor Traveller, seeing his refreshment before him, takes up the horn and drains it. Porter (noting astonishment in his guest's face), apologetically-'We call it good small beer, Sir.' before meals, and from which, on festive occasions, the stream of music used to issue-the very black jacks out of which the old fellows used to drink, are seen upon the ponderous side-table. The brethren no longer dine here daily as they used to do, being allowed to take their daily rations of one pound of meat, one loaf of bread, and three quarts of beer home to their own houses; but on certain occasions they still dine here, and after their meal make merry round a raised hearth in the centre of the room; an extra allowance of beer being given for the occasion. 6 The Nunnes' Chambers' is a range of apartments anciently used as the Infirmary of the establishment; at the south end of those apartments is a window which opens directly into the church-so that when it was opened, the sick lying in their beds might listen to the service when it was going forward. The most interesting portion of the establishment, in an architectural sense, is the church, built in the reign of Stephen, which exhibits some admirable specimens of Anglo-Norman architecture. This structure, which is of no inconsiderable size, being 160 feet in length by 120 feet in width, is built in the form of a cross with a stately tower rising in the centre, which is open to a considerable height above the vaulting of the nave, and which serves as a lantern to the choir, in the same manner that the tower in Winchester Cathedral is supposed to have done. Those who wish to study the Anglo-Norman style, could not do better than pay a visit to this very curious and interesting old church. The ponderous pillars, with their capitals and arches ornamented with the chevron, the wavy, the indented, and other ornaments in very perfect preservation, present us with an excellent specimen of the ecclesiastical architecture of Poor Traveller.-' About the smallest I ever tasted.' Poor Traveller, in the language of slang, thinks the whole thing a dead take-in,' and doggedly prepares to follow the Porter over the Church and Hospital. So much for the writer's own experience of the hos-the early part of the twelfth century. Here and there pitalities of St. Cross; who has only to add that, like most things that are given away for nothing, Bishop de Blois' glass of ale was the dearest he ever tasted in his life. The principal court, which is entered from the gate way of the Porter's-lodge, is occupied by a neatly-kept lawn surrounded by flower beds, where the roses have bloomed for centuries, and age has never appeared. The north side is bounded by the master's house and the Refectory; on the eastern side runs the ambulatory for the use of the brethren in wet weather; over this run the rooms once occupied by the three nuns, and the Infirmary. On the western side are the abodes of the brethren, each of whom has a distinct set of three chambers to himself; and the south is partially formed by the old Anglo-Norman church of St. Cross. An opening which now occurs in the court allows us a peep of the adjoining water-meadows, and the venerable old trees, which make a charming picture, framedin as it were by the old gray walls on either side. The Refectory is a very interesting old room, as it exhibits a genuine specimen of the dining-halls of such places in the olden time. The antique timber roof gothic incroachments have taken place, showing the manner in which those who have restored it from time to time adopted the style of architecture prevalent in their day. The choir is floored, as are also some part of the church, with glazed tiles, some of them ornamented with Saxon emblems, and here and there one is seen bearing the words, "Have mynde;" intended doubtless to call back the wandering minds of the brethren to holy thoughts. There are some ancient tombs in the church of the masters of the establishment. The whole hospital presents, perhaps, the most perfect specimen of an ancient charitable institution to be found in the island. On some occasions the imaginative mind might almost fancy that the old time was come again. To look in, for instance, upon this little fraternity, on the anniversary of the birthday of the Founder, when collected round the ancient hearth of the Refectory, robed in their long sable mantles on which the silver crosses glitter in the light, and drinking out of the huge black-jacks to the happy rest of the benefactor, one would imagine himself living in the time of the early Henries. On such festivals, too, still more picturesque scenes and remnants of ancient 2 K.