ges of rich ironwork, so that, seen from above
and from a distance, the intricate grouping of the roofs of a French
city is no less interesting than its actual streets; and in the streets
themselves, the masses of broad shadow which the roofs form against the
sky, are a most important background to the bright and sculptured
surfaces of the walls.

[Footnote 6: This figure is copied from Prout.]

19. Finally, I need not remind you of the effect upon the northern mind
which has always been produced by the heaven-pointing spire, nor of the
theory which has been founded upon it of the general meaning of Gothic
architecture as expressive of religious aspiration. In a few minutes,
you may ascertain the exact value of that theory, and the degree in
which it is true.

[Illustration: PLATE V. (Fig. 8.)]

The first tower of which we hear as built upon the earth, was certainly
built in a species of aspiration; but I do not suppose that any one here
will think it was a religious one. "Go to now. Let us build a tower
whose top may reach unto heaven." From that day to this, whenever men
have become skillful architects at all, there has been a tendency in
them to build high; not in any religious feeling, but in mere exuberance
of spirit and power--as they dance or sing--with a certain mingling of
vanity--like the feeling in which a child builds a tower of cards; and,
in nobler instances, with also a strong sense of, and delight in the
majesty, height, and strength of the building itself, such as we have in
that of a lofty tree or a peaked mountain. Add to this instinct the
frequent necessity of points of elevation for watch-towers, or of points
of offense, as in towers built on the ramparts of cities, and, finally,
the need of elevations for the transmission of sound, as in the Turkish
minaret and Christian belfry, and you have, I think, a sufficient
explanation of the tower-building of the world in general. Look through
your Bibles only, and collect the various expressions with reference to
tower-building there, and you will have a very complete idea of the
spirit in which it is for the most part undertaken. You begin with that
of Babel; then you remember Gideon beating down the tower of Penuel, in
order more completely to humble the pride of the men of the city; you
remember the defense of the tower of Shechem against Abimelech, and the
death of Abimelech by the casting of a stone from it by a woman's hand;
you recollect the hus