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pages it has been necessary to advance as mere assertion. The subject is, in fact, practically inexhaustible; as will be easily understood when it is remembered that for more than five centuries all the best intellects of the nation were more or less directed towards perfecting this great art. Priests and laymen worked with masons, painters, and sculptors, and all were bent on producing the best possible building, and improving every part and every detail, till the amount of thought and contrivance accumulated in any single great structure is almost incomprehensible. If any one man were to devote a lifetime to the study of one of our great cathedrals—assuming it to be complete in all its Mediæval arrangements—it is questionable whether he would master all its details, and fathom all the reasonings and experiments which led to the glorious result before him. And when we consider that not in the great cities alone, but in every convent and in every parish, thoughtful professional men were trying to excel what had been done and was doing, by their predecessors and their fellows, we shall understand what an amount of thought is built into the walls of our churches, castles, colleges, and dwelling-houses. If any one thinks he can master and reproduce all this, he can hardly fail to be mistaken. My own impression is that not one tenth part of it has been reproduced in all the works written on the subject up to this day, and much of it is probably lost and never again to be recovered for the instruction and delight of future ages.

Comparative Table of English Cathedrals.^[1]

	Area.	Length inside.	Western Towers.	Central Towers.	Height of Nave.	Height of Choir.	Width of Nave.	Width of Choir.	Width of Central Aisle.	Approximate ratio of Height to Width.
Feet.	Feet.	Feet.	Feet.	Feet.	Feet.	Feet.	Feet.	Feet.
York	72,860	486	196	198	93	101	106	102	51	1	to	2
Lincoln	66,900	468	206	258	82	71	80	81	39	1	to„	2
Winchester	64,200	530	..	140	76	. .	85	. .	35	1		2.43
Westminster	61,729	505	220	. .	103	. .	75	. .	35	1		3
Ely	61,700	517	215	170	72	70	75	. .	34	1		2.1
Canterbury	56,280	514	152	229	80	70	73	85	33	1		2.4
Salisbury	55,830	450	. .	404	84	. .	82	. .	35	1		2.3
Durham	55,700	473	164	216	74	. .	81	77	32	1		2.3
Peterborough	50,516	426	154	143	78	. .	79	. .	36	1		2
Wells	40,680	388	125	165	67	. .	69	. .	34	1		2
Norwich	40,572	408	. .	309	73	. .	70	26	1		2.8
Worcester	38,980	.387	. .	191	66	. .	78	. .	32	1		2.45
Exeter	35,370	383	. .	. .	70	. .	72	. .	34	1		2.1
Lichfield	33,930	319	192	252	55	. .	66	. .	28	1		2

1. It is not pretended that this Table is quite correct in all details, but it is sufficiently so to present, at a glance, a comparative view of the fourteen principal churches of England, and to show at least their relative dimensions.