it. If therefore we place one of the planes of a crystal in such a position that the reflection of an object above the plane may appear to coincide with another object beneath, and then turn the crystal until the reflection of the same object above (from the second plane of the crystal) shall again appear to coincide with the same object below, it will readily appear that the arc which the crystal will have described will be the measure of the supplement of the inclination of its two planes, that is, the difference between that inclination and 180°. In turning the crystal the direction of the edge common to its two planes should not be altered, and the rays in both instances should be reflected from that portion of the planes nearest to their common edge, otherwise the observation will be affected by parallax. Such is the principle of Dr. Wollaston's reflective goniometer, by means of which the inclinations of planes whose area is less than the 100,000th part of a square inch may be determined within a minute of a degree, and which is equally effective whether the fracture be even or irregular. The instrument itself consists of a graduated circle mounted upon a horizontal axis, to one extremity of which is attached a moveable pin, having a slit for the purpose of receiving a small brass plate. To this plate the crystal is attached by means of a piece of wax, so that it may project beyond the edge of the plate. The pin (which is provided with a vertical and horizontal movement) then raised or lowered until the reflection of any convenient object above appears to coincide with some other object beneath. The instrument being thus adjusted, the graduated circle is turned until a similar reflection is obtained from the contiguous side of the crystal. The arc which the circle will then have described will (as was before stated) be equal to the supplement of the inclination of the crystalline planes; but the margin of the circle being graduated in an inverted order, the true inclination is given without further computation, and may be read off by means of the vernier [VERNIER] with considerable accuracy. GONIOMETRY, the measurement of angles; a name which might be substituted for TRIGONOMETRY, if it were advisable to alter established designations. The latter science, beginning with the measurement of triangles, made all that was known of the analysis of angular magnitude its own peculiar instrument. The various accessions which real goniometry received were therefore considered as additions to trigonometry: so that at this day, under a word which imports measurement of triangles, we have a science which wanders as far from the etymology of its name as geometry does. GOOD FRIDAY, the name given to the day of our Saviour's Crucifixion. From the earliest ages of Christianity this day, emphatically called Good Friday, has been held as a solemn fast; its appellation of Good being applied to express the blessed effects which sprang from that important event. It is in England only that this day has the appellation of Good: its ancient and appropriate title was Holy Friday, the Friday in Holy Week. Offices called Tenebræ, that is, "darkness," are sung on this day, and on its eve and morrow, by those belonging to the Romish faith. The lights are extinguished in reference to the supernatural darkness at our Saviour's Crucifixion, and nearly at the end of the service a solemn silence is observed throughout the church, which is suddenly succeeded by a tremendous noise, in token of the rending of the veil of the Temple, and of the disorder in which the very frame of nature was involved at that momentous event. Good Friday and Christmas Day are the only two days observed in England by a total suspension of business. Cakes made for the day, called, from the mark impressed upon them, cross-buns, still, even in the metropolis, form the general breakfast on Good Friday; but are not further noticed. In some of the distant counties, such as are not eaten are preserved, to be used as an infallible cure for the faithful throughout the year. The practice of making cross-buns is supposed to have originated simply in the desire of marking on the only food anciently allowed on this solemn fast a symbol of the Crucifixion; but the custom of having some sort of consecrated bread is of great antiquity. The Jews and the Greeks had cakes, Jeremiah (xliv. 19) has “did we make her cakes to worship her;" and the Greeks gave the name of Boun (Bour) to their sacred bread. Hospinian (De Orig. Festorum,' fol. 61 b.) tells us that the kings of England had a custom of hallowing rings with much ceremony on Good Friday, the wearers of which would not be afflicted with the falling-sickness. A sermon used to be preached on the afternoon of this day at Paul's Cross, at which the lord-mayor and aldermen attended in their robes. Creeping to the Cross on Good Friday was another of the Popish ceremonies formerly practised in England. The ceremonial of it is given by Bishop Percy in the notes to the Northumberland Household Book.' GOOSEBERRY. The Ribes Grossularia, indigenous to Britain and some other European regions of cool temperature, and also to the mountains of North America, at an elevation of from 2000 to 3000 feet above the level of the sea, is the origin of the many hundreds of kinds of this wholesome fruit now in cultivation. Its botanical position is described under RIBES, in NAT. HIST. DIV. Its use, as is well known, is more or less within the reach of every one. It is the earliest fruit for culinary preparations; and it may be preserved green for winter use, as also in a ripe state. The plant bears so abundantly that a large ARTS AND SCI. DIV. VOL. IV. In hot quantity may be thinned off for tarts, pies, sauces, &c., in the early part of the season, and still, if done judiciously, a sufficiency left for ripening. The gooseberry will ripen in