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189 views55 pages

[FREE PDF sample] UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook 5th Edition Evi Nemeth ebooks

Linux

Uploaded by

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ISBN-13: 978-0-13-427755-4
ISBN-10: 0-13-427755-4
1 17
Table of Contents

TRIBUTE TO EVI
PREFACE
FOREWORD
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

SECTION ONE: BASIC ADMINISTRATION

CHAPTER 1: WHERE TO START


Essential duties of a system administrator
Controlling access
Adding hardware
Automating tasks
Overseeing backups
Installing and upgrading software
Monitoring
Troubleshooting
Maintaining local documentation
Vigilantly monitoring security
Tuning performance
Developing site policies
Working with vendors
Fire fighting
Suggested background
Linux distributions
Example systems used in this book
Example Linux distributions
Example UNIX distribution
Notation and typographical conventions
Units
Man pages and other on-line documentation
Organization of the man pages
man: read man pages
Storage of man pages
Other authoritative documentation
System-specific guides
Package-specific documentation
Books
RFC publications
Other sources of information
Keeping current
HowTos and reference sites
Conferences
Ways to find and install software
Determining if software is already installed
Adding new software
Building software from source code
Installing from a web script
Where to host
Specialization and adjacent disciplines
DevOps
Site reliability engineers
Security operations engineers
Network administrators
Database administrators
Network operations center (NOC) engineers
Data center technicians
Architects
Recommended reading
System administration and DevOps
Essential tools

CHAPTER 2: BOOTING AND SYSTEM MANAGEMENT DAEMONS


Boot process overview
System firmware
BIOS vs. UEFI
Legacy BIOS
UEFI
Boot loaders
GRUB: the GRand Unified Boot loader
GRUB configuration
The GRUB command line
Linux kernel options
The FreeBSD boot process
The BIOS path: boot0
The UEFI path
loader configuration
loader commands
System management daemons
Responsibilities of init
Implementations of init
Traditional init
systemd vs. the world
inits judged and assigned their proper punishments
systemd in detail
Units and unit files
systemctl: manage systemd
Unit statuses
Targets
Dependencies among units
Execution order
A more complex unit file example
Local services and customizations
Service and startup control caveats
systemd logging
FreeBSD init and startup scripts
Reboot and shutdown procedures
Shutting down physical systems
Shutting down cloud systems
Stratagems for a nonbooting system
Single-user mode
Single-user mode on FreeBSD
Single-user mode with GRUB
Recovery of cloud systems

CHAPTER 3: ACCESS CONTROL AND ROOTLY POWERS


Standard UNIX access control
Filesystem access control
Process ownership
The root account
Setuid and setgid execution
Management of the root account
Root account login
su: substitute user identity
sudo: limited su
Disabling the root account
System accounts other than root
Extensions to the standard access control model
Drawbacks of the standard model
PAM: Pluggable Authentication Modules
Kerberos: network cryptographic authentication
Filesystem access control lists
Linux capabilities
Linux namespaces
Modern access control
Separate ecosystems
Mandatory access control
Role-based access control
SELinux: Security-Enhanced Linux
AppArmor
Recommended reading

CHAPTER 4: PROCESS CONTROL


Components of a process
PID: process ID number
PPID: parent PID
UID and EUID: real and effective user ID
GID and EGID: real and effective group ID
Niceness
Control terminal
The life cycle of a process
Signals
kill: send signals
Process and thread states
ps: monitor processes
Interactive monitoring with top
nice and renice: influence scheduling priority
The /proc filesystem
strace and truss: trace signals and system calls
Runaway processes
Periodic processes
cron: schedule commands
systemd timers
Common uses for scheduled tasks

CHAPTER 5: THE FILESYSTEM


Pathnames
Filesystem mounting and unmounting
Organization of the file tree
File types
Regular files
Directories
Hard links
Character and block device files
Local domain sockets
Named pipes
Symbolic links
File attributes
The permission bits
The setuid and setgid bits
The sticky bit
ls: list and inspect files
chmod: change permissions
chown and chgrp: change ownership and group
umask: assign default permissions
Linux bonus flags
Access control lists
A cautionary note
ACL types
Implementation of ACLs
Linux ACL support
FreeBSD ACL support
POSIX ACLs
NFSv4 ACLs

CHAPTER 6: SOFTWARE INSTALLATION AND MANAGEMENT


Operating system installation
Installing from the network
Setting up PXE
Using kickstart, the automated installer for Red Hat and CentOS
Automating installation for Debian and Ubuntu
Netbooting with Cobbler, the open source Linux provisioning server
Automating FreeBSD installation
Managing packages
Linux package management systems
rpm: manage RPM packages
dpkg: manage .deb packages
High-level Linux package management systems
Package repositories
RHN: the Red Hat Network
APT: the Advanced Package Tool
Repository configuration
An example /etc/apt/sources.list file
Creation of a local repository mirror
APT automation
yum: release management for RPM
FreeBSD software management
The base system
pkg: the FreeBSD package manager
The ports collection
Software localization and configuration
Organizing your localization
Structuring updates
Limiting the field of play
Testing
Recommended reading

CHAPTER 7: SCRIPTING AND THE SHELL


Scripting philosophy
Write microscripts
Learn a few tools well
Automate all the things
Don’t optimize prematurely
Pick the right scripting language
Follow best practices
Shell basics
Command editing
Pipes and redirection
Variables and quoting
Environment variables
Common filter commands
sh scripting
Execution
From commands to scripts
Input and output
Spaces in filenames
Command-line arguments and functions
Control flow
Loops
Arithmetic
Regular expressions
The matching process
Literal characters
Special characters
Example regular expressions
Captures
Greediness, laziness, and catastrophic backtracking
Python programming
The passion of Python 3
Python 2 or Python 3?
Python quick start
Objects, strings, numbers, lists, dictionaries, tuples, and files
Input validation example
Loops
Ruby programming
Installation
Ruby quick start
Blocks
Symbols and option hashes
Regular expressions in Ruby
Ruby as a filter
Library and environment management for Python and Ruby
Finding and installing packages
Creating reproducible environments
Multiple environments
Revision control with Git
A simple Git example
Git caveats
Social coding with Git
Recommended reading
Shells and shell scripting
Regular expressions
Python
Ruby

