FRONT OF ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL, ENGLAND. of their builders of what a style should be. In the AngloNorman churches, the piers, pillars and capitals are all remarkable. Some pillars were octagonal, some were ornamented with a spiral band, and some had a cable moulding carried around the shaft. The arches were semi-circular, and they were frequently embellished with the ornaments of the style; especial attention being given to the arch between the nave and the chancel. In early specimens, a flat boarded ceiling with painted ornaments covered the nave; but in cathedrals and large churches the naves were vaulted with stone, and in process of time groins with decorated ribs were introduced. The Norman tower was low and dumpy, usually little more than a diameter above the roof. The tower walls in small churches often had blank semi-circular arches intersecting each other ranged along the walls, with a single light window in the lower story, and a double light opening in the upper story or belfry. The walls of the tower had a horizontal finish, and the embattled parapets which are now seen on old Norman buildings are of later date. The tower was placed at the west end in small churches, but in cathedrals and large churches it rose above the crossing of the nave and the choir by the transepts. In England, many of the early Norman churches have quite changed their appearance, because in all cases where parts of them were destroyed by fire, the restorations were made not in the original style, but in the style which then had come into use. Hence, at Durham, that majestic pile which crowns its lofty site with one of the most really magnificent specimens of church architecture in the world, shows the nave, the western towers, the transepts and the choir in massive Norman ; while the eastern end of the choir is crossed by the beautiful transept known as the Chapel of the Nine Altars, in Transition Early English. The great window of the northern transept is in the Decorative period, while in the additional story ST. PETER'S CHURCH, NORTHAMPTON. on the central tower, the windows belong to the age of the Perpendicular. In fact Durham is a splendid example of all the periods in which the Norman prevails, and which so affected the unemotional mind of Dr. Johnson, that he was impelled to say that this great church approached the sublime, as it was built with a "rocky solidity and indeterminate duration." Rochester was STEWKLEY CHURCH, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, ENGLAND. the work of Gundulph, brought from Bec near Rouen. He was consecrated by Lanfranc, in A.D. 1077, who aided him in procuring the means of building this cathedral. All who look on the nave of Rochester see the oldest part now existing of any of the great English churches. It retains nearly all its original features; the western window only being changed and the roof of the nave being raised. Then, again, the work of Bishop Walkelyn at Winchester, in the two transepts and the huge central tower, still remain to attest his undoubted skill; for like William de Carilepho, of Durham, he built for all future ages. Peterborough is also justly proud of its far-famed nave. It was finished in A.D. 1143, by Martin de Vecti, but the roof appears to have suffered, as Abbot Benedict made certain restorations as late as A.D. 1177. Then, again, the nave and choir of the firstclass Cathedral of Norwich, together with the Castle, have borne testimony. for centuries to the vastness of the conceptions and the energy of the men who founded them and who carried these enormous edifices to completion. Fine specimens of this style may also be seen in the nave, aisles, transept and west front of Tewkesbury; the nave and west front of Malmesbury; Wimborn Minster, Dunstable; St. Cross at Winchester; Romsey in Hampshire; and in many of the remains of the early larger "religious" houses. In other cathedrals, the style is displayed in the nave of Ely; the western towers and nave, choir and round part called Becket's Crown at Canterbury; the nave and choir at Hereford; the Chapter-house at Ches RECESS OF WEST FRONT OF ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL. ter; the nave at Gloucester; the presbytery and other parts at Chichester; but the limits of our space forbid any attempt at details. The illustrations given in this paper will amply suffice to indicate to the eye the peculiar features of this most impressive style. Parish and rural churches of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, of great beauty, abound in England, and they all bear the impress of their Norman parentage; but as most things human change, so the features of the Norman began to From the Abbey of Croyland, Lincolnshire. INTERSECTING ARCHES, give place to a different, and in many respects a ments. Even in the forms of the churches a lighter and more impressive style, which in another change obtained. The kings and chiefs adopted paper remains to be de- the Latin form, thus scribed. showing an adherence. Touching the Norman- to the faith which they Sicilian style, it may professed; but the body suffice to say, that in Sicily of the people adopted the Normans produced a the Greek form which style which is not seen in had been familiar to the any other country. It inhabitants from ancient was Saracenic in its arches, times. In this mixed style there seems to have been no prevailprinciple, for the pointed arch