Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-10-04
tended nnragrn pIls.


fe~ was not prepared to see anything so
fine. The learned may well contend for the
ma jesty Of pure Norman archite cture. SO
far the mind of man has not hewn arches of
greater dignity or beauty. 1t was treat,
long desired, that my eyes had that summer
afternoon. The chivalry and the poetry,
the faith and the truth Of the devCut Cru.
saiers were revealed to the mental vision in
grasping the glory OF the 'dtars around
which they grouped, and where in sculp-
tured tombs their ashes repose. accept, as
reasonable, the explanation given by cul-
tivated French gentleman of our party why
no such effects are achieved in modern build
ing as was seen in this ennobling monument
of six centuries 1--WE do not build to stay
We do not give space for grandeur We
put no heart in our eiforts-only ambition"
In lying such a ruin you fully realize
that the spirit, the faith that could produce
1t, belong not to our day We thank the
French governn ent for its supervision of
its precious ruiis, for nowhere more GER
tainly than in this country has the posi-
biity of such a building departed. The
center of the old church is described by the
two rows of large pillars and the perfect
arches have withstood the ages, a magnlti-
cent arch spans the entrance, smaller pill
lars and arches ON either side indicate the
side aisles, and lower recesses show whore
were chapels and cloisters. The only part
of the Abbey that mas entirely escaped the.
ravages of time is a chapel back Of tho
choir, where the offices of the church am
,,,,l. g as.
a funeral amid the sill ent eloquence Of such
surroundings.
The altar, beside the usual sacerdotal re-
quirements, had an array of precious relics.
One, remember, was "A stone beart, whose
decpherei epitaph claimed it TO have held
the entrails of a crusader, sent home from
the Holy Land to he deposited in the tonb
of his faith rs Here rest dukes and duchesres,
warriors and ladies who bad turned from
the world with bt tuisei hearts and become
devotees. Such an one was the first Able
of Valmont, who, early in the tenth cen.
tury, erected this noble church. The win
dows of the little chapel date from the
fourteenth centlry, when they were re-
rewed. and the tombs they shed glory of
light upon are 400 years older. The condi.
ton of the windows is perfect, and they are
90 beautiful that they alone would be quite
worth visit The brilliancy of those deep
hues of blue and crimson, which have as yet
not been reproducei in modern art, demand
admiration. There was the usual fool
present-the one, | suspect, who generally
asks to see the cherry tree at Mt. Vernon
| This time he wanted to know il the rare
| lace on the altar was as old "a the windows,
| or had been worn by an inha bitant of a
| tomb near by.
Adrive of five miles brought us to Fecamp.
| The first object of interest we visited was
the Church OF the Trinity, an edit flee erected
| in the early part of this century upon the
| sits OF the cathe lral attached to the grand
old Abbey of Fecamp, winch was, in 1928
destroyed by the revolutionists. The church
is said to be one of the nearest prod uctions
of the old Norman style. 1t is immensely
long, narrow and high, and one cannot
find point or line upon which
to perch criticism, save the fact that the
| organ loft, over the main entrance, is sup
ported by Cornthian pillars; IA want Of
taste and harmony that may in eff ,ct be
| avoided by keeping your eyes--as devotional
| eyes shoul be-txei upon the altar or the
| =, ~. -
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yet every picture, every tons in the church
| allowed It's due. There are some valuable
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