CHAPTER 8: USER MANAGEMENT


Account mechanics
The /etc/passwd file
Login name
Encrypted password
UID (user ID) number
Default GID (group ID) number
GECOS field
Home directory
Login shell
The Linux /etc/shadow file
FreeBSD's /etc/master.passwd and /etc/login.conf files
The /etc/master.passwd file
The /etc/login.conf file
The /etc/group file
Manual steps for adding users
Editing the passwd and group files
Setting a password
Creating the home directory and installing startup files
Setting home directory permissions and ownerships
Configuring roles and administrative privileges
Finishing up
Scripts for adding users: useradd, adduser, and newusers
useradd on Linux
adduser on Debian and Ubuntu
adduser on FreeBSD
newusers on Linux: adding in bulk
Safe removal of a user’s account and files
User login lockout
Risk reduction with PAM
Centralized account management
LDAP and Active Directory
Application-level single sign-on systems
Identity management systems

CHAPTER 9: CLOUD COMPUTING


The cloud in context
Cloud platform choices
Public, private, and hybrid clouds
Amazon Web Services
Google Cloud Platform
DigitalOcean
Cloud service fundamentals
Access to the cloud
Regions and availability zones
Virtual private servers
Networking
Storage
Identity and authorization
Automation
Serverless functions
Clouds: VPS quick start by platform
Amazon Web Services
Google Cloud Platform
DigitalOcean
Cost control
Recommended Reading

CHAPTER 10: LOGGING


Log locations
Files not to manage
How to view logs in the systemd journal
The systemd journal
Configuring the systemd journal
Adding more filtering options for journalctl
Coexisting with syslog
Syslog
Reading syslog messages
Rsyslog architecture
Rsyslog versions
Rsyslog configuration
Config file examples
Syslog message security
Syslog configuration debugging
Kernel and boot-time logging
Management and rotation of log files
logrotate: cross-platform log management
newsyslog: log management on FreeBSD
Management of logs at scale
The ELK stack
Graylog
Logging as a service
Logging policies

CHAPTER 11: DRIVERS AND THE KERNEL


Kernel chores for system administrators
Kernel version numbering
Linux kernel versions
FreeBSD kernel versions
Devices and their drivers
Device files and device numbers
Challenges of device file management
Manual creation of device files
Modern device file management
Linux device management
FreeBSD device management
Linux kernel configuration
Tuning Linux kernel parameters
Building a custom kernel
Adding a Linux device driver
FreeBSD kernel configuration
Tuning FreeBSD kernel parameters
Building a FreeBSD kernel
Loadable kernel modules
Loadable kernel modules in Linux
Loadable kernel modules in FreeBSD
Booting
Linux boot messages
FreeBSD boot messages
Booting alternate kernels in the cloud
Kernel errors
Linux kernel errors
FreeBSD kernel panics
Recommended reading

CHAPTER 12: PRINTING


CUPS printing
Interfaces to the printing system
The print queue
Multiple printers and queues
Printer instances
Network printer browsing
Filters
CUPS server administration
Network print server setup
Printer autoconfiguration
Network printer configuration
Printer configuration examples
Service shutoff
Other configuration tasks
Troubleshooting tips
Print daemon restart
Log files
Direct printing connections
Network printing problems
Recommended reading

SECTION TWO: NETWORKING

CHAPTER 13: TCP/IP NETWORKING


TCP/IP and its relationship to the Internet
Who runs the Internet?
Network standards and documentation
Networking basics
IPv4 and IPv6
Packets and encapsulation
Ethernet framing
Maximum transfer unit
Packet addressing
Hardware (MAC) addressing
IP addressing
Hostname “addressing”
Ports
Address types
IP addresses: the gory details
IPv4 address classes
IPv4 subnetting
Tricks and tools for subnet arithmetic
CIDR: Classless Inter-Domain Routing
Address allocation
Private addresses and network address translation (NAT)
IPv6 addressing
Routing
Routing tables
ICMP redirects
IPv4 ARP and IPv6 neighbor discovery
DHCP: the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
DHCP software
DHCP behavior
ISC’s DHCP software
Security issues
IP forwarding
ICMP redirects
Source routing
Broadcast pings and other directed broadcasts
IP spoofing
Host-based firewalls
Virtual private networks
Basic network configuration
Hostname and IP address assignment
Network interface and IP configuration
Routing configuration
DNS configuration
System-specific network configuration
Linux networking
NetworkManager
ip: manually configure a network
Debian and Ubuntu network configuration
Red Hat and CentOS network configuration
Linux network hardware options
Linux TCP/IP options
Security-related kernel variables
FreeBSD networking
ifconfig: configure network interfaces
FreeBSD network hardware configuration
FreeBSD boot-time network configuration
FreeBSD TCP/IP configuration
Network troubleshooting
ping: check to see if a host is alive
traceroute: trace IP packets
Packet sniffers
Network monitoring
SmokePing: gather ping statistics over time
iPerf: track network performance
Cacti: collect and graph data
Firewalls and NAT
Linux iptables: rules, chains, and tables
IPFilter for UNIX systems
Cloud networking
AWS’s virtual private cloud (VPC)
Google Cloud Platform networking
DigitalOcean networking
Recommended reading
History
Classics and bibles
Protocols

CHAPTER 14: PHYSICAL NETWORKING


Ethernet: the Swiss Army knife of networking
Ethernet signaling
Ethernet topology
Unshielded twisted-pair cabling
Optical fiber
Ethernet connection and expansion
Autonegotiation
Power over Ethernet
Jumbo frames
Wireless: Ethernet for nomads
Wireless standards
Wireless client access
Wireless infrastructure and WAPs
Wireless security
SDN: software-defined networking
Network testing and debugging
Building wiring
UTP cabling options
Connections to offices
Wiring standards
Network design issues
Network architecture vs. building architecture
Expansion
Congestion
Maintenance and documentation
Management issues
Recommended vendors
Cables and connectors
Test equipment
Routers/switches
Recommended reading

