n the reign of Henry
VII., and the present abbey-church was then built, being for a long time
unfinished. It has recently been restored. It stands at the southern
extremity of High Street, and is a fine specimen of Perpendicular
Gothic, the plan being a cross, with a tower at the intersection rising
one hundred and sixty-two feet and flanked by octagonal turrets. The
church is two hundred and ten feet long, and has a fan-traced,
stone-vaulted roof seventy-eight feet high, while the western front
contains a magnificent window flanked by turrets carved with angels, who
are ascending and descending, but have, unfortunately, all lost their
heads. The Pump Room, which is one of the chief buildings, is a
classical structure with a Corinthian portico bearing the motto, "Water,
best of elements!" A band plays in the spacious saloon, which also
contains a statue of the genius of Bath, Beau Nash, whose monument is in
the abbey-church. Here the waters, which are the hottest in England,
reaching a temperature of 120 deg., tumble continually from a
drinking-fountain into a serpentine basin beneath. There are numerous
other baths replete with comforts for the invalid, for this is
essentially a hospital town, and the city also contains many stately
public and private buildings, and its Victoria Park and Sydney Gardens
are beautiful and popular resorts. The wild scenery of the neighborhood
provides myriads of attractive drives and walks, while on top of
Lansdowne Hill, where Beckford is buried, is his tower, one hundred and
fifty feet high and commanding extensive views. The Bath waters, which
are alkaline-sulphurous with a slight proportion of iron, are considered
beneficial for palsy, rheumatism, gout, and scrofulous and cutaneous
affections. The chief spring discharges one hundred and twenty-eight
gallons a minute. While a hundred years ago Bath was at the height of
its celebrity, the German spas have since diverted part of the stream of
visitors.

FONTHILL AND BECKFORD.

It was at Bath that Pitt and Sheridan lived, but its most eccentric
resident was William Beckford, the author of _Vathek_, who came to Bath
from Fonthill, not far from Salisbury. His father, a London alderman,
owned Fonthill, and died in 1770, leaving his son William, aged ten,
with $5,000,000 ready money and $500,000 annual income. He wrote
_Vathek_ in early life after extensive travels, but founded its scenes
and characters upon places and people at Fonthill.