florid is not overladen with ornament. The exterior is wanting in uniformity, but though various, all seems to harmonise. Over the entrance is a small turret and a projecting balcony, resembling an open oriel above, ornamented with graceful tracery, and sculptured figures on either side. The windows are surmounted by flat arches, ornamented with open tablets of quatrefoils, and the device of Jacques Cœur interspersed between them, representing a heart and scallop-shell of the pilgrim. Circular cone-roofed towers rise above the edifice, which, within, are provided with spiral staircases. The balustrade between the outer gateway and turret has the motto of Jacques Cœur, "A vaillants Coeur rien impossible", most conspicuously carved in tall Gothic characters on stone. The doorways in the court are surmounted by quaint bas-reliefs, and over the gateway is a chapel, the upper floor of which has the original roof, on which the frescoes were a few years ago in excellent preservation. They are probably paintings by Italian artists, marking the period when the aid of foreign workmanship was called in to adorn the buildings of an earlier age with the first examples of Renaissance art. It is said that the great Condé, in his early youth, occupied this beautiful building when studying at the Jesuit College at Bourges. The details of decorative art which prevail and ornament every pinnacle, eave, and window-ledge, are most suggestive of the period of this mansion; and while highly ornate, do not in any way interfere with the effect of the building as a whole.

From this beautiful example of a town merchant's dwelling I will turn to give a short description of the church of Blemod les Toul in the department of Meurthe. Here there is a rich specimen of fifteenthcentury work. The façade of the church is a fine example of its kind. The choir and transepts are of earlier date. Here the clustered pillars are varied types, and of mixed styles, the capitals decorated, and the roof springing from the upper tier to a great height. This church contains the fine tomb of Hugues des Hazards, Bishop of Toul, a work of art of the sixteenth century, which plainly shows the influence of the Italian school: the pillars at the

florid is not overladen with ornament. The exterior is wanting in uniformity, but though various, all seems to harmonise. Over the entrance is a small turret and a projecting balcony, resembling an open oriel above, ornamented with graceful tracery, and sculptured figures on either side. The windows are surmounted by flat arches, ornamented with open tablets of quatrefoils, and the device of Jacques Cœur interspersed between them, representing a heart and scallop-shell of the pilgrim. Circular cone-roofed towers rise above the edifice, which, within, are provided with spiral staircases. The balustrade between the outer gateway and turret has the motto of Jacques Cœur, "A vaillants Coeur rien impossible", most conspicuously carved in tall Gothic characters on stone. The doorways in the court are surmounted by quaint bas-reliefs, and over the gateway is a chapel, the upper floor of which has the original roof, on which the frescoes were a few years ago in excellent preservation. They are probably paintings by Italian artists, marking the period when the aid of foreign workmanship was called in to adorn the buildings of an earlier age with the first examples of Renaissance art. It is said that the great Condé, in his early youth, occupied this beautiful building when studying at the Jesuit College at Bourges. The details of decorative art which prevail and ornament every pinnacle, eave, and window-ledge, are most suggestive of the period of this mansion; and while highly ornate, do not in any way interfere with the effect of the building as a whole.

From this beautiful example of a town merchant's dwelling I will turn to give a short description of the church of Blemod les Toul in the department of Meurthe. Here there is a rich specimen of fifteenthcentury work. The façade of the church is a fine example of its kind. The choir and transepts are of earlier date. Here the clustered pillars are varied types, and of mixed styles, the capitals decorated, and the roof springing from the upper tier to a great height. This church contains the fine tomb of Hugues des Hazards, Bishop of Toul, a work of art of the sixteenth century, which plainly shows the influence of the Italian school: the pillars at the