CHAPTER 15: IP ROUTING


Packet forwarding: a closer look
Routing daemons and routing protocols
Distance-vector protocols
Link-state protocols
Cost metrics
Interior and exterior protocols
Protocols on parade
RIP and RIPng: Routing Information Protocol
OSPF: Open Shortest Path First
EIGRP: Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol
BGP: Border Gateway Protocol
Routing protocol multicast coordination
Routing strategy selection criteria
Routing daemons
routed: obsolete RIP implementation
Quagga: mainstream routing daemon
XORP: router in a box
Cisco routers
Recommended reading
CHAPTER 16: DNS: THE DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM
DNS architecture
Queries and responses
DNS service providers
DNS for lookups
resolv.conf: client resolver configuration
nsswitch.conf: who do I ask for a name?
The DNS namespace
Registering a domain name
Creating your own subdomains
How DNS works
Name servers
Authoritative and caching-only servers
Recursive and nonrecursive servers
Resource records
Delegation
Caching and efficiency
Multiple answers and round robin DNS load balancing
Debugging with query tools
The DNS database
Parser commands in zone files
Resource records
The SOA record
NS records
A records
AAAA records
PTR records
MX records
CNAME records
SRV records
TXT records
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records
DNSSEC records
The BIND software
Components of BIND
Configuration files
The include statement
The options statement
The acl statement
The (TSIG) key statement
The server statement
The masters statement
The logging statement
The statistics-channels statement
The zone statement
The controls statement for rndc
Split DNS and the view statement
BIND configuration examples
The localhost zone
A small security company
Zone file updating
Zone transfers
Dynamic updates
DNS security issues
Access control lists in BIND, revisited
Open resolvers
Running in a chrooted jail
Secure server-to-server communication with TSIG and TKEY
Setting up TSIG for BIND
DNSSEC
DNSSEC policy
DNSSEC resource records
Turning on DNSSEC
Key pair generation
Zone signing
The DNSSEC chain of trust
DNSSEC key rollover
DNSSEC tools
Debugging DNSSEC
BIND debugging
Logging in BIND
Name server control with rndc
Command-line querying for lame delegations
Recommended reading
Books and other documentation
On-line resources
The RFCs

CHAPTER 17: SINGLE SIGN-ON


Core SSO elements
LDAP: “lightweight” directory services
Uses for LDAP
The structure of LDAP data
OpenLDAP: the traditional open source LDAP server
389 Directory Server: alternative open source LDAP server
LDAP Querying
Conversion of passwd and group files to LDAP
Using directory services for login
Kerberos
sssd: the System Security Services Daemon
nsswitch.conf: the name service switch
PAM: cooking spray or authentication wonder?
Alternative approaches
NIS: the Network Information Service
rsync: transfer files securely
Recommended reading

CHAPTER 18: ELECTRONIC MAIL


Mail system architecture
User agents
Submission agents
Transport agents
Local delivery agents
Message stores
Access agents
Anatomy of a mail message
The SMTP protocol
You had me at EHLO
SMTP error codes
SMTP authentication
Spam and malware
Forgeries
SPF and Sender ID
DKIM
Message privacy and encryption
Mail aliases
Getting aliases from files
Mailing to files
Mailing to programs
Building the hashed alias database
Email configuration
sendmail
The switch file
Starting sendmail
Mail queues
sendmail configuration
The m4 preprocessor
The sendmail configuration pieces
A configuration file built from a sample .mc file
Configuration primitives
Tables and databases
Generic macros and features
Client configuration
m4 configuration options
Spam-related features in sendmail
Security and sendmail
sendmail testing and debugging
Exim
Exim installation
Exim startup
Exim utilities
Exim configuration language
Exim configuration file
Global options
Access control lists (ACLs)
Content scanning at ACL time
Authenticators
Routers
Transports
Retry configuration
Rewriting configuration
Local scan function
Logging
Debugging
Postfix
Postfix architecture
Security
Postfix commands and documentation
Postfix configuration
Virtual domains
Access control
Debugging
Recommended reading
sendmail references
Exim references
Postfix references
RFCs

CHAPTER 19: WEB HOSTING


HTTP: the Hypertext Transfer Protocol
Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)
Structure of an HTTP transaction
curl: HTTP from the command line
TCP connection reuse
HTTP over TLS
Virtual hosts
Web software basics
Web servers and HTTP proxy software
Load balancers
Caches
Content delivery networks
Languages of the web
Application programming interfaces (APIs)
Web hosting in the cloud
Build versus buy
Platform-as-a-Service
Static content hosting
Serverless web applications
Apache httpd
httpd in use
httpd configuration logistics
Virtual host configuration
Logging
NGINX
Installing and running NGINX
Configuring NGINX
Configuring TLS for NGINX
Load balancing with NGINX
HAProxy
Health checks
Server statistics
Sticky sessions
TLS termination
Recommended reading

SECTION THREE: STORAGE

CHAPTER 20: STORAGE


I just want to add a disk!
Linux recipe
FreeBSD recipe
Storage hardware
Hard disks
Solid state disks
Hybrid drives
Advanced Format and 4KiB blocks
Storage hardware interfaces
The SATA interface
The PCI Express interface
The SAS interface
USB
Attachment and low-level management of drives
Installation verification at the hardware level
Disk device files
Ephemeral device names
Formatting and bad block management
ATA secure erase
hdparm and camcontrol: set disk and interface parameters
Hard disk monitoring with SMART
The software side of storage: peeling the onion
Elements of a storage system
The Linux device mapper
Disk partitioning
Traditional partitioning
MBR partitioning
GPT: GUID partition tables
Linux partitioning
FreeBSD partitioning
Logical volume management
Linux logical volume management
FreeBSD logical volume management
RAID: redundant arrays of inexpensive disks
Software vs. hardware RAID
RAID levels
Disk failure recovery
Drawbacks of RAID 5
mdadm: Linux software RAID
Filesystems
Traditional filesystems: UFS, ext4, and XFS
Filesystem terminology
Filesystem polymorphism
Filesystem formatting
fsck: check and repair filesystems
Filesystem mounting
Setup for automatic mounting
USB drive mounting
Swapping recommendations
Next-generation filesystems: ZFS and Btrfs
Copy-on-write
Error detection
Performance
ZFS: all your storage problems solved
ZFS on Linux
ZFS architecture
Example: disk addition
Filesystems and properties
Property inheritance
One filesystem per user
Snapshots and clones
Raw volumes
Storage pool management
Btrfs: “ZFS lite” for Linux
Btrfs vs. ZFS
Setup and storage conversion
Volumes and subvolumes
Volume snapshots
Shallow copies
Data backup strategy
Recommended reading

