MUCKROSS ABBEY--LIMERICK--DUBLIN.
The time for visiting Muckross Abbey is most auspicious, the sun being
still above the horizon; and the approaching tranquillity befits a trip
of the kind. The ruins we have before inspected have been castles,
or fort-like structures, designed as a home for some royal family,
yet sufficiently strong and impregnable to ward off the attacks of a
formidable enemy. What we are now to see is not a place designed for
ease, comfort, and defence against ill conditions in this life, but
rather to ensure pleasure and safety in the life to come.
The spot is about five miles from Killarney, and owned by Mr. Herbert,
a gentleman held in the highest esteem by rich and poor. There is a
neat gate-lodge, beyond which the visitor finds gratuitous admission at
any hour before 6 P. M.; after that, and properly enough, a
shilling is due to the gatekeeper. Our team left outside the gate, we
pass through a grand avenue, and soon opens to view one of the finest
and most enchanting mediæval ruins to be found in Ireland,--exquisitely
interesting in every part, and beyond the power of any one to
adequately describe. The ruins are on a large knoll, surrounded by
trees, conspicuous among which is the yew. These trees are formed
much like large cedars, and resemble them in general outline; but the
foliage is dark-green, so dark as at first sight to appear almost
black. The branches are very large, and spread out into flat or fanlike
masses, to near the ground.
The abbey was founded in 1140, and is now 742 years old. As we examine
it, and more especially an ancient yew-tree, surrounded by the
cloisters, known to have been there for more than 600 years, we are
deeply impressed with the thought that we are communing with things
relating to long past generations. It had its last repairs in 1602, was
soon after abandoned, and is now without a roof, but is otherwise in
good preservation. The ruins are very large and varied. They consist
of both an abbey and a church. The cloisters belong to the former, and
form a stone colonnade, some ten feet wide, connected by the arches
with the open-to-the-sky area, some seventy-five feet square, in the
centre of which stands the venerable yew already mentioned.
In the retirement and obscurity of these cloisters, walked and
meditated and prayed hundreds,--and in the large aggregate of years it
may be thousands,--to whom no other spot on the broad earth was, in
their judgment, so good and befitting for their pious purpose. Here
for centuries piety intensified, was transformed into superstition,
germinated, blossomed, and fruited.
The different rooms of the abbey are still in good preservation, the
entire structure being of masonry. The kitchen, with its immense
fireplace, appears as it was centuries ago; and a little room about
six feet square in one of the towers, and opening out of the kitchen,
was occupied for eleven years as a sleeping-room by the hermit, John
Drake, a hundred or more years ago. His patriarchal demeanor and solemn
yet cheerful aspect obtained for him a people's veneration, and his
piety and general seclusion excited general interest. To this day he
is spoken of with scarcely less esteem than would be one of the early
monks of the abbey itself. The floors of the rooms in the second story,
the building being roofless, are well overgrown with the finest lawn
grass. As one walks thoughtfully up the narrow, winding, stone stairs,
into the dormitory, hospital, lavatory and other apartments,--in all
but few in number,--the solid and venerable walls, the open sky above
him, and the green grass (emblematic of human life in its best estate)
beneath his feet,--under the influence of these, in spite of himself
he becomes absorbed in meditation, and holds communion with those who
lived and labored here centuries ago, and at length passed on to "the
house appointed for all the living."
Reluctantly we left the abbey, and walked through the antique
passage-ways and cramped stone stairway down into the church, where,
in the midst of singular beauty, were the unwelcome evidences of
inevitable decay. Here are the roofless walls of the nave, choir,
and transept; here are windows elegant in design, with their stone
traceries yet perfect. In places, the friendly, sombre ivy is spread,
like a kind mantle of charity, covering defects of broken wall, and
disguising the empty place of some fallen stone.
"How old all material is," we instinctively say; and yet how new the
results of labor,--the vine, the shrub, the tree. How velvety and
carpet-like is the grass on parts of this very floor, once pressed by
the toil-worn, blistered feet of pious penance-doers, and even now a
place of deposit for their mouldering bodies. Instead of desk or altar
or font, of kingly stall or peasant's seat, are ancient mural stones.
Here are monuments, the outward tokens of reverence and respect for the
blue blood of royalty, or the saintship of those who hundreds of years
ago--their work done, the checkered scenes of life over--went down to
the "silent mansions of the dead."
In the piscina, in the lavatory, in the place for sacred vessels,
the swallow unscared builds its nest; and along the altar-steps
the lizard crawls, or basks in the sunshine unalarmed. Here sleep
in their low, common--and yet _uncommon_--resting-places, they of
the old dispensation, side by side with men of the new. O'Sullivan,
O'Donohue, Mc'Carthy--nobles and kings of Munster, before whom the
multitude trembled and reverentially bowed--mingle their dust with
nineteenth-century leaders.
An incident, showing a notable instance of faithfulness in the
performance of an agreement, may be related. At the time of the
surrender of these ruins, it was stipulated that, in consideration
of the fact of their being the repository of dust so peculiar and
sacred, no Protestant should ever be buried within these walls; and
while it would otherwise have been the choice of the late owner of the
premises--Mr. Herbert the elder, Member of Parliament for Kerry and
Chief Secretary of Ireland--to be here buried, this was not done. On
elevated grounds outside the abbey precincts, a very large, ornamental,
mediæval, granite cross was erected by subscription of both Catholics
and Protestants as a mark of love and esteem for him whom they call
"One of the best of men."
