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diff --git a/42007-8.txt b/42007-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 38c5f81..0000000 --- a/42007-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11307 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Sir Christopher Wren, by Lucy Phillimore - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - - - - -Title: Sir Christopher Wren - His Family and His Times - - -Author: Lucy Phillimore - - - -Release Date: February 4, 2013 [eBook #42007] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN*** - - -E-text prepared by Adrian Mastronardi, KD Weeks, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries -(http://archive.org/details/americana) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 42007-h.htm or 42007-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42007/42007-h/42007-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42007/42007-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive/American Libraries. See - http://archive.org/details/sirchristopherwr00philiala - - -Transcriber's note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - A carat character is used to denote superscription. A - single character following the carat is superscripted - (example: y^r). Multiple superscripted characters are - enclosed by curly brackets (example: ma^{tie}). - - The right-hand pages of the original text used italicised - page headings to indicate the current topic. These have - been retained and placed at the start of the paragraph - where the topic is addressed, using square brackets, - e.g.: [_OLD FAMILY MOTTO._]. - - A lengthy paragraph may have multiple topics, and each is - placed separately. - - There are several Greek citations, which are rendered - here using a simplified transliteration, denoted with - square brackets, as [Hoti anestê Basileus...]. There is - also a Maltese Cross which is likewise rendered as - [Maltese Cross]. - - For detailed information about any corrections made, - consult the tenscriber's note at the end of this text. - - - - - -[Illustration: CHRISTOPHER WREN, D.D. DEAN OF WINDSOR.] - -[Illustration: MATTHEW WREN, D.D. LORD BISHOP OF ELY.] - -[Illustration: S^R. CHRIS. WREN K^T] - - -SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN - -His Family and His Times. - -With Original Letters and a Discourse on -Architecture Hitherto Unpublished. - -1585-1723. - -by - -LUCY PHILLIMORE, - -Author of 'Bishop Wilberforce, a Sketch for Children' etc. - - - 'The modest man built the city, and the modest man's skill was - unknown.'--_The Tatler_, No. 52. - -With Two Engravings. - - - - - - - -[Illustration] - -London: -Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co., 1 Paternoster Square. -1881. - -(The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved) - - - - - TO - - CATHERINE PIGOTT, - - THE LAST DIRECT DESCENDANT OF SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN, - - THESE MEMOIRS OF HER ANCESTORS - ARE GRATEFULLY DEDICATED. - - - - - PREFACE. - - -The materials necessary for writing a life of Sir Christopher Wren are -so difficult of access as possibly to explain the unsatisfactory -character of such biographies as do exist. Mr. James Elmes, who -venerated Wren's genius, published in 1823, a Life which contained a -careful if a dry account of Wren's architectural works and of some of -his scientific discoveries. He also published a smaller work, 'Sir C. -Wren and his Times,' intended perhaps to give a flavour of personal -interest to the other volume. Neither book succeeds in doing this, and -both have suffered from the circumstance that Mr. Elmes' failing -eyesight did not permit him to correct the proofs of either work, and -accordingly many serious errors as to names and dates stand unaltered in -them. There is a sketch of Wren in the British Family Library, one -published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and one -in the 'Biographica Britannica,' but in them all it is with some of the -works of the great architect that we become acquainted, not with -himself. - -The chief authority to which any biographer of Wren must perforce turn -is, the 'Parentalia, or Memoirs of the Family of the Wrens: viz., of -Matthew, Bishop of Ely; Christopher, Dean of Windsor and Registrar of -the Garter; but chiefly of Sir Christopher Wren.' This work, a folio, -with portraits[1] of the three whose lives it records, was published in -London in 1750, dedicated to Mr. Speaker Onslow. It was chiefly written -by Christopher, the eldest surviving son of Sir Christopher Wren, -finished and finally published by Stephen Wren, M.D., the second and -favourite, son of the Mr. C. Wren above mentioned, 'with care of Joseph -Ames,' a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Several copies were -presented to the University of Oxford. - -The 'Parentalia,' of which but a small edition was published, is now -scarce and little known. It is put together, not quite at hap-hazard, -but with no real method or order: digression ensues upon digression -until all clue to the original date or subject is lost. Nor is the very -imperfect 'index of names' of any real assistance in the labyrinth thus -created. Yet, with all its faults, the book is of great interest, and -bears amidst all errors and omissions an unmistakably genuine stamp. - -'Bishop Wren's Diary,' reference to which will be frequently found in -the following pages, was kept by him in the blank leaves of 'Pond's -Almanack,' after this fashion: - -'August 30.--_Per vim hostilem eripior domo meâ._ 1642.' - -These entries cease with the death of his wife in 1646; even his own -release from prison is not mentioned. - -The old heirloom copy of the 'Parentalia' intrusted to the writer of -these pages contains a large additional number of prints and wood -engravings by Virtue, Vandergucht, Loggan, and others, some printed -accounts of the City Churches, and several letters, rough drafts of -treatises, Garter records, and other MSS. in the handwritings of the -Bishop, the Dean, Sir Christopher himself, and of some of their -correspondents. Among the curious omissions of the 'Parentalia' are the -maiden name of Bishop Wren's wife, the date of the death of Sir -Christopher's mother, Mrs. Mary Wren, and the places and the dates at -which either of Sir Christopher's two weddings took place. Some of these -and other gaps I have, by the aid of 'Notes and Queries,' been able to -supply. Wren's son and grandson are both alike silent on all political -matters subsequent to the Restoration. The Popish Plot, the Trial of the -Seven Bishops, King James's Abdication, the Landing of William of Orange -are all passed by in perfect silence. The traditional politics of the -Wrens were certainly those of the loyal Cavalier party, and they were in -favour at the Court of the Stuarts. - -It is curious how all political colouring disappears from the record -after the period of the Restoration. Yet Sir Christopher, his cousins, -and the very Mr. Wren who writes the book were all in Parliament, and -that in more or less critical times. Such accidental hints as there are -point, I think, to Sir Christopher as adhering, though very quietly, to -the politics of his ancestors; and assuredly neither he nor his -descendants had any cause to love the house of Hanover! - -Wren was a steady Churchman, bred up in that school of Andrewes, of -Laud, and of Matthew Wren, which, if it was anti-Puritan, was equally -and emphatically anti-Roman. For this reason, if for no other, after the -trial of the Seven Bishops had shaken the confidence of every Churchman -in the country, Wren may have acquiesced in a settlement which appeared -to promise protection to the Church without finally excluding the Stuart -line. The 'Parentalia,' published five years after the last Jacobite -rising in 1745, preserves, as has been said, a political silence which -may be that of discretion or of disappointment. - -One word should be said as to Gresham College, where Wren held his first -professorship. It was founded in 1579 by the will of Queen Elizabeth's -great merchant Sir Thomas Gresham. The college was no other than his own -house in Bishopsgate, forming a quadrangle round a large garden. The -seven professors, each of whom gave a lecture a day in term time, had a -salary of 50_l._ a year and were lodged in the house. Gresham College -escaped the Fire, and gave lodgings at that time to the Lord Mayor and -the aldermen, who had been less fortunate. In 1768 it was pulled down by -Act of Parliament, to give a site to the new Excise Office, and the -original collegiate scheme was destroyed, though the lectures are still -given in a lecture hall. - -Little is known of Wren in his Masonic capacity. He is said to have been -a member and a master of the 'Old Lodge of S. Paul,' now known as the -'Lodge of Antiquity.' All the records of the Lodge belonging to that -time have unfortunately been lost, so that they cannot be consulted with -reference to this matter. - -The question has been raised whether Wren was a Freemason or not. On -this point the 'Parentalia' makes no explicit statement, though it -appears to imply Wren's connection with the Order. - -The Duke of Sussex caused a plate to be engraved in 1827 and affixed to -the mallet which Sir Christopher was said to have presented to the -Lodge, with this inscription:--'A. L. 5831. A.D. 1827. To commemorate -that this, being the same mallet with which His Majesty King Charles II. -levelled the foundation stone of S. Paul's Cathedral, A. L. 5677, A.D. -1673. Was presented to the Old Lodge of S. Paul, now the Lodge of -Antiquity, acting by immemorial constitution, by Brother Sir Christopher -Wren, R.W.D.G.M., Worshipful Master of this Lodge and Architect of that -Edifice.' - -The statement respecting King Charles's presence is probably an -erroneous one. The Lodge possesses also three gilt wooden candlesticks -in the form of columns, inscribed 'Ex dono Chr. Wren Eq. A. L. 5680.' - -Where quotations have been made directly from the Wren MS., from the -'Parentalia,' or from Evelyn's Diary, the spelling and stopping of the -originals have been faithfully reproduced. For the rest, the writer can -only hope that these pages may serve as a contribution towards that full -and worthy biography of the great architect which may yet, she trusts, -be written before London is finally robbed of the Churches with which -Wren's genius endowed her. - - _August 1, 1881._ - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] From which the three vignettes in this volume are taken. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - CHAPTER I. - - 1585-1636. - PAGE - Ancestry of the Wrens--Matthew Wren--Travels to Spain with - the Prince of Wales--Interview at Winchester - House--Bishop Andrewes' Prophecy--Wren made Master of - Peterhouse--Bishop of Hereford--Consecration of Abbey - Dore--Office of Reconciliation--Foreign Congregations - and the Norwich Weavers--Result of 'a Lecturer's' - Departure. 3 - - CHAPTER II. - - 1636-1640. - - Dr. C. Wren--Birth of his Son Christopher--East - Knoyle--Order of the Garter--How a Murderer was - Detected--Christopher at Westminster--A Latin - Letter--Diocese of Ely--Impeachment of Lord - Strafford--Of Archbishop Laud--Articles against Bishop - Wren--Resigns the Deanery of the Chapels Royal. 31 - - CHAPTER III. - - 1641-1647. - - Bishop Wren accused--Westminster Abbey attacked--Imprisonment - of the Bishops--Bishop Wren's Defence--'Utterly Denieth - all Popish Affections'--The Garter Jewels--Archbishop Laud - Murdered--Christopher at Oxford--Philosophical Meetings. 55 - - CHAPTER IV. - - 1647-1658. - - Death of Mrs. M. Wren--King Charles Murdered--A monotonous - Walk--Inventions--A Dream--All Souls' Fellowship-- - Beginnings of the Royal Society--Astronomy--An Offer of - Release--The Cycloid--Cromwell's Funeral--Letters from - London. 85 - - CHAPTER V. - - 1659-1663. - - Apostolical Succession--Difficulty of preserving - it--Letters from Lord Clarendon--Bishop Wren's - Release--The Restoration--Convocation--Savilian - Professorship--Royal Society--'Elephant in the - Moon'--Pembroke Chapel begun. 109 - - CHAPTER VI. - - 1664-1667. - - Repair of S. Paul's--Sheldonian Theatre--The Plague--A - Letter from Paris--Consecration of Pembroke Chapel--Fire - of London--Bishop Wren's Death--His Family. 139 - - CHAPTER VII. - - 1668-1672. - - Patching S. Paul's--Sancroft's Letters--Wren's Examination - of S. Paul's--Salisbury Cathedral--London as it might - have been--Letter to Faith Coghill--Wren marries - her--Temple Bar--S. Mary-le-Bow--Artillery - Company--Gunpowder used to remove Ruins. 165 - - CHAPTER VIII. - - 1672-1677. - - Birth of his eldest Son--S. Stephen's, Walbrook--S. Bennet - Fink--Plans for S. Paul's--The Excavations--Son - Christopher born--Death of Faith, Lady Wren--Second - Marriage--City Churches--The Monument--Tomb of Charles - I.--Remains of the little Princes in the Tower. 191 - - CHAPTER IX. - - 1677-1681. - - Emmanuel College--Greenwich Observatory--Birth of Jane and - William Wren--S. Bartholomew's--Portland Quarries--Dr. - and Mrs. Holder--Death of Lady Wren--Popish - Plot--Papin's Digester--Sir J. Hoskyns--All Hallow's, - Bread Street--Palace at Winchester. 215 - - CHAPTER X. - - 1681-1686. - - Chelsea College--S. James's, Westminster--A hard - Winter--Chichester Spire--An Astronomical Problem--A - Seat in Parliament--More City Churches--A curious - Carving. 239 - - CHAPTER XI. - - 1687-1696. - - Parliament dissolved--Church building--Acquittal of the - Seven Bishops--James the Second's Flight--William and - Mary--College of Physicians--Hampton Court--Greenwich - Hospital--Richard Whittington--S. Paul's Organ. 259 - - CHAPTER XII. - - 1697-1699. - - Opening of S. Paul's Choir--A moveable Pulpit--Letter to - his Son at Paris--Order against Swearing--Peter the - Great--S. Dunstan's Spire--Morning Prayer Chapel - opened--Westminster Abbey. 279 - - CHAPTER XIII. - - 1700-1708. - - Member for Weymouth--Rising of the Sap in Trees--Prince - George's Statue--Jane Wren's Death--Thanksgiving at S. - Paul's--Letter to his Son--Son marries Mary - Musard--Death of Mr. Evelyn--Queen Anne's Act for - Building fifty Churches--Letter on Church Building. 297 - - CHAPTER XIV. - - 1709-1723. - - Private Houses built--Queen Anne's Gifts--Last Stone of S. - Paul's--Wren deprived of his Salary--His - Petition--'Frauds and Abuses'--Interior work of S. - Paul's--Wren Superseded--Purchase of Wroxhall - Abbey--Wren's Thoughts on the Longitude--His - Death--Burial in S. Paul's--The End. 317 - - APPENDIX. - - I. Reverendo Patri Domino Christophoro Wren S.T.D. et D. W. - Christophorus Filius Hoc Suum Panorganum Astronomicum - D.D. xiii. Calend. Novem. Anno 1645. 337 - - II. Churches, Halls, Colleges, Palaces, other Public - Buildings, and Private Houses built and repaired by Sir - Christopher Wren. 338 - - III. A Discourse on Architecture, from Original MS. 340 - - INDEX 351 - - -[Illustration: THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN - FROM A DRAWING BY C. R. COCKERELL, R.A.] - - - - - CHAPTER I. - - 1585-1636. - - ANCESTRY OF THE WRENS--MATTHEW WREN--TRAVELS TO SPAIN WITH THE - PRINCE OF WALES--INTERVIEW AT WINCHESTER HOUSE--BISHOP ANDREWES' - PROPHECY--WREN MADE MASTER OF PETERHOUSE--BISHOP OF - HEREFORD--CONSECRATION OF ABBEY DORE--OFFICE OF - RECONCILIATION--FOREIGN CONGREGATIONS AND THE NORWICH - WEAVERS--RESULT OF 'A LECTURER'S' DEPARTURE. - - Time, like an ever-rolling stream - Bears all its sons away. - - -The name of Christopher Wren is no doubt familiar to the great majority -of English people, and to Londoners especially; but it is to many of -them little more than a name with which is connected S. Paul's Cathedral -and a now, alas! diminished number of City churches. Yet the great -architect's ninety-one years of life were passed among some of the most -stirring times of our history, in which his family played no -inconsiderable part, and he himself was not only the best architect of -his day, but was also the foremost in many other sciences. A singularly -patient and far-seeing intellect aiding a strong religious faith enabled -him 'to keep the even tenour of his way' through a life of incessant -labour and considerable temptation. It has been truly said, - - 'It seems almost like a defect in such a biography as that of Wren, - that it presents nothing of that picturesque struggle, in the rise - from a lower to a higher condition, which has so commonly attended - the conquest of genius over difficulty.'[2] - -Far otherwise, the Wren family was an old one, tracing its descent from -the Danes; one of the house fought in Palestine under Richard I., and -his fame long survived, as in Charles I.'s time it was quoted against -one of the knight's descendants. - -In 1455, during the reign of Henry VI., in the Black Book (or register) -of the Order of the Garter, mention is made of a Wren who probably -belonged to this family:-- - - 'The Lord of Winchester, Prelate of the order, performed the Divine - Service proper for S. George the Martyr, but the Abbots Towyrhill - and Medmenham being absent, were not excused, in whose stead Sir - William Stephyns read the gospel and Sir W. Marshal the epistle, - both of them singing men of the king's choir. The dean of the same - choir presented the gospel to the sovereigne to be kissed, and the - next day celebrated Mass for the deceased, Sir J. Andevere and John - Wrenne assisting in the reading of the epistle and gospel. The - reader of the gospel, after censing the reader of the epistle, - reverently tendered the heart of S. George to the sovereigne and - knights in order to be kissed.' - -The heart of S. George was presented by Sigismund, Emperor of Germany, -on his admission to the Order of the Garter. - -The spelling of 'Wrenne' was a very common form of the family name, and -it seems very likely that John Wrenne belonged to this family, who were -much connected with S. George's, Windsor. - -[_OLD FAMILY MOTTO._] - -William Wren was in Henry VIII.'s time the head of the family; his -younger brother Geoffrey, who was a priest, was of Henry VII.'s privy -council, and was confessor both to him and to Henry VIII. He held the -living of S. Margaret's, Fish Street, in the City of London, from 1512 -till his death.[3] Geoffrey Wren was also a canon of S. George's at -Windsor, where he founded the seventh stall. There he died in 1527, and -was buried in the north aisle of the chapel under a brass bearing his -effigy in the Garter mantle, with this inscription at his feet: - - 'Sub saxo ponor, et vermibus ultimis donor, - Et sicut ponor, ponitur omnis honor.'[4] - -This tomb and brass have disappeared, as has the 'South Lodge' with its -window displaying his coat of arms and emblem; the latter, a wren -holding a trefoil in its claw, and his motto--'Turbinibus superest coelo -duce praescius.' Dean Wren explains this emblem as chosen because, 'the -trefoil or clover shrinking before a storm foretold a change of -weather,' and the wren was supposed to have the same prescience. Both -motto and emblem were changed by the descendants of the family. - -William Wren's grandson, Francis, was born 1552, two years before the -close of Queen Mary's reign, at Monk's Kirby in Warwickshire, where the -family had property. He was a mercer and citizen of London, and was -steward to Mary Queen of Scots during her captivity in England. He -married Susan, daughter of William Wiffinson; they lived in the parish -of S. Peter's Cheap, and had three children: a daughter Anna, and two -sons; Matthew, born 1585, and Christopher, born 1589. Both were educated -at the Merchant Taylors' School, and there Matthew especially attracted -the notice of Lancelot Andrewes, then Dean of Westminster, who -frequently came to the school where he had been bred, and examined the -boys in various subjects, particularly in the Hebrew Psalter. He was -struck by the proficiency of the eldest of the Wrens, and obtained for -the boy a scholarship at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, of which he was -himself master. From that time Dr. Andrewes appears never to have lost -sight of Wren, but to have guided his studies and fostered 'the most -passionate affection for the ministry of the Church' which the young man -showed. Nor was Wren's university life undistinguished, for he became -Greek scholar of his college, and when King James visited Cambridge, -Matthew Wren, then in priest's orders, 'kept the Philosophy Act' before -him with great applause. The subject given was, 'Whether dogs were -capable of syllogisms.' Old Fuller says of this extraordinary 'Act,' 'he -kept it with no less praise to himself than pleasure to the king; where -if men should forget even dogs should remember his seasonable -distinction what the king's hounds could perform above others by virtue -of their prerogative.'[5] Probably this speech and its ready wit -remained on the mind of the King, who dearly loved a compliment to the -royal prerogative, and determined him to favour Matthew Wren. - -[_MATTHEW WREN._] - -Lancelot Andrewes, who had been Bishop of Chichester, was in 1609 -translated to Ely, and so enabled to watch over the University and 'to -search out,' as he entreated his friends to do also, 'hopeful and -towardly young wits,' and train them up for Holy Orders.[6] He made -Matthew Wren his chaplain, gave him the living of Feversham in -Cambridgeshire, and some years later made him a canon of Winchester. But -very different duties from the ordinary ones of a parish priest devolved -upon Wren. King James planned for the Prince of Wales the famous -'Spanish match,' and gave a most reluctant consent to the Duke of -Buckingham's scheme, that the Prince should himself go to Spain to fetch -home his bride. Two of his chaplains were to attend the Prince, and by -the advice of Bishop Andrewes and of Laud, then Bishop of S. David's, -Dr. Leonard Maw, afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells, and Dr. Matthew -Wren were chosen. The Prince and Buckingham departed hastily, leaving -the chaplains and suite to follow as they could. King James had no -sooner allowed the expedition than he repented of it, and being unable -to recall his permission, was tormented by a thousand fears for the -Prince's safety. The nation was in a state of ferment, persuaded that -the Prince's faith would be tampered with as well as his person -endangered. Thus the two chaplains had by no means an enviable post. -They went down to Newmarket, took their leave of the King and received -his last instructions:-- - - 'So as all their behaviour and service should prove decent and - agreeable to the purity of the Primitive Church, and yet so near - the Roman form as can lawfully be done; "for," said he, "it hath - ever been my way to go with the Church of Rome _usque ad - aras_."'[7] - - 'The two bishops gave them also written and detailed instructions - that there might appear a face of the Church of England in all - forms of worship; that in the sermons there may be no polemical - preachings to inveigh against the Romanists or to confute, but only - to confirm the doctrine and tenets of the Church of England by all - positive arguments either in fundamental or moral points.' - -A full list followed of vestments for the clergy, ornaments and hangings -for the altar, and altar lights, Latin service books, directions for a -room to be adorned chapel-wise, and for frequent services, all to be -read in Latin so that the Spaniards might comprehend them. All this -careful provision seems to have been defeated by the fact of the Prince -and his suite being lodged in the palace at Madrid, so that there was no -public service, only bed-chamber prayers. Contemporary letters show that -the chaplains' position was not an easy one, though the Prince remained -steadfast, and in the congenial atmosphere of the dignified Spanish -court became every day more gracious. 'Dr. Wren forbears,' says one of -these letters, 'to write any particulars, but intimates all is not as it -should be.' It was no doubt a necessary precaution on the chaplain's -part to preserve this discreet silence, but it is tantalising to have -only a hint concerning the transactions in Spain. How the negotiations -were delayed, how the King recalled the Prince and the marriage was -broken off, are historical facts too well known to need repetition here. -One result seems to have been a strong bond of affection between the -Prince and those who went with him on this singular expedition. - -[_RETURNS FROM SPAIN._] - -That his departure was attended with some sea-peril appears from one of -Edmund Waller's[8] early poems on 'the Danger which His Majesty, being -Prince, escaped in the Road at S. Andero':-- - - 'Now had his Highness bid farewell to Spain, - And reached the sphere of his own pow'r, the main; - With British bounty in his ship he feasts - The Hesperian princes his amazed guests, - To find that wat'ry wilderness exceed - The entertainment of their great Madrid.' - -A description follows of the Prince being rowed in a barge to his own -ship, a sudden storm arises in which there is a great difficulty in -making the ship; at length the Fates allow the rope to be successfully -thrown, knowing it to be for England:-- - - 'Whose prince must be (as their own books devise) - Lord of the scene where now his danger lies.' - -On October 8, 1623, Dr. Wren's diary records 'we landed at Portsmouth,' -and his first and only journey out of Great Britain was over. - -The sea-voyage, probably a stormy one, made an impression on his mind -and he preached before the Universities on the text 'One deep calleth to -another.' This is said to have been a remarkable sermon, and old Fuller -declares that he became an excellent preacher. The one sermon of his now -extant, preached at a later date, on the text 'Fear God, honour the -King,' shows that he modelled his style greatly on that of Bishop -Andrewes, though without attaining to the same excellence. The sermon is -a bold and outspoken one, and has its striking passages. King James, in -testimony of his approval of Dr. Wren's conduct as his son's chaplain, -bestowed on him the valuable living of Bingham, in Nottinghamshire, to -which he was inducted during the next year, resigning his fellowship of -Pembroke and the living of Feversham. - -[_AT WINCHESTER HOUSE._] - -Previous to this event, and soon after the Prince's return, a singular -incident occurred. Wren, who had been down to Cambridge, came up, as he -says, 'suddenly' to London, and as it was late, lodged with his sister -in Friday Street, instead of going to Winchester House, where the Bishop -kept 'three rooms near the garden' fitted and reserved for him, and -where he had lodged twice or thrice. He had, however, seen the Bishop -twice, also the Bishops of Durham and S. David's, had taken leave of -them on a Saturday, and was prepared to return to Cambridge on the -Monday morning following. His journey was, however, delayed by an event -which shall be given in his own words:--[9] - - 'On Monday morne by break of the day there was a great knocking at - the door where I lay. And at last the apprentice (who lay in the - shop) came up to my bedside, and told me there was a messenger from - Winchester House to speak with me. The business was to let me know, - that my Lord, when he came from Court last night, had given his - steward charge to order it so that I might be spoken with, and be - required as from him without fail to dine with him on Monday; but - to be at Winchester House by ten of the clock, which I wondered the - more at, his lordship not using to come from his study till near - twelve. My businesse would hardly permit this, yet because of his - lordship's importunity, I got up presently, and into Holborn I - went, and there used such despatch, that soon after ten of the - clock, I took a boat and went to Winchester House, where I found - the steward at the water gate waiting to let me in the nearest way; - who told me that my lord had called twice to know if I were come. I - asked where his lordship was? He answered, in his great gallery (a - place where I knew his lordship scarce came once in a year), and - thither I going, the door was locked, but upon my lifting a latch, - my lord of St. David's opened the door, and, letting me in, locked - it again. - - 'There I found but those three Lords, who causing me to sit down by - them, my Lord of Durham began to me: "Doctor, your Lord here will - have it so, I that am the unfittest person must be the speaker. But - thus it is. After you left us yesterday at Whitehall, we entering - into further discourses of those things which we foresee and - conceive will ere long come to pass, resolve to again to speak to - you before you went hence. - - '"We must know of you, what your thoughts are concerning your - master the Prince. You have now been his servant above two years, - and you were with him in Spain. We know he respects you well; and - we know you are no fool, but can observe how things are like to - go." "What things, my Lord?" (quoth I). "In brief," said he, "how - the Prince's heart stands to the Church of England, that when God - brings him to the Crown we may know what to hope for." - - 'My reply was to this effect, that however I was most unfit of any - opinion herein, attending but two months in the year and then at a - great distance, only in the closet and at meals; yet, seeing they - so pressed me, I would speak my mind freely; so I said, "I know my - master's learning is not equal to his father's, yet I know his - judgement to be very right; and as for his affection in these - particulars which your Lordships have pointed at, for upholding - the doctrine and discipline and right estate of the Church, I have - more confidence of him than of his father, in whom they say (better - than I can) is so much inconstancy in some particular cases." - -[_BISHOP ANDREWES' PROPHECY._] - - 'Hereupon my Lords of Durham and St. David's began to argue it with - me, and required me to let them know upon what ground I came to - think thus of the Prince. I gave them my reasons at large; and - after many replyings, (above an hour together,) then my Lord of - Winchester (who had said nothing all the while) bespake me these - words:-- - - '"Well, Doctor, God send you may be a good prophet concerning your - master's inclinations in these particulars, which we are glad to - hear from you. I am sure I shall be a true prophet: I shall be in - my grave, and so shall you, my Lord of Durham; but my Lord of St. - David's and you, Doctor, will live to see that day that your master - will be put to it, upon his head and his crown, without he will - forsake the support of the Church." - - 'Of these predictions made by that holy father,' adds the writer, - 'I have now no witness but mine own conscience and the Eternal God - who knows I lie not; nobody else being present when this was spoken - but these three Lords.' - -After this the four friends separated and Wren returned to Cambridge. - -In two years from the time of that conference King James died, in the -following year the saintly Bishop Andrewes, the kind and unfailing -friend of both the Wrens, died also. It is to the great discredit of -James I., and probably was the inconstancy to which Dr. Wren alluded, -that, as has happened in our own day, the greatest Prelate, the -'incomparable preacher,' the truest and wisest champion of the Church, -was passed over when the archbishopric was vacant, an inferior man put -above him, and at last the see of Winchester offered to him in tardy -amends. At Archbishop Bancroft's death in 1610, everyone's eyes had -turned to Bishop Andrewes as his natural successor: but, in the words of -a contemporary letter from Lord Baltimore (then Mr. Calvert) to Sir T. -Edmonds, - - 'The Bishop of London (Abbot) by a strong north wind blowing out of - Scotland is blown over the Thames to Lambeth; the king having - professed to the Bishop himself as also to all the Lords of this - council that it is neither the respect of his learning, his wisdom - nor his sincerity (although he is well persuaded there is not any - one of them wanting in him), that hath made him to prefer him above - the rest of his fellows, but merely the recommendation of his - faithful servant Dunbar that is dead, whose suit on behalf of this - Bishop he cannot forget, nor will suffer to lose his - intention.'[10] - -[_MASTERSHIP OF PETERHOUSE._] - -The consequences of such an ecclesiastical appointment made for so -insufficient a reason were disastrous indeed. Had Andrewes succeeded -Bancroft, and had Laud succeeded Andrewes, 'the Church had been settled -on so sure a foundation that it had not easily been shaken.'[11] - -There was general lamentation when Andrewes died, and few can have -mourned him more sincerely than Matthew Wren, whom he had loved as a -son. Wren attended the funeral, received the gold ring which was the -Bishop's bequest to him, and composed the Latin epitaph for his tomb in -S. Saviour's, Southwark, which is no unworthy tribute to the holy -Bishop. - -During this year Dr. Wren was elected, by the unanimous wish of the -fellows, Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he 'exercised such -prudence and moderation in his government that he reduced all the -fellows to one sacred bond of unity and concord.' Besides this he -rebuilt the college in great part from the ground, and perceiving that -the absence of a chapel was a great obstacle in the way of reverent and -frequent services, he did not rest until he had raised subscriptions -enough to build a handsome chapel, and to ornament it richly.[12] The -wood-panelled hexagonal roof, the marble steps on which the altar -stands, flanked by two tall candlesticks, give a character to the -interior enhanced by the east window, which is in part a copy of that -famous picture of the Crucifixion, then just finished, by Rubens, at -Antwerp. This window was carefully taken down in the Rebellion before -the college was visited, and hidden away in boxes. A wise precaution, -for the commissioners destroyed all the other ornaments, pulling down -'two mighty angels with wings, divers other angels, the four -evangelists, and Peter with his keys on the chapel door, together with -about a hundred cherubim and many superstitious letters in gold. -Moreover,' they say, 'we found six angels on the windows which we -defaced.' After the Restoration the hidden glass was brought forth again -and put back in its place over the altar.[13] While Dr. Wren was thus -adorning his college chapel King Charles did not show himself forgetful -of Bishop Andrewes' well-loved pupil and chaplain, but in 1628 appointed -him Dean of Windsor and registrar of the Order of the Garter. The year -after this appointment the peace between England and France was solemnly -ratified in the chapel at Windsor and Dean Wren administered the oath to -the French ambassador, the Marquis de Châteauneuf. - -About this time, as his diary says, he was 'joined together in happy -matrimony.' His wife was Eliza Brownrigg, the widowed daughter of Thomas -Cull, Esquire, of Ipswich; she had one daughter by her first marriage, -and seems to have been possessed of some property in Suffolk. The -marriage was in truth as happy as the cruel times in which their lot was -cast would allow, though chequered with many sorrows; for of the twelve -children whose birth Wren records in his diary, six died while very -young. When King Charles journeyed to Scotland for his coronation he -summoned Wren to attend him. No shadow of the coming trouble showed -itself then. The young King was everywhere received with enthusiasm. -Whether Dr. Wren, mindful of Andrewes' words, suspected what lay under -this fair show, there is no record left to tell us. In after years Sir -Thomas Widdrington's venomous attack on himself must have strangely -recalled his tones when on this occasion he addressed the King in terms -of fulsome adulation at Berwick. On his return from Scotland the King -passed the holy week at York, where on Maunday Thursday Dr. Wren washed -the feet of thirty-nine poor old men in warm water, drying them with a -linen cloth, and Dr. Curle, Bishop of Winchester, washed them over again -in white wine and then kissed them. - -[_BISHOPRIC OF HEREFORD._] - -Shortly after this, Dr. Lindsell, the Bishop of Hereford, died, and -Matthew Wren was appointed (1634) to the vacant see. He thereupon -resigned the Mastership of Peterhouse, probably with much regret, for -all his life he retained a strong affection for his University. His -successor was one whose name is well known in church history, Dr. John -Cosin, afterwards Dean of Durham and Bishop of Peterborough, a great -authority on the ritual and ornaments of the Church. The King would not -then suffer Wren to resign the Deanery of Windsor. When Dr. Juxon, who -was Clerk of the Closet, was made Bishop of London, the King showed how -highly he valued and esteemed Bishop Wren by giving him the post which -Juxon resigned, and Dr. Wren then gave up his Deanery. His new post was -one of great nearness to the King; to fill it well required great tact -and a discreet deafness to the whispers of court intriguers. King -Charles was well aware of this, and as soon as Wren had settled himself -in his new post said to him:[14] - - 'Now you are at my elbow there will be many devices to set you and - the Archbishop (Laud) at odds. But I warn you of it that you suffer - no such trick to be put on you, and therefore I require you both, - by that faith which I am sure you will both perform to me, to bind - yourselves mutually neither of you to believe any report against - the other; and if you meet with any such thing, believe it not, yet - presently impart it to each other.' - -The wisdom of the King's counsel was quickly shown, for when Dr. Hackett -came in his turn of office as the next month's chaplain, he told Wren -how they had expected him to be made Bishop of London, and but for the -Archbishop preferring Juxon, as a man of whom he had experience and on -whom he could rely, it would have been done. Wren paid no regard to -these suggestions, suspecting them to be the device of some discontented -courtier in order to make him the Archbishop's enemy. To keep his faith -with the King and the Archbishop, he presently told them what had -passed. The King praised his conduct and told him, 'there was no truth -in the report, but only a plot to kindle coals between them two.' - -[_CONSECRATION OF ABBEY DORE._] - -Bishop Wren began vigorous work in Hereford, holding a visitation, -collecting and setting in order the statutes of the cathedral, which -were in a state of great confusion. Another congenial piece of work came -also into his hands. John, Viscount Scudamore, a friend of Laud's, had -inherited, with other property, the old Cistercian abbey of Dore, near -Monmouth; the building had been greatly damaged in the reign of Henry -VIII., but the transepts, chancel, and lady chapel still stood, as they -do now, and Lord Scudamore was minded to restore the building to its -true use. He accordingly repaired it, setting up again the old stone -altar on its four pillars, and providing the church with everything -needful for service. Bishop Wren was unable to consecrate the building -himself, being in constant attendance on the King, but he busied himself -in drawing up an office for the occasion, like, but not identical with, -that used by Bishop Andrewes, and commissioned Bishop Field of S. -David's to act for him. Bishop Wren was, as Lord Clarendon testifies, -'much versed in the old liturgies, particularly those of the Eastern -Church.' He employed himself, at Laud's request, in preparing a service -for the reconciliation of those who had apostatised when in slavery with -the Moors, and when released wished to return to the faith. The -merchants and seamen who were taken by 'Barbary pirates,' and when -released came sadly back to England with their story of cruel sufferings -undergone and faith reluctantly forsworn, were numerous enough to -require a special provision to be made for them. - -Knolles' quaint 'Historie of the Turks' shows that they even made -descents on the western coasts of England and carried off men, women, -and children into slavery. In 1636, with some of the much-grudged -'ship-money,' a very successful expedition was made under Lord -Rainsborough against Sallee, which resulted in the release of large -numbers of captives and a promise from the Moorish king to suppress -Christian slavery. It is significant that the real leader of the -expedition was John Dunton, a reformed renegade taken _off the Isle of -Wight_ in command of a Sallee ship. He was tried and condemned, but -saved his life by offering to show the assailable points of the Barbary -ports, and sailed as master on Lord Rainsborough's ship.[15] - -['_RECONCILIATION OF A RENEGADO._'] - -The 'Form of Penance and Reconciliation of a Renegado or Apostate from -the Christian Religion to Turcism,'[16] which Wren and Laud prepared -together, is a very striking one. First came the solemn excommunication, -then for two Sundays the penitent came to the door of his parish church -in a white sheet carrying a white wand, craving the prayers of all 'good -Christians for a poor wretched renegado;' on the second Sunday he was -allowed to enter and kneel by the font and pray to be 'restored to the -rights and benefits of the blessed sacrament which I have so wickedly -abjured,' and then return to the church porch as before. On the third -Sunday, when the Apostles' creed had been said, after being publicly put -in mind of his sin, and advised 'that a slight and ordinary sorrow is -not enough for so grievous an offence,' the penitent, kneeling eastward, -and bowing to the very pavement, was to confess his sin and declare his -sorrow and repentance, and to ask the prayers of the congregation. Also -to 'thank God for His mercies, especially for the divine ordinance of -His Holy Sacraments, and of His heavenly power committed to His Holy -Priests, in His Church for the reconciliation of sinners unto Himself -and the absolving them from all their iniquity.' - - 'Then,' says the rubric, 'let the Priest come forth to him, and - stand over him, and laying his hand on his head, say, as is - prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer, thus:-- - - Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has left power to his Church to absolve - all sinners which truly repent and believe in Him, of His great - mercy forgive thee thine offences; and, by His authority committed - unto me, I absolve thee from this thy heinous crime of - renunciation, and from all thy other sins, in the name of the - Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.' - -After this follows, with slight alteration, a collect, also from the -Visitation of the Sick, and then the priest was to take the penitent by -the hand, take away from him the white sheet and the wand, and address -to him, once again as dear brother, an affectionate exhortation to walk -worthy 'of so great a mercy,' and promise him re-admission to the Holy -Communion on the next opportunity. How often this service was employed -does not appear. The whole form is so beautiful that it is matter for -regret it should be so much forgotten. - -Wren had been Bishop of Hereford but one year, when the Bishop of -Norwich, Dr. R. Corbet, was translated to Oxford, and Bishop Wren -translated in turn to the vacant see. It is easy to see Laud's hand in -this. Norwich was a large wide diocese, much shaken by schism and -faction and abounding with lecturers who were the torment of the Church -at that time and were not unaptly compared 'to bats or reremice, being -neither birds nor beasts, and yet both together,'[17] i.e. neither clerk -nor layman. - -They were not unfrequently men who had been ordained without cure of -souls and served as chaplains in gentlemen's houses, or men whose orders -were doubtful, or mere laymen who had failed in other callings. They -were all strong Calvinists, seldom read the services, but called a fast, -quite irrespective of those of the Church, and gave a lecture. This -speedily became a 'running lecture,' i.e. was not confined to one place -but ran from parish to parish. Every possible check was put by the -Archbishop upon these lectures, which were fatal to the proper order of -the parishes and all church discipline. Private gentlemen were forbidden -to have chaplains, all who preached were compelled to wear a surplice -and first to read the Church Service, and in the afternoon to teach the -Church Catechism. Wren, Mainwaring, Corbet, Montague, and other -like-minded bishops set themselves vigorously to enforce the -Archbishop's plans, esteeming the discipline and doctrine of the Church -more valuable than the popularity which their firmness forfeited. -Norwich presented an especial difficulty to the Bishop in the great -number of weavers and other workmen who had taken refuge there from the -Low Countries in times of persecution, and who still kept up their -schismatic services. - -As his treatment of the Norwich weavers has always been the principal -ground of attack against Wren, from Lord Clarendon down to writers of -the present time, it is needful to enter somewhat into the question, and -to see where the truth lies. - -[_FOREIGN CONGREGATIONS._] - -These foreign workmen had settled in England at various times, escaping -from persecutions in the Low Countries and in France, and, though they -had never had any distinct permission to use their own services, their -doing so had been winked at by Queen Elizabeth and King James. Now they -had reached a third generation and continued to profit by an exemption -which was enjoyed by no other body of the kingdom. It will be borne in -mind that as the laws then ran and were understood, every English -subject was required to be also a member of the Church of England. The -first generation of refugees were an exception, but when they reached a -second and third generation, had their own ministers and pretended to -the power of Ordination, they became an anomaly, and as Laud, when -Bishop of London, said, 'The example is of ill-consequence in Church -affairs to the subjects of England, many being confirmed by it in their -stubborn ways and inconformities.' The matter was not likely to be -mended by Archbishop Abbot; but when Laud succeeded him he addressed -himself, in 1634, vigorously to the business, and set out this dilemma: - - 'If they were not of the same religion' (as the Church of England), - 'why should they, being strangers, born in other countries, or - descending from them, expect more liberty of conscience than the - Papists had, being all natives, and descending from English - parents? If of the same, why should they not submit to the - government and forms of worship, being the outward acts and - exercises of the religion here by law established?' - -Every art that could be used was employed by the congregations to avoid -returning an answer to the Archbishop's inquiries, whether the -English-born members would conform and use the Liturgy in their own -language. The two congregations in Norwich resisted vehemently and -remonstrated with Bishop Corbet, who was then bishop of the diocese; but -Archbishop Laud himself visited the diocese and caused the injunction to -be published in the congregations. It had been modified until it only -ordered that, while strangers, as long as they were strangers, might use -their own discipline, yet that the English Liturgy should be translated -into French and Dutch for the better fitting of their children to the -English Government. In Canterbury, he kept them 'on a harder diet,' and -allowed only the translated Liturgy. All this took place before Bishop -Wren came to Norwich, so it is manifestly unjust to accuse him of having -set the measure, moderate as it was, on foot. The congregations remained -a focus of Calvinism and discontent, secretly encouraged by all the -leading Puritans, and envied by the lecturers who wished themselves in -the like case. - -[NORWICH CLOTH WEAVERS.] - -Another trouble in Norwich, was the failure of business amongst the -cloth weavers, whose trade was the chief industry of the town; the -failure appears to have been, in a great measure, caused by the plague, -which raged in London in 1636,[18] and put a stop for a considerable -time to the weekly traffic between it and Norwich. Many of the workmen -in consequence betook themselves to Holland, to obtain the means of -livelihood. The same thing had happened in Bishop Corbet's time, but as -in this instance it coincided with Wren's first visitation, there were -not wanting those who said that his severity in enforcing conformity was -the main reason of their departure. This accusation seems never to have -been made at the time, but only later on, when every conceivable charge -was being raked up against the Bishop. He truly says, that, often as at -the council board the failure of the weaving trade and the emigration of -the skilled workmen to Holland was lamented, it was never suggested that -his severity was in any way the cause of it. In his defence, prepared -for the House of Commons, the Bishop, besides accounting for much of -the emigration by the failure of trade, consequent on the plague, -reduces the number, by comparing it with the records kept at the various -ports, from the alleged 3,000 to about 300, and drily says: 'The -defendant humbly conceiveth that the chiefest cause of their departure -was the small wages given to the workmen, whereby the workmasters grew -rich, and the workmen were kept very poor.' - -[Sidenote: 'NO LECTURE, BUT VERY MUCH PEACE.'] - -The charge has been often revived, the more so as though the accusation -is well known enough, the defence, only to be found in the 'Parentalia,' -is hardly known except to the few who have threaded the labyrinth of -that scarce volume. That Wren was a great upholder of discipline and -authority, a man of a fiery energetic temper, decided opinions, and an -unyielding, perhaps a severe, disposition, is certainly true; but it is -also true that he practised, as Laud and Strafford did, an even-handed -justice, laying his hand on rich and poor alike, and would not turn -aside for any suggestion of policy or expediency. It should, however, in -fairness be added, that though he made his authority felt and obeyed, he -did not press matters to extremity against any clergyman without grave -cause, and was very ready to receive those who showed any readiness to -submit. Of the 1,300 clergy in the diocese, not including those attached -to the Cathedral or the schoolmasters, in spite of 'many disorders,' -there were in 1636 but thirty excommunicated or suspended, some for -contumacy, some for obstinately refusing to publish the King's -declaration, some 'for contemning all the Orders and Rites of the -Church and intruding themselves, without licence from the Ordinary, for -many years together.' His returns to the Archbishop show how very -thoroughly and diligently he, to use a modern phrase, 'worked his -diocese,' visiting parish after parish, causing the fabrics to be -repaired,[19] the clergy to reside, to hold the appointed services and -to catechise the children. Here and there a lecturer who promised -conformity was allowed to remain, but generally they were checked and -discouraged. Great Yarmouth must have gladdened the Bishop's heart, as, -two years before Bishop Wren came to the Diocese, the lecturer had gone -to New England, 'since which time,' the Bishop says, 'there hath been no -lecture and very much peace in the town and all ecclesiastical orders -well observed.' It was in truth a great undertaking to bring the Diocese -of Norwich into order; but Wren did not shrink from the task, and had -all the support which the King and the Archbishop could give, a support -afterwards imputed as a crime both to those who gave and to him who -received it. - -FOOTNOTES: - - [2] _Warwickshire Worthies_, p. 845. Article by C. Wren Hoskyns, Esq., - M.P. - - [3] S. Margaret's, standing close to Pudding Lane, where the Fire of - London began in 1666, was the first church consumed. Its site is - now occupied by the Monument, and the parish incorporated with - that of S. Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge. - - [4] Laid under the stone, - For the worms alone, - All mortal pride - Is laid aside. (G. A. D.) - - [5] Bishop Andrewes was so well pleased that he 'sent the moderator - (Dr. Meade), the answerer (Mr. M. Wren), the varier, and one of - the repliers that were all of his house (i.e. Pembroke), twenty - angels apiece.' _Life of Bishop Andrewes_, Lib. Anglo-Catholic - Theology, p. xxi. - - [6] _Life of Bishop Andrewes_, Lib. Anglo-Catholic Theology, p. - xvii. - - [7] _Cypr. Ang._, p. 100. Heylin. - - [8] Edmund Waller, born March 3, 1605. He was connected by his - marriage with Cromwell, and wrote one of his best poems as a - panegyric on the Protector, but was supposed to be a Cavalier at - heart and rejoiced at the Restoration; died 1687. - - [9] 'A transcript of a certain narrative written by the late Bishop - of Ely (Dr. Matthew Wren) with his own hand, of that remarkable - conference, which after his return from Spain with Prince - Charles, 1636, he had with Dr. Neile, then Bishop of Durham, Dr. - Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester, and Dr. Laud, Bishop of S. - David's, touching the said Prince, whereat something prophetical - was then said by that Reverend Bishop of Winchester.' Printed - from a MS. in the Ashmolean Museum. _Life of Bishop Andrewes_, - Lib. Anglo-Catholic Theology, p. lvii. - - [10] _Life of Bishop Andrewes_, Lib. Anglo-Catholic Theology, p. x. - - [11] _Cypr. Ang._, p. 59. Heylin. - - [12] Evelyn, who visited Cambridge in 1655, says of Peterhouse, 'a - pretty neate college having a delicate chappell.' - - The chapel, especially the west front, of S. Peter's College, is - one of the best specimens of the Renaissance Art at - Cambridge.--_Hist. of Modern Architecture_, p. 275. Fergusson. - - [13] _Beauties of England and Wales_ (Cambridgeshire). - - [14] _Life of Archbishop Juxon_, p. 27. Rev. W. H. Marah. - - [15] _Annals of England_, p. 407. - - [16] _Eccles. Hist._, vol. ix. p. 388, ed. 1841, Collier, where the - office may be found entire. - - [17] _Cypr. Ang._, introduction, p. 9. Heylin. - - [18] 'On August 29, 1636 (the plague then raging in London), King - Charles, the Queen, and the Court arrived at Oxford. The - Chancellor (Archbishop Laud), the Vice-Chancellor, and numerous - doctors and masters went out to meet the royal retinue. The - Chancellor, accompanied by the Lord Treasurer (Bishop Juxon), - the Bishop of Winchester (Dr. Curle), the Bishop of Norwich (Dr. - M. Wren), and the Bishop of Oxford (Dr. Bancroft), rode in a - coach.' The Court was entertained with very brilliant - festivities, and a series of masks and interludes arranged by - Inigo Jones.--_Oxfordshire Annals_, p. 25, by J. M. Davenport. - - [19] The state of the diocese is vividly shown in Bishop Corbet's - charge of 1634 (for the repairs of old S. Paul's Cathedral). - 'Some petitions,' he says, 'I have had since my coming to this - diocese, for the pulling downe of such an isle [aisle] or for - changing lead to thatch, soe far from reparations that our sute - is to demolish.... Since Christmas I was sued to and I have it - yett under their hands, the hand of the minister and the hand of - the whole parish, that I would give way to their adorning their - church within and out, to build a stone wall round the - churchyard which now had but a hedg. _I took it for a flout at - first_, but it proved a very sute; they durst not without leave - mend a fault forty yeares ould.' The spire of Norwich Cathedral - where Bishop Corbet was preaching had fallen in, and during - three years but two yards had been rebuilt. See _Documents - relating to S. Paul's_ by Dr. Sparrow Simpson, p. 137. Camden - Society. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - 1630-1640. - - DR. C. WREN--BIRTH OF HIS SON CHRISTOPHER--EAST KNOYLE--ORDER OF - THE GARTER--HOW A MURDERER WAS DETECTED--CHRISTOPHER AT - WESTMINSTER--A LATIN LETTER--DIOCESE OF ELY--IMPEACHMENT OF LORD - STRAFFORD--OF ARCHBISHOP LAUD--ARTICLES AGAINST BISHOP - WREN--RESIGNS THE DEANERY OF THE CHAPELS ROYAL. - - Instead of kitchen-stuff, some cry - A gospel-preaching ministry, - And some for old suits, coats, or cloak, - No surplices nor service-book. - A strange harmonious inclination - Of all degrees to Reformation. - _Hudibras_, pt. i. canto 2. - - -Less is known of the early years of Christopher Wren than of his -brother's more eventful life. Christopher went to Oxford, to S. John's -College, was admitted to Holy Orders, and, like his brother, became -chaplain to Bishop Andrewes, from whom in 1620 he received the living of -Fonthill Bishops in Wiltshire. - -It may be said in passing, that to receive preferment from Lancelot -Andrewes was in itself a proof of merit, for it was his especial care, -in the three dioceses which he successively governed, only to promote -able and good men to 'such livings and preferments as fell within his -gift, and to give Church preferment to _none that asked for it_.' To -this rule he rigidly adhered, and his disciple, Matthew Wren, followed -the same plan when he became a Prelate of the Church. - -Christopher did not hold this living more than three years, and then -received, also from Bishop Andrewes, the neighbouring living of East (or -Bishop's) Knoyle, very near Fonthill Abbey, afterwards a place famous -for its beauty and its curiosities, then the property of a Mr. Robert -Cox. This gentleman had an only child, Mary, who inherited his property; -she became the wife of Christopher Wren, probably a few years after his -appointment to East Knoyle, where their seven children were born--five -girls, of only one of whom there is any subsequent record, and two sons. -A Christopher, baptized in the November of 1630, who probably died very -young, as in the register the record stands, 'Christopher, first sonne -of Doctor Wren,' 'first' is added above in another hand. The next -baptism is, 'Christopher, 2nd (_sic_) sonne of Christopher Wren, Dr. in -Divinitie and Rector now.' This is in the entries for 1631 (O.S.), -followed by those for March, and is dated only '10th.' - -This 'second Christopher' is the one who was to make the name afterwards -so famous; but the date is very perplexing. Dr. Wren and his son both -reckoned the latter's age from his birthday, October 20, 1632, as -appears again and again in the 'Parentalia,' notably in Dr. Wren's own -MS. note to a letter from his son.