the extreme northern parts of Britain, near the level of the sea; and in lat. 57°, even at an elevation of 900 feet, it acquires great perfection with regard to flavour. seasons, in the southern counties, the fruit cannot endure full exposure to the direct rays of the sun, which sometimes make it appear as if scalded; under such circumstances evaporation takes place from the whole surface faster than the subjacent tissue can repair the loss: the consequence of which is a complete emptying of the superficial cells of the fruit, which produces death. The temperature and other circumstances which various species of fruit require in the course of ripening are very important to be known, as they vary in all probability in every different species. In some cases the secretions are formed rapidly; growth is moreover quick from the period of flowering; and a rapidly-increasing temperature, attended by atmospheric moisture, is best suited to the perfection of the fruit: such is the case with the apricot. The fig, on the contrary, demands a long, steady, high temperature, and a dry atmosphere. In the case of the gooseberry, it appears that the flavour is best where the low temperature of the north brings the fruit more gradually to maturity than it does in the south, where the fruit is in danger of being scorched, and where it ripens far too quickly to acquire the peculiar flavour which it attains in its favourite climate; and a different method of pruning and training ought to be practised accordingly. Thus in the north the branches should be left thin, so as to expose the fruit, and with the same view the spurs should be short. In the south the trees should not be laid so open, and the lateral young shoots, instead of being cut close in, immediately above the fruit-bud at their base, should have two buds left to produce leaves for shading the fruit in summer. In the manufacturing districts of Lancashire and the adjoining counties the cultivation of the gooseberry has been brought to surprising perfection, at least as regards the size of the fruit: and this chiefly by the manufacturing classes, in consequence of prizes being awarded to successful competitors at the gooseberry-show meetings. Judging from the quality of the varieties grown for competition in this way, it appears that weight is the only qualification required; it is, however, much to be regretted that flavour is not also taken into account. From the neglect of this requisite, many of the fine Lancashire gooseberries are not at all worth cultivation, except on account of their coming to a size sufficiently large for cooking earlier than the smaller. For this purpose those with smooth skins should be avoided, because the skins become tough in the process of cooking. For flavour, the small, or "Old English" kinds, are far the best, and indeed are the only sorts worth growing; but they do not look well among a dessert. We give below a list of such sorts as are proper for a selection, when flavour is the principal object; and another in which mention is made of the best Lancashire varieties, where flavour and size are in a tolerable degree combined. Gooseberries are arranged systematically according as their colours are red, yellow, green, or white; and subdivided with regard to their surface being hispid, downy, or smooth. Small, or Old English, Gooseberries. 1. Rough Red. 2. Small Red Globe. 3. Small Dark Rough Red. 4. Scotch Best Jam. 5. Red Champagne. *** Surface smooth. 10. Red Turkey. Division 2. Fruit Yellow. 11. Early Sulphur. 14. Rumbullion. *** Surface smooth. 16. Yellow Ball. Division 3. Fruit Green. *Surface hispid. 17. Early Green Hairy. 18. Glenton Green. 19. Hebburn Green Prolific. Division 4. Fruit White. * 22 White Crystal. 23. White Champagne. 24. Taylor's Bright Venus. Surface downy. ** 25. Early White. Surface smooth. 26. White Damson. 27. White Honey. 28. Crystal. The Pruning of Gooseberries is performed any time during the winter, and before the sap begins to be in motion in the spring. The operation consists in removing all cross laterals, so as to leave the branches as nearly as possible at regular distances, round an open centre, except where the heat of the climate renders it necessary to retain branches in the centre for shade; and the points of these branches, where too extended, or weak, should also be shortened to some well situated bud. Very strong shoots, assuming the character of robbers, should be cut clean out, except such as may be occasionally wanted to supply vacancies. It is however better economy, with regard to the health of the tree, to pinch off the tops of these strong shoots in the summer, and thus prevent their monopolising the sap from the other parts. Suckers, on the same principle, should be prevented from growing at the root. The branches in all cases should be pruned to a single terminal shoot. In short, the plant should exhibit a regular appearance without any overcrowding in one part and deficiency in another. GORGE, in fortification, is the name given to that part of any work which lies directly between the interior extremities of its faces or flanks, as between ƒ and g, fig. 1, BASTION. The prolongations of the magistral lines of two collateral ramparts or walls, till they meet in the interior of any work, as ƒ B, g B, are called the demi-gorges of that work. GORGONS, GORGONES, are certain mythological personages, who, in their vulgar acceptation, were represented as three daughters of Phorcys, a marine god, and his wife Ceto. Their names were Medusa, Euryale, and Stheno. Homer, both in the Iliad and Odyssey, mentions only one Gorgon; Hesiod, however, speaks of three. Many wild and discordant stories were told of them, such as their having great wings, sharp crooked claws, teeth like the tusks of the wild boar, and snakes instead of hair, and one eye among the three, and yet some poets have