Muckross Abbey Mansion, not far away, the seat of H. A. Herbert,
Esq., the present owner of the grounds, is a fine stone building, of
Elizabethan architecture. We knew of the Torc Cascade not far off;
but as darkness had imperceptibly come upon us, and we were informed
that little water was then passing over the fall, we did not go there,
but listened to a description from our guide, who told us that the
waters are precipitated in a sheet of splendid foam over a ledge of
rocks, breaking into mist and spray; that the volume of water then
resumes its hurried course through a deep ravine, narrow and irregular,
through groups of fir and pine trees, and at last crosses the beautiful
pleasure-grounds, till it falls into Muckross Lake.
At no time shall we probably have a more appropriate place to speak
of the mountains of Ireland; and, at the risk of being charged with
digression, we make the venture. Ireland is not a prairie-like country;
yet, though for the most parts hilly and undulatory, it cannot be
called mountainous. In this vicinity are the principal mountains of
the Emerald Isle. It was for a long time thought that Mangerton, of
the Macgillicuddy's Reeks, was the highest peak in Ireland, but a late
survey makes Carrantual, of the same range, the highest. They are
respectively 2,756 and 3,414 feet high. For the aid of those who may
not be able to judge heights readily, yet are familiar with our New
England mountains, we will say that the Grand Monadnock, at Jaffrey, N.
H., is 3,186 feet high, and the Wachusett, at Princeton, Mass., 2,018
feet. The distance from Muckross to the summit of Carrantual is not far
from five miles. The ascent is easy, and may be made with horses. Four
miles from Muckross is what is called the Devil's Punch Bowl, a tarn or
mountain lake, 2,206 feet above the level of the sea, and more than two
thousand feet above the surface of the lakes, they being not far from
two hundred feet above sea-level. It is an ovalish basin containing
about twenty-eight acres, being two thirds the size of Boston Common,
the latter having within its fence lines an area of a few feet over
forty-three and three fourths acres. On all sides of the tarn are
shelving cliffs. History has it that C. J. Fox swam entirely around it
in 1772. Purple Mountain, opposite Macgillicuddy's Reeks, with the Gap
of Dunloe between, is somewhat lower than these, but we have not the
figures of its elevation. After our visit to the abbey, we returned to
the hotel--in name only, Innisfallen--and remained over night. Having
breakfasted, valise in hand we wended our way back through the village
streets to the railroad station, and took passage to Limerick.
"And sure," says the reader, "that is another Irish city,
and no mistake," and you are right. Our ride was exceedingly
pleasant. The country was at its best, so far as vegetation was
concerned,--especially its grass, for cattle-raising is the general
farm occupation of the people. Here and there was a patch of potatoes,
but no fruit-trees, and few good vegetable gardens. There were no stone
walls or fences; if there were any land divisions they were hedges, and
few at that.
The more one travels in foreign countries, the more he is convinced
of the folly of so much fence-work as we have on New England farms.
It is a waste of labor and material, an abuse of the ground itself,
and a loss of the land, usually uncultivated, lying close against the
partitions; and, in addition, the shade is objectionable. Of course
some divisions are needed; but many of them exist, as a necessity, only
in the farmer's imagination. There are but few New England farms where
a large amount of labor and time are not worse than wasted in repairs
of cross walls, set up by our fathers and grandfathers, which would be
used to a much better purpose if employed in their demolition.
LIMERICK.
After a ride of five hours, having on the way passed back through
Mallow, we arrived in Limerick, where we took rooms at the Royal George
Hotel. Valises deposited, and the usual toilet operations gone through
with, we walk out to see this place, so like Cork and Dublin. Limerick
is the capital of the county of Limerick. It is on a narrow arm of the
sea, or mouth of the River Shannon, with a population of 49,670. It
consists of an English town, built on an island of the Shannon, and
also an Irish one; and it has a suburb called Newton Perry, on the left
bank of the river. These three portions are connected by five bridges,
one of which, the Wellesley Bridge, cost $425,000.
We were pleasantly surprised with the appearance of the place, with the
cleanness of the streets, and their good pavements, and the general
order and substantial condition of all we saw. We speak now of the
English portion, which is in fact the larger and principal division
of the place. The surface is level, and the buildings are mostly of
dark-colored brick. They are generally three or four stories high,
without decoration, save simple brick cornices and arched doorways to
the houses. There are solid and plainly finished fronts to the stores.
The streets are of strikingly uniform appearance, presenting only here
and there anything to attract notice. It has its slums like Cork; but
of these we need not speak now.
We next begin our walk to the cathedral, for this was the first of the
cathedrals we had reached. The greater part of the edifice, as it now
stands, was built during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and so
is six hundred years old. We readily found it, and came to one of the
iron gates leading to the burial-ground in front of it. The dark and
antiquated look of the old, massive structure impressed us favorably,
and touched the right chord. We had seen castles and abbeys in fine
ruin, but they belonged to a dead past. We were hungering for something
ancient in which the living present was playing its part, and nothing
feeds this hunger so well as a cathedral, especially those that, at the
Reformation, passed over from Catholicism to Protestantism, as this has
done.
