Architecture And Archæology.

period ; the original work terminates at the back of the western towers , which are placed against it with a straight ioint all through . The original work can be distinguished on examination , more especially by the wider jointing of the masonry , but very little of it is visible to the casual observer . The main walls of the nave and transepts in reality belongto it , but they have been entirely concealed , and cased over

in the interior to carry the vaulting , and the whole of the ornamentation of the interior belongs to the third period . The original construction , no doubt , belongs to the time of the Conqueror , 1066 to 1077 , but a considerable interval must have elapsed between this and the second period , as shown by the difference of masonry and ornament , and it belongs in all probability to the last ten years of the 11 th

century . It so happens that , in the course of my investigations into the history of Waltham Abbey , I have come across a bitter complaint of the monks , of the robbery of that abbey of all its treasures by William Rufus , for the purpose of transferring them to the abbeys founded by his father and mother at Caen . The date of this complaint agrees so well with what I should expect to find from the architectural

character for the second period , that I think we may with confidence assign it to that date . We have so long been accustomed to look on the west front of the Abbaye aux Hommes as the starting point , the type of the earliest Norman work , that this proof of its belonging to a period thirty years later than had been supposed makes a complete change in our chronology of early Norman ivork . These western

towers afford us further evidence -. they contain a portion of the triforium of this second period , quite different from that now existing in the nave , and prove that the existing triforium and clerestory and vault , which all belong together , are of the third period , which is probably about 1160 . A further examination of the passage through the clerestory makes

this quite evident ; the outer wall with this wide jointed masonry remains , but the whole of the inner face of the wall is of fine jointed masonry , and the junctions in the work are very evident , while neither the masonry nor the ornamentation agrees with the west front . My friend Mr . Bouet , of Caen , has made me a set of drawings of these details , which will , I think , make the matter clear , even to those who

have not the opportunity of examining the building for themselves . "Another peculiarity in the arrangement of the clerestory of this church [ has long been observed , but not explained . Each of the windows lias only one sub-arch by the side of it instead of two , as is the universal practice . The cause of this appears to me to be this : the original church had no vaults : these were added to the aisles in the

second period , but to the central space not until the third : the original timber roof was carried on stone arches at intervals , as was the case in the Abbey Church of Cerisy of about the same period , and in several English halls . When the stone vaults were put on , these early stone arches interfered with the arrangement of them , and they were obliged to be accommodated to the spaces which they had to occupy ; hence the apparent irregularity of the plan .

The character of the masonry of the earliest period is exactly the same as that of the early work at Westminster , which we usually attribute to the time of Edward the Confessor , but which may perhaps be twenty years later , as we have none of his church remaining . The Church ofthe Holy Trinity , or the Abbaio aux Dames , at Caen , was founded by Queen Matilda in 1066 , and the church

was dedicated the same year , which is almost a proof that it was a- temporary wooden church only ; for a stone church would not have been built in tlie time , and there could be no reason why one of the two churches should require eleven years beforo it ivas ready for consecration and the other only one . The work of the existing church is evidently of later date than the Abbaie

aux Hommes . It was built at two different times during the course of the 12 th century , but hardly any of this church can be considered as belonging to the 11 th . I have entered into the particulars respecting these two churches , because they are considered by many persons as the foundation of all ecclesiastical architecture in England , and are appealed to as tests of the style in use at the time of the Conquest , for which purpose they are almost as ial . acious as Malmesbury Abbey was to Carter ancl the

Architecture And Archæology.

antiquaries of the last century , who considered the existing building there as the type of the Saxon style . I take this opportunity also of reminding you that in travelling on the Continent it is necessary tb be very cautious how you receive the dates which are given you by the local guides , or even by Mr . Murray ' s excellent hand-books , which are necessarily compiled , in a great degree , from local The dates usuall

guide-books and other foreign works . y assigned in such works are those of the orig inal foundation only without taking any notice of subsequent rebuilding , which has taken place everywhere , just in the same manner as in England . In many foreign countries the subject of Mediaeval architects has not yet been studied , and very few buildings have been subjected to the same searching

investigations which Professor Willis has given to Canterbury Cathedral : his work is really the only safe guide to the history of all the groat churches in Europe . ( To "be continued . )

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

KNIGHTS TJ _ 3 IPLA . lt . Ill reply to "J . " and "K . T ., '" I beg to say that the Rev . Edward Chaloner Ogle , of Kirkley Hall , Prov . G . Commander of Northumberland and Berwick-on-Tweed , was " inaugurated '' ( "installed , " I respectfully suggest , is the proper word ) , on the Sth November , 1859 , as it appeared in your MAGAZINE from the report of your " Own Correspondent . "

The writer , and three other of hiscolleagues , PresentandPast Grand Officers of the Grand Encampment , were deputed by an official letter from the Grand Chancellor who conveyed ,, in the names of the M . E . and Supreme Grand Master , orders to them to jii'oceed and install the Prov . G . Commander , which was done by the writer , the Senior Grand Officer , assisted by the other Past Grand Officers , and a large muster of Sir Knts . of this neighbourhood . I hope you will , therefore , add our M . E . Prov . G . Commander ' s name to the list . —I am , yours , J . GEOVES .

" VEXILLUAI BELLI . Although I am not a K . T ., I think I can inform "R . G . " what the "Vexillum Belli" is . It is , as its name implies , a War Banner ; its uses , and the duties of the officer connected with it , are apparent . —DIAGOEAS . HIE OLD MARK JEWEL . If your correspondent , "A Mark Master , " can decypher

the inscription on one side of the jewel , he will find the same cypher applicable to the other side . Let him refer to " the stone which the builders left "—and I think he will be satisfied . If not , with your assurance that I shall not do wrong , I will , with much pleasure , send yon a detailed explanation . —P . PKOV . J . G . AV . IS JOHN PARRY A IIASON ?

Well knowing that John Parry , the bard Alaw , was a distinguished brother of the Craft , I should be glad to learn if his son , John Parry , thc buffo-singer , is a brother ?—CROTCHET .

SHOCKING CALIGRAHiy . [ If the Bro . who sends either a note or query will have the kindness to get some one to copy his letter , instead of favouring us with a production so near akin to the arrowheaded Nineveh inscriptions , we will do our best to oblige him ; but we are not well up enough in hieroglyphics to read more than a word here and there . ]

BEO . IfAESHAL SOULT AND HIS DIPLOMA . The following extract from Laurie's History of Freemasonry may be interesting to many who have not access to the work itself . —D . T . ' It having been brought under the notice of the Grand Lodge ( of Scotland ) on the . 5 th of August , 1850 , that the Masonic Diploma of Marshal Soult , which had been found on the 21 st of June , 1813 , amongst that gallant Marshal ' s baggage after the Battle of Vittoria , was in possession of the Lodge St . iSfathalaii / rullicli-in-Mar * ancl the Grand Lodge being of opinion that no brother or body of