only in a rudimentary and dormant state, the Roman basilica. It rises
forever from the ground in harmony with the same law.

There are invariably two naves intersecting each other in the form of a
cross, the upper end being rounded into a chancel or choir; there are
always side aisles, for the processions and for chapels, a sort of lateral
galleries or walks, into which the principal nave opens by means of the
spaces between the columns. This settled, the number of chapels, doors,
steeples, and spires may be modified indefinitely, according to the fancy
of the century, the people, and the art. The performance of divine service
once provided for and assured, architecture acts its own pleasure.
Statues, stained glass, rose-windows, arabesques, denticulations,
capitals, and bas-reliefs,--it combines all these flowers of the fancy
according to the logarithm that suits it best. Hence the immense variety
in the exteriors of those structures within which dwell such unity and
order. The trunk of the tree is fixt; the foliage is variable.





The Louvre

By Grant Allen


[Footnote: From "Paris."]