After demonstrations at the iron gate the verger soon appeared,
coming from the cathedral tower some hundred or more feet away. This
burial-ground is the principal way of access to the cathedral, and
has good walks from the gates to the edifice. The entire ground,
perhaps a half-acre in extent, is neat and well kept, and has many
ancient-looking gravestones and low slab-monuments. Our verger was a
portly man of some sixty years, a master of the situation. An adept at
the business, he soon understood our case and our nationality, and we
thought we understood him. Both parties being in good humor and knowing
their business, we proceeded from point to point over the edifice, he
all the time trying to earn his fee of a shilling each, and we aiding
him as best we could, by seeming to pay respectful attention, yet doing
as much thinking outside of his thoughts as we chose, and in our own
way.
The cathedral is large and imposing to view from the outside, irregular
in outline, and antique-looking in the extreme. It is built of a
dark-dinged, brownish colored stone, and is of Gothic architecture. It
has a tower one hundred and twenty feet high, but no spire above it.
At the time of our visit the building was under process of extensive
restorations of the interior.
There are many ancient monuments in the various parts of the building,
some of them centuries old. It would be interesting to allude freely to
them, but our limits will not permit. One illustration must suffice,
and that is quoted for its simplicity and quaintness. It was read
off by our guide with a promptness and precision, both of words and
declamation, that suggested familiarity, and that we were by no means
the first who had heard it.
MEMENTO MORY
HERE LIETH LITTELL SAMVELL
BARINGTON THAT GREAT VNDER
TAKER OF FAMIOVS CITTIS
CLOCK AND CHIMS MAKER
HE MADE HIS ONE TIME GOE
ERLY AND LATTER BVT NOW
HE IS RETVRNED TO GOD HIS CREATOR
THE 19 OF NOVEMBER THEN HE
SCEST AND TO HIS MEMORY
THIS HERE IS PLEAST BY HIS
SON BEN 1693.
After a good examination of the venerable edifice and its appendages
below, we ascended the tower, our verger accompanying,--for which an
extra shilling each must be paid. From here we had an admirable view of
the city; but nothing seen from above, or inside the cathedral below,
interested us more than the chime of bells in the tower. Wherever the
English language is spoken, these bells receive honorable mention, for
it is these to which reference is made in that plaintive but sweet
poetry,--and who has not sympathized with its sentiment?--
"Those evening bells, those evening bells,
How many a tale their music tells."
There are eight of them, each hung with a wheel to aid its ringing.
Four of them are old, and the others comparatively new. The largest
weighs about three thousand pounds.
Having said something in regard to the business part of the city
and cathedral, we next take a look at other parts of the former,
and consider a few items of history. Newton Perry, the new section,
contains wide streets and promenades, and on these are fine residences
of wealthy inhabitants, many of whom are merchants doing business in
the city proper, which we will now speak of. George Street, a grand
thoroughfare, continues on one side through Richmond Place to the
Military Walk, and on the other along Patrick Street, through Rutland
Street, to Matthew Bridge--named in honor of Father Matthew, the
apostle of Temperance. Henry and Catherine streets are also important.
In Perry Square is a column surmounted by a statue to Lord Monteagle,
and in Richmond Place there is a bronze statue of Daniel O'Connell.
St. John's Cathedral, Roman Catholic, completed in 1860, is a Gothic
edifice, erected at a cost of $85,000.
The principal industries of the place are the manufacture of flax,
army-clothing, lace, and gloves. The city carries on an extensive
traffic, and, having hundreds of well-stocked stores, it is the
wholesale as well as retail market for towns of the vicinity. There is
at the border of the city the remains of a castle built in the time of
King John, a somewhat dilapidated, but still noble structure. It has
seven massive towers, which are connected by a wall of great thickness,
and affords an example of the best Norman strongholds of the country,
if not of the world, and inside the castle walls are buildings used as
barracks.
The castle is situated in the Irish part of the city. Here are narrow
and unclean streets, and a low grade of population, many of whom
live in destitution; though, so far as degradation is concerned, we
found less than in Cork. What struck us forcibly in this section
was the number of buildings--one or two, and even three stories
high--dilapidated, abandoned, and without roofs. They were the rule and
not the exception. There seemed to be a dislike on the part of owners
to take down an old house; but when, in the last extremity, it became
absolutely unfit for a day's more occupancy, they preferred to abandon
it, and let it tumble down piecemeal. On the floors, in holes in the
walls, about the chimneys, weeds were growing, and especially the not
inappropriately named snapdragon. Fine specimens of these, of all the
usual colors, were in full bloom and growing luxuriantly.
Having spoken of the Irish and English parts of Ireland, an explanation
may be in order. Soon after the union of the two countries at the
beginning of the present century, English people of wealth and
influence established themselves in the principal cities of Ireland.
They built stores and dwelling-houses, and it is safe to say that
now two thirds of each large city are occupied by English people,
the Irish inhabitants remaining in their old quarters. This large
preponderance of English influence and life gives to Ireland's large
cities an English look, and it is only when one enters the Irish part
that he feels he is not in an English town. This is notably true of
Cork, Limerick, Dublin, and other southern cities; while Belfast and
Londonderry, at the north, have had so much commerce and exchange of
thought with Scotland as well as England, as almost to transform their
citizens into English people.
In Limerick may be seen Norman walls and remains in abundance, some
of them a thousand years old. The harbor is sufficiently capacious to
accommodate a large amount of shipping, and extends a mile along the
river, which has a breadth of four hundred and fifty feet, with here
and there a semi-basin or dock.
