There was not a quieter spot in England than this, and it was very
strange to have drifted into it so suddenly out of the bustle and rumble
of Holborn; and to lose all this repose as suddenly, on passing through
the arch of the outer court. In all the hundreds of years since London
was built, it has not been able to sweep its roaring tide over that
little island of quiet. In Holborn I saw the most antique-looking houses
that I have yet met with in London, but none of very remarkable aspect.
I think I must have been under a spell of enchantment to-day, connecting
me with St. Paul's; for, trying to get away from it by various avenues, I
still got bewildered, and again and again saw its great dome and
pinnacles before me. I observe that the smoke has chiefly settled on the
lower part of the edifice, leaving its loftier portions and its spires
much less begrimed. It is very beautiful, very rich. I did not think
that anything but Gothic architecture could so have interested me. The
statues, the niches, the embroidery, as it were, of sculpture traced
around it, produced a delightful effect. In front of St. Paul's there is
a statue of Queen Anne, which looks rather more majestic, I doubt not,
than that fat old dame ever did. St. Paul's churchyard had always been a
place of immense interest in my imagination. It is merely the not very
spacious street, running round the base of the church,--at least, this
street is included in the churchyard, together with the enclosure
immediately about the church, sowed with tombstones.
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