realize how fit it is that the towers of the cathedral should
look across the country to the "deep waters," and be to the mariner as
the masts of a vessel whereon was safety, however fierce the storm.

[2] Tennyson's "Ulysses."

[Illustration: EXETER CATHEDRAL, FROM AN ENGRAVING BY DANIEL KING,
c. 1650.]

[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL--FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.
The Photochrom. Co. Photo.]

From many parts of the surrounding country fine views may be obtained,
from Waddlesdown, Alphington Causeway, and many a canal and river bank.

A closer view may seem at first disappointing. Every writer has echoed
Dr. Oliver's regret that it should be surrounded "by dwelling-houses of
such disparate character." But even a nearer survey is, with patience,
rewarded. The towers, exquisitely traceried windows, sculptured
doorways, and magnificent roof, easily persuade us to forget its mean
surroundings.

#The Towers.#--To many these will be the most interesting portion of the
building. The exterior of no other cathedral boasts so unusual a
feature. Their position is extraordinary and has given rise to endless
controversies. It has been suggested that they were meant to stand as
western towers, and that the building was to stand east of them, and
that, as an afterthought, they were converted into transepts. But Canon
Freeman, in his history,[3] dismisses this view as merely attractive.
They would certainly be more elaborate, he thinks, if they had been
built as western towers, but they have neither portal nor ornamental
work. Indeed, up to more than half their height they have very much the
appearance of fortresses. It may well be that they served as such in
Stephen's time, for the northern one was severely battered. It differs
somewhat in detail from that on the south side, there being an
interlacing arcade half-way up, possibly being so rebuilt when the
devastation caused by the siege was being repaired. There are six stages
on each tower, but only the uppermost four are in any way ornamented.
These have blind arcades and window openings of circular form; but the
details differ slightly on each. The turrets at the angles of the
summits, and the battlements were added in the fifteenth century, but
the effect is not inharmonious, and the original details are well
preserved. According to an old seventeenth-century print, the north
tower formerly had an attic with a pyramidal roof. This was probably an
ad