och; and the latter, at
least, of these qualities, is eminently to be found in the inscription
at St. Lo. On the other hand, correct orthography was not equally one of
the excellencies of the age."

[Illustration: Plate 88. CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS AT ST. LO.
_Sculpture._]

Pursuing the subject yet farther, M. de Gerville gives it as his
opinion, that the different epochs in the architecture, commonly
designated as Norman, may be determined with some degree of precision;
and he thinks he can trace, in several churches of the vicinity, an
evident imitation of this at St. Lo; while he regards the superior
antiquity of the latter decisively established by the sculpture over the
western entrance; by the medallion of the Deity, already noticed; and by
several of the capitals of the interior; particularly those that have
reference to the legends of St. Eloy, (_plate eighty-eight, fig. F._)
and St. Hubert, (_fig. D._), both at that period quite recent; and two
of the others, (_fig C. and E._) in the latter of which, the devil is
roasting unfortunate sinners, while the former, exhibiting the
_psychostasia_, affords a graphic illustration of two lines of the
well-known hymn of the Roman Catholic church:--

"Statera facta corporis,
Praedamque tulit Tartari."

In the western front of the church of Ste Croix have been inserted,
above the door-way, three windows of the earliest pointed style. The
whole of the sculpture over the architraves of the arch, is, both in its
design and execution, curious. The knotted serpents, terminating at
either end in heads of devils; the two men tugging at rings, attached to
a chain twisted round the neck of a decapitated demon, whom, two dogs
are baying; and the structure of the chain itself, are all peculiar; and
scarcely less so is the medallion below.[197]--The church ends at the
east with a large circular arch, which is now closed, and has always
been so since the memory of man; but probably, at some former time, it
led into a chancel or sanctuary. There is a south transept, which
terminates in a similar arch: the arches of the nave, which are likewise
circular, are each of them surrounded with a double architrave of the
zig-zag moulding: the capitals to the pillars supporting these arches,
Mr. Cotman considers as being for the greater part of the best class of
Norman sculpture. He has selected for engraving those that are most
rude: the others commonly exhibit broad interlaced b