The Cathedral Towns and Intervening Places of England, Ireland and Scotland: / A Description of Cities, Cathedrals, Lakes, Mountains, Ruins, and Watering-places.

by Thomas W. Silloway; Lee L. Powers

Among her eminent men are the justly renowned Mathew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, died 1575; Christopher Marlowe the dramatist, 1593; John Fletcher, the dramatist, and colleague with Beaumont, 1625; and Archbishop Tennison of Canterbury, 1715.

The seventh is King's. This royal and very magnificent institution arose from the munificence of the meek but unfortunate King Henry VI., who endowed it in 1443. His misfortunes prevented him from carrying out designs which would have made it greatly excel any other college. It was aided, however, by Edward IV. and Richard III., but it was reserved for his thrifty nephew, Henry VII., by devotions in his lifetime and by his will, to provide funds for the completion of the noble edifice.

However pressed for space, we must employ enough to speak of the remarkable chapel, which is one of the great objects of attraction at Cambridge, and one of the most interesting buildings in Christendom. It is of what is known as the perpendicular Gothic architecture. Its length is 316 feet. The corner-stone was laid by Henry VI., July 25, 1446. The work progressed till 1484, when it came to a standstill for want of funds; but in 1508 Henry VII. took it in hand, contributing £5,000, and his executors bestowed £5,000 more in 1513. It was not till July 29, 1515, in the seventh year of Henry VIII., that the exterior was finished. This was just 69 years from its commencement. Nothing more was done till 1526, when arrangements were made for the fine painted glass windows. The elegant screen-work and elaborate oak stalls were put up in 1534. All this work is very curiously carved, and was done when Anne Boleyn was queen; the west side is ornamented with several lover's knots, and the arms of Queen Anne impaled with those of the king. On this screen, in the old cathedral style, is the organ, which is of very large capacity, and in 1860 £2,000 was expended on it.

It would be next to an impossibility to adequately describe this magnificent interior. It is of very great height, and the ceiling is of fan-tracery of the most elaborate design of open-work cut in stone. Arms of all the kings of England, from Henry V. to James I., are here. The painted glass windows, twenty-five in number, are remarkably large, and for brilliancy of color and artistic design are surpassed by none in the world. They represent Old and New Testament scenes. The designs are entirely English, and the date of their manufacture ranges from 1516 to 1532, so that the very latest is more than 346 years old, or 88 years before the Pilgrims set sail for America. Choral service is performed in the chapel every afternoon. The grounds are very grand, and too much cannot be thought or said of this institution.

Among her eminent men were Robert Woodlark, founder of St. Catherine College; Sir Francis Walsingham, secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth; Bishop Pearson, author of the celebrated "Exposition of the Creed;" and Sir Robert Walpole, the renowned and royal minister of state.

We cannot leave these grounds without asking the reader to go with us to the great and single-arch stone bridge,—King's Bridge,—and for a moment enjoy the grand views to be had from it. To the right is to be seen the front of the Fellows' Building and the west end of the great chapel. Immediately in front is Clare College, with its picturesque bridge. The bridges and avenues make a grand view, bounded in the distance by the grounds of Trinity College. On the other side the view is of a more retired character. In the distance to the left are the spires and turrets of Queen's College, and extending along the side of the river is the terraced walk and quiet shady grove of the same institution. The venerable avenue at right-angles with this, tradition has long pointed out as the favorite walk of Erasmus; and in deference to this tradition the University purchased it of the town, by whom it was doomed at one time to destruction.

Queen's College is the eighth in order. This, in its architecture, history, and plan, is one of the most picturesque and interesting of all the colleges. It was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou, consort of Henry VI., who, amidst a career perhaps one of the most troubled and chequered on record, found time and means to emulate the example of her royal husband, and, while he was erecting King's College, became the foundress of this. The civil wars interrupted the work, but Andrew Doket, the first master, by good management secured the patronage of Elizabeth Woodville, consort of Edward IV., who set apart a portion of her income for its endowment, and she has since been annually celebrated as a co-foundress.

Among the things of especial interest is a sun-dial, said to have been made by Sir Isaac Newton; and next is the Erasmus Court and tower. When the erudite and ingenious Erasmus visited England, at the invitation of his friend Bishop Fisher, then Chancellor of the University, he chose this college as his place of residence, "having his study," says Fuller, "at the top of the southwest tower of the court now called by his name." This college, like many others, has gardens and fine grounds on both sides of the river. They are connected by a wooden bridge of one span,—an ingenious piece of carpentry, and frequently called the Mathematical Bridge. To the right of this is the Grove, a most inviting place for quiet meditation. The terraced walk on the banks of the river is a delightful spot, shaded by lofty overhanging elms, at the end of which a striking view is obtained beneath the great stone arch of King's Bridge.

The eminent members here, or a few of the vast lot, were John Fisher, the master of the college and Bishop of Rochester, who was beheaded 1535; Thomas Fuller, D. D., the great Church historian, 1561; Dr. Isaac Milner, master, and Bishop of Carlisle, 1820; and Samuel Lee, the eminent linguist, 1852.

On the opposite side of the street is the ninth college, St. Catharine's, founded in 1475, by Robert Woodlark, D. D. The chapel was consecrated 1704, by Simon Patrick, Bishop of Ely. The especially eminent men here are John Bradford, martyred 1555; John Strype, the learned ecclesiastical historian, 1737; and Benjamin Hoadley, Bishop of Winchester. It was he who gave rise to what is known as the celebrated Bangorian Controversy, in 1761.