long; and here you have a representation of a few of them.

Many of them have a religious character, symbolizing the Trinity, eternity, &c., and the fish-form is not uncommon.

The constant occurrence in ancient buildings of this fish-form, or vesica piscis, as it is called, has led to much discussion. The early Christians symbolized our Saviour by the form of a fish, perhaps because the initial letters of Christ's name and titles form the Greek word for fish: moreover, they called themselves pisciculi, considering that the Christian life commenced in the waters of Baptism. The fish itself was accordingly sculptured for decoration, but seems to have been superseded by the fish-shaped compartment formed by the intersection of two equal circles. In England it is to be seen over many doorways, inclosing the figure of Christ; as at Malmsbury Abbey Church, Barfreston, and Rochester Cathedral. Windows are sometimes found of this shape. The seals of most religious bodies were of this form; and some antiquaries have even attributed the origin of the Pointed style of architecture to the use of it! At Poitiers and Angoulême, where I found many masons' marks, it occupies a very prominent position on the west front of the churches. All this, however, is more curious than useful, and need not be carried further now.

LETTER XIII.

OU really believe, then, my dear Sorillah, that you have gained a general knowledge of some of the peculiarities which distinguish the various periods of medieval architecture, and, -remembering broadly that the Norman, or roundarched style in our country, belongs more particularly to the twelfth century; the Early English, or Lancet, to the thirteenth; the Decorated to the fourteenth; and the Perpendicular to the fifteenth, that on seeing one of our old cathedrals or churches you will be able to discriminate the period to which each of the parts belongs. You will find few cathedrals wholly of one age. Founded, perhaps, when the Lancet was the style of the day, the nave displays the approach of the succeeding style, and the tower, which fell, we will say, when first erected-and this did occasionally occur—was rebuilt in the completely developed Perpendicular style. The external cornice of the nave aisle is ornamented with the ballflower, you may find, showing with other evidences that it is in the Decorated style; and yet some of the windows in the wall beneath have their mullions

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running from top to bottom, and exhibit, perhaps, a horizontal division, or transom, which proves to you that they are of the Perpendicular period, and belong to the next century. But do not let this shake your faith in the teaching; for if you were to examine farther, you would find that the windows were the insertions of after-builders or repairers.

Suppose, now, that we walk into one of our Minsters together, simply that we may identify its various divisions and parts. Which shall it be? Here is a plan of Salisbury Cathedral (fig. 34), and that building will well answer the purpose. It consists, as you know, of a nave with aisles (the western arm of the cross that the whole forms); a choir (with its aisles) at the eastern end, and a lady chapel at the back of the choir, still farther east; transepts extending north and south (in this case double, but not usually so); a north porch to nave; cloisters adjacent; and a chapter-house. In the plan before you (and a plan, I need not remind you, shows the position of the walls, columns, &c., as they would appear if looked down upon without a roof), A is the nave, with its aisles, B, separated by columns and arches. These columns and arches, you will remember, carry a wall with windows in it, forming the inclosure of the upper part of the church, and called the clearstory (perhaps from clair, light, or from its being unobstructed); and the clearstory carries the roof. Between the tops of the arches in the nave, and the

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clearstory occurs what is called the triforium, or gallery. In the early churches this was of considerable size, as wide as the aisles below, in fact; but in the later buildings it was much reduced, becoming a mere passage-way, and in many was not introduced at all. DD show the western and eastern transepts, with a single aisle, B, to each; E is the choir; and at C, the junction of the four arms of the cross, the central tower, with its beautiful spire, one of the marvels of medieval art, rises. F is the lady-chapel; G, the muniment-room or vestry; H, the cloister, usually on the south side, as it is here; and I is the chapter-house. The cloister was intended, as you know, for the exercise and recreation of the inmates of the collegiate or monastic establishment to which it was attached.

"Monument of ancient taste,

Now scorned, but worthy of a better fate.
Our fathers knew the value of a screen
From sultry suns; and, in their shady walks
And long-protracted bowers, enjoyed at noon
The gloom and coolness of declining day."

It contained stone benches along the wall in parts, and a stone lavatory or washing-place, such as you may see in those of Worcester, Gloucester, and other cathedrals. The area inclosed by the cloister was called the Cloister Garth, and in France Preau, a little meadow. The term Paradise was in places applied to this area: it is so still at Chichester.

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