CHAPTER VII
THE GREAT TEMPLE AT SALT LAKE CITY—EXTERIOR
Before us stands the completed structure, the visible result of four decades of devoted toil,—a period marked in the beginning by poverty and penury followed by relative prosperity and plenty. The impression produced by a first view of the exterior is that of massiveness coupled with a sense of assured stability. Closer examination and more intimate acquaintance serve to intensify this early impression, while revealing numerous details of uniqueness in plan and of excellence in construction. As to architectural design the Temple belongs to a class of its own. Originality rather than novelty characterizes every prominent feature. And yet there is nothing apparent that speaks of strained effect nor of conscious effort for departure from more conventional lines. The Temple is no oddity in architecture; on the contrary it is strictly in place both as to material environment and spiritual atmosphere.
The building is of composite style, presenting features of both the Gothic and the Roman. By architects of experience it has been described as a modification of the Round Gothic, while others have called it Romanesque, in that it follows in part the castellated style so highly developed in England. But, even if this description be true as to the exterior, it is wholly inapplicable within. There are no high-vaulted Gothic ceilings, nor massive beams after the style Romanesque; on the con-
