old in design.

There is an air of singular lightness, if not actually of grace,
throughout the entire nave and choir, superinduced, perhaps, by the
recent whitening and pointing of the masonry; but the not infrequent
bulging piers, particularly those nearest to the transept crossing, give
a suggestion of ungainliness if not of actual insecurity.

The columns of the choir, supporting a series of firm and gracefully
poised arches, are of unusual height, something over forty feet, it
would appear,--producing a harmony of form and elegance which again
reminds one of Amiens.

There are here copies of the nine Raphael tapestry cartoons, the
originals of which are preserved at South Kensington, also of frescoes
by Guido Reni and Domenichino.

The chief artistic, if not architectural, charm to be seen within the
purlieus of the cathedral is that of the ancient chapter-house, across a
narrow way, to the right of the church itself. This gem of mediaeval
building is perhaps not remarkable as to any of the principles which it
sets forth in its manner of construction, but it takes one back some
hundreds of years, a sheer plunge far beyond the age of the most
prominent features of the main church, and gives a thrill somewhat akin
to the emotion which one feels when he comes across a single leaf torn
from an old illuminated manuscript. This charming ruin, for it is hardly
more than that, being a mere lumber-room, shows in the weathered look of
its covered stairway nearly all of the qualities which the painter loves
to depict,--colour, texture, and, above all, that indescribable charm
which artistic folk, and others who can see as they do, call life.

Clearly, the Cathedral of St. Etienne de Meaux, as an interesting
shrine, may be classed well at the head of the secondary cathedrals of
the third Gothic period.

[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF SAINT PIERRE TROYES]

XIII

ST. PIERRE DE TROYES

To the thorough student of English history, Troyes is perhaps first
recalled as being the birthplace of the treaty "_decreeing for ever a
common sovereign for England and France_," a treaty which, it is minded,
"stood no while." Again, some dubious antiquary has put it forward as
the home of that variety of weights "which are not avoirdupois."

The Counts of Champagne had, in the once well-walled city, both a castle
and a palace. Olden-time houses, good Gothic woodwork and Renaissance
stonework, are here in abundance; also, accordi