, would be more beautiful. And as the architect at York was
afraid to vault his chapter-house with stone, his mechanical ingenuity
was not put to so severe a test after all. And yet, though we may regret
the beautiful central pillar as we find it at Wells or Lincoln, there
are other respects in which this chapter-house surpasses all its rivals.
In size, in richness of decoration, in boldness of outline, and in
aerial lightness it is unequalled. Above all, it still contains six
windows of magnificent stained glass. Even now it seems to justify its
boastful inscription:

Ut Rosa flos florum, sic est Domus ista Domorum.

[Illustration: Chapter-House--Entrance and Sedilia.]

#The Choir# is separated from the rest of the church by a very elaborate
rood screen, which was built _circa_ 1475-1505, and is therefore the
latest part of the original building. It is a fine example of Gothic
work of the latest period, and though, the details are of course
inferior to those of thirteenth century work, and the parts are small
and rather crowded, the whole effect is one of great richness and
magnificence. This screen consists of a central doorway into the choir,
and of fifteen niches with rich canopies and bases, seven to the north,
and eight to the south, of the central doorway. The niches are filled
with statues of the Kings of England from William the Conqueror to Henry
VI. The statue of Henry VI. alone is modern. It has been said that the
original statue of this king was regarded with so much reverence as to
have aroused the anger of the iconoclasts of the Reformation. At any
rate, it was destroyed, and an image of James I. set in its place. This
has been happily removed in the present century, and a statue of Henry
VI., a fair work, by the hand of Michael Taylor, a local sculptor, has
been inserted. The original statues are unusually good for their period,
and it has been suggested that the details of their dress show some
consideration for historical correctness. The same consideration was not
given to the hair, for it has been pointed out that the Normans were
clean-shaven and wore short hair, whereas the statues of the Norman
kings have beards, moustaches, and long hair. The kings are dressed in
robes of state. The legs of Stephen alone are exposed. The hands of the
Conqueror are broken off. On the pedestals are the names of the kings,
with the length of their reigns. They begin on the north side. The
figures of angels abo