Excerpt from The Cathedrals of the United Kingdom: Their History, Architecture, Monuments, and Traditions With Short Notes of the Chief Objects of Interest in Each Cathedral City and a Popular Introduction to Church Architecture

The bright work stood still, And might of its own beauty have been proud, But it was fashioned, and to God was vowed, By virtues that diffused in every part Spirit Divine, through forms of human art. Faith had her arch, her arch, when winds blew loud, Into the consciousness of safety thrilled; And Love her towers of dread foundation laid Under the graves of things; Hope had her spire Star high, and pointed still to something higher.

Istian architecture is antagonistic to pagan art it is spiritual rather than intellectual. The Italian style is a miserable compromise between the Gothic and Classic style, applied to ecclesiastical buildings. In place of a cold monotonous uniformity of plan, and stationary orders, Gothic art is progressive, and may yet be capable of further development on the noblest principles of construction; it is irregular, for every part is designed for use, and orna ment is subservient to the highest purposes. Size is produced not only by magnitude but by the multiplication of parts. Vertical and aspiring, there are neither heavy horizontal lines, nor a confused combination of disjointed members independent of each other; every part grows out of that next to it, or is its continuation, typifying, from base to roof, Him, Who is at once the rock, the chief corner-stone, and a covert from the storm and a shadow from the heat, and the Temple of the Great City (rev.

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