represented one of them, Medusa, as a very fascinating creature. (Ovid, 'Metamorphoses,' b. iii.) Her hair was, however, changed into serpents, for having violated the purity of one of the temples of Athene. The Gorgons were represented by Hesiod as living in the farthest west, beyond the limits of the known world, by Night and the Hesperides; later writers placed them in the unknown regions of Libya. They were said to have had the power of turning into stone all those who gazed at them. At last Perseus, the son of Jupiter and of Danaë, set out, encouraged and assisted by Athene, to encounter the Gorgons, and he conquered them, cut off the head of Medusa, from whose blood, dropping on the ground, the horse Pegasus was engendered. He then gave the head of Medusa to Athene, who fixed it on her ægis or shield, which ever after had the power of turning the beholders into stone. In representations of Athene the head of Medusa frequently occurs. In Greek sculpture of the best period the features of Medusa are extremely beautiful, but with a certain stern and terrible expression, latent however rather than fully evolved. At times, in sculpture, and on coins and gems, the head is almost hideous. A Gorgon's head was the usual ornament on the upper part of the breastplate of a Roman emperor: one is figured on the statue of Hadrian, in the Roman Saloon, British Museum. We give a cut of a Gorgon's head from a terra-cotta frieze in the British Museum, Græco Roman Basement Room. Gorgon's head, from a Terra-Cotta in the British Museum. GOSPEL, derived from two Saxon words of the same meaning as the Greek evangelion (evayyériov), which signifies "good news," is employed both by the authors of the New Testament and by modern theologians to denote the whole Christian system of religion, and also more particularly the good news of the coming of the Messiah. The books containing an account of the life of Christ were also called gospels by the ecclesiastical writers. Many such gospels were in circu lation in the first three centuries, but four only, namely, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were received by the fathers as of divine authority. Several of the other gospels are quoted by the fathers, but not as possessing authority to bind the faith of Christians; and Origen, who appeals to them more than any other writer, expressly says that the church received only four gospels. (Hom. in Luc.,' i. 1.) We find no quotations from them in the writings of the apostolical fathers, with the exception of a doubtful passage in Irenæus (Lardner's 'Works,' vol. ii. p. 91) none of them appear to have been written till the 2nd century, and several not till the 3rd. The apocryphal gospels which had the widest circulation were, the Gospels according to the Twelve Apostles, the Hebrews or Nazarenes, and the Egyptians. The Gospel according to the Hebrews, which is supposed by some critics to be the same as that according to the Twelve Apostles, was written, in all probability, in the beginning of the 2nd century, in the Syriac language. It appears to have been taken principally from St. Matthew's Gospel, with additions from the other evangelists, and oral tradition. It has been maintained by some critics that this gospel was written by St. Matthew, and that the Greek gospel bearing his name in the New Testament was only a translation of it. The Apocryphal Gospels which are extant are, 'The Gospel of the Infancy of Christ,' alleged to have been written by Thomas, and by Matthew: it was received as genuine, and is found in the works of St. Jerome, who lived in the 4th century; the Gospel of the Birth of Mary; the Protevangelion of James,' and the Gospel of Nicodemus.' These were published by Fabricius, in his 'Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti,' 2 vols. 8vo., Hamb. 1719-1743, and by Jones, with an English translation, in his Method of Settling the Canonical Authority the Birth of Mary, the Protevangelion,' and the Infancy of Christ,' of the New Testament,' 3 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1736-7. The Gospel of were held in reverence by, and contained some of the principles of, the sect of Gnostics. These gospels appear to have been written with the object of supplying the supposed deficiencies of the canonical gospels. They abound in absurd and improbable tales, principally relating to the early life of Christ, and contain hardly any particulars concerning his public life and ministry. The writings of the fathers give the names of many other gospels, of which the following is an alphabetical Ebionites, Encratices, Eve, Jude, Judas Iscariot, Matthias, Marcion, list:-Andrew, Apelles, Barnabas, Bartholomew, Basilides, Cerinthus, Valentian.' (Jones On the Canon,' vol. i., p. 145-150.) Merinthus, Peter, Philip, Scythianus, Tatian, Thaddeus, Thomas, From the many verbal agreements and striking differences in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it has been maintained by many critics that they were derived from an original gospel common to them all, which is supposed to have been drawn up by the disciples who afterwards lost, is quoted by Clement and Origen under the title of attended the person of Christ; and that this document, which was 'The Gospel According to the Twelve Apostles.' This hypothesis was first introduced into this country by Dr. Marsh, in his dissertation On the Origin of the first three Gospels,' and has been maintained in Germany by Michaelis, Semler, Lessing, Eichhorn, Gratz, Kuinoel, Bertholdt, and other celebrated critics. An interesting account of this controversy is given in the preface to the English translation of Schleiermacher's 'Critical Essay on the Gospel of St. Luke,' Lond. 1825, 8vo. 6 GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. The term Gothic has long been almost universally assigned to that form of architecture which prevailed