the gorgeous chapel bearing his name.

For elaborate richness of ornament, this beautiful chapel surpasses any specimen of the florid Gothic in the world.

The entire length of Westminster Abbey measures five hundred and thirty feet, length of transept two hundred and fourteen feet, and the height nearly one hundred and fifty feet. This vast mausoleum-the final resting-place of sovereigns, statesmen, poets, warriors and divines-presents an object of the most intense interest. The eastern end of the Abbey is surrounded by up

wards of a dozen chapelries, including Henry the Seventh's Chapel. Viewed from the western or grand entrance, the scene presented is one of most imposing grandeur. The prodigious altitude of the groined roof, the magnitude of the arches, and the ærial loftiness of the vaulted aisles, all tend to impress the beholder with a feeling of religious awe and amazement. The numerous mural monuments and tombs so thickly clustered about the sacred enclosure, invest this renowned temple with rare attractions and interest.

Henry VII.'s Chapel is entered by a flight of twelve steps beneath the Oratory of Henry V.

In the centre of Henry the Seventh's chapel are the magnificently decorated shrines of the rival queens, Mary and Elizabeth, whose remains now repose peacefully side by side. As one gazes upon these mementoes of the departed, the heart is moved with sympathy for the hapless fate of the lovely and unfortunate victim of the fierce envy and ambition of her tyrannical oppressor. The stalls of this magnificent chapel are richly carved in oak; over which hang the ancient banners of the Knights of the Bath, apparently ready to crumble to pieces from age. The gorgeous fret-work of the roof, so richly carved, baffles description; the whole must be seen to be duly appreciated.

The entrance gates are of oak, overlaid with brass gilt, and wrought into various devices-the portcullis exhibiting the descent of the founder from the Beaufort family, and the crown and twisted roses the union that took place, on Henry's marriage, of the White Rose of York with the Red Rose of Lancaster. The Chapel consists of a central aisle, with five small chapels at the east end, and two side aisles, north and south; the banners and stalls appertain to the Knights of the Most Honorable Military Order of the Bath, an order of merit next in rank in this country to the Most Noble Order of the Garter; the Knights were formerly installed in this Chapel; and the Dean of Westminster is Dean of the Order. The principal monuments in Henry VII.'s Chapel are,— Altar-tomb with effigies of Henry VII. and Queen (in the centre of the chapel), the work of Peter Torrigiano, an Italian sculptor:-Lord Bacon calls 66 one of the stateliest and daintiest tombs in Europe:" the heads of the King and Queen were originally surmounted with crowns; the perpendicular enclosure or screen is of brass, and the work of an English artist. In the south aisles Altar-tomb, with effigy (by Torrigiano) of Margaret, Countess of Richard, mother of Henry VII., Altar-tomb with effigy of the mother of Lord

it

Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Tomb, with effigy (by Cornelius Cure) of Mary, Queen of Scots, erected by James I., who brought his mother's body from Petersborough Cathedral, and buried it here. Monument to George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, and his Duchess; the Duke was assassinated by Felton, in 1628; his youngest son, Francis, who was killed in the Civil Wars, and his eldest son, the second and profligate duke, are buried with their father in the vault beneath. Statue of the first wife of Sir Robert

mark, Henry Prince of Wales, the Queen of Bohemia, and Arabella Stuart are also buried here. Monument to George Monk, Duke of Albemarle, who restored Charles II.* Sarcophagus of white marble, containing certain bones accidentally discovered (July, 1674,) in a modern chest below the stairs which formerly led to the Chapel of the White Tower, and believed to be the remains of Edward V., and his brother Richard Duke of York, murdered by order of their uncle, King Richard III. Monuments to Saville, Marquis of Halifax, the statesman and wit; to Montague, Earl of Halifax, the universal patron of the men of genius of his time.

The "Poets' Corner" is profusely studded with these shrines of genius; here may be seen monuments to the memories of Shakspeare, Spenser, Ben Jonson, Chaucer, Milton, Cowper, Gay, Blair, Goldsmith, Dryden, Addison, and hosts of other illustrious names that have adorned the brightest pages of English history.

In the vicinity may also be seen the tombs of Major André, Chatham, Halifax, Mansfield, Grattan, Canning, Pitt, Fox, Sheridan, Wilberforce, Howe, Warren, Wolfe, Eyre, and Sir Cloudsley Shovel; also Handel, Busby, Kemble, Kneller, * Cunningham.