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remains of his predecessor in the abbacy of St. Alban's, at the foot of the altar-steps in the abbey church.

Other Flemish brasses may also be seen (their dates varying from A.D. 1370 to 1535) at Aveley (Essex), Newcastle-on-Tyne, Ipswich, in the Church of Allhallows, Barking (in London), and at Fulham on the Thames.

The second variety in the form of brasses differs from the Flemish in this respect, that here the effigy or cross, the canopy, shield of arms, inscriptions, and other devices, are each engraven on a separate piece of metal, cut out to correspond with the outline of the several details; each piece being also placed in a distinct matrix, or indent, of a form corresponding with its own, sunk in the face of the marble or stone slab, which thus became the field or background of the entire work. This is the method which was adopted by the English artists in the brasses which they produced, and it is unquestionably superior to the Flemish system. In these Flemish works, however wonderful as productions of the graving-tool, the eye is confused by the large and profusely ornamented surface presented to it at one view; whereas the brasses of England, by their arrangement, preserve clearly the distinctness of the several parts, while the canopy and surrounding marginal inscription sustain the unity of the design. I must add that the slab itself to which the brass plates are affixed contributes in no slight degree to the unity and completeness of the work as a composition. Accordingly, in taking rubbings, or in making drawings or engravings, the slab should always be included.

A few other brasses yet preserved in England are evidently of foreign workmanship, or at least of foreign design, notwithstanding that they are destitute of backgrounds. Such brasses are at Wensley, Yorkshire, and