was not adopted from any regard to the vertical principle, the columns were used because they were at hand, and custom or usage NORMAN CAPITAL OF NOR Roman in its pillars and WICH CATHEDRAL. capitals, Byzantine in its cupolas and mosaics, and Norman in its enrich THE TOWER OF EARL'S BARTON CHURCH. ing coming down RECESS OF EAST FRONT OF strange medley which was recognized ast There are three or four Norman churches in Sicily which illustrate this mixed style very characteristically. One is the Capella Palatina at Palermo. It was built by King Roger, and finished A.D. 1132. Though small, it has a nave, side aisles and three apses, the form being an oblong, and yet it has a Byzantine cupola over the junction of the nave and the transept. The Church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, also built by Roger at the same period, has so Oriental an appearance that it might be taken for a Mohammedan mosque. It has five cupolas formed of stone, and four of them yet remain. The Church of La Martorana, at Palermo, is another specimen of this mixed style; and the Norman Cathedral at Mon reale, four miles from Palermo, is quite gorgeous, and rich in mosaics. Sicily presents the best specimens of this strange hybrid style, but examples may be seen at Cerini in Cyprus and at Toledo in Spain. ANGLING FOR A PRIZE. BY LETTIE ELLIOTT YES, I belong to that much-abused sisterhood, and it seems to me that considering our important position in society, we deserve a little more respect, and a little less persecution; for I would like to ask the gentlemen where in the world they would find wives if it were not for the prospective mothersin-law? But, no, we are considered lawful targets for all the shafts of wit and sarcasm that are flying recklessly about, and not one magnanimous soul ever takes up a pen in our defence. Indeed, the mother-in-law is greatly to be pitied-all the family disputes, quarrels, and misfortunes, are laid at her door, and her mission, according to the popular theory regarding her, is told in a very few words. After angling adroitly for years to secure a matrimonial prize, she succeeds at last in obtaining one for the guileless maiden of perhaps thirty summers, and then she immediately sets herself to work to create a disturbance in the family, even to the extent of causing a divorce; for a man would much rather blame the mother than the wife, because even if he has ceased to care for the latter, he hates to believe that she would willingly and of her own accord separate from a delightful creature like himself. Being a mother-in-law, I am, of course, sensitive. I had one daughter, Elinor, and a pretty, winsome darling she was too, although she had plenty of fire and spirit in her nature. At sixteen she began to have lovers, but she did not seem to care for any one in particular, and so she rejected, in her gentle, deprecating way (that made them love her more than ever), one man after another, until she was twenty-three years old. Then Charles Cramer appeared, cultivated, handsome and fascinating. I saw that she was pleased from the first, but I soon understood his character, and knew that he was not the man for her; for, although generous and affectionate in disposition, he would be exact ing to the last degree—a very tyrant. So when I saw that he was trying his best (and successfully) to win my darling's love, I sent for him, and begged that he would desist from visiting her. . He looked at me in utter amazement. Elliott," he said, "I love your daughter, why do you object to my suit? Am I not a gentleman ?" "Mrs. "Certainly, Mr. Cramer," I replied, quietly; "and most women would feel proud to receive you into their family, but you and Elinor will not be happy together." "Why do you think so? I will try to make her life a pleasant one-I can gratify her every wish-I am rich, and you surely do not think me niggardly." "Far from it-I know that you are generous to a fault." "Then tell me why you object." "Because I understand your disposition too well, Mr. Cramer; you will make a tyrannical husband; Elinor is very high-spirited, and although she may submit at first, it will not last." "You do me great injustice, Mrs. Elliott, I assure you. I love her too well to make any unreasonable demands, and I have flattered myself that she returned my affection." "That is what I feared, and so I sent for you to beg that you will let the matter go no further; that you will cease in your attentions to my child." "I cannot make any such promise, Mrs. Elliott; I cannot give her up. You will not try to prejudice her against me?" "Certainly not; it would only incline her the more to take your part. She would be sure to adore you then, for a little opposition renders an affair of this kind ten times more interesting." So having gained nothing by my appeal to the lover, I determined to take Elinor away. She objected at first, but she was never a selfish child, and finding that I was really very anxious, she made the necessary preparations, and we left the very next day. But we had not been in Springfield two weeks, when one morning Elinor came in from a walk with cheeks, eyes and face all alight and eager, "Oh, mother," she cried, "whom do you think I have seen? But you will never guess, I know. It was Mr. Cramer; and, mother, he loves me, he asked me to be his wife." "And you havé accepted him?" "Accepted him? Why, mother, where is the girl that would not feel proud to be his wife?" |