EVOLUTION IN ARCHITECTURE. 64.5 



against its excess. On the removal of the centers of civilization north- 

 ward, the openings for the admission of the light of day became ob- 

 jects of solicitude, and thenceforth the windows are the principal parts 

 of the wall in which they are pierced. 



A naturalist of the new school might describe to us the changes 

 which would be induced in a plant or other organism translated from 

 the sunny climate of its birth to the cold and murky atmosphere of the 

 north, and surviving, by virtue of its " fitness " for a place in its new 

 home. Let us follow, as rapidly as possible, the behavior of the art of 

 building in like circumstances. In doing so we may conveniently take 

 the examples to be found in our own island ; for, although the Gothic 

 architecture prevailed throughout the greater part of Europe during 

 the middle ages, it ran its course with greater regularity, and for a much 

 longer period, in England than on the Continent. Owing chiefly to its 

 geographical position, this country was the first .to lose the connection 

 with imperial Rome, and the last to feel the full force of the Renais- 

 sance. 



The first effect of the new state of things was in a direction com- 

 pletely opposed to the aspirations to which we have referred. The 

 general sense of insecurity which followed the withdrawal of the Ro- 

 man legions made the strength of their walls the first care of the early 

 builders, and windows and doors were necessarily reduced to the nar- 

 rowest dimensions. Hence the heavy character of the styles denomi- 

 nated Romanesque, represented in this country by Saxon and early 

 Norman works. The relative measurements established by classic 

 taste were everywhere ignored by the Christianized barbarians ; and, 

 if even our rude Saxon forefathers could have appreciated them, they 

 must have been abandoned through necessity. There are no complete 

 buildings in this country which can be pronounced with certainty to 

 be genuine Saxon works. For a description of the buildings of that 

 period we are dependent on the accounts of early writers, aided by 

 fragments which have been incorporated with works of later con- 

 struction. The Saxon churches are described as low, small, and 

 mean, with very thick walls, and floors sunk below the level of the 

 ground. 



For four hundred years our ancestors endured these dark, dismal 

 stone erections that is to say, where they enjoyed the luxury of a 

 stone church, for probably at that time most of their religious build- 

 ings were, like their houses, of wood. Two interesting features, how- 

 ever, relieve this dreary period. One is the triangular-headed win- 

 dow, a remarkable anticipation of. the pointed arch ; and the other, 

 the insertion of a small pillar in the center of some windows, which is 

 evidently the forerunner of the mullion. An excellent example of a 

 window in which both these peculiarities are combined is to be seen 

 at Barton-upon-Humber. The date is about a. d. 800. 



Toward the end of the tenth century a first step was made in the 