CHAPTER 21: THE NETWORK FILE SYSTEM


Meet network file services
The competition
Issues of state
Performance concerns
Security
The NFS approach
Protocol versions and history
Remote procedure calls
Transport protocols
State
Filesystem exports
File locking
Security concerns
Identity mapping in version 4
Root access and the nobody account
Performance considerations in version 4
Server-side NFS
Linux exports
FreeBSD exports
nfsd: serve files
Client-side NFS
Mounting remote filesystems at boot time
Restricting exports to privileged ports
Identity mapping for NFS version 4
nfsstat: dump NFS statistics
Dedicated NFS file servers
Automatic mounting
Indirect maps
Direct maps
Master maps
Executable maps
Automount visibility
Replicated filesystems and automount
Automatic automounts (V3; all but Linux)
Specifics for Linux
Recommended reading

CHAPTER 22: SMB


Samba: SMB server for UNIX
Installing and configuring Samba
File sharing with local authentication
File sharing with accounts authenticated by Active Directory
Configuring shares
Mounting SMB file shares
Browsing SMB file shares
Ensuring Samba security
Debugging Samba
Querying Samba’s state with smbstatus
Configuring Samba logging
Managing character sets
Recommended reading

SECTION FOUR: OPERATIONS

CHAPTER 23: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT


Configuration management in a nutshell
Dangers of configuration management
Elements of configuration management
Operations and parameters
Variables
Facts
Change handlers
Bindings
Bundles and bundle repositories
Environments
Client inventory and registration
Popular CM systems compared
Terminology
Business models
Architectural options
Language options
Dependency management options
General comments on Chef
General comments on Puppet
General comments on Ansible and Salt
YAML: a rant
Introduction to Ansible
Ansible example
Client setup
Client groups
Variable assignments
Dynamic and computed client groups
Task lists
state parameters
Iteration
Interaction with Jinja
Template rendering
Bindings: plays and playbooks
Roles
Recommendations for structuring the configuration base
Ansible access options
Introduction to Salt
Minion setup
Variable value binding for minions
Minion matching
Salt states
Salt and Jinja
State IDs and dependencies
State and execution functions
Parameters and names
State binding to minions
Highstates
Salt formulas
Environments
Documentation roadmap
Ansible and Salt compared
Deployment flexibility and scalability
Built-in modules and extensibility
Security
Miscellaneous
Best practices
Recommended reading

CHAPTER 24: VIRTUALIZATION


Virtual vernacular
Hypervisors
Live migration
Virtual machine images
Containerization
Virtualization with Linux
Xen
Xen guest installation
KVM
KVM guest installation
FreeBSD bhyve
VMware
VirtualBox
Packer
Vagrant
Recommended reading

CHAPTER 25: CONTAINERS


Background and core concepts
Kernel support
Images
Networking
Docker: the open source container engine
Basic architecture
Installation
Client setup
The container experience
Volumes
Data volume containers
Docker networks
Storage drivers
dockerd option editing
Image building
Registries
Containers in practice
Logging
Security advice
Debugging and troubleshooting
Container clustering and management
A synopsis of container management software
Kubernetes
Mesos and Marathon
Docker Swarm
AWS EC2 Container Service
Recommended reading
CHAPTER 26: CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION AND DELIVERY
CI/CD essentials
Principles and practices
Environments
Feature flags
Pipelines
The build process
Testing
Deployment
Zero-downtime deployment techniques
Jenkins: the open source automation server
Basic Jenkins concepts
Distributed builds
Pipeline as code
CI/CD in practice
UlsahGo, a trivial web application
Unit testing UlsahGo
Taking first steps with the Jenkins Pipeline
Building a DigitalOcean image
Provisioning a single system for testing
Testing the droplet
Deploying UlsahGo to a pair of droplets and a load balancer
Concluding the demonstration pipeline
Containers and CI/CD
Containers as a build environment
Container images as build artifacts
Recommended reading

CHAPTER 27: SECURITY


Elements of security
How security is compromised
Social engineering
Software vulnerabilities
Distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS)
Insider abuse
Network, system, or application configuration errors
Basic security measures
Software updates
Unnecessary services
Remote event logging
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
Henry Beauclerc removed his dwelling from the river margin to
the crest of hill, building the First King’s House. This pile extended
from the Devil’s tower to the Watch tower, now renamed Victoria
tower. A part of Beauclerc’s edifice remains in massive walls of the
Devil’s tower, and a cutting through the chalk, sustained by Norman
masonry, leading from a shaft under the Queen’s apartment to the
southern ditch.
Henry of Winchester, a man of higher genius as an architect,
built the Second King’s House, sweeping into his lines the lower
ground, which he covered by walls and towers, including Winchester
tower, and the whole curtain by Curfew tower and Salisbury tower,
round to the Lieutenant’s lodgings, now called Henry the Third’s
tower. The Second King’s House, long since ruined and removed,
stood on the site of the present cloisters. Much of Henry of
Winchester’s work remains; in fact, the circuit of the lower ward is
mainly his, both walls and towers, from the Devil’s tower, touching
the upper ward, round to Curfew tower in the north-west angle of the
lower ward.
Edward of Windsor built the Third King’s House, fronting towards
the north, and gave the upper ward its final shape. On introducing a
new patron saint to Windsor, Edward removed his own lodging, and
renounced the lower ward entirely to the service of St. George. First
came the chapel of St. George; next came the College of St.
George; then came the Canons of St. George; lastly, came the Poor
Knights of St. George. The central ground was given up to the
chapel, and the adjoining quarter to the college. From Curfew tower
to the Lieutenant’s lodgings, all the ground was consecrated to the
saint. The first tower, reckoning from the south, became Garter
House, the second Chancellor’s tower, the third Garter tower, while
the land within the walls was covered by residences for the military
knights. An area equal to the upper baily was surrendered to his
patron saint.
Edward of York rebuilt St. George’s Chapel on a larger scale; for
Edward of York had heavy sins to weigh him down, and pressing
need for saintly help.
Henry of Richmond roofed that chapel, built a “new tower” in the
King’s House, and made a fair causeway from Windsor to London—
the first road ever made between the castle and the capital.
Queen Elizabeth built the gallery which bears her name, and
raised the great terraces above the Thames. Before her time the
scarp was rough and steep: she built this solid wall, and laid this
level road.
George the Fourth raised the Norman keep in height, flanked the
park entrance with another tower, opened St. George’s gate,
buttressed the North-east tower, and called his new edifice
Brunswick tower.
Like Queen Elizabeth, Queen Victoria has devoted her attention
rather to the slopes and gardens than the structure; but the few
additions of her reign have been effected with a proper reverence for
the ancient pile. Her Majesty has cleared off slum and tenement from
the slopes, and opened the southern terrace, just as Elizabeth
opened the northern terrace. Work has been done in cloister and
chapel. As Henry of Richmond made a road from Windsor to
London, Queen Victoria has brought two railways to her castle gates.
Since the days of Edward of Windsor the Castle hill has kept the
triple character—upper ward, middle ward, and lower ward—baily of
the King, baily of the keep, and baily of St. George—the residence of
our sovereign, the symbol of our power, the altar of our saint.

