those of their
neighbours. In 1778, however, the Swiss government decreed that on the
first of the following January all the clocks of the city must be
regulated by solar time. The innovation excited the indignation of the
people exceedingly; but, fifteen days after the date originally set, the
city fell in with the new regulation, and took up anew the routine of
its life.

[Illustration: CATHEDRAL CLOCK BALE]

"The most magnificent of the Swiss women," says a gallant French writer,
"are those of Basel, but they know too much (at all times and all
places)," he continued, somewhat dulling the effect of his praises.

"They have an elegance of carriage and dress, which, added to their
naturally agreeable qualities, gives them a preeminence over all other
women of Switzerland."

All this is as flowery a compliment as the fair sex of any country could
receive, and, judging from appearances, as one lingers a few hours or a
few days in Basel, it is all true.

The most remarkable of all the edifices of Basel is its cathedral, or
muenster, dedicated to the Virgin.

In certain of its features one finds a distinct Lombard influence,--in
its sculptures and carvings, notably the two carved lions in the crypt,
which are the counterparts of others at Modena and Verona in
Italy,--though in general it is a Gothic structure.

The cathedral was founded by the Emperor Henry II. of Bavaria in 1010,
and was dedicated in 1019.

It is constructed of red sandstone, as are the chief of the
architectural monuments along the Rhine, and is an imposing example of
the Gothic of that time.

The great portal on the west is richly decorated in the archivolt. It is
flanked on either side by an arcade whose buttress pillars are each
surmounted by a statue in a canopied niche or _baldaquin_.

[Illustration]

At the foot of the north tower is an equestrian statue of St. George and
the Dragon, and at the angle of the southern tower is another of St.
Martin.

Two small doorways, each entering the side aisles, flank the arcade of
the portal. Above the principal doorway of this facade is a _balcon a
jour_ before the great window which lights the main nave.

The towers rise beside this great window, and are of themselves perhaps
the most remarkable features of the church.

They are not exactly alike, but they reflect more than any other part of
the edifice the characteristics of the Gothic of these parts. The
northern tower was completed in 1