WILLIAM OF WYKEHAM. 149 



place of many a good man is an interesting old town in a 

 cleft of the downs. All who have heard Mr. Emerson s 

 lecture upon England will remember it also as the town of 

 &quot; William of Wykeham.&quot; 



We visited the cathedral, the college, and the other notable 

 institutions and monuments, and demanded and received our 

 share of the legacy bequeathed by William of Wykeham, 

 five hundred years ago, to all wayfarers passing by a gen 

 erous slice of good bread, and a draught of ale, served in an 

 ancient horn. There is certainly no humbug about it, but the 

 good bishop s hospitable will, in this particular, is yet as sin 

 cerely executed as if by servants under his own eye. Mr. 

 Emerson was, nevertheless, unfortunate in his eloquent use of 

 this circumstance to illustrate the simple honesty of English 

 character, and the permanence and reliability of English in 

 stitutions ; for it now appears that, notwithstanding the sub 

 stantial bread and unadulterated beer, this is but the cleanliness 

 of the cup and platter, and that in the real and worthy legacy 

 which the far-reaching piety of the good prelate left to the 

 future of England, there is much rottenness. Generally, the 

 means which the piety of Englishmen of former generations 

 bequeathed, for the furnishing to the poor aliment of mind, 

 have been notoriously wrenched aside to the emolument and 

 support, in luxurious sinecures, of a few individuals, whom, but 

 for the association of their titles with religion, loyalty, law, and 

 order, and the poor conscience-salve that it is the system and 

 not they that are wrong, every man woulfr know for perjured 

 . hypocrites, liars, swindlers ; far more detestable than Ameri 

 can repudiators, French sycophants, or Irish demagogues. 



The cathedral is low and heavy, covering much ground ; 

 and exhibits, curiously interworked, the styles of Saxon, Nor 

 man, and early and later English architects. I again wrote in 

 my note-book, &quot; unimpressive ;&quot; but now, after two years, I 



