e should appear lean and cold. He
has, therefore, spun his tracery and panelling over the whole surface.
Nowhere can the eye rest on a plain piece of wall; everywhere it is
fidgeted by monotonous rows of niches and mouldings. In fact, it may be
compared to an etching so full of unnecessary details that composition,
balance of mass, and beauty of line are all smothered in them. And yet
there is much to be said on the other side. The mere size--the height
and width--go far to make the front impressive; and the detail, even now
when so much of it has been restored, is usually beautiful. If it is not
great architecture, it is at least living architecture, and as such
infinitely superior to the most scholarly works of the Gothic revival.
It is only when we compare it to the magnificent west fronts of France
that we are inclined to regret that it has not rivalled them.

#The North Side# of the exterior of the nave differs from the south in
several particulars. Thus, on the south the aisle buttresses are crowned
by lofty pinnacles having at their bases niches, in some of which
statues still remain. These pinnacles appear to have been originally
connected with the wall of the nave by flying buttresses, traces of
which still exist, both on the walls and the pinnacles. In Hollar's
engraving, in a later print in Dugdale's "Monasticon" (1817), and in
Willis's "Cathedrals" (1742), these buttresses are represented as
existing, but the accuracy of the pictures in these books cannot be
trusted. It is possible that a beginning only was made of these flying
buttresses, and that when it was decided to place a wooden vault on the
cathedral, they were discontinued as being unnecessary. At any rate,
there are no pinnacles to the aisle buttresses on the north side, and,
consequently, no flying buttresses. The plainer style of the north side
was perhaps owing to the fact that a great part of it was concealed by
the archbishop's palace, yet at the present day it is certainly more
beautiful than the south. It closely resembles the exterior of the
beautiful nave of Beverley Minster, and for simplicity and delicacy of
design could hardly be surpassed. The bays are marked by plain aisle
buttresses, terminating in three-cornered caps, with a battlement of
cusped stonework ornamented with finials behind them. The buttresses of
the nave are plain narrow bands of stone topped with small pinnacles.
The roof is low pitched; the only other decoration is gi