The Cathedral Church of Oxford: A description of its fabric and a brief history of the Episcopal see — John Shaqi
The Cathedral Church of Oxford: A description of its fabric and a brief history of the Episcopal seeDearmer, Percy
History
The Cathedral Church of Oxford: A description of its fabric and a brief history of the Episcopal see
Dearmer, Percy
Christ Church Cathedral (Oxford, England)
=Monuments of the Nave=.--Berkeley's monument is attached to one of
the north pillars, which it entirely defaces. _George Berkeley_ was
Bishop of Cloyne, and died in 1753, during a visit to Oxford; he was as
good as he was famous, and his monument is as large as it is ugly. The
epitaph, though not altogether untrue, and doubtless well meant, has the
unfortunate effect of prepossessing the reader against its subject,--_Si
Christianus fueris, si amans patriae, utroque nomine gloriari potes
Berkleium vixisse_. Beneath is inscribed the quotation from Pope,--
"To Berkeley every virtue under heaven."
On the pier by the pulpit the talented _Dean Aldrich_ is commemorated by
a bust, which shows him to have had a very good face, and bears by way
of further adornment a winged skull that is quite unnecessarily hideous.
Aldrich has been already referred to: he was the architect of Peckwater
and All Saints, the composer of many well-known anthems and services,
the author of the once standard "Oxford Logic," and "a most universal
scholar." He succeeded Massey, the Roman Catholic dean, who had to "make
off and retire across the seas" in 1689. Browne Willis says of Aldrich
that "as he spent his Days in Celibacy, so he appropriated his Income
to Hospitality and Generosity, and, like Bishop Fell, always encouraged
learning; as a celebrated Author tells us, 'to the utmost of his Power,
being one of the greatest then in England, if we consider him as a
Christian, or a Gentleman,' to which give me leave to add that he always
had the Interest of his College at heart; of which I may experimentally
say, he was an excellent Governor." He was very modest, and desired to be
buried without any memorial, a wish which was at first complied with by
his "thrifty nephew." Sunk into a pillar opposite is a curious old brass,
to the memory of John Walrond, student, who died young in 1602.
A marble slab on the pavement in the midst of the nave commemorates
_Dr. Pusey_, who was canon of Christ Church, in virtue of his Hebrew
Professorship, and lies buried here. The Latin inscription mentions also
his wife and daughter, and of him it speaks as "Professor of the Hebrew
tongue, and Canon of this church (_aedis_), who in the peace and pity of
Jesus fell asleep, September 16th, 1882, being 82 years and 24 days old."
=The Organ= stands on a fine Jacobean screen, dating from Duppa's
time (c. 1635); it was removed here from before the choir during
the restoration. The outer casing belonged to a former organ built by
Father Schmidt in 1680. The present instrument was built by Willis &
Son in 1884. It has four manuals and pedals, thirty-nine speaking stops,
nine couplers, ten pneumatic pistons, six composition pedals, and other
accessory movements. It has a very fine tone, and is well placed for
sound. Its external appearance is much improved by the pretty green
_appliqué_ curtain which now hangs in front of the organist's seat.
[Illustration: PULPIT.]
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