3o8 THE EXETER ROAD 



generally spoiled by the commonplace black kid 

 gloves worn by him, and by his everyday clothes 

 visible under the official robes, which can be seen 

 in the illustration. 



Of late the Cap has been replaced by one built on 

 the lines of those worn l)y the Yeomen of the Guard 

 in the Tower of London, the old Cap being thought 

 too historical to be any longer exposed to the danger 

 of being worn, while possibly some feelings of humanity 

 towards the Sword -Bearer may have dictated the 

 replacing of the seven - pound hat by something 

 lighter. It is now preserved in the Guildhall, where 

 it may be seen by curious visitors. 



XLIV 



It is a relief to turn from the thronoino; streets 

 to the absolute quiet of the cathedral precincts, 

 shaded by tall elms and green with trim lawns. 



Externally, the cathedral is of the grimiest and 

 sootiest aspect — black as your hat, but comely. Not 

 even the blackest corners of St. Paul's Cathedral, in 

 London, show a deeper hue than the west front of St. 

 Peter's, at Exeter. The battered, time-worn array 

 of effigies of saints, kings, crusaders, and bishops 

 that range along the screen in mutilated array under 

 Bishop Grandison's great west window are blacky 

 too, and so are the gargoyles that leer with stony 

 grimaces down upon you from the ridges and string- 

 courses of the transepts, where they lurk in an 

 enduring crepuscule. 