Limerick was the last place of Ireland which surrendered to English
rule, and only submitted to the Parliamentarians, under Ireton in 1651,
after a determined resistance and gallant defence. During a siege in
1691 a large gun was planted on the top of the cathedral tower, and
rendered most effectual service. "Muscular Christianity" was then at a
premium. The old city has experienced and withstood many sieges, the
last of which were those under Cromwell and William III. After several
repulses, William, in 1691, offered advantageous terms to the besieged
which were accepted by the troops then under the command of Sarsfield,
Earl of Lucen, and the surrender was made to General De Ginkle. Part
of the treaty was signed here, on a stone now called the Treaty Stone
which, for safety and as a monument of interest, is now kept on a
pedestal at the end of Thomond Bridge. The treaty guaranteed to Roman
Catholics certain religious privileges and rights, and promised amnesty
to all who took the oath of allegiance; but it was afterwards, to the
disgrace of the victors, recklessly broken, especially in regard to the
points first named, and to this day the place is called "the city of
the broken treaty."
Limerick has from time immemorial been a military seat, and is now the
headquarters of the southwest military district. Anciently it was the
royal residence of the Irish kings.
There are within the limits of the city over twenty places of worship.
It has many charitable and educational institutions, and much
enterprise and business activity. Save the old and slummish portion,
which is not of very great extent, and is under comparatively good
control, it has a thoroughly English look, or, perhaps we may say,
an old American look. We greatly enjoyed our visit, and were happily
disappointed; for our minds were disabused of opinions we before
erroneously entertained, and supposed to be true, concerning this
famous city.
DUBLIN.
At 1.30 P. M., on Friday, April 26, we left for Dublin, and
after a ride of four hours reached that city. The landscape on the way
was interesting, though not presenting anything very picturesque or
romantic. We were, however, continually impressed with the fact that
Ireland is well named the Emerald Isle; for not a bare acre is to be
seen, and over hill and dale luxuriant vegetation is found.
We could but feel sorry that the laws of primogeniture and entailment
of property yet prevail, and that England thus deprives herself and
poor Ireland, her disconsolate child, of the rich blessings of an
interested and land-loving, as well as soil-working people. The land
is owned by a few lords. Estates must be kept entire, and so handed
down through the male heirs from generation to generation. No absolute
sale is possible, and a homestead can rarely be bought. The farm, be it
little or great, cannot be owned by the tiller, but is held by the lord
of the domain. An estate may not be divided among his descendants, but
must pass to each successive heir in its entirety. It cannot be sold to
those who would use it and improve its value. Without homesteads, with
no prospect of anything but unsatisfying labor, with scarce the surety
of earning a scanty subsistence,--there is, among the common people, a
lack of interest in agricultural efforts. Thousands of laborers leave
this land, the fairest on which God's impartial sun shines; few are
left to care for the soil; and so, as the shortest cut across this
field of deliberately created difficulty, nearly all the land is laid
down to grass. In our ride of more than one hundred miles, hardly one
fruit-tree was seen, or one nice garden. The country suffers for want
of skilled yeomanry, to whom anticipation of ownership of the soil is
"a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night," to pilot them out of
the bondage they are in. The laws of justice and divine compensation
are, however, at work, and change for the better is at hand; amendment
after amendment, even now foreshadowed, will come, for He who ruleth
over all will "turn and overturn," "till he whose right it is shall
reign."
But to return to the Queen City of Ireland,--its greatest place
socially and commercially speaking.
Dublin is finely situated at the head of Dublin Bay. It is built
solidly, on comparatively level land, on both sides of the River
Liffey, running from west to east. The city has a population of
242,722; including the adjoining suburb, 295,841. The river is
navigable to Carlisle Bridge at the centre of the city, and from the
mouth of the river up to the bridge it has good docks and wharves.
Its commerce is varied and extensive. Unfortunately there was at the
entrance of the harbor a sand-bar, on which, at low water, the depth
varied from nine to twenty-four feet. This is now no great source of
annoyance, as a portion of it has been removed, and large ships, taking
advantage of the tides, may come up to the wharves.
A great part of the city is regularly built, having wide and well-paved
streets, and magnificent stores and public buildings. They are of
splendid architecture, and of every style and kind, from the classic
Greek and Roman, to the elegant Renaissance, and from the Gothic of
antiquity to the most refined of our own day. The latter, however, in
its best estate,--save perhaps in its new grouping and combination
of the best of the old ideas, with a rejection of the questionable
features--is not much in advance of its original sources.
Like all large places, there is a slum where the people are poor and
low; but in these respects Dublin is not the equal of Cork and some
other parts of Southern Ireland.
As we go north towards Belfast and Londonderry we find an advance in
what constitutes a higher and better civilization. The influence of the
people of the North of England, and more especially of Scotland, has
modified it. It may be said that where inflexible Episcopacy, acting
on Catholicism, has prevailed, different results have come. While the
good but ignorant Catholic has no affinity for Presbyterianism, he
has a great respect for the industrious, well-appearing, just-dealing
Scotchman, and he entertains an active suspicion in regard to the more
formal Episcopalian, who has ruthlessly, as he thinks, appropriated the
grand old churches where rest the bones of revered saints, and where
his fathers worshipped for many generations. Some especial influence
certainly has modified Northern Ireland's action, nature, and life.
