d female saints, Evangelists, and Apostles
in great array, all somewhat more than life-size. Only one adverse
impression is cast: that of petrifaction. The figures, almost without
exception, appear as integral parts of the architectural fabric, rather
than as added ornament. They are most ungainly, tall, stiff, and
column-like, much more so than similar works at Reims, or at Amiens,
where the sculpture has something of the vigour and warmth of life.

The south porch, erected in the reign of Henry I. by Jean Cormier,
partly from donations of Matilda, queen of the Norman Conqueror,
contains a series of _basso relievos_,--seen also in the arches of the
choir,--manifestly not of good Gothic principle, and one which is the
very antithesis of the northern spirit, as the name itself implies.

The earliest portion of the existing church, the crypt, is that of a
timber-roofed structure burned in 1020. It was erected early in the
eleventh century by Fulbert, the famous Bishop of Chartres, also
remembered--possibly revered--as being the prolific letter-writer of his
time.

John of Salisbury was bishop in the next century, and under him were
built the lower stages of the western facade and towers. In this church
Edward III. called for the help of Heaven to aid his plans, and here
Henry of Navarre was crowned King of France, a change of venue from
Reims, where so many previous and subsequent coronations were held.

The interior gives a deal of the thrill for which one should always be
prepared. The gloom, so apparent at first, slowly brightens as the eye
becomes accustomed to the finely filtered light, which penetrates
through the gorgeous coloured glass, a feature which ranks with the
spires as a vivid impression to be carried away. Nearly all of this
glass is of equal worth and attractiveness, being, with the exception of
three windows of a late date, and a few uncoloured ones, all of the
gorgeous thirteenth-century variety.

The whole mass of the clerestory throughout gives the effect of windows
heavily hung with tapestries through which the outside light pierces in
minute rays. This comparison is made advisedly, inasmuch as, regardless
of the quality and value of the glass, it is composed mainly of those
minute and fragmentary particles often more rich in colour than design.

There is little doubt but that the result of the deep rich blue, claret,
and orange gives a first effect of insufficient lighting which would try
an