ornament and bas-reliefs.
They are of the thirteenth century, and of a thoroughly florid order.

Included in the "_tresor_" are two gifts from St. Louis, the chasuble of
St. Regnobert, and an ivory and enamel casket.

[Illustration: _CATHEDRAL of NOTRE DAME SAINT LO_]

VII

NOTRE DAME DE ST. LO

This picturesquely situated city of the Cotentin, St. Lo, is so named
from the Bishop St. Laud, who lived in the neighbourhood in the sixth
century. Later, it became a Huguenot stronghold, and was ably, though
unsuccessfully, defended by Colombiers. It forms, with its former
Cathedral of Notre Dame crowning its height, another of those ensembles
which will always linger in the memory of the traveller who first comes
upon it clad in spring and summer verdure. The rippling Vire at its very
feet gives at once the note; it not only binds and enwraps it like the
setting of a precious stone, but adds that one feature which, lacking,
would be a chord misplaced. Perhaps no other cathedral in all France,
with regard to its bijou setting, certainly no other so accessible to
the English tourist, has more dainty charm than this not very grand, but
graceful, church at St. Lo. Its towers, though not uniform as to size,
are of apparently the same gradual proportions, and, if not the most
impressive, are at least the most beautiful in Normandy. They rise high
above the wooded crest which encircles their base in true picture-book
fashion. The attraction of the river, here, is unusual, in that it
presents no accustomed "slummy" picturesqueness, but winds slowly, amid
its green, to the very base of the cliff which upholds the chief portion
of the town and its cathedral.

The facade presents a _melange_ of the work of at least three epochs, a
not unusual feature in some of the smaller cathedrals. It has a mean
little house built into its northwest corner, a crude and ugly
clock-face stuck unmeaningly on its facade, and a general air of
dilapidation, with respect to the statues originally contained in its
archivolts and niches, which, to say the least, is not creditable to
those who have been responsible for its care. It would seem that so
lively and important a centre of local activity might have devoted a
little more thought and care to the maintenance of this charming
building.

Built up from a foundation of which but little, if any portion, visibly
remains, Notre Dame shows a debasement of design and decoration of its
facade whi