ic stone, ornamented and surrounded with a magnificent
railing of gilt brass. This monument was constructed by Peter
Torregiano, a Florentine artist, and possesses extraordinary merit. Six
devices in bas-relief, and four statues, all of gilt brass, adorn the
tomb.

In addition to these venerable antiquities, which all deserve to be
seen, a variety of figures in wax, and in cases with glazed doors, are
shewn as curiosities to the stranger; but they ought to be removed,
as disgraceful to the grandeur and solemnity of the other parts of the
scene, and as a satire on the national taste, which can scarcely
be excused, when such things are exhibited in a room for children's
amusement.

Every lover of the arts must lament that this beautiful relic of gothic
taste is falling rapidly to decay; notwithstanding, within the last
twenty-four years, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster have expended the
sum of L28,749 in general repairs of the abbey. Parliament, however, has
at last granted the requisite aid, and the sum of L20,000 has been voted
to commence the repairs, which are now going on. It has been estimated
that the necessary repairs of Henry the VIIth's chapel will cost about
L14,800 and the ornamental repairs about L10,400.

The prospect from the western tower of the abbey is more beautiful and
picturesque, though less extensive, than that from St. Paul's. The west
end of the town and its environs, the Banquetting-house at Whitehall,
St. James's park, the gardens of the Queen's palace, the extremity of
Piccadilly and Hyde-park, with the Serpentine River, and the distant
groves of Kensington Gardens, present a varied and magnificent view
towards the west. On the other hand, the bridges of Westminster,
Waterloo, and Blackfriars, with the broad expanse of the Thames, and
Somerset-house on its banks, and St. Paul's towering pile, together with
the light Gothic steeple of St. Dunstan's in the East, present a most
noble and ~86~~ interesting prospect. From this tower the exterior form
of St. Paul's, when the sun falls upon it, is distinctly seen, and here
its exquisite beauty will be more fully comprehended than in any part of
the city, for a sufficient area to take in the entire outline is not to
be found there.

This prolixity of description will not, we presume, be considered by our
readers, as a tedious digression from the main subject.--_Real Life
in London_ cannot be better elucidated, than by uniting incident with
app