About its outward shape there is that air of "rocky solidity and indeterminate endurance" which so impressed Dr. Johnson in its interior. Half the majestic effect of Durham Cathedral is derived, however, from its situation, settled firmly and boldly upon the highest platform of the rocky promontory washed by the river, its huge central tower rising sheer above all its surroundings--the focus of the picture; its two lesser towers squarely fronting the west; the pinnacles of the eastern transept, or "Nine Altars," balancing them on the other side; and, grouped around, the Castle and its lowering Norman keep, and the high masses of other buildings that surmount the beautiful green "Banks" and walks descending steeply to the Wear. Nearer at hand, after climbing and threading the narrow streets to the "Castle Green," the exterior view of the great Cathedral is still profoundly impressive if somewhat monotonous. On the north door hangs the knocker and ring, to which the offender against the laws could cling and claim sanctuary, or "the peace of St. Cuthbert." Within, the long arched roof and lines of alternate round and cruciform pillars are almost overwhelming, not so much on account of their height as of their ponderous strength and massive dignity. Many styles are represented, as many hands have been employed, in the interior; but the pervading spirit is the masterful and dominating genius of the Norman. The original work of Carilepho and Flambard is represented by the nave and choir. Bishop Pudsey's hand is manifest in the Transition-Norman of the "Galilee" at the west end, under the light and delicate arches of which repose the bones of the Venerable Bede. The "Nine Altars," extending eastward beyond the choir, is still later work, and was not completed until about the year 1230. In the graceful elegance of its slender shafts of stone shooting up to the extreme height of the roof, and broken only by the rich carvings of the capitals, and in the light that floods it through the beautiful "rose window" and other inlets, it forms a contrast to the somewhat sombre and heavy grandeur of the main portion of the Cathedral, and is one of our finest examples of the Early English style of church architecture. Here, however, was the "most holy place" in the Durham fane; for here is the platform of "the Shrine of St. Cuthbert," and under it the remains of the hermit of Lindisfarne rest after their long wanderings; and beside them lie other relics--"treasures more precious than gold or topaz"--among them the head of St. Oswald, "the lion of the Angles," and bones of St. Aidan. It was long believed that the place of the patron saint's sepulture was a mystery, revealed alone to three brothers of the Benedictine Order, who, under oath, passed on their knowledge, upon their death-bed, to other members of the monastery. "Deep in Durham's Gothic shade His relics are in secret laid, But none may know the place."