were of a
most singular and elegant pattern: Horace Walpole imitated them in his
bed-room, at Strawberry-Hill. The rood-loft, which had been maimed by
the Huguenots, was destroyed at the revolution; when the church was also
deprived of its celebrated clock, which told the days of the month, the
festivals, and the phases of the moon, and afforded other astronomical
information. Such gazers as heeded not these mysteries, were amused by a
little bronze statue of St. Michael, who sallied forth at every hour,
and announced the progress of time, by the number of strokes which he
inflicted on the Devil with his lance.

[Illustration: Tower of the Church of St. Ouen, at Rouen]

It is impossible to convey by words an adequate idea of the lightness,
and purity, and boldness of St. Ouen. My imperfect description will be
assisted by the sketches which I inclose. Of their merits I dare not
speak; but I will warrant their fidelity; The flying buttresses end in
richly crocketed pinnacles, supported by shafts of unusual height. The
triple tiers of windows seem to have absorbed the solid wall-work of the
building. Balustrades of varied quatrefoils run round the aisles and
body; and the centre-tower, which is wholly composed of open arches and
tracery, terminates, like the south-tower of the cathedral, with an
octangular crown of fleurs-de-lys. The armorial symbol of France, which
in itself is a form of great beauty, was often introduced by the French
architects of the middle ages, amongst the ornaments of their edifices:
it pleases the eye by its grace, and satisfies the mind by its
appropriate and natural locality.

The elegance of the south porch is unrivalled. This portion of the
church was always finished with care: it was the scene of many religious
ceremonies, particularly of espousals. Hence they gave it a degree of
magnitude which might appear disproportionate, did we not recollect
that the arch was destined to embower the bride and the bridal train.
The bold and lofty entrance of this porch is surrounded within by
pendant trefoil arches, springing from carved bosses, and forming an
open festoon of tracery. The vault within is ornamented with pendants,
and the portal which it shades is covered with a profusion of sculpture:
the death, entombment, and apotheosis of the Virgin, form the subjects
of the principal groups. The sculptures, both in design and execution,
far surpass any specimens of the corresponding aera in England.