ng Charles held a council of war
in the cathedral-tower, and when he descended to personally lead the
defence, the fight had become hot; and it lasted several hours, Cromwell
describing the battle as being "as stiff a contest as I have ever seen."
The Scots were outnumbered and beaten, but would not surrender, and the
battle did not close till nightfall. Then it was found that, while
Cromwell had suffered inconsiderable loss, the royal forces had lost six
thousand men and all their artillery and baggage. Charles fought
bravely, and narrowly avoided capture. A handful of troops defended
Sidbury Gate, leading in from the suburb of the town where the battle
had been hottest. Charles had to dismount and creep under an overturned
hay-wagon, and, entering the gate, mounted a horse and rode to the
corn-market, where he escaped with Lord Wilmot through the back door of
a house, while some of his officers beat off Cobbett's troops who
attacked the front. Upon this house, built in 1557, is still read the
inscription, "Love God; honor the king." Then getting out of the city,
Charles escaped into the wood of Boscobel, and after a series of
romantic adventures managed to reach the seacoast in Sussex, and on
October 15th embarked at Shoreham for France. It was in this battle that
Worcester earned the motto it still bears of "Civitas fidelis."

[Illustration: RUINS OF THE GUESTEN HALL.]

Worcester's most conspicuous building is the cathedral, its tower being
prominently seen from miles around. Its western front overlooks the
Severn, and the ground-plan is an elongated rectangle with small double
transepts. The choir and portions of the nave are the original work,
most of the remainder being restored. St. Dunstan's successor, Bishop
Oswald, built the first cathedral here, and during the progress of the
work he met an unexpected check. The ancient chronicler tells us that a
large stone became immovable, and despite every exertion could not be
brought to its proper place. "St. Oswald," he continues, "after praying
earnestly, beheld 'Ethiopem quendam' sitting upon the stone and mocking
the builders: the sign of the cross removed him effectually." No
portion of this original building remains, the earliest parts of the
present cathedral dating from Bishop Wulstan's time, in the eleventh
century. Wulstan was a man of piety and simplicity who retained his see
after the Norman Conquest. The increasing number of monks in the
monastery compelle