this western front has very few elevations comparable with it[37]—­including even those of Lincoln and York.  The ornaments, especially upon the three porches, between the two towers, are numerous, rich, and for the greater part entire:—­in spite of the Calvinists,[38] the French revolution, and time.  Among the lower and smaller basso-relievos upon these porches, is the subject of the daughter of Herodias dancing before Herod.  She is manoeuvering on her hands, her feet being upwards.  To the right, the decapitation of St. John is taking place.

The southern transept makes amends for the defects of the northern.  The space before it is devoted to a sort of vegetable market:  curious old houses encircle this space:  and the ascent to the door, but more especially the curiously sculptured porch itself, with the open spaces in the upper part—­light, fanciful and striking to a degree—­produce an effect as pleasing as it is extraordinary.  Add to this, the ever-restless feet of devotees, going in and coming out—­the worn pavement, and the frittered ornaments, in consequence—­seem to convince you that the ardour and activity of devotion is almost equal to that of business.[39]

As you enter the cathedral, at the centre door, by descending two steps, you are struck with the length and loftiness of the nave, and with the lightness of the gallery which runs along the upper part of it.  Perhaps the nave is too narrow for its length.  The lantern of the central large tower is beautifully light and striking.  It is supported by four massive clustered pillars, about forty feet in circumference;[40] but on casting your eye downwards, you are shocked at the tasteless division of the choir from the nave by what is called a Grecian screen:  and the interior of the transepts has undergone a like preposterous restoration.  The rose windows of the transepts, and that at the west end of the nave, merit your attention and commendation.  I could not avoid noticing, to the right, upon entrance, perhaps the oldest side chapel in the cathedral:  of a date, little less ancient than that of the northern tower; and perhaps of the end of the twelfth century.  It contains by much the finest specimens of stained glass—­of the early part of the XVIth century.  There is also some beautiful stained glass on each side of the Chapel of the Virgin,[41] behind the choir; but although very ancient, it is the less interesting, as not being composed of groups, or of historical subjects.  Yet, in this, as in almost all the churches which I have seen, frightful devastations have been made among the stained-glass windows by the fury of the Revolutionists.[42]

Respecting the MONUMENTS, you ought to know that the famous ROLLO lies in one of the side-chapels, farther down to the right, upon entering; although his monument cannot be older than the thirteenth century.  My attachment to the bibliomanical celebrity of JOHN, DUKE OF BEDFORD, will naturally lead me to the notice of his interment and monumental inscription.  The latter is thus;