TU A.C.

HON

ANY of the trefoiled arcades on the outer walls,-namely, in the chapels,-remain. There are, likewise, the single mullioned windows, with plain arches, surmounted by a circle of six cusps. In the inner story, namely, the choir, there are clustered piers supporting lofty arches. We also see the mural ornaments of the spandrel, the most beautiful triforium, and above it the clerestory of elegant windows exquisitely terminating in a polygonal apse at the east. Standing under the centre tower, the best view may be had of these three several compartments. We shall find no place more suitable than the present, to notice the magical effects of outline and colour, which are presented from the inside of the gallery or triforium. It is a part only accessible by special permission. This gallery, which may be traversed all round the church, is commonly called the "nunneries. There is an absurd tradition that it was appropriated to the nuns who came to see the pomps and ceremonies below. Nuns, likely enough, came here, as did the world in general, of their own sex, but not exclusively. It was and is the practice in the Romish churches, and Hebrew synagogues, to separate the sexes during divine service; and it cannot be doubted that this gallery, the choicest spot to survey all below, was so employed; and why should it not be so even now? With very little preparation, much church room might be found here, and most advantageously used. Sittings in this gallery would yield a handsome fund for the decoration and restoration of the Abbey. At all events, we pray the Dean and Chapter to put up a slight railing for safety-sake, and permit the visitors to enjoy the marvellous picturesqueness of the place, even though some slight fee should be necessary. The reader, who has not been in the gallery,

may exempt us from exaggeration in saying, that the views through the trefoiled arches, with the singular contrast of light and shade, are altogether matchless of their kind.

ENRY THE THIRD'S portion of the building ended at the first column westward from the transepts, where his son took it up. Differences may be readily detected in the width of the arches, in their architraves (those in the triforium being destitute of sculptures in the western part), in the fillets on the shafts, in the mouldings, in the ornamented squares of the spandrels, &c. Sixteen shafts, all part of the main stones, encircle the piers of the central tower. Eastward of the tower, only four shafts, detached except at the base and capital, encircle the columns. Westward, eight shafts, four detached and four not so, encircle the columns. For want of a spire or tower, as Sir Christopher Wren thinks (and no doubt justly), the four pillars of the central tower are bent inward, "and are out of the perpendicular." In all Gothic fabrics of this form (see Wren's Parentalia), "the architects were wont to build towers or steeples in the middle, not only for ornament, but to confirm the middle pillars against the thrust of the several rows of arches which force against them every way," and Sir Christopher thinks the architect of the Abbey fully purposed to erect a tower. Sir Christopher's model for a spire of twelve sides, is still preserved in Henry the Fifth's chantry. Pinnacles on buttresses, so valuable for beauty's sake, counteract the outward pressure, and confer additional strength. The groining of the roof, and ancient sculptured bosses, have each their own features to recommend them to the architect's attention; but the modern colouring, done by Bernasconi, in 1803, under Mr. Wyatt'

instructions, is very shabby and mean,-better none than such like. We cannot say anything pleasant of the appropriateness of the cast iron pinnacles imitating woodwork, or of the pews-rather "pues"-against which the very useful Cambridge Camden Society have declared “an internecine war, denouncing them as eye sores and heart sores." It is a subject for rejoicing, that the Dean and Chapter, perhaps convinced, by the "History of Pews, of their unfitness, exclusiveness, ugliness, and puritanick associations," are about to substitute carved open benches in their stead. The choir was fitted up as it now is about 1775. Figured tiles (beautiful and perfect patterns exist in the Chapter House) would be an immense improvement on the black and white marbles laid down by that celebrated professor of the birch, Dr. Busby, in 1695. Being in the mood of supplication, we beseech that some part, at least, may be shown of the ruins of the Abbot Wares'

Mosaic Pavement,

with its tessera of porphyry, jasper, alabaster, lapis lazuli, various marbles, &c., in shapes of all kinds, stars, squares, circles, wedges, lozenges, &c., varying in size from half an inch to about four inches, and displayed in circles, parallelograms, hexagons, triangles, &c. In one angle, there are not less than one hundred and thirty intersecting circles. Some ancient Latin lines were inserted in this pavement, of which only a stray brass letter or two can now be seen. They were thought to interpret the design of the figures which, says Widmore, "was to represent the time the world was to last," or that the primum mobile, according to the Ptolemaic system, was going about. "I find," Widmore adds, "this explanation given :-' The three-fold hedge is put for three years, the time a dry hedge usually stood; a dog for three times that space, or nine years, it being taken for the time that creature

usually lives; an horse, in like manner, for twenty-seven; a man, eighty-one; a hart, two hundred and forty-three; a raven, seven hundred and twenty-nine; an eagle, two thousand one hundred and eighty-seven; a great whale, six thousand five hundred and sixty-one; the world, nineteen thousand six hundred and eighty-three: each succeeding figure giving a term of years, imagined to be the time of their continuance, three times as much as that before it.' In the four last verses, the time when the work was performed, and the parties concerned in it, are expressed; by the rest is meant, that the king was at the charge, that the stones were purchased at Rome, that one Odorick was the master-workman, and that the Abbot of Westminster (who procured the materials) had the care

UEEN ANNE'S "marble altarpiece (a mixture of the Composite and Doric, in variegated marbles), formerly standing in a chapel at Whitehall, and removed from our palace at Hampton Court," has given way to a far more characteristic screen, restored by Mr. Wyatt. Tapestry once hung between the pavement and the choir In ancient times, its subjects were St. Edward and the Pilgrim ;-his Chamberlain Hugoline and the Thief. In Dart's time, "curious hangings of fresh tapestry, representing the parting of Abraham and Lot on one side, and the Meeting with Melchisedech on the other." These two tapestries, the supposed work of Bernard Van Orlay, are at Hampton Court: the first is hung visibly in Wolsey's Hall; the last, unless removed, used to be concealed behind the pictures in the "Queen's Audience Chamber" (Handbook to Hampton Court). On the north side, are the tombs of the Countess of Lancaster (Appendix, No. 241), the Earl of Pembroke (No. 242), and

Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster (No. 243, and title-page.) Among the most ancient and splendid in the Abbey, our great sculptor, Flaxman, speaks of these monuments as "specimens of the magnificence of such works of their age: the loftiness of the work, the number of arches and pinnacles, the lightness of the spires, the richness and profusion of foliage and crockets, the solemn repose of the principal statue, representing the deceased in his last prayer for mercy, at the throne of grace; the delicacy of thought in the group of angels bearing the soul, and the tender sentiment of concern variously expressed in the relations, ranged in order round the basement, forcibly arrest the attention, and carry the thoughts not only to other ages, but other states of existence." The monuments of Anne of Cleves, and King Sebert, are on the south. The last named tomb presents most interesting remnants of decorative oil painting. King Sebert's remains, found undecayed, though buried 700 years, were removed hither in 1308. It seems highly probable, that the paintings now before us were executed about this period:-at all events, they disprove John Van Eyck's claim as the inventor of oil painting, if we had not other abundant evidence. The two pictures, still in tolerable condition, represent King Sebert in the first, and Henry the Third in the third compartment. Here, seating ourselves on a cross-bench in the midst of the choir, is an excellent place to observe the rich and brilliant colours, especially the ruby tints of the

Ancient Painted Glass,

in the eastern clerestory windows. It is but a ruin of its early splendour, and has most likely been transferred in fragments from other parts of the Abbey. The figure of Edward the Confessor is supposed to have been removed from the south aisle. The heraldic devices of the upper