ble and diverse influence on the architecture of the
province that it is not possible, as in Provence, to trace an
uninterrupted evolution of one style. The Languedocian is generally a
later builder than the Provencal; he is bolder. Having the Romanesque
and the Gothic as choice, he chose at will and seemingly at random. He
had spontaneity, enthusiasm, verve; and when no accepted model pleased
his taste, he re-created after his own liking. Languedoc has therefore a
delightful quality that is wanting in Provence; and in her greater
Cathedrals there is often an originality that is due to genius rather
than to eccentricity. There is delicate Gothic at Carcassonne, lofty
Gothic at Narbonne, Sainte-Cecile of Albi is fortified Gothic built in
brick. The interior of Saint-Sernin of Toulouse is an apotheosis of the
austere Romanesque, and Saint-Etienne of Agde is a gratifying type of
the Maritime Church of the Midi.

[Illustration: "CORRESPONDING DIFFERENCES IN STYLE."--CARCASSONNE.]

This Cathedral of the Sea is a fitting example of a peculiar type of
architecture which exists also in Provence,--a succession of
fortress-churches that extend along the Mediterranean from Spain to
Italy like the peaks of a mountain chain. Nothing can better illustrate
the continuous warrings and raidings in the South of France than these
strange churches, and their many fortified counterparts inland, in both
Languedoc and Gascony. Castles and walled towns were not sufficient to
protect the Southerner from invasions and incursions; his churches and
Cathedrals, even to the XIV century, were strongholds, more suitable for
men-at-arms than for priests, and seemingly dedicated to some war-god
rather than to the gentle Virgin Mother and the Martyr-Saints under
whose protection they nominally dwelt.

Although most interesting, the military church of the interior is seldom
the Bishop's church. The maritime church on the contrary is nearly
always a Cathedral, with strangely curious legends and episodes. The
French coast of the Mediterranean was the scene of continuous pillage.
Huns, Normans, Moors, Saracens, unknown pirates and free-booters of all
nationalities found it very lucrative and convenient to descend on a
sea-board town, and escape as they had come, easily, their boats loaded
with booty. "As late as the XII century," writes Barr Ferree,
"buccaneers gained a livelihood by preying on the peaceful and
unoffending inhabitants of the villages and c