through a large part of Europe during the middle ages. First applied as a term of reproach, as synonymous in fact with barbarous, and having in itself no special appropriateness, since it was certainly not by the Gothic races, properly so called, that the style was introduced or practised, it is not surprising that writers on Gothic architecture have usually deemed it necessary to enter a more or less formal protest against its use. So generally is the term employed, however, so much has it indeed become incorporated into our language and literature, that it would be hopeless to attempt to replace it by a more fitting one, if even a more fitting one presented itself. But hitherto, at least, no satisfactory substitute has been suggested. The term Christian Árchitecture at present much in vogue, is palpably a misnomer. What we must continue to call Gothic architecture, was never intended by its originators as in any way antagonistic to what it is now the practice to term Pagan Architecture; nor is there anything essentially Christian in the Gothic style, though it has been chiefly employed on ecclesiastical structures. As Mr. Petit pertinently remarks, had St. Paul succeeded in converting the Athenians, no one can suppose that they would have constructed their churches in this style. In the modern Greek church it has never been employed. Among Protestants it was almost equally unused before the Gothic revival which dates little more than a quarter of a century back the fall of the true Medieval Gothic has indeed been by its more ardent admirers attributed to the growth of the Protestant spirit. It cannot be consistently styled Christian, if even Roman Catholicism be taken as the exclusive type of Christianity, for in Rome itself, the very heart and centre of Catholicism, it has notoriously never obtained a footing. The term Christian Architecture is indeed as inaccurate as it is affected and sectarian. Nor can the term Pointed Architecture be admitted as a desirable substitute for Gothic,-though (arched being understood) it is sufficiently significant of its ultimate The old vexed question of the origin of Gothic architecture, and of the pointed arch, its assumed characteristic, loses much of its significance under the view of its history now gaining general acceptance. Gothic architecture it is seen in reality traces back its pedigree to the architecture of the ancient Romans. As the empire became consolidated, a style of architecture differing more and more from that of Greece was developed. Its distinctive feature was that of the semi-circular arch, as that of Greece was the horizontal beam. Until the utter ruin of Roman nationality and civilisation, the arcuated as opposed to the trabeated mode of construction continued to be practised. When the nations which had formed a part of the Western Empire began to emerge from the gloom which overshadowed them after its fall, the churches they erected were imitations, however poor and feeble, of the basilicas of ancient Rome. Gradually those features of the buildings, whether constructive or ornamental, which go to make up what in the aggregate is called a style, diverged farther and farther from the ancient models, and there was evolved what, from its evidently derived, though ultimately independent character, has been designated the Romanesque. In Italy, and the south of Europe generally, this style continued to retain more resemblance to the original, whilst north and west, where in fact the Germanic races prevailed, it underwent extensive and comparatively rapid changes. Hence some writers would retain the name Romanesque for the architecture of the nations of Roman parentage, assigning that of Round-arched Gothic to the early architecture of the German races. But this ethnological distinction scarcely holds with sufficient tenacity to make it the basis of a separate classification. The simpler and better course seems to be, to regard all the round-arched styles of Medieval date, as Romanesque; the socalled Lombardic, Norman, &c., being merely national varieties of a normal type. That form, which the divergence from the Roman type assumed in the Eastern Empire, is a wholly distinct thing, and, for the reasons assigned under BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE, fully entitled to be regarded as a separate and independent style, Thus, then, we take as the starting-point in the history of Gothic architecture the formation of the Romanesque style; but to speak of its full development, its distinctive features, and aesthetic character, and to notice ever so cursorily the phases it assumed in different countries, would swell this article to a very inconvenient length. We shall defer, therefore, a general notice of the round-arched branch of Gothic architecture to the article ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE, and a more particular notice of that section of it which we are familiar with in cathedrals and churches of our own country to the heading NORMAN ARCHITECTURE; and here confine our attention to Pointed Gothic Architecture, and especially to English Pointed Gothic. The question of the origin of pointed architecture, as springing from the invention of the pointed arch, or arch of two centres, was formerly eagerly debated by writers on Gothic architecture. That such discussions were based on an erroneous assumption, we have seen in the article ARCH. The pointed arch was known and used long before its adoption by the Gothic architects. Its employment was forced on them by constructive requirements, either in order to overcome the difficulties arising out of the necessity of vaulting over large and variously formed spaces, as Ware, Whewell, and other able writers think, or, according to the views of Mr. Scott, in order to get rid of the powerful outward thrust of a round arch of large span, or heavily loaded. Be, however, the