Kodakery

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The fact that Chartres was taken from the English as long ago as 1432, reminds us of its age and of the vastly different national conditions prevailing at the time when this conquest was accomplished. Northern France, like Belgium, has been the scene of much picturesque and dreadful warfare.<br><br>Yet, the Chartres that survives does not aggressively remind the visitor of tragedies of the past. The struggles of the present are reflected, as they must be reflected, in every hamlet of war-stricken Europe. But the charm of the venerable place makes a potent appeal, perhaps, especially to a visitor from a newer land, a land such as our own, which had not been discovered at a time when Chartres was already old.<br><br>Of commanding interest in the old town is the noble cathedral, one of the most famous in the world. How nobly it rises in the midst of the clustered roofs, like some spirit of aspiration pointing to the zenith, is exquisitely suggested in some of the photographs which accompany this article. We look with the more delight at these graceful spires when we pause for a moment to think of the sad wreckage of certain others, of ruin where there can be no real restoration or atonement.