204 THE DOVER ROAD 



endurance — was the note of the age. Unfortunately, 

 the age which witnessed the growth and development 

 of the Perpendicular stjde was one of the greatest 

 wealth and activity. A ceaseless and untiring energy 

 pervaded the land, tearing down the Norman, the 

 Early English, and the Decorated churches, and 

 rearing upon their sites buildings immeasurably 

 larger, loftier, and lighter, but less individual and 

 less interesting in every way than the work of the 

 builders who had gone before. 



Frankly, then, the great soaring nave of Canterbury, 

 with its long alleys of clustered pillars, its great 

 windows and broad, unornamented wall-spaces, is 

 disappointing. No details tempt the amateur of 

 architecture to linger, and the sole ornamentation 

 which the builder has allowed himself in this long- 

 drawn-out vista is seen on the sparely sculptured 

 bosses of the groining. The times which witnessed 

 the piling up of this great nave were days when this 

 church was rich beyond compare with the offerings of 

 pilgrims ; and, given riches, ostentation is sure to 

 follow, but art is not to be bought at a price. 



A long array of altar-tombs of kings, princes, 

 warriors, and archbishops adds to the historical 

 interest of Canterbury Cathedral. Easily first, both 

 for historic and artistic value, are the tomb and 

 effigy of Edward the Black Prince, who, dying of a 

 wasting disease in 1376, was entombed in the Cathedral 

 as near as might be to the Martyr's shrine. There is 

 not a statue in all England to rival the beautifully- 

 wrought bronze effigy of the Black Prince which lies on 

 an altar-tomb decorated with the Prince of Wales's 

 feathers he was the first to assume, surrounded by 

 the Ich Dien that so admirably expresses the chivalry 

 of his character. 



The shields bearing his arms and badge are inter- 

 esting. The arms, those with the leopards (or lions) 

 of England, quartered with the lilies of France, are 

 ensigned with the mark of cadencj^ indicating the 



