The effect of the near houses, or those in the immediate vicinity of St. Paul’s, is very striking; and the perspective and effect of light and shade of the campanile towers in front of the cathedral are admirably managed.  In short, nothing can exceed the fine contrast of the bold and broad buildings in the fore-ground with the work of the middle, and the minuteness of the back-ground:—­

  Now to the sister hills that skirt her plain,
  To lofty Harrow now, and now to where
  Majestic Windsor lifts his princely brow,
  In lovely contrast to this glorious view,
  Calmly magnificent.

Heavens! what a goodly prospect spreads around, Of hills, and dales, and woods, and lawns, and spires, ---------------------------------till all The stretching landscape into mist decays.

It seems scarcely possible for painting to achieve anything nearer to reality than has been effected in the union of the projecting portions and the flat surface of the picture—­an effect which will be hailed with enthusiasm by the spectator.  This part is the work of Mr. Paris, “of whose talents and valuable assistance in the execution of the painting,” says a writer in the Times, “the proprietor speaks in terms of generous enthusiasm, which are well deserved, and equally honourable to both parties.”  Another critical writer, in the Weekly Review, likewise, pays a deserved tribute to the genius of Mr. Paris, in his share of the painting.  He says, “The spectator who shall view this magnificent Panorama, without being previously informed of the difficulties with which the able and indefatigable artist, Mr. E.T.  Paris, had to contend, however he may be struck with the tout ensemble, will hardly be able to appreciate the merit of the work.  In the first place, as no one individual could accomplish such an undertaking in a sufficiently short period, many artists were necessarily employed; each of these had his own peculiar style, and taste, and notions, which of course he would not depart from; when each of the assistant artists, therefore, had finished his part, it was necessary for Mr. Paris to go himself over the whole, retouch everything, and reduce the various parts into harmony with each other.  This he has effected in the most admirable manner, so that, at present the productions of numerous dissimilar pencils appear like the creation of one man.  Another, and perhaps still greater difficulty, was to preserve the true perspective from so elevated and novel a point of view, and on curved canvass; for, by the closing of the dome, that part of the picture upon which the greatest distance was to be represented, is in reality placed nearest to the spectator.  We must observe, however, that these difficulties have all been surmounted, and that the illusion is most complete.”