Westminster Abbey.—Nearly opposite the Houses of Parliament stands Westminster Abbey, open to inspection on the north, west, and east, but much crowded upon by private dwellings on the south. In very early times this spot of ground was a small insular tract, surrounded by the waters of the Thames, and called Thorney Island. Here a monastic institution was founded on the introduction of Christianity into Britain. Under Edward the Confessor an abbey was raised upon the site of the ruined monastic building. The ground-plan, as usual, bore the form of the cross. Rights and endowments were granted; and the edifice assumed a great degree of architectural grandeur. It had become the place for the inauguration of the English monarchs; and William the Conqueror was crowned here with great pomp in 1066. Henry III. and Edward I. enlarged the abbey; and the building continued nearly in the state in which they left it, until Henry VII. added a chapel, built in the perpendicular style, on which the greatest skill of the architect and the sculptor was displayed; exhibiting one of the most splendid structures of the age, and so highly esteemed, that it was enjoined that the remains of royalty alone should be interred within its walls. During the reign of Henry VIII., the abbey was considerably defaced; but on the surrender of its revenues, Henry raised Westminster to the dignity of a city, and its abbey was constituted a cathedral. It was, however, afterwards re-united to the see of London, in 1550. (An archbishopric of Westminster, created by the Pope a few years ago, is connected only with Roman Catholic matters, and is not recognised by the English law.) Westminster Abbey, during the reign of William and Mary, was thoroughly repaired, and the towers added at the western entrance, under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren. These towers, however, though good in outline and general mass, are not in harmony with the rest of the building. The length of the abbey is 416 feet; breadth at the transept, 203 feet; and at the nave, 102 feet; height of the west towers, 225 feet. The exterior measurement, including Henry VII.’s Chapel, is 530 feet. [Picture: Westminster Abbey, and St. Margaret’s Church]