support the flat ceiling of the church, and the vaulting of the nave. The altar-piece and roof are ornamented with fretwork; and over the former is a stained glass window. The organ is remarkable for its fine tone. The tower which is 140 feet in height, has four modern spires, ornamented with vanes.

The clock at St. Sepulchre's regulates the execution of criminals at Newgate; and, formerly, when executions were far more numerous, it was the custom for the clerk, or bellman, to go under the walls of Newgate, on the night preceding an execution, and after ringing his bell, to repeat the following verses :—

All you that in the condemned hold do lie,
Prepare you, for to-morrow you shall die;
Watch all and pray, the hour is drawing near,
That you before the Almighty must appear;
Examine well yourselves, in time repent,
That you may not to eternal flames be sent,
And when St. Sepulchre's bell to-morrow tolls,
The Lord have mercy on your souls.
Past twelve o'clock !

ST. ANDREW'S,

Holborn Hill. Erected in 1687, under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren. It is one of the finest and most appropriate protestant churches in London. Its exterior is plain, simple, and unpretending; consisting of a basement under the galleries, with low windows, which light the aisles, and an upper story of semicircular headed windows for the galleries and nave; crowned by a well-proportioned cornice, blocking course, and balustrade. The altar-piece and roof are ornamented with fretwork, and over the former is a painted window, erected in 1718, by Joshua Price, representing the Last Supper, and the Ascension. The organ is remarkable for its fine tone, and is the one made by Harris, in competition with Father Schmidt, for the Temple church. The celebrated Dr. Sacheverel used to preach here. The tower, which is the ancient one re-faced in 1704, is one hundred and ten feet in height, and has no pretensions either to beauty or taste; the interior is spacious, rich, and beautiful; consisting of a nave and two side aisles, divided in height into a ground floor and galleries.

St. Andrew's may almost be called the poets' church, from the number of that glorious, but unhappy fraternity, that have been in one way or another connected with it, from the time of Webster, the author of the "Duchess of Malfy," who was parish clerk, down to the late Henry Neele, interred here, who committed suicide in a state of temporary insanity.

Among the many eminent persons buried here, may be mentioned Lord Chancellor Wriothesley, the unhappy poet Chatterton, (d. 1770) Dr. Sacheverel, (d. 1724) buried in the chancel, under an inscribed stone, Emery, the actor, (d. 1822) and Joseph Strutt, author of "Sports and Pastimes," (d. 1802).

Or st. Bridget s, Fleet Street. Erected in 1680, by Sir Christopher Wren, on the site of the church destroyed by the great fire, in 1666. The tower and spire were begun in 1701, and completed in 1703. The building being completed at a cost of £11,430.

"This church," says Elmes, "is of great strength and beauty: its interior is at once spacious, commodious, and elegant." It is one hundred and eleven feet in length, fifty-seven feet in breadth, and forty-one feet in height; composed of a lofty nave, covered with an arched ceiling; and two aisles, separated below by solid pedestals, supporting coupled Doric columns, which support the aisles of the nave and galleries. At the east end is a fine stained glass window, by the late Mr. Muss, representing the "Descent from the Cross," after Rubens.

Its handsome_tower, and well-proportioned spire, which is one of the highest in London, and exceeded by few in the kingdom, was originally two hundred and thirty-four feet in height,; but having been injured by lightning, in 1764, it was repaired, and reduced to its present height of two hundred and twenty-six feet The clock was put up in 1826, and was the first specimen of an illuminated dial erected in London.

Among the many eminent persons buried here, may be mentioned Richardson, a printer, in Salisbury Square, and the author of "Clarissa Harlow," and "Pamela.; " (d. 1761) Sir Richard Baker, author of the "Chronicles;" (d. 1644) Richard Lovelace, the cavalier and poet, (d. 1658) and Wynken de Worde, the famous printer, whose residence was in Fleet Street.

Or St. Mary's, Inner Temple, belongs, in common, to the societies of the Inner and Middle Temple. To the attraction which it has all along possessed for the antiquary, as being one of the oldest ecclesiastical structures in the metropolis, this edifice now adds that of novelty for the public, owing to its having been not merely put into thorough repair, but completely renovated internally, and rendered a specimen of church decoration, which has been so very long extinct among us, as to appear quite unprecedented in this country. Its character is all the more striking, because in direct opposition to what has been considered appropriate for buildings of this class, and for the style of architecture. The western part, or round, is highly interesting, as being one of the earliest specimens of the pointed style of architecture. It was built by the Knights Templars, about 1185, and displays a series of six clustered columns of black Purbeck marble, supporting the same number of pointed arches; over which is a triforium and a clerestory, with semicirclar arches. In the area, on each side, is a series of recumbent effigies of Knights Templars; the figure between the two columns on the south-east, having a foliage ornament about the head, and the feet resting upon a lion, is said to represent William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, (d. 1119) Earl Marshall and Protector of England, during the minority of Henry III. The entrance is by a noble Norman doorway deeply recessed, with several ornamental mouldings, forming a broad semicircular arch.

