, 1883-10-20
THE WEATHER COCK.

The town of Saint -Nrain-sur-Mesne
is justly proud Of its church. This
monument IS a marvel Of Ogive archi-
Itecture. 1t was built by the Premon-
tres, who had there their mother
convent, and who, during many years
had appropriated to this work one
half of their immense income.
The order was then in all the splen-
dor of its power and opulence, and
the monks, to eXalt as high as the
clouds their enthusiastic piety and
the glory of st. Augustine, their
patron, decided that the steeple of
their church should soar above all
the spires Of Burgundy.
The steeple, carved throughout like
all the rest of'the monument, shoots
up straight to a height of three hun
dred feet, to terrace surrounded by
baluster of wrought iron, from
which arises a spire one hundred feet
high, surmounted by a cross. The
spire is Octagonal, with a ledge of
stone along each arris. The architects
of this building seem to have had no
idea that it might ever become neces-
sary to repair it, and as they wished
to reserve its summit for the birds
or the angels, provided no access to
it. Above the platform, there is no
staircase and noladder in the interior;
outside, the smooth and polished
roof, without any other relief than
the projecting stone Of each arris and
the rounded facing Of the slabs which
form the covering.
The steeple Of Saint-Vrain seems
destined to justify for years, and,
perhaps, for centuries to come, the
blind faith that its constructors had
in its eternity. 1t has been strl-liE-
for four centuries, and neither rain
nor sun, nor wind nor lightning have
succeeded in wrcnching from it a
stone or even a grain Of cement.
People begin to believe that it is in
destructible, and whisper to one
another that oftcntimes, after a
stormy night, at the dawn of day,
before the inhabitants of Saint-Nrain
are awake, invisible hands have come
to repair it.
1t must be acknowledged that, in
country somewhat superstitious,
the aspect and the shape of this
steeple favor singularly the numer-
Gus legends Of which it is the subject.
Its prOdigiOus height seems to be
doubled by the smallness Of the dwell
lings ensconsed below it; and one
can see that, il it happens to fall, it
would annihilate the town at one
blow. The citizens of Saint-Vrain
are inwardly in dread Of it. 1t is 50
bold, so slight, that it is difficult to
see how it can stand. The bell-ring-
ers say that, during the heavy gales,
it sways to and fro like a poplar, and
that more than once they have been
terrified at feeling themselves thus
rocked between its stones.
Its profiles, though vigorously true
to the purest and most exquisite
principles Of Gothic art, shoot forth
so boldly as to make the flesh creep
and the hair turn giddy. With the
exception Of the ringers, who never
go higher than the part of the tower
where the bells hang, and the sur
veyor Of historical monuments, who
pretends he has done it, no one has
ever dared to ascend to the platform.
This platform, jutting out in the
shape Of a basket, is the more appal-
ling from the fact that on three Of
its sides it hangs straight over the
parvise of the entrance paved with
large white fiag-stOnes which glitter
in the sunlight. The baluster, scarce
ly knee-high, is so near the wall that
there is just space enough to creep
along, and any one moving sideways
to go round the balcony, particularly
when passing the angles, feels as II
the wall pushed him into the void,
He who possessed coOlness enough
to examine the carvings of this part
of the tower could not consider with
out agitation the fantastic ornaments
and the truly demOniacal faces writh-
ing and sneering in every corner and
on every ledge. An old tradition
relates that a stranger who ascended
to the platform, more than a hundred
years ago, went stark mad in conse-
-quence Of having stared at the figure
Of a demon squatting down with his
fists under his chin.
However, as after all, poor human
ity always manages to secure, at any
cost, a small share Of happiness in the
midst Of its fears and its sorrows, the
citizens of Saint-Vrain lived. i'm peace
with their steeple, though looking at
it occasionally with a scared and
doubtful look, for, in fact, with the
exception of the stranger who had
gone mad, the oldest inhabitant could
not remember that it had caused any
disaster. The harmony between the
humble parish and the formidable
steeple would have continued to this