-VOL. III. entering the first court, which is bounded by the residence of the Warden and several outbuildings, we see before us a second gateway surmounted by a lofty tower, adorned with statues of the Virgin, the angel Gabriel, and the Founder. On passing beneath this second gateway, we come at once upon the chapel, the hall, and the dormitories. The chapel has a lofty tower which contains a fine peal of bells, but they are never rung on account of the vibration affecting the masonry. The interior of the chapel is solemn and beautiful, and the grand east window, which has recently been restored, is a pictorial representation of the genealogy of our Saviour. There is much exquisite carving, by the hands of Grinlin Gibbons, we believe, near the altar, which is, however, of a character and design which renders it quite out of place in a Christian temple. Among the monuments are several touching inscriptions to the memory of the scholars who have died whilst on the Foundation. Passing into the cloisters, which adjoin the chapel, we tread again upon the graves of those who perished, as it were, upon the very threshold of life. The walls and pillars of the old arcades are carved with the initials and names of the boys who have for centuries made it echo with their footsteps; and many of whom, in after years, wrote their names on the still more enduring pages of history. On one pillar the name of Kenn (afterwards Bishop) is pointed out by the porter with no little pride. Pious sentences are also carved here and there with a care which seems to indicate that the youthful chiseler's heart was in the task. In the centre of the cloister is a small chapel, formerly used as a mortuary chapel, which has for a long time been occupied as a library, and contains a valuable collection of books, and some curious illustrated manuscripts. The Refectory Hall, which adjoins the chapel, wears a very conventual appearance ;-its lofty roof, richly covered and supported with oaken timber-work, and its noble dimensions, are very striking. Although the successive masters have kept up, in so conscientious a manner the ancient customs of the hospital, they have not, most certainly, had the masonry. most certainly, had the interests of the poor brethren so much at heart as their own. St. Cross, and the manner in which its funds have been administered, has been the "frightful example" of corrupt management in the mouths of reformers, ever since Cobbett so daringly exposed them —Government has at length determined to put the whole management on a new footing, and a Commission of Inquiry is now deliberating upon the best method of employing the funds, which the master and other officers have hitherto appropriated so largely to their own use. The last master, it is said, received no less a sum than £2,000, a year, for his perfectly sinecure office, and many of the poor brethren have had as much as £70 at a time, as their shares of the renewals of fines and leases of the hospital lands, divided amongst them-so much have the revenues of the establishment increased of late years. Let us hope that with the thorough financial reform of St. Cross, the old customs may be kept up, and that the porter might no longer be allowed to make the Founder's bequest to all poor travellers a source of profit to himself. We can return to Winchester by way of the watermeadows, and the clear river Itchen, which gives fertility to the narrow valley that runs through the vast down-country which surrounds us on either side. Some one has said, and very beautifully too, that the scenery in the midst of which it is situate "is a spot at once full of a melancholy charm,-of a sad, yet old English beauty." This is a criticism which would apply to the neighbourhoods of most ancient establishments devoted to the purposes of religion, or education; but it could never be better applied than to the watermeadows of St. Cross with its old elms, giving a grateful and solemn shade; and St. Catherine's Hill rising close at hand like a green cone, crowned with a coronet of five trees. The sad spirit of the past seems to pervade the landscape, and to harmonize with the thoughts which the gray old pile it nurses in its bosom calls up in the human heart. Pursuing our road by the side of the water, we speedily reach the gateway of St. Mary's College,-one of the great scholastic establishments of the country, founded by Wykeham. As we are about to enter, we see above us the statue of St. Mary, with the infant Jesus, a group we meet with more than once in the building. Wykeham dedicated the building to the Blessed Virgin, his chosen patroness. The college of St. Mary's, consists of four courts, surrounded with the different offices belonging to the establishment. On The Buttery Hatch is separated from it by a screen, and all the furniture and arrangements are the same as have existed there for centuries. During dinner the boys of the Foundation are waited upon by the poor scholars, who receive an inferior education, and are afterwards apprenticed at the expense of the School. At the termination of the meal all the scraps are collected together, and given to a certain number of poor women, together with a handsome allowance of ale. The writer happened to witness the distribution of alms on the occasion of his visit to the College, and there seemed enough in each woman's tin pan for two or