Bk. VI. Ch. III. EXTERNAL PROPORTIONS. 169 by two more important towers than those which now adorn that fayacle, but unless the i)iers of the central tower were sufficient to carry a much more important feature in the centre, the architects showed only their usual discretion in refusing to dwarf the rest of the cathedral by an exaggerated fayade. It may sound like the indulgence of national predilection to say so ; but it does seem that the English architects seized the true doctrine of proportion to a greater extent than their contemporaries on the Conti- nent, and applied it more suc- cessfully. It will be easily understood that in so com- plicated and constructive a machine as a Gothic cathedral, unless every part is in propor- tion the whole will not unite. It is as if, in a watch or any delicate piece of machinery, one wheel or one part were made stronger or larger in proportion to all the rest. It may be quite true that it would be better if all were as strong or as large as this one part ; but perfection in all the arts is attained only by balance and j^roportion. Whenever any one j»art gets too large for the rest the harmony is destroyed. This the English architects perfectly undei'stood. They kept their cathedrals narrow, that they might appear long; they kept them low, that they might not appear too narrow. They broke up the length with transepts, that it might not fatigue by monotony. Externally they kept their roofs low that with little expenditure they might obtain a varied and dignified sky-line, and they balanced every part against every other so as to get the greatest value out of each without interfering with the whole. A Gothic cathedral, however, is so complicated — there are so many parts and so many things to think of — that none can be said to be pet-fect. A pyramid may be so, or a tower, or a Greek temple, or any veiy simple form of building, whatever its size ; but a Gothic cathedral hardly can be made so — at least has not yet, though 602. West Front of Peterborough Cathedral. (From Britton's "Picturesque Antiquities."
