FRENCH CATHEDRALS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 255, 11 December 1914, Page 1 (Supplement)

FRENCH CATHEDRALS.

AUTISTIC WONDERS OE THE WOULD. Well might the world stand aghast at Germany's crowning infamy, the destruction of Kheims Cathedral, for our Teuton foes liavo reduced to ruins the sacred edifice which all other nations venerated. Rhcims Cathedral was the Westminster Abbey of Erance. where, according to legend, Clovis the father of France, was baptized in the fifth century, where Joan of Arc saw Charles VII. consecrated, and where all the Kings of France nave been'crowned and annointed.

Two of the chief features of the cathedral, which dates back to 1211, were the most famous roso window of the world, almost 40ft. in diameter, and the 530 statues adorning the portals and and facades, including forty-two colossal statues of French kings. Near the north portal was one of the masterpieces of Gothic sculpture, representing the Last Judgment, with a figure of Christ of ineffable beauty in tne attitude of benediction, facing, by a strange irony, the

at the end of the fifteenth century with what was termed "indulgence'' money, received by the church tor permission to eat butter during Lent. Tho splendours of the 6outh transept, its rose windows and wonderful sculpture, have excited the admiration of all lover 8 of the beautiful.

Neither should- we forget the glorious cathedral of Chartres. built chiefly between 1194 and 1260. It is noted for its solidity as well as beauty, one of its spires—there are two —being generally regarded as the most beautiful on the Continent. Like most other famous French cathedrals, it boasts some magnificent rose windows. Over 160 of tlie latter retain their thirteenth-century glass, forming a display of jewelled colour unequalled elsewhere.