who have never seen it some idea of its magnitude may be given in the fact that it took thirty-five years to complete the building. Its architect, Sir Christopher Wren, and the chief builder, Thomas Strong, both lived to see it begun and completed. It reflects the greatest credit on the distinguished man who designed the plan, and saw it carried into execution. On the marble slab of Wren's tomb are written these words: Si monumentum requiris, circumspice; which mean that you have but to look round if you would have a true monument to his genius. The site on which this magnificent building stands had been previously devoted to similar purposes. Other churches had been erected there, and it is affirmed that altars of the Druids once stood on the spot, long before Julius Cæsar invaded our shores. A few figures concerning this cathedral will not be uninteresting. Its whole cost was about threequarters of a million of money, and defrayed by a tax on all the coal which came into the port of London. From east to west it is 500 feet long; its breadth about 250 feet; the height to the top of the cross is 404 feet; its highest tower 222 feet. The clock, which is on the south-west tower, has two faces. The minute hands are nearly 10 feet long, and weigh 75 pounds each. The pendulum is 16 feet, the weight at the end being about 180 pounds. Within the clock-tower is the great bell, with this inscription, Richard Phelps made me, 1716,' weighing four and a half tons, and which is only tolled on the death of a member of the Royal Family, the Bishop of London, the Dean of St. Paul's, or the Lord Mayor. The body of the cathedral is almost filled with monuments, some of them of costly marble and of exquisite workmanship. Those of Lord Nelson, Captain Cook, Duke of Wellington, John Howard, and Sir Joshua Reynolds, would be sure to attract attention. The funeral ceremonies of Lord Nelson in 1806, and of the Duke of Wellington in 1852, were among the many remarkable crowded gatherings in this famous building. There are many other objects of interest, which will be shown by the guides on the payment of a trifling sum. The Whispering Gallery, for instance, is worth a visit. While seated at one end of the room, a low whisper uttered against the wall can be heard distinctly from the other side of the dome. From there to the Stone Gallery, and again to the Golden Gallery, extensive views may be obtained if the London fog and smoke are not too thick. On the green banks of Shannon, when Sheelah was nigh, No blithe Irish lad was so happy as I; No harp like my own could so cheerily play, When at last I was forced from my Sheelah to part, She said (while the sorrow was big at her heart), 'Oh, remember your Sheelah when far, far away! And be kind, my dear Pat, to our poor dog Tray.' Poor dog! he was faithful and kind, to be sure, And he constantly loved me although I was poor; When the sour-looking folk sent me heartless away, I had always a friend in my poor dog Tray. C When the road was so dark, and the night was so cold, Where now shall I go, poor, forsaken, and blind? CAMPBELL. LESSON 9. THE SHEPHERD IN WINTER. beam-less, without beams plaid, woollen cloth, cloak sleet-ed, mingled with snow or hail swain, peasant, shepherd Yar-row, the dog's name When red hath set the beamless sun, Through heavy vapours dark and dun; Against the casement's tinkling pane,- Oft he looks forth, and hopes, in vain, Long with dejected look and whine, The blast that whistles o'er the fells Oft he looks back, while streaming far Turns patient to the blast again, Drives through the gloom his lagging sheep. If fails his heart, if his limbs fail, |