decorated shrines of saints. In the audacity of my ignorance, as I humbly
acknowledge it to have been, I criticized this great interior as too much
broken into compartments, and shorn of half its rightful impressiveness by
the interposition of a screen betwixt the nave and chancel. It did not
spread itself in breadth, but ascended to the roof in lofty narrowness.

A great deal of white marble decorates the old stonework of the aisles, in
the shape of altars, obelisks, sarcophagi, and busts. Most of these
memorials are commemorative of people locally distinguished, especially
the deans and canons of the cathedral, with their relatives and families;
and I found but two monuments of personages whom I had ever heard of--one
being Gilbert Walmesley, and the other Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, a
literary acquaintance of my boyhood. It was really pleasant to meet her
there; for after a friend has lain in the grave far into the second
century, she would be unreasonable to require any melancholy emotions in a
chance interview at her tombstone. It adds a rich charm to sacred
edifices, this time-honored custom of burial in churches, after a few
years, at least, when the mortal remains have turned to dust beneath the
pavement, and the quaint devices and inscriptions still speak to you
above....

A large space in the immediate neighborhood of the cathedral is called the
Close, and comprises beautifully kept lawns and a shadowy walk, bordered
by the dwellings of the ecclesiastical dignitaries of the diocese. All
this row of episcopal, canonical, and clerical residences has an air of
the deepest quiet, repose, and well-protected, tho not inaccessible
seclusion. They seemed capable of including everything that a saint could
desire, and a great many more things than most of us sinners generally
succeed in acquiring. Their most marked feature is a dignified comfort,
looking as if no disturbance or vulgar intrusiveness could ever cross