original inducement to its use what it may, its introduction was the commencement of an entire change in the character of Gothic architecture wherever that style was practised. The pointed arch and arched vaulting became, in fact, the prime principle of Gothic construction. Here, therefore, it may not be improper to explain the different kinds of pointed arch, which are such that the style named from it contains in that respect, owing to its being struck from two centres, a source of variety unknown to any other; for the single-centred, or round-headed one, can be varied only by making it more or less than an exact semicircle, in which former case it approaches the horse-shoe curve, and in the latter becomes a segmental or schemearch. But arches struck from two centres, and therefore pointed by the two curves meeting each other, may be of various degrees of acuteness, and exhibit great difference as to the proportion which the chord or span of the arch bears to a vertical line drawn from it to the vertex or crown. In the semicircular or one-centred arch the span is invariably equal to double the radius, or line drawn from the centre to the intrados, or curve bounding the aperture; but in the narrow acute lancet-arch, which is extra-centred (that is, is struck from centres on the outside of the arch), the span is less than the radius, and the arch itself consequently narrow and tall, and more or less so in proportion as the distance between the centres is increased or diminished. In the equilateral arch, sometimes distinguished as that characteristic of pure Gothic, the centres coincide with the extremities of the span, which is equal to the radius, so that the chord and the two lines drawn from the centres to the vertex form an equilateral triangle. This species of arch is called by the Italians the sesto acuto, because the lines just mentioned are equal to the radius, or one side of a hexagon described within a circle struck by it. When the radius is less than the span,-or, in other words, the centres are on the span itself,-the arch becomes an obtuse-pointed one; and it is hardly necessary to observe, that the arch becomes more obtuse in proportion as the centres are brought nearer each other; for were they to unite, the arch would become a single-centred and semicircular one. All these varieties may occur in the same example; because, if the mouldings be very numerous, and occupy a great space, as is frequently the case in doorways, being all concentric, some of the curves will describe inner-centred or obtuse, others extra-centred or acute arches, as may be perceived by this diagram, which, omitting the intermediate mouldings, will serve to exemplify the several varieties of the two-centred arch above defined. A The centres in the intermediate figure (B) being at cc respectively, and the line joining cc being also the chord or span, B is an equilateral arch: a and c are respectively obtuse and acute arches, the centres in the arch a being on the span, and in c being without it, as above explained. The four-centred arch, so prevalent in our later or Perpendicular Gothic as to be almost characteristic of it, is, on the contrary, struck from two centres on each side, one on the span of the arch, and the other below it, as will afterwards be explained. Pointed Gothic, as a distinct style, dates from near the close of the 12th century. Mr. Hope, in his History of Architecture,' with many of the older Continental as well as English writers on Gothic, considers the pointed style to have originated in Germany, but its birthplace is now more commonly admitted to be France. Some have indeed sought to identify its origin with Suger, the famous church-building abbot of St. Denis; but this is at least doubtful. All that can with safety be asserted is, that at this time France was the great centre of ecclesiastical architecture, and that from her proceeded those new principles which were eagerly adopted by the architects of other countries. But the application of the pointed arch was not a sudden thought. For a long time there had been a growing approximation towards those characteristics of which the pointed arch permitted the full expression. In the quadripartite vaulting of Romanesque crypts we see the first application of that system of vaulting which assumed its full importance in the pointed style; and pointed arches not infrequently occur along with semicircular ones in the later examples of Romanesque, of what has been called the Transition style, But, in fact, Gothic architecture was always in a transition state; and it should be borne in mind when any particular style or form of Gothic is spoken of, that the subdivision into styles, classes, or periods, is merely a matter of convenience. Gothic classification has been dwelt on with very needless emphasis in this country. It has been attempted to define, not only the broad divisions, but the minor subdivisions, and to separate each by a distinct date of origin and termination. Now nothing is more certain than that, during the whole period when Gothic architecture was practised, there was a continuous course of modification, change, or transition, and that in some places the change advanced much farther and more rapidly than at others. The true Gothic architects seem never to have cared much for precedent. Those who had advanced far in constructing a cathedral on the old round-arched type, at the introduction of the pointed arch, without hesitation availed themselves of it in completing their building. If a church of early pointed date had subsequently to be altered or enlarged, they made the new part in the style of their own day, not of that of the builders of the church. Hence we see everywhere a comparatively brief period during which a particular recognised style of Gothic was practised with only such variation as may be readily accounted