Lippincotts Magazine of Popular Literature and Science | Page 3

church. His ships, which
crowded the quays of Bristol, were a more evident source of wealth
than any cunningly devised elixir except in the eyes of a disappointed
dreamer. The reflection that in this quaint old house was enacted a
history like to that of Balthazar Claes lends to it a strange fascination.
The church of St. Mary Redcliff is, as ever, intimately associated with
the name and genius of Chatterton: no saint in the calendar could have
shed over it such an interest; and beautiful as it is, "the pride of
Bristowe and the Westerne Land," how many visit it for its beauty
alone? This is rather hard for the clericals: they are unwilling to forget
that Chatterton was an impostor and a suicide; and to have their church
surrounded by a halo from such a source! bah! They have done what
they could by removing his monument from consecrated ground and
depriving it of its inscription.
In an old chest left to moulder in a room over the north porch of this
church Chatterton professed to find the Rowley manuscripts. In this
room, "here, in the full but fragile enjoyment of his brief and illusory
existence, he stored the treasure-house of his memory with the thoughts
that, teeming over his pages, have enrolled his name among the great in
the land of poetry and song. Happy here, ere his first joyous aspirations
were repressed--ere the warm and genial emotions of his heart were
checked--before time had dissipated his idle dreams, and neglect,
contempt and distress had fastened on his mind, and hurried him
onward to his untoward destiny."[3]
This church is one of the finest examples of the Perpendicular Gothic:
it has been carefully restored, the work extending over thirty years. The

most interesting monuments are those of William Canynge the younger,
the great Bristol merchant, who lies buried here with his wife, his
almoner, his brewer, his cook and other servants--a goodly family party:
the cook is indicated by a knife and skimmer rudely cut upon a flat
stone. There are two effigies of Canynge--one in his robes as mayor,
the other in priest's robes; for in his latter years, after the death of his
wife, he took orders, and died in 1474 dean of Westbury.
[Illustration: MUNIMENT-ROOM, ST. MARY REDCLIFF.]
The memorial of Admiral Sir William Penn, father of the founder of
Pennsylvania, is a conspicuous object in the nave--a mural tablet
decorated with his helmet, cuirass, gauntlets, sword, and tattered
banners taken from the Dutch. Near it--a singular object in a church--is
the rib of a whale which is believed to date from the year 1497, there
being an entry in the town records of that year: "Pd. for settynge upp ye
bone of ye bigge fyshe," etc.;[4] and as Sebastian Cabot had then just
discovered Newfoundland, it may have been one of the trophies of his
voyage. But it long had a very different history: its origin being
forgotten, there grew up a legend that it was the rib of a dun cow of
gigantic build who gave milk to the whole parish of Redcliff, and
whose slaughter, by Guy, earl of Warwick, threw all the milkmaids out
of employment. It was in Redcliff church that both Southey and
Coleridge were married.
[Illustration: ADMIRAL PENN'S MONUMENT IN ST. MARY
REDCLIFF.]
The cathedral, "very neat," as Pope expresses it, would be a great
treasure in New York, but in England, where Gothic structures so
abound, it is far surpassed by several in its vicinity. It has suffered
much from iconoclasts, both those who destroy and those who restore.
The completion of the nave is now being rapidly pushed forward, and
will be followed by that of the towers--good evidence that the Gothic
revival in England has not yet spent its force. In its present condition
the general effect of the building is disappointing, although there are
many admirable details. The chapter-house and the archway below the
church are fine relics of its Norman period. In the choir is the tomb of

Bishop Butler, author of the Analogy, for twelve years bishop of this
diocese. There is also a tablet to his memory, erected in 1834, with an
inscription by Southey. Among the monuments one finds two names
which shine, it may be said, by reflected light--that of Mrs. Draper,
Sterne's "Eliza," and Lady Hesketh, Cowper's devoted friend and
cousin. A bust of Southey finds a place here as a tribute of respect in
his native town; and the name of Sydney Smith comes to mind, who
was a prebendary of this cathedral.
The city of Bristol, although essentially a manufacturing and
commercial centre, is not deficient in names which have enjoyed a
widespread literary reputation. All through the first half of the present
century Bristol was associated