street," as some call it, are situated all the first-class shops, the
others being in the lower story on a level with the road. Picture to
yourself a row of houses having porches in the second story but not in the
first, and you have a correct idea of the Rows of Chester. To compare them
to the Arcades of Rue de Rivoli in Paris, is a mistake, as they do not
resemble those more, than a porch over a pavement resembles one in the
second story.

The Cathedral is a grand old church. It was built in the latter part of
the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth centuries, upon the same
site where two of its predecessors had already crumbled into decay. "_St.
John's Church_ is even more ancient than the Cathedral, having been built
in the eleventh century. I shall never forget its weather-beaten walls and
its mossy roof. In many places, the thickness of the walls is greatly
reduced by the rain and hail that have washed and beaten against it so
long. In my rambles through Chester I had the good fortune of meeting and
forming the acquaintance of an Irish Catholic Priest and a wine merchant
from Wolverhampton, two intelligent and amiable gentlemen, who taught me
much about those curious relics still found in heaps among the ruins of
old Chester. At about 2:00 o'clock we stood upon the high square: tower of
St. John's (thirty-five feet each side at the top) amidst the elderberries
and grass which flourish at that giddy height. Looking at the town from
this elevation, one gets no idea of its _unique_ features, as the numerous
slate-roofs give it the appearance of a modern town. The descent was made
with difficulty, land even attended with some danger, for the long wooden
stairs or ladders are becoming shaky and a break of one of its steps
might precepitate one from such a height that instant death was the most
desirable alternative. But who would not become bold, or even sometimes
more that, amid such surroundings! When one says we _can't_ get there,
another is sure to declare that we _must_ get there! "What! would you come