daughter Elizabeth adopted after her marriage to the young Tudor king.

We pass through the middle gate and emerge into that beautiful chapel so
extravagantly praised by old writers as the "orbis miraculum," the
miracle of the world, so unfairly decried since by narrow-minded
adherents of the Gothic style. Here, a contrast to the rest of the
church, is pure Perpendicular of the Tudor period. The stone-work is
decorated in every corner, and the details are elaborately carved,
leaving no vacant space anywhere; {90} no less than 130 stone figures, 95
of which remain, contributed to the rich effect of the whole. Angels and
archangels, saints and martyrs, apostles and evangelists, the hierarchy
of heaven and the sainted ones of earth, all had places on these walls.
Above our heads the fan tracery of the stone roof seems literally to hang
from the sky, so delicate and light is the workmanship. The Cambridge
graduate in our party, and those indefatigable sightseers our American
friends, compare it with King's College Chapel, which was built about
this period by the same King's munificence, and probably by the same
architect. The windows were once all filled with painted glass, only a
few fragments of which, notably the founder's figure at the east end, are
left. The altar was dedicated to the Virgin, and had upon it her statue
made of pure gold, but both were destroyed in the time of Henry's
grandson, Edward VI., by order of the Protector Somerset, when the side
altars were also swept away and the glass broken in a fury of Protestant
zeal. Long afterwards the tomb of Edward VI. himself, which then took
the place of the high altar, was broken in pieces by the Puritan zealots,
who were unaware that they thus desecrated the monument of the first
Protestant king.

* * * * * *

[Illustration: The Chapel of Henry VII., looking east]

* * * *

THE CHAPEL OF HENRY VII., LOOKING EAST

This unique and beautiful chapel was built by King Henry VII., and stands
at the east end of the Abbey, raised above the level of the older church.
The whole is a marvel of delicate carving and rich ornament. We see in
the illustration the hanging pendants of the stone roof known as fan
tracery, and the walls are covered with statues, the space between them
filled up by Tudor roses, French fleur-de-lis, and other appropriate
decorations. Behind the altar is the tomb of the founder