There is a deal more implied in the phrase North of Ireland, and in its
antithesis, Far-downer, than appears to the casual observer. There is
no city of Ireland where wealth and poverty are more contiguous, and
where aristocracy and democracy are nearer neighbors, than at Dublin.
Nine bridges, two of which are iron, cross the river, and a magnificent
avenue nine miles long, called the Circular Road, environs the city.
The Bank of Ireland, near the college, is a low but very large
building, and was once the House of Parliament. Trinity College
opposite--and both are in the very centre of the most crowded business
portion of the city--has fine stone buildings, with large and elegantly
kept lawns, one opening into the other. The institution was founded
by Pope John XXII., closed by Henry VIII., and reopened by Queen
Elizabeth, who incorporated it in 1592.
Of the many public buildings, such as hospitals, museums, libraries,
it is useless to speak. They are noble institutions, and worthy the
capital of even England itself. It has a very large pleasure-ground
called Phoenix Park, on the edge of the city. This park is well laid
out, and is for Dublin what Central Park is for New York, or Fairmount
for Philadelphia. There is in it one of the largest and most admirably
kept zoölogical gardens of the world. Glasnevin Cemetery, their Mount
Auburn or Greenwood, is an elegant city of the dead. Here repose the
remains of Daniel O'Connell, under a high, round tower visible from all
parts of the grounds. The profusion of sweet-scented lime-trees, and
the taste and beauty of the scenery and artificial work, enable it to
vie with any cemetery in Europe. In a city like Dublin, where there is
so much that is good and great, one is tempted to enlarge the range of
his thoughts, and is loth to leave the spot.
Before speaking of the Cathedral of St. Patrick, we will give a brief
history of cathedral service itself. Till the time of Constantine,
Christians were not allowed to erect temples. Early, churches meant
only assemblies, not buildings; and by cathedrals were meant their
consistories, or places of meeting. It was in 312 that this emperor
first granted absolute toleration to Christians. In 325 the Council of
Nice was convened, and made, under his sanction, an open declaration
that Christianity be thereafter the recognized official religion of the
land. The earliest record we have of a distinctive cathedral service is
near the end of the fourth century; although there are traces of it at
an earlier date, too indistinct to be reliable. St. Basil, at the close
of the fourth century says:--
The people flocked to the churches before daylight, first to pray on
bended knees, then rising to sing psalms, either in alternate chorus,
or one chanting, others following in an under-voice; and this was
done in all Egypt, Libya, Thebes, Palestine, Arabia, and Syria.
In seventy years the Christians had many church edifices, or _ecclesia
cathedralis_ (church meeting-places), and a pretty well developed
and organized prayer and singing service; but cathedral or church
service did not come to great perfection till the days of Gregory the
Great, who was born A. D. 540, and died in 604. Chanting
had its origin in the church of Antioch during the episcopate of
Lontius, A. D. 347-356. Theodoret informs us that Flavianus
and Diodorus divided the choir into two parts, and made them sing
the Psalms of David alternately, and that this method began first at
Antioch. At the Council of Laodicea, held between 360 and 370, it was
determined that there should be canonical singers, who should sing out
of written books. We may imagine something of the state of affairs
before the order passed; for Balsamon says that, prior to the convening
of this council, the laity would many times, and at their pleasure,
begin to sing such hymns and songs in the church as were crude and
unusual. To obviate this the canon was made, ordering that none should
begin to sing but those whose office it was to do so, the laity having
permission, however, to sing with them in the entire service; and so
was inaugurated our modern congregational singing, to be led, however,
by an appointed choir. Choir-singing was carried into Rome in 380,
under Pope Damasus; and in the time of Gregory the Great, about 620,
it was brought to great perfection. Gregory sent Austin to introduce
it into England. He found the clergy there unwilling to receive it,
and it is said that he caused twelve hundred of them to be slaughtered
at once. In 670 Theodore was sent by Vitalian to fill the See of
Canterbury, and he succeeded in introducing the cathedral service; and
he also has the credit of introducing organs into divine worship. The
year 679 is the earliest certain date of cathedral worship in Great
Britain.
In France Gregorian chant-work began about the year 787, and was
patronized by Charles the Great. In the reigns of Henry VIII. and
Edward VI. thirty-two commissioners were appointed to examine all
canons, constitutions, and ordinances, provincial and synodal, and they
declared against a cathedral service. The judicious and pious Hooker,
ceremony-loving, and jealous of the interests of the church, yet under
the ban and interdicted, could not suppress his thought, and he says:--
Cathedrals are as glasses, wherein the face and very countenance
of apostolical antiquity remaineth, even as yet to be seen,
notwithstanding the alterations which the hand of time and the course
of the world hath brought.
So the work continued till a final establishment of present customs,
and Seymour says of cathedrals and their service as at present carried
on:--
They serve as parish churches, only on a more elaborate scale; and
there can be no valid objection raised to their maintenance, except
by those who condemn an intoned service, and the introduction of a
highly cultivated musical choir. The canons preach in turn, and,
provided the preaching is orthodox and purely evangelical [a hit
this, undoubtedly, at Dean Stanley, Canon Farrar, and others of like
sentiment], and the old story of Christ's blood and righteousness and
substitution is set forth as enough for all the spiritual necessities
of mankind, there can be no just grounds of complaint against the
peculiar mode of our present cathedral worship.
