d in deep shadows in the smooth, dark mirror
of the water, has a thoroughly feudal look, which is heightened by the
drawbridge over the moat, and the frowning castellated gateway. How
strange the state of society when a Christian bishop lived in such
jealously armed seclusion, behind moated walls and embattled towers! What
a commentary, this very name of "the close"! One of these old bishops was
himself a famous fighting character, who, at the age of sixty-four,
commanded the king's artillery at the battle of Sedgmoor....

The Cathedral of St. Andrew was built upon the site of a still more
ancient church founded by Ina, king of the West Saxons in 704. It also
goes back to a remote antiquity, for its choir and nave were rebuilt in
the middle of the twelfth century. The central tower, which is the noblest
and most finished part of the structure, is of the early English style to
the roof; the upper part is of the Decorated, with a mixture of the early
Perpendicular styles. It has an elegant appearance from its rich
pinnacles, and is of a softened and gray tint. Beginning to show signs of
sinking, it was raised in the fourteenth century, and was strengthened by
the introduction beneath it of inverted buttressing-arches, which give to
the interior a strange effect. These arches, architecturally considered,
are undoubtedly blemishes, but they are on such a vast scale, and so bold
in their forms, and yet so simple, that they do not take away from the
plain grandeur of the interior. They are quite Oriental or Saracenic. The
top of the eastern window is seen bright and glowing over the lower part
of the upper arch. The west front, 235 feet in length, has two square
towers, with a central screen terminated by minarets, and is divided into
distinct compartments of eight projecting buttresses; all of these
projections and recessed parts are covered with rich sculpture and
statuary, of which there are 153 figures of life-size, and more than 450
smaller figures....

The other most striking features of Wells Cathedral are the Chapter House
and the Ladye Chapel. The first of these, on the rear of the church, is an
otagonal structure with pinnacled buttresses at each angle. It is
approached from the interior by a worn staircase of 20 steps of noble
architectural design. Among the grotesque carvings that line the
staircase, I remember in particular one queer old figure with a staff, or
rather crutch, thrust in a dragon's mouth, supportin