WINCHESTER. 



anecdote that shows that, while " blood is thicker than water," the 

 loyalty of old Wykehamists, and their idolatry of their great Founder, 

 can triumph over sectarian bigotry. When Cromwell's soldiers raided 

 the Cathedral, according to their sweet will and way, and would have 

 wreaked their hatred and contempt upon William de Wykeham's 

 chantry as upon the rest, Colonel Fiennes, an old Wykehamist, stood 

 at the entrance with his sword drawn in his hand. Then, opening the 

 reliquaries of the Saxon Kings, they threw their bones through the 

 west window. The bones were re-collected and put back, but there 

 was no being sure which was which, and but for a miracle they must 

 have been sadly mixed. In the transepts the Club were struck by the 

 grandeur of the rude, unadorned Norman work, rearing itself in tier 

 upon tier of arcading, not a single cushion capital showing a trace of 

 decoration. A few monolithic pillars, the Dean mentioned, were 

 thought to be Roman. The magnificent stalls and other woodwork of 

 the chancel, unrivalled in its kind, evoked admiration ; and in due 

 course the party descended to the crypt and peered into the reputed 

 Roman well. All the chantries and monuments of the church were 

 inspected, from the cadaver of Bishop Fox to the tomb of Jane Austen, 

 and then the visitors ascended to the library to see the illuminated 

 Bibles and other manuscripts. The Dean afterwards kindly showed 

 them over the Deanery, which has a noble front in the happily preserved 

 entrance to the Benedictine Prior's hall, with its Early English work, 

 and led them into the reception-room prepared for Charles II. to 

 occupy while his palace was a-building. 



Hearty thanks were expressed to the Dean for his kindness 

 in acting as guide, and then, through falling rain, the party 

 started for the homeward journey. 