[20] The East Knoyle Register would, -if the baptism is rightly put among the entries for _March_ 1631 (O.S.), -make the birthday October 20, 1631; but it seems more likely that this -is an error, and 1632 the correct date. - -[CHANCEL AT EAST KNOYLE.] - -At East Knoyle Dr. Wren appears to have passed most of his time, leaving -it occasionally, as he had done his previous living, to attend on Bishop -Andrewes. He was a good scholar, if less deeply learned than his -brother; a mathematician, a good musician, and had besides some -knowledge of drawing and architecture. He employed himself in decorating -East Knoyle chancel, and to him, in all probability, are owing the[21] -'flower borders, figures, and texts of Scripture in raised plasterwork' -which, though much defaced, still cover the chancel. The subjects -are--'Jacob's Dream,' 'The Ladder with the Angels,' 'Jacob anointing the -Pillar.' Over the chancel arch 'The Ascension of our Lord.' Round the -capitals of the columns are quaint inscriptions: - - Sic ae Am a - pr sis. a. A Deo pta.[22] - ut o or o - -'Unum necessarium.' The texts of holy Scripture, which are very well -chosen, are all quoted from that earlier translation known as the -'Bishops' Bible,' to which the Psalms, Offertory sentences, and -'Comfortable Words' of the Prayer Book belong. - -Besides this, Wren contrived a new roof for the church, as the old one -was falling into decay. In the hall of the rectory he put up the -following inscription: - - 'In quamcunque domum introeritis primum dicite: - paX sIt hVIC DoMVI - Tam solenni præcepto, tempestivo voto - Subscripsi introiens - C. W. RECTOR, - Julii 28. Anno dicto.'[23] - - -The inscription is not a little characteristic of the gentle, -peace-loving nature of Christopher Wren, and the quaint conceits in -which the wits of the time delighted. This form of chronogram was one -which he frequently used. His second daughter, Susan, was born in 1627, -and as she and the 'second Christopher' clung closely together in after -life, and the others are never mentioned, it seems likely that they two -were the only survivors of the seven children. Christopher was a very -delicate, weakly boy, who early gave promise of brilliant abilities. No -records say when Mrs. Wren died, but various things seem to show that -she died when her children were still very young. - -Dr. Wren had been one of the King's chaplains in ordinary since 1628, -and so well did he acquit himself that when his brother the Bishop -resigned the deanery of Windsor and the registrarship of the Garter, the -King appointed Christopher to the vacant post. It was an appointment -which suited him well; he took up with equal energy his brother's work, -of arranging the documents and records, and continuing the history of -the Order. Two autograph letters relating to this are preserved in the -'Parentalia,' one from the chancellor of the Garter, Sir Thomas Rowe:-- - - 'Reverend Sir,--I had wayted on you before this tyme, but that I - have been punished with Lamenes, both for my owne advantage to - learne of y^u and to acquaint y^u with some orders I have received - from his ma^{tie} and to give y^u ye summe of ye last chapiter as I - conceived it.' - -[GARTER RECORDS.] - -Sundry particulars follow, and he promises a record of the members of -the Garter from its foundation. The King, he says, is anxious that every -'chapiter of the Order' should be fully recorded. Sir Thomas asks for -'the papers of Sir John Fynnet' in order to send them to King Charles, -'who is very curious of them.' 'On all occasions,' the letter concludes, -'I shall be glad to give y^u ye testimonye of my desire to be esteemed -and to be y^r affectionate friend to serve y^u, - - 'THO. ROWE. - 'Cranford, 9 Jan. 1636 (O.S.)' - -The Dean's answer comes promptly:-- - - 'Jan. 10, 1636 (O.S.) - - 'Honorable Sir,--How much you obliged me I shall endeavour to - demonstrate to you upon better opportunities. For ye present I - returne y^r books and promise you ye sight of another some^{wt} of - them(?) w^{ch} phaps you will not dislike, though I begin to think - your exact diligence hath lefte none of those monuments lye - undiscryed, where they might be gained. I send back likewise Sir - John Finet's Paps; whereof I reserve ye copyes. And now that I - begin to finde a little respiration, I will draw y^m up into acte. - Till I had y^m I could not well begin, and now that you are pleased - to send me ye last, drawne up into forme, I shall ye better - accomplish ye whole business of my little time. Whereof I will send - you ye whole contextures, Deo dante, ere longe. I should however - give you a formall thanks that you imploy yourselfe soe largely, - soe nobly for me in present, and in promise more. Knowing your - reality in all worth, I abstain from other compliments then those - wherein Affection must pforce speake yf she speake at all. Once for - all, that branch of our comon oath is never out of my minde: - Sustentabis Honores hujus Ordinis atq. omni^m qui in eo sunt. Of - w^{ch} omni^m you are Pars Magna and shall ever be to your - affectionate ob: servant friend, - - 'CHR. WREN. - - 'To the Honble Sr. Tho. Row Chancelor of ye most Honble - Order of ye Garter.' - - -The Garter history appears to have been carefully continued, and Dean -Wren describes, in a long picturesque account, the admission on May 19, -1638, of the Prince of Wales, then but eight years old, as a 'companion -of the Garter.' The little Prince, Dean Wren says, acquitted himself -admirably during the three days of intricate ceremonial, doing his part -with accuracy and spirit, a sweet dignity, and an unwearied patience -until all was completed. - -He must have been a very hopeful, engaging, boy, and it is sad to think -how little his after life fulfilled its early promise: had he remained -in his father's care a very different record might have been left of him -in English history. The Service of Admission is a curious one, and the -prayers on the putting on the Garter, the ribbon, the collar, and the -mantle have considerable beauty. On this occasion the festival was -celebrated with great splendour. King Charles presented two large silver -flagons, cunningly carved and very richly gilt, offering them on his -knees with these words: 'Tibi, et perpetuo Tuo servitio, partem -bonitatis Tuae offero Domine Deus Omnipotens.'[24] - -These were added to the treasury of the Garter, which contained many -articles of great value. There was a set of triple gilt silver plate -wrought by Van Vianen[25] of Nuremberg, estimated at over 3,000_l._, -several other pieces of plate, Edward IV.'s steel armour, gilt, and -covered with crimson velvet embroidered with pearls, rubies and gold, -fifteen rich copes embroidered in gold, altar-cloths and hangings worked -with the same costly material. - -[GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.] - -There was also the blue velvet mantle, the George and Garter of Gustavus -Adolphus, each letter of the motto made in diamonds. These had been sent -to the King of Sweden by Charles I. at the close of the campaign in 1627 -as a mark of friendship and respect for his valour, and were the richest -ever sent even to a sovereign. - -After the heroic king's death on the field at Lutzen, in 1634, a solemn -embassy brought the mantle and the jewels back to England, when they -were consigned to the Dean and Chapter of Windsor, with a charge from -King Charles to lay them up in the treasury 'for a perpetual memorial of -that renowned King, who died in the field of battle wearing some of -those jewels, to the great honour of the Order, as a true martial prince -and companion thereof.' - -A few years later King Charles presented Dean Wren to the rectory of -Great Haseley[26] near Oxford, with a fine old church containing two -crusaders' tombs. - -In the parish of Haseley is the manor of Ryecote (or Ricot), which by -marriage had become the property of Sir Henry Norris, Queen Elizabeth's -ambassador to France, whom she created Baron Norris (or Norreys) of -Ryecot, and whose descendants, now the Earls of Abingdon, possess the -manor to this day. During Dr. Wren's incumbency, a strange event took -place. Among the retainers of Lord Norris was an old man who had charge -of the fish ponds; he had one nephew, who was the heir of all his -uncle's possessions and savings. The nephew enticed the old man out one -night, waited till he fell asleep under an oak tree, murdered him by a -blow on the head, dragged the body to one of the ponds, tied a great -stone to the neck and threw the corpse in. There it lay _five weeks_, -during which time Lord Norris and all the neighbours wondered what had -become of the old man. At length the body was found by the men who were -about to clean the pond, and were attracted to the spot by the swarms of -flies; they raised the corpse with great difficulty and recognised it. - -[AN AWFUL WITNESS.] - -The stone tied to the neck was evidence of foul play, though no one -could guess at the murderer. Lord Norris, in order to detect the -criminal, after the usual manner, commanded that the corpse, preserved -by the water from the last extremity of decay, should on the next Sunday -be exposed in the churchyard, close to the church door, so that everyone -entering the church should see--and touch it. The wicked nephew shrank -from the ordeal, feigning to be so overwhelmed with grief as to be -unable to bear the sight of his dearest uncle. Lord Norris, suspecting -that the old man had been murdered by the one person whom his death -would profit, compelled him to come, and to touch with his finger, as so -many had willingly done, the hand of the dead. At his touch, however, -'as if opened by the finger of God, the eyes of the corpse were seen by -all to move, and blood to flow from his nostrils.' At this awful witness -the murderer fell on the ground and avowed the crime, which he had -secretly committed and the most just judgment of God had brought to -light. He was delivered to the judge, sentenced, and hanged. - -The event must have made a deep impression on Dean Wren, who recorded it -at length in Latin and signed the record to attest its truth. - -He also mentions that in the east window of the church was the - - 'Coat of France azure fretté and semé of Flower de Lyces or, put - there together with his own coat by Lord Barentine, knight of - Rhodes and a great benefactor to that church. A man of great valour - and possessions in France as well as in England, his tomb at the - north-east side of the chancel shows he was of a gigantic stature; - and his statue of one entire stone, which I digged out of a heap of - rubbish there, makes it appear he was (not two inches lower than) - seven foot high.' - -Dr. Wren seems to have divided his residence between Haseley and -Windsor, probably spending most of his time at the Deanery, where many -of the learned men and philosophers of the day sought his society. Among -these was the Prince Palatine Charles, who was a frequent guest at the -Deanery, enjoying its learned quiet, and interested in his host's young -son, whose great gifts were early remarkable. Many a little note did -Dean Wren make of curious things that came under his observation, -particularly of an oak that grew in the New Forest and sent out young -fresh leaves on Christmas Eve. So much discussion was raised about it at -court and King James would so little believe it, that good Bishop -Andrewes sent a chaplain on Christmas Eve to the forest, who gathered -about a hundred fresh shoots, stuck them into wet clay, and sent them -straight to the court, where Dr. Wren witnessed the opening of the -boxes. The tree was then cut down by some spiteful fellow, 'who,' says -the Dean, 'made his last stroke on his own leg, whereof he died, -together with the old wondrous tree.' - -King Charles engaged Dr. Wren to make an estimate for a building at -Windsor for the use of the Queen; it was to be of considerable size, -containing a chapel, a banqueting room, galleries and rooms for the Lord -Chamberlain and court officials. The estimate exists in business-like -detail, the total amounting to 13,305_l._; but it was probably not even -begun. - -[CHRISTOPHER AT WESTMINSTER.] - -To his other employments the Dean added the tender care of his young -son. Christopher's case was one of those rare ones in which a precocious -child not only lives to grow up, but also amply fulfils his early -promise. His delicate health was the cause of much anxiety to his father -and to his sister Susan, and it may be that the skill in nursing and -medicine for which she was afterwards famous, had their beginning in her -watchful care of her little brother. - -His frail health seems to have been rather a spur than a hindrance to -his studies, and when very young he had a tutor, the Rev. W. Shepheard, -who prepared him for Westminster, where he was sent in his ninth or -tenth year. Westminster was then under the rule of its famous headmaster -Dr. Busby, to whose especial care young Christopher was committed. - -The school with its stir of life, the grand abbey, the Houses of -Parliament then empty and silent, Lambeth, from which his uncle's -friend, Archbishop Laud, might be seen frequently coming across the -river in his barge; the whole surroundings must have been wonderful to -the country-bred boy who was one day to connect his name indissolubly -with that of London. Did he, one cannot but wonder, ever on a holiday -take boat down the river, shooting the dangerous arches of London -Bridge, and look at S. Paul's with its long line of roof, its tall tower -and shattered spire; little S. Gregory's nestling by its side, and all -the workmen busied on the repairs which had been begun after King -James's solemn thanksgiving in 1620? Laud, while Bishop of London, had -carried on the works with a vigour that had given them a fresh impetus, -and was one great cause of his unpopularity. Inigo Jones had -superintended them and finished the interior, and at the west end, the -stately portico of Portland stone, which, though incongruous, was in -itself beautiful, was being erected by King Charles's orders. How little -could the boy have guessed at the ruin which was approaching those pious -builders, or the desecration and destruction that awaited the fine old -building itself! - -At school no pains were spared with so promising a pupil as young Wren -soon showed himself to be. His sister Susan married, in 1643, Mr. -William Holder, subdean of the Chapel Royal, of a Nottinghamshire -family, a good mathematician, and one 'who had good skill in the practic -and theoretic parts of music'[27] Susan Wren was sixteen when she -married, and though childless the marriage was a very happy one. - -Mr. Holder early discerned his young brother-in-law's talent for -mathematics and gave him private lessons. Mr. Holder was subsequently -appointed to the living of Bletchingdon in Oxfordshire, which he held -until 1663. - -[THE FIRST FRUITS OF HIS PAINS.] - -Among the few autograph letters of Christopher Wren's which remain in -the family, is one written to his father from Westminster in a boy's -unformed hand, the faintly ruled lines still showing. - - [28]'Venerande Pater,--Sententia apud antiquos vulgata est, quam - ex ore tuo me habuisse memini, Parentibus nihil posse reddi - æquivalens. Frequentes enim curae et perpetui labores circa pueros - sunt immensi quidem amoris indicium. At praecepta illa mihi toties - repetita, quae animum ad bonas Artes, & Virtutem impellunt, omnes - alios amores superant. Quod meum est, efficiam, quantum potero ne - ingrato fiant hac munera. Deus Optimus Maximus conatibus meis adsit - et Tibi, pro visceribus illis Paternae Pietatis, quae maximè velis - praestet. - - 'Id orat Filius tuus, Tibi omni obsequio devotissimus, - - 'CHRISTOPHORUS WREN. - - 'Has tibi primitias Anni, Pater, atq. laborum - Praesto (per exiguas qualibet esse sciam) - Quas spero in messem posse olim crescere, vultu - Si placido acceptes tu, foveasque sinu. - - 'To you, Deare Sir, your Son presenteth heere - The first-fruits of his pains and of the yeare; - Wich may (though small) in time an harvest grow, - If you to cherish these, your favour shew. - - 'E. Musaeo Meo. 'Calendis Januarii 1641 (1642 N.S.)' - -[DIOCESE OF ELY.] - -While young Christopher was thus delighting his father with his -'first-fruits,' his uncle the Bishop was encountering many adversities. -While he was busied in Norwich, and in the midst of his work, Dr. White, -Bishop of Ely, died; he had resided mostly in London, as was then too -commonly the habit of the bishops, and it is to be supposed that there -was plenty of work to be done in the diocese. Laud reckoned it as a very -important one on account of its university, and could think of no one so -well suited to the post as Bishop Wren, who was a distinguished -Cambridge scholar. To Ely accordingly the Bishop was translated, May 5, -1638, and rejoiced in renewing his connection with the university where -his early years had been spent. The expenses attending so many removals -must have fallen heavily upon him; all the more, as in Norwich the -palace was out of repair and he lived for some time in a house of his -own at Ipswich, which was probably a part of Mrs. Wren's property, -finding that much attention was required by that part of his diocese. -Prynne was born at Ipswich, and though shut up in the Tower of -London,[29] retained friends in his native town; thus the Bishop knew he -was entering a hornet's nest. Prynne speedily produced his -'Quench-Coal,' which professed to answer a tract called 'A Coal from the -Altar,' wherein were explained the reasons for placing the Holy Table -altarwise, and railing it in. Next came 'The News from Ipswich,' which -reviled all bishops under the names of 'Luciferian Lord Bishops, -execrable Traytors, Devouring Wolves,' and the like; especially -attacking Wren, and declaring, that, 'in all Queen Marie's time, no such -havoc was made in so short a time of the faithful ministers in any part, -nay in the whole Land, than had been made in his Diocese.' There was one -great riot at Ipswich, which the Bishop was able to quell. Prynne was -fined, branded, and imprisoned in Carnarvon Castle, and the town was for -the time tranquil, but Prynne was destined to be a deadly and utterly -unscrupulous enemy. - -For nearly two years after his translation to Ely, Dr. Wren was able to -govern his new diocese in comparative peace. Little opposition seems to -have been made, for the factious spirit which was rampant in Norfolk and -Suffolk was less violent here. In his beloved university there were many -points which needed amendment. When he was master of Peterhouse and -built the chapel, he gave it that which many colleges then lacked, and -were lacking still when he returned, to visit Cambridge. - -The churchyards of the parish churches had been in many instances -encroached upon and profaned, and in most of the chancels were 'common -seats over high and unfitting that place.' 'In all these businesses,' -says Archbishop Laud in his yearly report to the King, 'the Bishop hath -been very tender, both out of his respect to his mother the University -of Cambridge, and because divers of the benefices are impropriations -belonging to some of the Colleges there.' Nor was Wren's care alone for -the fabrics of the Church; he was careful to secure resident and -diligent clergy in all the parishes as far as he could and to see that -they did their duty. His advice and help were readily given. A -clergyman, Mr. John Bois, applied to him for advice in the case of a -woman of twenty-nine, of whom no one knew whether or no she was -baptized. Mr. Bois had applied by letter and word of mouth to the -previous Bishops of Ely (Bishops Buckeridge and White), and could get no -answer. Bishop Wren replied to him promptly, directing him to baptize -her forthwith, which was accordingly done.[30] Upon these peaceful -labours the long-pending storm broke and called Wren to harder duties. - -In 1640 the discontent of the times declared itself openly in Scotland, -where the Puritan party took up arms against the King, and began to -league themselves with the party in England whose opinions or prejudices -coincided with their own. King Charles had summoned a parliament, and -again dismissed it, having obtained no assistance against the Scotch. -'The minds of men had taken such a turn,' says Hume, 'as to ascribe -every honour to the refractory opposers of the King and the ministers. -These were the only patriots, the only lovers of their country, the only -heroes, and perhaps, too, the only true Christians.' The mob of -sectaries in London, encouraged by the successes obtained by the Scotch, -burst into S. Paul's, where the High Commission then sat, and tore down -the benches, with cries of 'No Bishops--no commission!' Before this they -had attacked Lambeth Palace, threatening to tear the Archbishop in -pieces, and would probably have done so had he not been prepared for -them. From that time he knew his life to be in constant peril. An -unknown friend had written to warn him that the Scotch Puritans -justified assassination, and openly hoped the Primate might meet the -same fate as his early friend and patron, the Duke of Buckingham. His -integrity and singleness of mind, to which Clarendon gives high -testimony, had made him bitter enemies. A hasty temper and sharp mode of -speech alienated many who could not but respect him. The difficulties of -his task had been doubled by the lax, un-Catholic rule of his -predecessor at Lambeth. Both Puritans and Romanists alike reckoned him -as their greatest opponent. He was nearly seventy years old, and sadly -felt that 'there wanted not many presages of his ruin and death.' The -King's return, on October 30, brought a gleam of sunshine. - -[A GLEAM OF SUNSHINE.] - -Evelyn[31] says:-- - - 'I saw His Majesty (coming from his Northern expedition) ride in - pomp and a kind of ovation with all the markes of a happy peace, - restored to the affections of his people, being conducted through - London with a most splendid cavalcade; and on 3 November following - (a day never to be mentioned without a curse), to that long, - ungrateful, foolish, and fatal Parliament, the beginning of all our - sorrow for twenty years after, and the period of the most happy - monarchy in the world.' In truth its opening augured ill for the - country and for the Church. - -Lord Strafford was impeached and sent to the Tower, and the Archbishop -next attacked. Sir Harbottle Grimston, in a virulent speech, vented his -hatred against Archbishop Laud; 'and those prelates he hath advanced--to -name but some of them: Bishop Manwaring, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, -the Bishop of Oxford, and Bishop Wren--the last of all those birds, but -one of the most unclean ones.' The debate which followed ended--as in -the temper of the House it was certain to do--in a vote that the -Archbishop was a traitor. Allowed the afternoon at Lambeth to collect -papers for his defence, he attended the evening prayers for the last -time in the chapel that he had repaired and adorned with loving care. -The service, which he had restored to its full beauty, soothed that -bitter hour. 'The Psalms of the day (December 18) and chapter l. of -Isaiah gave me great comfort. God make me worthy to receive it,' he -wrote in his diary. The poor thronged round Lambeth Palace, and bitterly -lamented the departure of their best friend, showering blessings on his -head as he was carried away. He remained in the custody of Maxwell, the -Usher of the Black Rod, ten weeks, compelled to pay 436_l._ for his -charges, besides a fine of 500_l._ He was then transferred to the Tower. - -[WREN UNDER CENSURE.] - -The Archbishop being secured, the Bishops were next attacked. Hampden -came to the Lords with a message to acquaint their lordships that the -Commons had received matters of a high kind against the Bishop of Ely, -for the 'setting up of idolatry and superstition in divers places, and -acting the same in his own person;' adding that he was intending to -escape from England, and that they therefore desired he might be put in -security, to be forthcoming and abide the judgment of Parliament. Bishop -Wren was in his place in the House when this summons came, and was -ordered to find bail for 10,000_l._; helped by three of the bishops, he -managed to do so. When the Primate was in custody, and Wren under -censure, at the beginning of the next year Lord Strafford was attacked. -Dr. Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, not long released from the Tower, -anxious to please the Commons, declared that the canon law forbade the -Bishops to sit as judges in a case of blood. He spoke in the name of the -other Bishops; and the decision was too welcome to Strafford's enemies -not to be agreed to instantly; but it was a concession afterwards very -dangerous to those who made it. The issue of that iniquitous trial, -perhaps as great a perversion of justice as England had ever then known, -needs no repetition here. - -The King's best advisers were in prison or under restraint, except good -Bishop Juxon, who bravely told him he ought not, upon any considerations -in the world, to do anything against his conscience; and Bishop -Williams, who hated Strafford and Laud alike, sent by the Commons to -induce the King to sign the death-warrant, had a fatal success. - -Bishop Wren came to Windsor after this to marry Princess Mary, the -King's eldest daughter, to William, eldest son of Henry Frederick, -Prince of Orange, whom he succeeded in six years. The alliance was one -which gratified the Parliament, being so Protestant a connection. -Little, however, could they have guessed how deadly an enemy Princess -Mary's son would prove to the house of Stuart. Ten days after this -wedding came May 12, when 'the wisest head in England was severed from -the shoulders of Lord Strafford.' So writes John Evelyn. To the -Archbishop, his friend's death must have been a terrible blow. He was -just able to bestow a parting blessing through his prison window, and to -hear Lord Strafford say, 'Farewell, my lord. God protect your -innocency.' The Princess's marriage was the last occasion on which -Bishop Wren was to officiate as Dean of the Chapels Royal. - -The Commons had been industriously at work against him since the first -attack in December, and as Archbishop Laud said of Prynne, 'by this time -their malice had hammered out somewhat.' The committee sent in a report, -charging the Bishop with 'excommunicating fifty painful ministers, -practising superstition in his own person, placing "the table" -altarwise, elevation of the elements, the "eastward position," as it is -now called, at the Eucharist, bowing to the Altar, causing all seats to -be placed so that the people faced east, employing his authority to -restrain "powerful preaching," and ordering catechising in the words of -the Church Catechism only, permitting no prayer before the sermon but -the bidding prayer (canon 5), publishing a book of articles, to which -the churchwardens were sworn, containing 187 questions.' - -[BISHOP WREN'S RESIGNATION.] - -Upon this report a debate ensued, ending in a vote that it was the -opinion of the House that Matthew Wren was unworthy and unfit to hold or -exercise any office or dignity in the Church, and voting that a message -be sent to the House of Lords to desire them to join the Commons in -petitioning his Majesty to remove Bishop Wren from his person and -service. Evelyn's expression, 'to such an exorbitancy had the times -grown,' aptly describes the state of matters when, for details such as -these of the government of a diocese, and for practices which, if they -had been proved, were both legal and reasonable, an assembly of laymen -presumed to pronounce a bishop unfit for his office in the Church. -Whether the petition ever came before the King does not appear, but Wren -thought it best to take the initiative; for he writes in his diary five -days after the debate: 'I hardly obtained leave from the King to resign -the deanery of the Chapels Royal.' - -FOOTNOTES: - - [20] _Vide infra_, p. 43. - - [21] I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. R. N. Milford, - rector of East Knoyle, for this account. See Sir R. C. Hoare's - History of Wiltshire. The inscriptions on the columns have - been destroyed. - - [22] So guide and govern as to profit souls. Love, Pray. One thing - needful. Ask fit things from God. - - [23] Into whatsoever house ye enter, first say - Peace be to this house. - To so solemn a precept, by a seasonable vow, - I, entering, have set my name. - C. W. Rector. - July 28. In the said year, i.e. MDCXVVIII. - - - [24] 'To Thee, and to Thy service for ever, I offer a portion of - Thy bounty, O Lord God Almighty.' - - [25] Christian Van Vianen was an embosser and chaser of plate, much - esteemed by Charles I. The gilt plate above mentioned was - wrought at the rate of 12_s._ per oz.--_Anecdotes of - Painting_, Walpole, vol. ii. p. 323. - - [26] William Lenthall (born at Henley-on-Thames 1591), Speaker of - the House of Commons 1640-1653 and 1660, lived chiefly at - Lachford Manor in Great Haseley parish, which had been in his - family since the reign of Edward IV. The property was sold by - his eldest son. It may have been owing to the influence of the - Speaker that Dean Wren escaped imprisonment during the - Rebellion. - - [27] Wood, _Fasti Oxon._, p. 139. - - [28] 'Revered Father,--There is a common saying among the ancients - which I remember to have had from your mouth; there is no - equivalent that can be given back to parents. For their cares - and perpetual labours concerning their children are indeed the - evidence of immeasurable love. Now these precepts so often - repeated, which have impelled my soul towards all that is - highest in man, and to virtue, have superseded in me all other - affections. What in me lies I will perform, as much as I am - able, lest these gifts should have been bestowed on an - ungrateful soul. May the good God Almighty be with me in my - undertakings and make good to thee all thou most desirest in - the tenderness of thy fatherly love. Thus prays thy son, most - devoted to thee in all obedience, - 'CHRISTOPHER WREN.' - - 'Script. hoc, A^o Ætatis suae, Decimo. Ab Octobris 20^o elapso' - is the note in different hand of Dean Wren, who may very - probably have felt that in the fast-rising storm all this fair - promise might be swept away. - - [29] Heylin, _Cypr. Ang._, p. 309. - - [30] _Desiderata Curiosa_, p. 336. Peck. It will be borne in mind - that the Office for the Baptism of such as are of Riper Years - was only added to the Prayer Book at the last revision in - 1662. Mr. John Bois was made a Prebendary of Ely by Bishop - Andrewes, and was one of the translators of the Bible - (1604-1611); he was on the Cambridge Committee, and assisted - in the translation of the Apocrypha.--_Key to the Holy Bible_, - p. 28. Rev. J. H. Blunt. - - [31] _Diary_, October 30, 1640. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - 1641-1647. - - BISHOP WREN ACCUSED--WESTMINSTER ABBEY ATTACKED--IMPRISONMENT OF - THE BISHOPS--BISHOP WREN'S DEFENCE--'UTTERLY DENIETH ALL POPISH - AFFECTIONS'--THE GARTER JEWELS--ARCHBISHOP LAUD - MURDERED--CHRISTOPHER AT OXFORD--PHILOSOPHICAL MEETINGS. - - For though outnumber'd, overthrown, - And by the fate of war run down, - Their duty never was defeated, - Nor from their oaths and faith retreated; - For loyalty is still the same, - Whether it win or lose the game; - True as the dial to the sun, - Although it be not shined upon. - _Hudibras_, pt. iii. canto 2. - - -The concession Bishop Wren had thus made did not satisfy the Commons, -and on July 20 they drew out the report into twenty articles of -accusation, containing all the former charges and several additional -ones, among which were the setting up of altar-rails, ordering the Holy -Communion to be received kneeling, ordering the reading of the 'Book of -Sports,' and preaching in a surplice; causing by prosecutions 3,000 of -the King's poor subjects to go beyond the sea. - -For these offences they prayed that Bishop Wren might answer, and suffer -such punishment as law and justice required. The articles were -transmitted to the House of Lords at a conference, and were read by Sir -T. Widdrington, Recorder of York,[32] who prefaced them by a venomous -speech against the Bishop of Ely, whom he compared to 'a wolf devouring -the flock; an extinguisher of light; a Noah, who sent out doves from the -ark, and refused to receive them back unless they returned as ravens, to -feed upon the carrion of his new inventions, he himself standing with a -flaming sword to keep such out of his diocese.' He accused the Bishop of -raising fines for his own profit; called him a great robber, a -malefactor, 'a compleat mirror of innovation, superstition, and -oppression: an oppugner of the life and liberty of religion, and a -devouring serpent in the diocese of Norwich.' - -These are but a few phrases from Sir Thomas's speech; he used no -argument, adduced no proof, but contented himself simply with clamour -and reviling, and these were amply sufficient. In the Long Parliament it -was enough to accuse anyone, especially a bishop, of Popery, -superstition and 'innovation'--which was a term invented by Bishop -Williams, then as now commonly applied to the oldest dogmas and -practices of the Church--to insure his imprisonment, or at the least a -heavy fine. In Wren's Diary opposite the day of the month is merely, -'Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered.' Dr. Pierce, Bishop of -Bath and Wells, was attacked at the same time; but at first no active -steps were taken against them, perhaps because the Commons found matters -not yet ripe for a wholesale imprisonment of the Bishops. Dr. Wren well -knew that matters would not stop here, and while awaiting the next -attack began to prepare his Defence against the Articles of Accusation. - -The mob in the meanwhile were encouraged by caricatures, libels, and -invectives to rail against the Bishops and impute every misfortune and -every trade failure to them, by which means the Puritan leaders -contrived to stir up a yelling mob of men and women. - -[ATTACK ON WESTMINSTER ABBEY.] - -[THE DECOY DUCK.] - -All petitions against the Church were received and the petitioners -encouraged and praised. The populace insulted the Bishops whenever they -appeared, and threatened their lives. Westminster Abbey was attacked, -when the Bishops were there, by a violent mob, led by Wiseman, a knight -of Kent. The officers and choirmen of the Abbey with the boys of the -School, among whom must have been Christopher Wren, defended it -gallantly, and the fray ended when Wiseman was killed by a tile thrown -from the battlements by one of the defenders. After this the Bishops who -were in London met in the Deanery at Westminster, the lodging of -Williams, Archbishop of York, who had just been translated from Lincoln -to York, in succession to the late Archbishop Neile,[33] to consult what -should be done. At the Archbishop's suggestion, they drew up a paper, -remonstrating against the abuse offered them, and the manner in which -they had been hindered from coming to the House of Lords, their coaches -overset, their barges attacked and prevented landing, and they -themselves beset and threatened. They claimed their right to sit in the -House of Lords and vote, and protested against all that had been done -since the 27th of that month (December, 1641), and all that should -hereafter pass in time of this their forced and violent absence. This -paper was signed by the Archbishop and eleven Bishops, of whom Bishop -Wren was one, and presented to the King, who delivered it to Littleton, -the Lord Keeper, to be communicated next day to the Peers. The Lord -Keeper, who had already deserted his benefactor, Lord Strafford, -contrary to the King's orders showed the paper first to 'some of the -preaching party in both Houses,' and then to the Peers. Upon the reading -a conference was desired between the Houses, and the Lord Keeper -declared that the Bishops' paper contained 'matters of high and -dangerous consequence, extending to the deep intrenching upon the -fundamental privileges and being of Parliament.' The Commons, whose -part, like that of the Lord Keeper[34] was pre-arranged, impeached the -Bishops of high treason; the usher of the Black Rod was despatched to -find and bring them before the House. They, lodging in different parts -of London, were not all collected until eight o'clock on the winter's -night, and then, their offence being signified, were committed to the -Tower.[35] The Bishops of Durham and Lichfield, both aged and infirm, -obtained leave to be in the custody of the Black Rod. The other bishops -were carried to the Tower on the following morning. A libellous -pamphlet was published at this time, entitled 'Wren's Anatomy, -discovering his notorious Pranks &c., printed in the year when Wren -ceased to domineer,' has in the title-page a print of Bishop Wren -sitting at a table; out of his mouth proceed two labels: on one, -'Canonical Prayers;' on the other, 'No Afternoon Sermon.' On one side -stand several clergy, over whose heads is written 'Altar-cringing -Priests.' On the other, two men in lay habits, above whom is this -inscription, 'Churchwardens for Articles.' It serves to show what were -considered as really the Bishop's crimes, and that he had a fair -proportion of faithful clergy.[36] The Archbishop of York had served the -Commons' turn in procuring the King's assent to Lord Strafford's -death-warrant, and had enjoyed for a short time a remarkable though -transient popularity both on that account and as Laud's bitter opponent. -The Commons were, however, soon weary of him, and gladly availed -themselves of the pretext afforded by the protest to throw him aside. A -pamphlet was published, which had a great success, entitled the 'Decoy -Duck,' in allusion to the fens of his former diocese of Lincoln, in -which he was represented as only released from the Tower in order to -decoy the other bishops there. It was thought prudent that the bishops -should make no attempt either to see each other, or Archbishop Laud, who -had preceded them to that dreary lodging, so that only loving messages -passed between the prisoners. So many bishops being in custody, and five -sees vacant, the Commons took their opportunity, and brought in a Bill -depriving the Bishops of their seats in Parliament, and of the power of -sitting as judges or privy councillors. It was feebly opposed by the -Churchmen, who had been alienated by the prelates' desertion of Lord -Strafford, and was finally carried. The remark made a little later by -Lord Falkland on Sir E. Deering's 'Bill for the Extirpation of -Episcopacy,' when the Churchmen, weary of their attendance, left the -House at dinner-time, and did not return--'Those who hated the bishops, -hated them worse than the devil, and those who loved them did not love -them so well as their dinner,'--appears to have been applicable to this -occasion also. Not very long after the first-named Bill had passed, some -of the bishops were set at liberty, but Bishop Wren was not released -until May 6, 1642. - -[IMPRISONMENT.] - -It was a brief respite. He went down to his diocese, to a house at -Downham, near Ely, where his wife and children were living, and there, -August 17, he kept the last wedding-day that he and his wife were ever -to celebrate together. On August 25 King Charles set up his standard at -Nottingham and the Civil War began. On the 30th of the month Bishop -Wren's house was entered by soldiers and he was taken prisoner, without, -it will be observed, the shadow of a legal charge against him. On -September 1st he was again thrown into the Tower, leaving Mrs. Wren with -a daughter only eight days old and mourning for their son Francis, who -had died in the previous month. Matthew, the eldest son, was then only -thirteen years old. Bishop Wren's was a singularly steadfast, hopeful -nature, and it may be that he expected to be speedily released by the -victorious Royalist armies. Could he have foreseen the duration of his -imprisonment and the miseries which were to befall the Church and the -country, even his dauntless spirit might have been crushed. He did not -seek an interview with Archbishop Laud, lest they should be accused of -plotting, and so each injure the other. Otherwise it would not have been -difficult, as the Archbishop was at first carelessly watched, in the -hope that he would, by escaping, rid the Commons of a difficulty. The -Archbishop 'would not, at seventy years, go about to prolong a miserable -life by the trouble and shame of flying,' though Grotius sent him an -intreaty to copy the example of his own marvellous escape from -Loevenstein Castle twenty-one years previously.[37] The services in the -Tower Chapel, where they probably met at first, could have given them -little comfort, marred and mangled as the services were by the -intruders, who came often with no better object than to preach insulting -sermons against the prelates. - -Dr. Wren busied himself in the completion of the 'Defence,' to which -allusion has been made in the first chapter.[38] It is too long to allow -of being set out in full, but a few points may be touched upon. Of the -'fifty painful ministers' whom he was said to have excommunicated, for -some of the sentences there was, as has been said, very sufficient -reason. As the Bishop says, 'Excommunication doth by law fall upon -those that are absent, either from visitation, or synods; and -suspension is a censure which in the practice of those courts is -incurred in one hour and taken off in another, and is of little or no -grievance at all except it be wilfully persisted in.' He complains of so -vague a charge, not stating who the clergy were, and proceeds as well as -he can recollect to mention those who had fallen under his censure. For -those whose licence to preach had been withdrawn, the greater number -ought never to have received it at all; one had been a broken tradesman -in Ipswich, one a country apothecary, another a weaver, another 'no -graduate, not long translated from common stage-playing to two cures and -a publick lecture.' Yet still when all were reckoned who had ever been -censured or admonished, the Bishop thinks that the fifty will hardly be -made up.[39] - - -[BOWING TO THE ALTAR.] - -It is a curious instance of the temper of the times that one head of so -serious an indictment should be that 'To manifest his Popish Affections, -he in 1636, caused a crucifix to be engraven upon his Episcopal seal.' -Bishop Wren carefully addresses himself to the defence of this point, -and to that of bowing at the name of our Lord, and to the Altar. - - 'He began so to do by the example of that learned and holy Prelate - Bishop Andrewes, now with God, under whom this defendant was - brought up from his youth, and had depended upon him more than - forty years since, and constantly and religiously practised the - same upon all occasions ... as his own years and studies increased - he found first, the bowing at the name of the Lord Jesus, had not - only been practised by the clergy but had also been enjoined to all - the people, ever since the first reformation, as appeareth by the - Injunctions, 1^o Eliz. Cap. 52, thereby to testify our due - acknowledgment that the Lord Jesus Christ, the true and Eternal Son - of God, is the only Saviour of the world, in whom alone the - mercies, graces and promises of God to mankind for this life and - the life to come are fully and wholly comprised, 1^o Jac. Can. 18.' - -For bowing to the Altar, while setting out how old a practice of the -Church it was, designedly continued at the Reformation, how a like -reverence was paid always to the King, or to his chair of estate if he -was not in the Presence Chamber, - - 'No Christian would ever deny that bowing or doing adoration, was - to be used as a part of God's worship, the affirmative act being - necessarily included in the negative precept, "Non adorabis ea, - ergo adorabis Me."' 'No more as he humbly conceiveth is it any - superstition, but a sign of devotion, and of an awful apprehension - of God's divine Presence, to do Him reverence at the approach into - the House of God, or unto the Lord's Table.... - -For the crucifix-- - - 'He utterly denieth all popish affections, and saith that - the figure of Christ upon the Cross may be had without any popish - affection, and that the said figure upon his seal did itself - declare what affection it was to manifest. For there was this posy - engraven with it, "[Greek: En hô kosmos emoi kagô tô kosmô]," being - taken out of S. Paul, Gal. vi. 14.... In an holy imitation whereof - this defendant beareth divers coats of arms (as the use is) upon - the said seal, to wit, the arms of the See of Norwich, and the arms - of the See of Hereford, and of the Deanery of Windsor, and of the - Mastership of Peterhouse, together with his own paternal coat of an - ancient descent; he, considering with himself, that these were - emblems all, and badges but of worldly and temporal glories, and - desiring that the world should have a right apprehension of him, - and to testify that he did no way glory in any thing of this - transitory world, but humbly endeavoured to wean himself from all - temporal and vain rejoycing, he therefore caused such a small - figure of Christ on the Cross to be set over all the said coats.' - - He adds that he principally used it in signing 'presentments of - Popish recusants.' ... not to say that although the said seal lay - all the year long locked up in a chest, but at the time of sealing, - and that when any sealing there was no worship done by any; yet - nevertheless, as soon as he understood that any had taken scruple - at it, he presently, to avoid all pretence of scandal, caused the - said seal to be altered and the figure of Christ to be wholly - omitted.'[40] - -[_EASTWARD POSITION._] - -The part of the Defence, which has been most challenged, is that for the -use of the 'Eastward position.' It is, however, important to remember -that the Bishop had to defend himself against the charge, that once, -while celebrating in the Tower Church at Ipswich, he had 'used -idolatrous actions' in administering the Holy Communion, Consecrating -the Elements with his face eastward, elevating the Paten and Chalice -'above his shoulders and bowing low either to or before them when set -down on the Table.' - -The charge of 'idolatry' divides itself into three heads. The last two -Wren met by a full denial, the first he confesses, while explaining his -reason for his position in _that special instance_, when, as he says, -the Elements being on the middle of the Holy Table, 'were farther from -the end thereof than he, being but low of stature, could reach over his -book unto them and yet still proceed in reading the words without stop -or interruption and without danger of spilling the Bread and Wine ... -and he humbly conceiveth that although the Rubrick[41] says that the -Minister shall stand at the north side of the Table, yet it is not so to -be meant as that upon no occasion during all Communion time he shall -step from it.' For the rest, the whole tone of the Defence is brave and -dignified; and despite the knowledge that his life was at stake, despite -of the 'humbly conceiveth' which runs through it, it is evident that the -Bishop considered his position to be in reality unassailable, and that -he was more or less condescending in making these explanations. There is -an irony in the studied simplicity with which the scholar and theologian -explains elementary truths and ordinary rules of church discipline to a -House of Commons who certainly stood in need of instruction in such -matters. - -The Bishop, when his part was done, and he had received notice to -prepare for trial on a day appointed, put his manuscript, with an -injunction of secresy, into the hands of a lawyer who was supposed to be -friendly, that he might give his advice on the technical and legal -parts. - - 'The person,' says the 'Parentalia,' 'thus intrusted discovering - (on the perusal) matters of such moment, as he conceived might be - very expedient for the Prosecutors to be forewarned of, betrayed - his trust, and to ingratiate himself treacherously delivered up the - Bishop's papers to the chief persons in power of the governing - faction. The consequence thereupon was--that the resolution which - had been taken to bring him to trial for life was suddenly - countermanded and an order by the House of Commons made to continue - him in prison during their pleasure.' - -[_GARTER JEWELS._] - -So began the long years of Bishop Wren's captivity. Few trials could -have been harder for a man of vigorous active nature to bear than this -one which rendered him powerless, when all he held dear was at stake, -loaded him with calumnies and prevented his uttering a word in his -defence. The diary gives no hint of what his feelings were. In silence -he resigned himself, resolved to afford no triumph to his enemies. Dean -Wren was somewhat better off, though he had his share of misfortunes. -The valuable plate and treasures belonging to the Order of the Garter -were a serious responsibility, and, though the treasure-house was -strong, he could not feel that it offered a sufficient security. The -plate and armour were not easily hidden, but the Diamond George and -Garter of Gustavus Adolphus he determined, if possible, to save. -Accordingly, with the help of one trustworthy person and every -precaution for secresy, he dug a hole in the treasury floor and there -deposited them, concealing the place with the utmost care, and leaving a -note in the hand of one worthy person intimating where the jewels might -be found in the event of his death. He had good cause to rejoice in this -precaution, for a few months later, in October 1642, down came - - 'one Captain Fogg pretending a warrant from the King and demanding - the keys of the Treasury, threatening if they were denied him by - the Dean and Prebendaries, to pull the Chapel about their ears.' - -As his threats had no effect, he forced the stone jambs of the doorway -with crowbars, and carried off all the treasures except those which the -Dean had buried. These, however, did not long remain secure, for in -1645 they were discovered and placed in the keeping of Colonel Ven, then -governor of Windsor Castle, and finally, through several hands, reached -the trustees of the Long Parliament, who sold the jewels to Thomas -Beauchamp, their clerk. The Deanery was not spared during the first -pillage of the chapel, though the Dean possessed a formal protection -from the Committee of Public Safety, but was ransacked by the soldiers, -and the Registry of the Garter, sealed by order of the House of Lords, -broken open, and the records stolen. Dean Wren lost many things of -value--books and manuscripts dear to the careful scholar, and also -plate, including two large silver tankards, the gifts of the Elector -Palatine. Of his own effects the Dean was only able, after an interval -of six years, to recover one harpsichord valued at ten pounds; but he -succeeded, after much expense and frequent attendances at Somerset -House, by the favour of the trustees' chairman, Major Wither, in -regaining the registers of the Order of the Garter, known from the -colours of the velvet in which they were bound as 'the Black, the Blue, -and the Red,' though not until a considerable space of time had passed; -they contained all the principal records of the Order, and were -therefore very valuable. The diamonds however, he was never able to -regain, or the Altar Plate. After the first plunder of the Chapel and -the Deanery Dr. Wren appears to have left Windsor and to have followed -the Court for a time. - -Christopher, meanwhile, was at Westminster advancing steadily in -learning, while the loyal principles of his family must have been -confirmed by the whole tone of the school which was ardently royalist. -South, in a sermon for January 30, says,[42] speaking of Westminster: -'Upon that very Day, that black and eternally infamous Day of the King's -murder, I myself heard, and am now a witness, that the King was -publickly prayed for in this School but an hour or two (at most) before -his sacred head was struck off.' - -[_INCREASING TROUBLES._] - -Whether at this period Christopher ever saw his uncle in the Tower does -not appear. The Bishop's position was sad enough. During 1643 and 1644 -his diary records the death of five of his children; in the monotony of -his prison life these sorrows must have pressed on him with double -force. Nor was there any consolation to be derived from public matters. -The royal cause, prosperous at first, grew less and less so, as the -King's lack of money became an ever-increasing difficulty. Another -grief, keenly felt by all Churchmen, was the order of the Parliament for -the abolition of the Prayer Book and the alteration of the Thirty-nine -Articles in a sense pleasing to the Puritans. Then came the -long-deferred trial of the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was treated with -a cruel disregard of his high position and of his age, every kind of -insult and indignity being offered him. He however rose superior to it -all, and defended himself with an eloquence, vigour, and courage which -dismayed and enraged his enemies, though it could not change their -purpose. The Bishop of Ely's name was frequently mentioned, and his -promotion objected to as one of the Archbishop's crimes; but no further -steps were taken against him then, as he was safe in custody, and the -Commons had enough on their hands. - -In his defence, the Archbishop thought it prudent to say nothing -respecting the Bishops whose advancement was objected against him, -deeming it for their interest to entangle them as little as possible in -his misfortunes. They were able to speak for themselves he said, but the -memory of the dead Archbishop Neile he warmly defended. The trial was -long protracted in order to give a specious colouring of justice to the -predetermined sentence. - -For this Prynne 'kept a school of instruction' for the witnesses, and -tampered with the Archbishop's papers, of which he had forcibly -possessed himself. The spirit that guided the whole trial was shown in -his reply to one who said the Archbishop was a good man. 