therefore with the ABBEY OF ST. STEPHEN; for it is the noblest and most
interesting on many accounts. It is called by the name of that Saint,
inasmuch as there stood formerly a chapel, on the same site, dedicated to
him. The present building was completed and solemnly dedicated by William
the Conqueror, in the presence of his wife, his two sons Robert and
William, his favourite Archbishop Lanfranc, John Archbishop of Rouen, and
Thomas Archbishop of York--towards the year 1080: but I strongly suspect,
from the present prevailing character of the architecture, that nothing
more than the west front and the towers upon which the spires rest, remain
of its ancient structure. The spires (as the Abbe De La Rue conjectures,
and as I should also have thought) are about two centuries later than the
towers.

The outsides of the side aisles appear to be of the thirteenth, rather than
of the end of the eleventh, century. The first exterior view of the west
front, and of the towers, is extremely interesting; from the grey and clear
tint, as well as excellent quality, of the stone, which, according to Huet,
was brought partly from Vaucelle and partly from Allemagne.[107] One of the
corner abutments of one of the towers has fallen down; and a great portion
of what remains seems to indicate rapid decay. The whole stands indeed
greatly in need of reparation. Ducarel, if I remember rightly,[108] has
made, of this whole front, a sort of elevation, as if it were intended for
a wooden model to work by: having all the stiffness and precision of an
erection of forty-eight hours standing only. The central tower is of very
stunted dimensions, and overwhelmed by a roof in the form of an
extinguisher. This, in fact, was the consequence of the devastations of the
Calvinists; who absolutely sapped the foundation of the tower, with the
hope of overwhelming the whole choir in ruin--but a part only of their
malignant object was accomplished. The component parts of the eastern
extremity are strangely and barbarously miscellaneous. However, no good
commanding exterior view can be obtained from the _place_, or confined
square, opposite the towers.

But let us return to the west-front; and opening the unfastened green-baize
covered door, enter softly and silently into the venerable interior--sacred
even to the feelings of Englishmen! Of this interior, very much is changed
from its original character. The side aisles retain their flattened arched
roofs an