large bell, "Great
Paul," which has just been placed in the tower, is the heaviest in
England, weighing nearly seventeen tons. Within the cathedral the cupola
has a diameter of one hundred and eight feet, and rises two hundred and
twenty-eight feet above the pavement; around it runs the famous
Whispering Gallery. Beneath the centre of the pavement lie the remains
of Lord Nelson in the crypt, for St. Paul's has been made the mausoleum
of British heroes on sea and land. Here, among others, are monuments to
Napier, Ponsonby, Cornwallis, Nelson, Howe, Collingwood, Pakenham, Sir
John Moore, Abercrombie, Rodney, St. Vincent, and also a noble porphyry
mausoleum for the Duke of Wellington. Some of the heroes of peace also
have monuments in St. Paul's, among them Dr. Johnson, Howard the
philanthropist, Sir Astley Cooper the surgeon, Bishop Middleton, Sir
Joshua Reynolds, Turner, Rennie the engineer, and also Wren. The memory
of the great architect is marked by a marble slab, with the inscription,
"Reader, do you ask his monument? Look around."

[Illustration: ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, SOUTH SIDE.]

[Illustration: THE CHOIR--ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.]

The outside elevation of the cathedral is of two orders of
architecture--the lower, Corinthian, having windows with semicircular
headings, while the upper, Composite, has niches corresponding to the
windows below. The entablature of each story is supported by coupled
pilasters, while the north and south walls are surmounted by
balustrades. Each arm of the transept is entered by an external
semicircular portico, reached by a lofty staircase. Above the dome is
the Golden Gallery, whence there is a grand view around London, if the
atmosphere permits, which it seldom does. Above the lantern is the ball,
weighing fifty-six hundred pounds; above this the cross, weighing
thirty-three hundred and sixty pounds.

[Illustration: WELLINGTON MONUMENT, ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, LONDON.]

WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY.]

This is the most renowned church in England, for in it her sovereigns
have been crowned, and many of them buried, from the days of Harold to
Victoria, and it contains the graves of her greatest men in
statesmanship, literature, science, and art. The abbey is the collegiate
church of St. Peter's, Westminster, and stands not far away from the
Thames, near Westminster Hall and the Parliament Houses. Twelve hundred
years ago its site was an island in the Thames