Royal Windsor (London, 1879).


THE CATHEDRAL OF COLOGNE.
ERNEST BRETON.

WE are now in the middle of the Tenth Century and in the city of
Cologne; for several hours a man has been sitting upon the banks of
a river, flowing majestically at the base of those ramparts which sixty
years ago were erected by Philip von Heinsberg, and for several
hours his thoughtful brow has not been lifted. This man was the first
master-workman of his time; three centuries later he was called the
prince of architects. The Archbishop of Cologne had said to him:
“Master, we must build a cathedral here which will surpass all the
buildings of the world in grandeur and magnificence.” The artist
replied: “I will do it;” and now he was pondering over ways of
accomplishing his promise about which he was frightened. At this
moment he was trying to think out a marvellous plan which would
give lustre to his country and immortalize his name; but nothing
came into his mind worthy of the prodigy he was trying to conceive
and could not create.
An unknown old man now approached and sat beside him,
regarding him with a mocking air, as if he rejoiced in his perplexity
and despair; every now and then he gave a little, dry cough, and
when he had attracted the attention of the artist, he rapidly traced on
the sand with a ring some lines which he immediately effaced. These
lines formed exactly that plan which always escaped the artist and
whose fugitive image he could not seize.
“You would like to have this plan?” asked the old man.
“I would give all I possess for it.”
“I exact nothing. The building that you construct will be the envy
and the eternal despair of all your successors, the admiration of
centuries to come, and your brilliant and celebrated name will be
known to the most remote generations. Your life will be long; you will
pass it in glory, wealth, and pleasure. For all that I only ask for your
soul when your life draws to its close.”
“Vade retro Satanas!” cried the agitated artist. “Better the
nothingness of oblivion than eternal damnation.”
“Patience,” said Satan, “reflect: we shall see,” and he vanished.
The master-workman returned to his humble dwelling, sadder and
more dreamful than when he left it; he could not close his eyes all
night. Glory, wealth, and pleasure for many long years, and all that
for one word! In vain he tried to shake himself free from the fatal
temptation; at every moment, at every step he again saw the tempter
showing him his transitory plan; he succumbed.
“To-morrow, at midnight,” said Satan, “go to that spot and I will
bring you the plan and the pact that you must sign.”
The artist returned to the city, divided between remorse and
dreams of pride and ambition. Remorse conquered, and before the
appointed hour he had told everything to his confessor. “It will be a
master-stroke,” said the latter, “to deceive Satan himself and snatch
the famous plan from him without paying the price of your soul,” and
he sketched out the line of conduct that he should follow.
At the appointed hour the two parties stood face to face. “Here,”
said Satan, “are the plan and pact; take it and sign it.” Quick as
lightning the master-workman snatched the plan with one hand and
with the other he brandished a piece of the True Cross, which the
wily confessor had given to him. “I am vanquished,” cried Satan, “but
you will reap little benefit through your treachery. Your name will be
unknown and your work will never be completed.”
Such is the legend of the Cathedral of Cologne. I have told it
here so that the admiration of the Middle Ages for this plan, which
could not be considered the work of any human genius, may be
measured, and for six centuries the sinister prediction of Satan has
4
held good.
At the north-east end of the elevation occupied by the ancient
Colonia Agrippina, in the spot where the choir of the Cathedral raises
its magnificent pinnacles, there existed in very remote ages a
Roman Castellum. At a later period this was replaced by a palace of
the French kings, which Charlemagne gave to his chancellor and
confessor Hildebold....
The Cathedral of Cologne was one of the most ancient seats of
Christianity in Germany; it contained in its jurisdiction the capital of
Charlemagne’s Empire, the city where the Emperors were crowned.
In the Twelfth Century, Frederick Barbarossa enriched it with one of
those sacred treasures which in a time of faith attracted entire
populations and gave birth to the gigantic enterprises which seem so
incredible in our positive and sceptical age. All eyes were turned to
the Holy Land, and the pilgrims of Germany, as well as of other
countries, before undertaking this perilous voyage came by the
thousands to the tomb of the Magi, to pray to God that the same star
which guided the Three Wise Men to Christ’s cradle might lead them
to his tomb. The celebrity and wealth of the Cologne Cathedral was
greatly due to the custom of the Emperors visiting it after their
coronation. Thus, from the moment it was in possession of the
sacred relics, everything combined to augment its splendour;
princes, emperors, and people of all classes were eager to add to its
treasures. Therefore, it was only a natural consequence to erect on
the site of the old Cathedral of St. Peter a building more vast and
magnificent, and which would accord better with its important
destiny. The Archbishop Angebert, Count of Altena and Berg, upon
whom Frederick II. conferred the dignity of vicar of the empire,
conceived the first idea; but at about the age of forty he was
assassinated by his cousin, the Count of Ysembourg, in 1225, and
the enterprise was abandoned. Finally, a great fire devoured the
Cathedral in 1248 and its immediate reconstruction was
indispensable....
THE CATHEDRAL OF COLOGNE.

