made an eloquent speech; and the company then repaired to the church of St. Fridiswida, where a Latin sermon was preached by the Bishop of Lincoln, on the text, Sapientia ædificavit sibi domum. A splendid entertainment closed the ceremonies of the day. The quadrangle thus founded unites simplicity with Gothic grandeur. The buildings are finely proportioned, and the whole court is nearly parallelogramical, being 264 feet by 261 feet in the clear. The hall fills more than half of the southern side; the east and north sides are occupied by splendid ranges of apartments for the dean and canons. The kitchen is constructed on the south of the hall; and is, perhaps, the noblest building of its kind in Europe *. A fine terrace faces the whole of the buildings, and a balustrade of stone ornaments the top. In the centre of the court is a basin, in which is placed the statue of Mercury. The back front of the great tower of entrance is oruamented by a statue of Queen Anne, and by the arms of Henry VIII.; of Cardinal Wolsey; of the see of Oxford, &c. Over a gateway on the north-east is a statue of Bishop Fell; and the entrance to the hall is surmounted by a statue of Wolsey, gratefully placed in that situation by Trelawney, Bishop of Winchester, in the year 1719. This latter figure is executed with spirit, and has been much admired. The sculptor has attended to custom, and has only given a side-view of the Cardinal's face; but we cannot admit that the expression of attitude imparted to the figure is happily imagined. The whole evinces passionate pride rather than This was the first part of the building reared under the auspices of Wolsey. The singularity of such a circumstance caused many satirical remarks. Among others, the following mock inscription was placed on the walls: "Non stabit illa Domus, aliis fundata rapinis, This, as is observed by Chalmers, at least proved prophetic. than the composed austerity which is the last result of haughti ness. Of this magnificent court only the hall, the kitchen, the east, the south, and a part of the western side, were built during the life of Wolsey *. The remaining divisions were completed by Dr. John Fell, in 1665. At this time the basin was formed in the centre, and the statue of Mercury (which, perhaps, some examiners may deem unworthy of its situation,) was placed on the spot where formerly a stone pulpit had stood, from which Wickliffe first delivered his reforming opinions. The second great quadrangle of Christ Church is termed Peck water Court, and chiefly occupies the site of two inns, or hostels, the one called Peckwater (from the name of its original possessor) and the other Vine Hall. The architecture of this court is classical and august. The southern side consists entirely of the library and annexed apartments (begun in 1716, from a design by Dr. Clarke;) the other divisions contain superb ranges of lodgings for students, and were built in 1705, under the inspection of Dean Aldrich. The expense of the undertaking was defrayed by the dean and canons, in conjunction with many of the students, and several of the nobility and distinguished commoners, who had received education in the college. The whole elevation is of a classical and dignified character. The front of the library is 141 feet in length, adorned with the massive pillars of Corinthian order. Each of the other sides contains three stories, the lower of which is rustic, and supports a range of architecture of the Ionic order. Pilasters are placed between each division of windows, except the five which are central in each side, and over these is a projecting pediment sustained by threequarter columns with Ionic capitals. An entablature and balustrade of stone finish the whole. From this description it will be evident • It is supposed that he intended the whole quadrangle to have a cloister on the inner side. The lines of the arches are very apparent. In the year 1809, a fire occurred in this quadrangle. It rose on the southern side, but was, fortunately, extinguished without affecting the front of the building. evident that not the least respect has been paid to the manner of the previous quadrangle; but, still, the two courts are so entirely distinct, and the architecture of each is so pure in its peculiar character, that the most fastidious taste cannot possibly entertain offence. The second pile appears a fair effort of clas• sic regularity, opposed, in just competition, to the desultory splendour of the fashion which dictated the original structure. Canterbury Square is a small quadrangle, judiciously built in conformity to the order of Peckwater, to which it immediately leads. On the site of this court formerly stood a hall, founded and endowed by Simon Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury, of which the celebrated Wickliffe was once warden, and in which Sir Thomas More studied, under Linacre. The whole of this court, as it now appears, was designed by Wyatt, and completed in 1783, chiefly through the liberal aid of Richard Robinson, Baron Rotheby, late Lord Primate of Ireland. The gateway leading to this square now forms a principal approach to the college, and possesses much of that true beauty which arises from simplicity