no more than
a rendering of the _Speculum Universale_, the _Mirror of the World_ of
Vincent of Beauvais; above all, like that work, as an epitome of
practical life and a record of the human race throughout the ages. In
point of fact," said Durtal to himself, as he took the _Christian
Iconography_ of that writer down from the shelf, "in point of fact,
according to him, our stone pages ought to follow in such succession
that, beginning with the opening chapter on the north, they would end
with the paragraphs on the south. Then we should find the narrative in
the following order: First of all the genesis, the Biblical cosmogony,
the creation of man and woman and Eden; and then, after the expulsion of
the first pair, the tale of man's redemption by suffering.

"'Whereby,' says he, 'the sculptor took occasion to teach the hinds of
La Beauce how to work with their hands and their head. Here, to the
right of Adam's Fall, he carves under the eyes and for the perpetual
edification of all men, a calendar of stone with all the labours of the
field, and then a catechism of industry, showing the works done in the
town; finally, for the labours of the mind, a manual of the liberal
arts."

"Then, thus instructed, man lives on from generation to generation,
until the end of the world, set forth in the images on the south side.

"This treasury of sculpture would thus include a compendium of the
history of nature and of science, a glossary of morality and art, a
biography of humanity, a panorama of the whole world. Thus it would very
really represent the _Mirror of the World_, and be an edition in stone
of Vincent of Beauvais' book.

"There is only one difficulty. The Dominican's _Speculum Universale_
dates from many years later than the erection of this cathedral; also,
in developing his theory, Didron does not take into account the
perspective and relations of the statuary. He assigns equal importance
to a small figure half hidden in the moulding of an arch and to the
large statues in the foreground supporting the picture in relief of Our
Lord and His Mother. Indeed, it might be said that these are the very
figures he overlooks; and, in the same way, he takes no account of the
western doors, which he could not force into his scheme.

"This archaeologist's ideas, in fact, cannot be maintained. He
subordinates leading features to accessory details, and ends in a kind
of rationalism entirely opposed to the mysticism of the period. H