cated to St. Peter and St. Wilfrid. Its dimensions are: length, 270 feet; width at transept, 130 feet; height of each of the three towers, 110 feet.

This cathedral, though not ranking as one of the first class, is celebrated for its fine proportions. It has a very uniform and elegant façade. The church is unusually lofty, and, as the towers rise but little above the roofridge, it looks like a tall man with high shoulders and a short neck. Formerly there were spires on the towers, but one fell and the others were taken down. Its appearance has been improved by the addition of embattled parapets and pinnacles. In the east wall is a magnificent window of seven lights, sharply pointed, with excellent tracery composed of feathered circles. In the crypt there still exists a very ancient structure, called Wilfrid's Needle, which is the most perfect relic of the first age of Christianity in Yorkshire. It is a most strange and uncanny contrivance, consisting of a long, very narrow passage, with several sharp turns, a small cell, and a funnel-shaped tube, through which it was said a suspected woman must pass to prove her chastity. A touchstone resembling this ordeal existed in the church at Boxley in

Kent in the shape of a small figure of St. Rumbald, which only those could lift who had never sinned in thought or deed. Sometimes it was fastened to the table, other times it wasn't; the weight of the statue was in inverse ratio to the weight of the purse. The legend of St. Rumbald is that as soon as he was born he cried three times: "I am a Christian," made a confession of faith, desired to be baptized, chose his godfathers and his name, discoursed on religion for three days, and then died.

It has been conjectured that St. Wilfrid's Needle may have been a place for palsied folk to crawl through in the hope of being cured, or it may have been a confessional, or a place of concealment for valuables, or a storehouse for relics.

GENERAL REMARKS

When St. Wilfrid was deprived of his see, he went to Sussex and did much to civilize the people; he manumitted 250 serfs.

"St. Wilfrid sent from York, unto this realm received Whom the Northumbrian folk had of his see bereaved. And on the south of Thames a seat did him afford, By whom the people first received the saving word." - DRAYTON.

The banner of St. Wilfrid, which stood on his tomb at Ripon, was one of the four displayed at the Battle of the Standards and at Neville's Cross, which were supposed to have won these victories for the English over the Scots.

In the pinnacle of the southeast buttress is a remarkable place of concealment. On reaching the head of the stairs which wind up the buttress, no opening is seen, but, when the roof is pushed, a trap-door opens, and a narrow unsuspected closet is revealed.

King Edward VII. very graciously complimented Bishop Carpenter of Ripon on his sermons, saying: "I always have something bright and golden to carry away with me." The bishop replied: "I am delighted to know that your Majesty carries something golden from the church, but I should be still more delighted to know you left something golden in the church."

XXVII

LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL

LIVERPOOL is in Lancaster, in the west of England.

It derives its name from Llyw-pool, Cymric for the expanse of the pool. Another author gives this explanation: "A pool where vessels liver or deliver their cargoes. Unliver is still used in admiralty law." Still another definition is from liver, an extinct bird which appears in the coat of arms of the city. Lancaster is a fort on the river Lan. In trying to trace the derivation of English words, especially proper names, the explanations given of their origin often seem far fetched, but, when we remember that Boston was once undoubtedly (St.) Botolph's town, we are prepared to believe that the quick and careless English pronunciation can effect any change whatsoever.

The church was founded in 1699, finished in 1704, and was, until recently, a parish