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To-day, on the same spot and covering the same ground, stand 
the noble Abbey Church and the famous school of Sherborne. 
The See then founded no longer exists, but it is the mother of 
many daughter Sees—Salisbury, Exeter, Truro, Bristol. 
In the Sherborne Pageant were eleven Episodes, each realisti- 
cally descriptive of some event or period in the history of the 
town, from its founding in 705 to the year 1593, when Sir Walter 
Raleigh came to Sherborne. On each of the four days there was 
a solemn Thanksgiving Service in the Abbey Church. 
The situation of Sherborne, a peaceful little town in the 
county of Dorset, was described by reference to a map, and some- 
thing was said of the characteristic natural features of the 
county. 
It became the second city of Wessex—Winchester being the 
chief—and was on the borders of the forest of Selwood. The 
meaning of the name—clear stream—was brought out in the 
first episode, when St. Ealdhelm is introduced, ‘‘ God’s saint, 
who at the dawn of history, gave life to the lifeless, to the un- 
known a name.” The story of the planting of the standard of 
Christ, and of the establishment of Sherborne as a centre from 
which the knowledge of God should be spread abroad, was 
depicted. By the gathering of the children round him was put 
forth in touching way the manner of the founding of the school 
Sherborne. 
The scenes were enacted in the grounds of the old castle—the 
most perfect setting for a great historical pageant. In the fore- 
ground stretched the long expanse of grass, while the background 
consisted of the grey and crumbling ruins, with their mantle of 
ivy, and here and there the foliage of fine trees. 
The pageant was devised by Mr. Louis N. Parker, the dramatist. 
He had been music master at Sherborne School. The performers 
consisted of Sherborne folk, high and low, rich and poor. They 
were eight hundred in number. ‘The performance was a notable 
triumph, a great outburst of local patriotism. Something was 
said about the dresses and designs; and the Lecturer dwelt upon 
the immense labour which had been necessary for many months 
to bring the spectacle to that pitch of excellence which earned 
the highest praise of the witnesses. 
The part of St. Ealdhelm was taken by the present head- 
master of the School—Canon Westcott. Interesting facts re- 
lating to the career of that famous scholar of the early Church 
were given ; special mention being made of his fame as a builder 
of Churches. He was the first Bishop of Sherborne, an enthusi- 
astic teacher, a voluminous writer. 
