Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 October 1892 — HISTORIC YORK. [ARTICLE]

HISTORIC YORK.

Its Massive Wall a, Old Tower and Magnificent Cathedral. Some historians consider York the most ancient city in Britain. It was a ‘’flourishing place 2,000 years ago.” It has now about 60,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the largest county in England. It is situated about midway between London and Edinburgh. The site was probably selected by Agricola 80 years after Christ. It has been thought, from the remains of outbuildings, baths, pavements, etc., found that it waj the place of residence of a very wealthy colony of Roman citizens. “After the evacuation by the Romans it was soon overrun by the Piets and Scots, then by the Saxons and ultimately by the Danes.” Here Augustine was sent, by Pope Gregory the Great, to turn the benighted people to the Christian faith. In 1068 William the Conqueror took the city with little difficulty. After nearly another century, in the reign of Henry 11., the first English Parliament was held at York. There in Richard I.’s time nearly 1,000 Jews, men, women and children, lost their lives at the hands of a mob who wished to exterminate all the “enemies of Christ.” It was at York that the first Christmas was kept in Britain (521) by King Arthur. In 1727, Daniel Defoe visited York and made it the brthplace of 1 ‘Robinson Crusoe.” Ten years later it is spoken of by Drake as “one of the pleasantest cities of England.” I did not think of York being still surrounded by strong, high walls (or perhaps I ought to say that part that was originally the city, for at present, I was told, there are as many people living outside as inside the city walls). The first thing I did was to walk around the town on top of the wall, making the whole circuit, about three miles, and thus getting a good view of the city. The date of the erection of the first walls cannot be determined. Some jiarts may have been built in ancieut British time before the Roman invasion. Portions of the Roman walls may still be seen. The most of the present walls were built iu the 14th Century. In some places the wall is teg or fifteen higli anq must be over seven feet thick as near as I could judge by measuring with my umbrella. No wonder that wfien the Parliamentarian army laid siege to the city, the troops and citizens within the city were able to hold out against them for twenty-two days, or until Prince Rupert came with 20,000 meg to their relief. There are six gate-ways in the wall with high arches and towers built over the arches. The outside of the wall is built up about six feet higher than the inside so that you can walk along on the inside part without being seen from the outside. Through this outside part are loop holes so the citizens could hurl their missiles at the besiegers, being themselves protected by the outer part of the wail. Thus walking about the city I found some idea of the extent of the city and the principal buildings. There are a great many churches of all denominations. I counted as many as 35 or 40. There are also, I should judge, an unusually large number of asylums, halls, museums, institutions, libraries, etc. After leaving the walls I visited many of these places more carefully. The first place 1 went to was the old “ Clifford Tower,” built in the 13th Century, which occupies the site of William the Conqueror's original keep, or rather the keep of the original castle. This was the scene of the Jewish massacre in Richard First’s time. There is not much left now' of the old tower. It has been repaired enough to preserve it and that is all. You cannot enter it except by special permission, and there is nothing to see when you gain admittance. The buildings about it are used for a prison nndxourt rooms. It speaks well of York that the number of prisoners is decreasing. I w?ut to the prison yard and also into court rooms where there is kept a roll of the sheriffs from the reign of William the Conqueror to the present time. Criminals condemned to death used to be hanged on the wall outside (the spot was pointed out to me) in sight of the people, but now the execution takes place within the prison walls. The next thing of special interest is, of course, York Minster, or Cathedral. The first building on this spot was a little “wooden oratory,” where Edw’in, King of Northumbria, being converted to the “new faith,” was publicly baptized, Easter Sunday, April 12, 627. He began to build a large church, but did not live to see it completed, and it was destroyed. Twice it was restored and twice burned; once in 741, and again during the Norman conquest. The present cathedral dates from 1215. It is built in the form of a Latin cross, and is 519 feet long and its extreme breadth is 249 feet. A lantern tower rises from the centre of the cathedral 213 feet from the ground. It is the largest in England. Some of the stained glass windows are magnificent; the chapter-house is most beautiful. I have seen the cathedrals at Ely, Petersborough and Lincoln, but for good proportions, grandeur and fine effect I like York. However, I believe good judges of architectural work would not agree with me. Some parts, as the carvings in the choir, the ceilings, &c., of other cathedrals may bd more beautiful, but none as a whole impressed me so favorably as a cathedral, a place of solemn worship, as York Minster.—[Edwrard Foley, in Southington (Conn.) Phoenix.