was established in the days of the
Parliament.
THE MINSTER.
Monday, April 13th.--This morning was chill, and, worse, it was showery,
so that our purposes to see York were much thwarted. At about ten
o'clock, however, we took a cab, and drove to the cathedral, where we
arrived while service was going on in the choir, and ropes were put up as
barriers between us and the nave; so that we were limited to the south
transept, and a part of one of the aisles of the choir. It was dismally
cold. We crept cheerlessly about within our narrow precincts (narrow,
that is to say, in proportion to the vast length and breadth of the
cathedral), gazing up into the hollow height of the central tower, and
looking at a monumental brass, fastened against one of the pillars,
representing a beruffed lady of the Tudor times, and at the canopied tomb
of Archbishop de Grey, who ruled over the diocese in the thirteenth
century. Then we went into the side aisle of the choir, where there were
one or two modern monuments; and I was appalled to find that a sermon was
being preached by the ecclesiastic of the day, nor were there any signs
of an imminent termination. I am not aware that there was much pith in
the discourse, but there was certainly a good deal of labor and
earnestness in the preacher's mode of delivery; although, when he came to
a close, it appeared that the audience was not more than half a dozen
people.
The barriers being now withdrawn, we walked adown the length of the nave,
which did not seem to me so dim and vast as the recollection which I have
had of it since my visit of a year ago.
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