St. Patrick's being the first cathedral in which we attend services,
the foregoing statement is made, preparatory to a consideration of this
and other cathedrals we are to visit. It should be remembered that in
all of them the service is intoned or sung, with the exception of the
sermon itself, that being a part of the service only on Sundays or
other important days. So strong is the force of habit, that the sermon
also is generally delivered in a drawling, monotonous tone. This was a
marked feature of the style of Dean Stanley in sermons delivered during
his visit to America. Very strange did his elocution sound to American
ears, and it was only tolerated because it came from a man so really
great and truly honored.
St. Patrick's Cathedral is one of the most interesting churches in
Ireland, and hours can be spent with pleasure and advantage in the
grand old structure. It is said that St. Patrick here erected a place
of worship, and baptized his converts with water taken from a well
in the floor of the present cathedral, which is still shown to the
visitor. As evidence of its antiquity as a place of worship, and of
the importance and character of the original building, we have it as a
well attested fact that in 890--almost a thousand years ago, and four
and a half centuries after the establishment of worship here by St.
Patrick, and the building of his church--Gregory of Scotland, with his
adherents, attended worship here.
The present edifice, the seat of the Bishop of Dublin, was begun by
Archbishop Comyn in 1190. It was doubled in its capacity by Archbishop
Minot, who held the See in 1370, repairs on the old cathedral, and the
extension, being necessitated by a fire which destroyed a large portion
of the building in 1362. The edifice is of dark or blackish stone. It
is irregular in outline, being cruciform in plan, with nave, choir,
transepts, lady-chapel and porch.
A number of monuments are scattered about the interior, among them a
tablet to the memory of the Duke of Schomberg, with an inscription by
Jonathan Swift, at one time Dean of the cathedral. In another part are
mural tablets, high up from the floor, to the memory of the Dean, who
died Oct. 19, 1745, and was here buried. Near by is the monument to
Mrs. Hester Johnson, the _Stella_ of his poetry. A monument of note
near the door commemorates Boyle, Earl of Cork, who died 1629. It is of
a peculiar design, and attractive by its quaint oddity. It is of black
marble, ornamented in parts by wood mouldings and carving, which were
painted in positive colors, but are now dull and somewhat obscured. It
represents the earl and his wife in recumbent positions, surrounded
by their sixteen children. These figures are of wood, and carved in a
grotesque style, barbaric enough to be pleasing examples of sculpture
to a "Heathen Chinee."
The exterior of the cathedral presents a very aged appearance, and the
two parts of the structure, erected by the two bishops in 1190 and
1370, are distinctly marked. The tower has plain buttresses at the
corners, each ending in embattled turrets. A low, stone spire above
this is attached to the section built by Bishop Comyn, and was erected
some time after the other parts of the cathedral. Each part is of
Gothic architecture, and is of the style prevailing at the period of
its erection. Elaborate decoration does not appear in any part, and
as the edifice fronts on a cramped, narrow street, and is near the
surrounding buildings, no extended view of it can be obtained.
In 1860 the late Sir B. L. Guinness,--the noted brewer of Dublin, whose
celebrated ales and porter are known the civilized world over,--at his
own expense, undertook a complete restoration of the cathedral; and
after years of continued labor, by a large body of workmen, the whole
was finished at a cost of $720,000. Changes were made in the interior
by the removal of modernish screens, and the exterior, while it has the
same antiquated look, is in perfect repair. The interior with its lofty
groined ceiling and arches, its stately columns, its rich oaken stalls,
its beautiful stained glass windows, the great organ at the left of the
communion table, the rich pulpit,--especially dedicated by Mr. Guinness
to the late Dean Peckham as a memorial,--these combine to make the
venerable structure rank well with many of the cathedrals of England.
We hardly need to say that it is under the administration of the Church
of England.
This was our first Sunday on land, April 28, and we decided that we
would attend worship here in the forenoon. The Bishop of Dublin, and
his canons, curates, and robed adult choir, were in attendance, and the
cathedral was about one third filled. The service, as we afterwards
found to be the universal custom in England, was intoned instead
of read. It was disturbed, too, by the constant echoes; and, being
unfamiliar with an intoned service, we were but poorly interested, and
hoped for better things in the sermon, which was by one of the canons.
It proved to be a weak statement of common things, a labored effort to
prove what all admitted at the start. We would, however, speak lightly
of no religious work, and were thankful for the treat we had enjoyed
of seeing this time-honored sanctuary in use, and that we had listened
to its grand music, and also to even a poor rendition of its beautiful
service.
At 2 P. M. we are out again for a ramble, this time to visit
the fine grounds and buildings of the Royal Hospital, built by the
celebrated architect of St. Paul's Cathedral at London, Sir Christopher
Wren, in 1669. The building is large, though but two stories in height,
and has ample grounds, and two-hundred-year-old avenues, well shaded by
large trees. The institution is now used as a military station. We were
freely admitted to the principal parts, were delighted with the old and
good portraits in the ancient dining-hall,--and inexpressibly so with
the chapel, for here are to be seen transcripts of the mind of Wren.
He appears to best advantage as a designer, when he undertook to make
pulpits and altar-pieces; and here, about the large circular-headed
altar-window, he has almost excelled himself. This, like all the stall
work, is finished in oak, and is as elaborate and as perfect as though
of modern construction, though it is more than two hundred years old.
