harply up before the very portal. The facade is
attached to the immense, unbroken wall of the old episcopal Palace, and
the majesty, which is a Cathedral's by very virtue of its height alone,
is entirely destroyed by a seemingly interminable breadth of wall.
Reversing the natural order of things, the finest view is that of the
apse. And this modern part is, in reality, the chief architectural glory
of this comparatively new Cathedral and its comparatively modern town.

[Sidenote: Beziers.]

"You have only to look from a distance at any old-fashioned
Cathedral-city and you will see in a moment the mediaeval relations
between Church and State. The Cathedral is the city. The first object
you catch sight of as you approach is the spire tapering into the sky,
or the huge towers holding possession of the centre of the
landscape--majestically beautiful--imposing by mere size. As you go
nearer, the pinnacles are glittering in the tints of the sunset, when
down below among the streets and lanes twilight is darkening. And even
now, when the towns are thrice their ancient size, ... the Cathedral is
still the governing force in the picture, the one object which possesses
the imagination, and refuses to be eclipsed." These words are the
description of Beziers as it is best and most impressively seen. From
the distance, the Cathedral and its ramparts rise in imposing mass, a
fine example of the strength, pride, and supremacy of the Church.

As we approach, the Cathedral grows much less imposing, and its facade
gives the impression of an unpleasant conglomeration of styles. It is
not a fortress church, yet it was evidently built for defence; it is
Gothic, yet the lightness and grace of that art are sacrificed to the
massiveness and resistive strength, imperatively required by southern
Cathedrals in times of wars and bellicose heretics. The whole building
seems a compromise between necessity and art.

It is, however, a notable example of the Gothic of the South, and of the
modifications which that style invariably underwent, through the
artistic caprice of its builders, or the political fore-sight of their
patrons, the Bishops.

The facade of Saint-Nazaire of Beziers has a Gothic portal of good but
not notable proportions, and a large and beautiful rose-window. As if to
protect these weaker and decorative attempts, the builder flanked them
with two square towers, whose crenellated tops and solid, heavy walls
could serve as stron