English Cathedrals

Yet this list includes almost all the English cathedrals of highest architectural rank. St. Albans, Norwich, and Exeter are the others which most loudly cried for mention. But St. Albans has no cathe dral record at all — it was raised to cathedral dignity only a few years ago; and Norwich, architecturally, is close akin to Peterborough and Ely, neither of which could possibly be left out; so it is only Exeter Cathedral whose voice sounds very reproachfully in my ears. This, I confess, found no place simply because the available places were only twelve. But I hasten to add that my decision to exclude Exeter rather than any of the present twelve was approved by so competent a judge as Professor Freeman. As he said that a better list of twelve cathedrals than ours could not be compiled, I hope my readers will be content with the road I have taken to sketch for them the development of English architecture and the importance of English cathedral establishments. A word now as to the meaning of the word cathedral, which may not be perfectly plain to all American ears.