designs and efforts of the ruler. This was Edward's great conception, and amid the changes of time and circumstances that conception remains as true, as sublime, as penetrating as it was when first it struggled into form.
Of Edward's church scarcely anything is left in the stately structure which has replaced it, and which drew its inspiration from it. But we know that the original building far exceeded anything previously built in England, and marked the beginning of our national architecture. It produced a deep impression on men's minds; for it is true at all times that nothing expresses national self-confidence so much as does the scale and dignity of public buildings. It was just this scale and dignity which Edward introduced into England. He had seen the new style developing in Normandy, and he made use of all that Norman skill and inventiveness had devised. But he built upon a larger scale than was known even in Normandy, and he taught the English people to understand and love the builder's craft. Listen how his church is described:—
He laid the foundations of the church
With large square blocks of grey stone:
Its foundations are deep.
The front towards the east he makes round,
The stones are very strong and hard;
In the centre rises a tower,
And two at the western front;
And fine and large bells he hangs there.
The pillars and entablature
Are rich without and within;
At the bases and the capitals
The work rises grand and royal:
