The Argosy — page 83: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

68 : Far Normandy. and men and women unmistakably of to-day—prosy and more or less commonplace. Those peopleof a bygone age must have hada greatness of mind and correctness of taste not to be met with now; for when our nineteenth century shall be numbered amongst the ages, and our houses and buildings shall be grim and hoary with the dust of cen- turies, there will be little in them to awaken the admiration of far-off generations that are yet to come. One of the most striking and beautiful views of the cathedral is to walk down past the south doorway, beyond the extreme east end, and look back upon the whole length of the building. The view is grand and effective in the extreme, with its combination of towers, its beauty of outline, its richness of decoration, its windows magnificent in proportions and tracery, and its flying buttresses full of grace. In short, all the splendour of an elaborately-decorated Gothic building that can scarcely be equalled are here to be found. Every detail and every part appears to harmonize with singular felicity ; and nothing offends but that monstrous iron spire, which would absolutely ruin a building of less beauty. Over and over again we found ourselves wandering down that narrow side street, and gazing back upon the vision; and ever as we gazed and grew more familiar with it, its beauty grew upon us. Of the interior of the church much has been written, and opinions differ. It is of the thirteenth century, and in the Early Pointed style. Its proportions are splendid. ‘The nave is of great length and height. The choir, considered one of the most beautiful in Europe, has double aisles. ‘The transepts are also divided into middle and side aisles by columns and arches similar to those of the nave. Above the main arches of the nave is a second tier of arches forming a gallery, which being without flooring, opens into the aisles, and forms a most effective arrangement. ‘These take the place of the ordinary triforium. Still above it are two more galleries; and again, above all, the clerestory, with its windows: making fine horizontal divisions in the walls of the nave. The choir dates from the thirteenth century. It is surrounded by fourteen massive and lofty columns, and is lighted by thirteen windows full of beautiful fifteenth-century glass. The toned light is exquisite. It is rich in carved stalls, though many of the designs are singular and erotesque. <A great deal of the stained glass 1s of the thirteenth cen- tury and extremely beautiful; but the three rose windows, unhappily, are exceptions; that over the west doorway especially offending the eye. The choir screen is very poor, and dates from the year 1774. But the fifteenth-century screen opposite the sacristy, and the iron gates are magnificent. Near the choir screen will be found the long lost tomb of Richard Coeur de Lion: who, when he died, bequeathed his heart to Rouen, his body to Fontévrault. Where the heart now is is a matter of dispute. On the one hand we are told that it is 21 0)(0)(0)| KS,,(E(6) | a» \ e€om