{"id":"01KG6GMSJQXTX2QQ31YX01E4XM","cid":"bafkreic2jm4v7v2o5qroqcyg6t5xq33e65rfcszkq5e3s7kcv2zr42xyc4","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":5529,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T03:55:03.879Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 3","source_file":"01KG6FXSCNX5F3D880P3YP3PKR","start_line":5474,"text":"crossing sundry minor platforms and irregular landings all the while on\r\na general ascent, at last I was delighted by catching sight of a small\r\nround window in the otherwise dead-wall side of the tower, where the\r\ntower attached itself to the main building. In front of the window was a\r\nrude narrow gallery, used as a bridge to cross from the lower stairs on\r\none side to the upper stairs on the opposite.\r\n\r\nAs I drew nigh the spot, I well knew from the added clearness with which\r\nthe sound of worship came to me, that the window did indeed look down\r\nupon the entire interior. But I was hardly prepared to find that no pane\r\nof glass, stained or unstained, was to stand between me and the\r\nfar-under aisles and altar. For the purpose of ventilation, doubtless,\r\nthe opening has been left unsupplied with sash of any sort. But a sheet\r\nof fine-woven, gauzy wire-work was in place of that. When, all\r\neagerness, and open book in hand, I first advanced to stand before the\r\nwindow, I involuntarily shrank, as from before the mouth of a furnace,\r\nupon suddenly feeling a forceful puff of strange, heated air, blown, as\r\nby a blacksmith’s bellows, full into my face and lungs. Yes, thought I,\r\nthis window is doubtless for ventilation. Nor is it quite so comfortable\r\nas I fancied it might be. But beggars must not be choosers. The furnace\r\nwhich makes the people below there feel so snug and cosy in their padded\r\npews, is to me, who stand here upon the naked gallery, cause of grievous\r\ntrouble. Besides, though my face is scorched, my back is frozen. But I\r\nwon’t complain. Thanks for this much, anyway, that by hollowing one hand\r\nto my ear, and standing a little sideways out of the more violent rush\r\nof the torrid current, I can at least hear the priest sufficiently to\r\nmake my responses in the proper place. Little dream the good\r\ncongregation away down there, that they have a faithful clerk away up\r\nhere. Here, too, is a fitter place for sincere devotions, where, though\r\nI see, I remain unseen. Depend upon it, no Pharisee would have my pew. I\r\nlike it, and admire it too, because it is so very high. Height, somehow,\r\nhath devotion in it. The arch-angelic anthems are raised in a lofty\r\nplace. All the good shall go to such an one. Yes, heaven is high.\r\n\r\nAs thus I mused, the glorious organ burst, like an earthquake, almost\r\nbeneath my feet; and I heard the invoking cry--‘Govern them and _lift_\r\nthem up forever!’ Then down I gazed upon the standing human mass, far,\r\nfar below, whose heads, gleaming in the many-coloured window-stains,\r\nshowed like beds of spangled pebbles flashing in a Cuban sun. So, at\r\nleast, I knew they needs would look, if but the wire-woven screen were\r\ndrawn aside. That wire-woven screen had the effect of casting crape upon\r\nall I saw. Only by making allowances for the crape, could I gain a right\r\nidea of the scene disclosed.\r\n\r\nSurprising, most surprising, too, it was. As said before, the window was\r\na circular one; the part of the tower where I stood was dusky-dark; its\r\nheight above the congregation-floor could not have been less than ninety\r\nor a hundred feet; the whole interior temple was lit by naught but glass\r\ndimmed, yet glorified with all imaginable rich and russet hues; the\r\napproach to my strange look-out, through perfect solitude, and along\r\nrude and dusty ways, enhanced the theatric wonder of the populous\r\nspectacle of this sumptuous sanctuary. Book in hand, responses on my\r\ntongue, standing in the very posture of devotion, I could not rid my\r\nsoul of the intrusive thought, that, through some necromancer’s glass, I\r\nlooked down upon some sly enchanter’s show.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 3"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6GK915YV7ZEFYWNHEDCCBM","peer_type":"segment","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6FXSCNX5F3D880P3YP3PKR","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG2T49K0H5GDRB0G4YDTPG8H","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6GMSJJNH27DGRNQD5QDAT8","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG6GMSJQHJBSECV329NFFM2B","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T03:55:11.319Z","ts":"2026-01-30T03:55:17.252Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}