WELLINGTON MONUMENT

Is thus described by the Rev. Lewis Gilbertson in his Authorized Guide to S. Paul’s Cathedral: “This is the most important work of Alfred Stevens; by far the finest monument in S. Paul’s, and by many considered to be the best work of its kind done in England in the last three hundred years. It was originally designed to fill the eastern arch of the Nave on the north side, and was intended to be surmounted by an equestrian statue of the Duke; but the horse was vetoed, and the monument erected in the old Consistory Court. It has now been removed to the middle arch on the north side of the Nave, where possibly it may eventually be finished according to the artist’s design. The bronze groups at the base of the pediment are especially fine. The subjects are: Virtue keeping Vice beneath its feet, and Truth pulling out the tongue of Falsehood.”

The actual tomb of the great Duke is in the Crypt of the Cathedral, a massive sarcophagus wrought from a boulder of porphyry found in Cornwall, resting upon a granite base. The simple grandeur of the monument is admirably in keeping with the character of the man whom it commemorates. The mortal remains of England’s greatest General lie close to those of England’s greatest Admiral.

THE WELLINGTON MONUMENT.

ACROSS THE DOME TO THE NORTH TRANSEPT.

Immediately facing the spectator is a screen which formerly supported the Organ, bearing a copy of the famous inscription to Wren, which is also found above his tomb. To the right and left are dimly seen the statues of Dr. Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds. The broad area of the Dome, seen to the best advantage when crowded with worshippers (as it is three times every Sunday, and on many other occasions also) is very impressive.

ACROSS THE DOME TO THE NORTH TRANSEPT.

INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE WEST.

This view exhibits the entire length of the choir, including the lofty Reredos. On the right and left are seen the Choir Stalls, Grinling Gibbons’ famous work, and the two fine Organ cases. The fine Organ, originally the work of Father Smith, is a masterpiece of Mr. Willis, whose consummate skill, aided no doubt by the magnificent building in which the instrument stands, has found no higher expression than in this finished work. The Choir Aisles are entered through iron gates, of great delicacy and beauty, the work of M. Tijou. The marble Pulpit, from the design of Mr. F. C. Penrose, is a memorial to Captain Robert Fitzgerald.

INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE WEST.

THE MONUMENT TO LORD NELSON.

“The funeral of Nelson was a signal day in the annals of S. Paul’s. The Cathedral opened wide her doors to receive the remains of the great Admiral, followed, it might almost be said, by the whole nation as mourners. The death of Nelson in the hour of victory, of Nelson whose victories at Aboukir and Copenhagen had raised his name above any other in our naval history, had stirred the English heart to its depths, its depths of pride and sorrow. The manifest result of that splendid victory at Trafalgar was the annihilation of the fleets of France and Spain, and, it might seem, the absolute conquest of the ocean, held for many years as a subject province of Great Britain. The procession, first by water, then by land, was of course magnificent, at least as far as prodigal cost could command magnificence. The body was preceded