How those light
silvery notes filled our imagination with romantic dreams of old
Flanders.
Again we recalled our visit to the Great Cathedral of Cologne,
the most complete piece of Gothic architecture anywhere to be
found. We mounted the steps of one of the gigantic towers which
lift their sublime heads to a height of five hundred two feet,
the exact length of the cathedral. Here we gazed out over the
level plain that stretched away to the marvelous scenic region
of the Seven Mountains. The foundation of this beautiful
structure was laid two hundred fifty years before the discovery
of America and fifty years before the founding of the Turkish
Empire. But the last stone was not laid on the south tower until
1880.
As we listened to the deep-toned bells, how we were thrilled
with visions of the past! Here lived Colonia Agrippina, the
daughter of Germanicus and the mother of Nero. It was from
Cologne that Hadrian received his summons to Rome as emperor.
Here, too, Vitellius and Silvanus were both proclaimed emperor
in this remote northern camp on the left bank of the Rhine.
But you do not dwell long on the past, for here stands this
colossal, magnificent cathedral with its incomparable towers to
call your attention to the glorious achievements of man. Men
were not the only ones to use this noble edifice as a sanctuary,
for out and in among its superb towers numerous birds darted to
and fro, where they dwelt safely as in a citadel. Pretty falcons
circled gracefully about them as though they were crags of some
wild mountain; rooks cawed from their lofty stations below the
bells; chimney swifts glued their log cabins to rough stone
ledges, and in various niches above the doorway pigeons placed
their nests and uttered their messages of peace to all who
entered. English sparrows, too, had taken possession here and
there just as their countrymen had taken possession of the city.
As we entered the cathedral a mingled feeling of awe and
devotion came over us. But it was not the blazing shrine of the
eleven thousand Virgins, the magnificent windows through which
the morning sunbeams filtered, nor yet the choir, perhaps the
most wonderful in the world, that produced this feeling of
reverence. "We remembered that this glorious structure had been
erected to the 'God of Peace' in the midst of strife and
bitterness, and by men estranged by the first principle of the
Gospel." But here we beheld French officers, Scotch Highlanders,
English and American soldiers, scattered among the Germans,
reverently kneeling, devout and hushed at the Consecration. Then
we thought how "notwithstanding the passions of men and
wickedness of rulers, the building up of the Church of God and
of the Christian faith, goes steadily on, unrecorded but
continuous."
But here among these lovely Ohio hills, where the Master
Architect erected and is still building these wonderful temples
that never decay, we were more impressed by their solemn
grandeur than any work of man could inspire.