Everyone knows that almost all churches of the pointed arch


which occupied several centuries in building show the special mark
of the periods in which their various additions were constructed; this
is not the case with the Cathedral of Cologne, which is peculiar in the
fact that its foundations and its additions were all constructed on one
and the same plan, which preserves the original design, and
therefore it presents a rare and admirable unity.
On the side of the Rhine, or rather on the Margreten, between
the Trankgass and the Domhof, the choir of the basilica offers the
most imposing effect. It is only from this side that the edifice seems
to have an end. The end of the roof, edged in all its length by an
open-worked ridge, is surmounted by an enormous cross, nine
metres high, finished with a fleur-de-lis at each extremity. This cross,
weighing 694 kil., was only placed there on August 3, 1825, but it
was long in existence, having been, it is said, presented to the
church by Marie de’ Medici. In the centre of the transept there rose a
bell-tower, 65 metres high, which was demolished in 1812. The plan
carries a superb flèche of stone, open-worked like the spires of the
façade, and about 100 metres high.
Fifteen flying-buttresses on each side proceed from the central
window and sustain the choir, leaning against the buttresses and
surmounted by elegant pyramids. Each of these pyramids carries
twelve niches destined to hold angels two metres high, many of
which have been restored lately by Wilhelm Imhoff. The upper part of
the flying-buttresses, at the point where they meet the balustrade of
the roof, is crowned by another and more simple pyramid. Finally,
between these flying-buttresses in the upper part of the wall of the
choir, magnificent mullioned windows are disclosed. The entire
edifice is covered with gargoyles, each more bizarre than the other....
Entering the cathedral by the door at the foot of the northern
tower, you find yourself in the double-lower northern nave. The first
bays do not contain altars, but their windows reveal magnificent
panes, of the beginning of the Sixteenth Century. The Archbishop
Herman von Hesse, the Chapter, the City, and many noble families
united to have them painted by the most distinguished artists of the
period, which was the apogee of Art in Germany; and therefore here
are many of the most admirable chefs d’œuvre of glass-painting....
The Chapel of the Kings is almost entirely occupied by the
building erected in 1688 and ornamented by Ionic pilasters of
marble, and which, shut in by grilles and many locks, contains the
marvellous reliquary in which are preserved the relics of the Three
Magi. According to Buttler, these relics were found by Saint Helena,
mother of Constantine, during her pilgrimage to the Holy Land; she
carried them carefully to Constantinople. Soon afterwards the
Archbishop Eustorge, to whom the Emperor had presented them,
brought them to Milan, where they were deposited in the church
subsequently consecrated to the same Eustorge, who was
canonized. When Frederick Barbarossa invaded the town in 1163,
Reinald von Dassile, Archbishop of Cologne, received them as a
reward for the services which he had rendered to the Emperor during
the siege. At the same time Reinald obtained several relics of the
Maccabees, of the Saints Apollinaris, Felix, Nabor, Gregory di
Spoletto, etc. He, himself, accompanied this treasure, which crossed
Switzerland in triumph, descended the Rhine to Remagen, where he
gave it to Philip of Heinsberg, then provost of the Chapter.
On July 23, 1164, the relics were deposited in the ancient
cathedral, from which they were transferred to the new one; they
were guarded there simply by an iron grille until the Archbishop
Maximilian Heinrich constructed the building which encloses them to-
day, upon whose pediment you see sculptured in marble, by Michael
Van der Voorst of Antwerp, the Adoration of the Magi, Saint Felix,
Saint Nabor, and two female figures guarding the arms of the
Metropolitan Chapter, in the midst of which figure those of the
Archbishop Maximilian Heinrich. On the frieze you read the
inscription: “Tribus ab oriente regibus devicto in agnitione veri
numinis capitulum metropol erexit.” Above the grilled window, which
is opened during grand ceremonies to permit the people to see the
reliquary, is written:

“Corpora sanctorum recubant hic terna magorum;


Ex his sublatum nihil est alibive locatum.”

Finally, above the reliquary placed to the right and left between
the columns one reads: “Et apertis thesauris suis obtulerunt
munera.”
In 1794 the relics were carried to the treasury of Arnsberg, then
to Prague, where the three crowns of diamonds were sold, and
finally to Frankfort-on-the-Main. When they were brought back in
1804, the reliquary was repaired and put in its old place. This
reliquary, a chef d’œuvre of Twelfth Century orfèvrerie, is of gilded
copper with the exception of the front, which is of pure gold; its form
is that of a tomb; its length 1 m. 85, its breadth 1 m. at the base, its
height 1 m. 50; on the side turned to the west you see represented
the Adoration of the Magi and the baptism of Jesus Christ. Above the
sculpture is a kind of lid which may be raised, permitting you to see
the skulls of the Three Kings ornamented with golden crowns
garnished with Bohemian stones,—a kind of garnet; in the pediment
is the image of the Divine Judge sitting between two angels who hold
the attributes of the Passion; the two busts above represent Gabriel
and Raphael; and, finally, an enormous topaz occupies the summit
of the pediment. The right side of the reliquary is ornamented with
images of the prophets, Moses, Jonah, David, Daniel, Amos, and
Obadiah. The apostles Paul, Philip, Simon, Thomas, and Judas
Thaddeus are placed in six niches above. In the left side you see the
prophets Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Nahum, Solomon, Joel, and Aaron, and
the apostles Bartholomew, Matthew, John the Lesser, Andrew, Peter,
and John the Great. The back of the monument presents the
flagellation of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, Saint John, the Saviour
on the Cross, Saint Felix, Saint Nabor, the Archbishop Reinald and
eight busts of angels. The monument is surmounted by an open-
work ridge of copper lace. This magnificent reliquary is covered with
more than 1,500 precious stones and antique cameos representing
subjects which are not exactly Christian such as the apotheosis of an
Emperor, two heads of Medusa, a head of Hercules, one of
Alexander, etc. Behind the reliquary is a bas-relief in marble 1 m. 33
in height and 1 m. 40 in length, representing the solemn removal of
the relics. The bas-reliefs of richly-gilt bronze, placed below the
windows which occupy the back of the chapel, represent the
Adoration of the Magi: these were the gift of Jacques de Croy, Duke
of Cambrai in 1516. This window is ornamented with beautiful panes
of the Thirteenth Century, representing various subjects of sacred
history.

Jules Gaillhabaud, Monuments anciens et modernes (Paris,


1865).
THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES.
AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE.

THE first palace of Versailles was a hunting-lodge built by Louis XIII.


at the angle of the present Rue de la Pompe and Avenue de Saint-
Cloud. This he afterwards found too small, and built, in 1627, a
moated castle, on the site of a windmill in which he had once taken
shelter for the night. The buildings of this château still exist,
respected, as the home of his father, in all the alterations of Louis
XIV., and they form the centre of the present place. In 1632 Louis
XIII. became seigneur of Versailles by purchase from François de
Gondi, Archbishop of Paris.
THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES.

