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Show JATHEDRAL ARCHITECTURE. How the (.rent Church or jKaine Waa lluiltof nutter. The catlWral is first found to per-: per-: fection in Cfc-h'teHntH rWitury, but it is more elaborate in the fourteenth, says the Philadelphia Ledger. The tenth century was an important epoch in the history of cathedrals. It was the general belief at that time that the end of tho world waa approaching and a falling off in building activity is noticed no-ticed in consequonce. After tho beginning be-ginning of the year 1000 A. IX a general gen-eral sense of relief is shown ia the building of new churches. The erection erec-tion of a church was a convenient means for the expression of thankfulness. thankful-ness. The founding of monasteries, especially of the Cistercian order, led also to this phenomenid activity. An illustration of this progressive spirit is seen in the tower of the Rouen cathe- dral, which was built of butter; I mean by that that the people of Rouen, by giving up butter in. Lent, paid for it from their savings.. The sculpture of cathedrals, which was so exquisitely carried out in. tho middle ages, contained a means for teaching the bible in days when books were almost unknown. This is well shown in the statues of Christ. At that time it was more than a symbol it was a sign of the living spirit. Then, too,, the cathedral was more than a church and was not merely a religious place. It was the one superlative super-lative place in the city the center of learning and of the community. Our modern churches have deteriorated, as in tho early days, to- more places of worship.. |