Reluctantly we left these hallowed premises for a walk in the great
Phoenix Park near by, and in the Zoölogical Garden. On our walk
home to the hotel, we made it in our way to pass the companion church
of St. Patrick, the other cathedral; for, incredible as it may seem,
Dublin has another Protestant Episcopal cathedral-church, one scarcely
inferior to St. Patrick's in renown. It is the venerable Church of
the Holy Trinity, more commonly known by the name of Christ Church
Cathedral. As is well known, a cathedral is so called because it is
the seat of a bishop. Of course Dublin has but one bishop, and he is
at St. Patrick's. The edifice we are to describe has, in turn with St.
Patrick's, been the bishop's church, and from that circumstance the
name has obtained its present use.
This edifice is of great interest and antiquity. According to the
"Black Book of Christ's Church," a very ancient record, its vaults, or
what is now the crypt, were built by the Danes before the first visit
of St. Patrick to Dublin in the fifth century, but who is erroneously
reported to have celebrated mass in them. The present edifice, in
comparison with these vaults, is quite modern, for it was not built
till five hundred years after; but enough of antiquity remains to
excite our admiration, for this building was begun in the year
1038,--845 years ago, 152 years before the building of St. Patrick's,
and about half-way between the date of the birth of Christ and our own
day.
The statement that St. Patrick said mass in the crypt of this cathedral
is simply a legend, for he had ended his ministry early in the fifth
century. A sort of tavern was kept for centuries in this crypt; while
services were being performed above, the votaries of Bacchus were
adoring their god beneath. It was no uncommon thing in that age for
churches to provide accommodation for the tramps and bummers of the
time. As late as the close of the sixteenth century, the benches at the
door of Old St. Paul's, London, were used by beggars and drunkards to
sleep on, and the place was surrendered to idlers of all descriptions.
Christ Church Cathedral was greatly enlarged by Lawrence O'Tool, who,
in 1163, changed the canons, originally secular, into the regular
canons of Arras, as they were termed. Next, Strongbow, the Earl of
Pembroke, and Fitzstephen, both Norman adventurers, made repairs and
additions about the year 1170; and again Raymond le Gros, at a yet
later day, added the steeple, choir, and two small chapels. In 1190,
but twenty years after, it was practically rebuilt by John Comyn, who
at the same time was building St. Patrick's; and about the year 1360
John de St. Paul erected the chancel. With occasional repairs the
edifice remained as it was, 523 years ago, till a few years since, when
great dilapidation had taken place, and extensive restorations were
needed. Not to be outdone by Mr. Guinness at St. Patrick's, Henry Roe,
Esq., the well-known distiller of Dublin, emulating the example of
his friend, ordered, at his own expense, complete repairs on both the
exterior and interior, costing a full million of dollars. The work was
done under the architectural supervision of G. A. Street, and paid for
by Mr. Roe as the work proceeded. At the time of our second visit, May
2, although not entirely finished, the building had been reopened, and
an assemblage of the most distinguished prelates of the Episcopalian
order held a four days' service, largely musical, at the grand opening,
of which we speak hereafter.
The building, though very massive and suggestive of strength, is not
beautiful in proportions or decoration. It has a clumsy look, but is
consistent in design throughout. The interior has the same appearance.
While it is finished in the highest style of workmanship, and in the
best possible imitation of the original plan, it is mainly pleasing
in variety of design, its thoroughness of work, and in the faithful
representation it probably gives of the cathedral as it was centuries
ago. When one looks at the nicely cut stone and fine finish, he can but
believe that it is a vast improvement in workmanship on its original
self. It has many ancient monuments of the quaintest sort, often with
rude and grotesque designs.
Conspicuous among these is one of the Earl of Pembroke, or, as he is
more commonly called, Strongbow, the Norman invader, who died in 1166.
It represents the renowned warrior in a recumbent posture, clothed in
mail armor, with his wife Eva by his side. Reasonable doubts exist of
the authenticity of the monument. Its honors are divided between him
and the Earl of Desmond, the Lord Chief Justice, who was looked upon
with suspicion and jealousy on account of his kindness to the Irish
people, and in consequence of this jealousy was beheaded at Drogheda in
1497. This monument was removed from its original location, by order of
Sir Henry Sidney, in 1569.
This cathedral is a place of resort for those who are interested in
the elaborate service performed every Sunday forenoon. It has a lawn
on one side of it, somewhat larger than any at St. Patrick's. This is
well fenced in from the side street, and parallel with the side of the
cathedral; but the rear end and side are in close contiguity to common
buildings, and the neighborhood is entirely made up of ordinary houses
of brick or stone, which are filled with tenants, often having families
on each floor. The streets are narrow, and while not remarkably dirty,
they are anything but tidy in appearance. This portion of the city,
and St. Patrick's neighborhood--which is not more than a five minutes'
walk away--are probably the oldest settled parts of the city; a low
population having taken possession still retain their foothold, as they
do about the great churches at Cork and Limerick.
There are many interesting facts shown on the ancient records of this
cathedral. In 1434 the mayor and some distinguished citizens of Dublin
did penance, by walking barefoot through the streets to the cathedral,
for having committed manslaughter; for taking the Earl of Ormonde
prisoner "in a hostile manner;" for breaking open the doors of St.
Mary's Abbey, dragging out the abbot, "and carrying him forth like
a corpse, some bearing him by the feet, and others by the arms and
shoulders."