'Yea, but we -must make him ill.' The Peers raised a feeble opposition. The King, -whose consent the Parliament had not attempted to procure, sent to the -Archbishop by a sure hand, from Oxford, a full pardon under the Great -Seal, but neither received the least attention. - -[_ARCHBISHOP LAUD MURDERED._] - -On January 10, on Tower Hill, the unjust sentence was fulfilled. Few -things are more touching than the account given by his chaplain and -biographer, Heylin, of the way in which the Archbishop met that cruel -fate. It is some comfort to remember that, though the Church Services -were then forbidden, yet his enemies did not interfere, but suffered the -Burial Service to be read in All Hallows, Barking, where he was first -interred. After the Restoration, the coffin was removed to S. John's -College, Oxford, and buried under the altar in the chapel. He left -Bishop Wren and Dr. Duppa, Bishop of Salisbury, executors of his will. -It contained a great number of bequests for charitable foundations, -especially for his native town of Reading; but as his whole estate had -been taken from him, these were unfulfilled. His murder was an immense -triumph to all the Sectarians in England and Scotland, who probably -considered it as a death-blow to the Church. - -The Bishop of Ely in his cell must have listened in grief and horror to -the tolling of the Tower bell which proclaimed the bloody death of the -friend with whom he had laboured for many years, latterly his patient -fellow-prisoner. The entry in the diary is brief: 'Parce, O Deus -Requisitor sanguinis.' The same fate seemed very near to himself, and he -was ready to follow the Archbishop; but he had eighteen years of close -imprisonment to endure, and a different work to do. - -Early in 1644, George Monk, then a colonel in the King's service, was -taken prisoner by Fairfax in his attack upon the army besieging -Nantwich, in Cheshire. He was imprisoned first at Hull, and then, as he -was thought too important to be exchanged except for some considerable -prisoner, he was sent to the Tower, and there remained two years. The -Tower charges were high, and a long confinement in its walls was a -strain upon the resources of a prisoner, which reduced those, whose -fortune, like that of Monk, was scanty, to extreme poverty. The King, -who knew Monk's condition, contrived to send him a hundred guineas, and -upon this he existed for some time, and resisted the offers of Cromwell, -then rapidly rising in power and authority. - -Somehow or other, Monk contrived to obtain several interviews with -Bishop Wren, who did his best to confirm the soldier in his loyalty. He -perceived that Monk, whose popularity with the army was very great, and -whose military talents were thought to be of a high order, might one day -be a valuable ally, and a useful counterpoise to Cromwell. At length, -when the King's cause appeared for the time lost, and Monk himself was -reduced to extreme poverty, he yielded to Cromwell's request, and -accepted a commission in the Irish army, under his kinsman Lord Lisle. -Before his release, Monk had a final interview with the Bishop of Ely, -and, as he knelt to ask the Bishop's blessing, bound himself with a -solemn engagement never to be an enemy to his king, and said he was -going to do his majesty the best service he could against 'the rebels in -Ireland, and hoped he should one day do him further service in England.' - -Bishop Wren held firmly to his trust in Monk's loyalty, though many -things might well have shaken his confidence. In the curious life of Dr. -John Barwick, one of the King's most faithful agents, from whom Sir -Walter Scott may have taken many of the features of his indefatigable -plotter 'Dr. Rochecliffe,' it is said that[43] 'he' (Dr. Barwick) 'often -heard the Right Reverend Bishop of Ely promise himself all he could -wish from the General's fidelity.' As Monk gave no other hint of his -intentions, refusing even to receive Charles II.'s letters, this -assurance was precious to the Royalists. - -[_CHRISTOPHER AT OXFORD._] - -In 1646, Christopher Wren left Westminster, and at the age of fourteen -went up to Oxford, and was entered as a Gentleman Commoner at Wadham -College. He had, young as he was, distinguished himself at Westminster, -inventing an astronomical instrument, of which no description remains, -and dedicating it to his father in a short Latin poem,[44] which has -been often praised for the flow and smoothness of its lines; a set of -Latin verses in which the signs of the Zodiac are transformed into -Christian emblems, is, in spite of its ingenuity, much less successful; -a short poem on the Nativity also in Latin, belongs probably to the same -date, and is of the same order of poetry. - -Far more graceful are the playful lines cut on the rind of an immense -pomegranate sent to 'that best man, my dearest friend E. F., by -Christopher Regulus,' in which on the 'Pomo Punico,' as he calls it, -Christopher rings the changes on 'Punic gifts' and 'Punic faith,' and -declares his pomegranate is connected neither with the one nor the -other. - -One English poem, an attempt to paraphrase the first chapter of S. -John's Gospel, fails of necessity from the impossibility of such an -attempt, and Wren handles the English verse far more stiffly and -uneasily than he did the Latin. What however is striking is the -penmanship of the 'Parentalia' autograph; the writing, the capital -letters, and the little flourishes are executed with a delicate finish -really remarkable. - -There is no date to this autograph, but the handwriting appears firmer -and more regular than that of the dedication to his father, and it was -probably an Oxford composition. - -Christopher came up to Oxford a slight, delicate boy, with an -understanding at once singularly quick and patient, readily seconded by -very dexterous fingers, and keen powers of observation. He brought with -him a reputation for, in the phrase of the day, 'uncommon parts,' and -speedily showed that besides a classical education, he had acquired a -strong bent for the experimental philosophy of the 'New learning.' - -Oxford, when Wren came there, was not only the seat of learning, it was -a Court and a Camp as well, to which all the Royalist hearts in England -turned. In the midst of these curiously differing influences, -Christopher pursued his studies under the care of the 'most obliging and -universally curious Dr. Wilkins,'[45] as Evelyn calls him, a man as -devoted to experiments as Christopher himself. Dean Wren had been in -Bristol with his daughter and son-in-law, accompanying Prince Rupert, -and on the Prince's unexpected surrender of the town to Fairfax (1645), -seems to have returned with Prince Rupert and Mr. and Mrs. Holder, -either to his own living of Great Haseley, or to Mr. Holder's at -Bletchingdon. - -[_KING CHARLES LEAVES OXFORD._] - -In those times no place could long be a tranquil habitation. The King's -affairs went from bad to worse, and at length the near approach of -Fairfax with his victorious army made it evident that Oxford could no -longer be a safe refuge for the Court. King Charles accordingly left -Oxford in disguise, and, attended only by Mr. Ashburnham and Dr. Michael -Hudson,[46] who was well acquainted with the lanes and byeways of the -country, proceeded by Henley-on-Thames and St. Albans, to Southwell in -Nottinghamshire, throwing himself on the loyalty of the Scots, then -encamped at Newark. How unworthy of his confidence they proved to be, -and how they finally sold him to the Parliament, are matters of history -too notorious for repetition here. - -Oxford, thus saved from the ruin of a siege, capitulated to Fairfax June -24, 1646, on the express condition that the University should be free -from 'sequestrations, fines, taxes and all other molestations -whatsoever.' But the Parliament was not famous for keeping its -engagements, and at once proceeded to break through those made with -Oxford and reduce it to the same condition as Cambridge, which they had -devastated in 1642. A passage from 'Querela Cantabrigiensis,' which is -supposed to be written by Dr. Barwick, gives some idea of what this -condition was: - - 'And therefore,' he says, 'if posterity shall ask "Who thrust out - one of the eyes of this kingdom, who made Eloquence dumb, - Philosophy sottish, widowed the Arts, and drove the Muses from - their ancient habitation? Who plucked the reverend and orthodox - professors out of their chairs, and silenced them in prison or - their graves? Who turned Religion into Rebellion, and changed the - apostolical chair into a desk for blasphemy, and tore the garland - from the head of Learning to place it on the dull brows of disloyal - ignorance?" If they shall ask "Who made those ancient and beautiful - chapels, the sweet remembrances and monuments of our fore-fathers' - charity and the kind fomenters of their children's devotion, to - become ruinous heaps of dust and stones?"... 'Tis quickly - answered--"Those they were, who endeavouring to share three Crowns - and put them in their own pockets, have transformed this free - kingdom into a large gaol, _to keep the liberty of the subject_: - they who maintain 100,000 robbers and murderers by sea and land, - _to protect our lives and the propriety of our goods_ ... they who - have possessed themselves of his majesty's towns, navy, and - magazines, _to make him a glorious king_; who have multiplied - oaths, protestations, vows, leagues and covenants, _for ease of - tender consciences_; filling all pulpits with jugglers for the - Cause, canting sedition, atheism, and rebellion, _to root out - popery and Babylon and settle the kingdom of Christ_:... The very - same have stopped the mouth of all learning (following herein the - example of their elder brother the Turk), lest any should be wiser - than themselves, or posterity know what a world of wickedness they - have committed."'[47] - -[_PHILOSOPHICAL MEETINGS._] - -Wadham College probably suffered less than many, as its head, Dr. -Wilkins, who had married Cromwell's sister, was very submissive to the -then Government. As matters settled down somewhat at Oxford towards -1648, Dr. Wilkins, Dr. Jonathan Goddard, Dr. Wallis, Mr. Theodore Hank, -who came from the desolated Palatinate, and Mr. S. Foster, the Gresham -Professor of Astronomy, met together weekly, 'to discourse and -consider,' writes Dr. Wallis, '(precluding theology and state affairs), -of philosophical enquiries, and such as related thereunto: as physick, -anatomy, geometry, astronomy, navigation, staticks, magneticks, -chymicks, mechanicks, and natural experiments with the state of those -studies as then calculated at home and abroad.' - -The meetings, at which Christopher Wren, young as he was, appears to -have been a constant attendant, were frequently held at the house of Dr. -Goddard for the convenience of his having there a workman skilled in the -nice work of grinding glasses for microscopes and telescopes. Dr. -Goddard became body physician to Cromwell, was by him made Warden of -Merton College, Oxford, and subsequently represented the university in -Parliament. Dr. Wallis, a famous Oxford mathematician, was employed by -the Parliament to decipher the King's cabinet of letters taken at -Naseby, and also was proved by Matthew Wren, the son of the Bishop, to -have deciphered several very important letters sent by Charles II. to -England, and intercepted at Dunkirk. - -As by degrees these meetings were more largely attended, and men came -who held very different opinions from those of Dr. Goddard and Dr. -Wallis, the exclusion of theology and politics from the discussions was -a needful precaution. Many inventions of Christopher's date from this -time, a design for a reflecting dial for the ceiling of a room, -ornamented with quaint figures and devices, some Latin lines ending in a -chronogram of his age, and the date of the invention, suggested probably -by the one in the rectory at East Knoyle, which he had known from a -child; an instrument to write in the dark; and an instrument of use in -gnomonics.[48] At the same time he had attracted the notice of Sir -Charles Scarborough, a friend of Dean Wren's, then just rising to fame -as a surgeon. Christopher, whose health, as has been said, was delicate, -fell dangerously ill and considered that he owed his life to the skilful -care of his new friend. Dr. Scarborough, who could recite in order all -the propositions of Euclid and Archimedes, and could apply them, found -in his patient a kindred spirit, and induced Wren, young as he was, to -undertake the translation into Latin of the 'Clavis Aurea,' by the Rev. -W. Oughtred, a mathematical treatise of great reputation. - -[_MR. OUGHTRED._] - -That Christopher was able to satisfy the old man is evident from the -preface, even while making allowance for the complimentary style of the -time. Mr. Oughtred speaks of-- - - 'Mr. Christopher Wren, Gentleman Commoner of Wadham College, a - youth generally admired for his talents, who, when not yet sixteen - years old, enriched astronomy, gnomonics, statics and mechanics, by - brilliant inventions, and from that time has continued to enrich - them, and in truth is one from whom I can, not vainly, look for - great things.'[49] - -Mr. Oughtred was a Canon of Chichester, and after the siege of the city -and the wanton sack of the cathedral by Sir E. Waller in 1642, deprived -and heart-broken, wandered to Oxford, refusing the offers of home and -emolument which came to him from France, Italy, and Holland. He gladly -availed himself of young Wren's services in the work of translation, -which he had not energy to undertake himself, and waited, hoping for -better times. When at length they drew near, and he heard of the vote -passed at Westminster (May 1, 1660), for the Restoration of the Royal -Family, the relief was too great, and Mr. Oughtred 'expired in a sudden -ecstasy of joy.'[50] - -Dean Wren, in the meanwhile, though deprived of his living, does not -seem to have been in any personal danger, having a protection from -Parliament, possibly obtained by his friend the Elector Palatine, or -Speaker Lenthall, by favour of which he boldly attended the Committee -Meetings at Somerset House. He made an attempt to gather together the -Knights of the Garter, and addressed the following petition, an -autograph copy of which is contained in the 'Parentalia': - - '_To ye Right Honble ye Knights of ye Most Noble - Order of ye Garter._ - - 'Dr. C. Wren Register and Secretarye of ye sd Most Noble Order of - ye Garter in discharge of his sworne service. - - 'Prayeth, that according to ye commission directed to all ye Honble - Peers of ye said Most Noble Order or to any Three of them [to - muster and consult in ye absence of ye Sovraine upon all such - emergent occasions as may concerne ye advancement or indemnity of - ye said Most Noble Order] - - 'It may therefore please your Honors to give yr. consent for some - sett Time and Place of meeting with such convenient speed as may - best stand with ye great Affairs. That yr. humble Servant ye - Register may Represent to yr. Honors some few Things, w^{ch} hee - humbly conceaves may much concerne ye Honor & Interest of ys. Most - Honble Order to bee provided for.' - - 'I delivered this Petition in ye Parliament Howse before they sate, - Jan. 23d. 1647.' (O. S.) - -[_GOD'S PRISONER._] - -A copy of this Petition he sent to the Deputy Chancellor. It would seem -to have startled the Knights, and Dr. Wren evidently wishes the way -smoothed. His letter, also an autograph, is headed - - 'Copye of my letter sent to the Deputie Chancelor for removal of - some scruples w^{ch} arose among ye Knights of ye Order before ye - Time of their meeting in Council.' - - 'Honble Chancelor.--I have no pticular aime in this my humble suite - to ye Lords of ye Order to propose any private or Personal Interest - of my owne, or any other man's, much lesse to engage their Honors - in anything that may seeme to contest w^{th} or dissent from ye - Highe Court of Parliament wherein they now sit & from whence I am - not ignorant ye Most Honble Society of ye Most Noble Order receaved - as at first Life and Being soe now holds its establishment. My - humble & earnest desires, are to represent such Things only as I - humbly conceave may nearly concerne ye Honor & Interests of their - Most Noble Order. To w^{ch} (next as yr. Selfe Honored Sir) I am by - oath obliged: (to preserve ye Honor thereof, & of all in itt to my - utmost Power) For zeale of this duty w^{ch} upon ye intimation of - what I here profess, I presume they will not reject, I beseech you - to give y^m this assurance as yf itt were from ye tender of my owne - mouthe, who am at this period God's Prisoner, & under Him, - - 'Yr servant, C. W.' - -Whether the Dean succeeded in gathering the Knights together, and what -the 'Things nearly concerning their Honor' may have been if they were -_not_, as the letter implies they were not, the King's deliverance, the -'Parentalia' does not say, neither does it give any hint of the illness -to which the end of the Dean's letter appears to point. - -FOOTNOTES: - - [32] _Vide supra_, p. 17. - - [33] R. Neile, successively Bishop of Rochester, Lichfield, - Lincoln, Durham and Winchester, and Archbishop of York, died - 1640. Godwin speaks strongly of his loyalty to Church and - King, and the hatred borne to him by the Puritans.--_Praesul. - Ang._ - - [34] 'The Commons not being able to come at their intended - alterations in the Church while the Bench of Bishops remained - entire in the House of Peers, formed several schemes to divide - them.'--_Hist. of the Puritans_, vol. ii. p. 388. Neale. - - [35] 'We, poor souls,' says Joseph Hall, Bishop of Norwich, in his - _Hard Measure_, 'who little thought we had done anything that - might deserve a chiding, are now called to our knees at the - bar, and charged severally with high treason, being not a - little astonished at the suddenness of this crimination - compared with the perfect innocency of our own intentions, - which were only to bring us to our due places in Parliament - with safety and speed, without the least purpose of any man's - offence; but now traitors we are in all the haste, and must be - dealt with accordingly. For on December 30, in all the - extremity of frost at eight o'clock on the dark evening, are - we voted to the Tower; only two of our number had the favour - of the Black Rod, by reason of their age, which though desired - by a noble lord on my behalf would not be granted; wherein I - acknowledge and bless the gracious Providence of my God, for - had I been gratified I had been undone both in body and purse; - the rooms being strait, and the expense beyond the reach of my - estate.'--_Annals of England_, p. 420. - - [36] _Biographical History of England_, vol. ii. p. 157. Grainger. - - [37] _Vide Life of Barnevelde_, vol. i. p. 408. Motley. - - [38] P. 26. - - [39] 'Certainly,' says Nalson, 'notwithstanding this black - accusation (he is speaking of the 'fifty painful ministers'), - there cannot be a greater demonstration of the innocence of - this worthy prelate than the very articles; and that this - accusation wanted proof to carry it further than a bare - accusation, and a commitment to the Tower, where, with the - courage and patience of a primitive Christian, he continued - prisoner till the year 1660.'--_History of the Puritans_, vol. - ii. p. 223. Grey, Examination of Neale's. - - [40] It is curious that nearly as violent an attack was made a - hundred years later upon Bishop Butler (the author of the - _Analogy_), because, when Bishop of Bristol, he put up a - plain, inlaid, black marble cross in the Chapel of the Palace - there. He died 1752. - - [41] The Rubric before the Prayer of Consecration in the Prayer - Book of 1559-1604, was simply:-- - - 'Then the Priest, standing up, shall say as followeth.' - - The first rubric of position at the beginning of the service had - placed him 'at the north side of the Table.' For a full and - very interesting defence of Bishop Wren, see _Worship in the - Church of England_, Right Honourable A. B. B. Hope, and, _Dean - Howson 'Before the Table,'_ by the same author, in the _Church - Quarterly Review_, January, 1876. - - [42] South's _Sermons_, vol. v. p. 45, ed. 1727. - - [43] _Life of Dr. Barwick_, p. 267, ed. 1724. - - [44] See _Appendix I._ - - [45] Dr. Wilkins published a book (_A Discovery of a New World_), - concerning the art of flying, in which he said he did not - question but in the next age it will be as usual to hear a man - call for his wings when he is going a journey, as it is now to - call for his boots. The Duchess of Newcastle objecting to Dr. - Wilkins the want of baiting places on the way to his New - World, he expressed his surprise that the objection should be - made by a lady who had all her life been employed in building - castles in the air. (_The Guardian_, No. 112. Addison.) This - scheme does not seem to have reached the length of an - experiment! - - [46] A most zealous Royalist; King Charles called him 'my - plain-dealing chaplain,' because Dr. Hudson told him the truth - when others would not. He was murdered at Woodcroft House, - Northamptonshire, 1648. _Desiderata Curiosa_, p. 378. Peck. - - [47] _Annals of England_, p. 432. - - [48] i.e. the art of dial-making. - - [49] _Lives of the Gresham Professors._ Ward, p. 96. - - [50] _Memorials of the See of Chichester_, p. 290. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - 1646-1658. - - DEATH OF MRS. M. WREN--KING CHARLES MURDERED--A MONOTONOUS - WALK--INVENTIONS--A DREAM--ALL SOULS' FELLOWSHIP--BEGINNINGS OF - ROYAL SOCIETY--ASTRONOMY--AN OFFER OF RELEASE--THE - CYCLOID--CROMWELL'S FUNERAL--LETTERS FROM LONDON. - - La Royauté seule, depuis vingt ans, n'avait pas été mise à - l'épreuve; seule elle avait encore à faire des promesses auxquelles - on n'eut pas été trompé.... On y revenait enfin, après tant - d'agitations comme au toit paternel qu'a fait quitter l'espérance - et où ramène la fatigue.--_Monk_, par M. Guizot, p. 69. - - -A heavy sorrow fell upon the imprisoned Bishop of Ely at the close of -1646. His wife was worn out by grief for the loss of her children and -anxiety for her husband, for whom Laud's fate seemed but too probable, -and the Bishop's diary records that on 'December 8, 1646, Ad Christum -evolavit pia anima conjugis E. mediâ post 5^{vum} matutinam.'[51] The -diary contains no remark, no murmur, though this loss left Bishop Wren -very desolate and full of anxiety for his seven surviving children, of -whom the eldest, Matthew, was but seventeen. Upon such troubles as these -prison life must have pressed heavily, and if Bishop Wren's captivity -was half as strict as was that of Dr. John Barwick, who was consigned to -the Tower in 1650,[52] it was a sufficient hardship. Every rumour which -reached his ears from the tumultuous world outside must have added to -his grief. The King's affairs grew more desperate, and the shadow of -Cromwell loomed larger and larger. Probably the Bishop did not expect a -long captivity. It must have come to his ears that in the proposed -treaty of Newport (1648), 'the persons only who were to expect no -pardon were the Princes Rupert and Maurice; James, Earl of Derby; John, -Earl of Bristol; William, Earl of Newcastle; Francis, Lord Cottington; -George, Lord Digby; Matthew Wren, Bishop of Ely,' and some fifty -others.[53] - -Condemned thus without a trial, without a chance of his vindication -being known, the Bishop betook himself to prayer, and to writing a -commentary on the Holy Scriptures, a task for which, as a fine Hebrew, -Greek and Latin scholar, he was well qualified. In this work he found -solace and support, and quietly waited until the tyranny should be -overpast. - -There is no need to recall in detail the thickcoming sorrows of that -time; it is but too easy to guess how doubly galling imprisonment must -have been to Bishop Wren when the royalists who were at liberty were -straining every nerve, exhausting every device to save if possible their -beloved King from his fate. In vain--at length came the fatal January 30 -(1649), and King Charles, attended by Bishop Juxon, walked to the -scaffold and uttered his final words, 'I have a good cause and a -gracious God on my side; I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible -Crown where no disturbance can be, no disturbance in the world.' There -was one of the King's loyal subjects who, we may well believe, envied -Bishop Juxon his privilege of attendance on his master to the -last--Bishop Wren, who had been with him in bright early days, had -attended him when Prince of Wales, on his romantic journey to Spain, -and, when the weight of the corruptible crown first came upon the -prince's head, had accompanied him on the journey to Scotland for his -coronation at Scone, who ever since then had been so trusted by him. - -No word of his own grief, of his unavailing longing to see his King once -more, and once more kiss his hand, is expressed in the brief record in -his diary. It is simply 'A sanguinibus, O Deus!' - -[_A MONOTONOUS WALK._] - -Horror at the crime, at the stain of innocent blood which now defiled -his country, seems to have swallowed up all expression of personal -feeling. By degrees the rigour of his imprisonment appears to have been -a little relaxed, and by the connivance of his gaoler he obtained the -opportunity, rarely granted to prisoners, of walking upon the leads of -one of the towers. Thither he daily went for his exercise, and, says the -writer of the 'Parentalia,' - - 'by a just computation, he walked round the world. The earth being - affirmed to be 216,000 miles in compass (at a calculation of sixty - miles to a degree);[54] if it were possible to make a path round - the earth, an able footman going constantly twenty-four miles a - day, would compass it in 900 days, and so on in proportion of time - and miles.' - -It would seem that the Bishop, finding his life was for the time spared, -and having a steady conviction that the evil days would pass, had -determined to keep himself ready in body, as in soul, for what work the -future might bring. A prison life leaves little to be recorded; the days -wore away in the Tower, divided between devotion, study, and that -unchanging monotonous walk which at least gave the prisoner a distant -glimpse of the world from which he was excluded. - -He was allowed the Bible and paper and ink, but no other books. It is -the testimony of one who has studied Bishop Wren's manuscript-- - - 'He wrote in an exquisite hand, in very fair Latin, a commentary on - much of Holy Scripture enough to fill an oak box of no mean - dimensions. This box he committed to the care of Dr. Beaumont, - master of S. Peter's College.[55] Had the Puritans read the MS. - they would have found some antidote to their poison.' - -Two sermons and some treatises were also written during his captivity. -Probably suspicion attached to anything that he did, for it is said to -have been all written by stealth. - -His nephew's life differed as widely from his own as did their -characters. Christopher was at Oxford, deep in the experiments of the -'New learning,' and in the inventions which it suggested to his ready -brain and dexterous fingers. - -[_DIPLOGRAPHIC PEN._] - -One invention which he was at the time proud of was that of a-- - - 'diplographic instrument for writing with two pens,' whose uses he - thus describes; 'by the help of this instrument, every ordinary - penman may at all times be suddenly fitted to write two several - copies of any deeds and evidences, from the shortest to the - longest length of lines, in the very same compass of time, and - with as much ease and beauty, without any dividing or ruling; as, - without the help of the instrument, he could have despatched but - one.' - -So successful was this instrument, that he obtained a patent for it for -seventeen years. In the same year an exact duplicate of this invention -was brought from France, and another patent taken out for the same -number of years, by Mr. William Petty,[56] who claimed to be the -inventor. - -Wren was indignant at the notion that he had copied another person's -idea, and gives good reasons for his belief that his own instrument had -been described to Petty by a friend of his. Three years later Wren wrote -of it as 'an obvious Thing, a cast-off Toy;' ending, 'Indeed though I -care not for having a Successor in Invention, yet it behoves me to -vindicate myself from the Aspersion of having a Predecessor.' - -Another invention Wren describes as a 'weather clock.' It consisted of a -clock affixed to a weather cock that moved a rundle covered with paper, -upon which the clock moved a black-lead pencil, so that the observer, -by the traces of the pencil on the paper, might certainly conclude what -winds had blown in his absence for twelve hours' space. The 'Parentalia' -contains a careful drawing in pen and sepia of this invention -elaborately worked out and remarkable for the truth and finish of the -drawing. Some of these designs, and an instrument for sowing corn, -nearly identical with a modern 'drill,' he dedicated in a quaintly -formal letter to his father's friend, the Prince Palatine. He appeared -before the Prince in another character, due probably to his Westminster -training. A play was performed (about 1652) at Oxford before the Prince, -Dr. Seth Ward,[57] and several others, entitled 'Hey for Honesty, down -with Knavery,' translated by Thomas Randolph from the Plutus of -Aristophanes, in which Christopher sustained the part of Neanias.[58] It -is provoking to have this bare record merely, and no clue as to the -success or failure of any part of the performance, especially where the -young actor was concerned. - -To about the same date belongs a Latin letter written by Christopher to -his father, signed 'Christophorus Regulus,' describing in glowing terms -a visit paid in the spring to a friend's house. Some pretty touches give -'the lofty woods with their clamorous republic of rooks, the great -fountains, the placid pools--without, you might say a terrestrial -paradise, but within, heaven itself.' It may have been, though there is -nothing in its favour but conjecture, that this was Bletchingdon House, -and that among 'the virgins singing holy psalms,' whom he mentions, was -his future bride Faith, (or as she spelt it, 'ffaith') Coghill. The -letter says much, as does all that passed between them, for the warm -affection existing between father and son, and the sincerely religious -tone of Christopher's mind. - -[_BATTLE OF WORCESTER._] - -The desperate efforts of the Royalists shortly after this period to -overthrow Cromwell's tyranny and to put Charles II. on the throne, -received a cruel check in the disastrous battle of Worcester (1651), -Cromwell's 'crowning mercy.' This crushed the hopes of the Royalists and -obliged them to turn their every effort and thought to effecting the -escape of their prince. He must have passed very near Knoyle Hill, when -he crossed Salisbury Plain and met at Stonehenge the friends who at last -succeeded in conveying him to the coast. Knoyle Hill had its own -fugitive to shelter. - -Aubrey, the Wiltshire Antiquary, gives the account of a vivid dream -which Christopher Wren had, when staying, in the autumn of 1651, with -Dean Wren at Knoyle. He - - 'dreamed he saw a fight in a great market-place, which he knew not, - where some were flying and others pursuing; and among those who - fled, he saw a kinsman of his, who went into Scotland with the - King's army. They heard in the country that the King was come into - England, but whereabouts he was they could not tell. The next night - came his kinsman to Knoyle Hill, and brought with him the - disastrous news of Charles II.'s defeat at Worcester.'[59] - -It seems likely that this 'kinsman' was Bishop Wren's son Matthew, who -afterwards went to the Hague. There also, when his escape had been with -great difficulty contrived, went King Charles, as his brother-in-law, -the Prince of Orange, was his steady friend. In the hope of utterly -putting down the Cavaliers, the greatest severity was shown at this time -to all who had helped the King, and even to those who merely boasted of -their good will towards him. Among those who suffered was Inigo Jones, -who had been architect to James I. and to Charles I., had been steadily -loyal to the Stuarts, and was therefore an object of suspicion. He lived -to see what was thought the utter downfall of the monarchy, and -following upon this the desecration and ruin of the finest churches in -England. S. Paul's, on which he had spent much labour and skill, was, as -being connected with Archbishop Laud, an object of special hatred to the -Puritans. It suffered every possible injury. The fine portico designed -by Inigo Jones was filled with stalls, blocked up by booths, and used as -a market-place. The year after the battle of Worcester, Inigo Jones -died, poor and lonely, in a lodging close to the defaced cathedral. He -and Christopher Wren must probably have met. Wren had a sincere -admiration for his predecessor's skill, and spoke of the S. Paul's -portico as 'an exquisite piece in itself.' - -[_MAKING HIMSELF._] - -In the autumn of 1653, Wren, then just twenty-one, was elected to a -fellowship at All Souls, and happy in the comparative tranquillity of -Oxford, pursued the various studies which he loved. All this time he was -'making himself,' as was said of Sir Walter Scott in his childhood on -the Scotch hills, though perhaps at the time no one could have guessed -the particular manner in which he would distinguish himself. - -In the following summer he made acquaintance with John Evelyn, who had -come up to Oxford to hear the 'Philosophy Act.' Evelyn mentioned that -after a dinner at All Souls he 'visited that miracle of a youth Mr. -Christopher Wren, nephew to the Bishop of Ely.'[60] - - 'A day or two later Evelyn dined with 'that most obliging and - universally curious Dr. Wilkins at Wadham College, who showed him - his "transparent apiaries, built like castles, and so ordered one - upon another as one might take the honey without hurting the bees," - his "hollow statue, which gave a voice and uttered words, by a - long, concealed pipe that went to its mouth, whilst one speaks - through it at good distance;" and his gallery filled with - mathematical and other curiosities; a "thermometer," still a - curiosity, though fifty-two years had elapsed since Galileo - invented the first; a "way-wiser," which, when placed in a coach, - exactly measured the miles it travelled, and showed them by an - index; "a monstrous magnet," and many other inventions, most of - them of his owne and that prodigious young scholar, Mr. Christopher - Wren, who presented me with a piece of white marble which he had - stained with a lively red very deepe, as beautiful as if it had - been natural.' - -The acquaintance thus made with Christopher Wren ripened into a -friendship lasting until Evelyn's death in 1706. - -Dr. Wilkins was also of Evelyn's friends, though he was very submissive -to Cromwell.[61] It is curious to contrast two accounts which occur in -the same page of Evelyn's diary. - - '_December 25, 1655._ There was no more notice taken of Christmas - Day in churches. I went to London, where Dr. Wild preached the - funeral sermon of Preaching, this being the last day, after which - Cromwell's proclamation was to take place, that none of the Church - of England should dare either to preach or administer Sacraments, - teach schoole etc. on paine of imprisonment or exile. So this was - the mournfullest day that in my life I had seene, or the Church of - England herselfe since the Reformation; to the greate rejoicing of - both Papist and Presbyter. So pathetic was his discourse (on 2 Cor. - xiii. 9) that it drew many teares from the auditory. Myself, wife, - and some of our family received the Communion; God make me - thankfull that hath hitherto provided for us the food of our soules - as well as bodies! The Lord Jesus pity our distressed Church, and - bring back the captivity of Sion! - - '_February 10, 1656._ I heard Dr. Wilkins preach before the Lord - Mayor in S. Paul's, shewing how obedience was preferable to - sacrifice. He was a most obliging person, who had married the - Protector's sister, and tooke greate paines to preserve the - Universities from the ignorant sacrilegious commanders and - souldiers, who would faine have demolished all places and persons - that pretended to learning.' - -[_GERM OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY._] - -Dr. Wilkins appears, like too many of that time, to have regarded the -Church as utterly overthrown, and probably believed honestly in his -peculiar interpretation of the text upon which he preached. Much credit -is however due to him for the idea of the Oxford meetings, and for the -hospitality which he showed. These meetings were the germ of the Royal -Society, and to them Dr. Thomas Sprat (afterwards Bishop of Rochester), -a great friend of Christopher Wren's, bears testimony:-- - - 'Wadham College,'[62] he says, 'was then the place of resort for - virtuous and learned men. Their first purpose was no more than - only the satisfaction of breathing a freer air, and of conversing - in quiet, one with another, without being engaged in the passions - and madness of that dismal age. And from the institution of that - assembly it had been enough if no other advantage had come but - this; that by these means there was a race of young men provided - against the next age, whose minds receiving from them their first - impressions of sober and generous knowledge, were invincibly armed - against all the enchantments of enthusiasm.... It was in good - measure by the influence which these gentlemen had over the rest, - that the university itself, or at least any part of its discipline - and order, was saved from ruin.... Nor indeed could it be - otherwise, for such spiritual frenzies, which did then bear rule, - can never stand long before a clear and deep skill in nature. It is - almost impossible, that they who converse much with the subtilty of - things, should be deluded by such thick deceits. There is but one - better charm in the world than real philosophy, to allay the - impulses of the false spirit, and that is the blessed Presence and - assistance of the True.' - -In 1656, on the 29th of May, Dean Wren died. Sorrow and anxiety, the -desolation of the Church, the apparent ruin of the monarchy, had worn -out his gentle spirit; and probably little thinking how great a change -was approaching to free the country, he passed away, aged 69, at the -house of his son-in-law, Mr. Holder, and was buried in the chancel of -Bletchingdon Church.[63] When we look back to the years of the -Rebellion, their darkness is lightened for us by the knowledge that the -Restoration came at last, and it is difficult to realise fully how the -times appeared to those who actually lived in them, to whom the years -brought only fresh losses and sorrows, and the sickness of hope -deferred. - -Knowing how, on the 29th of May, but four years later, all England was -welcoming back the King to 'enjoy his own again,' one can hardly forbear -wishing that Dean Wren might have been spared to see that day; yet those -who loved him best cannot have grudged him the fulness of that peace -which all his life he had desired, and which he had invoked upon his -first home. Christopher was very warmly attached to his father, as all -his letters show, and must have grieved greatly for his death. - -[_ASTRONOMY PROFESSORSHIP._] - -Soon after this he was summoned to London. The Gresham professor of -astronomy, Mr. Laurence Rooke, retired in 1657, and the chair was -offered to Wren. He was but twenty-four and doubted whether he should -accept such a post while so young, and he clung to Oxford and his -studies there. - -The friends whom he consulted advised him differently; accordingly he -came up to London and delivered his opening address to a considerable -audience. It was in Latin, and after a brief apology for his youth -passed into a sketch of the history of astronomy. He dwells on the great -riches of the science, how it is the handmaid of theology, the queen of -sciences, speaks of the vast discoveries made by its means, touches upon -Copernicus, whose mind first grasped the idea that the earth moved round -the sun, then upon Kepler and upon Galileo, and the storms that had -arisen, when in 1632 he had demonstrated that truth at which Copernicus -had guessed; he praises highly Galileo's invention of the telescope, -pays a tribute to the great men who had lectured at Gresham on these -subjects, and especially to his own predecessor, Rooke, and winds up -with an eloquent description of London as a Pandora of cities to whom -each of the choir of planets gave a peculiar blessing, on whom the sun -shines benignly, who possesses more inhabitants than any city in the -world, a healthy air, a fertile soil stretching far around her, -beautiful buildings springing as of themselves from the earth, and, -lastly, is blessed by the moon, 'the governess of floods,' who alluring -the seas thus far inland by means of the beloved Thames, makes her the -city which nourishes the best seamen of the world. The rough draft of -this address, written by Christopher in a bold hand with a few changes -and corrections, is preserved in the 'Parentalia.' - -This professorship obliged him to come up to London and give a course of -lectures every Wednesday in term time at Gresham College. None of these -lectures have been preserved, and it seems from a hint in one of Dr. -Sprat's letters, that Wren was in the habit of lecturing from rough -notes merely, and used no pains to keep any record of them. - -['_HE MAY COME OUT AN HE WILL._'] - -At this time he made acquaintance with Richard Claypole, who was -married to Elizabeth, Cromwell's favourite daughter; both she and her -sister, Lady Falconbridge, were faithful members of the persecuted -Church of England. Dr. Hewet still read the Prayer Book services in S. -Gregory's Church, which adjoined S. Paul's, and there the two sisters -resorted, there Dr. Hewet secretly married Mary Cromwell to Lord -Falconbridge, as neither would be satisfied with the ceremony performed -by an independent preacher. Cromwell's daughters used all their -influence with their father on the side of mercy, but when the excellent -Dr. Hewet fell under his displeasure they pleaded in vain for his -life.[64] Mr. Claypole professed a fondness for mathematical science and -frequently invited Christopher Wren to his house. On one of these -occasions when Wren was dining there, Cromwell himself entered, and, as -was his custom in his own family, sat down to table without speech or -ceremony. After a while he fixed his eyes on Christopher and said, 'Your -uncle has been long confined in the Tower.' 'He has so, sir,' said Wren; -'but he bears his afflictions with great patience and resignation.' 'He -may come out an he will,' was Cromwell's unexpected reply. 'Will your -Highness permit me to take him this from your own mouth?' said Wren, -hardly able to believe his ears. 'Yes, you may,' said Cromwell briefly. -At the earliest possible moment Christopher hurried to the Tower to -communicate to his uncle the tidings that the long years of his -imprisonment were over. When he had poured out his news the Bishop -replied warmly that it was not the first time he had received the like -intimation from that miscreant, but he disdained the terms proposed for -his enlargement, which were a mean acknowledgment of his favour and an -abject submission to his detestable tyranny; that he was determined to -tarry the Lord's leisure, and owe his deliverance, which was not far -off, to Him only. Such an answer must have been startling enough to -Christopher, and may have opened his eyes to the causes of Cromwell's -seeming leniency. He left the brave old man to await the deliverance -which the keen sight of faith showed him as drawing near, and returned -to his own work. - -The death of Mrs. Claypole in the following summer must have checked an -intimacy upon which Bishop Wren looked with little favour. She died of a -terrible illness, and in the paroxysms of her pain bitterly reproached -Cromwell for the innocent blood that he had shed, and particularly for -that of Dr. Hewet. - -At about this period some experiments were made by Wren's philosophical -friends wherein he took a principal part, and to which the barometer, -now in common use, is mainly due. The first instrument of the kind was -invented by Torricelli, the pupil of Galileo, who used it in order to -ascertain the pressure of the air on fluids, the supposed cause of which -pressure was the passing by of the body of the moon. Pascal, in those -earlier days when his great genius employed itself on natural -philosophy, made several experiments at Rouen, in 1646, with a friend, -M. Petit, using 'Torricelli's tube,' as it was called. Similar trials -were afterwards made by M. Perier, his brother-in-law, among the -mountains of Auvergne. They then discovered that the rising and falling -of the mercury was due not to the moon, but to the differences in the -specific gravity of the atmosphere. Wren's experiments led him to the -same conclusion, and at a later period he and Robert Boyle continued -them until they produced the barometer, though it was not used commonly -as a weather-glass until a much later date. Pascal did not pursue his -discovery, but was satisfied with having proved the point for which he -was contending. - -[_THE CYCLOID._] - -Though Wren and Pascal never met, some communication passed between -them. Pascal, who was Wren's senior by eleven years, propounded a -problem, under the name of Jean de Monfert, to the mathematicians of -England, adding a challenge to them to solve it by a given day. -Christopher sent a solution, and in his turn propounded a problem which -seems never to have been answered. Pascal is said to have considered -Wren's solution very carefully, but the promised prize of twenty -pistoles was withheld by some trickery. Besides this, Wren wrote four -mathematical tracts on the cycloid, and sent them to Dr. J. Wallis, who -was publishing a book on mathematics. He corresponded with Pascal,[65] -who was writing on the cycloid by the name of _la Roulette_, the -problem being 'to determine the curve made in the air by the nail of a -coach wheel from the moment it rises from the ground, till the moment -when the continual rolling of the wheel brings it back to the ground, -after a complete turn, supposing the wheel a perfect circle and the -ground perfectly level.' - -[_CROMWELL'S FUNERAL._] - -Wren was engaged also in a series of observations on the planet Saturn. -These pursuits were, however, interrupted by an event that convulsed all -England. On September 3, 1658, during a fearful storm which swept over -London, Oliver Cromwell died. Hume[66] gives a terrible account of the -state of constant suspicion and fear of assassination in which Cromwell -passed the last year of his life; the secret armour which he wore, his -constant guard of soldiers wherever he moved, his fears on a journey, -his habit of never returning the way he had come, nor by the direct -road, seldom sleeping above three nights together in the same chamber, -or in any he did not choose himself, or without sentinels. His body lay -in state for a considerable time. The funeral, on October 22, Evelyn -calls 'superb.' He says:-- - - 'I saw the Protector carried from Somerset House on a velvet bed of - state drawn by six black horses, houss'd with the same; the pall - held up by his new lords; Oliver lying in effigie in royal robes, - crown'd with a crown, sceptre, and globe like a king ... a knight - of honour armed _cap-à-pie_, and, after all, his guard, soldiers, - and innumerable mourners. In this equipage they proceeded to - Westminster; but it was the joyfullest funeral I ever saw, for - there were none that cried but dogs, which the soldiers hooted away - with a barbarous noise, drinking and taking tobacco in the streets - as they went.' - -Under the feeble rule of Richard Cromwell at first and then under the -multiform tyranny of the reassembled 'Long Parliament,' every kind of -disorder and oppression had free course. Monk grievously disappointed -the Royalist hopes by proclaiming Richard Cromwell. The day of -deliverance appeared more than ever distant. - -[_LETTERS FROM LONDON._] - -The Gresham Professors were all driven out of the college except Dr. -Goddard, Cromwell's physician, and the place was garrisoned by soldiers, -who did it great damage. Matthew Wren made an attempt two days after -Cromwell's funeral to enter the college, and sent a curious account to -Christopher, who had returned to All Souls at Oxford. He writes: - - 'Dear Cousin,--Yesterday being the first of the term, I resolved to - see whether Dr. Horton[67] entertained the new auditory at Gresham - with any lecture, for I took it for granted that if his divinity - could be spared your mathematics would not be expected. But at the - gate I was stopped by a man with a gun, who told me there was no - admission upon that account, as the college was reformed into a - garrison. Then changing my pretension, I scarce got permission to - go in to Dr. Goddard, who gave me assurance enough that none of - your colleagues intend to appear this term unless the soldiers be - removed, of which there is no probability. Upon these premises it - is the opinion of all your friends that you may save that journey - hither, unless some other occasion calls you; and for these I - expect you will make me your agent, if they be such as I am capable - of despatching. - - 'But it will not perhaps be amiss to take from hence the occasion - of a short and civil letter to the Committee, signifying that you - hope you have not deceived their expectations in choosing you, and - that you are ready to attend your duty but for this public - interruption and exclusion from your chamber; or what else you will - that looks towards this. - - 'I know no more domestic news than what everybody talks of. - Yesterday I was in Westminster Hall, and saw only Keudigate and - Windham in the two courts, and Wild and Parker in the Exchequer. In - the Chancery none at all; Bradshaw keeps the seal as if it were to - be carried before him in the other world, whither he is going. Glyn - and Fountain pleaded at the bar. They talk much of the mediation of - the two Crowns, and proceed so far as to name Marshall Clerambault - for the Embassador who is to come hither from France. My service - to all friends. Dear Cousin, your most humble servant, - - 'M. W. - - 'London, October 25, 1658.' - - -Dr. Sprat[68] writes also to Christopher at about the same time: - - 'Dear Sir,--This day I went to visit Gresham College, but found the - place in such a nasty condition, so defiled, and the smells so - infernal that if you should now come to make use of your tube, it - would be like Dives looking out of hell into heaven. Dr. Goddard, - of all your colleagues, keeps possession, which he could never be - able to do had he not before prepared his nose for camp perfumes by - his voyage into Scotland, and had he not such excellent - restoratives in his cellars.' - -FOOTNOTES: - - [51] 'December 8, 1646. The pious soul of my wife Eliza flew up to - Christ at half-past five in the morning.' - - [52] _Life of Dr. Barwick_, ed. 1724, p. 122. - - [53] Grey's Examination of Neale's _History of the Puritans_, vol. - iii. p. 333. - - [54] It is really 24,899 miles. - - [55] The box is, I believe, in Peterhouse Library to this day, but - a portion of the Commentary was published as a treatise - against the Socinians by the Bishop's son Matthew, under the - title of _Increpatio Bar Jesu, sive polemicae adsectiones - locorum aliquot S. Scripturae ab imposturis perversis in - Catechesis Racoviana collectae._ - - [56] Petty's history is a curious one. The son of a clothier of - Rumsey; he educated himself; was some years in the navy; - became Gresham professor of music; then a physician of some - fame; was also Henry Cromwell's secretary; was a commissioner - for Ireland, and married Sir Hardress Waller's daughter. Soon - after the Restoration he was knighted by Charles II. Petty - invented a 'double-bottomed ship to sail against wind and - tide; it was flat-bottomed, had two distinct keels cramped - together with huge timbers, so as a violent stream run - between: it bore a monstrous broad sail.' It excited much - interest at the time, made one very successful voyage, and was - afterwards wrecked in a frightful storm. Its model is still - preserved at the Royal Society, of which he became a member. - He died in 1687. _Lives of the Gresham Professors_, p. 217. - Ward. See also Evelyn's _Diary_ of March 22, 1675, for an - interesting account of Petty's career. - - [57] Seth Ward, born 1617. Was Savilian Professor of Astronomy at - Oxford and an active member of the Royal Society. Afterwards - Bishop of Exeter and then of Salisbury; died 1689. - - [58] _Life of Sir C. Wren_, by J. Elmes, p. 12. The full title of - the play was '[Greek: Ploutophthalmia Ploutogamia],' a - pleasant comedy intituled _Hey for Honesty_, &c., augmented - and published by F. J. A copy, published in 1651, and - containing a MS. note saying that Wren took the part of - 'Neanias Adolescens,' was in the possession of Isaac Reed, a - commentator on Shakespeare and a great book collector, who - died in 1807. His epitaph (given in _Notes and Queries_, - series v., xiii. p. 304) was as follows:-- - - 'Reader of these few lines take heed, And mend your ways for - my sake; For you must die like Isaac Reed, Tho' you read till - your eyes ache.' - - T. Randolph was a friend and pupil of Ben Jonson's; he published - _The Muses' Looking Glass_, which satirised the Puritans; died - 1634. - - [59] Miscellanies, ed. 1696. - - [60] _Diary_, July 13, 1654. - - [61] _Præsul. Ang._, p. 779. Godwin. - - [62] _Hist. of Royal Society._ Bishop Sprat, ed. 1722, p. 53. - - [63] 'Dr. Christopher Wren, Deane of Windsor, was buried June 3, - 1656,' is the entry in the register; there does not appear to - be any monument or brass to his memory. The _Parentalia_ and - Elmes's Life give 1658, but the dates are frequently - inaccurate in both books. - - [64] Evelyn's _Diary_, March 31, 1658. 'That holy martyr Dr. Hewer - condemned to die, without law, jury or justice by a mock - council of State as they called it. A dangerous, treacherous - time. June 8, _ib._ That excellent preacher and holy man Dr. - Hewer was martyred for having intelligence of his Majesty, - through the Lord Marquess of Ormond. He was beheaded on Tower - Hill. The name was spelt Hewer, Hewet, and Hewett. - - [65] Pascal is said to have written his treatise on the cycloid - from a religious motive. It was a common opinion in France - that the study of natural sciences, especially of mathematics, - led to infidelity. Accordingly Pascal, writing for - geometricians and mathematicians, wished to show, by the - solution, vainly sought before, of this problem, that the same - man who wrote the _Lettres à un Provincial_ could also - instruct them in abstract science, and he published his - treatise in the intervals of writing the _Pensées_. See _Vie - de Pascal, par sa soeur Mad. Perier, Pensées de Pascal_, p. - 13, ed. 1839. - - [66] _Hist. of England_, vol. vii. ch. lxi. p. 292. - - [67] Gresham Professor of Divinity, confirmed in his post by - Cromwell. - - [68] Thomas Sprat, D.D., Dean of Westminster, and afterwards Bishop - of Rochester; was an active member of the Royal Society, and - was educated at Wadham College with Sir C. Wren, whose - intimate friend he was: born 1636; died 1713. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - 1659-1663. - - APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION--DIFFICULTY OF PRESERVING IT--LETTERS FROM - LORD CLARENDON--BISHOP WREN'S RELEASE--THE - RESTORATION--CONVOCATION--SAVILIAN PROFESSORSHIP--ROYAL - SOCIETY--'ELEPHANT IN THE MOON'--PEMBROKE CHAPEL BEGUN. - - Yet bethink thee that the spirit whence those princely bounties flowed - To the ties of private feeling all its force and being owed; - Severed from the bonds of kindred, taught his lonely heart to school, - By his Father's chastening kindness or his Church's sterner rule; - Oft to spots by memory cherished, where his earliest love began, - In his age's desolation, fondly turned the childless man. - - _Phrontisterion_, by Dean Mansel. - - -All was confusion, doubt and anxiety in the country; the Royalist plots -failed; the Parliament was powerless; no one knew whether Monk intended, -as was still hoped by a few, to bring back the King, or to support the -Parliament, or to make himself dictator; those were keen eyes which -could discern through the darkness any ray of approaching light. - -Nowhere perhaps did matters seem more desperate than in the Church. Her -discipline and order, barely revived by the murdered Archbishop, had -been for eighteen years trampled upon and neglected; 'by the -licentiousness of the times,' many were growing up unbaptised and -ignorant of Christianity. The number of bishops living was but small, -many sees being already vacant when the Civil War broke out, and -imprisonments and hardships had so reduced the Prelates that, in 1659, -but ten survived, one of whom, Dr. Brownrigg, Bishop of Exeter, very -soon died. Of the nine others, many were very old; the Bishop of London -(Juxon) was very ill, and the Bishop of Ely was in prison. How was the -succession to be preserved if the troubles of the times continued? The -Scotch Church had been reduced by persecution; the Irish Bishops were in -as evil a plight as their English brethren, and the difficulty of -communication was great. There was then no daughter Church in America or -in the Colonies to render back in time of need the grace they had -themselves received. It was hardly possible for the English Bishops to -meet for consultation; but the indefatigable Dr. Barwick was -authorised[69]-- - - 'not only to ride about among them all, and by proposing and - explaining to each what was thought for the Church's Service; to - collect the opinions and resolutions of every one of them upon all - difficult affairs; but also to procure the communication of all - that was needful between their lordships and His Majesty, which he - frequently did by letters written in characters' (_i.e._ cypher). - -[_LETTERS IN CYPHER._] - -Great difficulties lay in the way of the first step--a canonical -election--and in the face of the watchful enmity of the Church of Rome, -no doubtful step could be taken; and even were this difficulty -surmounted and three Bishops got together, the risk of imprisonment and -death to both consecrators and consecrated needed no one to point it -out. The two with whom Dr. Barwick principally consulted were the -Bishops of Ely and Salisbury. Many letters passed between Dr. Barwick -and Mr. Hyde,[70] at Brussels, in one of which, written on July 8, -1659,[71] the latter speaks of-- - - 'much preferring the Bishop of Ely's judgment and advice in that - point (the method of election) before any man's. I pray remember my - service with all imaginable reverence to my Lord of Ely and assure - him, that the King will always return that candour, benignity and - equality to both the Universities, which he wishes; and I hope all - who shall be entrusted by him in that great affair will be as just - and dispassioned in all their interpositions and look upon them as - equal lights to learning and piety and equally worthy of all - encouragement and protection. And if at present my Lord of Ely will - recommend any person to his Majesty for the Bishoprick of Carlisle, - he shall be approved. And if my Lord will transmit a list of - persons to be specially recommended to the King for any dignities - of the Church, I dare promise the persons shall find that they - could not have been better recommended. I know not what more to add - but my hearty service to your sick friend,[72] whose health I pray - for as a publick concernment. To yourself I shall say no more but - that I shall think myself very faulty if I do not serve you very - heartily, and if you do not with the first receive some evidence of - the sense the King hath of your service. - - 'I am very heartily, Sir, your most affectionate servant, - - 'HYDE.' - -These letters, thirty-six in number, were transmitted in cypher, and -with the utmost precaution and considerable delay in awaiting a safe -opportunity; the one quoted from is endorsed 'Received not till Aug. -29.' Nor was the cypher, however carefully contrived, always a security -when the letters fell into the wrong hands. Dr. Wallis, the -mathematician, was a most skilful decypherer, and was the person who -decyphered the King's papers taken in his cabinet at Naseby, though the -Royalists considered this a vain boast until Matthew Wren, the Bishop's -eldest son, obtained the proof of it from Dr. Wallis himself. One -important letter from Dr. Barwick to Mr. Hyde fell into Dr. Wallis' -hands; Mr. Allestry his coadjutor coming from Brussels was seized and -imprisoned as soon as he landed. Bishop Morton of Durham, the last -surviving Prelate of the province of York, had died, as his epitaph -says, 'deprived of all his goods except a good name and a good -conscience.' The rising in Cheshire had been unsuccessful. Monk refused -to give even his brother any hint of his intentions, and made no reply -to the letter which King Charles sent to him from Breda. In short, -matters were as adverse as it was possible for them to be, but yet Dr. -Barwick was undiscouraged; with fresh precautions the correspondence -with Mr. Hyde was resumed, and in truth the matter pressed; 'for,' says -Dr. Barwick, writing in Sept. 1659, after mentioning his circuit among -some of the surviving Bishops,[73] 'I fear this winter will go hard with -some of them that may worst be spared in the due performance of such a -work.' It is evident that Dr. Barwick was able to see and consult the -imprisoned Bishop of Ely whenever it was needful. These hurried -meetings, full of anxiety and peril as they were, must have been a great -refreshment to the Bishop, who thus still took part in the work of the -Church. He declined to send any list of names to the King, though he -pressed Dr. Barwick to accept the Bishoprick of Man. Mr. Hyde[74] wrote -a letter in September, which was not received till November 10, where he -says:-- - -['_WHAT IS TO BECOME OF THE CHURCH?