15 DECEMBER 1888, Page 15

CLOSED CATHEDRALS.

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " •] SIR,—In justice to " the dragon of the golden gate " who grimly guards the arcade leading to the Lady Chapel in Exeter Cathedral, let me add my experience to that of your correspondent, " H. D. R." I was about to pass the said gate this summer (with other visitors), and, in common with many, felt hurt that a set fee for seeing our cathedral should be exacted from us ; there was a very unsavoury specimen of the tramp class by my side, and wishing him to have the benefit of any ennobling influence the material church might exert, I offered to pay the necessary sixpence for him. " It is not necessary, Sir, for the poor to pay," was the reply of the

portress to my offer.—I am, Sir, &c., M.A. Oxon.