only, the various projecting planes being cast in one piece and then worked up with the burin. The badges in the perforated panels are,-1, crown and portcullis; 2, falcon and fetterlock; 3, R. H. bound together, with a chain and a crown above; 4, a crown in a rose-bush; 5, ditto in a thistle; 6, three fleurs-de-lys; and 7, three lions. There can be but very little doubt concerning the date of the fourth object of our enquiry, viz. the splendid gilt-brass grille which surrounds the tomb of Henry VII. (see Plate II.), for that king in his will distinctly refers to it as a "grate in manner of a closure of coper and gilt after the faction that we have begoune." In all probability the artists were Englishmen, for there is a marked difference between the details of the closure and the details of the tomb: thus those of the former are medieval, and, curiously enough, there is very little of the stiff Perpendicular style to be found in the tracery. Yet it is by far more English than the grille of Edward the Fourth's tomb at Windsor. It is also a more harmonious composition than the latter, for in the present case the little pillars support groining which takes the cornice and a heavy parapet, whereas at Windsor there is a row of very large and unmeaning canopies, which cover nothing whatever, unless we imagine the whole to have been raised on a high stone or marble plinth, which might possibly have afforded space to put statues upon. The grille of Henry the Seventh's tomb may best be described as a parallelogram in plan, the principal projections being a large pillar at each angle and two shallow projecting porches on the north and south sides. Its construction is in principle the same as the doors, only far more elaborate, and with the great difference that the interior supports are of iron and not of wood; the junctions are also, if anything, better and more neatly made. At each angle of the parallelogram, and at either jamb of the doorways, is a very strong iron rod. These eight rods support a very strong square bronze casting, very like a miniature tubular girder, the lengths of which, dovetailed together, run all round. The dimensions of this girder are about 9 inches deep and 4 inches wide, the sides being about three-quarters of an inch thick, and through it run cross-pieces of iron at every bay, taking the cornice and parapet; the other parts, such as the little columns, tracery, &c., are all put together most carefully with keys and lockets, and to a certain degree support themselves: great strength, however, is got in the middle rails, which go continuously from one point of support to the other, all the upright lines of the tracery butting on to them. At the angles of the porch, and at each corner of the grille near the large columns, are two rows of niches, once containing figures, of which unfortunately only six are left out of thirtytwo. Thus on the easternmost side we have none, on the south St. Edward, St. Bartholomew (holding his skin), and St. John; on the west St. George, and on the north a figure Neale calls St. Basil. These figures, although they possess a certain energy of expression, are by no means to be compared with the little figures of Torregiano's that we see on the side of the tomb; on the contrary, there are several signs of inferior artistic knowledge to be detected, (for example, the drawing of the eyes of St. Bartholomew); and the draperies are moreover arranged in such a manner as to make it evident that they had been cast from wooden models: but beyond this there is really not a fault to find in the workmanship, or indeed in the design, if we consider the age in which it was done; while the inscription running outside and inside the horizontal rails is quite a model in its way for ribbon black-letter. There are still certain peculiarities about this grille which the antiquary would gladly have cleared up if possible, and which will probably only be so by documentary evidence. For instance, did the great angle columns ever support anythingsay statues or beasts? Also, plates of bronze are placed on the top of the bronze girder and its transverse pieces, so as to form a sort of gallery all round the top-was anything (reliques for instance) placed on it? And again, what was the filling-in of the bronze bars which once formed a flat canopy over the altar? It is to be hoped that some of these queries may hereafter be answered, and indeed so much has lately been found out concerning the Abbey that in future we need scarcely despair of anything. To give an idea of the amount of spoliation that has taken place, it may be remarked that not one of the four great anglepillars retains the least trace of the filling-in of any of the various hexagonal and other patterns of which they are composed; and it is only from Dart's plates that we find these fillings-in consisted of crowned roses, portcullises, and tracery. The rest of the iron-work of the Abbey may be disposed of in |