would preside; but the honourable gentleman sent an apologetic letter, stating his inability to be in town on the day of the dinner, with a handsome donation of twenty pounds towards the purposes of the meeting. The chair was accordingly taken by Mr. W. Lescher, the treasurer of the establishment, and he was surrounded by a highly respectable company of clergy as well as laity. After the cloth was removed, the usual routine of toasts was gone through, from which we noticed no particular departure, except in the instance where the Rev. E. Scott proposed-" The kings of Hanover and the Netherlands, who have lately extended to the Catholics of their respective kingdoms, an equa lity of rights and privileges with their Protestant subjects." A very feeling and appropriate appeal in behalf of the objects of the meeting was made by the same reverend gentleman, which was met on the part of the company by a liberal contribution, the collection having realized upwards of £105. The chairman retired about ten o'clock, but the hilarity and convivial enjoyment were prolonged to a late hour. We noticed among the company beside the reverend gentleman above mentioned, the Rev. F. Muth, the chaplain; and the Rev. Messrs. Devereux, Morris, Harrington, Barber, and Brickley. On Sunday the 14th ult. a sermon was preached at St. Augustin's chapel, Manchester, for the benefit of the Catholic Sunday and day schools of Manchester and Salford. As Madame Pasta was engaged to sing at the theatre there on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday preceding, it was thought that if that eminent vocalist would consent to assist the charity with her unrivalled powers, it would be highly advantageous to the institution. The directors accordingly waited upon this amiable lady, when she most cheerfully and obligingly consented to their request, but was apprehensive that her exertions would benefit the children but little, as her attendance would not be generally known; and to make her appearance public would, perhaps, injure the interests of the theatre. To obviate this difficulty, the directors called upon the manager of the theatre, who. without the least hesitation, and in the most courteous manner, consented that the benevolent intentions of Madame Pasta should be made as public as possible for the benefit of the establishment. This liberal and disinterested conduct on the part of the manager is entitled to the highest praise. The announcement was accordingly made in the Manchester papers, and such was the interest excited, that many gentlemen offered a sovereign at the door, if they could be accommodated with a seat; but in vain and, we are informed, that at least 2,000 persons were obliged to return, unable to obtain admission. So excessively dense was the multitude, that Madame Pasta was obliged to be handed from seat to seat to gain her place in the choir, it being impossible to make a passage for her through the congregated mass. After having sung a solo in the most exquisite style, Madame Pasta retired from the chapel to visit the school, which is constructed under the chapel, and is capable of holding more than one thousand children of both sexes, who are kept separate by an iron rail which runs through the room. Here the children were assembled to receive their benefactress, who intended to gratify the youthful audience with her celestial tones; but she was so much overpowered by the imposing scene, her eye at that moment falling on the countenance of a lovely child, the image of one of whom death had deprived her, that she was with much difficulty preserved from fainting and, she afterwards declared, that in no other part of the world had she witnessed such a scene as that which was then before her. The collection amounted to £243. BIRTHS. On Sunday, October 7th, 'at Trafford Park, the lady of Thomas Jos, Trafford, Esq., of a still-born child. On Wednesday, the 17th ult., the lady of Joseph Vanzeller, Esq., of York Place, Portman Square, of a daughter. MARRIAGES. On Thursday, Sept. 27th, at Tixall, Staffordshire, having been previously married by the Catholic Chaplain, Sir Clifford Constable, Bart., to Mary Ann, daughter of Charles Chichester, Esq., of Calverleigh Court, Devon. Also, at the same time, Henry, eldest son of Raymond Arundell, Esq., of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, to Isabella, sister of Sir Thomas Clifford Constable. On Tuesday, the 2d ult., at Hampstead, John Keene, jun. Esq., to Catherine, only daughter of the late John Johnson, Esq., of Errington House, Oxfordshire. On Monday, the 15th ult., at Coughton Court, Warwickshire, the seat of Sir Charles Throckmorton, Bart., Thomas Riddell, Esq., eldest son of Ralph Riddell, Esq., of Felton Park, and Swinburne Castle, in the county of Northumberland, to Mary, only surviving daughter of the late Wm. Throckmorton, Esq., and niece of Sir Charles Throckmorton. On Thursday, the 18th ult., at St. John's Church, Chester, (having previously, on the same morning, been married at the Catholic Chapel,) Richard Thompson, Esq., only son of John Thompson, Esq., of Wigan, to Miss Ellen Bourke, only child of the late Hugh Bourke, Esq., of the City of London. OBITUARY. "En all thy Works Died, on the 21st Sept., aged 28, Mrs. Davy, late of Coughton, Warwickshire. On Monday, the 1st ult., Edward Marmaduke Havers, Esq., late of Cranford, aged 35. On the same day, the Rev. James Lancaster formerly of Doway. On Tuesday, the 2d ult,, aged 19, Miss Agnes Byrne, late of Somers, Town. On Thursday, the 11th ult., Mr. Wm. Clarkson, late of Blunham, Bedfordshire, aged 33. On Saturday, the 13th ult, Mrs. Ann Cox, late of Chelsea, aged 41. On the same day, at Stonyhurst, in the 77th year of his age, the Rev. Charles Wright. Remember thy last end." Died, on Monday, the 15 ult., at his seat, Traquair House, Peebleshire, North Britain, the Right Hon. Charles Stuart, Earl of Traqnair, in his 83d year. His Lordship is succeeded in his titles and estates by his only son, Charles Lord Linton. On Tuesday, the 23d ult., at Cumberland Row, Westgate, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, after a long and tedious illness, Mrs. Mary Henderson, widow of the late Mr. David Henderson, Wine Merchant, and sister