HOXTON CHAPEL,

New North Road. Is in the Anglo-Norman style of architecture; and is one of the most successful attempts made to adapt that more heavy and ponderous style to the wants of a Methodist chapel; and is highly creditable to all concerned in its erection. The interior is spacious and open; the seats are divided into a double row in the middle, and a single row at each side. The galleries are comparatively small, and appear well supported and relieved by the thick columns, and bulky ornaments of the Norman style.

POPLAR CHAPEL,

The exterior is imposing; and is perhaps, the most remarkable of any Methodist chapel yet built. In the front are two octagonal turrets, eighty feet high, enriched with canopies, and finished with gables and crockets; the large central window has five lights, with flowing tracery in the head.

The interior is pleasing in its appearance and arrangements. The pulpit and screen behind it are of Caen stone, richly carved. The seats are each finished at the ends with fleur-de-lis; and in the farther gable, is a window of the rose form, filled with stained glass. The ceiling is divided into proportionate compartments, by moulded ribs, ornamented with bosses at the intersections, supported under the principals by carved spandrils, resting on moulded stone corbels. The entire cost of the building has been £5,000.

FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSES.

The Society of Friends have several Meeting Houses in London; out, as may be supposed, without any architectural pretensions; their only peculiarity being a studied plainness. The principal one of which, is situated at No. 86, Houndsditch; where is also a considerable library of rare works, by Members of the Society. In white Hart Court, Gracechurch Street, was situated the oldest of their Meeting Houses, remarkable as the place where the celebrated George Fox, and the equally celebrated William Penn, the founder of Pensylvania, inculcated their pacific tenets. It was burnt down in 1821, but has since been rebuilt.

NEW JERUSALEM CHURCHES.

Argyle Square. A very neat and appropriate building; erected in 1844. The Rev. Mr. Shaw is the present minister.

Cross Street, Hatton Garden. A plain brick edifice: stands on the site of Hatton House, built by the Lord Chancellor of that name.

UNITARIAN CHAPELS

South Place, Moorfields. A spacious edifice, erected in 1823; and is unorthodox in every respect; dissenting from the true faith of legitimate architecture. Its principal front consists of four three-quarters Ionic columns, guarded by two pairs of antæ and a remarkably illproportioned entablature and pediment, which is surmounted by something like a miniature stack of chimnies. It is also disfigured by the introduction of dwelling-house windows.

Stamford Street, Blackfriar's Road. Built in 1823, by Mr. Rennie; and is distinguished by a fine Grecian Doric portico, unequalled in London.

GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCHES.

There are six German churches or chapels of the reformed religion, belonging to the Germans in London; the principal one of which, is in the district called the Savoy, on the south side of the Strand, near Waterloo Bridge. The exterior is a plain brick building, erected in 1768, on the site of part of the old palace; a Jesuit's chapel belonging to which, had formerly been allotted to them by William III. It has a handsome interior of the Ionic order, designed by Sir William Chambers.

GERMAN CHAPEL ROYAL,

Situated between Marlborough House and St. James's Palace. Established by Prince George of Denmark, at the instigation of his chaplain, in 1705. It is an elegant building, fitted up with great luxury. In the gallery is a seat appropriated to the Royal Family, in which the late Queen Dowager might frequently be seen. The service commences at half-past eleven o'clock.

DUTCH CHURCH,

Austin Friars. The church of the Austin Friars, erected in 1351, and granted, by Edward VI., in 1550, to the poor Dutch refugees, who fled out of the Netherlands, France, "and other parts beyond seas, from papist persecution." It has some very good decorated windows; the library attached to it contains some very valuable MSS. and letters of Calvin, Peter Martvr, and other foreign reformers.

Great St. Helen's, Bishopsgate Street. Erected in 1838, from designs by Mr. Davies; the first stone having been laid on the 10th of May, 1837. The façade is of Italian architecture, and extends about 110 feet from east to west. The centre is occupied by a spacious open vestibule, with coupled Tuscan columns, supporting three arches. Within the vestibule, on either side, are marble lavatories, for the hands, and opposite are three doorways leading to the interior of the building. The interior is highly creditable to the talent and taste of the architect, "who has here distinguished himself," says Mr. Leeds, "most advantageously; for it quite eclipses any one of our modern churches, that have any pretensions to be brought in comparison with it; although it may fall short of some of them in its dimensions;" of no very great extent; it has an air of spaciousness, and of rich and tasteful elegance, which are quite enchanting. Its length, including the recess, is seventy-two feet; and the extreme width fifty-four feet, or between the fronts of the galleries, thirty-two feet; the extreme height being forty-five feet. The galleries for the women are novel in design, and elegant in execution; the seats are concealed from view, while the handsome railing in front, adds to the architectural effect.

