Except two or three, they lay
cross-legged, in token that they had really fought for the Holy
Sepulchre. I think I have seen nowhere else such well-preserved
monumental knights as these. We proceeded into the interior of the
church, and were greatly impressed with its wonderful beauty,--the roof
springing, as it were, in a harmonious and accordant fountain, out of the
clustered pillars that support its groined arches; and these pillars,
immense as they are, are polished like so many gems. They are of Purbeck
marble, and, if I mistake not, had been covered with plaster for ages
until latterly redeemed and beautified anew. But the glory of the church
is its old painted windows; and, positively, those great spaces over the
chancel appeared to be set with all manner of precious stones,--or it was
as if the many-colored radiance of heaven were breaking upon us,--or as
if we saw the wings of angels, storied over with richly tinted pictures
of holy things. But it is idle to talk of this marvellous adornment; it
is to be seen and wondered at, not written about. Before we left the
church, the porter made his appearance, in time to receive his fee,--
which somebody, indeed, is always ready to stretch out his hand for. And
so ended our visit to the Temple, which, by the by, though close to the
midmost bustle of London, is as quiet as if it were always Sunday there.
We now went to St. Paul's. U---- and Miss Shepard ascended to the
Whispering Gallery, and we, sitting under the dome, at the base of one of
the pillars, saw them far above us, looking very indistinct, for those
misty upper-depths seemed almost to be hung with clouds.
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