Rollo on the Rhine | Page 4

could be procured; and when that generation
passed away, the next continued the work, until, at length, in about a
hundred years it was so far advanced that a portion of it could have a
roof put over it, and be consecrated as a church. They still went on, for
one or two centuries more, until they had carried up the walls to a
considerable height in many parts, and had raised one of the towers to
an elevation of about a hundred and fifty feet. When the work had

advanced thus far the government of Holland, in the course of some of
the wars in which they were engaged, closed the mouth of the Rhine, so
that the ships of Cologne could no more go up and down to get out to
sea. This they could easily do, for the country of Holland is situated at
the mouth of the Rhine, and the Dutch government was at that time
extremely powerful. They had strong fleets and great fortresses at the
mouth of the river, and thus they could easily control the navigation of
it. Thus the merchants of Cologne could no more import goods from
foreign lands for other people to come there and buy, but the
inhabitants were obliged to send to Holland to purchase what they
required for themselves. The town, therefore, declined greatly in wealth
and prosperity, and no more money could be raised for carrying on the
work of the cathedral.
At the time when the work was interrupted the builders were engaged
chiefly on one of the towers, which they had carried up about one
hundred and fifty feet. The stones which were used for this tower were
very large, and in order to hoist them up the workmen used a monstrous
crane, which was reared on the summit of it. This crane was made of
timbers rising obliquely from a revolving platform in the centre, and
meeting in a point which projected beyond the wall in such a manner
that a chain from the end of it, hanging freely, would descend to the
ground. The stones which were to go up were then fastened to this
chain, and hoisted up by machinery. When they were raised high
enough, that is, just above the edge of the wall, the whole crane was
turned round upon its platform, in such a manner as to bring the stone
in over the wall; and then it was let down into the place which had been
prepared to receive it.
When the work on the cathedral was suspended on account of the want
of funds, the men left this crane on the top of the tower, because they
hoped to be able to resume the work again before long. But years and
generations passed, and the prospect did not mend; and at last the old
crane, which in its lofty position was exposed to all the storms and
tempests of the sky, of course began gradually to decay. It is true it was
protected as much as possible by a sort of casing made around it, to
shelter it from the weather; but notwithstanding this, in the course of

several centuries it became so unsound that there began to be danger
that it might fall. The authorities of the town, therefore, decided to take
it down, intending to postpone putting up a new one until the work of
finishing the cathedral should be resumed, if indeed it ever should be
resumed.
The people of the town were very sorry to see the crane taken down. It
had stood there, like a leaning spire, upon the top of the cathedral, from
their earliest childhood, and from the earliest childhood, in fact, of their
fathers and grandfathers before them. Besides, the taking down of the
crane seemed to be, in some sense, an indication that the thought of
ever finishing the cathedral was abandoned. This made them still more
uneasy, and a short time afterwards a tremendous thunder storm
occurred, and this the people considered as an expression of the
displeasure of Heaven at the impiety of forsaking such a work, and as a
warning to them to put up the crane again. So a new crane was made,
and mounted on the tower as before, and being encased and enclosed
like the other, it had at a distance the appearance of a leaning spire, and
it was this which had attracted Rollo's attention in his approach to
Cologne.
Within a few years, on account of the opening again of the navigation
of the Rhine, and other causes, the city of Cologne, with all the
surrounding country, has been returning to its former prosperity, and
the plan of finishing the cathedral has been resumed. The government
of Prussia takes a great interest