[Illustration:  Tower of the Church of St. Ouen, at Rouen]

It is impossible to convey by words an adequate idea of the lightness, and purity, and boldness of St. Ouen.  My imperfect description will be assisted by the sketches which I inclose.  Of their merits I dare not speak; but I will warrant their fidelity; The flying buttresses end in richly crocketed pinnacles, supported by shafts of unusual height.  The triple tiers of windows seem to have absorbed the solid wall-work of the building.  Balustrades of varied quatrefoils run round the aisles and body; and the centre-tower, which is wholly composed of open arches and tracery, terminates, like the south-tower of the cathedral, with an octangular crown of fleurs-de-lys.  The armorial symbol of France, which in itself is a form of great beauty, was often introduced by the French architects of the middle ages, amongst the ornaments of their edifices:  it pleases the eye by its grace, and satisfies the mind by its appropriate and natural locality.

The elegance of the south porch is unrivalled.  This portion of the church was always finished with care:  it was the scene of many religious ceremonies, particularly of espousals.  Hence they gave it a degree of magnitude which might appear disproportionate, did we not recollect that the arch was destined to embower the bride and the bridal train.  The bold and lofty entrance of this porch is surrounded within by pendant trefoil arches, springing from carved bosses, and forming an open festoon of tracery.  The vault within is ornamented with pendants, and the portal which it shades is covered with a profusion of sculpture:  the death, entombment, and apotheosis of the Virgin, form the subjects of the principal groups.  The sculptures, both in design and execution, far surpass any specimens of the corresponding aera in England.  But this porch is now neglected and filled with lumber, and the open tracery is much injured.  I hope, however, it will receive due attention; as the church is at this time under repair; and the restorations, as far as they go, have been executed with fidelity and judgment.

[Illustration:  South Porch the Church of St. Ouen, at Rouen]

The perspective of the interior[94] is exceedingly impressive:  the arches are of great height and fine proportions.  If I must discover a defect, I should say that the lines appear to want substance; the mouldings of the arches are shallow.  The building is all window.  Were it made of cast iron, it could scarcely look less solid.  This effect is particularly increased by the circumstance of the clerestory-gallery opening into the glazed tracery of the windows behind, the lines of the one corresponding with those of the other.  To each of the clustered columns of the nave is attached a tabernacle, consisting of a canopy and pedestal, evidently intended originally to have received the image of a saint.  It does not appear to have been the design of the architect that the pillars of the choir should