of Francis Taylor, Esq., of Aldin Grange, near the city of Durham, Lately, in Killarney, aged 76, the Right Hon. the Countess de Severac, sister to the late, and aunt to the present Earl of Kenmare. Requiescant in Pace. Printed by Coe & Moore, 27, Old Change. THE Cathedral of Norwich is a noble Gothic building of freestone, with a spire or pinnacle of singular beauty, perfectly well proportioned, and the highest in England except that of Salisbury. Though the city of Norwich contains such a multitude of churches and chapels, there is no mention of any religious houses there before the time of Bishop Herbert, 1096, except a solitary instance of certain monks at Crowland, in 1076, who came from Christ Church, in Norwich. Bishop Herbert de Losinga, prior of Fiscamp, in Normandy, abbot of Ramsay, and bishop of Thetford, removed his episcopal see to Norwich, having obtained the pope's sanction to the measure, in 1093. About three years after this date, this prelate commenced the cathedral and monastery at Norwich; and in 1101 placed sixty monks in his new priory. His successor, Bishop Eborard, completed the work, by building the nave and its aisles from the rood-loft door to the west end. The building having been injured by fire, was fully repaired by John of Oxford, the fourth bishop, in 1197. The tenth bishop, Walter de Suffield, a man of heroic virtue and sanctity, built the noble chapel of the Blessed Virgin, called St. Mary the Great. In 1361 the steeple of the cathedral was blown down, and considerable damage done thereby to the choir; after which, by the munificent exertions of Bishop Percy, the present tower and spire were erected. The very handsome shaft or spire measures 105 yards and 2 feet from the pavement of the choir to the top of the pinnacle. There are eight rows of crockets continued down it, at intervals, five feet asunder. At the unhappy period of desolation when the change of religion took place in this country, Norwich Cathedral suffered with the rest the barbarous spoliation of its crucifixes, images, pictures, and altars, which had been very numerous, and of distinguished magnificence, particularly a large emblematical representation of the Holy Trinity, to whom the cathedral was solemnly dedicated, and which image was superbly gilt. Further outrageous devastation was committed in it in 1643; but after the Restoration, it was fitted up as before, and a new organ erected, the former one having been demolished by the rebels. The present choir is one of the most complete and beautiful in the kingdom; and the decayed angles of the tower are now being restored in freestone of admirable workmanship, The length of the whole building is 400 feet, and that of the transept or cross aisles, 180 feet. The tower formerly contained eight bells, but at present it has only five. The cloister of Norwich Cathedral is in good preservation, and abounding in curious devices on the ceiling wrought in stone, many of them very perfect. It forms the largest square of any cloister in England, though the sides are not exactly equal. The north side measures 173 feet 5 inches in length, and the breadth of the pavement is 13 feet 9. The south side is 172 feet 4 inches long, by 12 feet 2: the east, 175 feet, by 12 feet 3: and the west, 175 feet 6 inches, by 12 feet 2. There are seats on each side of the south, east, and west, but only on one side of the north promenades. The height of the whole inside is 15 feet 6 inches. It is the misfortune of Norwich Cathedral, like some others, to be almost surrounded and blocked up with irregular and misshapen buildings of all descriptions, which render it impossible to obtain a good and complete view of its solemn grandeur. This is the more to be lamented, as the great extent of building it contains would appear in a most imposing form, if it could be seen at one view in its full length. Still there is much for the musing antiquarian, the man of deep devotional feeling, to enjoy, in the contemplation of this venerable pile; and it will amply supply food for the calm meditation of the Catholic, who loves to dwell on the imperishable works of his pious forefathers. Thou seest not all; but piecemeal thou must break To sep'rate contemplation the great whole; And as the ocean many bays will make, That ask the eye-so here condense thy soul To more immediate objects, and control Thy thoughts, until thy mind hath got by heart In mighty graduations, part by part, The glory which at once upon thee did not dart. BYRON. SIR, To the Editor of the Catholic Miscellany. Understanding that your forthcoming number will contain a description of Norwich Cathedral, I take the liberty of sending you, by way of accompaniment, a brief account of Norwich Castle, from a recent work of the Rev. J. Goldsmith. The Castle of Norwich is of great antiquity; and Mr. Gough, in his additions to Camden, considers it to be much more ancient than the Norman conquest, or perhaps the city itself. The present ditch, by the round form, largeness, and depth, appears to be the work either of the Danes or Normans. Mr. Wilkins supposes it to be of Danish workmanship; while Mr. Bloomfield is of opinion that the present structure was erected by Roger Bigod, in the time of William Rufus, and that it occupies the site of a brick building raised by Canute. The workmen, in sinking a well within the walls of the castle a few years since, when they came to the level of the ground without the ditches, found a regular and beaten foot-patlı used before the hill was thrown up. The castle is the county gaol for debtors and felons; and, although in the centre of the city, belongs to, and is within the jurisdiction of Norfolk only. It was first committed to the custody of the high sheriff as a common prison, in the first year of Edward IV., 1460. The principal entrance to the castle was by Bar Street, now Bere Street, through Golden Lane, by the Barbican gate, which was flanked by two towers, and connected with the external vallum by a .wall. "The walls," says Grose, were commonly flanked with towers, and had an embattled parapet crenelated or garetted; for the mounting of it, there were flights of steps at convenient distances, and the parapet often had the merlons pierced with long |