Tuesday, September 26th 1854 ~ London

St. Paul's Cathedral.

London ~ My physician called again this morning and told me I had better leave London as soon as possible and breathe a purer air and there in accordance been making preparations to leave tomorrow. Today we visited St. Pauls cathedral, one of the largest buildings in the world. It is cruciform and of stone which time has made of a reddish brown color. The outside of St. Pauls is far more imposing than the interior. It requires 20 minutes to half an hour for driving around it and gives one a fine idea of the greatest of architectural wonders of past centuries. One does not obtain as good an idea of it however as if it stood in an open space instead of being shut in and encompassed by narrow struts. The interior is of course very magnificent from its vast proportion but is devoid of ornament and is somewhat broken by columns so that the size does not take in all at once. The dome is enormous, its highest point is 350 feet above the pavement of the church. The building is well lighted and has not the solemn grandeur that a soft light united with such vastness must give. In the crypt lies the body of the Iron Duke. I changed some of my English gold for French today at h 86 Cheapside.