Page:Distinguished Churchmen.djvu/40

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Distinguished Churchment

to that of my fund. But that was moving too slowly to keep pace with the needs of the Diocese, and I started this supplementary fund in order to quicken the work. Of course, the Cathedral restoration was begun and completed in Bishop Ollivant's time. Prior to that it was a complete ruin, excepting the Lady Chapel.”

“What was the cost of that restoration?”

“Well, the partial restoration took place about 1788. That consisted of the introduction into the ruined Cathedral of a kind of Grecian temple, of which the architecture was wholly out of keeping with that of the original building. That was entirely removed before the beautiful restoration was commenced in 1851. During my predecessor's time over £30,000 were raised, chiefly in this Diocese.”

“It will be of interest to the public to know something more of this enormous growth of population, and of the way in which the Church has grappled with it?”

“The enormous growth of the population,” said the Bishop, “is sufficiently indicated when I tell you that, at the beginning of the century, there were 150,000 people in this Diocese, and there are very nearly 1,000,000 now. You see, the increased population largely came in from other parts of Wales, and consisted mainly of Nonconformists. The situation struck me so seriously and so forcibly that I was nearly giving up the