The soft yet brilliant light sifts in from the =Jesse Window= above the high altar. We lift our eyes and with some pains discern the twining branches of the vine with the recumbent figure of Jesse at the base, resting his head on his hand. From him rises the leading shoot of the tree, with the figures of the Virgin and the Child each with radiant nimbus and beneath a golden canopy. The tendrils of the vine enwreath prophets, priests and kings,--the ancestors of the Babe of Bethlehem. Above is a representation of the _Crucifixion_; and at the very [Illustration: WELLS: NAVE, EAST] [Illustration: WELLS: SOUTH-WEST] top of the window, the outstretched wings of the Holy Spirit. The choir-aisles are of the same character as the choir itself and are entered from the transepts through ogee arches, ornamented with crockets and finials. The south-choir-aisle contains the =Tomb of Saint William Bytton=, at which (the oldest incised slab in England) offerings were made by those suffering from toothache, as we have already seen. Further away is the =Tomb of Beckington=, surrounded by a beautiful iron-screen of the same date as the tomb (1452). The carving is very fine, especially the wings of the angels. A little colour is left here and there. His effigy rests upon it, with old and wrinkled face. This bishop said mass for his own soul here in January, 1452, thirteen years before he died. In the south-east transept, we find the =Chapel of St. John Baptist=, where a Decorated piscina with canopy deserves attention. At the extreme end of the north-choir-aisle is =Saint Stephen’s Chapel= and at the extreme end of the south-choir-aisle is the corresponding =Saint Catherine’s Chapel=. Both contain effigies of bishops, tombs and monuments. Between and back of these is the Lady-Chapel. We now return to the =Retro-choir=. Four slender piers of Purbeck marble bear up the vault. The arrangement of the columns should be particularly noticed here. It is hard to realise that this =Retro-choir= was merely a device for connecting the Lady-Chapel with the Choir, it seems so entirely a part of the scheme. “The beauty of the retro-choir, or ‘procession aisles,’ the arrangement of its piers and clustered columns, and the admirable manner in which it unites the Lady-chapel with the choir should be here remarked. It is throughout Early Decorated. The foliage of the capitals and the bosses of the vaulting will repay careful examination. Many of the vaulting ribs appear to spring from two grotesque heads--one on either side of the low choir-screen--which hold them between their teeth. The four supporting pillars and shafts are placed _within_ the line of the choir-piers, thus producing the unusual intricacy and variety of the eastward view from the choir. At Salisbury, and in all other English cathedrals, the piers of the procession-aisles are placed in a line with those of the choir.”--(R. J. K.)