_'] - - 'The King hath done all that is in his power to do; and if my Lords - the Bishops will not do the rest, what is to become of the Church? - The conspiracies to destroy it are very evident; and if there be no - combination to preserve it, it must expire. I do assure you the - names of all the Bishops who are alive, and their several ages, are - as well known at Rome as in England, and both the Papist and the - Presbyterian value themselves very much upon computing in how few - years the Church of England must expire.' ... And again: 'His - Majesty is most confident that the Bishop of Ely will give all the - assistance and advice which his restraint will permit him to do.... - I do beseech you,' says the next letter, 'present my humble service - to my Lord of Ely, whose benediction, I do hope to live to receive - at his own feet. I pray send me word our sick friend is in perfect - health.' - -But little progress appears to have been made, since Mr. Hyde writes, -Nov. 28:-- - - 'I can say no more with reference to the Church, but that if there - be nothing hinders it but the winter it be quickly over, whilst - preparations are making; and yet, God knows, it will be almost a - miracle, if the winter doth not take away half the Bishops that are - left alive; and I must still lament that some way is not found that - the Bishop of Ely may be at liberty; which would carry on this work - more than any expedient that I can think of.' - -An entry in Evelyn's diary shows the general state of affairs at this -time:-- - - '_October 11._ The armie now turned out the Parliament. We had now - no government in the nation; all in confusion; no magistrate either - own'd or pretended but the souldiers, and they not agreed. God - Almighty have mercy on and settle us!' - -Evelyn was not slack in doing what in him lay towards this much-desired -settlement:-- - - '_November 7._ Was published my bold "Apologie" for the King in - this time of danger when it was capital to speake or write in - favour of him. It was printed twice, so universally it took.' - -A fast was kept in secret, apparently about once a fortnight, by the -Churchmen in London to pray 'for God's mercy to our calamitous Church.' - -On _February 3, 1660_, Evelyn writes:-- - - 'General Monk came to London from Scotland, but no man knew what he - would do or declare. Yet he was met on all his way by the gentlemen - of all the counties which he passed, with petitions that he would - recall the old, long-interrupted Parliament, and settle the nation - in some order, being at this time in most prodigious confusion and - under no government, everybody expecting what would be next and - what he would do.' - -Later in the same month Mr. Hyde wrote almost in despair to Dr. -Barwick:[75] - - 'It would be very good news if I could hear of my Lord - of Ely being in full liberty, to whom I pray present my humble - service. The truth is I have but little hope of the business of the - Church but by his being at liberty, and therefore I hope he will - make no scruple of accepting it if it be offered, or if it can be - reasonably obtained.' - -The suspense which Evelyn describes had not long to be endured. On -February 11, the very day after Monk had dismayed the city by breaking -down its gates and allowing the soldiers to march about it in triumph, -he turned out the Parliament then sitting at Westminster, and called -together the former one, to the great joy of the people. From this -moment all hearts and wishes turned to the exiled royal family as the -one hope left of tranquillity and order; thus suddenly, when the -royalist hopes were lowest, their hearts' desire was given to them. - -[_BISHOP WREN'S RELEASE._] - -Monk, now in supreme power, did not forget the Bishop of Ely, whose -fellow-captive he had been and who must have rejoiced to see Monk at -last justify his confidence. On March 15 the lieutenant of the Tower -received the order 'That Dr. Wren, Bishop of Ely, be discharged from his -imprisonment.' Thus the eighteen years of captivity came to an end, and -the Bishop came forth from the Tower, an old man of seventy-five, -broken by many sorrows. - -It cannot have been with unmixed joy that he once more trod another path -than that wonted one on the leads of the Tower. True, the King was -coming home in peace to a people longing to receive him. This return was -a promise of deliverance for the Church, and an end to that difficulty -of preserving the Apostolical Succession which had so nearly proved a -fatal one. And yet, the flood, which in those eighteen years had passed -over the land, had swept away many whom the Bishop loved well. The King -might return in triumph, but he was not the sovereign whom, from his -youth, Bishop Wren had loved and served. The primate with whom he had -worked, had been cruelly murdered; and none could restore the wife and -children who had pined and died during the long years of his -imprisonment. The Church, however, remained, and for her Bishop Wren -would work while life lasted. Part of his employment in the Tower had -been the writing of treatises and sermons, one of which on the Scotch -Covenant, from the text 'Neither behave thyself frowardly in the -covenant,' he dispersed over the dioceses of Norwich and Ely, lodging -the while where he could in London, as he was not yet allowed to go back -either to Downham in Suffolk or to Ely House in Holborn. It appeared, as -was truly said, as if he had not been 'so much released as thrust out of -prison.' - -Homeless and penniless as he then seemed, Bishop Wren's spirit was in no -respect daunted; when he left in safety the Tower where he had once -thought to lay his head on the block, he planned the thank-offering -which he would make to God. His children, from whom he had been so long -separated, who were scattered everywhere and had been reduced to the -greatest straits, he with much difficulty gathered together again, and -they awaited the event of Monk's decision. - -[_THE RESTORATION._] - -At length came that 29th of May so often described in history and -fiction. Evelyn's[76] account of it is interesting, as that of an -eyewitness:-- - - 'This day his majestie Charles II. came to London, after a sad and - long exile and calamitous suffering both of the king and church, - being seventeen yeares. This was also his birthday; and with a - triumph of above 20,000 horse and foote, brandishing their swords - and shouting with inexpressible joy; the wayes strewed with - flowers, the bells ringing, the streetes hung with tapestry, - fountaines running with wine; the maior, aldermen, and all the - companies in their liveries, chaines of gold, and banners; lords - and nobles clad in cloth of silver, gold, and velvet; the windowes - and balconies well set with ladies: trumpets, music, and myriads of - people flocking even so far as from Rochester, so as they were - seven houres in passing the citty, even from two in afternoone till - nine at night. I stood in the Strand and beheld it, and blessed - God. All this was don without one drop of bloudshed, and by that - very army which rebelled against him.' - -By degrees, matters settled down to a more ordinary level. The Church -Service was restored at Whitehall, and on June 28 Pepys mentions[77] -'poor Bishop Wren going to chapel, it being a thanksgiving day for the -King's returne.' - -The vacant sees were now filled up as speedily as possible. Bishop Juxon -was translated to Canterbury, Sheldon succeeding him as Bishop of -London; the northern province, then wholly without bishops, had its -losses supplied. - -The Prayer Book was not by any means commonly used again for some time. -Pepys characteristically says--[78] - - '_July 1._--This morning come home my fine camlett cloak, with gold - buttons, and a silk suit which cost me much money, and I pray God - make me able to pay for it. In the afternoon to the Abbey, where a - good sermon by a stranger, but no Common Prayer yet.' - -In the following November, to quote the same writer, 'men did begin to -nibble at the Common Prayer.' Matters were really progressing, the -cathedrals and the court chapels as well as those in the Bishop's -palaces setting the example. In February (1661) Evelyn heard 'Dr. -Baldero preach at Ely House on St. Matthew vi. 33; after the sermon the -Bishop of Ely gave us the blessing very pontifically.'[79] - -[_ELY HOUSE._] - -Ely House was an ancient possession of the see,[80] the gift of William -de Ludd, who in the reign of Edward I. gave the house and endowed it -with his manor of Ouldbourne, a name which soon grew into Holbourn. The -garden and its strawberries are immortalised by Shakespeare. It was -leased to Sir Christopher Hatton by Bishop Cox in Queen Elizabeth's -reign, and a struggle between the Hatton family and the Bishops of Ely -then began which lasted until 1772.[81] In Wren's time, the Bishops had -recovered some of the buildings, and he had lived here before the -rebellion. During that time the house had been used as a prison for -'malignant priests,' especially those of the city of London, and he must -have found the whole building sorely defaced and injured. - -The chapel, dedicated to S. Etheldreda, is a beautiful piece of Gothic -architecture; and there, when it had been cleansed and restored to some -order, many of the new bishops were consecrated, and Bishop Wren -assisted at that preservation of the Apostolical Succession which but -two years before had seemed well-nigh hopeless. - -Much was done at Ely House. In the May of 1661 the Convocation of -Canterbury met in S. Paul's, its marred, plundered condition not inaptly -showing the adversities through which the Church of England had passed. -The Convocation had much work before it, the most pressing being to -prepare a service for the baptism of those of riper years and for May -29. In order to this a committee of both Houses of Convocation was -formed, which met at Ely House, and of which Bishop Wren appears to have -been the ruling spirit. Many were still half afraid of their true -position and afraid of the Puritan party; eighteen years of confusion -and persecution had slackened all discipline, and many things seemed -natural to the new generation which neither Bishop Andrewes nor -Archbishop Laud would have tolerated for a day. It is implied in Dr. -Barwick's Life that many of those who should have upheld the Church -discipline were willing, from a mistaken notion of conciliation and -peace, to let it go. Bishop Wren set his face resolutely against this -doctrine. - -[_REVISION OF THE PRAYER BOOK._] - -In November the Convocation met again. Dr. John Barwick had been -appointed to the deanery of S. Paul's, and in spite of very failing -health, had resumed the weekly Communions, daily prayers, and musical -services of the cathedral, and had succeeded in making the choir, where -the Puritans had stabled their horses, once more fit for Divine service. -At this session of Convocation the Prayer Book was finally revised, -after the Bishops had heard at the Savoy Conference all that the -Puritans could urge against it. Bishop Wren had been actively engaged in -this work, and suggested a considerable number of alterations and -additions, many of which were adopted. A large number of grammatical -errors had crept in to the old book: for example, 'which' instead of -'who' was in almost all the collects and the Apostles' creed. It still, -by some oversight, survives in the Lord's Prayer.[82] 'The altering -whereof,' says Bishop Wren, 'if it may seem strange at first to -unskilful ears, yet will it not be a nine days' wonder, but for ever -after a right expression in all our addresses unto God.' - -Page after page he corrected with the utmost care, from the very -title-page and calendar to the end. July has the characteristic note, -'Out with Dog-days from amongst the Saints.'--A considerable number of -his suggestions are part of the Prayer Book to this day. The final -clause of the prayer for the Church Militant beginning 'We also bless, -etc.,' though not Bishop Wren's composition, as he intended to have -replaced the Commemoration of the Saints and the Thanksgiving as it -stood in the first Prayer Book of Edward VI., is yet due to his -suggestion. The whole series of notes and emendations is very -interesting, though they are more than can be given here. Two things -plainly appear: that he wished to return as nearly as possible to the -first Prayer Book of Edward VI., as the one most closely resembling the -offices of the Early Church; that he was very desirous to have the book -made as full, as plain, and as clear as the English language could make -it. He was anxious that no needless stumbling-blocks should remain in -the path either of Churchmen or of Nonconformists, but at the same time -he had no intention of bartering any portion of Church truth or -discipline for the doubtful advantages of 'comprehension.' - -It is a proof that he was not, with all his high-minded firmness, the -persecuting prelate of Puritan pamphleteers, or the sour and severe man -which, in early days, Lord Clarendon thought him, that both in Norwich, -his former diocese, and in the one he then ruled, most of the clergy -renounced the Covenant.[83] - -S. Bartholomew's day, 1662, was the time fixed for those who refused to -conform to the Church to resign their livings. It has been easy to -represent this as a piece of cruel tyranny, as the turning out of a body -of pious men who were labouring in the work which others neglected. In -truth, as even Milton says, they were 'time-servers, covetous, -illiterate persecutors, not lovers of the truth, like in most things -whereof they had accused their predecessors.' To this grave indictment -must be added that they were, in the strictest sense, intruders, thrust -into charges by Cromwell's authority, while the true priests were -imprisoned, fined, forbidden to minister, or even to teach as -schoolmasters, and literally left to starve. - - 'The majority of these were dead and none had been ordained to fill - up the gaps, during all the long years since the Church's - overthrow.... Of the eight thousand intruding Nonconformists, a - bare two thousand--1700 would probably be nearer the - number--refused conformity. - - 'In other words, the Church of the Restoration had to begin her - work with a clergy of whom at least three-fourths were aliens at - heart to her doctrine and her discipline. To the politician this - result was most satisfactory; to the Church little short of - disastrous.'[84] - -[_GARTER RECORDS RESTORED._] - -One of the earliest appointments made at the Restoration was that of Dr. -Bruno Ryves[85] to be Dean of Windsor and Registrar of the Garter. In -the August of 1660, Christopher Wren went to Windsor, and solemnly -delivered to the Dean the three registers and the note books of the -Order of the Garter, which Dean Wren had, with so much difficulty, -recovered and hidden carefully until, at his death, he transferred the -charge to his son. Dean Ryves gave a written acknowledgment to -Christopher that he had safely received the books, and the service his -father had done in preserving them was fully admitted. Gresham College -had been cleansed and set in order after the Restoration, and -Christopher resumed his lectures there, which were largely attended. - -After one of these lectures given in November, Lord Brouncker, Mr. -Robert Boyle, Dr. Goddard, Dr. Petty, Dr. Wilkins, Sir Robert Moray and -others withdrew with Wren to his room, where they discussed a project -for a philosophical College or Society. It was not an entirely new idea, -for it had been a favourite scheme of Evelyn's, also of the poet -Cowley's.[86] It was not a matter to be arranged in one sitting, and -accordingly they settled to meet weekly in Wren's rooms after his -lectures, and agreed that for incidental expenses each should pay down -ten shillings and subscribe a shilling weekly. A list was made of -between thirty and forty probable members, among them those previously -mentioned, and Christopher's old friend Sir C. Scarborough, Dr. Seth -Ward, Matthew Wren, Cowley, Sir Kenelme Digby, Mr. Evelyn and others. -Sir Robert Moray undertook to explain the project to King Charles, and -brought back a gracious message that he well approved of it, and would -be ready to give it every encouragement. One of the first orders of the -Society was that Wren should at the next meeting of the Society bring in -his account of the pendulum experiment, with his explanation of it: this -experiment related to 'the determination of a standard measure of length -by the vibration of a pendulum.'[87] There followed experiments for the -improvement of shipping, in which Wren worked with Dr. Petty and Dr. -Goddard. It was a question to what mechanical powers sailing, especially -when against the wind, was reducible; 'he showed it to be a wedge; and -he demonstrated how a transient force upon an oblique plane would cause -the motion of the plane against the first mover. He made an instrument -that mechanically produced the same effect and showed the reason of -sailing to all winds.' - -But to give all Christopher's experiments would be to write over again -the already well-told history of the Royal Society. It had few more -assiduous members. - -[_SAVILIAN PROFESSORSHIP._] - -In 1661, Christopher resigned his Gresham Professorship, in order to -accept the Savilian Professorship of Astronomy, at Oxford.[88] It had -been held by Dr. Seth Ward, who was soon afterwards made Bishop of -Salisbury in succession to Bishop Hyde. Shortly after his appointment, -Christopher had a command from the King to make him a lunar globe, -according to the observations made with the best telescopes. He -constructed one 'representing not only the spots and various degrees of -whiteness on the surface, but the hills, eminences, and cavities moulded -in solid work.' This curious toy was highly admired, placed in the -King's cabinet at Whitehall, and esteemed a great 'rarity.' - -In this year Wren took his degree as Doctor of Civil Laws, Oxford, and -received a similar honour from the University of Cambridge. King Charles -purposed paying a visit to Oxford, and the Philosophical Society both -there and in London resolved to give him an entertainment. Lord -Brouncker wrote from London to Wren to consult him. Wren wrote back:-- - - 'My Lord,--The Act and noise at Oxford being over, I retir'd to - myself as speedily as I could to obey your Lordship and contribute - something to the collection of Experiments designed by the Society, - for his Majesty's Reception. I concluded on something I thought - most suitable for such an occasion; but the stupidity of our - artists here makes the apparatus so tedious that I foresee I shall - not be able to bring it to anything within the time proposed. What - in the meanwhile to suggest to your Lordship I cannot guess.'... - 'Geometrical problems, and new methods, however useful, will be but - tasteless in a transient show.' He enumerates various things which - he had thought of and rejected: 'designs of engines, scenographical - tricks, designs of architecture, chymical experiments, experiments - in anatomy, which last are sordid and noisome to any but those - whose desire of knowledge makes them digest it.' 'Experiments of - Natural Philosophy are seldom pompous, and certainly Nature in the - best of her works is apparent enough in obvious things, were they - but curiously observed; and the key that opens treasures is often - plain and rusty, but unless it be gilt it will make no show at - Court.' - -He proposed to show an experiment with a 'weather wheel to measure the -expansions of air.' Another--'no unpleasing spectacle--of seeing a man -live without new air as long as you please;' this was to be effected by -an instrument of Wren's invention which cooled, percolated, and purified -the air. Also 'an artificial eye truly and dioptrically made as big as a -tennis-ball.' - -['_SO MUCH TATTLE._'] - - 'My Lord,' the letter ends, 'if my first design had been perfect I - had not troubled your Lordship with so much Tattle, but with - something performed and done. But I am fain, in this letter, to do - like some chymist who when Projection (his fugitive darling) hath - left him threadbare, is forced to fall to vulgar Preparations to - pay his Debts.' - -The King appointed Wren as assistant to Sir John Denham, the -Surveyor-General of Works. Sir John had been appointed by Charles I., in -reversion during the lifetime of Inigo Jones, surveyor at that time, and -had succeeded, at Inigo Jones's death, to what was then but a barren -honour. Evelyn, who had a dispute with Sir John about the placing of -Greenwich Palace in that very year, says: 'I knew him to be a better -poet than architect, tho' he had Mr. Webb[89] (Inigo Jones's man) to -assist him.' Of this Charles II. was probably aware, and anxious to -supply his deficiency. That his choice should have fallen upon Wren, -unless Evelyn's friendship suggested it, is remarkable, as, until then, -Wren seems to have made no special study of architecture. No doubt the -practical experience learned in the details of the assistant-surveyor's -work was afterwards very serviceable to him. He appears to have had a -most retentive memory as well as a very quick eye and power of -apprehension. In spite, however, of these calls on his time he was -assiduous at the Society's meetings. - -The death of Laurence Rooke, his friend and fellow-labourer, threw more -work on his hands. Rooke was succeeded in the Geometry Professorship by -Isaac Barrow, afterwards a well-known divine who, in his first Latin -oration, eulogised the Savilian Professor as 'formerly a prodigy of a -boy, now a miracle of a man, and a genius among mortals. Lest I should -appear to speak falsehood, it will be enough for me to name to you the -most ingenious and excellent Christopher Wren.'[90] It was a high -compliment, but Barrow knew that his audience would heartily re-echo it. -It is to be hoped that Barrow's lectures were somewhat shorter than his -sermons, which, fine as they are, were not always listened to with -patience. - -[_A LONG SERMON._] - - 'On one occasion, when he was long preaching in the Abbey on a - holiday, the servants of the Church, who on those days showed the - tombs and effigies in wax of the Kings and Queens to the common - people, fearing to spend that time in hearing which they might more - profitably employ in receiving, caused the organs to blow until - they had blowed him down.'[91] - -On March 25, 1663, the Society was finally incorporated by a charter -from the King, with a preamble written by Christopher Wren, explaining -its objects. The style of the preamble is far more florid than is usual -in Wren's writing: it has in it the exultation of one who is -accomplishing a long-cherished scheme. One paragraph is evidently -intended as a defence against certain attacks which were made upon the -English philosophers as they had been in past times against Galileo:-- - - 'Not that herein we would withdraw the least ray of our influence - from the present established nurseries of good literature and - education, founded by the piety of our royal ancestors and others, - and whose laws which as we are obliged to defend, so the holy blood - of our martyred Father hath especially endeared to us, but, that we - purpose to make further provision for this branch of knowledge - likewise, Natural Experimental Philosophy.'... 'Taking care as in - the first place for Religion so next for the riches and ornaments - of our kingdoms, as we wear an Imperial Crown in which flowers are - alternately intermixed with the ensigns of Christianity.' - -King Charles, the Duke of York, and Prince Rupert, always a lover of -experiments, were among the first members of the Society, and its -beginning was prosperous enough; but Court favour has always created -some envy. It happened that in the self-same year Butler,[92] then -secretary to Jeremy Taylor's friend, Lord Carbery, published his famous -'Hudibras.' It created a great sensation; the Court read it, the town -read it; Pepys, hearing 'the world cry it up so mightily, tried twice or -three times reading to bring himself to think it witty.' It was in -everyone's mouth, and Butler naturally thought himself sure of -promotion. None, however, came to him, and he directed his bitter wit -against those more fortunate than himself, the members of the new Royal -Society, and Bishop Sprat in particular, in a poem called 'The Elephant -in the Moon,' which opened as follows:-- - -['_THE ELEPHANT IN THE MOON._'] - - 'A learn'd Society of late, - The glory of a neighbouring state, - Agreed upon a summer night - To search the moon by her own light, - To take an invent'ry of all - Her real estate and personal. - - * * * * * - - To observe her country how 'twas planted, - With what she abounded most or wanted, - And make the proper'st observations - For settling of new plantations, - If the Society should incline - T' attempt so glorious a design.' - -With sharp touches indicating the various Members of the Society the -satire continues, telling how they see in the moon, through the -telescope, marvellous things, and an appearance of an immense elephant; -they agree that a record must be made, and during the discussion who is -to write it, one of the servants peeping through the telescope discovers -that a _mouse_ has got in between the two glasses! It, and a swarm of -small flies, are the causes of the mysterious phenomena, the vast beast, -the marching and countermarching armies which have been so learnedly -explained![93] - -The Society does not seem to have paid much attention to the poet, and -the experiments went on as usual. A different task was presently offered -to Wren by the King. When he married Catharine of Portugal, he received -Tangiers, Tripoli, and Bombay as part of her dowry. Tangiers was -reckoned as a very important place to the English, whose sailors were -still constantly harassed by the Moorish pirates, and the fortifications -of the town were a pressing care. King Charles offered, through Matthew -Wren, then Lord Clarendon's secretary, a commission to Christopher Wren, -as one of the best geometricians in Europe, to survey and direct the -works at the mole, harbour, and fortifications of Tangiers, offering him -an ample salary, leave of absence from his Professorship, and a -reversionary grant of Sir John Denham's office. Flattering though the -offer was, Christopher declined it on the ground of his health, and -begged the King to command his duty in England. - -[_A WARM FRIEND._] - -He no doubt judged wisely, and the refusal gave no offence at Court. -Perhaps the leave of absence might not have been easily obtained, for -the following letter from Dr. Sprat shows that Wren was already -embarrassed by the difficulty of being in two places at once:-- - - 'My dear Sir,--I must confess I have some little Peek against - you--therefore am not much displeased, that I have this occasion of - telling you some ill news. The Vice-Chancellor did yesterday send - for me to inquire where the _Astronomy Professor_ was, and the - reason of his absence so long after the beginning of the _term_. I - used all the arguments I could for your Defence. I told him that - _Charles the Second_ was King of _England_, _Scotland_, _France_ - and _Ireland_; and that he was by the late _Act of Parliament_ - declared absolute Monarch in these his dominions: and that it was - this mighty Prince who had confined you to _London_. I endeavour'd - to persuade him that the drawing of lines in _Sir Harry Savill's_ - school was not altogether of so great a concernment for the benefit - of Christendom as the rebuilding of _St. Paul's_ or the fortifying - of _Tangier_; (for I understood those were the great works in which - that extraordinary Genius of yours was judg'd necessary to be - employ'd). All this I urged, but after some Discourse, he told me, - that he was not now to consider you as _Dr. Bayly_[94](for so he - ow'd you all Kindness) but as _Vice Chancellor_, and under that - Capacity he most terribly told me that he took it very ill you had - not all this while given him any Account of what hinder'd you in - the Discharge of your Office. This he bid me tell you, and I do it - not very unwillingly because I see that our Friendships are so - closely ty'd together that the same Thing which was so great a - Prejudice to me (my losing your Company all this while here) does - also something redound to your Disadvantage. And so, my dear Sir, - now my Spite and Spleen is satisfied, I must needs return to my old - Temper again, and faithfully assure you that I am with the most - violent Zeal and Passion, your most affectionate and devoted - Servant, - - 'THO. SPRAT.' - -Wren had also employment at Cambridge, of a kind he would have been loth -to put in other hands. His uncle, the Bishop of Ely, had instantly on -his release determined to give a chapel to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, -where he had been a scholar under Launcelot Andrewes,[95] and he -employed his nephew as his architect. Upon this work and its endowment -the Bishop expended 5,000_l._, the first money he received after his -release. His personal habits were austerely simple; for the last twenty -years of his life he drank no wine, and only ate off a wooden trencher, -practising fasting and abstinence with great strictness. He had never -spent any of the revenues of his see upon his children, and now he made -the chapel his heir, bestowing upon it an estate at Hardwick in -Cambridgeshire. - -The chapel, which has a peculiar interest as Wren's first architectural -work, is built in the classical style he was to make famous in England, -and bears his mark in its beautiful proportions, the richness of its -stucco ceiling and the pannelled wood-work. The plain glazing of the -windows and a something of bareness about the whole, are probably to be -accounted for by the necessity of limiting the expense to a fixed sum. -Its first stone was laid May 13, 1663, by the Master, Dr. Frank, acting -for Bishop Wren, who was not present.[96] - -[_A SAD RETURN._] - -It was probably at the same time that Wren executed some repairs in Ely -Cathedral which had suffered, like every other grand church, from the -fury of the Puritans. Bitter indeed must have been the regret with which -the surviving clergy returned to find the fabrics of their churches -plundered and laid waste, and their flocks scattered or corrupted. - -FOOTNOTES: - - [69] _Life of Dr. Barwick_, p. 201. - - [70] Afterwards Lord Clarendon. - - [71] _Life of Dr. Barwick_, p. 424. - - [72] Probably Bishop Juxon, more than once alluded to under this - name in these letters. - - [73] _Life of Dr. Barwick_, p. 437. - - [74] _Life of Dr. Barwick_, p. 449. - - [75] _Life of Dr. Barwick_, p. 496. - - [76] _Diary_, May 29, 1660. - - [77] _Diary_, vol. i. p. 112, ed. 1828. - - [78] Ib., p. 114. - - [79] _Diary._ - - [80] _Repertorium_, vol. ii. p. 273. Newcourt. - - [81] In that year the last Lord Hatton died; the bishops resigned - Ely House to the Crown, and received No. 37 Dover Street in - exchange. The chapel, after years of neglect, has also been - suffered to pass out of the hands of the Church into those of - the Romanists. See _Walks in London_ by A. C. Hare, vol. ii. - pp. 196-201. - - [82] _Fragmentary Illustrations of the History of the Book of - Common Prayer_, edited by the Bishop of Chester, p. 47, _et - seq._ - - [83] Bishop Kennet says, 'One particular will appear' (from Bishop - Wren's _Register_), 'that there were but few of the parochial - clergy deprived in this diocese (Ely) in 1662, for not - submitting to the Act of Uniformity, though more of the old - legal incumbents had been sequestered about 1644 than in - proportion within any other diocese.'--Grey's Examination of - Neale's _History of the Puritans_, vol. iv. p. 328. From the - same authority it appears that most of the clerks deprived in - 1662 had other callings, _e.g._ cobbling, gloving, skinning, - bookselling, husbandry, and to these they generally returned. - - Some of his clergy had come to him in the Tower for institution, - in the early part of his imprisonment, and that many were - faithful to him is evident from the fact they were expelled - their livings for 'following Bishop Wren's fancies,' no other - crimes being pretended against them.--_Annals of England_, p. - 392. - - [84] See an interesting article, _The Church of England in the - Eighteenth Century_, in the _Church Quarterly Review_, July, - 1877, p. 321, _et seq._ It is not however quite accurate to - say '_none_ were ordained,' for Bishop Duppa held secretly - 'frequent ordinations of young loyal church scholars,' among - whom was Tenison, afterwards Archbishop of - Canterbury.--_History of the Book of Common Prayer_, Lathbury, - p. 296. - - [85] Dr. Bruno Ryves, Dean of Chichester in 1642, was in the city - during Sir William Waller's siege, and left a description of - the sack of the cathedral and robbery of its plate by the - commander and his troops. Dean Ryves was fined 120_l._ and - deprived.--_Memorials of the See of Chichester_, p. 286. - - [86] Abraham Cowley, born 1618; educated at Westminster; was the - intimate friend of Lord Falkland and of the poet Crashaw. - Cowley followed Henrietta Maria to Paris, remaining steadily - loyal. He died 1667. - - [87] _History of the Royal Society_ (by C. R. Weld), p. 96. Galileo - is said to have first discovered the use of the pendulum as a - measure of time, while watching the oscillations of the bronze - lamp in the cathedral at Pisa. A pendulum clock was long - reckoned a 'rarity.' Bishop Seth Ward presented one, made by - Fromantel, to the Society in 1662, in memory of his friend Mr. - Laurence Rooke, late Astronomy Professor at Gresham College. - - [88] Founded 1619 by Sir Henry Savile. He required that the - Professor should explain the Ptolemaic and Copernican and - other modern astronomical systems, should teach and read on - Optics, Dialling, Geography and Navigation. He was to be of - any nation in Christendom, provided he was of good reputation, - had a fair knowledge of Greek, and was twenty-six years of - age. If an Englishman he must have taken his M.A. degree. The - choice of a professor was to lie with the Archbishop of - Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, the Chancellor of the - University, the Bishop of London, the principal Secretary of - State, Chief Justices, the Lord Chief Baron, and Dean of - Arches. _Oxford_, vol. ii. p. 188. Ayliffe. - - [89] He married Inigo Jones's daughter. - - [90] _Lives of the Gresham Professors_, Ward, p. 97. - - [91] Isaac Barrow, born 1630. He was so little studious as a boy, - and so fond of fighting, that his father used often solemnly - to wish that if it should please God to take one of his - children it might be his son Isaac. When, however, in 1677, he - did really die, the Lord Keeper (Lord Nottingham) sent his - father a message of condolence, importing that 'he had but too - great reason to grieve, since never father lost so good a - son.' Dr. Isaac Barrow, Bishop of Man, 1663, and S. Asaph, - 1669, was his uncle. _Life of Dr. Barrow_, vol. i. p. ix., ed. - 1830. Among his poems is the following, which seems to be - incomplete:-- - - AD. DD. CHR. WREN. - Ad te, sed passu tremulo vultuque rubenti, - Fertur ad ingenii culmen, opella levis, - Nec quid vult aliud (quid enim velit haud tibi notum) - Quam ut justum authoris deferat.--_Ib._ vol. viii. p. 541. - - [92] Samuel Butler, born 1612, died, it is said, in great poverty, - and was buried in S. Paul's, Covent Garden, 1680. - - [93] Wren's lunar globe will be remembered. _Vide supra_, p. 125. - - The satire made some sensation and caused La Fontaine to write - _Un Animal dans la Lune_, in which, courtier like, he pays a - compliment to Charles II., and hints at the happiness of - England at peace and able to give herself 'à ces emplois,' - while France was at war with Holland, Spain, and the Empire. - - [94] Dr. Richard Bayley, President of S. John's College. - - [95] Bishop Andrewes bequeathed 332_l._ to the library of Pembroke - College. - - [96] Some alterations have recently been made at Pembroke, in - which, under the late Sir G. Scott's orders, the chapel has - been lengthened by about 20 feet, the stucco of the exterior - stripped, and the red brick pointed. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - 1664-1667. - - REPAIR OF S. PAUL'S--SHELDONIAN THEATRE--THE PLAGUE--A LETTER FROM - PARIS--CONSECRATION OF PEMBROKE CHAPEL--FIRE OF LONDON--BISHOP - WREN'S DEATH--HIS FAMILY. - - Yet, London, Empress of the Northern Clime, - By an high fate thou greatly didst expire, - Great as the world's, which, at the death of time, - Must fall, and rise a nobler frame by fire - - _Annus Mirabilis_, ccxii. Dryden. - - -The repairs of S. Paul's Cathedral could not be delayed. Wren, as Sir -John Denham's assistant, was greatly occupied about the matter, which -was one of no ordinary difficulty. The responsibility was really his, -for Sir John went out of his mind, and though he recovered, probably did -but little business. - -When Inigo Jones built his portico, he cased the nave with Portland -stone, and rebuilt the north and south fronts. In doing so he pared down -the original pointed architecture, until little of its beauty or -character remained. His work had in its turn been damaged by the -Puritans, who set up booths in the portico, and dug sawpits in the -cathedral inclosure. Besides these injuries Christopher Wren's accurate -eye detected graver faults in the original design, some of which he -enumerates. 'The pillars of the nave, though eleven feet in diameter, -were only cased with stone, and filled up with rubbish inside. The roof -was always too heavy for them, so that they are bent outwards on both -sides, so that the roof already cracked will finally fall in.' He -proposed to substitute a roof[97] of 'a light, thin shell of stone, -very geometrically made.' The tower leant much to one side, and was -propped with arches and buttresses, so as to block the view from the -west end. Upon this tower, which he despairingly calls 'a heap of -deformities,' there had been formerly a tall, thin, wooden spire, which -was destroyed by lightning. For this he wished to substitute 'a dome or -rotunda, and upon the cupola for outward ornament, a lantern with a -spring top to rise proportionately.' He hints that when the dome was -finished the rest of the cathedral should be harmonised with it, almost -impossible though the task appeared. He expected great difference of -opinion, and that 'some would aim at a greater magnificence than the age -would afford, and some might fall so low as to think of piecing up the -old fabric here with stone, there with brick, and covering all faults -with a coat of plaster, to leave it still to posterity as an object of -charity.' The miserable state of the building is implied in the epitaph -of its Dean, Dr. Barwick, who in 1664, 'Inter sacras Ædis Paulinæ ruinas -reponit suas (utrasque resurrecturas securus)'.[98] - -[_SHELDONIAN THEATRE._] - -Another work upon which Wren was engaged was the Sheldonian Theatre at -Oxford. Sheldon, who succeeded Archbishop Juxon in the see of Canterbury -in 1663, was determined to free S. Mary's Church from the profane uses -to which it was put when the various 'Acts' were kept there, and any -kind of jesting and buffoonery was considered allowable. He had had -experience of Wren in the discussions about S. Paul's, and now engaged -him as architect. The building is too well known to need a description; -the roof was reckoned a triumph of skill because of 'the contrivance of -supporting the same without the help of any beam, it being entirely kept -up by braces and screws; and is the subject of an excellent mathematical -treatise by that prodigy of the age, Dr. Wallis.'[99] It was six years -building, and cost 25,000_l._ Evelyn, with whom Wren had often discussed -the plans, went to Oxford on purpose to be present at the opening on -July 9, 1669. - - 'In the morning,' he says, 'was celebrated the Encenia of the New - Theater ... it was resolved to keep the present Act in it and - celebrate its dedication with the greatest splendor and formalitie - that might be, and therefore drew a world of strangers and other - companie to the Universitie from all parts of the nation. The Vice - Chancellor, Heads of Houses and Doctors, being seated in - magisteriall seates, the Vice Chancellor's chaire and deske, - Proctors etc. covered with Brocatall (a kind of Brocade) and cloth - of gold; the Universitie Register read the founder's grant and gift - of it to the Universitie upon these solemn occasions. Then followed - Dr. South, the Universitie's orator, in an eloquent speech which - was very long and not without some malicious and indecent - reflections on the Royal Society as underminers of the Universitie, - which was very foolish and untrue, as well as unseasonable. But, - to let that pass from an ill-natured man, the rest was in praise of - the archbishop and the ingenious architect.' - -Dr. Plot, the historian of Oxfordshire, who was a member of the Royal -Society, in his quaint book gives a careful technical description of the -construction of the theatre by Wren, and his assistant, 'Richard -Frogley, an able carpenter.' - -During the years that the theatre was building Wren did not intermit his -attendance at the Royal Society; amongst other inventions he produced a -machine for drawing in perspective, which was exhibited at one of the -meetings. - -[_THE PLAGUE._] - -A frightful interruption came to these and to all other pursuits in -London. In 1665, the plague, which had more than once afflicted England, -broke out with fearful force in London, where the dark narrow streets -with their houses meeting overhead, and the foul state of the entire -town, gave every encouragement to its ravages. Pepys, who stayed in -London all through the worst time of the plague, gives many a record of -this visitation.[100] - - '_June 7th._--The hottest day that ever I felt in my life. This - day, much against my will I did in Drury Lane see two or three - houses marked with a red cross upon the doors and "Lord have mercy - upon us!" writ there; which was a sad sight to me, being the first - of the kind that, to my remembrance, I ever saw. - - '_August 16th._--To the Exchange, where I have not been a great - while. But Lord! how sad a sight it is to see the streets empty of - people and very few upon the 'Change! Jealous of every door that - one sees shut up lest it should be the plague, and about us two - shops in three, if not more, generally shut up. - - '_September 3rd_ (Lord's Day).--Up; and put on my coloured silk - suit very fine, and my new periwigg, bought a good while since, and - durst not wear because the plague was in Westminster when I bought - it; and it is a wonder what will be the fashion after the plague is - done as to periwiggs, for nobody will dare to buy any haire for - fear of the infection, that it had been cut off the heads of people - dead of the plague. My Lord Brouncker, Sir J. Minnes and I up to - the Vestry' (he was then at Greenwich) 'at the desire of the - justices of the peace, in order to the doing of something for the - keeping of the plague from growing; but Lord! to consider the - madness of the people of the town who will, because they are - forbid, come in crowds along with the dead corpses to see them - buried; but we agreed on some orders for the prevention thereof. - Among other stories, one was very passionate, me-thought, of a - complaint brought against a man in the town for taking a child from - London from an infected house. Alderman Hooker told us it was the - child of a very able citizen in Gracious Street' (Gracechurch - Street), 'a saddler, who had buried all the rest of his children - with the plague, and himself and his wife being now shut up and in - despair of escaping, did desire only to save the life of this - little child; and so prevailed to have it received stark naked into - the arms of a friend who brought it, having put it into fresh - clothes, to Greenwich, where upon hearing the story we did agree it - should be permitted to be received and kept in the town.' - -So the days went on and the grass waved in Whitehall Court, and to quote -Pepys again: 'Lord! how everybody's looks and discourse in the streets -is of death and nothing else, and few people going up and down, that the -town is like a place distressed and forsaken.' - -None but those whom absolute necessity kept in London stayed in the -infected air; the works at S. Paul's were stopped; all meetings and -lectures ceased, with good reason, since to gather people together was -but to spread the infection. - -Christopher Wren profited by the cessation of his London work, to travel -abroad. Before going he had much to settle; to help Mr. Evelyn find a -tutor, 'a perfect Grecian and more than commonly mathematical,' for his -son. This youth went two years later, at the age of thirteen, to Trinity -College, Oxford, 'being newly out of long coates.' - -['_THE WORLD GOVERNED BY WORDS._'] - -Wren's Oxford Professorship, and his works, both there and at Cambridge, -required to be set in good order before he could go. At Oxford he was -engaged on the repairs of Trinity College, for his friend Dr. -Bathurst.[101] On June 22, 1665, Wren writes to them as follows:-- - - 'My honoured Friend,--I am convinced with Machiavel or some unlucky - fellow, 'tis no matter whether I quote true, that the world is - generally governed by words. I perceive the name of a quadrangle - will carry it with those whom you say may possibly be your - benefactors, though it be much the worse situation for the - chambers, and the beauty of the college, and of the particular pile - of building. If I had skill in enchantment to represent the pile, - first in one view, then in another, I should certainly make them of - my opinion; or else I will appeal to Mons. Mansard or Signor - Bernini, both of which I shall see at Paris within this fortnight. - - 'But, to be sober, if anybody, as you say, will pay for a - quadrangle, there is no dispute to be made; let them have a - quadrangle, though a lame one somewhat like a three-legged - table.'... - -Some technical details for the builder follow, and then: - - 'You need not use any apologies to me, for I must beg you to - believe you can command me in things of greater moment, and that I - love to serve you as your most faithful and affectionate Friend and - Servant, - - 'CHRISTOPHER WREN.' - -The College was repaired by Sir Thomas Pope, it having been left in a -very ruinous condition, but the ornamental part is due to Dr. Bathurst, -aided by munificent Archbishop Sheldon and other old members of the -College. - -He was making considerable additions to Trinity College at Cambridge: to -this date belongs the library, which he added to the beautiful western -Quadrangle known as Nevile's Court. - - 'A building,' said Wren, in a letter to the Master of Trinity, 'of - that consideration you go about, deserves good care in the design - and able workmen to perform it; and that he who takes the general - management upon him may have a prospect of the whole, and make all - parts inside and outside correspond well together.' - -Very full directions and six drawings follow, explaining the plan and -its details. - - 'I suppose,' he ends, 'you have good masons; however, I would - willingly take a farther pains to give all the mouldings in great; - we are scrupulous in small matters and you must pardon us, the - architects are as great pedants as critics and heralds.' - -[_WREN AT PARIS._] - -It was not until midsummer that Wren was able to start on his journey: -he went at once to Paris to the Earl of S. Albans, the English -ambassador, to whom he had letters. Lord S. Albans had lived at Paris in -great ease and luxury all through the Rebellion, far more so, Evelyn -indignantly says, than had the King. He was supposed to be privately -married to the Queen Dowager, Henrietta Maria. He was what was then -called a great virtuoso, a friend of Cowley and of other wits, and -entertained Wren with much courtesy and hospitality. Wren's name was, in -itself, a sufficient introduction to the scientific men and philosophers -of the city, in whose society he took great pleasure. - -He had long been a Member of the Order of Freemasons, and had -distinguished himself by the attention he gave to the lodges under his -care: at the time of his journey to France he was Deputy Grand Master -under Earl Rivers; no doubt he availed himself to the full of the -opportunities which Freemasonry afforded him for observing the details -of the work and becoming acquainted with the workmen, the architects, -and the sculptors, whom Louis XIV. had brought in great numbers to -Paris. - -It would have been interesting had Wren left us a record of his -impressions of Paris from a political point of view. It was the brief -interval of peace between England and France before the war of the -Netherlands. Louis XIV., climbing upwards to the zenith of his brilliant -reign, keeping the supreme power in his own hands since Mazarin's death -(in 1661), with the wise Colbert for his financier, surrounded by all -the great captains, statesmen, wits and artists who made up the 'Siècle -de Louis XIV.,' must have been a very interesting subject for the -observation of a philosopher like Wren, whose youth had been passed -among terrible political storms. There is, however, but one slight hint -in his journal, but one suggestion that he discerned the true value of -much of the glitter and veneer of universal, if temporary, success. -Pascal, with whom he had corresponded, and between whose brief career -and his own there is a curious resemblance, had died three years before -Wren took his one foreign journey. - -The 'Académie Royale des Sciences,' which had just received the formal -sanction of Louis XIV., had begun much like the English Royal Society, -by small meetings and conferences at Paris amongst scientific men, and -in these conferences, Pascal, while very young, had taken a brilliant -place. His father, Etienne Pascal, when he found it a vain attempt to -withhold mathematical science from his son, cultivated the boy's genius -to the utmost, beyond, perhaps, what the very feeble physical frame -could bear. - -One cannot doubt that Wren was introduced to this society, and took an -interest in its discussions, though his attention seems most of all to -have been given to architecture. - -[_THE LOUVRE._] - -In a journal written for a Dr. Bateman, the friend who gave him the -letters to Lord S. Albans, he says: - - 'I have busied myself in surveying the most esteemed Fabrics of - Paris, and the country round; the Louvre for a while was my daily - object where no less than a thousand hands are constantly employed - in the works; some in laying mighty Foundations, some in raising - the stories, columns, and entablements &c. with vast stones, by - great and useful engines, others in carving, inlaying of marbles, - plaistering, painting, gilding &c., which altogether makes a School - of Architecture, the best probably at this day in Europe. The - college of the Four Nations,[102] is usually admired, but the - Artist had purposely set it ill-favouredly that he might shew his - wit in struggling with an ill-convenienced situation. An Academy of - Painters, Sculptors, Architects and the chief Artificers of the - Louvre, meet every first and last Saturday of the month. Mons. - Colbert, Surintendant, comes to the works of the Louvre every - Wednesday, and if business hinders not, Thursday. The Workmen are - paid every Sunday duly. Mons. Abbé Charles introduced me to the - acquaintance of Bernini,[103] who showed me his designs of the - Louvre, and of the King's Statue. Abbé Bruno keeps the curious - rarities of the Duke of Orleans' library, well filled with - excellent Intaglios, medals, books of Plants and Fowls in - miniature. Abbé Burdelo keeps an Academy at his house for - Philosophy every Monday afternoon. But I must not think to describe - Paris, and the numerous observables there in the compass of a short - letter. The King's Houses I could not miss, Fontainbleau has a - stately wildness and vastness suitable to the Desert it stands in. - - ['_TO PRY INTO TRADES AND ARTS._'] - - 'The antique mass of the Castle of S. Germains and the hanging - gardens are delightfully surprising (I mean to any man of - judgement), for the pleasures below vanish away in the breath that - is spent in ascending. The Palace, or if you please the Cabinet, of - Versailles call'd me twice to view it; the mixtures of brick, - stone, blue tile and gold make it look like a rich livery: not an - inch within but is crowded with little curiosities of ornaments: - the women as they make here the language and fashions and meddle - with Politics and Philosophy, so they sway also in Architecture; - works of Filgrand and little Knacks are in great vogue; but - Building certainly ought to have the attribute of Eternal and - therefore the only thing uncapable of new Fashions. The masculine - furniture of _Palais Mazarine_ pleased me much better, where is a - great and noble collection of antique Statues and Bustoes, (many of - porphyry), good Basso-relievos: excellent pictures of the great - masters, fine Arras, true Mosaics, besides _pièces de Raport_[104] - in compartiments and pavements, vases of porcelain painted by - Raphael, and infinite other rarities. The best of which now furnish - the glorious appartment of the Queen Mother at the Louvre which I - saw many times. After the incomparable villas of Vaux and Maisons, - I shall name but Ruel, Coutances, Chilly, Essoane, St. Maur, St. - Mande, Issy, Meudon, Rincy, Chantilly, Verneuil, Liancour, all - which, and I might add many others, I have surveyed, and that I - might not lose the impressions of them, I shall bring you all - France on paper. Bernini's design of the Louvre I would have given - my skin for; but the old reserved Italian gave me but a few - minutes' view; it was five designs on paper, for which he hath - received as many thousand pistoles. I had only time to copy it in - my fancy and memory, and shall be able, by discourse and a crayon, - to give you a tolerable account of it. I have purchased a great - deal of taille-douce, that I might give our countrymen examples of - ornaments and grotesques, in which the Italians themselves confess - the French to excel. I hope I shall give you a very good account of - all the best artists of France; my business now is to pry into - trades and arts. I put myself into all shapes to humour them; it is - a comedy to me, and though sometimes expenseful, I am yet loth to - leave it.' There follows a long list of what he calls 'the most - noted artisans within my knowledge or acquaintance,' in which is - many a famous name, Bernini, Poussin, Mignard, Mansard, &c., and - then he says, 'My Lord Berkeley returns to England at Christmas, - when I propose to take the opportunity of his company, and by that - time to perfect what I have on the anvil--observations on the - present state of architecture, arts, and manufactures in France.' - -With the great men Latin was probably the common tongue, but with the -artizans he must have talked in French, and have either possessed or -acquired no small mastery of the language and of the technical terms of -their various trades. The 'observations' were either never hammered into -the shape Wren wished, or else were subsequently lost or copied by -someone else, as frequently happened to one so careless of his own fame -as was Wren. In January 1666, the English Ambassador was recalled from -Paris, and the war began between England, and the Netherlands with -France for their ally. - -[_A THANKOFFERING._] - -Pembroke Chapel was meanwhile completed, and - - 'being beautified with splendid and decorous furniture and amply - endowed with an annual revenue, was upon the feast of S. Matthew' - (the Bishop's patron saint) '1665, solemnly consecrated and - dedicated by Bishop Wren in person and by his Episcopal authority - to the honour of Almighty God. A noble and lasting monument of the - rare piety and munificence of that great and wise Prelate and in - every point accorded to his character, which was so well known that - the sole nomination of the founder was a sufficient account of the - magnificence of the foundation. Before evening service the - exterior or outer chapel and the cloister leading to it (a new - fabrick of Sir R. Hitcham's foundation) were by his Lordship also - consecrated for places of sepulture for the use of the Society, - together with a cell or vault at the East end of the chapel under - the altar for a dormitory for his Lordship.'[105] - -Bishop Wren must have looked with joy on the completion of his -thankoffering, and may have guessed, as he surveyed its beautiful -proportions, that he had set his nephew, its young architect, on the -road to fame. Very little is told us of the latter years of Wren's -Episcopate; one or two stories are given in the 'Parentalia' and then -contradicted, but it seems he kept his old firmness. In 1662 he held the -second Visitation of his Diocese and the articles of inquiry and -directions show no change in his opinions and no deference to Puritan -notions. It was by a stretch of his power as Visitor that he admitted -Dr. Beaumont to be master of Peterhouse, though the college had -nominated two other deserving persons, of whom Cosin was one. The choice -proved, in the end, a very wise one. He could be lenient also when he -thought it right, and admitted several Fellows of Jesus College who came -to him, in some fear of a refusal, for institution. He 'was very fair -and civil towards them, despatched them without the usual height of the -fees and persuaded them to studiousness and peace against all -animosities.' So says a contemporary letter quoted in the 'Parentalia.' - -Wren had come home at Christmas to find London comparatively free from -the plague, and people gradually returning. The Royal Society, whose -meetings had of course ceased during the infection, busied themselves in -investigations as to the plague, and the possible methods of preventing -it. It still raged in the country, and especially at Cambridge, driving -Isaac Newton from his lectures there to the garden at Woolsthorpe in -Lincolnshire, where the idea of the law of gravitation first occurred to -his mind. - -The repair of S. Paul's was again discussed and commissioners appointed -in 1666, among whom were Evelyn, Wren, Dean Sancroft, and the then -Bishop of London, who was Humphrey Henchman, the early friend of George -Herbert. - -[_FIRE OF LONDON._] - -On August 27th they inspected the cathedral. Two of the commissioners, -Mr. Chichley and Mr. Prat, evidently wished to do as little as possible, -declaring, when the nave was proved to lean outwards on both sides, 'it -was so built for an effect of the perspective,' and proposing to repair -the steeple on its old foundations. Wren thought very differently, -insisted on new foundations, renewed his former proposal of 'a noble -cupola' which was strongly supported by Evelyn, who had never forgotten -the grandeur of S. Peter's just completed when he went to Rome as a -young man in 1644. They retired to the Deanery to give their opinions in -writing, promising to send estimates of the cost of their several plans. -Six days later a new disaster overwhelmed London and solved the -question of repairing the cathedral. On the night of September 2nd the -Fire of London began; for three days and four nights it burned -unchecked, having gained such strength during the first panic that it -could not be beaten back, the sparks constantly kindling new centres of -flame. - - 'All the skie,' says Evelyn,[106] 'was of a fiery aspect, like the - top of a burning oven, and the light seen above forty miles round - about for many nights. God grant mine eyes may never behold the - like who now saw 10,000 houses all in one flame; the noise and - crackling and thunder of the impetuous flames, the shrieking of - women and children, the hurry of people, the fall of towers, houses - and churches, was like an hideous storme, and the aire all about so - hot and inflam'd that at last one was not able to approch it, so - that they were forc'd to stand still and let the flames burn on, - which they did for neere two miles in length and one in bredth. The - clowds also of smoke were dismall and reached upon computation - neere fifty-six miles in length. Thus I left it this afternoone - burning, a resemblance of Sodom, or of the last day. - - '_Sept. 4._--The burning still rages and it was now gotten as far - as the Inner Temple; all Fleet Streete, the Old Bailey, Ludgate - Hill, Warwick Lane, Newgate, Paules' Chaine, Watling Streete now - flaming and most of it reduced to ashes; the stones of Paules flew - like granados, the mealting lead running downe the streetes in a - streame and the very pavement glowing with fiery rednesse so as no - horse nor man was able to tread them and the demolition had stopped - all the passages so as no help could be applied. The Eastern wind - still more impetuously driving the flames forward. Nothing but the - Almighty power of God was able to stop them, for vaine was the help - of man.' - -At last the people were roused to take some steps. King Charles, who -showed on this occasion great courage and presence of mind, got by water -to the Tower and insisted on the houses near being blown up so as to -prevent the flames from reaching the powder magazine. - -[_ITS LONG CONTINUANCE._] - -Pepys gives a vivid account of the dismay and confusion; the goods -removed and removed again as the fire reached what had been thought to -be places of safety; the rain of fire drops, and the ever-new places in -which the fire broke out, and his own difficulties of getting anything -to eat but the cold remains of his Sunday's dinner! On September 17 he -went by water to Greenwich--'seeing the City all the way, a sad sight -much fire being in it still.' S. Paul's suffered terribly; the Portico -was split and rent, nothing but the inscription remaining, of which each -letter was perfect. The heat had calcined the largest blocks of stone, -the Portland stone flew off wherever the flames touched it; the lead -roof (no less than six acres by measure[107]), melted and fell in, and -carrying everything with it in its fall, broke into S. Faith's, the -crypt below the choir, where the books belonging to the Stationers' -Hall had been carried for safety. They caught fire and continued burning -for a week. The altar and roof above it, though of lead, remained -untouched, and one Bishop's tomb.[108] When at length the fire burnt -out, the city was a 'ruinous heap,' the air still so hot as almost to -singe the hair of those who sought amongst the ruins for some remains of -former wealth. In the fields all round were two hundred thousand people -of all classes equally destitute, silent from the very greatness of -their calamity and asking no relief. The King did his utmost for them, -and a proclamation was made for the country to come in and refresh them. -Most fortunately the weather was warm and fair. - -For a few days their stupor lasted, when it was broken into by a general -alarm that the Dutch were in the river burning all the shipping. When -this was at length appeased, the people flocked back to what had been -the city, and either set up little sheds where their houses had been or -took refuge with friends whose dwellings were uninjured, so that in four -days' time of the hundreds who had thronged the fields not one remained. -To rebuild the city was an urgent necessity, and while the flames were -in parts still burning Wren and Evelyn had both made plans for a new -city and presented them to the King. Wren's was the first shown to King -Charles, and though there is much resemblance between it and that of -Evelyn, yet Wren's is evidently the more useful, as well as the finer -plan of the two, and was the one which the King accepted. All persons -were agreed that to allow the old, narrow, filthy streets, with their -magazines of oil and rosin, and their wooden houses touching each other -overhead, to be put back was only to insure another plague and another -fire, but the manner of rebuilding was in as great dispute as was the -origin of the fire. Pepys believed that it was caused by the Dutch, who -in the following year did venture into Chatham and burnt several -men-of-war as they lay at anchor there; but the popular idea was that it -was caused by the French and the Roman Catholics, and there were plenty -ready to swear that they had seen foreigners kindling the flames in -fresh places by throwing fire-balls into the houses. Some said it was -done by the Puritans, and very few appear to have accepted the theory, -probably the true one, that it was caused by the over-heating of a -baker's oven. - -Christopher Wren began his work by having the ruins cleared away. It was -no easy task, especially as every now and then the flames would break -out anew when the air reached the cellars where they had been -smouldering. But it was a mere matter of necessity, as until this was -done it was not possible to pass to and fro or take the necessary levels -and measurements. He also repaired a portion of the west end of S. -Paul's, which best permitted it, for divine service. It was employment -enough for one man, but as the evenings grew longer, in the intervals of -elaborating his plans for the new city, he returned to the Royal -Society and attended all its meetings. - -Improvements in building naturally occupied much of the Society's -attention. Mr. Hooke produced a scheme for a better method of -brick-making;[109] new models for the London granaries were required, -and Wren gave an account of those at Dantzic. - -[_DEATH OF BISHOP WREN._] - -On April 24, 1667, his uncle, the Bishop of Ely, died, at the age of -eighty-one, at Ely House, in Holborn, which had probably been his chief -abode, though he left it on occasions for the work of his diocese and -for the consecration of the chapel at Pembroke Hall. Back to his -well-loved University, and to the resting-place he had prepared for -himself underneath the altar of the chapel, the Bishop's remains were -slowly borne during the first bright days of May, attended by 'his -children, his alliance, and his family.' The Heralds' College conducted -the funeral with full dignity and solemnity. When they reached Cambridge -the Vice-Chancellor and the whole university met the procession, which -was headed by Rouge Dragon, Pursuivant-at-arms, carrying the silver-gilt -Crozier, and Norroy, King-at-arms, carrying the silver-gilt Mitre, both -of which, as well as a pair of massive silver altar candlesticks, the -Bishop had provided a year before. On May 9, with the same attendance, -which included 'twenty-four scholars of S. John's, Peter House, and -Pembroke who were his relations,'[110] the coffin was borne to Pembroke -Chapel from the Registry, at the end of the Regent's Walk, where it had -lain in state for two days, and after Evening Service had been said was -laid in a 'coffin of one fair whole stone,' in the vault of the chapel. -Dr. Pearson pronounced a Latin oration over it, recalling the chief -events of the Bishop's long and troubled life, describing his -high-minded character, his resolute self-denial, and contrasting his -conduct in never seeking, or by the least word asking, for promotion, -but rather being besought to accept it, with those who gaped for church -preferment, and rather snatched honours than received them. Dr. Pearson -dwelt on his liberality to the University, on his never enriching his -family out of the revenues of the sees he had ruled; and paid a warm -tribute to the courage and faith with which he had fought for the -Church, and either alone, or amongst very few, had understood her -discipline and dared to revive it. - -[_BISHOP WREN'S SONS._] - -Of the four sons who survived the Bishop, Matthew, the eldest, early -attracted notice by an answer to Harrington's 'Commonwealth of Oceana' -and by a pamphlet 'Monarchy asserted,' a vindication of a former work -written in 1659. He was highly thought of by the Royalists, and was a -member of the Parliament which met in 1661. He was Lord Clarendon's -secretary, remained loyal to him during his unmerited disgrace, and was -then taken by the Duke of York as his secretary. Matthew remained with -the Duke until 1672; when he died and was buried in the vault at -Pembroke Chapel. He had taken a share in most of the political events of -his day, always with honour and credit. Thomas, the next brother, left -the profession of medicine, received holy orders, and was given the -Rectory of Littlebury in Essex by his father; a preferment that he held -until his death in 1680. Bishop Wren also made him Archdeacon of Ely. He -was a great musician and a member of the Royal Society. The two younger -sons, Charles and William, were both Oxford scholars, and received -degrees at the Restoration. Charles sat for Cambridge in the Parliament -of 1685, called by James II. on his accession. All these three younger -sons received degrees in 1660, with many others who had been ejected by -the Parliamentary Visitors in 1648-9. William Wren, who was made a -knight, was a barrister of the Middle Temple, and enjoyed the -questionable advantage of Judge Jeffreys' acquaintance. Jeffreys, then -Lord Chancellor, writing to Pepys[111] in 1687, says:-- - - 'My most Hon^{ed} Friend,--The bearer, Capt. Wren, came to mee this - evening, with a strong fancy that a recommendation of myne might at - least entitle him to your favourable reception; His civillities to - my brother and his relation to honest Will Wren, and you know who - else, emboldens me to offer my request on his behalfe. I hope he - has served our M^r. well, and is capable of being an object of the - King's favour in his request; however, I am sure I shall be - excused for this impertinency, because I will gladly, in my way, - embrace all opportunities wherein I may manifest myselfe to be what - I here assure you I am, Sir, - - 'Your most entirely affectionate - 'Friend and Servant, - 'JEFFREYS, C.' - -William Wren died in 1689 and was buried in the Temple Church. There is -no mention of the marriage of any of the Bishop's children, and -respecting the daughters I can find no record whatever, so it seems that -that branch of the Wren family died out. Captain Wren was probably one -of the Durham Wrens, or of those who lived at Withibrook in Warwickshire -and are mentioned by Dugdale. - -FOOTNOTES: - - [97] For an account of the great rarity of stone roofs see - Fergusson's _Illustrated Handbook of Architecture_, vol. ii. - p. 879. It is said that Wren used often to look at the - beautiful roof of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, and say - he would build such another if anyone would tell him where to - put the first stone. - - [98] 'Among the sacred ruins of S. Paul's Church laid down his own - (sure that both will rise again).' Sancroft, afterwards - Archbishop of Canterbury, succeeded him. - - [99] _Oxford_, vol. i. p. 473. Ayliffe. - - [100] _Diary_, vol. ii. p. 273, _et seq._, ed. 1828. - - [101] Dr. Ralph Bathurst, born 1620, educated at Coventry and - Oxford. Was ordained, but during the rebellion maintained - himself by the practice of medicine. He was a fellow of the - Royal Society, and in 1688 its president. He was president of - Trinity from 1644 till his death in 1704. He was Dean of - Wells, and was offered the bishopric, but refused it as taking - him from his college and hindering the improvements he was - making there. Evelyn speaks highly of his preaching and his - admirable parts and learning.' - - [102] Wren refers to the University of Paris, which was divided into - four faculties--arts (letters and science), theology, civil - and canon law, and medicine. The faculty of arts was divided - into four _nations_. That of France divided again into five - provinces or tribes, that of Picardy divided in the same way, - that of Normandy, and that of Germany which was divided into - two tribes, that of the continents (divided into two - provinces), and that of the islanders, which included Great - Britain and Ireland.--_Dictionnaire Historique de la France_, - par L. Lalanne. - - [103] Gio. Bernini was born at Naples 1598 and was a great sculptor - as well as architect. He made a bust of Charles I. of England - after a picture by Vandyke. When the bust was carried to the - king's house at Chelsea his Majesty with a train of nobles - went to view it, and as they were viewing it a hawk flew over - their heads with a partridge in his claw which he had wounded - to death. Some of the partridge's blood fell on the neck of - the bust, where it always remained without being wiped off. - This bust, with the picture from which it was taken, is - thought to have perished in the fire at Whitehall, - 1697.--_Biographical History_, vol. ii. p. 88. Grainger. - - Bernini was splendidly received at Paris and employed in - several works of sculpture, among which was a bust of Louis - XIV., probably the one to which Wren refers. His design for the - Louvre was accepted, and he had just begun to work it out at - the time Wren wrote, but Colbert and the two Perraults stirred - up so many difficulties that Bernini abandoned the task, and - the Louvre was left in the hands of Claude Perrault. Bernini - returned to Rome and died there in 1680. - - [104] _i.e._ Mosaic. - - [105] Wood. _Athenæ Oxoniensis_, vol. i. p. 735. He used certain - peculiarities in the Act of Consecration which have been - repeated at the consecration of the addition to the chapel, - March 25, 1881. - - [106] _Diary_, September, 1666. - - [107] Evelyn's _Diary_, September, 1666. - - [108] That of Robert de Braybrook (Bishop of London 1382 and 1405). - The tomb of Donne (Dean of S. Paul's 1621-1631) was not - entirely destroyed. - - [109] The bricks, which were temporarily used in the building of S. - Paul's, were of so good a quality that Richard Jennings, - Wren's master carpenter, bought and transported them by water - to Henley-on-Thames (his native town), and with them built a - house a mile from Henley, which, bearing the name of - 'Badgemore,' is still to be seen. The bricks of which it is - built are often admired. - - [110] _Desiderata Curiosa_, p. 545. Peck. - - [111] Pepys' _Diary_, vol. v. p. 326. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - 1668-1673. - - PATCHING S. PAUL'S--SANCROFT'S LETTERS--WREN'S EXAMINATION OF S. - PAUL'S--SALISBURY CATHEDRAL--LONDON AS IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN--LETTER - TO FAITH COGHILL--WREN MARRIES HER--TEMPLE BAR--S. MARY-LE-BOW-- - ARTILLERY COMPANY--GUNPOWDER USED TO REMOVE RUINS. - - Methinks already from this chymic flame, - I see a city of more precious mold, - Rich as the town which gives the Indies name, - With silver pav'd, and all divine with gold. - - Already, labouring with a mighty fate, - She shakes the rubbish from her mounting brow, - And seems to have renewed her charter's date, - Which heaven will till the death of time allow. - - Dryden, _Annus Mirabilis_, ccxciii. - - -After the death of Bishop Wren, Christopher was a frequent attendant at -the Royal Society, where several experiments were made of raising -weights by means of gunpowder, a matter which Wren was anxious to -investigate before trying to remove the mass of ruins which had been S. -Paul's. Much very tedious work of carting away rubbish and opening -roadways still pressed on Wren and his assistants before even the -necessary levels could be taken and adjusted or any building could be -begun. - -In spite of Wren's previous statement, and that of Evelyn and Sancroft, -in spite of the immense additional damage which the conflagration had -caused, attempts were still made to patch up the remains of S. Paul's -Cathedral. - -As has been said, something was done in order to make it possible to -hold Divine Service in the ruins, and there Sancroft ministered, and -there possibly he preached before the King on the occasion of the solemn -fast held for the fire on October 10, 1666.[112] Parts of the sermon -rise to real eloquence, and he admonishes King Charles and his luxurious -Court with singular courage and directness. So matters remained with -the Cathedral until the spring of 1668. - -['_INDISPENSABLY NECESSARY._'] - -Wren was at Oxford, delivering his Astronomy Lectures, when he received -the following letter from the Dean of S. Paul's:[113] - - 'What you whispered in my ear, at your last coming hither, is now - come to pass. Our work at the west end of S. Paul's is fallen about - our ears. Your quick eye discerned the walls and pillars gone off - from their perpendiculars and I believe other defects too, which - are now exposed to every common observer. About a week since, we - being at work about the third pillar from the west end on the south - side, which we had new cased with stone, where it was most - defective almost up to the chapiter, a great weight falling from - the high wall, so disabled the vaulting of the side aisle by it, - that it threatened a sudden ruin so visibly that the workmen - presently removed, and the next night the whole pillar fell, and - carried scaffolds and all to the very ground. - - 'This breach has discovered to all that look on it two great - defects in Inigo Jones' work; one that his new case of stone in the - upper walls (massy as it is) was not set upon the upright of the - pillars, but upon the core of the groins of the vaulting; the other - that there were no keystones at all to tie it to the old work; and - all this being very heavy with the Roman ornaments on the top of - it, and being already so far gone outwards, cannot possibly stand - long. In fine, it is the opinion of all men, that we can proceed no - farther at the west end. What we are to do next is the present - deliberation, in which you are so absolutely and indispensably - necessary to us that we can do nothing, resolve on nothing without - you.'... 'You will think fit, I know, to bring with you those - excellent draughts and designs you formerly favoured us with; and, - in the mean time, till we enjoy you here, consider what to advise - that may be for the satisfaction of his Majesty and the whole - nation, an obligation so great and public, that it must be - acknowledged by better hands than those of - - 'Your affectionate Friend and Servant, - 'W. SANCROFT.' - -Wren seems to have been unable to come up to London, and to have written -an answer to Dean Sancroft reiterating his opinion, while the attempt at -repairs continued. - -At the beginning of July Sancroft wrote to him again:-- - - 'Sir,--Yesterday my Lords of Canterbury, London, and Oxford met on - purpose to hear your letter read once more, and to consider what is - now to be done in order to the repairs of S. Paul's. They - unanimously resolved, that it is fit immediately to attempt - something, and that, without you, they can do nothing. I am - therefore commanded to give you an invitation hither in his Grace's - name, and the rest of the commissioners, with all speed, that we - may prepare something to be proposed to his Majesty (the design of - such a quire, at least as may be a congruous part of a greater and - more magnificent work to follow); and then, for the procuring of - contributions to defray this, we are so sanguine as not to doubt of - it, if we could but once resolve what we would do, and what that - would cost; so that the only part of your letter we demur to, is - the method you propound of declaring first what money we would - bestow, and then designing something just of that expense: for - quite otherwise--the way their lordships resolve upon, is to frame - a design, handsome and noble, and suitable to all the ends of it, - and to the reputation of the city and the nation; and to take it - for granted that money will be had to accomplish it: or, however, - to let it lie by, till we have before us a prospect of so much as - may reasonably encourage us to begin. - - 'Thus far I thought good to prepare you for what will be said to - you when you come, that you may not be surprised with it: and, if - my summons prevail not, my lord the Bishop of Oxford hath - undertaken to give it you warmer, _ore tenus_,[114] the next week, - when he intends to be with you, if, at least, you be not come - towards us before he arrives, which would be a very agreeable - surprise to us all, and especially to your very affectionate, - humble Servant, - 'W. SANCROFT.' - -[_THE STATE OF S. PAUL'S._] - -Wren obeyed this intreaty, came up from Oxford, made a thorough -examination of the Cathedral, and wrote a report for the commissioners. - - 'What time and weather,' he says, 'had left entire in the old and - art in the new repaired parts of this great pile of S. Paul's, the - calamity of the fire hath so weakened and defaced, that it now - appears like some antique ruin of two thousand years' continuance, - and to repair it sufficiently will be like the mending of - Argo-nairs,[115] scarce anything at last will be left of the old.' - -He enumerates the various 'decays' of the building from the date of the -fire in Queen Elizabeth's reign which burnt the whole roof and caused -'the spreading out of the walls above ten inches from their true -perpendicular'--up to the last fire, of which he says-- - - 'The second ruins are they that have put the restoration past - remedy, the effects of which I shall briefly enumerate. - - 'First, the portico is nearly deprived of that excellent beauty and - strength which time alone and weather could have no more overthrown - than the natural rocks; so great and good were the materials, and - so skilfully were they laid after a true Roman manner. But so - impatient is Portland stone of fire that many tons are scaled off - and the columns flawed quite through.' - -Then follows an account of the injuries to the rest of the building, but -as they have been already touched on in the extracts from Evelyn's Diary -and Sancroft's letters, they shall not be repeated here. - - 'Having shown in part,' he continues, 'the deplorable condition of - our patient, we are to consult of the cure, if possible art may - effect it. And herein we must imitate the physician, who, when he - finds a total decay of nature, bends his skill to a palliative to - give respite for the better settlement of the estate of the - patient. The question is then, where best to begin this sort of - practice; that is to make a new quire for present use.' - -The only part of the cathedral where this could be safely and easily -done was at the eastern end of the nave:-- - - 'Since,' he said, 'we cannot mend this great ruin, we will not - disfigure it, but that it shall still have its full motives to - work, if possible upon this or the next ages: and yet prove so - cheap, that between three and four thousand pounds shall effect it - all in one summer. - - 'And, having with this ease obtained a present cathedral, there - will be time to consider of a more durable and noble fabric, to be - made in the place of the lower and eastern parts of the Church, - when the minds of men, now contracted to many objects of necessary - charge, shall by God's blessing be more widened, after a happy - restoration, both of the buildings, and the wealth of the city and - nation. In the meantime to derive, if not a stream, yet some little - drills of charity this way; or, at least, to preserve that already - obtained from being diverted, it may not prove ill-advised to seem - to begin something of the new fabric. But I confess this cannot - well be put in execution without taking down all that part of the - ruin; which whether it be yet seasonable to do we must leave to our - superiors.' - -[_SALISBURY CATHEDRAL._] - -Many meetings and much discussion ensued, and Wren's opinion at last -prevailed; the King issued an order in council for taking down the walls -at the east end, the old choir, and the tower, and for clearing the -ground in order to lay a fresh foundation. While this was being done, -Wren prepared sketches and designs for a new S. Paul's. He had also an -engagement out of London: his friend Dr. Seth Ward, the Bishop of -Salisbury, an active member of the Royal Society, asked Wren to survey -his beautiful cathedral, which had suffered much in the civil wars, and -lately by lightning and tempest. - -Though the architecture of the cathedral was not of the kind which he -considered the best, Wren had too fine a taste, too quick an eye for -beauty of form, not to admire it heartily, and in his report he -pronounced that 'the whole pile was large and magnificent, justly -accounted one of the best patterns of the age wherein it was built.' He -praised the pillars and mouldings, 'the stately and rich plainness' to -which the architect had trusted. He made a thorough examination of the -whole, especially the spire, which had declined to the south-west, and -had caused great alarm. Wren was of opinion that the architect had not -laid as sufficient foundations, especially under the pillars, as he -should have done, considering the marshy nature of the soil, the -frequent inundations, the great weight that the pillars had to bear, -and that they themselves were too slight, particularly those under the -spire. - -To prevent further mischief to the spire, he ordered some timbers in it, -and in the tower, to be cut away, and put in bands and braces of iron -wrought by anchor smiths who were accustomed to great work for ships. He -then had a plummet dropped to the pavement, from the highest possible -part of the spire, the height of which he reckoned at 404 feet from the -ground, to see exactly what the decline was, and ordered this trial to -be repeated at certain times to see if the decline increased. - -When, nearly 200 years later, Mr. Wyatt made the trial, he found that -the decline was unaltered, so true had Wren's science proved. - -[_LONDON AS IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN._] - -Both this year and the previous one had, so far as London was concerned, -been taken up by the business of levelling, marking out streets, and -adjusting the claims of such as had had houses in the city before the -fire. Wren had laid before the King and Parliament a model of the city -as he proposed to build it, with full explanations of the details of the -design; the model probably does not exist, but the ground-plan has been -preserved, and suggests a London very different to the present one. - -The street leading up Ludgate Hill, instead of being the confined, -winding approach to S. Paul's that it now is, even its crooked -picturesqueness marred by the viaduct that cuts all the lines of the -Cathedral, gradually widened as it approached S. Paul's, and divided -itself into two great streets, ninety feet wide at the least, which ran -on either side of the Cathedral, leaving a large open space in which it -stood. Of the two streets, one ran parallel with the river until it -reached the Tower, and the other led to the Exchange, which Wren meant -to be the centre of the city, standing in a great piazza, to which ten -streets, each sixty feet wide, converged, and around which were placed -the Post Office, the Mint, the Excise Office, the Goldsmiths' Hall, and -the Ensurance, forming the outside of the piazza. The smallest streets -were to be thirty feet wide, 'excluding all narrow, dark alleys without -thoroughfares, and courts.' - -The churches were to occupy commanding positions along the principal -thoroughfares, and to be 'designed according to the best forms for -capacity and hearing, adorned with useful porticoes and lofty ornamental -towers and steeples in the greater parishes. All churchyards, gardens, -and unnecessary vacuities, and all trades that use great fires or yield -noisome smells to be placed out of town.' - -He intended that the churchyards should be carefully planted and -adorned, and be a sort of girdle round the town, wishing them to be an -ornament to the city, and also a check upon its growth. To burials -within the walls of the town he strongly objected, and the experience -derived from the year of the plague confirmed his judgment. No gardens -are mentioned in the plan, for he had provided, as he thought, -sufficiently for the healthiness of the town by his wide streets and -numerous open spaces for markets. Gardening in towns was an art little -considered in his days, and contemporary descriptions show us that -'vacuities' were speedily filled with heaps of dust and refuse. - -The London bank of the Thames was to be lined with a broad quay, along -which the halls of the city companies were to be built, with suitable -warehouses in between for the merchants, to vary the effect of the -edifices. - -The little stream whose name survives in _Fleet_ Street was to be -brought to light, cleansed, and made serviceable as a canal one hundred -and twenty feet wide, running much in the line of the present Holborn -Viaduct.[116] - -These were the main features of Christopher Wren's scheme, and had he -been allowed to accomplish it, we can imagine what the effect of London -might have been without its noisome smells, without its dark crooked -lanes, without its worst smoke, its river honoured not only with the -handsome quay it has at length obtained, but with a line of beautiful -buildings and fair spires, and above all S. Paul's, with an ample space -around it, giving free play to its grand proportions. Wren, with a -perfect knowledge of his own powers, which he considered as -dispassionately, and knew as accurately as any matter of mathematical -science, was ready to undertake and perform his scheme to the uttermost. - -[_PREOCCUPIED GROUND._] - -The difficulties were however considerable: there were the endless -quarrels about property, the reluctance to part with an old site, and, -chief difficulty of all, the utmost hurry of rebuilding in order to -house the people before the approaching winter. - -Pepys[117] says that in April 1667:-- - - 'Moorefields have houses two stories high in them, and paved - streets, the city having let leases for seven years, which will be - very much to the hindering of the building of the city; but it was - considered that the streets cannot be passable in London till the - whole street be built; and several that had got ground of the city - for charity to build sheds on, had got the trick presently to sell - that for 60_l._ which did not cost them 20_l._ to put up; and so - the city being very poor in stock, thought it as good to do it - themselves and therefore let leases for seven years of the ground - in Moorefields.' - -Thus Wren had by no means clear ground on which to work, and an -opportunity was forfeited, which, _absit omen_, may never recur, of -making London one of the beautiful cities of the world. - -Important sanitary improvements were, however, made: the houses were not -built of wood; the principal streets were less narrow; and, above all, -the lingering contagion was burnt away. Nothing less would probably have -availed; but the fire was a cleansing one, and left behind it this -blessing, that though more than two hundred years have elapsed the -plague has not, as yet, reappeared. - -The Custom House of London was one of the first buildings to be -restored, and Wren began it in 1668. It was a stately stone edifice, -built in three sides of a square, with an open court in front. The same -fate befell this building which had overtaken its predecessor; in 1719 -it was burnt down. - -[_FAITH COGHILL._] - -Besides all these architectural and scientific cares, Wren had business -of his own on hand, and was at this time engaged to be married to a lady -four years younger than himself, whom probably he had known for some -time. His bride was Faith, daughter of Sir Thomas Coghill and Elizabeth -his wife, who lived at Bletchingdon in Oxfordshire. Sir Thomas was -sheriff of the county in 1633, and was knighted at Woodstock in that -year, the same in which King Charles was crowned in Scotland. Sir Thomas -was a grandson of Marmaduke Coghill,[118] of Coghill, Knaresborough. He -married, in 1622, Elizabeth Sutton, the heiress of Horsell and some -lands in Surrey. Faith, their daughter, was born on March 17, 1636, and -baptized in the same month at Bletchingdon by her relation the Rev. John -Viell, the then rector. It seems likely that Wren made her acquaintance -while both were children when staying with his sister Susan and her -husband, Dr. William Holder, at Bletchingdon Rectory. It may have been -Faith who comforted him when, on June 3, 1656, they laid Dean Wren in -the chancel of Bletchingdon Church. - -One letter to Faith Coghill from her lover, exists among the curious -autographs of the 'Parentalia,'[119] its delicate, finished and yet firm -writing, eminently characteristic of Christopher Wren: it is as -follows-- - - 'Madam,--The artificer having never before mett with a drowned - watch, like an ignorant physician has been soe long about the cure - that he hath made me very unquiet that your commands should be soe - long deferred; however, I have sent the watch at last and envie the - felicity of it, that it should be soe neer your side, and soe often - enjoy your Eye, and be consulted by you how your time shall passe - while you employ your hand in your excellent workes. But have a - care of it, for I put such a Spell into it that every Beating of - the Ballance will tell you 'tis the pulse of my Heart which labours - as much to serve you and more trewly than the watch; for the watch - I believe will sometimes lie, and sometimes perhaps be idle and - unwilling to goe, having received so much injury by being drenched - in that briny bath, that I dispair it should ever be a trew servant - to you more. But as for me (unlesse you drown me too in my teares) - you may be confident I shall never cease to be, - - 'Your most affectionate humble servant, - 'CHR. WREN. - - 'June 14. - - - 'I have put the watch in a box that it might take noe harm, and - wrapt it about with a little leather, and that it might not jog, I - was fain to fill up the corners either with a few shavings or wast - paper.' - -On December 7, 1669, Christopher Wren and Faith Coghill were married in -the Temple Church in London. Of their married life there is absolutely -no record; they probably lived chiefly in London, as Wren had a house in -Scotland Yard, which went with the office of Surveyor-General. - -One of Wren's early works was the rebuilding, on a somewhat larger -scale, of the Royal Exchange. 'Charles II. went to the Exchange with his -kettle-drums and trumpets to lay the first stone of the new building of -the Exchange on the 23rd of October 1667.'[120] Wren's own wish had -been, as has been said, to make it the nave or centre of the town, in -which case he meant to contrive it after the form of a Roman Forum with -double porticoes. Thwarted in this, he restored it as much as possible -to what it had previously been, replacing the statue of Sir Thomas -Gresham, the only thing in the building uninjured by the Fire. It is -curious that this restoration should have begun just a hundred years -from the time when Queen Elizabeth was feasted by Sir Thomas Gresham at -his house, visited the new building, and caused it to be proclaimed 'the -Royal Exchange' by the sound of the trumpet. - -The rebuilding was very quickly performed, though at considerable -cost.[121] Readers of the _Spectator_[122] will remember Addison's fine -description of the Exchange, and 'the grand scene of business which gave -him an infinite variety of solid and substantial entertainments.' - -[_TEMPLE BAR._] - -Next came Temple Bar, which was begun in 1670, and finished in 1672. It -was built of Portland stone, and had in its four niches statues of James -I. and Anne of Denmark on the west side, Charles I. and Charles II. on -the other.[123] Blackened and defiled as it was, and disfigured by the -neighbouring houses, it was one of the picturesque, characteristic -buildings of London, now disappearing with alarming rapidity, and had -seen many a generation pass in triumph or in sorrow under its archway. -The thanksgiving for the Prince of Wales's recovery (1872) was the last -historical spectacle with which Temple Bar was connected. On that -occasion the City was moved to wipe off some of the smoke of two hundred -years, and to let Temple Bar be seen somewhat as it must have been when -the great architect finished it, as the entrance to a city which, in -spite of all drawbacks, might be fairly called his creation. - -Wren attempted to prosecute his design for the quay along the northern -bank of the Thames, but the ground was being rapidly encroached upon by -buildings, some few of which were tolerable, but the greater part -unsightly. Various interests;--the immense water traffic, doubled, one -can believe, at a time when the city streets were still impassable; the -uncertain support given by the King--all combined to defeat his plan. -Could he now walk along that glorious achievement the Embankment, what -would not his feelings be on seeing the hideous buildings which it has -revealed! - -The Surveyor-General's office was one which entailed endless work. There -was not a street laid down, hardly a house built, in any part of the -town, without the surveyor being first consulted;--now about 'a parcel -of ground bought by Colonel Panton' (the present Panton Street, S.W.); -now about the houses pulled down for the safety of Whitehall during the -Fire.--Into every case Wren made careful inquiry, visiting the places -himself, and insisting on the buildings being of stone or brick, with -proper paving in the streets, and having a due regard to health. - -In spite of his care several wretched buildings were put up in places -which, as a few surviving names testify, were then fields near the City. - -['_MEAN HABITATIONS._'] - -When Wren found that the owners persisted in erecting such shabby -buildings he presented a petition to the King, as follows:-- - - 'To the King's Most Excellent Majesty. The humble petition of - Christopher Wren, sheweth. That there are divers buildings of late - erected, and many foundations laid, and more contrived in Dog's - Fields, Windmill Fields, and the fields adjoining to Soe Hoe,[124] - and several other places without the suburbs of London and - Westminster; the builders whereof have no grant nor allowance from - Your Majesty, and have therefore been prohibited and hindered by - your petitioner as much as in him lieth. Yet, notwithstanding, they - proceed to erect small and mean habitations which will prove only - receptacles for the poorer sort, and the offensive trades, to the - annoyance of the better inhabitants, the damage of the parishes - already too much burthened with poor, the rendering the government - of these parts more unmanageable, the great hindrance of perfecting - the city buildings, and others allowed by Your Majesty's broad - seal; the choking up the air of Your Majesty's palace and park, and - the houses of the nobility; the infecting or total loss of the - waters which by many expenseful drains and conduits, have formerly - been derived from these fields to Your Majesty's palace of - Whitehall and to the mewes; the manifest decay of which waters - (upon complaint of your serjeant plumber) the office of Your - Majesty's works by frequent views and experiments have found. - - 'May it, therefore, please Your Majesty to issue a royal - proclamation, to put stop to these growing inconveniences and to - hinder the buildings which are not already or shall not be licensed - by Your Majesty's grant; and effectually to empower your petitioner - to restrain the same or otherways to consider of the premises as - in Your Majesty's wisdom shall seem most expedient. - - 'And your Petitioner, &c.' - -The petition was considered by the King in council, a proclamation was -issued, and full powers were given to the surveyor, backed by commands -that he should take effectual care that the proclamation was obeyed. -This Wren was very ready to do: with all his gentleness and courtesy he -had inherited much of Bishop Wren's firmness, and had no intention of -swerving from his point. - -The churches of the City began to rise gradually. Pepys says:[125]-- - - 'It is observed, and is true, in the late fire of London, that the - fire burned just as many parish churches as there were hours from - the beginning to the end of the fire; and next that there were just - as many churches left standing as there were taverns left standing - in the rest of the City that was not burned, being, I think, - thirteen in all of each: which is pretty to observe.' - -There has been much dispute as to whether or not Wren repaired S. -Sepulchre's Church. Mr. Elmes and others declare that he repaired it in -1671, but Mr. Hoby, one of its churchwardens, who made a careful study -of all the parchments and papers belonging to S. Sepulchre's, gives it -as his deliberate opinion that-- - - 'The church was not destroyed, but very much injured, by the Fire - of London, in 1666. The inhabitants would not wait until Sir C. - Wren could attend to them, but repaired their own church, and did - it so badly that a long time elapsed before he would grant the - certificate necessary to enable them to obtain the money from the - commissioners.'[126] - -As has been said, such unauthorised building and patching took place -pretty frequently, and all that recent researches have brought to light -goes to prove that Wren had very little to do with S. Sepulchre's. - -[_S. MARY LE BOW._] - -S. Mary le Bow, with its proverbial bells,[127] was begun in this year -and finished five years later, on a very old foundation. The first S. -Mary's was built by William the Conqueror,[128] on marshy land, and -stood upon arches of stone, whence the church took the name of S. Maria -de Arcubus or le Bow. The 'great bell of Bow' was, in 1469, ordered by -the common council to be rung at nine o'clock every evening, and money -was left for this object; when the church was burnt in the Great Fire it -had twelve very melodious bells hung in its steeple. When Sir -Christopher came to rebuild the church he found an older foundation to -work upon than even that in 1100. In clearing the ground he came upon a -foundation firm enough to build upon, which on examination proved to be -the 'walls, with windows and pavement, of a Roman temple.' Upon these -walls he built the body of the church, but for its beautiful steeple it -was necessary to buy the site of an old house and to advance about -forty feet to the line of the street. Here the workmen dug through about -eighteen feet of made earth, and then, to Wren's surprise and their own, -came to a Roman causeway of rough stone firmly cemented, about four feet -thick, underneath which lay the London clay. - -With this foundation Wren was content and built up what has ever ranked -as one of his finest churches. A good judge of architecture has -pronounced that the steeple is 'beyond all doubt the most elegant -building of its class erected since the Reformation ... there is a play -of light and shade, a variety of outline, and an elegance of detail, -which it would be very difficult to match in any other steeple.'[129] - -The Arches Court of Canterbury derived its name from this church, where, -until the fire, its sittings were held. The court then sat at Exeter -House in the Strand, then at Doctors' Commons, and finally in -Westminster Hall. - -The vane which completes the spire is the City dragon, with a cross on -either wing, curiously chased in gilt copper. - -The ancient Church of S. Christopher le Stocks in Threadneedle Street -suffered severely in the Fire, only the mere shell of the building -remaining; it had been made a storehouse for a quantity of papers -hastily rescued from some merchant's office and placed in S. -Christopher's, where they perished and greatly damaged the church. It -had been lately repaired and was endowed with 20_l._ in trust 'for a -minister to read divine service there daily at 6 o'clock in the morning -for ever. 50_s._ each yearly to the clerk and the sexton for their -attendance, and 5_l._ yearly to provide for lights in winter time.' In -1671, Wren finished the repairs of the church, carefully preserving its -pinnacled Gothic tower; in 1696 he further adorned the interior. It is -curious that the first church which came under Wren's hands should have -been one dedicated to his patron saint; curious also that this should -have been the first of the churches destroyed by those who should have -been their guardians. S. Christopher's was literally sacrificed to -Mammon; it was destroyed for the enlargement of the Bank of England in -1781. - -[_JOINS THE ARTILLERY COMPANY._] - -In 1669 Wren appears in a new character as a member of the Honourable -Artillery Company. He was admitted at their festival on August 17, when -the company marched in state to a church in Broad Street, probably one -of the many temporary ones put up after the Fire, and rewarded Dr. -Waterhouse for his sermon with three of the newly-coined guinea pieces. -A great banquet in the Clothworkers' Hall in Mincing Lane, where the -Duke of York, Prince Rupert, the Archbishop of Canterbury and many other -distinguished persons were present, concluded the festival.[130] It is -hardly conceivable that Wren could have found time to be more than an -honorary member, but scattered notices here and there of observations -made when 'firing off my piece' seem to point to his having attended the -drills of the company. - -One wishes there was a portrait extant of Sir Christopher in his -uniform, wearing the red-plumed high hat which appeared on gala days! - -In 1673 Wren resigned the Savilian astronomy professorship, to which the -pressure of his architectural work made it impossible he should any -longer attend. No doubt it was with great regret that he gave up the -post, with all its curious speculations, its boundless possibilities of -discovery, and turned himself from the study of the heavens to the dust -and turmoil, the endless difficulties and petty quarrels, which thwarted -him at every step of his London labours. - -In truth, the pressure of business was enormous. Not a moment could be -spared while the population of the City had neither churches, places of -traffic, nor houses to dwell in; and the architect, whose plan had been -marred, had to do the best he could in the midst of every kind of -incongruity. - -The futile attempts to patch up S. Paul's were in 1673 at last -abandoned, and Wren ordered the ground to be cleared that new -foundations might be laid. A great mass of material for building had had -to be disposed of while the repairs were going on. - -The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of London, Winchester, and -Oxford, and the Lord Mayor, were commissioners for the repair of S. -Paul's; from them Wren obtained an order that-- - - 'The clerk of the works shall be required to dispose of and sell - the stone, chalk, timber and free stone for, and towards, the - rebuilding of the parochial churches and to _no other use - whatsoever_, as he shall be directed, at merchantable rates to the - masons and carpenters that build the said churches by order of Sir - Leoline Jenkins (judge of the Admiralty Court), Dr. Sancroft, and - Dr. Wren, or any two of them.' - -The money thus collected was put aside for the fabric of the Cathedral. - -[_USE OF GUNPOWDER._] - -Though much of the old material was removed in this manner, and yet not -diverted from its proper purpose, the ground was by no means clear. -Wren, appointed under the Great Seal, architect of S. Paul's, and one of -the commissioners in the new commission for its rebuilding, had to take -down by degrees what portions of the old building were still standing. - -Warped and cracked as they were, the walls, eighty feet high and five -thick, were yet strong enough to make the process of pulling down both -difficult and tedious. Wren determined to avail himself of the knowledge -he had acquired in the Royal Society's recent experiments in raising -weights by means of gunpowder. Houses, it is true, had been blown up in -several places during the Fire in order to protect the Tower of London -and Whitehall, but the use of gunpowder to raise a definite weight, and -throw it a fixed distance and no farther, was a novel experiment. When -the labourers reached at last the old central tower, the walls of which -were two hundred feet high, they were afraid to go up to the top, as -they had done elsewhere, and work with their pickaxes, while those below -shovelled away the stones and mortar that they threw down into separate -heaps. - -This was the time for Wren's experiment. - -With great precautions, and the use of eighteen pounds of gunpowder -only, he blew up the north-western angle of the tower, so contriving it -that, while he raised more than three thousand tons weight, it was not -scattered and no damage was done, though the shock made the neighbours -imagine it to be an earthquake. - -Encouraged by this success, Wren had another mine prepared, but -unluckily was obliged to go out of town himself and to leave it in the -charge of his next officer. - -The man, thinking to improve upon his master, increased the quantity of -powder, caused an explosion which shot stones far and wide, and though -no lives were lost, terrified the City, all the more that an old -superstition declared that the tower of S. Paul's and the City of London -would fall together. - -Forbidden, owing to the panic thus caused, the use of this modern -method, Wren betook himself to ancient times, and devised a gigantic -battering ram, with a great spike at one end. Thirty men, fifteen on -each side, worked the ram against one place in the wall, Wren watching -and encouraging them when, disheartened by a day's work without visible -result, they were ready to give up in despair. On the second day the -wall fell. - -Wren made great use of this machine and 'pleased himself that he had -recovered so notable and ancient an engine.' - -FOOTNOTES: - - [112] 'Lex Ignea, or the School of Righteousness.'--_Life of - Sancroft_, vol. ii. p. 355. Doyley. - - [113] _Life of Sancroft_, vol. i. p. 141. Doyley. - - [114] i.e. by word of mouth. - - [115] Probably a misprint for 'Argo-navis,' referring to the - frequent repairs of the Argo. - - [116] In 1672 a bridge, with a beautiful arch resembling those that - cross the canals at Venice, was built over 'the Ditch,' - opposite Bridewell Hospital. One or two other bridges were - built, and the stream made navigable, but apparently not - 'cleansed,' which in time rendered it a nuisance. The bridges - were taken down and the stream reduced to a drain in - 1765.--_Ann. Reg._, 1765, p. 136. - - [117] _Diary_, vol. iv. p. 8. - - [118] The Coghills of Glen Barrahane, county Cork, are descended - from the elder branch of this family. Captain Coghill, who - died with Lieutenant Melville, having carried off the colours - from the battle of Isandula, January 1879, was the eldest son - of the present head of the family. - - [119] Never before printed. - - [120] Pepys' _Diary_, vol iv. p. 241. - - [121] This building was destroyed by fire 1838, and rebuilt from - designs by Mr. Tite 1844. - - [122] _Spectator_, vol. i. No. 69. - - [123] They were the best work of John Bushnell, an eccentric and - half-crazy sculptor, who died in 1701. - - [124] 'Soe Hoe' became a favourite residence. In November 1689, - Evelyn came up 'with his family to winter at Soho in the Great - Square.' Some handsome houses are still standing. - - [125] _Diary_, Jan. 31, 1667-8. - - [126] _Restoration of the Church of St. Sepulchre, London._ A. - Billing. - - [127] It is said that in the children's game of 'Oranges and Lemons, - say the bells of S. Clement's, &c.' the best peals of bells in - London are enumerated. I do not know the date of the game. - - [128] _Repertorium_, vol. i. p. 437-440. Newcourt. - - [129] _Hist. of Modern Architecture._ Fergusson, pp. 306-307. - - [130] _Hist. of the Honourable Artillery Company._ Captain Raikes, - vol. i. p. 194. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - 1672-1677. - - BIRTH OF HIS ELDEST SON--S. STEPHEN'S, WALBROOK--S. BENNET - FINK--PLANS FOR S. PAUL'S--THE EXCAVATIONS--SON CHRISTOPHER - BORN--DEATH OF FAITH, LADY WREN--SECOND MARRIAGE--CITY - CHURCHES--THE MONUMENT--TOMB OF CHARLES I.--REMAINS OF THE LITTLE - PRINCES IN THE TOWER. - - _K. Rich._ But didst thou see them dead? - _Tyr._ I did, my lord. - _K. Rich._ And buried, gentle Tyrrel? - _Tyr._ The chaplain of the Tower hath buried them, - But where, to say the truth, I do not know. - - _Richard III._, Act 4, scene 3. - - -Early in October, 1672, Christopher Wren's eldest son was born, and -baptized by the name of Gilbert, at S. Martin's-in-the-Fields, a very -different-looking building from the present S. Martin's with its stately -portico. Wren and his wife lived in the house in Scotland Yard, and, -avoiding the uneven, difficult streets, could daily go by water, then -the favourite way of transit for a Londoner, to examine and superintend -his works in the city. Later on Wren built himself a little house of red -bricks in the yard of the Falcon Inn at Southwark, and watched from its -window the progress of S. Paul's and of his other buildings in the city. - -Besides the churches already begun, three new ones were taken in hand -that year. S. Mary-at-Hill[131] was only partially destroyed by the -fire. Upon it Wren first tried his plan of a domed roof, and succeeded -in making it, at any rate within, a beautiful little church. S. -Michael's, Cornhill, of which only the tower was left standing, was -rebuilt that year; its situation threw a great difficulty in the -architect's way, as it could only be lit from one side; this difficulty -Wren overcame and produced an interior[132] equally light and good. The -tower was taken down in 1722, and rebuilt from designs of Wren's. These -designs were taken from the tower of Magdalen College at Oxford, and -instance Wren's power of producing a bold, rich effect in a style of -architecture altogether foreign to his taste. - -Perhaps the most beautiful of all Wren's churches is S. Stephen's, -Walbrook, begun at this same time, and finished seven years later. The -outside, cramped by its situation, and overshadowed by tall houses, is -not handsome, but within, the church is as original as it is graceful -and beautiful:-- - - 'The circular dome, placed on an octagonal base supported by eight - pillars, was an early, and long a favourite, mode of roofing in the - East.... Wren, however, is the only European architect who availed - himself of it ... he certainly has produced the most pleasing - interior of any Renaissance church which has yet been - erected.'[133] - -So great was the fame, and such the charm of the building that when the -great sculptor Canova[134] visited England, and was asked should he ever -wish to return to the country? he answered, 'Yes, that I might again see -S. Paul's Cathedral, Somerset House, and S. Stephen's, Walbrook.' - -[_SIR ISAAC NEWTON._] - -In the midst of so much work it is not wonderful that, for the moment, -Wren's diligent attendance at the Royal Society slackened somewhat, -though at the end of 1672 his name occurs among those of the Society who -cordially welcomed Isaac Newton to their fellowship. Wren bestowed -especial praise on Newton's invention of a refracting telescope. Friends -they appear always to have remained, and their dispositions were not -unlike, though the travels and varied experiences of Wren's early years -had quickened his faculties, and prevented that entire absorption in one -idea which is evident from many stories about Isaac Newton. As, for -instance, when one of Newton's philosophical friends abroad-- - - 'Sent him a curious prism, at that time a rarity in England, it was - taken to the Custom House and Newton claimed it. The officers asked - him to set some value upon it that they might regulate the duty. - Newton, rating the prism by his own idea of its use and excellence, - replied, "The value is so great I cannot ascertain it." They - pressed him again to set some estimate on it, but he still replied, - "I cannot say what it is worth, for the value is inestimable." The - honest Custom House officers took him at his word, and made him pay - an exorbitant duty for the prism, which he might have taken away - upon only paying a rate according to the weight of the glass!'