be lacking; but unfortunately such facts are often buried in
a mass of other irrelevant material which would make its discovery
unusually difficult to any but a very learned local antiquarian. In this
same connection, also, there is a dearth of illustrative material which
can be depended upon as to minutiae or accuracy of detail. Hence it is
possible to deal only with such general facts as may be supported by the
best contemporary information based upon the researches of others. It
may be well to note here, however, a fact which is often overlooked,
namely, that the written records of France are not only very complete
and exhaustive, but, with respect to Paris itself, to cite an example,
the documentary history, consecutive and exact, from the time of the
decline of Roman power is preserved intact,--a record which is perhaps
not so true of any other large city in Europe.

In dealing with the cathedrals of the north, territorially, we have to
consider those examples which are generally accepted as being all that
a cathedral church should be. Of the first rank are those gathered not
far from the confines of the mediaeval Isle of France. They too, are best
representative of the true Gothic spirit, while the southernmost
examples, those of Dijon and Besancon, are of manifest Romanesque or
Byzantine conception. Each, too, is somewhat reminiscent of the early
German manner of building, the latter in respect to the double apse,
which is often found across the Rhine, but seldom seen in France. The
most northerly of all is at St. Omer, where are the somewhat battered
remains of a satisfactory Gothic cathedral, although Amiens, not far to
the south, is perhaps the ideal cathedral when considered from a general
point merely. For the western representative, a line running due west
from Paris almost into the Atlantic finds at Quimper, a small port
fifteen miles from the sea, the Cathedral of St. Corentin, which, though
not as lofty, is more of the manner of building of the Isle of France
than one might suppose would be the case here in this outpost of
Brittany, where are found so many evidences of Romanesque influences,
retained long after they had been given over elsewhere.

Such, then, are the extremes of latitude and of architectural style
which combine to give variety to the interest which is always aroused by
the contemplation of the masterworks of any of the arts, where outside
and contiguous influences have something in commo