The immense works which Louis XIV. undertook here, and which
were carried out by the architect Mansart, were begun in 1661, and
in 1682 the residence of the Court was definitely fixed at Versailles,
connected by new roads with the capital. Colbert made a last effort
to keep the king at Paris, and to divert the immense sums which
were being swallowed up in Versailles to the completion of the
Louvre. The very dulness of the site of Versailles, leaving everything
to be created, was an extra attraction in the eyes of Louis XIV. The
great difficulty to be contended with in the creation of Versailles was
the want of water, and this, after various other attempts had failed, it
was hoped to overcome by a canal which was to bring the waters of
the Eure to the royal residence. In 1681 22,000 soldiers and 6,000
horses were employed in this work, with such results of sickness that
the troops encamped at Maintenon, where the chief part of the work
was, became unfit for any service. On October 12, 1678, Mme. de
Sévigné writes to Bussy-Rabutin:—
“The king wishes to go to Versailles; but it seems that God
does not, to judge from the difficulty of getting the buildings
ready for occupation and the dreadful mortality of the workmen
who are carried away every night in waggons filled with the
dead. This terrible occurrence is kept secret so as not to create
alarm and not to decry the air of this favori sans mérite. You
know this bon mot of Versailles.”

Nine millions were expended in the Aqueduct of Maintenon, of


which the ruins are still to be seen, then it was interrupted by the war
of 1688, and the works were never continued. Instead, all the water
of the pools and the snow falling on the plain between Rambouillet
and Versailles was brought to the latter by a series of subterranean
watercourses.
No difficulties, however—not even pestilence, or the ruin of the
country by the enormous cost—were allowed to interfere with “les
plaisirs du roi.” The palace rose, and its gigantic gardens were
peopled with statues, its woods with villages.
Under Louis XV. Versailles was chiefly remarkable as being the
scene of the extravagance of Mme. de Pompadour and the turpitude
of Mme. du Barry. Mme. Campan has described for us the life, the
very dull life, there of “Mesdames,” daughters of the king. Yet, till the
great Revolution, since which it has been only a shadow of its former
self, the town of Versailles drew all its life from the château.
Approaching from the town on entering the grille of the palace
from the Place d’Armes we find ourselves in the vast Cour des
Statues—“solennelle et morne.” In the centre is an equestrian statue
of Louis XIV. by Petitot and Cartellier. Many of the surrounding
statues were brought from the Pont de la Concorde at Paris. Two
projecting wings shut in the Cour Royale, and separate it from the
Cour des Princes on the left, and the Cour de la Chapelle on the
right. Beyond the Cour Royale, deeply recessed amongst later
buildings is the court called, from its pavement, the Cour de Marbre,
surrounded by the little old red château of Louis XIII.
The Cour de Marbre was sometimes used as a theatre under
Louis XIV., and the opera of Alcestis was given there. It has a
peculiar interest, for no stranger can look up at the balcony of the
first floor without recalling Marie Antoinette presenting herself there,
alone, to the fury of the people, October 6, 1789.
The palace of Versailles has never been inhabited by royalty
since the chain of carriages drove into this court on October 6, to
convey Louis XVI. and his family to Paris.
From the Grande Cour the gardens may be reached by
passages either from the Cour des Princes on the left, or from the
Cour de la Chapelle on the right. This palace has had three chapels
in turn. The first, built by Louis XIII., was close to the marble
staircase. The second, built by Louis XIV., occupied the site of the
existing Salon d’Hercule. The present chapel, built 1699–1710, is the
last work of Mansart.
Here we may think of Bossuet, thundering before Louis XIV., “les
royaumes meurent, sire, comme les rois,” and of the words of
Massillon, “Si Jésus-Christ paraissait dans ce temple, au milieu de
cette assemblée, la plus auguste de l’univers, pour vous juger, pour
faire le terrible discernement,” etc. Here we may imagine Louis XIV.
daily assisting at the Mass, and his courtiers, especially the ladies,
attending also to flatter him, but gladly escaping, if they thought he
would not be there....
All the furniture of Versailles was sold during the Revolution (in
1793), and, though a few pieces have been recovered, the palace is
for the most part unfurnished, and little more than a vast picture-
gallery. From the antechamber of the chapel open two galleries on
the ground floor of the north wing. One is the Galerie des Sculptures;
the other, divided by different rooms looking on the garden, is the
Galerie de l’Histoire de France. The first six rooms of the latter
formed the apartments of the Duc de Maine, the much indulged son
of Louis XIV. and Mme. de Maintenon.
At the end of the gallery (but only to be entered now from the
Rue des Réservoirs) is the Salle de l’Opéra. In spite of the passion
of Louis XIV. for dramatic representations, no theatre was built in the
palace during his reign. Some of the plays of Molière and Racine
were acted in improvised theatres in the park; others, in the halls of
the palace, without scenery or costumes; the Athalie of Racine,
before the King and Mme. de Maintenon, by the young ladies of
Saint-Cyr. The present Opera House was begun by Jacques Ange-
Gabriel under Louis XV. for Mme. de Pompadour and finished for
Mme. du Barry.
The Opera House was inaugurated on the marriage of the
Dauphin with Marie Antoinette, and nineteen years after was the
scene of that banquet, the incidents of which were represented in a
manner so fatal to the monarchy, given by the body-guard of the king
to the officers of a regiment which had arrived from Flanders....
The garden front of the palace has not yet experienced the
soothing power of age: it looks almost new; two hundred years
hence it will be magnificent. The long lines of the building, with its
two vast wings, are only broken by the top of the chapel rising above
the wing on the left.
The rich masses of green formed by the clipped yews at the
sides of the gardens have the happiest effect, and contrast vividly
with the dark background of chestnuts, of which the lower part is
trimmed, but the upper falls in masses of heavy shade, above the
brilliant gardens with their population of statues. These grounds are
the masterpiece of Lenôtre, and of geometrical gardening, decorated
with vases, fountains, and orange-trees. Lovers of the natural may
find great fault with these artificial gardens, but there is much that is
grandiose and noble in them; and, as Voltaire says: “Il est plus facile
de critiquer Versailles que de le refaire.”
The gardens need the enlivenment of the figures, for which they
were intended as a background, in the gay Courts of Louis XIV. and
Louis XV. as represented in the pictures of Watteau; but the Memoirs
of the time enable us to repeople them with a thousand forms which
have long been dust, centring around the great king, “Se promenant
dans ses jardins de Versailles, dans son fauteuil à roues.”
The sight of the magnificent terraces in front of the palace will
recall the nocturnal promenades of the Court, so much
misrepresented by the enemies of Marie Antoinette.
Very stately is the view down the main avenue—great fountains
of many figures in the foreground; then the brilliant Tapis Vert,
between masses of rich wood; then the Bassin d’Apollon, and the
great canal extending to distant meadows and lines of natural
poplars.

