order of one of the British chieftains.  The present magnificent structure was completed in 1237, and so far as appearance is concerned, now stands almost as it left the builder’s hands.  It is without tower or spire of considerable height and somewhat disappointing when viewed from the exterior.  The interior is most imposing and the great church is rich in historical associations.  Here is buried Catherine of Aragon, the first queen of Henry VIII, and the body of the unfortunate Queen of Scots was brought here after her execution at Fotheringhay.  King James I, when he came to the throne, removed his mother’s remains to Westminster Abbey, where they now rest.

Strangely enough, the builders of the cathedral did not take into consideration the yielding nature of the soil on which they reared the vast structure, and as a consequence, a few years ago the central tower of the building began to give way and cracks appeared in the vaulting and walls.  Something had to be done at once, and at the cost of more than half a million dollars the tower was taken down from top to foundation, every stone being carefully marked to indicate its exact place in the walls.  The foundations were carried eleven feet deeper, until they rested upon solid rock, and then each stone was replaced in its original position.  Restoration is so perfect that the ordinary beholder would never know the tower had been touched.  This incident gives an idea of how the cathedrals are now cared for and at what cost they are restored after ages of neglect and destruction.

[Illustration:  A typical byway.]

Peterborough was stripped of most of its images and carvings by Cromwell’s soldiers and its windows are modern and inferior.  Our attention was attracted to three or four windows that looked much like the crazy-quilt work that used to be in fashion.  We were informed that these were made of fragments of glass that had been discovered and patched together without any effort at design, merely to preserve them and to show the rich tones and colorings of the original windows.  The most individual feature of Peterborough is the three great arches on the west, or entrance, front.  These rise nearly two-thirds the height of the frontage and it is almost a hundred feet from the ground to the top of the pointed arches.  The market square of Peterborough was one of the largest we had seen—­another evidence of the agricultural importance of the town.  Aside from the cathedral there is not much of interest, but if one could linger there is much worth seeing in the surrounding country.