France, wrested it from King John (Lackland) of England, the thirteenth and last English Duke of Normandy. It remained a province of the French Crown for more than two hundred years, but was retaken by the English under Henry V. after the battle of Agincourt in 1415, and it was held by the English until 1449. Rouen, the capital of Normandy, where William the Conqueror died, was in possession of the English when, to their eternal disgrace, they there burned Joan of Arc at the stake in 1431. Her death was a death-blow to English possessions in France. The final reconquest of Normandy by the French in 1449, under Charles VII., was an easy matter, and the English were entirely driven out of France in 1451-1452. The character of Normandy is so singularly like England, and so many English people are living there, that it seems almost like one country with the English Channel flowing through it. A noted writer of some years ago says: "In that province of France, which is rightly called the cradle of English history, one sees the chalk downs, the farms and orchards, the field and hedgerows, the windmills, the cottages and gardens, the winding streams, the village gables, the church spires, and all the salient points of an unspoiled English landscape." It is to-day even more English than French, but like the rustic England of a past generation, such as Washington Irving so sweetly and affectionately describes in his "Tales of a Traveller."

54. SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE.

The cycle of forty-four sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, entitled "Sonnets from the Portuguese," is one of the rich verdure-clad peaks of literature. They were written during Miss Barrett's rather brief engage

ment to Robert Browning, and in the early part of their perfect married life. Mrs. Browning never intended them for publication, but when she finally gave them to her husband he immediately recognized the unequalled treasure that lay in his hand, and felt the right of the world to this pure, high, fervid love-song of a woman. Maybe women have loved even as Elizabeth Barrett loved, but hers is the only frank, utter expression of the love of a woman for a man that takes a place, and stands by its intrinsic merit among the highest attainments in literature.

The seemingly irrelevant title "Sonnets from the Portuguese" was given to them, primarily, owing to Mrs. Browning's unwillingness to have them appear under her name. Mr. Browning called Mrs. Browning, playfully, his "Little Portuguese," so when she suggested that the sonnets be called "Sonnets Translated from the Bosnian," he immediately took the idea, but said, "No, Sonnets from the Portuguese.''

In construction they follow the Petrarchian form, and even Mrs. Browning's keenest critics admit their masterly perfection. The sonnets, however, are by no means of equal merit; but the various emotions of her love are told from the day when Browning brought love instead of death into her twilight life, to the magnificent climax in the forty-third sonnet, where her love has reached its full fruition.

SONNET XLIII.

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth, breadth, and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's

Most quiet need, by sun and candle light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death."

55. THE CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE.

The glory of Seville is its magnificent Gothic Cathedral, in grandeur and sublimity unsurpassed in Christendom. Its length is more than 400 feet, its breadth more than 300 feet; its central nave rises to a height of 150 feet, while the dome is 30 feet higher. It covers 120,000 square feet of ground, or 12,000 feet more than the Milan Cathedral, which is the next largest, 108,000 feet. The Cathedral stands alone, in the center of an immense square, upon a platform (582 by 420 feet), with a broad terrace running all around it ascended by steps. No good exterior view can be obtained owing to a high enclosing wall; but a walk around the terrace gives a better understanding of its vast proportions, and the various styles of architecture which render this one of the noblest piles ever erected for the worship of God, and is preferred by many even to St. Peter's, Rome. This site has from the earliest times been devoted to religious purposes; a pagan temple to Venus, a Christian Gothic church, a Mohammedan mosque, then the present Cathedral.

At a meeting of the Chapter, July 8th, 1401, a resolution was offered and carried, "Let us erect such a Cathedral that posterity will say we were madmen." And right well has their determination been adhered to. Each of the nine entrances deserves a separate study.