for by the individuality of the designer, the necessities of the locality, and the like; but, then, on both sides of that middle period there is an admixture more or less marked of the characteristics of the style which is passing away, or of that which is as yet only thus foreshadowed. Thus, with the period before us, we may see in our own country pointed Gothic arches, and other traces of the coming style, very instructively intermingled with Norman round arches, &c., in parts of Canterbury Cathedral, the east end of Chichester and the choir of Lincoln cathedrals, parts of the fine abbey churches of St. Albans, Glastonbury, and Malmesbury, and in several other of our cathedrals and larger parish churches; and in France in Chartres Cathedral, the abbey of Fontenay, the churches of Pontigny, St. Germer, and many others, and notably in those of Central France. And in speaking of these French churches, it deserves to be noticed, that this transitional style, in which the characteristics of the Romanesque and the Pointed are so intimately blended, did, in fact, continue its existence through Central France, Lorraine, and elsewhere almost to the end of the 13th century,-in other words, during nearly the whole range of the early pointed style. (De Caumont, 'Bulletin Monumental,' and 'Architecture Réligieuse.') larger arch, the space between which and the lesser ones was filled up with a circular arch, whereby the whole acquired not only greater variety, but that architectural distinctness and completeness of form in which the earlier kind of double-window was deficient on account of its outline sinking instead of rising in the centre, and it looking merely like two arches belonging to an extensive range. These gradations in the compositions will be clearly understood from the subjoined ୦୩ York. Winchester. The nomenclature and chronology of the styles of pointed Gothic generally accepted in this country, are those proposed by the late Mr. Rickman in his 'Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of Architecture in England.' Taking the Anglo-Saxon and Norman as pre-Gothic divisions, he reduced the classes of Gothic proper to three: Early English, which prevailed from the end of the reign of Henry II. to the end of that of Edward I., or from 1189 to 1307; Decorated English, from the beginning of the reign of Richard I. to the end of that of Edward III., or from 1307 to 1377: and Perpendicular English, from the beginning of the reign of Richard II. to the end of that of Henry VIII., or from 1377 to 1546. His arrangement was doubtless an improvement, because a simplification of those which preceded it; but though seemingly specific it is really deficient both in precision and accuracy. The terms Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular, are formed on no common principle. If Early English were a good title, some other terms referring to time should have been combined for the later periods. Decorated is in itself apt enough for the second style by way of comparison with the style which preceded it, but most unapt as compared with its successor. So, again, Perpendicular seems sufficiently distinctive when the window tracery and panelling of the style are regarded, but it is characteristic of little beyond those features: the extension of the term to the end of the reign of Henry VIII. is generally given up. Later writers (as Mr. Sharpe) have proposed a geometrical arrangement :-Lancet (1190-1245), Geometrical (12451315), Curvilinear (1315-1360), Rectilinear (1360-1550); or (as Messrs. Garbett and Fergusson) a chronological one:-Plantagenet, Edwardian, Tudor; which have at least the merit of defining by sharply marked outlines. Another classification has however been proposed, which has the opposite merit of being less rigid in its boundaries, while it is not less explicit in expression. It is that of First Pointed, Second (or Middle) Pointed, and Third Pointed; corresponding generally to the Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular of Rickman. This, some of the more systematic of its partisans have again subdivided and formularised; but if it be taken as a mere convenient form of expression, it will, we believe, be found superior for all practical purposes to any other. Continental writers very generally speak of the Gothic of the 13th, 14th, or 15th century; and as it fortunately happens that the styles prevalent during those centuries are well marked varieties, this mode of speech is a very good one. But in France at least (and with French Gothic our own is nearly cognate as well as synchronous) the terms Ogival Primitif, Ogival Secondaire, and Ogival Tertiaire, are recognised definitions; and with them our own First, Second, and Third Pointed Gothic would exactly correspond, if we understood that those terms were merely convenient expressions for the Gothic of the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries re-openings of the windows are lancet-headed, and not only narrow but spectively. In fact, whatever classification be adopted, there seems a general inclination to make these centuries its chronological basis. Without therefore venturing to discard Rickman's terminology, we may now say that Early English, or First Pointed, may be taken to stand for the architecture of the 13th century; Decorated, or Second Pointed, for that of the 14th; and Perpendicular, or Third Pointed, for that of the 15th: it being clearly understood that neither style was really circumscribed within strict dates. The Early English, or First Pointed style, had arrived at its full development in the early part of the 13th century. Characteristic contemporaneous examples in England and France are the cathedrals of Salisbury and Amiens, commenced respectively about the year 1219. In both of these the round arch and massive columns of the preceding style have quite disappeared. The