In 1450 a parliament was held in the cathedral by Henry VI.; another
was held in 1493. In 1497 liberty from arrests, and all other
molestations, was granted, by the city of Dublin, to those who should
come to visit any shrine or relic of this edifice. In 1528 the prior
of this cathedral, with the priors of St. John of Jerusalem and of All
Saints, caused two plays to be acted, on a stage erected by Hoggin
Green, representing the Passion of the Saviour, and the several deaths
the apostles suffered. This was a sort of Irish Oberammergau play.
Seven years later, in 1535, a great change in public sentiment had
come; for in this year George Brown, an Augustin friar who had been
consecrated bishop, removed all images and relics from this and the
other churches of the diocese, and in their stead placed the Creed, the
Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments in gilded frames. In 1538 the
_Baculus Jesu_, or holy staff, said to have belonged to St. Patrick,
and deposited here in 1180, was publicly burned. In 1554 Bishop
Brown, who was the first Protestant prelate of Dublin, was deprived
of his office by Queen Mary. Four years later another reaction had
taken place. In 1559 Parliament was held in the cathedral; the Act of
Uniformity was passed; the Litany was sung in English, for the first
time in Ireland, before the Earl of Sussex, the Lord Lieutenant; and a
large English Bible was chained in the middle of the choir, free for
the people to read. By order of Queen Elizabeth, Thomas Lockwood, the
dean, removed all Popish relics and images, that had been restored in
the days of Queen Mary in 1570. Penance was performed here by Richard
Dixon, Bishop of Cork, who was also deprived of his See for gross
immoralities. In 1633 the Lord-deputy sent an urgent letter to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, asking him to prevent a longer use of the
vaults under the cathedral as ale and tobacco shops.
In 1738 a peal of bells was cast by Abel Rudhall of Gloucester,
England, and placed in the tower. He had cast the Sweet Bells of
Shandon at St. Ann's, Cork. He was also the maker of the bells at
Christ Church, Boston, which were cast but six years later, in 1744.
There were at the cathedral originally but eight bells. Five have
recently been added. In 1821 George IV., and in 1868 the Prince and
Princess of Wales, attended service in the cathedral.
All cathedrals have a similar history. A cathedral's history is but a
record of humanity's march through the centuries, through superstition,
blood, and contest, onward and upward to advanced and yet advancing
conditions, till finally--if there be truth in divine writ or the
aspirations of humanity--"the kingdoms of this world shall become the
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ."
Sackville Street is a splendid business avenue leading from Carlisle
Bridge. It is full one hundred feet wide, and filled with a hurrying,
Broadway or Washington Street-like population. On the left stands the
classical portico of the post-office, composed of six large Ionic
columns, and their entablature and pediment. It is surmounted by
figures of Hibernia, Mercury, and Fidelity. In front, at the centre
of the street, is Nelson's monument, a splendid column 112 feet
high,--exclusive of the crowning statue of the hero of Trafalgar, which
is in itself 13 feet in height. This is a fine piece of sculpture, and
is from the studio of a native sculptor, Thomas Kirk. The monument was
erected by public subscription and cost over $34,000. In consequence
of the general levelness of the city of Dublin, from the top of this
column, though not of very great height, may be seen almost the entire
surrounding country, from the Mourne Mountains in the county of Down
on the north, around to the Wicklow Mountains on the south. Spread out
before the observer are the plains of Meath and Kildare, extending far
westward, and parted by the hills of Dublin and its bay; and to the
eastward appears the Irish Sea.
The Custom House and the Four Courts of Dublin are immense structures,
of classical architecture, and well decorated with statuary. On
the former are statues representing Navigation, Wealth, Commerce,
Industry, Europe, Asia, America, and Africa. Other parts have the arms
of Ireland. There is a fine allegorical representation of Britannia
and Hibernia in a great marine shell, with a group of merchantmen
approaching, and Neptune driving away Famine and Despair.
The Court House has on the upper angle of its great portico pediment a
statue of Moses, and at the lower ends statues of Mercy and Justice.
On other parts are Wisdom and Authority. The great entrance hall is
64 feet in diameter; at the centre stands a colossal statue of Truth,
bearing in her upraised hand a torch, from which issue gas jets for
illuminating the rotunda.
We attended a court session. The rooms were cramped in size, and
dark from the few smoked and unwashed windows. A peculiar impression
was made, reminding us of a by-gone custom and age, when we saw the
lawyers,--or barristers as they are called,--old and young, arrayed in
loose black alpaca robes, open in front and flying as they walk, and
wearing gray wigs of scrupulously curled hair. These are for sale in
especial stores, and their use is imperative when one addresses the
judge of any save the lowest common police court.
Previous anticipations of what was to be seen in Ireland's great
metropolis were in the main realized. We expected, however, to see
more Irish and less English elements. The city is quite American
in appearance. Except for a more durable and classical look to its
buildings, and the cut-stone embankments on both sides of the river;
excepting also its heavier horse-cars and their roads,--_tramways_,
as they are called,--little is seen that may not recall our large
cities, especially Buffalo and Cincinnati. In fact, we were strongly
reminded of these by the stores, houses, and streets, the quantity of
business doing, and the average appearance of the people. Sunday was
observed, much as it is in Boston or New York, by a general suspension
of business, the streets being filled with well-dressed, orderly
people. Bells often saluted the ear, horse-cars and omnibuses were well
patronized, and the parks were visited by thousands, all in a state of
sobriety that we are not sure of seeing in a large American city. We
now for a time leave the city, but in another chapter shall speak of it
again.