64 



had place ; no feelings of mystery strove and strnggled 

 for expression, nor were they possessed with the passion 

 of the infinite, which is the principle of gothic. Faith did 

 not flame in the air. The earth sufSced, and they sym- 

 bolized it. All notes of action seem natural to gothic. 

 Tl]e members multiply, cluster, divide ; they mantle, reach, 

 rush, throng and cling upward. It was the literature of 

 the middle age. The people read in it, as in a book ; their 

 sanctuary and catechism. Religion is in every turn, and 

 twist, and point, and pinnacle ; and so was life. It is fer- 

 vid, swift, kindling, and has well been called frozen 

 music. It has a unity like faith itself. It is embodied 

 religion. Nothing touches us like this ecstasy and prayer 

 that it is — a message sent to heaven, pointing to the other 

 v\^orld — so impassioned, it cleaves space as if it would get 

 away from the earth, and longed for some other sphere — 

 its sempiternal heritage. Its coignes of vantage ensnare 

 the mind. 



Now all this is seen in Europe when we study cathe- 

 drals, and -compare them with the studied styles. One 

 comes with this impression, and applies it to the opposite 

 orders here. There is sufficient ground for the distmction 

 and significance, or lack of it, in styles, if we compare the 

 two churches named, which constantly catch the eye every 

 time we cross the open spaces in Boston ; and they force 

 themselves upon the attention. The evening sky makes 

 all beautiful. A radiant atmosphere spreads, and they all 

 point into space, or lift themselvc^s, with one common sen- 

 timent of serenity and adoration. In cooler moments we 

 observe their excellences and defects. Campaniles have 

 added a new feature to the city, and the Venitian archi- 

 tect has eiu'iched it with the poetry of styles. It com- 

 bines the repose of classic with the warmth of gothic or 

 flowingness, the life and verticalness. All is curve, yet 



