Spain, or that it may have grown
up from a primitive style in vogue in the Far East. The comment is given
without further elaboration; but here, at least, we see some basis for
the claim that Gothic is but a transplanted flower after all, and that
it developed so boldly only from the seed's having been blown hither
from some other land, and finding a favourable soil in which to take
root and flourish.

Without transepts, the long flank of the nave and choir is singularly
beautiful, broken into at regular intervals by buttresses which, if not
remarkable examples, are at least graceful, though so light that they
have been visibly stayed by iron rods, as is frequently the case
elsewhere, at Beauvais particularly, where the whole fabric appears to
be hung together by wires.

The actual inception of the cathedral is attributed to Rudolphe de
Turenne, forty-sixth Archbishop of Bourges. Of his known work only the
round-arched crypt remains, upon which foundation the present grand pile
was reared.

The west front possesses a quintette of portals, deeply recessed, but of
a decidedly mixed Gothic and Renaissance treatment as to decoration.
Such a range of elaborated doorways is hardly to be found in such
luxuriance elsewhere, though the fact that there are five in all,
standing grandly in a row, is perhaps not unique of itself. They are
profusely decorated with sculptured forms of angels, saints, and kings.
The tympanum of the central portal contains a "Last Judgment,"
remarkable alike for its magnitude and workmanship. Throughout, these
portals vary in date of their construction, their treatment, and their
excellencies, but in general they are homogeneous and convincing. In the
gables of three are circular piercings which open into a sort of
vestibule or porch; but these are entirely without glass. Another unique
feature of this western front is a curious lofty double-storied
structure, a chapel-like building, of whose functions most will remain
in ignorance. It is connected with the main body of the church by a long
tentacle-like ligature through which, says Henry James, "the groaning of
the organ or the pealing of bells must be transmitted with distressing
clearness."

The hybrid tower on the extreme left, with many round-arched windows and
much florid ornament, is familiarly called the "Tour de Beurre," and, as
its compeer at Rouen, was built from the contributions of those who were
willing to forego themselves the luxur