The body of the church is of later date, and is one of the purest examples of the style of the thirteenth century. "No building in existence," says Mr. Cottingham," so completely developes the gradual and delicate advance of the pointed style over the Norman, as this church, being commenced in the latter, and finished in the highest

E

perfection in the former." It is eighty-two feet in length by fiftyeight feet in breadth, and is formed into a centre and lateral aisles by five arches on either side, corresponding with the same number of

triple windows. The breadth of the centre aisie is the same as the diameter, or central space of the circular part, whereby a pleasing harmony is kept up throughout, and unity of plan is combined with great variety of it. The restorations and polychromatic decorations of the interior, have been admirably executed, under the able directions of Mr. Sidney Smirke and Mr. Decimus Burton, at the expence of the benchers, amounting to £70,000; and we now see, for the first time, what a Gothic building really was-a structure as pre-eminent for its rich harmonies of colour, as for its beauty of architectural detail and grandeur of architectural design. On entering the western door, the effect is picturesque and imposing; it discloses a fine architectural picture, which, while it delights the eye by its varied perspective, strongly excites the imagination by partially revealing what can be fully enjoyed only on a nearer approach to it. The floor is paved with encaustic tiles, by Minton; and the windows at the east end are filled with stained glass of very harmonious design, by Mr. Willement.

In the triforium, the ascent to which is by a narrow staircase, are numerous monuments, removed from the choir during the restoration, amongst which are those to Gibbon, the historian, (d. 1794) Howell, author of the "Familiar Letters," (d. 1666). In the burial ground, east of the choir, and without the building, was buried Oliver

Goldsmith, (d. 1774) a monument to whom is in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey, bearing a Latin inscription, by Dr. Johnson, thus translated:

Of Oliver Goldsmith-a poet, naturalist, and historian. Who left scarcely any style of writing untouched, and touched nothing that he did not adorn, Of all the passions, whether smiles were to be moved or tears, a powerful, yet gentle master. In genius, sublime, vivid, versatile. In style, elevated, clear, elegant. The love of companions, the fidelity of friends, and the veneration of readers, have by this monument honoured the memory. He was born in Ireland, at a place called Pallas, (in the parish) of Forney, (and county) of Longford, on the 29th Nov., 1731; educated at (the University) of Dublin; and died in London, 4th April, 1774.

The clergyman is appointed by the Queen's letters patent, without institution and induction, and is called the master. The present master is the Rev. Christopher Benson, who was appointed in 1826. Divine service commences on a Sunday at 11 and 3 o'clock.

ST. DUNSTAN'S-IN-THE-WEST.

Fleet Street, erected from the designs and under the superintendence of John Shaw, Esq., F.R.S. and A.S., the first stone having been laid July 27th, 1831, and the building consecrated July 31st, 1833. Its appearance is chaste and elegant, and altogether superior to the old edifice which it replaced. The tower is of Kelton stone, a very superior kind of freestone, of beautiful colour, from the county of Rutland. Upon the tower is an enriched stone lantern, perforated with Gothic windows, each angle having a buttress and enriched finial; the whole being terminated by an ornamental pierced and very rich crown parapet. The height of the tower to the battlements is ninety feet; and the whole height of the tower and lantern is one hundred and thirty feet. The body of the church is of fine brick, finished with stone; it is of octagon form, about fifty feet in diameter, and will hold nine hundred persons. Over the entrance to the parochial schools is placed a statue of Queen Elizabeth, which formerly stood in the west front of Ludgate, and is the only remaining relic of the ancient city gates. The old church will long be remembered by the Londoner, from the two figures armed with clubs that struck the hour; allusion to which is thus made by Cowper, in his "Table Talk:

:

"When labour and when dulness, club in hand,

Like the two figures at St. Dunstan's stand,

Beating incessantly, in measur'd time,

The clock-work tintinnabulum of rhyme,
Exact and regular the sounds will be,

But such mere quarter strokes are not for me."

It escaped the great fire of 1666, was handsomely repaired in 1701, and taken down in 1831. The celebrated Romaine, author of the "Life, Walk, and Triumph of Faith," was lecturer of this church, to which he was appointed in 1749; and here it was that he first excited that great degree of public attention, which he ever after held.