rst catastrophe, but
fortunately it was soon put out by the rain which saved the Cathedral
and city. After the second thunderbolt, in 1809, the surmounting cross
was replaced by a lightning-rod.

The nave is entered by the Perdon portal, which, under a Gothic arch, is
subdivided into two elliptical openings. Peculiarly late Gothic railings
here, as elsewhere, crown the masonry and conceal the tiling of the
sloping roofs.

Rounding the church to the south, we find the view obstructed by the
cloisters and sacristy; only the facade of the transept, ascended from
the lower ground by a flight of steps, remains visible. The southern
doorway is quite denuded, and even its buttresses rise without as much
as a corbel to soften their lines. When one has, however, dodged through
the tortuous, narrow, malodorous streets and come out opposite the apse
and northern flank, the whole bulk of the logical organic body of the
church becomes visible with its larger squat and higher lofty domes
towering into the blue. To the same Renaissance period as the two domes
belongs the classical portal of Pedro Brizuela, leading to the northern
transept. The view from the northeast is particularly fine. Every
portion of the structure is expressed by the exterior lines. One above
the other rise chapels, ambulatory, apse, transepts and lanterns, each
level crowned by its sparkling balustrade. The sky is jagged by the
crocketed spires which terminate the flying buttresses, the piers and
the angles of the wall surface. Here the Latin cross may be seen, and
the sub-divisions of every portion of the interior. There is no
deception nor trickery. It is simple and straightforward. Its artistic
merits may be small, the forest of carved turrets rising all around the
apse, tiresome, but this final impression of Spanish Gothic was
thoroughly sincere.

VII

SEVILLE

[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid

CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE

The Giralda, from the Orange Tree Court]

"Wen Gott lieb hat, dem giebt er ein Haus in Sevilla."

Seville is ever youthful, for the blood which courses in her veins
absorbs the sunlight. Venice is the city of dreamy love, Naples, of
indolence, Rome, of everlasting age, but Seville keeps an eternal youth.

What picturesqueness, what color, what passion blend with memories of
Andalusia!

All sunny land of love!
When I forget you, may I fail
To ... say my prayers!

And Seville is the queen of Andal