Saxon cathedral of Leofric it is possible to trace
four distinct styles in what has been wisely called "the noblest
monument of religious zeal of our forefathers in the west of England."
But in discovering these the feeling of wonder increases as the building
is found to be not a mere jumble but a complete whole. Though it is
possible to date the separate parts of the edifice, and recognize the
varying forms of workmanship, the architects laboured with so clear an
understanding of a beautiful result to be attained, that there is no
appearance of patchwork.

The best views of the building are those to be got from a distance. In
some ways this is not without compensation; for the cathedral church
was, and is, not only splendid as a building, but the centre of the
spiritual life of the diocese. It is, therefore, appropriate that it
should seem most beautiful to the dwellers in the villages and hamlets
beyond the city, giving them, as it were, a kind of property in the
building, which they might not have felt had it been less visible.
Nearing Exeter by train, from the Plymouth side, the noble roof and
towers are seen above the red houses of the city. The site, indeed, was
well chosen. Below the hill on which the city stands are gardens gay
with flowers and fair apple orchards. Above, there is a blue sky richer
and deeper than is usual in England. On all sides but one stretches the
beautiful Devonshire country, meadow, hedgerow, and wooded hill. On that
side the Exe flows rapidly, broadening as it goes, towards the sea.
Southward but a few miles, the blue channel waters creep up against the
yellow sand dunes. No cathedral, not even Lincoln, boasts a more lovely
and appropriate position. "In the minds of all early Christians," says
Mr. Ruskin, "the church itself was most frequently symbolized under the
image of a ship," There is no country so saturated with traditions of
the sea as Cornwall and Devon. "Exe terra"--out of the earth--is
sometimes declared to be the derivation of the name Exeter. Maybe this
was only the grateful jest of some seaman who found himself, after the
winter storms, gliding up the quiet river with the city walls rising up
before him. Yet the remembrance of such western heroes as Raleigh and
Drake, who bade their followers sit well in order, and strike--

"The sounding furrows, for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset and the baths
Of all the Western stars until I die,"[2]

makes one