three days' supply, and the beer was excellent. These women do some little weeding in the Master's garden for the food, and are therefore known as the 'Weeders.' On the stairs which lead to the kitchen, we see the singular painting called 'The Trusty Servant,' a figure habited in the Windsor uniform, with the extremities of an ass, a deer, and a hog. The inscription which accompanies this Hircocervus is as follows: "A trusty servant's portrait would you see, This emblematic figure well survey. The porker's snout not nice in diet shows; A portrait which we should wish to see painted out, as it seems to us to be replete with bad taste, to say the least of it. The dormitories, which lie on the eastern side of the second court, are very interesting. As we pass along we can peep into them through the open windows; each boy has his little bed, his desk, and a book-case, and little inscriptions incentive to good conduct and diligence are scattered everywhere on the walls. The College authorities, seemingly in despair, have given up the attempt to suppress the cutting of names and dates on the walls, and have very judiciously accepted the practice as a fact, entrusting the inscriptions, however, to the hand of some regular painter; and boys' names are now to be seen lining the walls like those to be found on the doorways of lawyers' offices,-a plan, we should say, from its formality, well calculated to suppress the practice altogether. The boys all sleep on iron bedsteads; until very lately, however, they were of wood, constructed in the rudest fashion, and furnished with a little ledge or canopy just over the head of the sleeper, to save his sconce from the boots and other missiles that used to fly about rather unceremoniously at nighttime. The School-room is situated in the fourth court, and is comparatively a modern building, having been erected in 1692, by the Wykehamites who had previously received their education in the College. It is a plain and rather ugly brick building, adorned with a statue in metal of Wykeham, modelled by the statuary Cibber. This room is 90 feet by 36, and the roof is adorned with the arms of many of the benefactors. On the east end is inscribed a table of the scholastic laws, some of which are singular enough. Thus: "In the Church :-Worship God. Say your prayers with a pious affection of mind. Let not your eyes wander about. Keep silence. Read nothing profane. "In the School:-Let each one be diligent in his studies. Let him repeat his lesson in a low tone to Let no one himself, but in a clear tone to his master. give disturbance to his neighbour. Take care to spell your theme right. "In the Court:-Let no one throw stones or balls against the windows. Let not the building be defaced with writing or carving upon it. Let no one approach the master with his head covered, or without a companion. "In the Chambers :-Let cleanliness be attended to. Let each one study in the evening, and let silence. prevail in the night. "In the town, going on the Hill :-Let the scholars walk in pairs. Let them behave with perfect modesty. Let them move their hats to their masters, and other respect able persons. Let decency regulate your countenance, your motions, and your gait. Let no one on the hill go beyond the prescribed limits." The going on the hill requires some explanation. When Wykeham founded the college, having a lively regard for the health of the scholars, he ordered that they should go St. Catherine's Hill a certain number of times in the week for exercise; which they do to this time, and the whole seventy boys run wild up the steep ascent every other day. At the opposite extremity of the school-room are the following emblems and inscriptions: Aut Discede...... Aut Disce............A Mitre and Crosier Manet Sors...... ...The expected reward of learning The emblems of those who depart and choose a civil or military life. (The lot of those who will qualify themselves for neither. Each scholar has a little bench beside him, not unlike a cobbler's bench, on which his books and school implements are placed; and, unlike other schools, the tasks are learnt during school-hours. The boys on the Foundation are seventy in number; and out of these two of them, of the Founder's kin, are, if qualified, elected to exhibitions of New College, Oxford,-and others of the age of eighteen or nineteen, who have distinguished themselves, are nominated candidates for other scholarships. The College is subservient to the Warden and Fellows of New College, both in government and discipline; and visitors from among them come to St. Mary's every year, listen to complaints, and elect the scholars. After these offices are completed, the vacation commences; the celebrated song of 'Dulce Domum' being sung in the evening, by the boys in the court and school-room of the college. A band accompanies the happy choristers; and the effect produced by the collection of glad voices singing this glad old song, is very beautiful. The following is a translation of the "Dulce Domum:" |