141 



YORK. 



in almost perfect preservation. It is divided into 

 Compartments by lift eon niches, which contain the 

 statue- of the English kings from the Conqueror to 

 Henry the VI., inclusive. The place of the li-t 

 mentioned monarch used to be occupied by a figure 

 of James I., which it is said was substituted for 

 that of Henry, after the latter had been displaced 

 in con.->c<|uence of the disposition manifested by the 

 people to pay it a sort of idolatrous reverence, in 

 memory of the holy king. It seems to have been 

 thought there was no danger of their falling into 

 the same excess of observance towards James's 

 effigy. James, however was not many years ago 

 taken down from a situation where he was cer- 

 tainly out of place, and a new statue of Henry, 

 carved by a York sculptor, put in the niche. The 

 great east window is of the vast dimensions of 75 feet 

 in height by 32 in breadth. It is formed of above 

 200 compartments of painted glass. According to 

 Mr Britton, in his Cathedral Antiquities," the 

 figures are generally from two feet two to two feet 

 four inches in height. The heads in particular are 

 many of them drawn with exquisite beauty. The 

 fabrication of this noble specimen of art was begun 

 in 1405, by John Thornton, of Coventry, whose 

 agreement was to complete it in three years, during 

 which time he was to have a salary of four shil- 

 lings a week, with 100 shillings additional per an- 

 num, and 10 more on finishing the work, if -it 

 should be done to the satisfaction of his employers. 



Attached to the northern transept of the cathe- 

 dral is the Chapter House, an octagonal building 

 with a conical roof, the interior of which consists of 

 one apartment of great magnificence. It is 63 feet 

 in diameter and 67 feet 10 inches in heighj;, the 

 arched roof being supported without pillars. 

 Around are aranged the stalls, forty-four in number, 

 formed of the finest marble, and having their cano- 

 pies sustained by slender columns. A window oc- 

 cupies each of the eight sides, except that in which 

 is the entry from the transept. 



York Minster contains a good many tombs, some 

 of them of considerable beauty ; but these we can- 

 not here attempt to describe. Among the curiosi- 

 ties preserved in the vestry we can notice only the 

 ancient chair, said to have been used at the corona- 

 tion of some of the Saxon kings, and on which the 

 archbishop is still on some occasions accustomed to 

 seat himself, and the famous horn of Ulphus, one of 

 the most curious relics of Saxon antiquity which 

 have been preserved to our times. A learned dis- 

 sertation respecting this horn, by Mr Samuel Gale, 

 may be found in the first volume of the Archceolo- 

 gia. It was presented to the cathedral by Ulphus, 

 a lord of Deira, whose drinking horn it probably 

 had been, along with and in testimony and confir- 

 mation of a grant of certain lands, still said to be 

 in possession of the Chapter, and known by the 

 name of the Terra Ulphi. They lie a short distance 

 to the east of the city. The horn which is in perfect 

 preservation is of ivory, and among other sculpture 

 on the outside is ornamented with figures of two 

 griffins, a lion, a unicorn, and some dogs and trees, 

 cut in bas-reb'ef. Mr Gale is of opinion that it was 

 probably presented by Ulphus soon after the death 

 of king Canute, which took place A. D. 1036. The 

 horn was carried away at the time of the Reforma- 

 tion ; but long after it fell into the hands of the 

 celebrated Thomas lord Fairfax, by whose son 

 Henry it was restored to the cathedral in 1G75. 



York "Minster, it will be recollected, was very 

 nearly destroyed, on the 2d of February, 1829, by I 



the act of an insane individual, Jonathan Martin, 

 who died lately under confinement. This person, 

 having concealed himself in the choir after service 

 the preceding evening, contrived to kindle a fire 

 in that part of the building, which was not disco- 

 vered till seven o'clock in the morning. By this 

 time the wood work of the choir was every where 

 ina blaze; but by great exertions, and especially 

 by sawing through the beams of the roof, and allow- 

 ing it to fall upon the flames below, the conflagra- 

 tion was in a few hours subdued. The damage 

 done consisted in the entire destruction of the Malls 

 of the choir, and of the 222 feet of icof by which that 

 part of the building was covered. The organ over 

 the screen was also destroyed, but the screen itself 

 e>caped uninjured. A public subscription was. im- 

 mediately commenced for the repair of a loss- which 

 was justly considered a national one, and the sum 

 of 50,000 was collected within two months. The 

 task of effecting the restoration was committed to 

 Mr Smirke ; and the work was admirably completed 

 by 1833. The scrupulous care with which the re- 

 storation has been accomplished, so as to preserve 

 every detail of the building, is highly creditable to 

 the architect and his employers. The roof has been 

 executed in teak, and the carved work of the choir 

 in oak. "With the exception that the choir looks 

 cleaner and fresher than formerly, a person unac- 

 quainted with its destruction would be unable to 

 perceive any change. The organ, one of the finest 

 in Europe, was destroyed, and another is being 

 erected in its place. Even in an unfinished state 

 this appears to be a grand instrument ; and well 

 calculated for those fine choral services, which are 

 heard with more effect in York Minster, than in any 

 other cathedral. 



YORK (presently called Toronto') ; the capital of 

 Upper Canada, on the north-west side of lake On- 

 tario ; Ion. 70 20 7 W. ; lat. 43 33' N. The popula- 

 tion is about 3000. It is handsomely built. The 

 public buildings are a government-house, a house of 

 assembly for the provincial parliament, a court- 

 house, a jail, various buildings for public stores, 

 and houses of worship. About a mile from the 

 town are the barracks for the troops usu.illy sta- 

 tioned here, and other buildings properly appertain- 

 ing to such an establishment. The harbour is 

 nearly circular, formed by a very narrow peninsula, 

 which encloses a beautiful basin about one mile and 

 a half in circuit, and capable of containing in secu- 

 rity, a great number of vessels. The town is de- 

 lightfully situated, the climate is mild, and the town 

 and harbour are sheltered by high lands. In 1793, 

 this town contained only a solitary Indian wig- 

 wam. 



YORK ; a short and navigable river of Virginia, 

 formed by the union of the Pamunky and Matta- 

 pony. It flows into the Chesapeake opposite to 

 cape Charles. 



YORK, FREDERIC, duke of, second son of George 

 III., was born at Buckingham house, in 1763. In 

 the following year he was elected prince-bishop of 

 Osnabruck, in Hanover; in 1767, was invested with 

 the insignia of the order of the Bath, and chosen a 

 companion of the most noble order of the Garter in 

 1771. In the literary part of his education, he was 

 associated with his elder brother, to whom he al- 



.ys continued to be much attached ; and the 

 direction of the studies of the two princes was suc- 

 cessively confided to doctor Markbam, afterwards 

 archbishop of York, assisted by doctor Jackson, and 

 to doctor Hurd, bishop of Lichtield. Prince Fre- 



