The ecclesiastical
dignitaries bury themselves and monument themselves to the exclusion of
almost everybody else, in these latter times; though still, as of old,
the warrior has his place. A young officer, slain in the Indian wars,
was memorialized by a tablet, and may be remembered by it, six hundred
years hence, as we now remember the old Knights and Crusaders. It
deserves to be mentioned that I saw one or two noses still unbroken among
these recumbent figures. Most of the antique statues, on close
examination, proved to be almost, entirely covered with names and
initials, scratched over the once polished surface. The cathedral and
its relics must have been far less carefully watched, at some former
period, than now.
Between the nave and the choir, as usual, there is a screen that half
destroys the majesty of the building, by abridging the spectator of the
long vista which he might otherwise have of the whole interior at a
glance. We peeped through the barrier, and saw some elaborate monuments
in the chancel beyond; but the doors of the screen are kept locked, so
that the vergers may raise a revenue by showing strangers through the
richest part of the cathedral.
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