Which contains comparative and local notes by an VOL. II. NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY DAVID LONGWORTH, AT THE SHAKSPEARE GALLERY. 1808. D.& G. Bruce, print. ML ESPRIELLA'S LETTERS FROM ENGLAND. LETTER XLV. York City and Minster.—Journey to Lincoln.—Travellers imposed upon.-Inn-keepers.—Ferry over the Trent.Lincoln. Great Tom.-Newark.-Alconbury Hill. Wednesday. FROM Borough-Bridge, which is a little town full of good inns, we took chaise in the morning for York. The road was a straight line over a dead flat; the houses which we passed were of red brick roofed with tiles, uglier than common cottages, and not promising more comfort within. York is one of the few English cities with the name of which foreigners are familiar. I was disappointed that its appearance in the distance was not finer,- -we saw its huge cathedral rising over the level, but that was all; and I found that the second city in England was as little imposing as the metropolis upon a first view. We drove under an old gate way and up a narrow street, ordered dinner at the inn, and set out to see the cathedral here called the minster. Though I had seen the cathedral churches of Exeter, Salisbury, Westminster and Worcester, my expectations were exceeded here: for though on the outside something, I know not what, is wanting, the interior surpasses any thing to be seen elsewhere. It is in magnitude that York minster is unrivalled; it is of the best age of Gothic, and in admirable repair,—this praise must be given to the English heretics, that they preserve these monuments of magnificent piety with a proper care, and do not suffer them to be disfigured Aa by the barbarism of modern times. Here indeed we felt the full effect of this wonderful architecture; in which all the parts are highly ornamented, yet the mul tiplicity of ornaments contributes to one great impression. We ascended the tower by such a wearying round of steps that I was compelled to judge more respectfully of its height, than we had done when beholding it from below. The day was hazy; we saw however sufficiently far into a flat country; and the city, and the body of the immense building below us with its towers and turrets, its buttresses and battlements, were objects far more impressive than any distant view. Having satisfied our curiosity here, we strolled in search of other objects; saw the castle, which is converted into a prison; and found our way to a public walk beside the river Ouse, a sluggish and muddy stream, which, however, as it is navigable, the people of York would be loth to exchange for one of the wild Cumberland rivers which we could not but remember with.regret There is a bridge over it of remarkable architecture, whose irregular arches with the old hotised adjoining for a highly picturesque pile. While we were looking at it, we heard some one from the ships sing out There he goes!" and this was repeated from veszel ip vessel, and from shore to shore, chiefly, by boys and children, in a regular tone, and at regular intervals almost like minute guns. It was some time before we paid any attention to this; but at last it was repeated so often that it forced itself upon our notice, and we inquired of a woman, whose little girl was joining in the cry, what it meant. She told us it was a man, then crossing at the ferry, whom the children always called after in this way:--she could give no further account, and did not know that he had done any thing to provoke it. He was a man in years, and of decent appearance. It is possible that he may have committed some offence which drew upon him the public notice,--but it is equally possible that this was begun in sport; and if so, as the woman indeed understood it to be, it is one of the strangest instances of popular persecution I ever witnessed. Age and de |