uninjured.—­The arched roof of the choir received a complete repair in 1535:  that of the nave, which was also in a very bad state, underwent the same process in 1688; at the same time, the slender columns that support the cornice were replaced with new ones, and the symbols of the Evangelists were inserted in the upper part of the walls.  These reparations are managed with a singular perception of propriety; and though the manner of the sculpture in the symbolic figures, is not that of a Gothic artist, yet they are most appropriate, and harmonize admirably with the building.

[Illustration:  Symbols of the Evangelists]

You must excuse me that, now I am upon this subject, I venture to “travel somewhat out of the record,” for the sake of proposing to you a difficulty which has long puzzled me:—­the connection which Catholic divines find between St. Luke’s Bull and the word Zecharias;—­for it appears, by the following distich from the Rhenish Testament, that some such cause leads them to regard this symbol as peculiarly appropriate to the third Evangelist:—­

    “Effigies vituli, Luca, tibi convenit; extat
    Zacariae in scriptis mentio prima tuis.”—­

[Illustration:  Figures of effigies]

An antiquary might be perplexed by these figures, the drawings whereof I now send you.  He would find it impossible to suppose the exquisitely-sculptured images and the slender shafts with richly-wrought capitals, of the same date as the solid simple piers and arches all around; and yet the stone is so entirely the same, and the workmanship is so well united, that it would require an experienced eye to trace the junction.  In the middle of the sixteenth century, the central tower was also found to need reparation; and the church, upon this occasion, sustained a lasting injury, in the loss of its original spire, which was of lead, and of great height and beauty.  It was taken down, under pretence of its insecurity; but in reality the monks only wished to get the metal.  This happened in 1557, under Gabriel le Veneur, Bishop of Evreux, the then abbot.  Five years afterwards the ravages of the Huguenots succeeded:  the injury done to Jumieges by these sectaries, was estimated at eighty thousand francs; and the library and records of the convent perished in the devastation.

The western front of the church still remains almost perfect; and it is most singular.  It consists, of three distinct parts; the central division being nearly of equal width to the other two conjointly, and projecting considerably beyond them.  The character of the whole is simplicity:  the circular door-way is comparatively small, and entirely without ornament, except a pillar on each side; the six circular-headed windows over the entrance, disposed in a double row, are equally plain.  Immediately above the upper tier of windows, is a projecting chequered cornice; and, still higher, where the gable assumes a triangular form, are three lancet-shaped apertures, so extremely