d had passed into a dingy gray, chequered with the
variously-tinted light which flowed in through the stained windows. The
white walls and unadorned pillars looked cold and naked. Beggars were
extending their caps towards you for an alms. On the floor rose a stack
of rush-bottomed chairs, as high as a two-storey house,--as if the
priests, dreading an emeute, had made preparations by throwing up a
barricade. A carpenter, mounted on a tall ladder, was busied, with
hammer and nails, suspending hangings of tapestry along the nave, in
honour, I presume, of some saint whose fete-day was approaching. The dim
light could but feebly illuminate the many-pillared, long-aisled
building, and gave to the vast edifice something of a cavern look.

But by and by the eye got attempered; and then, like an autumnal haze
clearing away from the face of the landscape, and revealing the glories
of green meadow, golden field, and wooded mountain, the obscurity that
wrapped pillar and aisle gradually brightened up, and the temple around
me began to develope into the noblest proportions and the most
impressive grandeur. Some hundred and fifty feet over head was suspended
the stone roof; and one could not but admire the lightness and elegance
of its groined vaultings, and the stately stature of the columns that
supported it. Their feet planted on the marble floor, they stood,
bearing up with unbowing strength, through the long centuries, the
massive, stable, steadfast roof, from which the spirit of tranquillity
and calm seemed to breathe upon you. On either hand three rows of
colossal pillars ran off, forming a noble perspective of well nigh five
hundred feet. They stretched away over transept and chancel, towards the
great eastern window, which, like a sun glowing with rosy light, was
seen rising behind the high altar, bearing on its ample disc the
emblazoned symbols of the Book of the Apocalypse. The aisles were deep
and shadowy; and through their forests of columns there broke on the
sight glimpses of monumental tombs and altars ranged against the wall. I
passed slowly along in front of these beautiful monuments, and read
upon their marble the names of warriors and cardinals, some of whom
still keep their place on the page of history. It took me some three
hours to make the circuit of the Cathedral; but I shall not spend as
many minutes in describing the works of art--some of them marvels of
their kind--which passed under my eye; for my readers,