ople of
Winchester. The other cocks are humble subjects of this one, whom
they see thus raised in mid-air above them: he scorns the winds,
that bring the rains, and, turning, he presents to them his back.
The terrible efforts of the tempest do not annoy him, he receives
with courage either snow or lightning, alone he watches the sun as
it sets and dips into the ocean: and it is he who gives it its first
salute on its rising again. The traveller who sees him afar off,
fixes on him his gaze; forgetting the road he has still to follow,
he forgets his fatigues: he advances with renewed ardour. While he
is in reality a long way from the end, his eyes deceive him, and he
thinks that he has arrived." Quite a practical tribute to a weather
cock!

The fact that leaden roofs were placed on all churches and monastic
buildings in the Middle Ages, accounts in part for their utter
destruction in case of fire; for it is easy to see how impossible
it would be to enter a building in order to save anything, if, to
the terror of flames, were added the horror of a leaden shower
of molten metal proceeding from every part of the roof at once!
If a church once caught fire, that was its end, as a rule.

The invention of clocks, on the principle of cog-wheels and weights,
is attributed to a monk, named Gerbert, who died in 1013. He had
been instructor to King Robert, and was made Bishop of Rheims,
later becoming Pope Sylvester II. Clocks at first were large affairs
in public places. Portable clocks were said to have been first made
by Carovage, in 1480.

[Illustration: ANGLO SAXON CRUCIFIX OF LEAD]

An interesting specimen of mediaeval clock work is the old Dijon time
keeper, which still performs its office, and which is a privilege
to watch at high noon. Twelve times the bell is struck: first by a
man, who turns decorously with his hammer, and then by a woman,
who does the same. This staunch couple have worked for their living
for many centuries. Froissart alludes to this clock, saying: "The
Duke of Burgundy caused to be carried away from the market place at
Courtray a clock that struck the hours, one of the finest which could
be found on either side of the sea: and he conveyed it by pieces in
carts, and the bell also, which clock was brought and carted into the
town of Dijon, in Burgundy, where it was deposited and put up, and
there strikes the twenty-four hours between day and night." This was
in 1382, and there is no knowing how long