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SOUTH ENTRANCE TO THE CLOISTERS, WORCESTER CATHEDRAL.

well executed bust of George II. underneath which is written, in gold letters-"GEORGIUS SECUNDUS."

It appears that there was a church in Worcester as early as the times of the Britons; but it did not assume the privileges of a cathedral till A. D. 680, when Ethelred, king of Mercia, placed Bosel in the episcopal chair. The church was at that time dedicated to St. Peter..

The first mention of St. Mary's minster occurs in a charter of king Ethelbald, A. D. 743, and it is supposed to have been a new foundation, occasioned by the liberality of abbess Ethelburga. In 983, bishop Oswald, the great patron of the monks, completed the building of a new and more stately cathedral, in which he placed no less than twentyeight altars. This structure, however, felt the cruel ravages of the soldiers of Hardicanute; and the alterations in architecture by the Normans caused another revolution in the fabric.

St. Wulstan, bishop of the see at that time, laid the foundation of the present cathedral, A. D. 1084, in a style of great magnifience. It was burnt in 1202, and repaired and consecrated in the year 1218, in the presence of Henry III. and his court.

In 1924, the church was enlarged by bishop Blois, who added the west front. The great tower was finished in 1974, and is one hundred and sixty-two feet high from the cross aisle. Its external embellishments are exceeded by none in the kingdom; the series of tabernacle-work which surrounds the upper stage is in the most perfect style of Gothic or English architecture, and is terminated by four handsome pinnacles of open-work. The figures surrounding the tower are supposed to be those of Edward III. and bishops Nicholas de Ely, and William de Lynne, on the east side: on the south, Henry III. bishop Blois, and another bishop; on the west, a king and two bishops; and on the north, facing the city, the Virgin and Child, St. Oswald, and St. Wulstan.

This cathedral varies in the several styles of architecture, during the times of its benefactors; but it is built in the form of a patriarchal cross, similar to the collegiate church at Brussels, and makes a noble appearance, taken in every direction.

There have been one hundred bishops from the foundation of the see. The diocese formerly contained Worcestershire, Glocestershire, and half Warwickshire; but was abridged, when Glocester was

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STONE PULPIT, WORCESTER CATHEDRAL.

erected into a bishopric by Henry VIII. It has at present ecclesiastical jurisdiction over two hundred and forty-one parishes in the counties of Worcester and Warwick, by a bishop, dean, archdeacon, chancellor, ten prebendaries, and subordinate clergy and officers.

Among other curiosities within the cathedral is a stone pulpit, of an octagon figure, most elegantly carved in the English style. The front pannels represent the hieroglyphics of the Four Gospels; on the sides of the base are the arms of England and of the see of Worcester.-"These appropriate decorations," says Mr. Green, "illustrate the purposes of the structure in the most comprehensive manner; the old and the new law are exemplified and combined, to indicate the system of the Christian religion; the imperial insignia denote the source of the temporal government of the church, and the whole referring to the Divine Power for guidance and protection, is beautifully indicated by the eye of Providence placed over the series of emblems in each compartment. The New Jerusalem, as described in the Revelations, and represented on the plane of the inside of the pulpit, may be considered as the climax of the whole

composition, inasmuch as it is the object to which all our views should be directed."

The canopy is well designed; the festooned drapery and embroidery is formed at the angles by a cord from beneath, and surmounted by a riband with which it is encompassed. The whole forms the most chaste species of this kind that can be met with. It is ascended by stone steps from the north aisle, the supports of which are finely carved.

King John, upon his visiting Worcester in 1207, after having paid his devotions at the tomb of St. Wulstan, and having bestowed on the prior and convent several estates, gave 100 marks to repair their cloister, which, with the monastery, had lately been burnt down.

The present cloister was erected in 1972, and is in length eastward 125 feet; the south, west, and north sides 120 feet in length; and the width of the whole 16 feet. The vaulted roof is adorned with a profusion of sculptures; those more particularly to be noticed are in the south cloister, where the regal genealogy of Israel and Judah is arranged. It commences at the west end; on the key-stone of the first arch is a figure, with a branch issuing from his bowels sup

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posed to be Jesse. The next keystone exhibits David, with his harp, succeeded on the other keystones to the centre of the arcade, where is a group of figures, representing Samuel anointing David. From the east end is a genealogical series of the kings of Israel, each holding a scroll, supposed formerly to contain their several names. The entrance to the cloister is on the south side of the cathedral. The door by which the cloisters are entered from College Green is of Norman architecture, and undoubtedly coeval with the mother church founded by St.

Wulstan.

On the east side of the cloister is the chapterhouse. Its form is a decagon, fifty-eight feet in diameter, and in height forty-five feet. Its roof is supported by a fine round umbilical pillar, issuing from the centre. This building is coeval in age with the cloisters, and is at present appropriated as a council-room and a library for the use of the church. Here are preserved a valuable collection of printed books, and many manuscripts upon canon law coinprised in two huudred and fifty-one volumes.

Godiva, wife of Leofric duke of Mercia, upon the death of her husband in 1057, among other presents

which she made to the church of Worcester, to obtain their consent that she should hold possessions during her life, which Leofric had promised to restore to the monks at his decease, gave them a library. A regular establishment of this nature did not however take place till the prelacy of bishop Carpenter, in 1461, when he erected a library in the chapel of the charnel-house, and endowed it to the value of 10l. per annum, to maintain a librarian. From this place the library was removed in 1641, to its present

situation.

Under the choir of the cathedral is the crypt, a very accurate plan of which is given in Green's Antiquities of Worcester. These subterraneous 'cavities are considered as clear evidences of the great antiquity of the cathedrals in which they are found: it has likewise been remarked that they are discovered in the most select situations in our ancient churches; from which it may be inferred that their uses were eminently sacred. In the primitive times of Christianity, places of the most retired privacy were resorted to for the purposes of worship; and "caves and dens of the earth" were the gloomy witnesses to the devotion of the first Christians. As

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