Days near Paris (London, 1887)


THE CATHEDRAL OF LINCOLN.
THOMAS FROGNALL DIBDIN.

WELCOME to Lincoln! Upwards of twenty summer suns have rolled


their bright and genial courses since my first visit to this ancient city,
—or rather, to this venerable Cathedral: for the former seems to be
merged in the latter. There is no proportion between them. A
population of only twelve thousand inhabitants and scarcely more
than an ordinary sprinkling of low commonplace brick-houses, are
but inharmonious accessories to an ecclesiastical edifice, built upon
the summit of a steep and lofty hill—pointing upwards with its three
beautiful and massive towers towards heaven, and stretching
longways with its lofty nave, choir, ladye-chapel, side chapels, and
double transepts. For site, there is no Cathedral to my knowledge
which approaches it....
WEST FRONT OF THE CATHEDRAL OF LINCOLN
Upon a comparative estimation with the Cathedral of York,
Lincoln may be called a volume of more extensive instruction; and
the antiquary clings to its pages with a more varied delight. The
surface or exterior of Lincoln Cathedral presents at least four perfect
specimens of the succeeding styles of the first four orders of Gothic
architecture. The greater part of the front may be as old as the time
5
of its founder, Bishop Remigius, at the end of the Eleventh Century:
but even here may be traced invasions and intermixtures, up to the
Fifteenth Century. The large indented windows are of this latter
period, and exhibit a frightful heresy. The western towers carry you
to the end of the Twelfth Century: then succeeds a wonderful extent
of Early English, or the pointed arch. The transepts begin with the
Thirteenth, and come down to the middle of the Fourteenth Century;
and the interior, especially the choir and the side aisles, abounds
with the most exquisitely varied specimens of that period. Fruits,
flowers, vegetables, insects, capriccios of every description, encircle
the arches or shafts, and sparkle upon the capitals of pillars. Even
down to the reign of Henry VIII. there are two private chapels, to the
left of the smaller south porch, on entrance, which are perfect gems
of art.
Where a building is so diversified, as well as vast, it is difficult to
be methodical; but the reader ought to know, as soon as possible,
that there are here not only two sets of transepts, as at York, but that
the larger transept is the longest in England, being not less than two
hundred and fifty feet in length. The window of the south transept is
circular, and so large as to be twenty-two feet in diameter; bestudded
with ancient stained glass, now become somewhat darkened by
time, and standing in immediate need of cleaning and repairing. I
remember, on my first visit to this Cathedral, threading the whole of
the clerestory on the south side, and coming immediately under this
magnificent window, which astonished me from its size and
decorations. Still, for simplicity as well as beauty of effect, the
delicately ornamented lancet windows of the north transept of York
Cathedral have clearly a decided preference. One wonders how
these windows, both at York and at this place, escaped destruction
from Cromwell’s soldiers.... The Galilee, to the left of the larger south
transept, is a most genuine and delicious specimen of Early English
architecture. In this feature, York, upon comparison, is both petty and
repulsive.
Wherever the eye strays or the imagination catches a point upon
which it may revel in building up an ingenious hypothesis, the
exterior of Lincoln Cathedral (some five hundred feet in length) is a
never failing source of gratification....
Let us turn to the grand western front; and whatever be the
adulterations of the component parts, let us admire its width and
simplicity;—the rude carvings, or rather sculpture, commemorative of
the life of the founder, St. Remigius: and although horrified by the
indented windows, of the perpendicular style, let us pause again and
again before we enter at the side-aisle door. All the three doors are
too low; but see what a height and what a space this front occupies!
It was standing on this spot, that Corio, my dear departed friend—
some twenty years ago—assured me he remained almost from
sunset to dawn of day, as the whole of the front was steeped in the
soft silvery light of an autumnal full moon. He had seen nothing
before so grand. He had felt nothing before so stirring. The planets
and stars, as they rolled in their silent and glittering orbits, and in a
subdued lustre, over the roof of the nave, gave peculiar zest to the
grandeur of the whole scene: add to which, the awfully deepening
6
sounds of Great Tom made his very soul to vibrate! Here, as that
bell struck the hour of two, seemed to sit the shrouded figures of
7
Remigius, Bloet, and Geoffrey Plantagenet, who, saluting each
other in formal prostrations, quickly vanished at the sound “into thin
air.” The cock crew; the sun rose; and with it all enchantment was at
an end. Life has few purer, yet more delirious enjoyments, than
this....
The reader may here, perhaps, expect something like the
institution of a comparison between these two great rival Cathedrals
of Lincoln and York; although he will have observed many points in
common between them to have been previously settled. The
preference to Lincoln is given chiefly from its minute and varied
detail; while its position impresses you at first sight, with such
mingled awe and admiration, that you cannot divest yourself of this
impression, on a more dispassionately critical survey of its
component parts. The versed antiquary adheres to Lincoln, and
would build his nest within one of the crocketted pinnacles of the
western towers—that he might hence command a view of the great
central tower; and, abroad of the straight Roman road running to
Barton, and the glittering waters of the broad and distant Humber.
But for one human being of this stamp, you would have one hundred
collecting within and without the great rival at York. Its vastness, its
space, its effulgence of light and breadth of effect: its imposing
simplicity, by the comparative paucity of minute ornament—its lofty
lantern, shining, as it were, at heaven’s gate, on the summit of the
central tower: and, above all, the soul-awakening devotion kindled by
a survey of its vast and matchless choir leave not a shadow of doubt
behind, respecting the decided superiority of this latter edifice.

A Bibliographical, Antiquarian, and Picturesque Tour in the


Northern Counties of England and in Scotland (London, 1838).
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