[135] - -The Royal Society was at this time put to serious inconvenience, as more -than half of the members failed in paying their weekly money. Wren, who, -as might be expected, was one of those who paid most punctually, was -re-elected a member of the council, and agreed to serve on a committee -for this special matter. - -The death of his friend and cousin, Matthew, in the summer of 1672, was -a grief to him, as well as a loss to the Royal Society, of which he had -been a member from its beginning. On the 20th of November, 1673, Wren -received the well-earned honour of knighthood from King Charles at -Whitehall. No details of any kind respecting the ceremony are to be -found in the chary family record. - -S. Bennet Fink, a very graceful and original composition despite the -corner into which it was squeezed; and S. Olave's, Jewry, built of brick -and stone with a good pinnacled stone tower, were begun at this period, -and finished three years later. S. Dionysius, or, as it was commonly -called, S. Dionis, Back Church Street, was one of the first completed; -its Ionic eastern façade was in Wren's most classical style; the pulpit -was carved by Grinling Gibbons. Its tower and steeple, according to a -frequent custom of Wren's, were added some years later. S. Dionis has, -alas! now been swept away, and its site, where the original church was -consecrated in 1288, desecrated.[136] The beautiful little S. Bennet's -has shared the same unholy fate. S. George's, Botolph Lane, built also -in 1674, a handsome stone church with a vaulted roof and good oak -fittings, though threatened, still fortunately survives. - -[_GRINLING GIBBONS._] - -Grinling Gibbons, whom Wren continually employed, was introduced to him -by Evelyn, who found the young man in a cottage at Deptford carving a -copy of Tintoretto's beautiful Crucifixion. Evelyn showed Wren the -carving and besought him to give some employment to a man of such -genius. This he gladly promised, and accordingly, many a little known -city church is adorned with carvings so light and so graceful that it is -hard to believe that they are cut out of wood. - -Some works in stone Gibbons also did for Sir Christopher, but wood -appears to have been the material he preferred. In 1674 Wren had the -satisfaction of restoring Le Soeur's[137] beautiful statue of King -Charles to its place at Charing Cross. In the Rebellion it had been -overthrown by order of the Parliament, who directed that it should be -broken up. John Rivet, a brazier in Charing Cross, purchased it, hid it -in the vaults of S. Paul's, Covent Garden, and, to divert suspicion, -sold bronze medals and knife-handles, professedly made from its metal. -After the Restoration, he produced it intact, and, under Wren's -direction, it was placed on its present pedestal, which was carved by -Gibbons, whose handywork is easily recognised in the free, flowing lines -of the deeply-cut carving, much as time, aided by London atmosphere, -has eaten the very stone away. The poet Waller wrote an epigram[138] on -its restoration, which, besides its intrinsic merit, is interesting in -connection with the statue:-- - - That the first Charles does here in triumph ride, - See his son reign where he a martyr dy'd; - And people pay that rev'rence as they pass, - (Which then he wanted) to the sacred brass, - Is not th' effect of gratitude alone, - To which we owe the statue and the stone. - But heav'n this lasting monument has wrought, - That mortals may eternally be taught - Rebellion, though successful, is but vain, - And kings so kill'd rise conquerors again: - This truth the royal image does proclaim - Loud as the trumpet of surviving Fame. - -[_HIS FAVOURITE DESIGN._] - -It was about this period that Wren rebuilt the theatre in Drury Lane, -which had fallen a prey to its usual enemy, fire. It was reopened in -1674 with a play whose epilogue was written by Dryden. The 'old theatre -in Salisbury Court,' as Horace Walpole calls it, was also built by Wren. -During this time Sir Christopher, now formally appointed architect of S. -Paul's with a modest salary of 200_l._ a year, had busied himself in -designs for the future cathedral. Everyone, whether qualified or not, -gave their opinion about the designs. The first, which was 'a fabrick of -moderate bulk, but of good proportion, a convenient quire with a -vestibule and portico, and a dome conspicuous above the houses,' was -planned by Wren at a time when the Cathedral fund was very small, and -the chances of increasing it appeared but slender. This design was -rejected as deficient in size and grandeur. After this, in order to -find out what style of building was really desired, Wren made several -sketches 'merely for discourse sake,' and perceiving that the generality -had set their hearts upon a large building, he designed one with which -he was himself satisfied, considering it 'a design antique and well -studied, conformable to the best style of Greek and Roman architecture.' -The design was greatly admired by those who understood the matter, and -they begged Sir Christopher to let them see it in a model.[139] Wren -accordingly made a large one, apparently with his own hands, in wood, -with all the intended ornaments properly carved. Its ground plan was -that of a Greek cross, the choir was circular, it had a very short nave, -and no aisles. Externally there was a handsome portico, one small dome -immediately behind it, and over the centre of the cross a larger dome. -Within it would have been as beautiful as it was original, with the -eight smaller domes, not seen outside, encircling the central dome. The -Duke of York on seeing the plan complained much of the absence of side -oratories, such as are common in most foreign cathedrals, and insisted -upon their being added. Sir Christopher knew that such a change would -cramp the building and break the beauty of the design to a degree that -went to his heart. He shed tears in attempting to change the Duke's -opinion. The latter was, as ever, obstinate, and the change had to be -made. - -The outside, with the two hollow curves joining the transepts with the -nave, and the two different-sized domes, would probably have been -disappointing; but one speaks with diffidence, for this was Sir -Christopher's favourite design, the S. Paul's which he told his son he -would most cheerfully have accomplished. When the time came for working -out the design, it is very likely that he would have remedied many of -the defects which critical eyes now see in the model; but no such -opportunity ever came. Preparations were indeed made, in May 1674, for a -building after this design; but the clergy were startled by the novelty -of the plan, the circular choir, and the absence of aisles, and the -architect was compelled to give up his cherished scheme. Several -designs, none equal to the first, were produced by Sir Christopher, the -large central dome appearing in each of them. Upon this feature he had -determined, even in the days before the fire, when the old pointed choir -still stood. - -[_THE CROWN OF LONDON._] - -At length Wren grew weary of criticism and showed his designs no more to -the public. King Charles decided on one,[140] and issued a warrant for -its erection, stating that the duty on coal[141] amounted to a -considerable sum, and saying:-- - - 'Among the designs we have particularly pitched on one as well - because we found it very artificial, proper and useful as because - it was so ordered that it might be built and finished by parts.' - -The east end was to be begun first. Liberty was left to Wren 'to make -some variations rather ornamental than essential as from time to time he -should see proper,' and the whole was left to his management. - -This design is wholly unlike the present Cathedral, and is inferior to -any of Wren's other buildings. 'Artificial' in the modern sense of the -word, it undoubtedly is. The west end much resembles old S. Paul's as -Inigo Jones left it, and is poor and flat; there is a low flat dome, -then a lantern with ribbed vaulting, surmounted by a spire something -like S. Bride's, but thin and ungraceful. One feels that Wren must have -been disgusted with the design when finished, and could only have done -such a thing at a time when his genius was rebuked and harassed by -vexatious limitations and interference. Accepted, however, the design -was, and Wren, provided with funds and ordered to begin, shook off the -fetters which had so cramped him, and by a series of alterations, which -certainly reversed the King's order, being essential rather than -ornamental, he by degrees worked out the plan of the beautiful S. Paul's -which is the crown of London. - -No objection seems to have been raised to these changes. - -He had a large staff of workmen under him, and an assistant surveyor, -John Oliver, who directed the workmen, measured the masons' work, bought -in materials, and examined the accounts; a clerk of the works, Laurence -Spenser, who overlooked the men, saw that they did their work as -directed, and made up the accounts; each of these was paid 100_l._ a -year, half as much as the salary of the architect himself; a clerk of -the cheque, Thomas Russell, who called over the labourers three times a -day, and kept them to their business. Besides these, there was the -master-mason,[142] Thomas Strong, the master-builder of S. Stephen's, -Walbrook, frequently employed by Wren, and the master-carpenter, Richard -Jennings; all were carefully chosen, and were devoted to Sir -Christopher, whose great genius, gentle disposition, and steady equable -mind made him much beloved and respected. - -On June 21, 1675, the first stone of S. Paul's was laid by Sir -Christopher and his master-mason, not by King Charles, as is sometimes -said.[143] - -In the previous year Wren had lost his son Gilbert, who was buried in S. -Martin's on March 23. In the February following another son was born and -baptized by the name of Christopher. This son survived his father and -began the collection of letters, papers, and miscellaneous facts about -the Wren family which was afterwards published under the name of -'Parentalia; or, Memoirs of the Wrens.' It is, in truth, little but a -heap of materials amongst which each fact has to be sought for and its -proper place ascertained. - -[_EXCAVATIONS._] - -It has been truly said that the accounts of the building of S. Paul's -are meagre in the extreme. A little is, however, known. As Wren had -foretold, there was much 'to be done in the dark;' the old foundations -were not to be trusted, and immense excavations had to be made. In the -course of this work, he discovered 'graves of several ages and fashions, -in strata or layers of earth, one above another, from the British and -Roman times.' The 'Parentalia' describes - - 'a row of Saxon graves, the sides lined with chalk stones, below were - British graves, where were found ivory and wooden pins of a hard - wood, seemingly box, about six inches long; it seems the bodies were - only wrapped up and pinned in woollen shrouds, which being consumed - the pins remained entire. In the same row and deeper were Roman urns - intermixed.' - -Below this was hard 'pot-earth,' which Wren thought would be -sufficiently firm to bear the great weight about to be laid upon it, but -to ascertain its depth he had dry wells dug, and found it very unequal, -in one place hardly four feet; he searched lower and found loose sand, -then sand and shells; he speaks of them as sea shells, but it is now -thought that they were probably river; below this again hard beach, and -then London clay. He took great precautions when he laid any foundations -here, fearing lest the sand should slip. The bed of sand is a danger -still, for if pierced by a drain or other underground works the sand -might run off, leaving a hollow under the pot-earth. The Cathedral -authorities are accordingly wisely jealous of any excavations near S. -Paul's. When the north-east portion of the choir was reached, in digging -the foundations a pit was found, from which all the pot-earth had been -taken, containing many fragments of vases and urns, all of Roman -pottery. This pit was a very serious difficulty, occurring as it did at -the very angle of the choir. - -Sir Christopher's assistants suggested to him to drive in piles of -timber; but he knew that, though timber lasted well under water, yet in -this case, where it would be half in dry and half in wet sand, it would -rot in the course of time, and 'his endeavours were to build for -eternity.' He dug down more than forty feet, till he came to the hard -beach, below which was the London clay, and upon the beach built a pier -of solid masonry ten feet square, till within fifteen feet of the -ground, and then by turning an arch brought it level with the rest of -his foundation. - -The theory commonly received was that a temple of Apollo stood where -Westminster Abbey now stands, and that the site of S. Paul's Cathedral -was occupied by a temple of Diana. Wren, however, believed in neither -legend. The temple of Apollo he thought was invented merely that the -monks of Westminster might not be behind the Londoners in antiquities. -In spite of the horns of stags, tusks of boars, and the like, said to -have been found during former repairs of S. Paul's, in spite of an image -of Diana dug up hard by and in the possession of Dr. Woodward,[144] he -wrote to Bishop Atterbury[145] that he 'changed all the foundations of -old S. Paul's, and rummaged all the ground thereabouts, and being very -desirous to find the footsteps of such a temple, I could not discover -any, and therefore can give no more credit to Diana[146] than to -Apollo.' - -In the September of 1675, when the work with which her husband's -name is for ever connected was but little advanced, Lady Wren died, -and was buried, as her son Gilbert had been, in the chancel of S. -Martin's-in-the-Fields, leaving her husband with a baby son hardly seven -months old. The 'Parentalia,' with characteristic carelessness, gives -neither the date of her death nor the place of her burial. - -[_SECOND MARRIAGE._] - -No hint even is to be found of how this loss affected Sir Christopher, -but whether it was from the desolate state of his home, or the -helplessness of a widower left with an infant son, or from other causes, -he was not long in marrying again. His second wife was Jane Fitzwilliam, -daughter of the second Baron Fitzwilliam, her mother was an heiress, the -daughter of Hugh Perry _alias_ Hunter, a sheriff and alderman of London. -Lord Fitzwilliam died in 1643, the same year that he had succeeded to -his father, and the widowed Lady Fitzwilliam died twenty-seven years -later at 'Dutchy House in the Savoy,' the family house; so Jane -Fitzwilliam had been some years an orphan when she was married to Sir -Christopher in the Chapel Royal at Whitehall, on February 24, 1676-7. - -In this year Wren rebuilt S. Magnus, London Bridge,[147] which having -escaped one 'most dismal fire' in 1633, was destroyed by the Great Fire -of 1666. Sir Christopher rebuilt the church with Portland stone and oak -timber, adding to it a picturesque tower with a cupola and a peal of ten -bells. London Bridge, then covered with little houses and shops, would, -Sir Christopher foresaw, require alteration, and he, anxious that S. -Magnus should not suffer when the time came, proposed to leave space by -it for a footway. The churchwardens overruled him. The improvement Wren -expected has since been made, and when the workmen came to make a -pathway under the portico they discovered to their great surprise that -Sir Christopher had made the necessary arches, though bricked up, and -left them to be in readiness for the change which he foresaw, though the -churchwardens of S. Magnus did not. The state of London Bridge was very -unsatisfactory; constant repairs were needed, and to shoot the narrow -arches and not be swamped by the fall of the water was no easy feat. -Wren had a plan for saving repairs and improving the water way by wide -Gothic arches, taking away every other arch, and making the two into -one, which would reduce the fall to nine inches at the most. This seems -to have remained a scheme only. - -[_MODERN DESECRATION._] - -S. Mildred's in the Poultry was also begun in this year, a small stone -church with a tower and cupola. It was destroyed in 1872,[148] and the -details of its removal are instructive as well as painful, and may well -be contrasted with the account of the manner of removing the remains of -old S. Paul's.[149] - -S. Stephen's, Coleman Street, on the site of an old Jewish synagogue, is -of the same date; it is a neat small church mostly built of stone, with -a curious old stone carving, in high relief, of the Last Judgment, over -the door leading to the churchyard. - -S. Lawrence, Jewry, 'that new and cheerful pile,'[150] is a large -well-proportioned building in the Corinthian style, with a tower and -spire, built in the following year. It had been repaired by the -parishioners in 1618, and boasted among its vicars three who had become -bishops: Edward Reynolds, Bishop of Norwich, one of those who, during -the Rebellion, sided strongly with the Presbyterians, and conformed at -the Restoration; Dr. Seth Ward, Bishop of Exeter and Salisbury, who has -been mentioned before; and Wren's other scientific friend, Dr. Wilkins, -Bishop of Chester, who was buried in the chancel of S. Lawrence's Church -in 1672. - -S. Lawrence's possesses some excellent stone carving of fruit, possibly -from Gibbons' chisel. - -S. Nicholas, Coleabbey, was built this year by Sir Christopher on the -site of a church so ancient that it stood some feet below the street, -and was entered by steps descending down to the floor; its most recent -addition was in Richard II.'s reign, though the whole building was -repaired in 1630. Wren's is a well-proportioned brick and stone church -with a square tower and short fat steeple. S. Mary's, Woolnoth, was only -repaired by Sir Christopher; it was afterwards rebuilt entirely by his -clerk and pupil, Nicholas Hawksmoor,[151] in 1719. S. Mary's, -Aldermanbury, a fine bold stone church, its nave and aisles divided by -well-sculptured columns; and S. Michael's, Queenhithe, belong also to -this busy year. S. Michael's, standing close to the river, built of -stone with plenty of space and room in it; its slender graceful spire -ever beckoning to the swarming river and riverside population, might, -one would have imagined, have been invaluable in zealous hands, but it -has been swept away and the opportunity is lost. - -[_THE MONUMENT._] - -It was also in 1677 that Sir Christopher completed the column generally -known to Londoners as 'the Monument.' He began it in 1671; but the work -had been much hindered by the difficulty of getting blocks of Portland -stone of sufficient size. There had been great debate about the ornament -for the summit. Wren wished it to be a large statue, as 'carrying much -dignity with it, and being more valluable in the eyes of forreigners and -strangers.' It was to be fifteen feet high, cast in brass, at a cost of -1,000_l._ The expense was one reason why this was given up, and the -present ornament, a flaming vase of gilt bronze, substituted. -Cibber[152] carved a basso-relievo on one side, representing King -Charles in a Roman costume, protecting the ruined city. The four dragons -at the base were carved by Edward Pierce,[153] a sculptor and architect -who frequently worked for Wren. The other three sides have Latin -inscriptions, of which one is an account of the fire, accusing the -_furor Papisticus_ as its cause; a brief inscription in English, lower -down on the pedestal, repeats the same charge against the 'treachery and -malice of the Popish faction.' Sir Christopher had written a Latin one -for the column, which spoke of the fire as originating in a humble -house, and briefly recounted its ravages; he added, as he was well -entitled to add, that the city was rebuilt 'not with wood and mud as -before, but with edifices, some brick and some stone, and adorned with -such works that it was seen to rise fairer from its ruins far than -before.' As he wrote, he must have given a sigh of regret to the -perfection of his unused plan. - -The accusation against the Romanists appealed powerfully to the -inveterate prejudices of the multitude. It was accordingly insisted upon -and ordered to be put up. James II. had the inscription effaced, but in -William III.'s reign it was re-cut deeper than before, and so remained -to justify Pope's well-known lines:-- - - ----London's column pointing to the skies, - Like a tall bully lifts the head and lies.[154] - -It is a curious retribution that the Monument designed by so great an -architect as Wren, to commemorate such an event as the burning of -London, and the singular courage and energy of its citizens, is now more -generally connected in men's mind with falsehood and calumny than with a -great historical event. - -The column was at first used, as Wren had intended it should be, as a -place for certain experiments of the Royal Society; but the vibration of -the column during the ceaseless traffic of London proved too great to -allow of the experiments being successfully carried on. Evelyn, with -much sense, wished that the column had been placed where the fire ended, -and a 'plain lugubrious marble' where it began; and says:-- - - 'I question not but I have the architect himself on my side, whose - rare and extraordinary talent and what he has performed of great - and magnificent, this column and what he is still about and is - advancing under his direction, will speak and perpetuate his - memory, as long as one stone remains upon another in this - nation.'[155] - -[_A TARDY HONOUR._] - -The King had proposed to Sir Christopher a very congenial piece of work. -The remains of Charles I., which had been hastily buried in S. George's -Chapel at Windsor, were to be removed to what was known as the -tomb-house at the east end of the chapel, re-interred there with the -solemn service that had been denied to them before, and a grand tomb -built over them. Lord O'Brien proposed in the House of Commons a grant -of money for the purpose, and the House voted 70,000_l._ to be raised by -a two months' tax. Sprat, Bishop of Rochester, preaching before the -Commons on the following day, the anniversary of King Charles's death, -alluded to the tardy honour done 'by that much-desired, long-expected -vote.' Sir Christopher prepared designs for a splendid monument. - -It was to take the form of a Rotundo with a beautiful Dome and Lantern, -and a Colonnade without, like that of the Temple of Vesta at Rome. -Mosaic work was to be freely used, black and white marble and gilded -brass; the cupola was to be painted in fresco. In the central niche -fronting the entrance was the King's monument. Four statues, emblems of -heroic virtues, standing on a square plinth, and pressing underneath the -prostrate figures of Rebellion, Heresy, Hypocrisy, Envy and Murder, -support a large shield, on which is a statue erect of King Charles in -modern armour, over his head a group of angels bearing a crown, a cross, -and branches of palm. Two designs were made, one for brass work, one for -marble: one design is drawn by Grinling Gibbons, whom Wren meant to -employ for the carving. The other is by Wren himself, drawn with -extraordinary care, in delicate pen and ink, and they yet remain with -his note upon them. 'Alas! for the state of the times!--not yet -erected.' The failure of his design was a great annoyance to Wren, who -was most anxious to have paid this tribute to the King's memory. - -Why the plan was never executed it is hard to say. Charles II. kept the -designs for some time and then returned them, begging Wren to keep them -carefully; but the moment for their use never arrived. - -Though he was not allowed to honour King Charles, curiously enough, it -fell to Wren's lot to provide a tomb for two other murdered Princes of -England. - -[_THE REMAINS OF THE PRINCES._] - -Some repairs were being made in the Tower of London under the orders of -Wren, who was at that time repairing what is known as the White Tower, -one of the oldest parts of the fortress. As the workmen were removing -some stairs which led from the Royal lodgings to S. John's Chapel, they -came upon a wooden chest, which proved to contain the remains of two -children, exactly corresponding in age and state of decay with the date -of the murder of Edward V. and his brother Richard Duke of York in 1573. -The place also corresponded in every respect with the traditions -respecting the murder:[156] it was said to have been done in the Bloody -Tower--the spot where the bones were found is but seventy yards distant; -they were always said to have been buried in consecrated ground by the -Priest of the Tower--the place where the remains were was just within S. -John's Chapel. The discovery caused considerable interest, and was fully -represented to the King, who desired that the bones should be laid, -under the Surveyor's directions, in Henry VII.'s Chapel in Westminster -Abbey in a white marble coffin with a suitable monument. Wren designed a -pedestal and urn of white marble surmounted by twin crowns and palms. No -doubt the monument accords better with the taste of the age in which it -was erected than with that of the building in which it is placed, but it -has an interest of its own. By the King's wish a mulberry-tree was -planted on the spot where the bones were discovered, but subsequent -buildings at the Tower destroyed the tree, and even its stump has -perished. - -FOOTNOTES: - - [131] To this church and parish belongs the honourable distinction - of having successfully resisted the encroachments of the - railway company which recently attempted to desecrate the - church. 'The City Church and Churchyard Protection - Society'--alas! that any such society should be needed--which - fought this battle, must have the best wishes of any - biographer of Christopher Wren. - - [132] The interior has been lately altered. - - [133] _History of Modern Architecture._ Fergusson, p. 307. - - [134] Antonio Canova, born 1757, died 1822. He had come to England - to see the Elgin Marbles. - - [135] _History of the Royal Society_, p. 237. Weld. The anecdote is - taken from an article in an old _Gentleman's Magazine_, - written professedly by one who knew Sir I. Newton. - - [136] Destroyed 1876. - - [137] Hubert Le Soeur was a pupil of John of Bologna; he came to - England in 1630. The statue of Lord Pembroke at Oxford, and - that of King Charles, which has Le Soeur's name on the horse's - hoof, are all that now remain of his works. - - [138] On the statue of King Charles I. at Charing Cross in the year - 1674. E. Waller. - - [139] The model was long preserved in what was called the Trophy - Room of S. Paul's. 'It unfortunately has suffered much from - neglect, decay, and the uncontrolled mischief of visitors; - that which was one of its noblest features, its long stately - western portico, has entirely disappeared. The model was lent - to and still remains in the Architectural Exhibition at South - Kensington, on condition of repairing some of its reparable - parts (a condition but imperfectly fulfilled).'--_Annals of S. - Paul's Cathedral_, Dean Milman, p. 40. - - [140] An engraving giving a section of this very curious design is - to be found at page 97 of Mr. Longman's exhaustive and - interesting _Three Cathedrals dedicated to S. Paul's in - London_. - - [141] The fourth portion of the tax on coal granted for the public - buildings of the City was given for the rebuilding of S. - Paul's. - - [142] Thomas was the son of Mr. Valentine Strong, a well-known - master-mason of Hertfordshire; his six sons were all engaged - in the same trade as himself. _Life of Sir C. Wren_, p. 316. - Elmes. - - [143] Sir C. Wren gave the mallet and trowel used on this occasion - to the Freemasons' lodge of which he was master, then called - after his name, now the 'Lodge of Antiquity, No. 21.' - - [144] J. Woodward, the founder of the Cambridge Geological - Professorship, was born 1665, published a series of curious - geological speculations under the name of _A Natural History - of the Earth_. In 1707 he published _An Account of Roman Urns - and Antiquities lately dug up near Bishopsgate_, addressed to - Sir C. Wren, whom, as I have said, he did not convince. - Woodward was a Fellow of the Royal Society and the College of - Physicians. He died 1728. - - [145] Francis Atterbury, born 1662, made Dean of Westminster and - Bishop of Rochester 1715; was a strong Jacobite, and was - banished in 1723: died 1732. - - [146] A stone altar was however found during some excavations in - Foster Lane in 1830, at no great distance from the Cathedral, - with an image of Diana about which there can be no - misapprehension, as it closely resembles the Diana of the - Louvre.--_Annals of S. Paul's_, p. 7. - - [147] Jack Cade's instruction to his followers on reaching London - was 'Up Fish Street, down _S. Magnus_ corner. Kill and knock - down, throw them into the Thames.' _Henry VI._, part ii. act - iv. scene 8. - - [148] The following interesting anecdote was related to one of the - Honorary Secretaries (Mr. Wright) by a member of the Society - (Mr. Fytche):--'Walking one fine summer morning in June 1872 - down to the Mansion House, on reaching the Poultry I was - surprised to see a man on the top of the tower of S. Mildred's - Church hammering away at the stones with a crowbar; so, - finding the door open, I went up the stairs of the tower and - said to my friend of the crowbar, "Why, you are pulling the - church down!" "Ay," says he, "it's all to be down and carted - away by the end of July." "I suppose it's going to be rebuilt - elsewhere!" "_Built_ anywhere? No; my master has _bought_ it." - "Who is your master?" "Don't you know him? Mr. So-and-So, the - great contractor." "What's he going to do with it?" "Do with - it? Why, he's twenty carts and forty horses to lead it away to - his stoneyard, and he's going to grind it up to make Portland - cement!" So I asked him of the crowbar to show me round the - church. "Would your master sell the stones instead of grinding - 'em up?" I asked. "Sell 'em? Yes, he'll sell his soul for - money!" So I made an appointment for his master to come up to - the Langham Hotel next morning, and we agreed about the - purchase--he to deliver the stones at a wharf on the Thames, - and they were brought down in barges and landed at the head of - a canal on the east coast of Lincolnshire, and are now lying - in a green field near my house, called S. Katherine's Garth, - from an old Priory of S. Katherine, which formerly stood - there, and which I hope some day to rebuild as my domestic - chapel.'--_Report of the City Church and Churchyard Protection - Society_, 1880. - - [149] _Vide supra_, p. 186-7. - - [150] Evelyn's _Diary_, May 28, 1682. - - [151] Nicholas Hawksmoor, born the year of the fire, became Wren's - pupil in 1683 and helped him in many of his works. Hawksmoor - built several churches under Queen Anne's Act; they are - original, but heavy, and not always in good taste. He died - 1736. - - [152] Caius Cibber, born 1630. The statues of Melancholy and Madness - at Bedlam were his greatest works: died about 1700. - - [153] He did much of the work of S. Clement Danes under Wren's - directions, and made a bust of Sir Christopher, now at All - Souls: died 1698. - - [154] _Moral Essays_, Ep. iii. - - [155] _Of Medals_, p. 162, ed. 1697. Evelyn. - - [156] For an interesting account of these see _The Tower of London_, - by Lord de Ros, p. 417. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - 1677-1682. - - EMMANUEL COLLEGE--GREENWICH OBSERVATORY--BIRTH OF JANE AND WILLIAM - WREN--S. BARTHOLOMEW'S--PORTLAND QUARRIES--DR. AND MRS. - HOLDER--DEATH OF JANE, LADY WREN--POPISH PLOT--PAPIN'S - DIGESTER--SIR J. HOSKYNS--ALLHALLOWS, BREAD STREET--PALACE AT - WINCHESTER. - - Who taught that heaven-directed spire to rise?--POPE, _Moral Essays_. - - -Great as was the pressure of Wren's London work, he did not confine -himself to that city alone, but in 1677, we find him at Cambridge, -busied with buildings there. The beautiful chapel of Emmanuel College, -which still stands unaltered as he left it, was Sir Christopher's work -in that year. More than thirty years before, Bishop Wren, when Bishop of -Ely, had instanced amongst the irregularities to be amended at Cambridge -the absence of a chapel at Emmanuel College,[157] and it well became his -nephew to supply this lack. Sancroft had first set the plan on foot, and -when he was removed in 1665 to S. Paul's--a removal so costly that, -little knowing, he consoled himself by thinking the next would be to his -grave--his successor, Dr. Breton, continued his work. - -A picturesque cloister runs north and south across the façade built of -stone instead of the brick with stone dressing as Wren at first -intended; within the chapel the rich stucco ceiling, the pannelling and -wood carving, the tall columns which support a pediment behind the -altar, as well as the bold metal scroll-work of the altar rails, all -show Wren's hand and eye. In the manuscript list of Wren's architectural -works in the 'Parentalia' the Chapel of Queen's College at Oxford is -assigned to him as built at about this time; but it does not appear in -the more accurate printed list, and is not generally reckoned amongst -his works. - -The Observatory at Greenwich, known by the name of Flamsteed House, was -being completed. It was built at the suggestion of Sir Jonas Moor, the -Surveyor-General of the Ordnance, for the purpose of ascertaining the -motions of the moon and the places of the fixed stars, in order, if -possible, to discover accurately the longitude at sea.[158] Wren, -confessedly one of the best astronomers in England, was on the -commission for building the Observatory, and was its architect. -Greenwich was chosen as the site at his suggestion; the King, who took a -great interest in the project, allowed 500_l._ towards it, and Sir -Christopher used in the work some spare wood, iron, and lead from the -Tower Gatehouse, and the bricks taken from Tilbury, the fort built by -Elizabeth to repel the Spanish Armada. - -The Observatory was begun in June, 1675, and roofed in at the Christmas -of the same year, and Flamsteed shortly afterwards installed there. - -[_A COLLECTION OF 'RARITIES.'_] - -The Museum at Oxford, known as the Ashmolean, was Sir Christopher's work -in 1677. It contained a collection of objects of natural history which -was then reckoned a very good one: it had been collected by John -Tradescant, and bequeathed by him to Mr. Elias Ashmole, the historian of -the Order of the Garter, who made the whole over to the University, -endowing a lecture upon them. - -The collection contained several curious specimens of Roman, Indian, and -other weapons, some clothing made of feathers; among other 'rarities,' a -'toad included in amber,' and a 'habit of feathers from the Phoenix -wing as tradition goes.'[159] Ashmole was of the Royal Society and a -student of astrology. - -In the November of this year, Sir Christopher's only daughter Jane was -born, and was baptized at S. Martin's, probably by the Rev. William -Lloyd, then the vicar, who bore the high character of 'an excellent -preacher, a man of great integrity and piety, one who thoroughly -understood all the parts of his function and had a mind fully bent to -put them in execution.' Wren's fourth and youngest child was born in -June, 1679, and baptized, also at S. Martin's, by the name of William. -Sir Christopher's good friend Evelyn was one godfather, the other was -Sir William Fermor, the head of an old Cavalier family of -Northamptonshire, whose father, all but ruined in the civil wars, -survived to attend as one of the Knights of the Bath at Charles II.'s -coronation. Sir William, who was by his mother's side first cousin to -Lady Wren, was a friend of Evelyn's, whose tastes he shared. He was -created Lord Lempster[160] by William and Mary. The other sponsor was -Lady Newport, daughter of the Earl of Bedford, and wife of the Lord -Treasurer, Lord Newport, who, greatly distinguished by his loyalty and -his suffering in the Civil War, was made Comptroller of the Household, -and in 1672 Lord Treasurer, an office which he held under the two -succeeding monarchs.[161] Lord Newport was a friend both of Wren and of -Evelyn, and entertained them, Prince Rupert, and others at his house, -where he had a fine collection of pictures. - -Wren began five of his churches in this year: one was the little square -church of SS. Anne and Agnes, Aldersgate, with its four Corinthian -columns and decorated ceiling. - -'There is a constant tradition in the parish that SS. Anne and Agnes -were two sisters who first built this church at their own charge,'[162] -but at what date is not said. It once bore the name of 'S. -Anne-in-the-Willows,' from the willow-trees that grew hard by. - -S. Bartholomew's, Bartholomew Lane, near the Exchange, had been consumed -all but its old square tower, which must have been a striking object -standing up tall and fire-scathed amongst the ruins. To this tower Wren -added a sort of crown of open arches, but he carefully preserved the -tower, itself a curious relic of London before the fire. Internally it -was a handsome basilican church, effective from the good keeping and -harmony of all its parts. Its date of consecration went back to the -beginning of the fourteenth century. Bishop Miles Coverdale[163] was -buried there. Alas! that all must be written in the past tense! The -church has been destroyed because its site was wanted for the Sun Fire -Office! It is a cruel fate, having been rebuilt after the Great Fire to -be destroyed for a Fire Insurance Office. - -S. Michael's, Bassishaw, or Basinghall, taking this name from the great -merchant family of Basing, several of whom were sheriffs, and others -lord mayors of London, was rebuilt of brick and stone with a curious -little stone spire. - -[_LONDON STONE._] - -S. Swithin's in Cannon Street is reckoned a model of excellence in -construction; it is of stone with a tower and spire, and domed roof; the -curious relic known as 'London Stone,' is built into the church wall; it -was formerly fixed in the ground in the street. Many different opinions -have been advanced about it--that it was the centre of the City, which -however it was not, being too near the river; that it was a place for -tendering money before the Exchange existed; and, most prosaic of all, -that it was set up by one named London Stone who lived there![164] All -agreed that it had been there since the time of the Saxon kings. - -S. Bride's, Fleet Street, was begun in this year, but not entirely -finished until twenty years later; on it Wren lavished considerable -care and skill, securing a spacious handsome interior, and a richly -carved oak altar-piece. The bold tower and steeple,[165] with its -graceful diminishing circles with their open arcades, are thought to -rival S. Mary's, Bow, but the latter is perhaps the more poetical of the -two. - -The great work at S. Paul's was the while proceeding. In 1676 Compton, -Bishop of London, issued an Address, urging the claims of the Cathedral, -not on the citizens alone, but upon the country at large; he insisted -with some eloquence that all churches should as much as possible imitate -the 'exceeding magnifical' temple of Solomon in their beauty and -grandeur, and especially the cathedral of wealthy London. His address, -his warm interest in the work, and that of Dean Sancroft, who was a -contributor until driven from his archbishopric, brought many -contributions: among them may be mentioned Morley, Bishop of Winchester, -who gave 1,800_l._; Dr. John Fell, who gave 100_l._, 'in lieu of his -consecration dinner and gloves' when consecrated Bishop of Oxford, 1680; -Bishop Ken, who gave the same sum at his consecration, 1685, also in -lieu of the dinner and gloves; Bishop Wilson, of Sodor and Man, who gave -from the quarries of the island the dark stone steps which lead to the -west doors. Though hampered often, the architect was never actually -stopped by lack of money. He himself out of his scanty salary gave -50_l._ towards the expenses. - -[_PORTLAND QUARRIES._] - -In a letter speaking of his progress in building S. Paul's he says, 'I -have received a considerable sum, which, though not proportionable to -the greatnesse of the work, is notwithstanding sufficient to begin the -same--and with all the materials and other assistances which may -probably be expected, will put the new quire in great forwardness.' The -materials referred to are probably such parts of the old building as it -was possible to use again; and it may here be said that Wren had the -control of the quarries of Portland stone.[166] In 1669, King Charles -issued a proclamation that-- - - 'Whereas great waste had been for many years past made of our - quarries in the Isle of Portland, ... and the great occasion we - have of using much of the said stone, both for the building and - repairing our houses and for the repaire of S. Paul's, our pleasure - is ... that all persons forbeare to transport any more stone from - our Isle of Portland without the leave and warrant first obtained - from Dr. Christopher Wren, Surveyor of our Works, as hath been - formerly accustomed in that behalf.' - -Wren must have commanded an army of quarrymen in the little island, not -then grim with convicts and with a prison; but nevertheless he had, as -in the case of the Monument, not seldom to pause in his work before he -could get blocks of the size he required. As the choir rose the time -came in which the space for the great Dome was to be marked out. The -architect stood watching with some of his friends, and called to one of -the workmen to bring him a stone to mark a special spot; when the man -obeyed, Wren saw that the stone thus brought had an inscription upon -it--the single word 'Resurgam.'[167] It was looked upon by Sir -Christopher as a singularly happy omen, and he took great pleasure in -telling the anecdote. - -[_DR. HOLDER AND DR. WALLIS._] - -In the meantime a sharp controversy was going on within the Royal -Society between Dr. Wallis and Sir Christopher's brother-in-law, Dr. -Holder. Dr. Holder had a living in Hertfordshire and had received from -Bishop Henchman a canonry in S. Paul's. In 1678 he brought out a book -called 'The Elements of Speech' with an appendix concerning 'Persons -deaf and dumb.' In this book he described the cure he had himself -performed when at Bletchingdon of a young gentleman, Mr. Alexander -Popham, the son of a certain Edward Popham, admiral in the service of -the Long Parliament, whom, though born dumb, he had gradually taught to -speak. The youth, taken away before the cure was quite finished, lost -the lately acquired power of speech, but on being sent to Dr. Wallis -recovered it; thereupon Dr. Wallis claimed the entire credit. In his -book Dr. Holder took occasion to speak of the Royal Society as -originating in meetings held at Oxford. - -Upon this Dr. Wallis wrote a pamphlet entitled 'A Defence of the Royal -Society in reply to some cavils of Dr. W. Holder.' The quarrel appears -to have been a hot one, turning chiefly on the credit of curing -Alexander Popham. - -Wood, the antiquary,[168] speaks of Dr. Wallis 'as one that can make -black white, and white black, for his own ends, and hath a ready knack -of sophistical evasion (as the writer of these matters doth know full -well),' and gives the credit to Dr. Holder. Wallis was little loved by -any royalist because of his conduct in decyphering King Charles I.'s -papers at Naseby.[169] In the 'Parentalia' are two finger alphabets, -with two hands drawn in Indian ink, the fingers of which have different -letters assigned to the different joints; one is an ordinary and simple -way, the other, more elaborate, is entitled 'An arte to make the Dumbe -to speake, the Deafe to heare. To speake amongst others unseen and -unhearde. Learned in an howre.' Minute directions are given, but the -system is so elaborate that it is very sanguine to think it could have -been 'learned' under several hours. The writing is not like Christopher -Wren's, and I think it must belong to Dr. Holder's scheme. - -Mrs. Holder went on in her tranquil course, ministering to the poor -around her. In early days she had made a careful study of such medical -science as was then known. Barbarous as the surgery was, the remedial -part of medicine appears to have been somewhat better understood. The -circulation of the blood had very lately been discovered by Harvey; and -whether it was the efficacy of the herbs and simples used, or the faith -of the patients, or both, it is certain that many cures were made and -much suffering alleviated. It is said of Mrs. Holder that 'she happily -healed thousands.' She cured Charles II. of a hurt in his hand, whether -in his early days of peril and wandering, or in later life, is not said. -After the Restoration she was connected more or less with the Court, as -her husband was subdean of the Chapels Royal, and she healed Queen -Catharine and many of the Court. When one reads in Evelyn's or in Pepys' -diary of the frightful remedies used: the 'hot fire pans' applied to the -head in cases of apoplexy, the constant bleeding, the roughness of the -entire treatment, one is thankful to think that they were occasionally -ministered to by the gentler hand of a woman. - -A taste for the science of medicine seems to have been common in the -Wren family. Sir Christopher studied it at Oxford under Sir Charles -Scarborough and drew the plates for Dr. Thomas Willis' 'Cerebri -Anatome,' which was in great repute. His cousin, Thomas Wren, made it a -matter of serious study, probably living by it as a profession at the -time when Bishop Wren's imprisonment left his younger children -penniless. The same honourable calling was chosen by Sir Christopher's -grandson, Stephen Wren. Among all the patients whom good Mrs. Holder -tended and cared for, in none could she have taken more pride than in -the brother over whose sickly childhood she had watched, and whose fame -she saw daily increasing. Nor was there any drawback to her delight: -loving, gentle, modest, and courteous he had been as a boy, and the -famous successful architect possessed those qualities still. In a -corrupt age, all testimony leaves him spotless; in positions of great -trust and still greater difficulty his integrity was but the more -clearly shown by the attacks made against him; among the foremost -philosophers of his age, he was a striking example that 'every good gift -and every perfect gift is from above;' no child could hold the truths of -Christianity with a more undoubting faith than did Sir Christopher Wren. - -['_I THINK THEY ARE HIGH ENOUGH._'] - -His personal appearance is only known to us from pictures: it seems he -was 'thin and low of stature,' and it is recorded that when he was -building a hunting palace at Newmarket for Charles II., the King came to -see it, looked round, and was well satisfied with the general effect, -but said he thought the rooms were too low. Wren, who knew the King -well, and could hold his own when needful, looked up to the ceiling, and -said quietly: 'Sir, I think they are high enough.' - -On hearing this, King Charles stooped till he was the architect's -height, crept about the room in this attitude, and said laughing, 'Ay, -Sir Christopher, I think _they are high enough_.'[170] - -The beautiful S. Stephen's, Walbrook, was finished in 1679, and the -parishioners, aware that their church was a gem of no common order, -offered 'a purse of twenty guineas to the Lady of Sir Christopher Wren, -as a testimony of the regard that the parish has for the great care and -skill that Sir Christopher Wren showed in the rebuilding of our -church.'[171] Lady Wren did not long survive to share in her husband's -fame and to sympathise in his work. - -Early in October she died and was buried in S. Martin's-in-the-Fields, -where Dr. Thomas Tenison[172] had succeeded Dr. Lloyd, when the latter -was made Bishop of S. Asaph. He, too, was a hard-working parish priest, -though neither so zealous nor so whole-hearted a churchman as the former -vicar. He communicated to Evelyn[173] his plan 'of erecting a library in -S. Martin's parish for the public use, and desired his assistance with -Sir Christopher Wren about the placing and structure thereof.' Dr. -Tenison said that he had 'between thirty and forty young men in orders -in his parish either governors to young gentlemen, or chaplains to -noblemen, who being reproved by him on occasion for frequenting taverns -or coffee-houses, told him they would employ their time better if they -had books.' Wren fell readily into a scheme so congenial as this, and -in a very few days the two friends were together at Dr. Tenison's making -a drawing and estimate of the library to be begun in the spring of that -same year. - -[_POPISH PLOT._] - -In 1678, the nation was excited to absolute frenzy by the declarations -of the infamous Titus Oates concerning the 'Popish Plot.' In the same -spirit as that in which they had laid the burning of London at the door -of the Romanists, the mob lent greedy, credulous ears to the tales of -Oates, and were encouraged by Lord Shaftesbury and his party, who made -political capital out of this madness. Looking back, it is difficult to -understand how such manifest falsehoods could have obtained credit; but -it should be borne in mind that only seventy-three years had passed -since the Gunpowder Plot had all but succeeded, and despite its failure -left a mark in popular feeling which, however obscured and travestied, -remains to this day. That it was fresh in the minds of the Members of -Parliament may be seen from their insisting that a guard should be -placed in the vaults over which they sate. - -Bedloe, Oates' villainous ally, having declared that an army of thirty -thousand pilgrims was coming from Spain to join forty thousand who were -ready to rise in London, the House of Lords insisted that a -communication between the Spanish ambassador's house and that of his -neighbour Mr. Weld should be secured. No less a person than Sir -Christopher himself was to be despatched by the Lords' committee to see -to this matter. Wren took the matter quietly enough; went with Mr. -Edward Warcup, one of his assistants, and sent in a report stating that -they had caused 'padlocks to be hung on all such dores as open out of -Mr. Weld's house into the Spanish Embassador's house;' had then -'acquainted his Excellency Count Egmont, who with great civility gave -permission for all things necessary to be done on his side.' They locked -the doors on his side, barred some with iron, and handed over the keys -to the Clerk of the Parliament, which no doubt felt itself more secure -after this precaution. - -Evelyn, it is plain from passages in his diary, disbelieved and -distrusted Oates, and Wren, who gave no heed to panics, was probably of -the same opinion. One wishes that Pepys had not been compelled in 1669, -by failing eyesight, to give up keeping his most amusing diary, that he -might have recorded his impressions of this time of frenzy. He, however, -was a sufferer by it, being clapt into the Tower on a charge of 'Popery, -felony, piracy, and treason,' in 1679. The 'treason' charged seems to -have been that he sent information to the French Court about the state -of the English navy. The 'Popery,' from which he was certainly free, was -probably thrown in to give a flavour suited to the times. It is an -incredible charge, and Pepys, who defended himself in a spirited letter -to the Duke of York, was discharged in the following February. - -The Royal Society, despite all these storms, kept its even course. Wren, -who had been Vice-President, was elected President in 1680. With all his -work, he contrived to take the Chair frequently at the meetings. Their -discussions were very varied:--observations with the barometer, ways of -sounding the sea, the curve described by a granado shot into the air, an -account of the anatomy of the otter, and its power of diving;--Sir -Christopher hereupon described the seal which was in S. James's Park, as -having muscles by which it could contract and dilate its nostrils, and -by such means sink itself and lie at the bottom of the pool made for it, -for a great while together, and that it ate its food at the bottom of -the river. - -[_A PHILOSOPHICAL SUPPER._] - -A new discovery by a French doctor named Papin[174] of a 'digester' for -softening bones, caused much discussion at the Society. Wren inquired -whether a contrary process to M. Papin's could not be devised to harden -bones, but Papin could give no answer. Two years later M. Papin gave a -supper to which several of the Society went. Evelyn says, it was[175]-- - - 'All dress'd, both fish and flesh, in M. Papin's Digestors, by - which the hardest bones of beef itselfe and mutton were made as - soft as cheese, without water or any other liquor, and with lesse - than eight ounces of coales producing an incredible quantity of - gravy; and, for close of all, a jelly made of the bones of beef, - the best for clearness and good relish, and the most delicious that - I had seene or tasted. We eat pike and other fish bones, and all - without impediment; but nothing exceeded the pigeons, which tasted - just as if baked in a pie, all these being stewed in their own - juice, without any addition of water, save what swam about the - Digestor, as _in balneo_; the natural juice of these provisions - acting on the grosser substances, reduced the hardest bones to - tenderness; but it is best descanted with more particulars for - extracting tinctures, preserving and stewing fruite, and saving - fuel, in Dr. Papin's booke[176] published and dedicated to our - Society, of which he is a member.... This philosophical supper - caus'd much mirth amongst us, and exceedingly pleased all the - company. I sent a glass of the jelly to my wife, to the reproch of - all that the ladies ever made of the best hartshorn.' - -[_SIR JOHN HOSKYNS._] - -The Royal Society had another foreign visitor, M. Chardin,[177] the -Persian traveller. Sir Christopher, Sir John Hoskyns, and Evelyn[178] -went to visit him when he arrived in England in 1680, and invited him to -honour the Royal Society with his company. They found him dressed in his -Eastern habit, speaking Latin, and understanding Greek, Arabic, and -Persian from his eleven years of travel in those parts. He was a -well-bred, modest man 'not inclined to talk wonders.' Chardin was a fair -draughtsman and had besides taken two artists with him to draw -landscapes, to measure and design the palaces and temples burnt at -Persepolis. He was then on his way to France, but on his return promised -to show the drawings. He returned, finding the persecution of the -Protestants still hot in France, and Sir Christopher proposed him as a -member of the Royal Society. His book, 'Travels of Sir John Chardin,' -was published in London and is still in high esteem both for its special -interest and the accuracy of its statements. Evelyn assisted him in -engraving the plates and in the translation of the book. Charles II. -made him a knight, and he was employed in Holland as the agent of the -English East India Company. - -At the meeting of the Royal Society on November 30, 1681, Wren was -re-elected President and chose Sir John Hoskyns as Vice-president.