The ark, or upper portion of the interior of the synagogue, corresponding with the Christian altar, is particularly beautiful. The slightly elevated floor is paved with finely-veined Italian marble. In front of the lower portion of the alcove is a rich velvet curtain, emblazoned with a crown, covering the recess containing the books of the law, which are enclosed with doors of solid mahogany. Above are three arched windows, filled with stained glass, of arabesque pattern; the centre one has the name of JEHOVAH, in Hebrew characters, and the

tables of the law. On the frieze is inscribed the sentence, KNOW IN WHOSE PRESENCE THOU STANDEST. On either side of the ark is an arched panel, containing prayers for the Queen and Royal Family; one in Hebrew, the other in English.

The rich decorations-the fruits, flowers, and rosettes, add to the general effect of what is at once beautiful and exquisite, and even a gorgeous specimen of architectural combination.

On ordinary occasions, the stranger may enter and observe the singular mode of worship of the Jews; on doing so, he must not remove his hat; uncovering the head being considered a violation of the sanctity of the place. On Friday evenings, the synagogue is opened for the services that commence the sabbath, which extends from sunset to sunset.

FRENCH PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

Bloomsbury Street, Oxford Street, formerly in the Savoy. Erected in 1845, from designs by Ambrose Poynter, architect.

St. Martin's-le-grand. Founded by Edward IV., and formerly situated in Threadneedle Street. It is a small, neat edifice, having a handsome traceried window at the east end.

GREEK CHURCH,

London Wall. The first ecclesiastical structure erected by the Greeks resident in London. The entrance front is divided into two stories by a bold and enriched moulding; the lower story having an arcade of three arches, opening into a corridor, whence admittance into the church is obtained; and the upper story a similar arcade, containing three windows deeply recessed; above which, is a sunken panel, containing a Greek inscription, which may be thus translated:

"During the reign of the august Victoria, who governs the Great people of Britain, and also other nations scattered over the earth, the Greeks sojourning here, erected this Church to the divine Saviour, in veneration of the rites of their fathers."

In addition to the important religious edifices we have described in the foregoing pages, there are some hundreds of churches, chapels, and meeting houses, in which divine service is regularly performed, and which are generally well attended; and whatever may have been the feeling with which a stranger has regarded London, he cannot fail to be struck with the immense number of places of public worship; with the excellent and frequently crowded attendance; and, with the general devotional feeling, and strict sobriety of demeanor, that characterizes the generality of the inhabitants of the metropolis the Sunday.

CHAPTER IV.

ROYAL PALACES AND MANSIONS OF THE NOBILITY.

The pillar'd dome magnific heaves
Its ample roof, and luxury within,

Pours out its glittering stores.-Thomson.

ARCHITECTURE, the queen of the fine arts, attended by her handmaids, Painting and Sculpture, presents herself, by a prescriptive_right, to the consideration and regard of the SOVEREIGN. Monarchs can best appreciate the utility and importance of this noble art-an art which, in imperial and great works combined, displays the mighty and fascinating powers of Painting and Sculpture of Music and Poetry.-Sir John Soane.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE,

St. James's Park; the town residence of Her Majesty, formerly called Buckingham House and originally erected by the learned and accomplished John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, the friend and patron of the poet Dryden, in 1703, on the site of what was then called the Mulberry Gardens. Having come into the possession of Sir Charles Sheffield, it was by him sold to George III., in 1761, for £21,000, and settled on Queen Charlotte, in lieu of Somerset House. Here the whole of her family, excepting the eldest, afterwards Georgel V., were born. In 1825, the present edifice was commenced under the direction of Mr. Nash, by the command of His Majesty George IV.; and after the most lavish and extravagant expenditure, exceeding £600,000, the building was found to be altogether unfit for the pageantries of royalty, and but little suited for the residence of the sovereign. George IV. dying during the progress of the work, and William IV. not liking the building, or the situation, it was not occupied until the accession of her present Majesty, when various alterations were found to be necessary to render it inhabitable, which were accordingly made, under the superintendence of Mr. Blore, and the palace at length became the residence of the sovereign, July 13th, 1837. In 1847, the accommodation being then found too contracted for her Majesty's household and increasing family, the present front, facing the Park, was added by Mr. Blore, in 1848. The new façade, which has more the appearance of a row of modern second-rate mansions, than the palace of the sovereign of this wealthy and powerful empire, is the same length as the garden front. The height to the top of the balustrade is seventy

G