was the peculiar object of
this species of Gothic architecture to excite. On passing the high
archway which covers the western door, and entering the immense aisles
of the Cathedral, the sanctity of the place produces a deeper
impression, and the grandeur of the forms awakens profounder feelings.
The light of the day is excluded, the rays of the sun come mellowed
through the splendid colours with Which the windows are stained, and
cast a religious light over the marble pavement which covers the floor;
while the eye reposes on the harmonious forms of the lancet windows, or
is bewildered in the profusion of ornament with which the roof is
adorned. The impression which the whole produces, is that of religious
emotion, singularly suited to the genius of Christianity; if is seen in
that obscure light which fits the solemnity of religious duty, and
awakens those feelings of intense delight, which prepare the mind for
the high strain of religious praise. But it is not the deep feeling of
humility and weakness which is produced by the dark chambers and massy
pillars of the Pantheon at Paris; it is not in the mausoleum of the dead
that you seem to wander, nor on the thoughts of the great that have gone
before you that the mind revolves; it is in the scene of thanksgiving
that your admiration is fixed; it is with the emblems of Hope that your
devotion is awakened, and with the enthusiasm of gratitude that the
mind is filled. Beneath the gloomy roof of the Grecian Temple, the
spirit is concentrated within itself: it seeks the repose which solitude
affords, and meditates on the fate of the immortal soul; but it loves to
follow the multitude into the Gothic Cathedral, to join in the song of
grateful praise which peals through its lengthened aisles, and to share
in the enthusiasm which belongs to the exercise of common devotion.

The Cathedral of Notre Dame is the only Gothic building of note in
Paris, and it is by no means equal to the expectations we had been led
to form of it. The style of its architecture is not that of the finest
Gothic; it has neither the exquisite lightness of ornament which
distinguishes the summit of Gloucester Cathedral, nor the fine lancet
windows which give so unrivalled a beauty to the interior of Beauvais,
nor the richness of roof which covers the tombs of Westminster Abbey.
Its character is that of massy greatness; its ornaments are rich rather
than elegant, and its interior striking more from its immen