[179] -Sir John Hoskyns, who, like Wren, had been educated at Westminster, was -a Master in Chancery highly thought of for his legal attainments and his -integrity; he and Wren appear always to have been friends; and when Wren -resigned the presidency, Sir John succeeded him. Tradition[180] says -that Sir John - - 'affected plainness in his garb, walked in the street with a cudgel - in his hand and an old hat over his eyes. That he was often observed - to be in a reverie; but when his spirits were elevated over a - bottle, he was remarkable for his presence of mind and quickness of - apprehension and became a most agreeable and instructive companion.' - It also says that he bore an irreproachable character. - -The great western front of Christ Church, Oxford, was at this time -occupying Wren's attention. Wolsey had laid the foundations of the -gateway, but it had been left unfinished until Wren took it in hand and -built the grand gateway and noble tower which are among the features of -Oxford. - -The churches which at this time were building in London were All -Hallows, Bread Street; the original church dated back to the beginning -of the thirteenth century. Lyndwode, the author of the 'Provincial -Constitutions,' was rector there in 1418. The poet Milton was baptized -there December 20, 1608. An inscription on a tablet at the west end of -the church recorded this, and also Dryden's lines:-- - - Three Poets in three distant ages born, - Greece, Italy, and England did adorn; - The first in loftiness of thought surpassed, - The next in majesty; in both the last. - The force of nature could no further go, - To make a third she joined the other two. - -Here also it is supposed that Sir Isaac Newton was buried, though the -exact spot was not known. - -Wren built on the old site a stone church of considerable beauty, whose -tall pinnacled tower had a singular grace of its own. All, alas! -destroyed, the ancient site desecrated, and the materials sold, no -matter for what purpose. - -[_CHURCH BUILDING._] - -S. Peter's, Cornhill, a small compact brick and stone church with a low -tower and a key for its vane and camerated roof, was rebuilt in this -year. Several small charitable legacies belong to this church: Sir B. -Thorowgood settled three shops, at the west end of the churchyard, upon -the parish for the maintenance of an organist to play on Sundays and -Holydays for ever. In 1700 these shops were all three let for 24_l._! - -S. Clement Danes in the Strand, which had been patched up in 1674, was -taken down and rebuilt, being finished in 1682. Sir Christopher, who -received the moderate salary of 100_l._ for the rebuilding of the _City_ -churches, had nothing necessarily to do with S. Clement's, but yet, as -is recorded on a marble slab on the north side of the chancel, he -'freely and generously bestowed his great care towards the contriving -and building.' It stands in too frequented a place and is too well known -to need description, and will, I think, be readily admitted to bear -Wren's mark. Evelyn calls it 'that pretty and well-contrived church.' -The steeple surmounting the tower was added by Wren's pupil Gibbs[181] -in 1719. S. Antholin's, Watling Street, was entirely consumed by the -fire, so that all its registers perished, a misfortune which happened to -but few of the churches. Sir Christopher spent especial care upon it. -The roof was a cupola adorned with rich festoons; the octagonal spire -was built of freestone, with three circles of windows and considerably -ornamented, was the chief feature of this beautiful little church. At -the time of its building the spire was much remarked, and must have -formed a pleasant contrast to the little neighbouring church of S. -Augustine in the same street, with its tower cupola and small steeple, -which was added in 1695. This church was finished in 1683 and survives -S. Antholin's, which has shared the evil fate of All Hallows, Bread -Street. - -The hunting palace at Newmarket, of which mention has been made, was -accidentally burnt down, and this made King Charles more anxious to have -a palace in the ancient city of Winchester. Lands were bought for a -park, a river was to have been brought from the downs with a thirty-foot -cascade in the park, and a broad street planned to lead to the cathedral -from the future palace. Wren designed a magnificent palace,[182] with a -great cupola which would have been seen far out at sea, and laid the -first stone on March 23, 1683. The work was much pressed forward both by -King Charles and by the Duke of York, who frequently stayed at -Winchester for a considerable time watching the progress of the -building, and hunting in the forest. At such times the King was lodged -in the Deanery and his train in the houses of the close, where most of -them were sufficiently incongruous inmates. Ken, then a prebendary of -the Cathedral, utterly refused to give a lodging in his house to the -notorious Nell Gwynne. - -Winchester had many associations for Wren, to whom the name of Lancelot -Andrewes must have been a household word from childhood, and it is -pleasant to think that he at this time became acquainted with the -saintly Ken. The palace, which was finished as far as the shell in 1685, -was never used either by Charles II. or his successors, though Queen -Anne made one visit to Winchester, and was so much struck with the -situation and the shell of the building as it stood awaiting completion, -the marble pillars sent by the Duke of Tuscany for the great staircase -lying on the ground, that she resolved to finish it as a jointure house -for Prince George, but his death and the cost of the great war made her -give up the scheme. Sir Christopher seems to have hoped that George I. -might finish it. It is, however, now used as a barrack. - -[_PALACES AT WINCHESTER._] - -Dr. Morley, Bishop of Winchester, had also engaged Sir Christopher's -assistance; and having pulled down a part of the old episcopal palace, -he began to build another; he died when but one wing was erected and -left sufficient money to finish it. Bishop Mew, his successor, as the -'Parentalia' says, 'never minded it;' but it was finished, apparently -not under Wren's auspices, by Sir Jonathan Trelawney. He became Bishop -of Winchester in 1707; as Bishop of Bristol he was one of the famous -'Seven Bishops.' - -FOOTNOTES: - - [157] It was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, a great - supporter of the Puritans. - - In Bishop Corbet's poem, _The Distracted Puritan_, the hero - says:-- - - 'In the house of pure Emmanuel I had my education, Where my - friends surmise I dazel'd my eyes With the sight of Revelation.' - - Evelyn, who visited it in September 1655, says: 'That zealous - house ... the Chapel (it was but a room) is reformed _ab - origine_, built N. and S. as is the Librarie.' - - [158] _Vide infra_, p. 331-3. - - [159] Evelyn's _Diary_, September 17, 1657, and July 23, 1678. - - [160] His son Thomas was created Earl of Pomfret by George I., 1721; - the title is extinct. - - [161] He appeared for the seven bishops on their trial, greatly - angering King James thereby. He voted for William and Mary, - and was by them created Earl of Bradford, 1694. - - [162] _Repertorium_, vol. i. p. 276. Newcourt. - - [163] Born 1437. Assisted Tindal in translating and printing the - Bible. Died 1568. - - [164] _New View of London_, vol. i. p. 14. E. Hatton. - - [165] The steeple has been slightly lowered by Sir W. Staines in - recent years: it was 234 feet high. When this was done, it was - discovered that an old hawk had inhabited the two upper - circles, the open arcades of which were filled with masses of - bird's bones, chiefly those of the city pigeons upon which he - had preyed. - - [166] There is a quantity of stone quarried for S. Paul's still - lying at the back of the island, ready for transportation. - - [167] _Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons_, vol. ii. p. 310. Seward. - It is supposed to have been part of the gravestone of Dr. John - King, Bishop of London, 1611-21, called by King James 'the - _King_ of preachers.' 'He was a most solid and profound divine - of great gravity and piety, and a most excellent volubility of - speech.'--_Repertorium_, vol. i. p. 29. Newcourt. Bishop King - preached at S. Paul's Cross before King James I. and all his - Court when James the First began the restoration of the - Cathedral under Inigo Jones. A quaint print of this scene - still exists.--_Three Cathedrals of S. Paul_, p. 20. Longman. - - [168] _Fast. Oxon._, vol. i. p. 139. Wood. - - [169] _Vide supra_, pp. 77, 78. - - [170] _Biographical History of England_, vol. iii. p. 327. Noble. - - [171] _Lives of the Gresham Professors_, p. 104. Ward. The church - has been lately cleansed, but the disfiguring pews most - unfortunately still encumber the area. - - [172] Thomas Tenison, Bishop of Lincoln and Archbishop of - Canterbury; his endowments were munificent: died 1715. - - [173] _Diary_, February 15, 1684. The very valuable library which - Dr. Tenison founded was, alas! sold by Act of Parliament, - 1861, and the proceeds ordered to be applied to middle-class - education, which was hardly what the donor intended. - - [174] Denys Papin, born at Blois, was an M.D. of Paris; came to - England, and in 1680 was elected a Fellow of the Royal - Society. He died in 1710. - - [175] _Diary_, April 12, 1684. - - [176] _The New Digester, or Engine for the Softening of Bones_, 4to. - A modification of Papin's 'digester kettle' still exists, and - goes by his name, though used far less than it deserves. - - [177] Born in Paris, 1643. The son of a Protestant jeweller, he went - to Persia in search of diamonds, amassing a considerable - fortune. He married in England in 1681, and died there in - 1735. He was buried at Chiswick, but his monument is in - Westminster Abbey. 'Sir John Chardin. _Nomen sibi fecit - eundo._'--_Life of Sir C. Wren_, p. 419. Elmes. - - [178] _Diary_, August 30, 1680. - - [179] The friendship and connection with Sir Christopher is curious, - for in 1857 Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns married Theodosia Anne - Martha Wren, only surviving child of Christopher Roberts Wren, - of Wroxall Abbey in Warwickshire, who was himself the - great-great-grandson of Sir C. Wren, Mr. Chandos Hoskyns being - the direct descendant of Sir J. Hoskyns mentioned above. To - their only child, now the wife of the Rev. C. F. C. Pigott, - Rector of Edgmond, Salop, and Prebendary of Lichfield, I am - indebted for the use of many valuable family papers. - - [180] _Biog. Hist._, vol. iii. p. 371, vol. iv. p. 314. Grainger. - - [181] James Gibbs, a Scotch architect who built S. Mary-le-Strand, - S. Martin's-in-the-Fields, &c.; born 1674, died 1754. - - [182] _Life of Bishop Ken,_ by a layman, ed. 1854, p. 186. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - - 1681-1686. - - CHELSEA COLLEGE--S. JAMES'S, WESTMINSTER--A HARD WINTER--CHICHESTER - SPIRE--AN ASTRONOMICAL PROBLEM--A SEAT IN PARLIAMENT--MORE CITY - CHURCHES--A CURIOUS CARVING. - - If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had - been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces.--_Merchant - of Venice_, act i. scene ii. - - -Charles II.'s gift of Chelsea College to the Royal Society had proved a -gift of greater magnitude than they had been able to deal with, and the -building had remained unused since 1669. Nor did their funds allow them -to make use of Mr. Howard's donation of a piece of land, though the -ever-ready Sir Christopher produced a design for it of some size, on the -principle 'that a fair building may be easier carried on by contribution -with time, than a sordid one.' At last, in 1681, he proposed the sale of -Chelsea College back again to King Charles, and Wren and Evelyn -undertook to manage what must have been rather a delicate transaction. -During the negotiation Sir Stephen Fox came to Evelyn and proposed that -the King should buy it, and build there a hospital for soldiers. The -proposal came well from Sir Stephen, who, originally a chorister of -Salisbury Cathedral, by the favour and help of Bishop Duppa first, and -then by that of the King, and most of all by his own honesty and -dexterity, became paymaster to the whole army and acquired an honest and -unenvied fortune. The King agreed to the plan, and the matter was -arranged by Wren, Evelyn, and Fox, who was a liberal benefactor to the -college. The three men went across to Lambeth to their old friend -Sancroft and acquainted him with the plan, and received his approval. - -Wren set instantly to work, and in August 1682 the foundations were -being laid; the whole building was not completed until William and -Mary's reign; but during all that time Wren's energy and care never -flagged, but were extended even to the minutiæ of the regulations, all -of which he drew up, for the health, comfort, and economy of the -building. As architecture the building has been severely criticised; but -when the worst is said, it still remains picturesque, cheerful and -spacious, and a beautiful object as seen from the Thames. - -The Royal Society continued its meetings at Gresham College, which it -did not quit until, in 1710, the members purchased a house in Crane -Court, which has only very lately been pulled down. The next year saw -many of Wren's churches finished. - -All Hallows the Great, in Thames Street, a plain brick and stone edifice -with a strong square tower, was then completed: it, like by far the -greater number of the City churches, had been repaired and beautified -under the vigorous rule of Laud while Bishop of London. Thomas White, -who came into the living a few months only before the Fire, was -afterwards as Bishop of Peterborough one of the famous 'Seven Bishops.' -At the time when Wren rebuilt the church the living was held by the -learned church historian, Dr. William Cave.[183] - -S. Mildred's, Bread Street, is another church belonging to this date. -It is so hidden by the tall warehouses that have sprung up round it that -it is but little known; but its red brick tower, tall spire, and, above -all, its most light and graceful dome, are all after Wren's best manner. -The destruction of this beautiful little church has actually been -threatened, but it has been ably defended, and it is to be hoped it will -not add another name to the black list of desecrated City churches. - -[Sidenote: _S. JAMES'S, WESTMINSTER._] - -A third church belonging to this year is S. James's, Westminster, then -called 'in the fields,' from the large parish of S. Martin's, out of -which it was taken. It was built principally at the expense of Henry -Jermyn, Earl of S. Albans, Wren's Paris friend, who gave his name to -Jermyn Street, where the church stands. - -The proportions of S. James's and the technical skill displayed in -building it, especially the construction of the roof, have been always -admired. Wren, who was allowed but a moderate sum to expend upon it, was -proud of having combined beauty with 'the cheapest of any form I could -invent.'[184] When the church was newly done, with its bricks red -instead of darkly grimed with smoke, with the handsome pillared entrance -to the south aisle, a flight of steps leading up to it, which have -vanished, leaving only as a mark the closed iron gates in the railings, -without the strange excrescence that now does duty as a porch--its -exterior must have been far more attractive than it is now; the little -pinched steeple[185] is said, as indeed one would imagine, to be no -building of Wren's. Within, Evelyn[186] gives us his description of the -effect. - - 'I went to see the new church at S. James's elegantly built; the - altar was especially adorned, the white marble inclosure curiously - and richly carved, the flowers and garlands about the walls by Mr. - Gibbons in wood; a pelican with her young at her breast, just over - the altar in the carved compartment and border, invironing the - purple velvet fringed with I.H.S. richly embroidered, and most - noble plate were given by Sir R. Geere to the value (as was said) - of 200_l._ There was no altar anywhere in England nor has there - been abroad more handsomely adorned.' - -The font, now well placed in a baptistery beneath the tower, is one of -Gibbons' few works in marble. It represents Adam and Eve, two detached -statuettes standing on either side of the Tree of Knowledge, the -branches of which support a bowl whereon are finely cut in low relief -the Ark of Noah, and the baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch. With all this, -and without the high, stiff indevout pews which now disfigure the -church--pews that Sir Christopher did not put there, and to the presence -of which in any of his churches he always strongly objected, it must -have been a decidedly handsome edifice. The organ, built by Renatus -Harris, was made for James II.'s timber chapel at the camp on Hounslow -Heath; after the King's flight Wren obtained the organ from Queen Mary -for S. James's Church. - -[Sidenote: _S. BENNET, PAUL'S WHARF._] - -Dr. Tenison, who then held S. James's jointly with S. Martin's, obtained -the timbers of the chapel and used them in erecting the chapel of the -Holy Trinity in Conduit Street,[187] which was also included in the -enormous parish of S. Martin. S. Bennet, Paul's Wharf,[188] was finished -in this year; picturesque and characteristic in its red brick, stone -carving, well suited to its situation, then less cramped and -overshadowed than it is now. - -Its rector, Mr. Peter Lane, had experienced all the greater perils that -had lately befallen the City; presented to the living in 1662, he -steadily ministered there through the terrible time of the plague, and -was then burnt out by the Great Fire. He lived, however, to return and -to minister for five years in the new church built by Sir Christopher. -In this church Inigo Jones was buried, in the darkest days of the -Rebellion. - -The handsome Church of S. James's, Garlickhithe, with its curious -columnated steeple, and its projecting clock surmounted by a figure, is -also of this date. - -It was well that Sir Christopher had been able to get even this much of -his numerous works finished, for the winter of 1683-4 was of exceptional -severity. On December 23 the Thames was frozen over; on January 9, -Evelyn[189] 'went crosse the Thames on the ice, now become so thick as -to beare not only streetes of booths in which they roasted meate and had -divers shops of wares, quite acrosse in a towne, but coaches, carts, and -horses passed over.' Evelyn himself drove across it to Lambeth to dine -with Archbishop Sancroft, who had succeeded Sheldon in 1677. -'London,'--says Evelyn a few days later in words which, alas, still -describe but too vividly a genuine 'London fog,'-- - - 'by reason of the excessive coldnesse hindering the ascent of the - smoke, was so filled with the fuliginous steame of the sea-coale - that hardly could one see crosse the streetes, and this filling the - lungs with its grosse particles exceedingly obstructed the breath - so as one could scarcely breathe. Here was no water to be had from - the pipes and engines, nor could the brewers and other tradesmen - worke, and every moment was full of disastrous accidents.' - -In addition to this dismal state of things 'the small pox was very -mortal.' - -For eight weeks no foreign posts reached the city, for 'the very sea was -so locked up with ice that no vessell could stir out or come in.' It was -not until April was advanced that there was any sign of spring. It was -certainly no building weather, and must have sharply tried the rising -Choir of S. Paul's. Sir Christopher made a journey to Chichester on the -invitation of the old Bishop, Guy Carleton, to examine the spire of the -Cathedral. The whole building had suffered terribly under the wanton -sack of Sir William Waller and his men, and required extensive repair. - -Sir Christopher - - 'for about two hours viewed the tower at the north west angle both - without and within, and above and below, and observed the great - want of repairs especially in the great western tower; made his - report; proposing to clear away the ruin of the fallen tower; to - pull down the south western tower; to shorten the nave by one arch, - and to substitute a fair built west end of his own.'[190] - -[_CHICHESTER SPIRE._] - -He next examined the beautiful spire, well known as a landmark to -sailors in the channel, sister spire to that most perfect one at -Salisbury which he has preserved to this day. He adopted a different -plan with the Chichester spire to that which he had formerly pursued, -for he took down the top of the spire, and fastened to the finial within -an immense pendulum of yellow fir wood, which in great gales preserved -exactly the balance of the spire. This lasted till 1813, when the -pendulum was repaired by Mr. Elmes, and so remained until, after a great -gale in 1861, the spire fell in; it has since been rebuilt, and is now -rather higher than it was formerly. The other part of Wren's scheme was -not acted upon. At this time he built Fawley Court in Oxfordshire: the -place had lain in ruins since the civil war, when it suffered, though -the property of Sir Bulstrode Whitelock, even more from Cromwell's -troops than from those of Prince Rupert. Sir Bulstrode's descendants -sold the property to Mr. William Freeman, who pulled the ruins down and -got Sir Christopher to build the present Court, with its four fronts, -handsome hall, and characteristic festoons of flowers in the ceiling. - -In this same year Wren was made Controller of the Works, for which he -received a salary of 9_l._ 2_s._ 6_d._ a year; not a very magnificent -sum considering that a good deal of petty work and cares went with the -office. It was necessary to see that this person had not incroached on -the castle stables, or that person on the castle ditch; to measure and -plan, and settle little quarrels and disputes in a way infinitely -tormenting, one would think, to a man who had already such enormous -works to consider. But Wren's genius was a patient one, and had a great -grasp of details; he dealt with point after point as it arose, and no -one seems ever to have complained of his breaking an engagement or -neglecting to settle their difficulties. - -While this work was going on all London was startled by the tidings of -Charles II.'s sudden illness and death, when all the luxury of the Court -was at its height. With all his grave faults, the King's death caused -considerable grief throughout England; to both Wren and Evelyn he had -been always kind and friendly, and both looked with great anxiety to the -reign of his successor. - -The Royal Society certainly lost a steady friend in Charles II. and was -soon to see its court favour fade away. It was, however, much occupied -with a discussion between Newton and Robert Hooke concerning the -planetary motions. The question was one which deeply interested Wren, -and which hitherto he had not been able to answer. As he and Hooke were -walking together--Wren, whom one can never imagine but with all the -courtesy and refinement of a finished gentleman, and Hooke half a miser, -utterly slovenly, and jealous of any rising fame--they were met by Dr. -Halley, an astronomer of some note even then, who was struggling with -this problem and confessed that he had hitherto failed. - -Wren promised a book worth forty shillings to whoever should solve the -problem, whereupon Hooke declared he understood it from Kepler's 'Law of -Periods and Distances,' and would show his solution some day to Wren; -this he never did, and very soon Newton published his 'Principia,'[191] -in which he solved this problem, acknowledging freely that Wren and -Halley had independently deduced the law of gravity from Kepler's second -law. He had a great quarrel with Hooke, the less to be wondered at, as, -excepting Sir Christopher, Hooke quarrelled with everybody and was a -philosopher of the sourest type. In 1685 Sir Christopher was returned to -Parliament for the borough of Plympton S. Maurice, in Devonshire, a -Parliament in which his cousin Charles also sat. The elections in -Devonshire are supposed to have been specially influenced by the Court. - -The 'Parentalia' gives no hint even of what his politics were, whether -he spoke often or how he voted. And yet it was a stormy time. The -Parliament had not sat a month before Monmouth's brief rebellion began, -to be bloodily quenched; public feeling was in a state of irritation and -suspense, no one feeling sure what King James might not do. He did -continue Wren unmolested in the S. Paul's commission, and the progress -of the building was steady, though probably its architect thought with -no light anxiety that it might be used for services other than those for -which it was designed. - -The same doubt may have clouded his satisfaction in the many churches -which were finished in this and the immediately following years. S. -Martin's on Ludgate Hill, closely wedged in by the neighbouring houses, -with its little tapering spire, of which that of S. James's, -Westminster, appears a caricature, should have had its place among the -churches of the previous year. It harmonizes beautifully with the great -dome of S. Paul's. Sir Christopher bestowed on the inside much of the -ornament, the festoons and the carving, which its situation did not -allow him to bestow on the outside; in those days it had daily services -and may well have stood open, offering 'a shadow from the heat' to the -incessant passers-by. - -S. Alban's, Wood Street, is in the pointed style of architecture in -which Wren's genius generally felt fettered, though, as in the case of -S. Michael's, Cornhill, he sometimes dealt very successfully with it. - -[Sidenote: '_AN ALTAR-PIECE._'] - -S. Mary Magdalene's, Fish Street,[192] is more after Wren's usual -manner, with its good proportions, its highly ornamented round-headed -windows, its stone balustrade and solid square stone tower, with the -little steeple rising from it on seven steps. Within, carving in 'right -oak' was bestowed with no sparing hand, especially in the altar-piece. -And here one may say that, while defects in church arrangement, such as -galleries, pews, and the like, are invariably laid on Sir Christopher -and said to be the inevitable concomitants of his style, it should be -borne in mind that in many and many an instance the churchwardens during -the eighteenth century repewed and 'beautified' the churches which Wren -had left as completed; in what style, and on what principle one can -readily guess. It should be remembered also that an 'altar-piece,' as -the old books call it, was an invariable part of his design. If there -was rich carving, if there was black and white marble, he placed it -there; the altar was the principal part of the church in his eyes, even -though he did not often avail himself of the dignity given by a flight -of steps. The close altar rails which are now not admired, were, it must -be remembered, ordered by Archbishop Laud to protect the Holy Table from -profanation, and were always so placed by Wren. - -S. Mary Magdalene's included the parish of S. Gregory, the little church -which nestled by old S. Paul's, so that Fuller described the Cathedral -as 'the mother church, having a babe in her arms.'[194] - -S. Bennet's, Gracechurch Street, or Grasschurch Street, as it was really -named, from a herb market formerly held hard by, is, or rather was, of -the same date. It was well placed at the corner of two streets, and -stood boldly out with a tall tower crowned with a cupola and slender -spire; the interior was full of carving and ornament. S. Bennet's is, -however, a thing of the past; the building is gone, the site desecrated, -and the memory of such an edifice alone survives in the names of the -streets which formerly led to and now usurp its place. - -The little plain Church of S. Matthew, Friday Street, close pressed by -neighbouring houses, is the last completed in this year. Obscure as the -street where it stands may have been, it was full of associations for -Wren. In Friday Street was the house where his aunt Anna lived, and -where his uncle Matthew 'lay,' when summoned to that memorable -conference with Bishop Andrewes. Hard by in the parish of S. Peter's, -Eastcheap, now incorporated with that of S. Matthew, Christopher's -merchant grandfather had lived and died, and there his own father had -been born. S. Peter's churchyard was preserved, and its single -plane-tree is carefully protected. - -[_COMPLAINTS FROM WINCHESTER._] - -S. Matthew's has a less pleasant association: the living was for a time -held by the notorious Henry Burton,[195] the friend and ally of Prynne. -Burton was at first designed to accompany the Prince of Wales to Spain, -but doubts of his principles arising, he was rejected and dismissed from -his attendance as the Prince's chaplain. This formed one strong motive -for the bitter spite he bore to the church of his ordination. It is -likely also that he stirred Prynne's malice against Bishop Wren, who -appears to have been Burton's successor in the vacant chaplaincy. - -The lesser details of the Surveyor-General's work must this year have -been a burden. There were complaints from Winchester, where the sudden -stoppage of the buildings and plans for the palace caused great -inconvenience; a complaint from Catherine Barton, the beautiful niece of -Sir Isaac Newton, widow of Colonel Barton, who sold her farm to Charles -II., and by the trickery of the agent never received her money; and a -complaint of the same kind from Sir Richard Tichbourne's son. Sir -Christopher examined both these cases carefully, and compelled the agent -to submit, and to satisfy the parties. Then there were troubles with the -Duke of Buckingham and the 'chaos' he had made in Spring Gardens, that -chaos so vividly described in 'Peveril of the Peak.' Nobody but Wren -could give the estimates for the new stables at S. James's Palace, or -order the new planting at Hampton Court and in Greenwich Park, or -secure the proper tithes for the Rector of S. Thomas's, Winchester. - -Again, there was Verrio the painter's account for work done at Whitehall -and Windsor to be examined. For the chapel at Whitehall Verrio demanded -1,250_l._, and, says Wren, 'I suppose when the rest of the ceiling and -walls are finished, as they ought to be, it may fully deserve it.' The -whole bill was 2,050_l._, of which Verrio had received already more than -1,400_l._, so that he may be reckoned as fortunate. - -It is not wonderful that in 1686, Wren attended no meeting of the -Society. Two churches were finished this year: S. Clement's, East Cheap, -and S. Mary's, Abchurch, in Cannon Street. - -S. Clement's, with its square tower and balustrade, has within a great -deal of fine oak carving, and its ceiling adorned with one great circle -with an outer line of curious fretwork. Bishop Pearson was rector before -the Fire, and the famous treatise on the Nicene Creed is dedicated to -his parishioners there. - -S. Mary's, with its quaint little round windows and flat-topped roof, is -not externally beautiful, but within it is one of the gems which Wren -bestowed on out-of-the-way nooks: its cupola[196] is gracefully -supported on eight arches and pendentives, the east end is rich with -Gibbons' carving of festoons of fruit, palm leaves and a pelican in her -piety. Much handsome work has also been bestowed on the inside -doorcases. - -[_CARVERS IN WOOD._] - -Wren's promise to Evelyn to employ Gibbons was certainly redeemed; for, -besides the works which have been glanced at, Gibbons was busied on the -stalls of S. Paul's choir, where, darkened but uninjured by time, his -work stands out in all the peculiar grace and tenderness which his -chisel could give to wood. The angels which cluster beneath the great -organ seem themselves to be taking part in the music which flows from -it, and are as unlike as possible to the lumps of marble or wood with -which other hands too often deform a church, and which the old -guide-books term 'Cupids'! - -Still, it is a physical impossibility that all the work which bears -Gibbons' name is by him and him only. - -[_MAKING A FORTUNE._] - -The fame of the Cathedral, its architect, and its carvings, was widely -spread, and brought many from the country to seek for work on the new -building. Of one of these a curious account remains.[197] A young man, -named Philip Wood, of Sudbury, Suffolk, who had great skill in carving, -came up to London to make, if he could, sufficient fortune to enable him -to marry the daughter of his patron, a retired London merchant named -Haybittle. After long waiting in London, without work, till his money -was all but spent, he, remembering the rich wood work which abounded in -the churches of his native Suffolk, bethought himself that in the -Cathedral, whose progress he daily watched, 'they would surelie put -carvings.' The foreman to whom he spoke repulsed him, saying 'We want no -carpenters here.' Undiscouraged, the young man came again day after day -for a week, till at length Sir Christopher noticed him, and learning -from the foreman that he was 'a country fellow who troubled them to give -him some of the carving to do,' beckoned to Wood to come and speak to -him. As the young man approached full of hope, he said, 'Friend, you -want carving work--what have you been used to carve?' At this critical, -long-desired moment the poor youth lost his presence of mind, and -instead of mentioning the 'sundry figures of lions and elephants' that -he had carved for Mr. Haybittle's house, stammered out, 'Please your -worship, I have been used to carve troughs.' 'Troughs!' said Sir -Christopher; 'then carve me as a specimen of your skill, a sow and pigs -(it will be something in your line), and bring it to me this day week. I -shall be here.' So he went away, with a smile at the presumption which -could aspire to step straight from such work to that of adorning S. -Paul's. - -Distracted at his own folly and the loud laughter of the workpeople, -Wood rushed back to his lodging, and but for the kind advice of his -Quaker landlady, would have given up all for lost. She wisely told him -to take Wren at his word and carve the best sow and pigs that he could -make. - -He obeyed her exactly, spent his last guinea on a block of pear-wood, -and wrought with all his might to get it ready by the appointed day. Sir -Christopher was showing the building to a party of friends, but as soon -as he saw Wood with his carving hidden in an apron, he beckoned him -forward. Wood produced his carving; Wren looked at it a moment in -silence, and then said, 'I engage you, young man; attend at my office -to-morrow forenoon.' Shortly afterwards he came to Wood again and said, -'Mr. Addison[198] wishes to keep your carving, and requests me to give -you ten guineas for it;' then with his gentle courtesy, he added, 'Young -man, I fear I did you some injustice, but a great national work is -entrusted to me, and it is my solemn duty to mind that no part of the -work falls into inefficient hands. Mind and attend me to-morrow.' Wood -was employed for seven years in the Cathedral, and received considerable -sums of money; and it is pleasant to know that he did marry Hannah -Haybittle. - -Thus some of his work is in S. Paul's, and to him London streets were -indeed paved with gold. Yet one cannot but think sadly, for one who thus -succeeded, what numbers then and now come full of hope, to the great -city, and without help or friends lose their all, and are left without -even the means of returning. To the number of these the House of -Charity, which occupies one corner of Wren's once handsome Soho Square, -can bear but too true a testimony. - -FOOTNOTES: - - [183] He wrote _Primitive Christianity, Lives of the Fathers_, &c.; - was a Canon of Windsor, where he died in 1713. - - [184] _Vide infra_, p. 310 - - [185] Newcourt says, 'A lofty spire was at first built, but the - tower not proving strong enough, it was taken down, and - another sort of spire built.' It is said to be by Willcox, a - carpenter. - - [186] _Diary_, December 7, 1684. - - [187] It was private property and never consecrated, and has within - the last few years been pulled down and the site used as a - shop. - - [188] _Repertorium_, p. 367. Newcourt. Now used by the Welsh - congregation. - - [189] _Diary_, January 9, 1684. - - [190] _Memorials of the See of Chichester_, p. 306. - - [191] The title of Newton's book is _Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia - Mathematica_. The MS. is in the possession of the Royal - Society. - - [192] Matthew Griffiths, the favourite and the pupil of Dean Donne, - held this living through the Rebellion, and being a hearty - Episcopalian was sequestered, plundered, and twice imprisoned; - he returned to London and read the Prayers of the Church in - the obscure church of S. Nicholas Olave's,[193] hard by his - own church, to the poor Cavaliers; for this he suffered seven - violent assaults and five imprisonments; the last for - preaching before General Monk a strong Royalist sermon before - Monk had declared himself. Mr. Griffiths was speedily released - and restored to his benefice. - - [193] S. Nicholas Olave was burnt to the ground and the parish - incorporated with that of S. Nicholas Coleabbey.--Newcourt's - _Rep._, p. 305. - - [194] It would seem from the S. Gregory's vestry books that Sir C. - Wren put up at the request of the parishioners 'a wooden - tabernacle' for the use of both parishes. It was set up in S. - Paul's Churchyard, and taken down after a time as interfering - with the building of the Cathedral. - - [195] _Repertorium_, p. 475. Newcourt. - - [196] _Walks in London._ A. Hare, vol. i. p. 331. - - [197] For this anecdote (taken from MS. in the British Museum) I am - indebted to a number of the _British Workman_ for 1877. It is, - I think, the foundation of Mr. J. Saunders' graceful story of - _Jasper Deane_. - - [198] Probably the father of the great writer. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - - 1687-1696. - - PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED--CHURCH BUILDING--ACQUITTAL OF THE SEVEN - BISHOPS--JAMES II.'S FLIGHT--WILLIAM AND MARY--COLLEGE OF - PHYSICIANS--HAMPTON COURT--GREENWICH HOSPITAL--RICHARD - WHITTINGTON--S. PAUL'S ORGAN. - - Be it enacted then - By the fair laws of thy firm-pointed pen, - God's services no longer shall put on - A sluttishness for pure religion; - No longer shall our churches' frighted stones - Lie scattered like the burnt and martyr'd bones - Of dead devotion. - - _On a treatise on Charity._ RICHARD CRASHAW. - - -Wren's parliamentary career was soon interrupted, for King James -dissolved, in 1687, an assembly which had done so little to forward his -views. - -Church building went on apace. S. Andrew's, Holborn, which, though the -fire had not reached it, was in a ruinous state, was rebuilt and made a -large handsome stone church, with an interior very like that of S. -James's, Westminster. The tower was merely repaired and not rebuilt. - -Christ Church, Newgate, on the site of the old Franciscan Monastery of -Grey Friars, had formerly been a magnificent edifice: the choir only was -rebuilt by Wren, and sufficed to make a large parish church, which was -filled with handsome carving; a graceful pillared steeple was added in -1704. - -S. Margaret Pattens,[199] in Rood Lane, was finished in 1687: built of -brick and stone with a tall tower and graceful spire, and much enriched -by carving within. Its existence has been threatened, but it stands out -an honourable, though fortunately not at all a solitary example, of a -well-worked, and therefore well-filled, City church, and it is to be -hoped may defy its threatened destroyers. - -Early in the following year came the trial of those Seven Bishops who -refused to publish in church the King's declaration of liberty of -conscience.[200] - -It was perhaps the most unwise thing that James II. ever did, and as the -Bishops passed to the barge that was to take them to the Tower, rank -upon rank of kneeling people besought their blessing. It was an event to -move Wren greatly: he could remember when a child hearing of Archbishop -Laud's imprisonment, and the long years of Bishop Wren's captivity were -frequently cheered by his nephew's visits to the Tower. Most of those -who now passed to that ill-omened abode were his friends or -acquaintance. Bishop Turner of Ely was on the S. Paul's Commission; -Bishop Lloyd of S. Asaph while rector of S. Martin's had baptized Wren's -daughter and youngest son; Bishop White he had known in the days when he -was rector. Bishop Ken at Winchester, and Archbishop Sancroft had been -for years his steady friends. If he failed in dignity at one crisis, -there is abundant material in Sancroft's letters, and in the rest of his -life, to show he must have been a charming companion and capable of -inspiring sincere affection. - -[_DEATH OF MRS. HOLDER._] - -They remained in the Tower about a week, and on June 29 were -triumphantly acquitted. The story of their acquittal has been told once -for all by Lord Macaulay and need not be re-told here. London was full -of illuminations, the favourite device being seven candles--the tallest -central one representing the arch-bishop--and all the newly-hung bells -of the city were set ringing. Wren had private sorrows to hinder him -from entering into the public rejoicing: his only surviving sister, -Susan, died just at this time, and Wren must have been watching by her -on the very day of the Bishops' acquittal. A little later, he, and her -husband, Dr. William Holder, brought her body to the crypt of S. Paul's -and laid her there. The epitaph, on a marble monument, is written with -all the diffuseness of style common to those of that time, but is -touching from its real affection. - -The crypt of S. Paul's was of course the part of the building first -finished. Long ago Wren had spoken of 'the quantity of work to be done -in the dark,' and it certainly proved enormous. The crypt of S. Paul's -is one of the largest and most intricate that exists, extending under -the entire church, not the choir only, as is the case in S. Peter's at -Rome. The dimness of a London atmosphere renders it hard to get much -effect of light and shade, but on a clear day the curious twilight -effect is striking. There are all the tombs which were preserved from -the old cathedral, there are now the remains of some of our greatest -dead, and there is the Church of S. Faith, the floor of which is now -being slowly covered with a beautiful mosaic.[201] - -When, however, Sir Christopher laid his sister there, all was empty and -not fully complete; the cluster of pillars and arches that sustain the -great dome with their massive strength must have been but newly -finished. - -Only one church was completed by Sir Christopher in this troubled year, -that of S. Michael, Crooked Lane; a handsome stone church with a stately -tower and spire. It contained the tomb of a famous city worthy, Sir -William Walworth: - - Who with courage stout and manly might - Slew Wat Tyler in King Richard's sight.[202] - -This association had no value in the eyes of the Corporation of London, -with whom it might have weighed: they were as indifferent to this lesser -reason as to the infinitely higher claim of consecrated ground, and in -1830 the church was swept away for the new London Bridge. - -All through the year the relations between King James and his people -were growing more and more strained. Messages were passed and repassed -between many of the high officials and the Prince of Orange, and in -their dread of the Church of Rome, the people forgot what they had -suffered under the tyranny of the Puritan sects. Hurry and confusion -were everywhere; as the year advanced the Prince of Orange's landing was -hourly reported on all parts of the coast. Too late King James took some -of the measures which, taken earlier, might have saved all; and on -November 5, 1688, the Prince landed at Brixham in Torbay. - -[_WILLIAM AND MARY._] - -For some time all was confusion and all private business was suspended. -Early in the next year a convention was called of the Lords and Commons, -and the crown offered to William and Mary. The Queen's behaviour, the -absence of even the show of feeling for her father, were much remarked -on at the time and are a great stain on her memory. A Parliament was -called on the 13th of February, to which Sir C. Wren was returned for -the borough of New Windsor. His election was set aside for a technical -error in the manner of his return, but he was instantly re-elected. It -is evident from this that he took the new oath of allegiance, probably -holding, with Evelyn and other honourable men, that King James had -abdicated and that therefore the throne was vacant. The S. Paul's -commission was renewed, and amid all the changes the work there went on; -making in its steady, undeviating progress, its unity of design, a fair -type of the growth of the spiritual church, despite the sharp contrast -apparently existing between the peaceful, regular growth of the material -edifice, and the hindrances and trials that beset the spiritual one. -Those were the days when some of the best and most learned churchmen, -unable to reconcile the contradiction of the two oaths, lost high -office, honours, and all prospects of worldly success by becoming -'non-jurors.' It should be borne in mind that it was on no doctrinal -ground that they left the Communion of the Church in England, but simply -because, considering James II. still as King, they could not honestly -take an oath of allegiance to William as his successor, or attend -services where an usurper was prayed for as the rightful sovereign. - -It was a most grievous blow to the Church, by no means recovered from -the struggle with Puritanism or from the semi-Puritan clergy she had -been constrained to accept. Yet, in the midst of all these misfortunes, -thus much at least was gained; men were forced to understand the true -grounds of their position and to learn, as the Church in Scotland learnt -by a sharper lesson, that State aid, and State protection, are not among -the essentials of the Church. The misfortune of so many friends, and -especially that of good Archbishop Sancroft, must greatly have moved -Wren, and it is provoking that his grandson has given no intimation of -his ancestor's views, not even saying on which side he voted in the -Convention Parliament, which offered the crown to William and Mary. - -Wren certainly knew how to manage his Windsor constituents. He had -erected from time to time several buildings there, among which was the -Town Hall, built upon arches, with a wide vaulted space below, which is -now used as the Corn Exchange. - -When all was finished, the mayor and corporation came in state to -inspect the new building, and to stamp with their approval another of -the great architect's works. Much seems to have been approved of, but -one member of the municipality declared in alarm that the room above the -vaulted space was inadequately supported and would one day fall in. - -[_ADDITIONAL PROPS._] - -In vain Wren, who had built vault after vault and knew to a nicety what -weight each of his arches would bear, explained the perfect security of -the upper room; the anxious man could not be pacified and the architect -promised to put two columns below. He did so, and the alderman was -calmed, little knowing that Sir Christopher's columns when complete had -about half an inch of space between themselves and the ceiling they were -supposed to support! Wren must many a time have laughed to himself when -he passed that way. - -Two other buildings of his, one of which is called 'the Bank House,' -stand in Windsor not far from what are known as 'The Hundred Steps.' -There is another house there of his design, now used by the freemasons -and the volunteers. Wren sent his eldest son to Eton, where the boy was -at this time, and afterwards to Pembroke College, where his name alone -was a recommendation. - -In 1689 Wren finished building the College of Physicians in Warwick -Lane; as far as the confined space would admit, the front was handsome, -but the dome and its ornament provoked the satire of Garth in the -opening lines of his 'Dispensary':[203] - - Not far from that most celebrated place,[204] - Where angry justice shows her awful face, - Where little villains must submit to fate - That great ones may enjoy the world in state; - There stands a dome majestic to the sight, - And sumptuous arches bear its oval height; - A golden globe, placed high with artful skill - Seems, to the distant sight, a gilded pill. - -Whatever its exterior defects may have been, the theatre within was -arranged with masterly skill so as to enable all the students to see and -hear during the lectures and demonstration. The difficult science of -acoustics was one to which Wren gave much attention, and his churches -are, in this respect, very successful. The Physicians retained the -college Wren built for them until very recent times, when they moved -into the present building which does not adorn Trafalgar Square. - -Not all the Halls belonging to the City Companies perished by the fire, -though many suffered severely. Wren, and Jarman, the City Architect, -rebuilt and repaired some seventy-nine of them.[205] - -Of these, a large number have been altered or pulled down, but a few may -be mentioned. - -The Mercers' Hall in Cheapside; the Grocers', a portion of which was -long used by the Bank of England; the Haberdashers', where the rich -ceiling was its great ornament; the Tallow Chandlers', with its interior -colonnade and its fountain; the Apothecaries', one of the largest in the -City; the Stationers'; and, last but not least, the Alderman's Court -adjoining Guildhall, rebuilt almost immediately after the fire; a very -handsome room, rich in carving, and finely proportioned. - -S. Edmund the King, in Lombard Street, was finished this year. The -necessities of the site caused Wren to build it north and south, the -altar being at the north end. The front to Lombard Street, the only part -of the outside visible, is of stone and very picturesque with its belfry -and little domed spire. The interior has been lately re-arranged with a -wise treatment of the old work and carving. The 'marble font possesses, -like that of S. Mary Abchurch, a very beautiful canopied cover; it is in -two stages, the lower being domed, and above are four seated figures of -the Cardinal Virtues; it is railed in and is on the west side of the -church.'[206] - -S. Margaret's, Lothbury, belongs to the same date, and was rebuilt of -stone. Some years later Wren bestowed much rich wood carving on the -interior. He chose the Corinthian style for this building and handled it -with considerable skill. - -[_HAMPTON COURT._] - -Queen Mary, who had the Stuart love for genius, was invariably gracious -and even friendly to Wren, with whom she held many a conversation on -matters of art and science. He considered her to be very well versed in -all these subjects and enjoyed discussing them freely with her. Queen -Mary was much charmed with the situation of Cardinal Wolsey's old palace -of Hampton Court, and engaged Wren to make alterations there. The old -buildings were accordingly in part pulled down and two sets of royal -apartments built; Queen Mary, though she amused herself with planning -the gardens and making suggestions, had yet the wisdom to defer to -Wren's better taste and knowledge. Her husband, with characteristic -obstinacy, insisted on his own ideas, thereby dwarfing the cloisters and -marring much of the architecture. It is, however, fair to say that King -William always owned that the defects[207] were his, the merits, Wren's; -and these merits are very great, as anyone who knows the fine old palace -with its rich red brick, its arcades, and the quaint formal gardens will -readily allow. He built, at about the same time, the Pavilion and -Ranger's House in Bushey Park. - -Kensington Palace was also under Wren's hands. It had been the property -of Lord Chancellor Finch, and was sold by his son to William III. Wren -added another story to the old house, which forms the north front of the -palace, and also built the south front. The defect of the building as -seen at the end of the long avenue of Kensington Gardens is its want of -height, but on a nearer approach this fault is much diminished. King -William was in the midst of his Irish campaign while the work went on, -but found time to send back repeated inquiries as to its progress, and -complaints when that did not answer his expectations. There, five years -later, Queen Mary died, to the regret of all her subjects, and even of -her cold-hearted husband. - -[_GREENWICH AS A HOSPITAL._] - -Nor were these the only palaces which Wren contrived for Queen Mary. -That of Greenwich had been begun by Inigo Jones for Henrietta Maria, and -a wing had been built for Charles II., but it had been left unfinished. -Wren, who knew Greenwich well from his visits to the Observatory, and -who took a great interest in sailors, observing the entire lack of any -refuge for them in illness, proposed to Queen Mary the magnificent plan -of making the palace into a seaman's hospital. The Queen willingly -entered into the idea, and proposed to add to the Queen's House, as it -was called, so as to make it a dwelling for herself, at the same time. -Evelyn, Sir Stephen Fox and others, came readily into the scheme and -contributed liberally. Wren's contribution, though not in money, was a -liberal one also; for he gave his time, labour, skill and -superintendence, despite his innumerable other works. - -The plans were prepared and money collected, but nothing was actually -done until some years later. - -Wren's eldest son had in the meantime finished his Eton and Cambridge -career and had obtained, by his father's interest, the post, which must -surely have been a sinecure! of Assistant Deputy Engrosser. He does not -seem to have inherited any of the brilliant genius of his father, though -apparently of very fair abilities and with much taste for antiquities. -Far more like Sir Christopher was his daughter Jane, who shared his -tastes and studies and took a vivid interest in his work. She added to -her other accomplishments that of being a very skilful musician. She was -never married, but remained all her life her father's affectionate -companion. - -Wren's old friend, Dr. Bathurst of Trinity College, Oxford, appealed to -him, in the spring of 1692, for help in the buildings which were still -going on there. - - 'Worthy Sir,--When I sent Mr. Phips (the surveyor of the buildings) - to wait on you with a scheme of our new building, he told me how - kindly you was pleased to express your remembrance of me, and that - you would send me your thoughts concerning our design; and - particularly of the pinnacles, the which as they were superadded to - our first draught, so I must confess I would be well content to - have omitted with your approbation. The season for our falling to - work again will now speedily come on; which makes me the more - hasten to entreat from you the trouble of two or three lines in - relation to the promises whereby you will farther oblige, - - 'Sir, your old friend, and ever faithful servant, - - 'R. BATHURST.' - -Wren's answer comes promptly, and shows his generous readiness to help -the schemes of others, no matter how pressing his own work was. - -[_HE SENDS HIS THOUGHTS._] - - 'Sir,--I am extremely glad to hear of your good health, and, what - is more, that you are vigorous and active, and employed in - building. I considered the design you sent me of your Chapel which - in the main is very well, and I believe your work is too far - advanced to admit of any advice: however, I have sent my thoughts, - which will be of use to the mason to form his mouldings. - - 'He will find two sorts of cornice; he may use either. I did not - well comprehend how the tower would have good bearing upon that - side where the stairs rise. I have ventured a change of the stairs, - to leave the wall next the porch of sufficient scantling to bear - that part which rises above the roofs adjoining. - - 'There is no necessity for pinnacles, and those expressed in the - printed design are much too slender. - - 'I have given another way to the rail and baluster, which will - admit of a vase that will stand properly upon the pilaster.[208] - - 'Sir, I wish you success and health and long life, with all the - affection that is due from, - - 'Your obliged, faithful friend, and humble servant, - - 'CHRISTOPHER WREN. - - 'P.S. A little deal box, with a drawing in it, is sent by Thomas - Moore, Oxford carrier.' - -In the same year the Church of S. Andrew by the Wardrobe[209] was -finished; recent alterations in the city have benefited this building; -it now stands well above a flight of steps, with its square tower, and -the red brick which contrives to be red and not black, and stone -dressings. - -Two years later Wren rebuilt All Hallows, Lombard Street, on an ancient -foundation: outside it is one of his plainest and most solid churches, -inside he spent upon it much rich work and curious carving both in stone -and wood. - -S. Michael Royal, College Hill, belongs to this same date, and was built -under Wren's directions by Edward Strong, his master-mason. It is a -well-lit, handsome church with a tower at one corner, and contains an -altar-piece of singular beauty, carved by Grinling Gibbons in 'right -wainscot oak.' The old church was founded and made a collegiate church -of S. Spiritus and S. Mary by no less a person than Sir Richard -Whittington, three times Lord Mayor of London (1397, 1406, 1419), whose -fame, with that of his cat, survives in the well-known story. He founded -also another college, known as the Whittington College, and endowed it -with a divinity lecture 'for ever.' Edward VI., however, suppressed both -the colleges and the lecture, though the Whittington College was allowed -partially to survive as almshouses for poor men. Whittington[210] was -buried in this church, but his monument perished in the Fire. - -In the following year Wren added a well-proportioned, peculiar steeple, -the gift of the parishioners, to the little stone Church of S. -Vedast[211] in Foster Lane, a church to which a painful interest now -attaches from the recent persecution and imprisonment of its rector, the -Rev. T. P. Dale. - -The church was decorated, as was Wren's custom, with fret-work, carving, -and stucco, but is not otherwise remarkable. - -S. Mary's, Somerset, or Somers'hithe, was likewise finished in this -year: a stone church with two aisles surmounted by a handsome cornice -and balustrade; its great feature was the beautiful pinnacled tower, -which, though the church is gone, still stands a perpetual memorial of -that reckless disregard of God's honour, which has counted any common -want, any farthing of money, of more importance than the claims of His -service, or than gifts solemnly offered to Him.[212] - -[_CLIPT WINGS._] - -[_A GRAND DESIGN._] - -The Cathedral meanwhile grew slowly, though many a hindrance annoyed its -architect. The Parliament took part of the fabric money and applied it -to the expenses of King William's wars, so that, as Sir Christopher -complained, his wings were clipt and the Church was deprived of its -ornaments.