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S ’ t . Pa u l s Ca t h e d ra l By ‘ o L/ n li ft ; ‘ The R v E e . W . C . N wb o l A e t M . , . ’ Ca r on afst P a ul s Ill us tra te d by He r be r t Ra il to n ” L n i C Lt d . o n d o Is b s t e r 59 o . ’ 1 5 &9 I6 Tavi sto c k S tr e e t Co v e n t ! ar d e n M DCCCXCV I! ’ P a l s Ca th e d ra l St. u F there is one architectural object which more than another has succeeded in giving a character to the City of ’ London, it is the dome of St . Paul s . We associate it with London in pictures ; ! ’ ” within sight of the dome of St . Paul s almost ranks with ! within sound of Bow ” d Bells, as delimiting Cockney om . And as the visitor walks down the splendid Victoria E mbankment, or threads his way eastward through the intricacies of the Strand and l F eet Street, it towers before him, now appa r e n tl y on the Surrey side of the river, now u straight in front of him, now b rsting up ’ S a u l a h d a l t . P s C t e r u u behind ns spected corners . Certainly, Sir Christopher Wren accurately caught the spirit of London, the genius of its streets, and the e thos of its traffic when he set the cross on top of the dome, as majestic as a cupola, and as graceful as a spire . And yet when the stranger has climbed u the broad flight of steps, so c riously set u askew to the grand ascent of L dgate Hill, as he pushes open the little swing door and finds himself inside a somewhat dark and i dingy building, with c rcular windows inno o f cent tracery , flat pilasters, transverse th e beams of stone, with general feeling of u sq areness and flatness, relieved as Ruskin contemptuously says, with strings of Ribston v pippins car ed in stone, and innumerable u cher bim, straight, as it were, from the tombstones of a graveyard— as he gazes with eyes still full of im pressions derived from th e Westminster Abbey, and Gothic queens of beauty which adorn our land— h e is dis appointed, he must own it ; he almost 8 ’ a u l a h d l St . P s C t e ra wishes he had continued to admire it from the outside ; his ideal is shattered . Here at once it is n ecessary to ask the visitor resolutely to close his eyes to Gothic architecture in all its beauty, and to remem ber that he is studying an example of what r e is called classical architecture, which, as gards the exterior at all events, is considered a masterpiece ; while as to the interior, if there is a confusion of classical and Gothic, that is of classical forms with Gothic u e feeling, we m st rem mber that Wren was u ! coerced out of his own better j dgment, to ” reconcile, according to his own words, ! the Gothic to a better manner of a r chite c ’ . v ture And, accordingly, if the isitor will r take his stand inside the weste n door, and, gazing around him, let the majestic propor tions of the building enter into his soul, he will find a grandeur and a magnificence i n w the spacious open vista, to hich Gothic architecture with all its splendid and min ute detail is sometimes a stranger . II ’ a s a h d r a S t . P u l C t e l Before we proceed to examine the many objects of interest and beauty to be found in the Cathedral, it may be desirable to take a rapid survey of the events which resulted ’ in the existence of St . Paul s as we now see it . Far back in the Saxon days of the seventh l century, there was on this site a cathedra , which , in the end of the eleventh century, perished by the foe which has so often proved ’ — fi re . deadly to St . Paul s This was suc ce e d e d by the building known familiarly ’ w as Old St . Paul s, traces of hich may be seen at the extreme east end, under the pave ment of the churchyard, and on the south side amidst the grass beds of the south wa s garden . This longer and narrower than the present building, and was surmounted — 8 by a tall spire, the height of which 4 9 feet ! — would roughly correspond to the Monu ment set on top of the present dome . This spire was destroyed by lightni n g in the days E of Q ueen lizabeth , and was never restored 1 2 ’ S a l C a e d r a l t . P u s th ’ S s his design , and t . Paul s has thi almost u u u l uniq e, if not quite niq e privi ege, that it u was b ilt under one architect, under the o n e direction of master mason !Strong!, in the episcopate of one Bishop !Compton!, in - the short space of twenty two years . We will now turn to look at the Cathedral in its detail , and at some of the treasures t which it contains . Star ing from the west end, we find on the north and south two spacious chapels . That on the south , which is entered through a fine screen , is used for the Consistor y Court of the Bishop of London , and until quite recently was almost filled by the tomb of the Duke of Wellington , which we shall look at later on , in the new i s te, where it has been placed with great advantage to its beauty . Since its removal , the chapel has been converted into a baptis te r y, and contains the large classical marble font, deprived, however, of its ponderous and impracticable cover, and is used from time to time for baptisms in the families of those 1 5 ’ P a u a e d a S t . l s C th r l r connected with the Cathed al . Here is also ! a fine window by Mr . empe, in memory of A rchdeacon Hessey . Passing over to the corresponding chapel th e on north side, we enter through another very handsome wooden screen into what is generally known by the somewhat meaning f less appellation o the Morning Chapel . This chapel is in constant use for the daily and early Sunday celebrations, for midday and r night services, for lectu es and devotional meetings, in fact for any religious purpose for which the great area of the dome or the large space of the choir would be unsuitable . We may notice an adaptation of one of ’ Raphael s frescoes in mosaic over the altar, . h by Messrs Powell, and anot er mosaic at A the west end, in memory of rchdeacon Hale . The solitary window in the chapel is filled with glass in memory of Dean in s cr i Mansel, where we may detect in the p tion the somewhat unusual, but to those ! who knew Dean Manse , most appropriate 1 6 ’ a l s a e d r a l S t . P u C th ’ u hila r ita i n d o lzs g us all sion to the s j , for he was eminently one who knew the true value ’ of Bishop Hackett s well - known precept Serve God and be cheerful . Passin g out into the nave we are struck by the curious semi -circular recesses which break up the aisles on each side . Tradition has it that these were inserted in the plan through the earnest importunity of James I I . , who looked forward to the time when he might convert them i n to lines of chapels . At present they are filled with a strange col lection of tombs, some of them absolutely fe w ludicrous, of any artistic merit, and yet enshrining the memory of great heroes, and eloquent of the importance attached to the mighty European struggle in which England played so conspicuous a part, at the end of the last and the beginning of the present u century . These tombs are contin ed round the transept aisles, and are disfigured, many m of the , by the extraordinary taste of the period when they were erected, which revelled 1 9 B ’ a s a e d a S t . P u l C th r l in gods and goddesses, naked heroes, winged Victories, and other Pagan symbols . These tell their own tale in pompous epitaph , and we need not weary the reader in describing them . Out of the general number we would select a few, which may well claim our momentary attention . First of all, the monu ment to the memory of the Duke of Wel lin to n g , by Stevens, although still waiting for its completion , is well worthy of a careful w inspection . Taken out of the chapel here it was impossible to see its full merits, it now, under the arch of the second bay of the nave at the north side, adds greatly to t the general beauty of the Ca hedral .

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