buildings are lighter, loftier, more graceful in their proportions, more beautiful as a whole, more finished in the details, distinguished by vertical rather than horizontal lines, and exhibiting a great advance in constructive power. In them, as Mr. Fergusson points out, are shown what continued to be characteristic points of difference between English and French cathedrals: the English showing greater length in proportion to width, less altitude, square instead of apsidal terminations, and more restraint in the ornamental details. Turning to the broad distinctive forms and details of the style as shown in English buildings, we observe that at first the arch was exceedingly acute, and employed chiefly where small span was required, as in windows, which at first consisted of a single aperture, then of two, either distinct, with a narrow space or pier between them, or combined together by means of a central pillar. This led to similar grouping of three apertures, the centre one of which rose higher than the others, and also to the practice of enclosing them within a York. Westminster. figures, the first and third of which are specimens from York Cathedral, the second from Winchester, and the fourth from Westminster Abbey: the mode shown in the last evidently led the way to that of decorating the window-head, by dividing it into smaller and more varied compartments of ornamental panelling, which, whether perforated or not, is known by the general term of tracery, and constitutes a species of embellishment predominating in all the varieties of Pointed Gothic, and likewise in all the different national schools of it. In the first class of our own First Pointed, or Early English, the tall; that is, the part below the spring of the arch is very long in proportion to its width, a circumstance totally independent of the form of the arch itself, and therefore affording the greater scope for variety. In fact, we behold a striking difference in respect to proportions exemplified in the doorways of the same period; for although similar as to general character, and frequently, like the later doublewindow above represented, consisting of two arches divided by a central pillar, either single or clustered, with a circular compartment above them in the larger arch-head, the height from the ground to the springing of the arch is sometimes even much less than the width of the whole design, and not much more than double that of the smaller arches. The receding sides, or splays, of such doorways were as deep as those in the Norman style, and enriched with columns; and the dripstone, or hood moulding (for it is variously termed, and is the only moulding projecting from the wall, as all the others receded within its surface), not unfrequently rested upon carved heads. Instead of being placed upon pillars or cylindric piers, as in the Norman style, the pier-arches (so called in order to distinguish them from arches introduced in walls), which are mostly lancet ones, are placed upon piers with shafts attached to them, so as to give the whole a clustering form; but there is so much variety, both as to plan and the enrichment of capitals and other details, as to render it impossible to enter into particulars without numerous explanatory drawings from different examples. The buttresses have greater projection than the parts which appear to answer to them in Norman architecture. They are also narrower, and some of them are divided into two or more stages by set-offs, or horizontal splays, reducing the projection from the wall at every stage. Flying buttresses were now first introduced [BUTTRESS]. Gargoyles also first appeared at this period both in France and Eng land [GARGOYLE], and were a part of the system now fully recognised of making even the inferior accessory features ornamental. The columns frequently consisted of a thick central pier surrounded by slender detached shafts; but clustered columns introduced during the transition period became general. Capitals were generally bell-shaped; with a round or octagonal abacus. The foliage on capitals and elsewhere was frequently a close imitation of local plants and flowers; and floral ornamentation became much more general. The mouldings are in the earlier examples often Norman or transitional in character, in the later Decorated; but those distinctive of the style are round or pointed, with very deep hollows and variously filleted. (See examples in Paley's Gothic Mouldings.') String-courses and labels were much more extensive and continuous than in the previous style. The mode of wall ornament called diapering was now first employed. The statuary and carving generally became much more artistic during the continuance of this style; and indeed nothing can in its way well exceed the richness and beauty of that of the east front of Ely, and the west front of Wells, cathedrals. The use of groined vaults, pointed arched windows, and flying buttresses permitted the construction of walls of a less massive character than those of Norman date, and the carrying them up to a greater height. Spires were likewise built of a much greater altitude, and many of them are of an exceedingly elegant outline. Roofs were generally acute in pitch; and of open wood-work as well as stone vaulted. Parapets were generally plain. The characteristics of the painted glass of the windows of this and the two succeeding styles are indicated elsewhere. [GLASS PAINTING.] shows more decidedly the influence of the French taste, an influence which strongly affected the course of German-Gothic. The choir of Cologne Cathedral (about 1270-1322) belongs to this style. Freyburg (1283-1330) is an example of the tendency of German-Gothic towards extravagance of ornamentation, with, in the open-work spire, &c., excessive lightness. The nave of Strasburg cathedral, Altenburg, and many other German churches, are of this