concerned, they are of
the manner affected by the builders on the Rhine, notably in the Minster
at Bonn, at Cologne, and again at Neuss in the neighbourhood of Cologne.
With Noyon apparently nothing is lacking either in the perfections of
its former cathedral or in its immediate environment. The country round
about is thoroughly agricultural, and free from the soot and grime of a
manufacturing community. Amid a setting at once historic and romantic,
it has for neighbours the chateaux of Coucy and Perrifonds, with
Compiegne and Chantilly not far distant. The town is unprogressive
enough, and the vast barge traffic of the Oise sidles by, not a mile
away, as if it were all unconscious of the existence of any signs of
modern civilization. As a matter of fact, it hardly is modern. The
accommodation for the weary traveller is of a satisfying and gratifying
quality, as the comparatively few visitors to the place well know. The
city is an ancient foundation, having been known as the Noviodunum of
the Romans. Here Charlemagne was crowned King of the Franks in 768, and
Hugh Capet elected king in 987; and here, in an important stronghold of
Catholicism, as it had long been, Calvin was born in 1509.

Altogether there is much to be found here to charm and stimulate our
imagination. As a type the cathedral stands preeminent. As to detail and
state of preservation, they, too, leave little to be desired, though the
appreciative author of a charming and valuable work treating of a good
half hundred or more of the "architectural glories of France" bemoans
the lack of a satisfying daily "Office." This may be a fault, possibly,
if such be really the case. The fabric of the church has stood the wear
and tear of time and stress exceeding well. Built in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries, it is a thoroughly harmonious and pleasing whole, and
we can well believe all that may have been said of it by the few able
critics who have passed judgment upon its style, as well as the
sentiment conveyed by the phrase that it is "one of the most graceful
and lovable of all the cathedrals of France." The bishopric was
suppressed after the Revolution, and the church is now a dependency of
the Bishop of Beauvais.

The elongated belfry towers are perhaps the first and most noticeable
feature; secondly, the overhanging porch with its supporting frontal
buttresses; thirdly, the before-mentioned tri-apsidal effect of the
easterly end; and, last but not least, t