Gossip From Brittany.

gamed by its use , for certainly the effect is grand . There is nothing very remarkable about the cathedral ; it is in all styles of French architecture , from the time of the genuine strength-loving Norman to tbe tawdry , tinsel decorations ol the altars of the present time , of a piece with which is the modern canopy over the high altar , of which the most conspicuous columns are of white marble , and all the rest of the

structure is of wood grained to match it . The tracery of the choir and apse is of very good form and' character , having a considerable admixture of plate tracery in it . For many a year has the church tower , of which the spire has longbeen destroyed , done the duty of a semaphore station , but in this instance , which , however , is certainly a rare one , has modern scientific improvement led indirectly to the

restoration , and not the destruction , of an ancient work of art . The people of St . Malo , seeing that from the introduction of the electric telegraph there was no longer any need of using their tower for secular purposes , have built on the top of the tower a beautiful Gothic spire ; although rather too white at present , it is of an early character suitable to the style of the choirdecorated with canopies and innacles ,

, p and the plain faces of the octagon are pierced boldly with trefoils and other forms , some of which are certainly not beautiful . When will architects learn that if plate tracery is used , the forms must be carefully designed ? Most of the carvings in the cathedral are in granite , and are bold in line , but low in relief in consequence of the material .

In Dman , both the church spires are covered with the brown , grey , slat } ' material used for tiles in this country ; one of these is of the form of combinations of ogees and straight lines , seen so often in Swiss and German churches . The spire of St . Sauveuris of a very effective form , and looks well from all the country round ; it is of wood , and covered with dark tiles or slates . The town clock-tower , standing

by itself in a small street of old honsss , is of a very picturesque form ; it is of granite to tho belfry , up to which height it has a large and handsome circular stone staircase ; the spire then rises , containing a large bell hanging from the middle of its framework , while the quarter-bells hang round it . All the bells are struck with hammers ; the spire is of woodcovered entirely with leadand roofed with slate .

, , St . Sauveur has a fine Byzantine front of strong Italian character , while the east end is of Flamboyant Gothic , and presents a picturesque pyramidal pile of octagonal apses , the gables of side chapels and pinnacles , surmounted by the effective spire . It has one important adjunct which many a finer church might envy it—a position for its eastern end in a pretty public garden full of shrubsand stretching from

, the apse of the church to the city walls , from which a fine view over a charming valley , from the opposite hills of which the whole of the church , having nothing between it and the wall , except the low shrubs and trees , that hide but to improve—is seen to unusual advantage ; showing the mutual service to each other of a noble site and a graceful and effective buildina :.

There is a new nave building to the other church—that of St . Etienne—at Dinan , in the Flamboyant style , which , as most of the church is either Byzantine or Early Pointed , seems a pity . As far as it has progressed it seems poor , like much of the modern French Gothic buildings . The tracery is very thin , apparently as light as they can get it to stand , which many people , and especially travellers , seem to think

the very consummation of art and beauty . I must confess that I cannot ; and this nave , contrasting with peculiarly massive piers of early date , looks thinner and poorer than usual .

The picturesque domestic buildings of Dinan are , no doubt , well known , and were they not it would bo difficult to describe them . Prout alone could exactly show you . Yet do not mistake , and so , should you come to Dinan , be disappointed ; they are not as rich and beautiful as many of the old buildings Prout delighted in in Normandy , the banks of the Rhineand the borders of Switzerland . They are mostl

, y odd combinations of granite , granite rubble , and timber uprights and brestsummers , with quaint corbels both of wood and stone . Many of them are much sjJoilt , and the traveller will at first be much mystified , by the tasteful inhabitants plastering over the whole building , whether granite , rubble , or wood , and then fancifully turning different parts of the

building into granite again , without discrimination as to the material underneath . Here and there you can find some early Renaissance carving in the old buildings , but they have become rare , and the great preponderance of houses with plastered rubble walls and granite quoins shows that the old houses are fast disappearing—as , indeed , I believe , is the case all over Brittany .

Just below the steep hill upon which Dinan stands , are the abbey and village of Lehon . The present church adjoins the ruins of the abbey , and was formerly a chapel of the abbey of Lehon , belonging to the family of Beaumanoir . It is a curious little structure , consisting of a very long , narro iv nave and chancel , as denoted by the arrangements of the seats , or rather pews , but without any chancel arch .

There are two churches at Lambelle . One is remarkable for its picturesque high octagon tower , surmounted by a dome-like spire , and for tho exceeding ugliness of all the rest of the building , which is modern ; while the other is a very beautiful church , formerly the chapel of the castle , which has disappeared . For the most part it is of very early dateand two of its doorways are very beautiful in the

, depth of their recess , tho number of their columns , and the richness of their carvings , although rude , consisting of foliage , grotesque animals , and human heads . The chancel is remarkable for tbe two sides not corresponding ; on one side is a single , and on the other a double triforium . It has been restored from head to foot , and although , no doubt , the intention of those who gave their time and money to

the work was good , still the colour , the newness , the doubts , thrown all over the building , do not altogether incline one to be as grateful as one ought , This is lamentably the case as far as I have yet travelled in Brittany ; one cannot distinguish between old and new . The buildings are so

thorougly renovated that , although one is , of course , bound to believe that nothing is now there that was not there be fore the general repairing and cleaning up , yet often one accounts for an unusual form by the restoration , whereas , perhaps , before the restoration , we should have noted ir , with confidence and without hesitation as an interesting deviation from , tbe style of the time . ¦ This church has tbe

remains of a wooden gallery , probably a rood-loft in the south transept , although it has now an organ-case of a style not much more modern than some of the carvings of tho upper portions of it , being early Renaissance ; the lower portions are Flamboyant . Well worth visiting is the Cathedral of St . Briene ; it is being restored by degrees ; money is now being collected

for the restoration of the chapel of the Virgin . At Guingamp is a very cm-ions church , combining in itself every style of architecture , from Norman to early renaissance . The Renaissance ornaments and additions to the building have been grafted on to the old Norman columns in a way wondrous to behold . Tho clerestory , combined with the triforium , is Renaissance , and more resembles at a distance the piercings of an Indian temple than anything else . There are two towers ; the one that contains the

bells is very massive , and has three massive stone arches from which they are hung . There is a Renaissance entranceporch built in exact imitation of the Gothic recessed porches . Bold mouldings run round tho arches , filled with all kinds of early Renaissance ornament . The effect is rich , but I should bo sorry to see the experiment repeated . This instance only had the effect with me of making me think how

much more pure and beautiful a recessed doorway is in its own original style . A chapel forming the north porch is curious , and with the numerous figures of its never-failing worshippers , is eminently picturesque . The entrance arch towards tho street is divided by a column , and the tympanum of the arch is filled with plate tracery . The squareheaded openings thus formed are closed with iron grylls ,

part of which opens . In niches at the side are brightly painted stone statues of tho Twelve Apostles , and wrongly occupying the thirteenth place , far otherwise occupied in the old Byzantine groups , is a gaudy tinselled figure with much robes ; this is the object of the chapel—tbe object of the never-failing succession of worshippers—Notre Dame do bon Secours . The ever-varying figures in this chapel , and in different positions and heights on the steps ; the bright colours of the statues , toned by tho shadow of the chapel ,