of arrangement. The chaplain's court consists of a few irregular ranges, com pleted in 1672. Christ Church Cathedral is, in every point of view, one of the most interesting objects connected with the college. This building has undergone some important alterations, among which the present spire was constructed by Wolsey; but the chief parts can be historically traced to the reign of Henry I.; and the style of architecture proves that it in reality owes its foundation to a much earlier period. The church is cruciform, with a square tower*, surmounted by a spiral steeple, rising in the centre. Though always much inferior to the splendid edifice of Oseney Abbey, it was originally more extensive than at present. Fifty feet at the western end, together with the whole west side of the cloister, and the rooms there appended, were pulled down by Wolsey, In this tower are hung all the bells which formerly belonged to Oseney Abbey, except "Great Tom." Wolsey, when he laid the foundation of his college. The present length of the building from east to west is 154 feet, and the aisle which crosses from north to south is 102 feet long. The height of the roof in the choir is thirty-seven feet and a half, and in the western part of the structure forty-one feet and a half. The cathedral is entered by a doorway of Saxon architecture, and specimens of the same style, interspersed with alterations effected by Norman builders, are evident in various directions. The pillars of the nave are beautifully executed, and possess that systematical variety of capital by which the Saxon architects were accustomed to shew their fertility of invention. The choir is ornamented with a Gothic roof of splendid tracery work, constructed either by Cardinal Wolsey, or Bishop King, and was paved with black and white marble in 1630, at which time the old stails were removed, and the present erected. The eastern window is embellished with a representation of the Nativity, executed by William Price of London, from a design by Sir James Thornhill; in the upper compartments are the portraits of Henry VIII. and Wolsey. Both of these are pleasingly performed, and the latter, as usual, presents only a side face *. The dormitory, situate to the north of the choir, contains several very ancient monuments, among which the following deserve particular notice.-A large altar-tomb, believed to be that of St. Fridiswida, surmounted by a shrine. On the flat surface of this monument are the marks of some brasses, now lost, two of which appear to have represented human figures at full length. The shrine in which the presumed relic is preserved is lofty, and richly adorned with tracery work. The lower division is of stone, and the two upper compartments are of wood, carved in the same fashion. With the story of St. Fridiswida the reader has become acquainted in our general view of the History of the City and University. This holy maid died October 19, 740, and her shrine is said to have been first placed in a chapel on the The reader will recollect that the cause of this peculiarity is supposed to have been a marked defect in one of the cardinal's eyes. the south side of the church; but being nearly destroyed in the conflagration which took place in consequence of the assault made on the Danes, in 1002, it was neglected until 1180, when it was removed to its present situation, and was visited by crowds of the superstitious*. A new shrine was raised in the year 1289; but this was destroyed in the reign of Henry VIII. so that the presumed bones of the saint, which were not interred, but merely deposited on the shrine, are supposed by Wood + to have been irrecoverably lost, "while those afterwards shewn in two silken bags were only feigned." The subject is scarcely deserving of many words, but we cannot avoid saying that the inference drawn by Wood is by no means of a conclusive nature. The bones were of easy removal; and, considering the value placed on them by the interested, or superstitious, it appears much more likely that the ancient fragments were, in the first instance, secured by the priests, and that King Henry's visitors were made the dupes of " feigned" relics. Be that as it may, the mouldering fragments retained by the devotees remained unnoticed till the reign of Elizabeth, at which time they were again brought under consideration by the following singular circumstance. When Peter Martyr, the Reformer, visited England under the protection of the Duke of Somerset and Archbishop Cranmer, he became a canon of Christ Church. Martyr went abroad on the accession of Queen Mary, and died at Zurich; but his wife, Catharine, died at Oxford, in 1551, and was buried near the monument of St. Fridiswida. In the reign of Queen Mary one of those absurd posthumous trials, not unusual in the early ages of church controversy, was instituted in regard to this female heretic, and her body was taken from its consecrated place of sepulture, and contemptuously buried be neath A retired oratory was erected at the back of the shrine, the steps of stone leading to which are much worn by the tread of devotees. † As quoted by Chalmers, to which writer we are indebted for the ensuing particulars relative to Peter Martyr's wife. |