968, and a church, of which
the present choir is a part, was built upon the site of the present St.
Paul's in the thirteenth century. The see was formerly a suffragan of
Cologne, and the only bishopric in the Low Countries except Tournai and
Utrecht.

The present cathedral is consistently enough a Gothic church, but it is
not a satisfactory example, in spite of its magnificent proportions.

Of a cruciform plan, and with a nave which was only completed in 1528,
it is a poor apology for a great Gothic church, such as we know at Metz,
Nancy, or even at Brussels.

Its western tower, satisfactory enough in itself, is crowned with a
ludicrous spire, which dates only from 1812.

Since St. Lambert's has disappeared, and the present St. Paul's dates
only from the ante-Revolutionary days, the chief ecclesiastical treasure
of the city is the Eglise St. Jacques. It was founded in 1014 by the
Bishop Baudry II., but the Romanesque tower to the west is of the
century following, and the whole fabric was very much modified in
1513-38.

It is a magnificent flamboyant Gothic church of quite the first rank,
when compared with others of its kind elsewhere.

It has an ample nave and aisles with a polygonal choir and a series of
radiating chapels which are singularly beautiful.

The magnificent north portal is an addition of the sixteenth century.

The interior has been called Spanish in its motive. Certainly it is not
quite like any other Gothic forms we know in these parts, and does bear
some resemblance to that peculiar variety of Gothic which belongs to
Spain.

The choir has some fine glass showing the armorial bearings of former
patrons of the church.

There is a beautiful carved stone staircase and much sculptured
stonework in the choir.

The organ-buffet is ornate, even of its kind,--a masterpiece of
cabinet-making,--and was the work of Andre Severin of Maestricht in
1673.

The left transept, which is some thirty feet longer than the right, has
a fine painting of a "Mater Dolorosa," while, opposite, is a stone
monument to the founder of the church, Baudry II., of Renaissance
workmanship.

St. Jean is another pre-tenth-century foundation of the Bishop Notger,
somewhat after the plan of the "round church" at Aix-la-Chapelle. It was
entirely rebuilt, however, in the eighteenth century, though the
original octagon was kept intact.

At some distance from the city, on a height which may be truly called
dominating, is the