period. The transition from the First Pointed, or Early English, to the Second Pointed, or Decorated style, was made by almost mperceptible steps. The dividing line is variously drawn between 1270 and 1307: as for its termination, some one or other year somewhat anterior to 1379 is usually assigned: but as we have said, it is safer, and sufficiently precise, to regard the Second Pointed as the style of the 14th century, remembering that towards the close of that century some important buildings of unquestionably Third Pointed character were erected. As compared with those of the First Pointed, the churches of this period are distinguished by much greater richness of ornamentation, but in its development English architects seem to have been restrained by marked sobriety of taste as compared with those of France and Germany. In England Gothic architecture must be regarded as having reached its most perfect form during this period: the succeeding period was one of decline. In France and Germany there was already some loss of purity, though the full flow of extravagance and debasement did not occur till the next century. As in the previous style, the windows and vaulting are the distinguishing features. There was little difference in the arrangements of the buildings, except perhaps that symbolism was more regarded. The vaulting is more subdivided into cells than that of the previous period, by the addition of intermediate ribs intersecting each other so as to produce a kind of tracery consisting of stars and other figures whereby much variety and richness are obtained. Richly carved bosses occur also at the intersections of the ribs. Some of these groined roofs are very beautiful; those of choirs are generally more elaborate than those of naves. Of the open wooden roofs of this period, not many examples remain. Of windows a no less instructive than beautiful transition illustration is afforded by those of York Chapter-house, where we distinctly behold the progress to more complex geometrical tracery. The arch of the window is still of the lancet form, and highly pointed, being extracentred about two-thirds of its span; and the increased degree of enrichment is produced, not by the introduction of new elements, but by repeating and combining those previously in use. Thus the foliated or cusped circle continued to be the chief member decorating the head of the window, being merely tripled in number, an arrangement which Choir, Salisbury Cathedral. The most perfect English example of the First Pointed style is Salisbury Cathedral, which was begun by Bishop Poore about 1219, and finished about 1260-being therefore what is so rarely seen, a cathedral completed wholly in one style, and uniform in character throughout. Lincoln Cathedral, though not throughout First Pointed, is a noble example of the style. The nave and transept of Westminster Abbey afford another important example, the more noteworthy because possessing even more of the French than the English First Pointed character. Ely, Peterborough, Wells and Worcester, the east end of Winchester, the lady chapel Hereford, and York Minster, especially the unrivalled five-sister lancet windows. Ripon and Beverley minster, and the Temple church may be cited as among the important examples of the style; but the list might be greatly extended, especially by the addition of numerous parish churches. In France, characteristic examples are the cathedrals of Sens, Amiens, Reims, Notre Dame de Paris, St. Dénis, Bayeux, Chartres (the nave); the abbey of Fontenay; the Ste. Chapelle at Paris; the churches of Pontigny, Trévière, Calvados, St. Germer, &c. Germany possesses a very interesting and beautiful specimen of the same style and period in the church of St. Elizabeth at Marburg, which is nearly contemporary with the cathedrals of Salisbury and Amiens, having been constructed between the years 1235 and 1283. It is fully described by Moller in his work on German-Gothic architecture, where it is illustrated by eighteen plates; and an elevation of its west front forms the frontispiece to the translation of Moller's text by Mr. W. H. Leeds. The cathedral of Magdeburg, another very fine example, From York Chapter-house. accords beautifully with the triangular outline of the space so occupied; at the same time that these circular divisions contrast agreeably with the acute form of the arch, and soften its asperity. In like manner the multiplied divisions in the lower part of the window are produced by merely putting together two arched compartments with circles in their heads, similar to the example already given from Westminster, with a narrower one between them; thus forming the whole lower space into five narrow compartments, each of which has its own arch. In these lesser arches, which are simply cusped, and so far differ from those in the first example, we see the commencement of trefoil and cinquefoil ones; while in their shafts we plainly recognise mullions, which were afterwards of general application, either of uniform dimensions, or, in larger windows, consisting of principal and secondary ones. When the arch became equilateral, or nearly so, the tracery also assumed a different character, becoming of that kind which is called geometrical, and consisting of more varied forms and patterns, produced by circles, portions of circles, and other curves, enriched with cusps, dividing the spaces into foils. Of such windows we give examples from one at Exeter, and another at Kirton Church, Lincolnshire. This distinction between tracery by geometrical figures (circles, triangles, &c.) as shown in the first of these examples, and that formed by flowing curves as in the second, is observed throughout the window tracery of the earlier and later parts of the Second Pointed style: hence it has been proposed to subdivide it into the Geometrical and Curvilinear, or Geometrical and |