[213] The organ was another annoyance. Sir Christopher's wish -and intention was to place the organ where it now is, on either side of -the choir, in order to leave the vista clear from the west door to the -altar, which in his design stood grandly raised under a handsome canopy. -This was overruled, and the organ was to be placed in a gallery cutting -right across the entrance of the choir. With his wonted philosophy, Wren -bent his mind to reducing as much as possible the injury to the -architectural effect, by keeping the pipes as low as he could. But in -the builder of the organ, Bernard Smith, or 'Father' Smith, as he is -called, Wren had a difficult person to deal with. Far from lowering the -pipes, Smith made them higher than in his estimate, so that the case and -ornaments had to be enlarged, and Sir Christopher complained bitterly -that the Cathedral 'was spoilt by that box of whistles.' The rival organ -builder, Renatus Harris, if indeed he was the author of an anonymous -paper, called 'Queries about the S. Paul's Organ,[214] was not sparing -in his criticisms. One query asks - - 'Whether Sir C. Wren wou'd not have been well pleas'd to have - receiv'd such a proposal from the organ builder of S. Paul's, as - shou'd have erected an organ, so as to have separated twenty foot - in the middle, as low as the gallery, and thereby a full and airy - prospect of the whole length of the church, and six fronts with - towers as high as requisite?' - -This question is easy enough to answer, and fortunately Wren's wishes -have been at last fulfilled by that division of the organ, which now -leaves the desired clear view from the great western doors to the altar. -Harris, in 1712, proposed to erect a great organ over the west doors of -the Cathedral, - - 'study'd to be in all respects made the most artful, costly and - magnificent piece of organ-work that ever has hitherto been - invented. The use of it will be for the reception of the Queen, on - all publick occasions of thanksgivings for the good effect of peace - or war, upon all state days, S. Cecilia's Day, the entertainment of - foreigners of quality, and artists, and on all times of greatest - concourse etc., and by the advice and assistance of Sir C. Wren, - the external figure and ornaments may be contrived so - proportionable to the order of the building, as to be a decoration - to that part of the edifice and no obstruction to any of the - rest.... Sir Christopher Wren approves it.' - -Alas! at that time Wren's approval was enough to determine the majority -of the commission to reject any plan thus sanctioned, and Renatus -Harris's grand design survives on paper alone. - -FOOTNOTES: - - [199] The name is often supposed to originate in the patten-makers - who are said to have lived near, but its origin is more - probably 'S. Margaret _with the Paten_.' - - [200] 'Not,' says Evelyn (_Diary_, May 18, 1688), 'that they were - averse to the publisheing of it for want of due tendernesse - towards Dissenters ... but that the Declaration being founded - on such a dispensing power as might at pleasure set aside all - laws ecclesiastical, it appeared to them illegal and ... a - point of such consequence that they could not so far make - themselves parties to it as the reading of it in church during - the time of Divine Service would have done.' They were sent to - the Tower June 8, for refusing to give bail for their - appearance. They refused on the ground that to do so would - have prejudiced their peerage. The bishops were Francis Turner - of Ely, William Lloyd of S. Asaph, Thomas Ken of Bath and - Wells, John Lake of Chichester, Sir Jonathan Trelawney of - Bristol, Thomas White of Peterborough, and William Sancroft, - Archbishop of Canterbury. - - [201] The mechanical part is done by the women convicts of Woking - Gaol. - - [202] _New View of London_, vol. ii. p. 423. - - [203] Canto i. Samuel Garth, a physician of some fame, who provided - for Dryden's funeral in Westminster Abbey. Died 1718. - - [204] Newgate. - - [205] See Appendix ii. - - [206] R. I. B. A. Sessional Papers, 1876-7, p. 162. - - [207] Horace Walpole says that Wren's descendant assured him that - Sir C. Wren had prepared a far better design for Hampton Court - which Queen Mary preferred, but it was overruled by William - III. This may only mean the cloisters, as Walpole is not - accurate.--_Anec._, vol. iii. - - [208] This plan was adopted. Dr. Bathurst died in May 1704 at the - age of 86. - - [209] So called from being in the street where formerly was a strong - tower where several kings, and Queen Philippa, Edward the - Third's wife, lodged, also called the Queen's Wardrobe, as the - building near S. Andrew's was the King's Wardrobe.--_New - View_, vol. ii. p. 427. - - [210] 'The said Sir R. Whittington, as he was three times Lord - Mayor, was as often buried in this church; first, by his - executors under a fine monument; second, by the avaricious - parson for the riches he hoped to find; and a third time by - his friends, to interr him in lead under his monument as at - first.'--_New View_, p. 428. - - [211] 'S. Vedast was Bishop of Arras, A.D. 484, a man of great - holiness and charity. Once he met with a cruel bear prowling - in the ruins of an old Christian church; at his command the - bear departed into the wilderness and never returned there - again. S. Vedast is usually pictured with a - bear.'--_Repertorium_, Newcourt, vol. i. p. 563. - - [212] Fourteen churches (eleven of which were built by Wren) have - been destroyed since 1781; during which time the increase of - the City population has been by hundreds of thousands. The - only attempt at an apology for this destruction has been based - on the fact that on _Sundays_ the City is empty. On so poor a - plea as this the churches have been closely shut throughout - the other days of the week, their incumbents have lived far - away, leaving their parishioners uncared for; and then, when a - grudgingly given Sunday service has been poorly attended, have - hastened first to close and then to help in destroying the - buildings which reproached them; and have called it 'thinning - the City churches.'--See on this subject, _Sessional Papers_, - 1876-7, R. I. B. A. - - [213] _Three Cathedrals_, Longman, p. 151. - - [214] _Documents illustrating the History of S. Paul's_, p. 165-72. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - - 1697-1699. - OPENING OF S. PAUL'S CHOIR--A MOVEABLE PULPIT--LETTER TO HIS SON AT - PARIS--ORDER AGAINST SWEARING--PETER THE GREAT--S. DUNSTAN'S - SPIRE--MORNING PRAYER CHAPEL OPENED--WESTMINSTER ABBEY. - - Home-keeping youth have ever homely wit. - _Two Gentlemen of Verona._ - - -One serious trouble and hindrance in all public works was the state of -the coinage. The money had been so clipped and defaced, that no coin was -worth its professed value, and for some time the expedients used by the -Government failed to lighten the pressure. In paying such an army of -workmen as those employed about S. Paul's, the inconvenience must have -amounted to positive distress. Scattered here and there through Evelyn's -diary are many references to the 'great confusion and distraction' it -occasioned. - -A sudden subsidence of a large part of the ground at Portland, close to -the quarries set apart for Wren's use, caused an inconvenient delay in -bringing the stone to London, but yet the work progressed, and on -December 2nd, 1697, the choir was opened for service. - -It was the occasion of the thanksgiving for the peace of Ryswick, which, -though it brought little glory to England, was yet heartily welcomed as -the close of a long and exhausting war. - -King William went to Whitehall, and heard Bishop Burnet's flattering -sermon, while Bishop Compton preached for the first time in the new S. -Paul's. No report of his sermon has come down to us. The choir was not -yet enriched with the carvings of Gibbons; but the pulpit appears to -have been very remarkable in its way: Sir Christopher had placed it _on -wheels_, perhaps with a design of using it afterwards, for services -under the dome, not unlike those we are now familiar with. - -A pulpit on wheels was a novelty, which gave rise, we can well believe, -to many squibs, one of which has been preserved. - - _A faithful copy of the Verses, lately fastened upon the pulpit of - S. Paul's Choir._ - - TO THE ARCHITECT UPON HIS HAPPY INVENTION OF A PULPIT ON - WHEELS FOR THE USE OF S. PAUL'S CHOIR. - - This little Structure (Excellent Sir Kit) - _Holds forth to us_ that You bestowed more Wit - In Building it than on all Paul's beside; - _This_ shows the _Principles_, that but the _Pride_ - Of its _Inhabitants_; True Sons of _Saul_, - For he (Good Man) _became All things to All, - That by all Sorts of Means he might gain some_. - _They_ too for _Gain_ would follow him to _Rome_, - This _Passively Obedient_ thing will go as - They'd have it, or to _Mecca_, _Rome_, or _Troas_; - All one to it, if forward Hawl'd or back, - 'Twill run a Holy Stage for _Will_ or _Jack_; - And truckle to and fro' 'twixt Cause and Cause, - Just as Strongest Pull of _Interest_ draws. - But if the Pulpit be a Vital Part - O' th' _Church_, or as the Doctors say her Heart, - Why don't you fix _that_ also on a Rock - And let the Steeple Roost the _Weather-Cock_? - Where if a Puff of Strong Temptations blow, - It might remind the Staggering Saints and _Crow_. - _Improve the Thought, Dear Sir, and let_ St. Paul's - _Wise Fane be this new_ Going Cart _for Souls_.[215] - -It hardly needs the hint that these lines were affixed to 'the _Dean's_ -side of the pulpit,' to read in them a bitter satire on Dean Sherlock, -whose sudden change of front relative to the non-jurors, and acceptance -of the Deanery of S. Paul's, laid him open to the grave suspicion of -having acted from interested motives, and stirred up much vehement -animosity. A spirited, if not an impartial, account of this controversy, -is given by Lord Macaulay.[216] - -Sir Christopher's remarkable invention appears to have survived the -laughter against it, and to have remained in the Cathedral until 1803. - -The vaults of S. Paul's were opened shortly after this thanksgiving to -receive the body of Dr. White, the non-juring Bishop of Peterborough, -whose funeral was attended by Bishop Turner, Bishop Lloyd and forty -nonjuring clergymen. - -[_A FOREIGN TOUR._] - -At the beginning of the following year, as soon as travelling was -possible, Wren sent his son Christopher to Paris; not indeed with the -intention of his making that grand tour which a few years later was -supposed to finish a young gentleman's education, but that he might -acquire a little experience and knowledge of the world. The young man, -evidently, had other ideas, spent a good deal of his money, and then -wrote home to his family a letter complaining in true English fashion, -of the climate and the cookery of France, and asking leave to continue -his journey to Italy. Sir Christopher's reply has been preserved; and in -its folio sheet and brown ink exists in the 'Parentalia.' It is, I -think, so charming as to double one's regret that so very few of his -letters have been preserved. - -['_I WILL NOT DISCONTENT YOU._'] - - [217]'Whitehall, March 7. - - 'My dear Son,--I hope by this time you are pretty well satisfied of - the condition of the climate you are in; if not, I believe you will - ere Lent be over; and will learne to dine upon sallad; and morue - with egges will scarce be allowed: if you thinke you can dine - better cheape in Italy you can trie, but I think the passing of the - Alpes and other dangers of disbanded armies and abominable Lodgings - will ballance that advantage; but the seeing of fine buildings I - perceive temptes you, and your companion, Mr. Strong, whose - inclination and interest leades him, by neither of which can I find - you are mov'd; but how doth it concerne you? You would have it to - say hereafter that you have seen Rome, Naples and a hundred other - fine places; a hundred others can say as much and more; calculate - whither this be worth the expence and hazard as to any advantage at - youre returne. I sent you to France at a time of businesse and when - you might make your observations and find acquaintance who might - hereafter be usefull to you in the future concernes of your life: - if this be your ayme I willingly let you proceed, provided you will - soon returne, for these reasons, the little I have to leave you is - unfortunately involved in trouble, and your presence would be a - comfort to me, to assist me, not only for my sake, but your own - that you might understand your affaires, before it shall please - God to take me from you, which if suddenly will leave you in - perplexity and losse. I doe not say all this out of parsimony, for - what you spend will be out of what will in short time, be your - owne, but I would have you be a man of businesse as early as you - can bring your thoughts to it. I hope, by your next you will give - me account of the reception of our ambassador;[218] of the - intrigues at this time between the two nations, of the - establishment of the commerce, and of anything that may be - innocently talked of without danger, and reflection, that I may - perceive whither you look about you or noe and penetrate into what - occurres, or whither the world passes like a pleasant dream, or the - amusement of fine scenes in a play without considering the plot. If - you have in ten weeks spent half your bill of exchange besides your - gold, I confesse your money will not hold out, either abroad for - yourself or for us at home to supply you, especially if you goe for - Italy, which voyage forward and backward will take up more than - twenty weekes: thinke well of it, and let me hear more from you, - for though I would advise you, I will not discontent you. Mr. - Strong hath profered credit by the same merchant he uses for his - son, and I will thinke of it, but before I change, you must make up - your account with your merchant, and send it to me. My hearty - service to young Mr. Strong and tell him I am obliged to him for - your sake. I blesse God for your health, and pray for the - continuance of it through all adventures till it pleases him to - restore you to your Sister and friends who wish the same as doth - - 'Your most affectionate Father, - 'CHR. WREN. - - 'P.S. Poor Billy continues in his indisposition, and I fear is lost - to me and the world, to my great discomfort and your future - sorrow.' - -What answer the younger Christopher sent does not appear; but his father -did not 'discontent' him; the young man did make the journey to Italy, -then such a formidable undertaking, and was ever after reckoned a very -accomplished and travelled gentleman. 'Young Mr. Strong' must have been -the son of Sir Christopher's faithful master-mason, Edward Strong, one -of a great family of builders and stone-cutters; I suppose the 'poor -Billy' of the postscript to have been the writer's youngest son, then -nearly nineteen, who however recovered and outlived his father by about -fifteen years. - -The Royal Society had sustained a severe loss by Charles II.'s death, -and if King James took little interest in their discussions, William -III. was utterly indifferent. Still it had won a certain position of its -own, and was able to keep its steady course. Wren remained one of the -members who attended most regularly and contributed to discussions on a -variety of subjects, though not perhaps on the 'jessamine-scented -gloves,' which figure so often in Pepys' diary, the secret of whose -perfumery Wren once undertook to find out. He was again chosen Grand -Master of the Freemasons, and continued in that office until 1702. - -[_ORDER AGAINST SWEARING._] - -His friend and fellow-member in the Royal Society, Robert Boyle, had -written a book called 'A Free Discourse against Swearing,' which was -published after his death. Wren followed this up by an order which he -had affixed in many parts of S. Paul's, while the building went on:-- - - 'Whereas, among labourers, &c. that ungodly custom of swearing is - too frequently heard, to the dishonour of God and contempt of - authority; and to the end, therefore, that such impiety may be - utterly banished from these works, intended for the service of God - and the honour of religion--it is ordered that customary swearing - shall be a sufficient crime to dismiss any labourer that comes to - the call, and the clerk of the works, upon sufficient proof, shall - dismiss them accordingly, and if any master, working by task, shall - not, upon admonition, reform this profanation among his - apprentices, servants and labourers, it shall be construed his - fault; and he shall be liable to be censured by the Commissioners.' - -Such was Sir Christopher's care for his grand work: it was intended for -the service of God, and therefore was to have no blemish which Wren's -diligence could avoid. He was constantly there and shrank neither from -fatigue nor from risk. The famous Duchess of Marlborough, in her -quarrels with Vanbrugh over the building of Blenheim, complained -bitterly that he asked 300_l._ a year for himself and a salary for his -clerk, 'when it is well-known that Sir Christopher Wren was content to -be dragged up in a basket three or four times a week to the top of S. -Paul's, and at great hazard, for 200_l._ a year.' Probably it was -because her Grace considered his charges so moderate that, after her -last quarrel with Vanbrugh, she engaged Sir Christopher to build -Marlborough House, at the corner of Pall Mall. The site presented great -difficulties, but the building in red brick and stone was a handsome -one, and lately has been much enlarged. Vanbrugh's first start in life -was his being engaged by Wren to act as clerk of the works to the -buildings at Greenwich. Gibbs and Hawksmoor were also pupils of Wren's, -and worked under him at some of the innumerable works on which he was -engaged. The building of Greenwich was vigorously continued, and in -1705,[219] 'they began to take in wounded and worn-out seamen, who are -exceedingly well provided for.' - -At the beginning of 1698, Peter the Great made his extraordinary voyage -to England and took possession of Evelyn's house, Sayes Court, at -Deptford, in order to be near the dockyard and inspect the -ship-building. He was anything but a desirable tenant. 'There is a house -full of people and right nasty,' wrote Evelyn's servant. - - 'The Czar lies next your library, and dines in the parlour next - your study. He dines at ten o'clock and six at night, is very - seldom at home a whole day, very often in the King's yard, or by - water, dressed in several dresses. The King is expected here this - day, the best parlour is pretty clean for him to be entertained. - The King pays for all he has.'[220] - -The Czar's three months' occupancy of Sayes Court left it a wreck, and -Evelyn got Sir Christopher, and the Royal gardener, Mr. Loudon, to go -down and estimate the repairs which would be necessary. They allowed -150_l._ in their report to the Treasury, but could not by any money -replace the beautiful holly hedge through which Peter the Great had been -trundled in a wheel-barrow, or repair the garden he had laid waste. - -[_S. DUNSTAN'S SPIRE._] - -In 1699, Wren finished the last of those City churches which the Fire -had injured or destroyed. S. Dunstan's in the East had suffered severely -by the Fire: the walls of the church had not fallen, but the interior -had been much damaged and the monument to the famous sailor and -discoverer, Sir John Hawkins, who was buried there, perished. The old -church had a lofty wooden spire cased with lead, which of course fell -and was consumed. When Sir Christopher had repaired the body of the -building the parishioners were anxious to have back the spire also, and -Dame Dionis Williamson, a Norfolk lady, who had been a great -benefactress to S. Mary's, Bow, gave 400_l._ towards this object. It is -one of the most curious of all Wren's spires, as it rests on four arches -springing from the angles of the tower. Three more such spires exist, -two in Scotland and one at Newcastle. Tradition says that the steeple -of S. Dunstan's was the design or the suggestion of Wren's daughter -Jane. Perhaps, like the leaning tower of Pisa, it is more wonderful than -satisfactory to the eye, but Sir Christopher was certainly proud of it -and confident in its stability. Great crowds assembled to see the -supports taken away, and Wren watched with a telescope, says the story, -on London Bridge for the rocket which announced that all was safely -done, but it is hardly probable that he was anxious about the result. - -Four years later, when the tempest known as the 'great storm' raged in -England, destroying twelve ships in the Royal navy, many merchant -vessels, and a great number of buildings, some one came with a long face -to tell Sir Christopher, that '_all_ the steeples in London had -suffered;' he replied at once, 'Not S. Dunstan's, I am sure.' He was -perfectly right, and the account given of the others was an -exaggeration. - -On February 1, 1699, the Morning Prayer Chapel of S. Paul's was opened -for service. Later in the same month, a fire broke out at the west end -of the choir, where 'Father Smith' was still at work. It caused -considerable alarm, and was got under with some damage, especially to -two of the pillars, and to a decorated arch. The gilding also lost some -of its brightness. A nameless poem[221] fixes the date of this fire, -which has been much disputed. It may have been in consequence of this -alarm that Sir Christopher covered all the woodwork of the upper parts -of the Cathedral with 'a fibrous concrete' said to resist fire so well -that faggots might be kindled below it with impunity. - -[_WESTMINSTER ABBEY._] - -While S. Paul's was thus advancing towards its full beauty, the care of -Westminster Abbey was assigned to Wren. Little or no attention seems to -have been spent on it between the time of Charles I.'s reign and that in -which it was handed over to Wren. - -With the energy which his sixty-seven years had not checked, he examined -the grand building where he had worshipped as a schoolboy, and instantly -ordered some of the most needful repairs. - -In 1713 he sent in a statement to Dr. Atterbury, who was both Bishop of -Rochester and Dean of Westminster, having in that year succeeded to -Wren's old friend, Bishop Sprat: from this paper, though it is -anticipating the date, some extracts are here given. - - 'When I had the Honour to attend your Lordship, to congratulate - your Episcopal Dignity, and pay that Respect which particularly - concerned myself as employed in the chief Direction of the Works - and Repairs of the Collegiate-Church of S. Peter in Westminster, - you was pleased to give me this seasonable admonition, that I - should consider my advanced Age; and as I had already made fair - steps in the Reparation of that ancient and ruinous Structure, you - thought it very requisite for the publick Service, I should leave a - Memorial of what I had done, and what my Thoughts were for carrying - on the Works for the future.' Then follows the history of the - building of the abbey up to the reign of Henry III., who rebuilt - it 'according to the Mode which came into Fashion after the Holy - War. - - 'This we now call the _Gothick_ manner of Architecture (so the - Italians called what was not after the _Roman_ style), tho' the - _Goths_ were rather Destroyers than Builders; I think it should - with more Reason be called the _Saracen_ Style; for those People - wanted neither Arts nor Learning, and after we in the West had lost - both, we borrowed again from them, out of their Arabick Books, what - they with great Diligence had translated from the _Greeks_.... They - built their Mosques round, disliking the _Christian_ form of a - Cross: the old quarries whence the Ancients took their large blocks - of marble for whole Columns and Architraves were neglected, for - they thought both impertinent. Their carriage was by camels, - therefore their Buildings were fitted for small stones, and Columns - of their own fancy consisting of many pieces, and their Arches were - pointed without key-stones which they thought too heavy. The - Reasons were the same in our Northern Climates abounding in free - stone, but wanting marble.... The Saracen mode of building seen in - the East, soon spread over Europe and particularly in _France_, the - Fashions of which nation we affected to imitate in all ages, even - when we were at enmity with it.'... - -Wren laments over the mixture of oak with the less-enduring chestnut -wood in the roof of the Abbey, and the use of Rygate stone which -absorbed water, and in a frost scaled off. He says he cut all the ragged -ashlar work of Rygate stone out of the east window, replacing it with -durable Burford stone, and secured all the buttresses on the south side. -The north side of the Abbey is so choked up by buildings, and so shaken -in parts by vaults rashly dug close to its buttresses, that he can do -little. - - 'I have yet said nothing of King Henry VIIth's Chapel, a nice - embroidered Work and performed with tender Caen stone, and though - lately built in comparison, is so eaten up by our Weather, that it - begs for some compassion, which I hope the Sovereign Power will - take as it is the Regal Sepulture.' - -[_THE ORIGINAL INTENTION._] - -The most necessary outward repairs of stone-work, he says, are one-third -part done; the north front, and the great Rose Window there are very -ruinous; he has prepared a proper design for them. Having summed up the -repairs still essential for the security of the building, he proceeds to -state what are, in his judgment, the parts of the original design for -the Abbey still unfinished. - - 'The original intention was plainly to have had a Steeple, the - Beginnings of which appear on the corners of the Cross, but left - off before it rose so high as the Ridge of the Roof, and the Vault - of the Quire under it, is only Lath and Plaister, now rotten and - must be taken care of. - - * * * * * - - I have made a Design, which will not be very expensive but light, - but still in the _Gothick_ Form, and of a Style with the rest of - the structure, which I would strictly adhere to, throughout the - whole intention: to deviate from the old Form would be to run into - a disagreeable mixture which no Person of a good Taste could - relish. I have varied a little from the usual Form, in giving - twelve sides to the Spire instead of eight, for Reasons, to be - discerned upon the Model. - - 'The Angles of Pyramids in the Gothick Architecture were usually - enriched with the Flower the Botanists call the Calceolus, which is - a proper form to help workmen to ascend on the outside to amend any - defects, without raising large scaffolds upon every slight - occasion; I have done the same, being of so good Use, as well as - agreeable Ornament.... It is evident, as observed before, the two - West Towers were left imperfect, and have continued so since the - Dissolution of the Monastery, one much higher than the other, - though still too low for Bells, which are stifled by the Height of - the Roof above them; they ought certainly to be carried to an equal - Height, one story above the ridge of the Roof, still continuing the - Gothick manner, in the stone-work, and tracery.... It will be most - necessary to rebuild the great North Window with Portland stone, to - answer the South Rose Window which was well rebuilt about forty - years since; the stair-cases at the corners and Pyramids set upon - them conformable to the old style to make the whole of a piece.... - For all these new Additions I have prepared perfect Draughts and - Models, such as I conceive may agree with the original scheme of - the old architect, without any modern mixtures to show my own - Inventions: in like manner as I have among the Parochial Churches - of _London_ given some few Examples (where I was obliged to deviate - from a better style), which appear not ungraceful, but ornamental - to the East part of the city; and it is to be hoped, by the publick - care, the West part also, in good time will be as well adorned: and - surely by nothing more properly than a lofty Spire and Western - Towers to Westminster Abbey.' - -With this, still unfulfilled hope, Wren's interesting paper closes. Nine -years afterwards he did, however, finish the north front, commonly known -as Solomon's Porch. - -['_MODERN MIXTURES._'] - -Wren is so commonly spoken of as having built--and spoilt--the western -towers, that it is well here to mention that his share in them is very -small; he only restored with a careful hand the lower portion of the -towers then standing.[222] They were continued by Hawksmoor after Wren's -death, and by two other architects in succession after the death of -Hawksmoor in 1736. No one of these had, as Wren had, the high-minded -desire to do justice to 'the original architect without any modern -mixtures of my own.' - -FOOTNOTES: - - [215] Given in _Documents illustrating the History of S. Paul's_, - p. 157. - - [216] _History of England_, vol. iv. p. 44-51. Sherlock was born - 1641, died 1707. - - [217] The year is not given in the MS. original, but it must be - 1698. - - [218] William, Earl of Portland, whose embassy was of extraordinary - splendour. Of intrigues there must have been plenty, for at - the very moment that Louis XIV. was for the first time - recognising the Prince of Orange as King of England, King - James II. was residing at S. Germains, surrounded by his own - Court. - - [219] Evelyn's _Diary_, June, no date of day. - - [220] Evelyn's _Diary_, Jan. 30, 1698. - - [221] _Documents illustrating_, etc., p. 158. - - [222] _Three Cathedrals_, Longman, p. 86-88. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - 1700-1708. - - MEMBER FOR WEYMOUTH--RISING OF THE SAP IN TREES--PRINCE GEORGE'S - STATUE--JANE WREN'S DEATH--THANKSGIVING AT S. PAUL'S--LETTER TO HIS - SON--SON MARRIES MARY MUSARD--DEATH OF MR. EVELYN--QUEEN ANNE'S ACT - FOR BUILDING FIFTY CHURCHES--LETTER ON CHURCH BUILDING. - - - 'The old knight turning about his head twice or thrice to take a - survey of this great metropolis, bid me observe how thick the City - was set with churches, and that there was scarce a single steeple - on this side Temple Bar. "A most heathenish sight!" says Sir Roger; - "there is no religion at this end of the town. The fifty new - churches will very much mend the prospect, but church work is slow, - church work is slow."'--_The Spectator_, No. 383. - - -In 1700 Wren was returned by the boroughs of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis -to a somewhat stormy Parliament. - -He was finishing several of the City churches by the addition of towers -to some, where, as at S. Magnus, London Bridge, and S. Andrew's, -Holborn, the main parts had been previously built. - -He gave a design for All Saints' Church, Isleworth; it was, however, -reckoned too costly, and nothing was done until, in 1705, Sir Orlando -Gee left a legacy of 500_l._ towards the rebuilding of the church, when -Wren's design was partially adopted, and the work done by his faithful -master-mason, Edward Strong.[223] - -With all this work, Wren yet found time to write a treatise on 'The -rising of the sap in trees.' It is a short treatise, evidently copied by -a copyist, though a little indian-ink drawing at the side is probably -Wren's own. The question in dispute seems to have been whether this -natural rising of the sap contradicted the newly discovered law of -gravity. - - 'It is wonderful,' he says, 'to see the rising of the sap in Trees. - All will bleed more or less when they are tapped by boring a hole - through the Bark, some very considerably, as Birch, which will - afford as much liquor every day almost as the milke of a cow; in a - Vine when a bough is cut off it will if not stopped bleed to death. - Now by what mechanisme is water raised to such a height, as in - Palmitos to 120 foot high? A skillfull Engineer cannot effect this - without great force and a complicated engine, which Nature doth - without sensible motion; it steals up as freely as the water - descends: the reason of this is obscure as yett to naturalists.' - -After some discussion of various theories, he proceeds to show by the -help of the little drawing, 'that the onely Vicissitudes of heat and -cold in ye aire is sufficient to raise the sap to the height of the -loftiest trees.' Then follows the proof of this by mechanics refuting -the notion of - - 'a secret motion in nature contrary to that of the gravity, by - which plants aspire upwards. - - 'But though I have shown how the sap may be mechanically raised - from the Root to the top of the loftiest trees, yett how it comes - to be varyed according to the particular nature of the Tree by a - Fermentation in the Root; how the Raine water entering the Root - acquires a spirit that keeps it from freezing, but also gives it - such distinguishing tastes and qualities is beyond mechanical - Philosophy to describe and may require a great collection of - Phenomena with a large history of plants to shew how they expand - the leaves and produce the Seed and Fruit from the same Raine water - so wonderfully diversified and continued since the first Creation.' - -Another paper of the same date was written 'On the surface of the -terrestrial Globe,' but this does not appear to have been preserved. -Many of Sir Christopher's writing's and many also of his inventions were -lost by Mr. Oldenburg, the Royal Society's secretary, of whom Wren -frequently complained that he not only neglected to enter them on the -Society's Register, but conveyed them to France and Germany, where they -appeared, attributed as inventions to those who had stolen them. - -One cannot but admire the versatility of mind which enabled Wren, in the -midst of great architectural works, and endless business details, to -write papers such as these, and to digest and decide upon Flamsteed's -long letters on the Earth's motion, his quarrels with Mr. Halley, and -his measurement of the height of the Welsh hills. - -[_LONDON AS IT WAS._] - -The progress of Greenwich and Chelsea Hospitals, the growth of his -beautiful S. Paul's, the repairs of the Abbey, were now the absorbing -interests of Wren's life. From the house in Whitehall which he occupied -with his daughter he could easily reach the two former by water, or the -latter on foot. Two most interesting pictures by Canaletto,[224] giving -a general view of the city and of Westminster, enable us to realise what -the whole effect must have been in an atmosphere far clearer than at -present, before the river was cut by iron bridges, or the city robbed of -steeple or tower. The death of King William and the accession of Queen -Anne in the spring of 1702 made little difference to Wren, except to -his advantage. He appears to have been on very good terms with her, and -with her Danish husband. He is said to have built S. Anne's, Soho,[225] -and to have made it externally to resemble a Danish church as much as he -could, out of compliment to Prince George. He also gave to the Town Hall -of Windsor, a statue of Prince George, to correspond with that of Queen -Anne. The Prince is dressed in a Roman costume, and the pedestal has the -following inscription: - - SERENISSIMO PRINCIPI - GEORGII PRINCIPI DANIAE - HEROI OMNI SAECULO VENERANDO - CHRISTOPHORUS WREN, ARM: - POSUIT MDCCXIII. - -One marvels how 'Est-il possible' came to merit such an inscription as -this! - -[THANKSGIVING AT S. PAUL'S.] - -In 1702 Sir Christopher suffered a grievous loss by the death of his -only daughter, Jane, on the 29th of December. She was laid in the vault -of S. Paul's close to the graves of Dr. and Mrs. Holder,[226] and her -father wrote the short Latin inscription which records her virtues, her -skill in music, and implies how loving and how congenial a companion he -had lost in her. She was but twenty-six when she died. The sculptor, -Bird,[227] of whose power Wren had a good opinion, carved a monument in -low relief, representing Jane Wren playing on an organ; a harp and a -spinnet are beside her, and a group of angels in the clouds above, one -of whom holds the music. It is but an ordinary piece of monumental -sculpture, now much obscured by dust. Jane Wren's death must have left a -great blank in the life of the father whose interests and pursuits she -had shared, and one wishes she could have lived long enough to see the -top stone laid on the dome of S. Paul's. The Duke of Marlborough's -brilliant victory at Blenheim, on Aug. 13, 1704, brought Queen Anne and -all her court in their utmost splendour to a thanksgiving at S. Paul's -on the 7th of September. - - 'The streets were scaffolded from Temple Bar, where the Lord Mayor - presented her Majesty with the Sword, which she returned. Every - Company was ranged under its banners, the Citty Militia without the - rails, which were all hung with cloth suitable to the colour of the - banner. The Lord Mayor, Sheriffs and Aldermen were in their scarlet - robes, with caparisoned horses; the Knight Marshall on horseback, - the Foot Guards; the Queen in a rich coach with eight horses, none - with her but the Duchess of Marlborough in a very plain garment, - the Queene full of jewells. Music and trumpets at every Citty - Company. The great Officers of the Crown, Nobility and Bishops, all - in coaches with six horses, besides innumerable servants, went to - S. Paul's where the Deane preached. After this the Queen went back - in the same order to S. James's. The Citty Companies feasted all - the nobility and Bishops, and illuminated at night. Music for the - Church and anthems by the best masters. The day before wet and - stormy, but this was one of the most serene and calm days that had - been all the year.'[228] - -No doubt it was a splendid pageant, the grandest that had been seen -since those which celebrated the Restoration, and S. Paul's, despite the -scaffolding still round the dome, must have looked magnificent. In 1705, -Sir Christopher's eldest son went abroad again, travelling this time to -Holland, where in the excitement of Marlborough's brilliant campaign he -very nearly joined the army as a volunteer. - -[_BARCELONA._] - -A letter[229] to him from Sir Christopher is extant; the handwriting is -not quite so steady as in the former letter, but still clear. - - - 'Whitehall, Oct. 11, 1705. - - 'Dear Son,--I received at once three of y^r le^{trs}: one from - Harlem, Sep. 26, another from Amsterdam of Sep. 28, O.S., a third - of Oct. 13, N.S., by all which I rejoyced in your good Health & - your recovery from your cold. I am very well satisfied you have - layd aside your designe for the Army; which I think had not been - safe or pertinent, at least not soe much as Bookes & Conversation - with ye learned. Your Traffic for good Bookes I cannot disapprove. - You tell me Gronovius[230] is 25 volumes, I am told they are 26, - and that the last is the best & comonly sold by its selfe, you - will have a care [a word seems to be omitted] being imposed upon. - Mr. Bateman in his (?) will give you advice how you may get them - into the Secretary's packets. You remember how much trouble Mr. - Strong was put to at Dover by the impertinence of the Customer - there. I hope this may bee prevented. Wee have not yet rejoyced for - Barcelona[231] though you have; though wee doe not doubt it and - wagers are layd 6 to one: last night the seales were given to Mr. - Cowper & changes are made of Lord Lieutenants. Give my Service to - Mr. Roman & thanks for his Civilities to you. I am importuned to - take a little journy to my cosin Munson's to christen her 8^{th} - son. Wee are told here that my L^d D. of Marlborough goeth - certainly to Vienna, & you resolve well to wait on him before he - goes, & then I thinke you have little else to doe but to take the - best opportunity to returne, which I am told may happen if you come - with my L^d Woodstock[232] who will have convoy. Wee are all in - good health at both Houses and wish you happinesse w^{ch} wee also - contrive for you. - - 'I am, dear Son, your affectionate Father, - - 'CHR. WREN.' - -I suppose the mention of 'both houses,' and the hint of happiness being -contrived, refer to young Christopher's marriage, which took place in -the following year. He married Mary,[233] daughter of Mr. Philip -Musard, jeweller to Queen Anne, by whom he had a son, a fourth -Christopher Wren. - -Wren lost a faithful and valued friend in Mr. Evelyn, who died in the -February of 1706, at the age of eighty-five. If Evelyn's diary, of which -such frequent use has been made in these pages, is not the same entire -revelation of the man himself as is the diary of his friend Pepys, it -yet possesses a singular charm in its refinement of thought, and, when -the veil is raised, shows us a gentleman and a Christian to be respected -as well as loved. He had kept up a steady friendship with Sir -Christopher since the day when they first met at Oxford, and had the -highest opinion of his powers: 'an excellent genius had this -incomparable person,' is his remark after a conversation with Wren. -Evelyn was on the S. Paul's Commission from the first, and Wren was -destined, a few years later, sorely to miss the support of this constant -friend. - -The needful sum for covering in the dome of S. Paul's was voted by -Parliament in 1708. The question of using copper or lead was greatly -discussed; lead was finally chosen; it does not clearly appear which way -Sir Christopher's judgment inclined. Probably to the lead, as he -considered it susceptible of much ornament, and the lead covering of S. -Paul's dome is peculiarly beautiful. Bird in this year finished the -statue of Queen Anne, which is in the fore court of the Cathedral, and -is not without merit. He also carved the relief of the Conversion of S. -Paul above the western portico: the height is too great for it to be -possible to judge of the goodness of the sculpture. - -[_FIFTY NEW CHURCHES._] - -The Act known as 'Queen Anne's Act for building Fifty New Churches' was -passed in this year, and Wren was of course one of the commissioners. At -the age of seventy-six he could not undertake the designing of these new -churches. They were principally built by Gibbs, Hawksmoor, Vanbrugh and -others. S. George's, Hanover Square, S. Anne's, Limehouse, S. George's, -Bloomsbury, S. Leonard's, Shoreditch, are some of those built under this -Act. Perhaps the best specimen is the beautiful S. Mary-le-Strand, built -by Gibbs, on an old site stolen from the Church by the Duke of Somerset -in the reign of Henry VIII. Recent careful painting and gilding and the -removal of pews have made S. Mary's a charming example of the amount of -decoration which can be advantageously bestowed on a Paladian church. - -Wren wrote on this occasion a letter to a friend on the Church-building -Commission in which he gives the result of his great experience in -building town churches. The letter is given with a few omissions. I fear -that few of the Queen Anne churches were built strictly on the -principles he here lays down; certainly the hint as to pews was -disregarded, and grievous indeed have been the results of such -disregard. It has been a common fallacy that all Wren's churches were -built for pews, and that anything but high pews would ruin the -architectural effect. What was Wren's own opinion is manifest from the -letter; the actual effect can be seen, for instance, in a print of S. -Stephen's, Walbrook, where this gem of all his churches is represented, -just after its completion, with the area clear; or in S. Mary's, Bow, -where the pews have lately been diminished into just such 'benches' as -the great architect desired. - - 'Since Providence,' he writes, 'in great mercy has protracted my - age, to the finishing the Cathedral Church of S. Paul, and the - parochial churches of London, in lieu of those demolished by the - fire, (all which were executed during the fatigues of my employment - in the service of the Crown from that time to the present happy - reign); and being now constituted one of the Commissioners for - building, pursuant to the late Act, fifty more Churches in London - and Westminster; I shall presume to communicate briefly my - sentiments, after long experience, and without further ceremony - exhibit to better judgement, what at present occurs to me, in a - transient view of this whole affair; not doubting but that the - debates of the worthy Commissioners may hereafter give me occasion - to change, or add to these speculations. - - '1. I conceive the Churches should be built, not where vacant - ground may be cheapest purchased in the extremities of the suburbs, - but among the thicker inhabitants, for the convenience of the - better sort, although the site of them should cost more; the better - inhabitants contributing most to the future repairs, and the - ministers and officers of the church, and charges of the parish. - -[_CEMETERIES._] - - '2. I could wish that all burials in churches might be disallowed, - which is not only unwholesome, but the pavements can never be kept - even, nor pews upright; and if the churchyard be close about the - church, this also is inconvenient, because the ground being - continually raised by the graves, occasions, in time, a descent by - steps in the church, which renders it damp, and the walls green, as - appears evidently in all old churches. - - '3. It will be enquired, where then shall be the burials? I answer, - in cemeteries seated in the outskirts of the town.... - - 'A piece of ground of two acres in the fields will be purchased for - much less than two roods among the buildings; this being enclosed - with a strong brick wall, and having a walk round, and two cross - walks decently planted with yew trees, the four quarters may serve - four parishes, where the dead need not be disturbed at the pleasure - of the sexton or piled four or five upon one another, or bones - thrown out to gain room.... It may be considered further, that if - the cemeteries be thus thrown into the fields, they will bound the - excessive growth of the city with a graceful border, which is now - encircled with scavengers' dung-stalls. - - '4. As to the situation of the churches, I should propose they be - brought as forward as possible into the larger and more open - streets; not in obscure lanes, nor where coaches will be much - obstructed in the passage: nor are we, I think, too nicely to - observe east or west in the position, unless it falls out - properly; such fronts as shall happen to lie most open to view - should be adorned with porticoes, both for beauty and convenience; - which together with handsome spires or lanterns, rising in good - proportion above the neighbouring houses (of which I have given - several examples in the City of different forms), may be of - sufficient ornament to the town, without a great expense for - enriching the outward walls of the Churches, in which plainness and - duration ought principally, if not wholly, to be studied.... - -[_CHURCHWARDEN'S CARE DEFECTIVE._] - - '5. I shall mention something of the materials for public fabrics. - It is true, the mighty demand for the hasty works of thousands of - houses at once after the Fire of London, and the frauds of those - who built by the great,(?) have so debased the value of materials, - that good bricks are not to be now had without greater prices than - formerly, and indeed, if rightly made, will deserve them; but - brickmakers spoil the earth in the mixing and hasty burning, till - the bricks will hardly bear weight; though the earth about London, - rightly managed, will yield as good bricks as were the Roman bricks - (which I have often found in the old ruins of the City), and will - endure, in our air, beyond any stone our island affords; which, - unless the quarries lie near the sea, are too dear for general use. - The best is Portland or Roch-Abbey stone; but these are not without - their faults. The next material is the lime: chalk-lime is the - constant practice, which, well mixed with good sand, is not amiss, - though much worse than hard stone-lime. The vaulting of S. Paul's - is a rendering as hard as stone: it is composed of cockle-shell - lime well beaten with sand: the more labour in the beating, the - better and stronger the mortar. I shall say nothing of marble - (though England, Scotland, and Ireland afford good, and of - beautiful colours); but this will prove too costly for our purpose, - unless for Altar-pieces. In windows and doors Portland stone may be - used, with good bricks and stone quoins. As to roofs, good oak is - certainly the best, because it will bear some negligence. The - churchwardens' care may be defective in speedy mending drips; they - usually whitewash the church, and set up their names, but neglect - to preserve the roof over their heads. It must be allowed, that the - roof being more out of sight, is still more unminded. Next to oak, - is good yellow deal, which is a timber of length, and light, and - makes excellent work at first; but, if neglected, will speedily - perish; especially if gutters (which is a general fault in - builders) be made to run upon the principal rafters, the ruin may - be sudden. Our sea-service for oak, and the wars in the North Sea, - make timber at present of excessive price. I suppose, ere long, we - must have recourse to the West Indies, where most excellent timber - may be had for cutting and fetching. Our tiles are ill made, and - our slates not good: lead is certainly the best and lightest - covering, and being of our own growth and manufacture, and lasting, - if properly laid, for many hundred years, is, without question, the - most preferable; though I will not deny but an excellent tile may - be made to be very durable: our artisans are not yet instructed in - it, and it is not soon done to inform them.... Now, if the churches - could hold each 2,000, it would yet be very short of the necessary - supply. The churches, therefore, must be large; but still, in our - reformed religion it should seem vain to make a parish church - larger than that all who are present can both hear and see. The - Romanists, indeed, may build larger churches; it is enough if they - hear the murmur of the Mass, and see the elevation of the Host; but - ours are to be fitted for auditories. I can hardly think it - practicable to make a single room so capacious, with pews and - galleries, as to hold above 2,000 persons, and all to hear the - service, and both to hear distinctly, and see the preacher. I - endeavoured to effect this in building the parish Church of S. - James, Westminster, which, I presume, is the most capacious, with - these qualifications, that hath yet been built; and yet, at a - solemn time, when the church was much crowded, I could not discern - from a gallery that 2,000 were present. In this church I mention, - though very broad, and the middle nave arched up, yet as there are - no walls of a second order, nor lanterns, nor buttresses, but the - whole roof rests upon the pillars, as do also the galleries, I - think it may be found beautiful and convenient, and, as such, the - cheapest of any form I could invent. - - '7. Concerning the placing of the pulpit, I shall observe a - moderate voice may be heard fifty feet distant before the preacher, - thirty feet on each side, and twenty behind the pulpit; and not - this unless the pronunciation be distinct and equal, without losing - the voice at the last word of the sentence, which is commonly - emphatical, and, if obscured, spoils the whole sense. A Frenchman - is heard further than an English preacher, because he raises his - voice, and sinks not his last words: I mention this as an - insufferable fault in the pronunciation of some of our otherwise - excellent preachers, which schoolmasters might correct in the young - as a vicious pronunciation, and not as the Roman orators spoke: for - the principal verb is, in Latin, usually the last word; and if that - be lost, what becomes of the sentence? - - '8. By what I have said, it may be thought reasonable, that the new - church should be at least sixty feet broad, and ninety feet long, - besides a chancel at one end, and the belfry and portico at the - other. - -[Sidenote: '_NO PEWS, BUT BENCHES._'] - - 'These proportions may be varied; but to build more than that every - person may conveniently hear and see is to create noise and - confusion. A church should not be so filled with pews, but that the - poor may have room enough to stand and sit in the alleys; for to - them equally is the Gospel preached. It were to be wished there - were to be no pews, but benches; but there is no stemming the tide - of profit, and the advantage of pew-keepers; especially since by - pews, in the chapel of ease, the minister is chiefly supported. It - is evident these fifty churches are enough for the present - inhabitants, and the town will continually grow: but it is to be - hoped, that hereafter more may be added, as the wisdom of the - Government shall think fit; and, therefore, the parishes should be - so divided as to leave room for subdivisions, or at least for - chapels of ease. - -[_CLEAR BUILDING GROUND._] - - 'I cannot pass over mentioning the difficulties that may be found - in obtaining the ground proper for the sites of the churches among - the buildings, and the cemeteries in the borders without the town; - and, therefore, I shall recite the method that was taken for - purchasing in ground at the north side of S. Paul's Cathedral, - where, in some places, houses were but eleven feet distant from the - fabric, exposing it to the continual dangers of fires. The houses - were seventeen, and contiguous, all in leasehold of the Bishop, or - Dean alone, or the Dean and Chapter, or the petty-Canons, with - divers under-tenants. The first we recompensed in kind, with rents - of like value for them and their successors; but the tenants in - possession for a valuable consideration; which to find what it - amounted to, we learned by diligent inquiry, what the inheritance - of houses in that quarter were usually held at; this we found was - fifteen years' purchase at the most, and, proportionably to this, - the value of each lease was easily determined in a scheme, - referring to a map. These rates, which we resolved not to stir - from, were offered to each; and, to cut off much debate, which it - may be imagined everyone would abound in, they were assured that we - went by one uniform method, which could not be receded. We found - two or three reasonable men, who agreed to these terms; immediately - we paid them, and took down their houses; others, who stood out at - first, finding themselves in dust and rubbish, and that ready money - was better, as the case stood, than to continue paying rent, - repairs, and parish duties, easily came in. The whole ground at - last was cleared, and all concerned were satisfied, and their - writings given in.... This was happily finished without a - judicatory or jury; although, in our present case, we may find it - perhaps, sometimes necessary to have recourse to Parliament.' - -FOOTNOTES: - - [223] _Environs of London_, vol. iv. p. 450. Lysons. - - [224] In the possession of H.M. the Queen. - - [225] I can find no proof of this, and it is not mentioned in any - list of his buildings that I have seen. - - [226] Dr. Holder died 1694. - - [227] Francis Bird, born in London 1667. His masterpiece was the - monument to Dr. Busby. He died in London 1731. A stonecutter - of the same name at Oxford is mentioned by Plot in connection - with an invention for staining marbles and cutting them like a - cameo, who I am inclined to think was a relation. - - [228] Evelyn's _Diary_, September 7, 1704. - - [229] Hitherto unpublished. - - [230] G. F. Gronovius, 1613-1672. He was the author of many works, - chiefly annotations of the classics, and succeeded Heinsius in - the Greek chair at Leyden. - - [231] Barcelona was taken by Lord Peterborough and Sir Cloudesley - Shovel, October 4, 1705, in the war of the Spanish Succession. - - [232] The eldest son of the Earl of Portland, afterwards created - Duke of Portland. - - [233] A portrait of this lady in full profile, with a pale face and - black hair, painted somewhat in the style of Sir Peter Lely, - is in the possession of Mrs. Pigott. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - 1709-1723. - - PRIVATE HOUSES BUILT--QUEEN ANNE'S GIFTS--LAST STONE OF S. - PAUL'S--WREN DEPRIVED OF HIS SALARY--HIS PETITION--'FRAUDS AND - ABUSES'--INTERIOR WORK OF S. PAUL'S--WREN SUPERSEDED--PURCHASE OF - WROXHALL ABBEY--WREN'S THOUGHTS ON THE LONGITUDE--HIS DEATH--BURIAL - IN S. PAUL'S--THE END. - - Heroick souls a nobler lustre find, - E'en from those griefs which break a vulgar mind. - That frost which cracks the brittle, common glass, - Makes Crystal into stronger brightness pass. - Bp. Thos. Sprat, quoted in _Parentalia_. - - -The year 1709 passed in steady work, and has little but finishing -touches to the churches to be recorded, unless some of the various -private houses built by Wren belong to this period. A house for Lord -Oxford, and one for the Duchess of Buckingham, both in S. James's Court; -two built near the Thames for Lord Sunderland and Lord Allaston; one for -Lord Newcastle in Queen's Square, Bloomsbury; and a house, so large and -magnificent that it has been divided in late years into four, in Great -Russell Street. This house was afterwards occupied by Wren's eldest son, -and in turn by his second son Stephen. - -Sir Christopher himself, while keeping the house in Whitehall from which -his letters are dated, had received from Queen Anne the fifty years' -lease of a house at Hampton Green at a nominal rent of 10_l._ a -year;[234] he must have found great refreshment in going there -occasionally by the then undefiled Thames, to country rest and quiet. -Queen Anne was uniformly gracious and friendly to her Surveyor, and -presented him with a buhl cabinet inlaid with red tortoiseshell of -remarkably handsome work and design.[235] - -The following year saw the crown put to the labour of thirty-five years. -Mr. Christopher Wren, who had been a year old when the first stone was -laid, now laid the last stone of the lantern above the Dome of S. Paul's -in the presence of his father, Mr. Strong the master-builder, his son, -and other free and accepted masons, most of whom had worked at the -building. The scene could hardly be better painted than in the words of -Dean Milman:[236] - - 'All London had poured forth for the spectacle, which had been - publicly announced, and were looking up in wonder to the old man - ... who was on that wondrous height setting the seal, as it were, - to his august labours. If in that wide circle which his eye might - embrace there were various objects for regret and disappointment; - if, instead of beholding the various streets of the city, each - converging to its centre, London had sprung up and spread in - irregular labyrinths of close, dark, intricate lanes; if even his - own Cathedral was crowded upon and jostled by mean and unworthy - buildings; yet, on the other hand, he might survey, not the - Cathedral only, but a number of stately churches which had risen at - his command and taken form and dignity from his genius and skill. - On one side the picturesque steeple of S. Mary-le-Bow; on the other - the exquisite tower of S. Bride's, with all its graceful, gradually - diminishing circles, not yet shorn of its full and - finely-proportioned height. Beyond, and on all sides, if more - dimly seen, yet discernible by his partial eyesight (he might even - penetrate to the inimitable interior of S. Stephen's, Walbrook), - church after church, as far as S. Dunstan's-in-the-East, perhaps - Greenwich, may have been vaguely made out in the remote distance; - and all this one man had been permitted to conceive and execute;--a - man not originally destined or educated for an architect, but - compelled as it were by the public necessities to assume the - office, and so to fulfil it, as to stand on a level with the most - consummate masters of the art in Europe, and to take his stand on - an eminence which his English successors almost despair of - attaining.' - -[_THE WORK OF ONE MAN._] - -There then the Cathedral stood, complete externally in its stately -beauty, the work of one man, who, it has been truly said, 'had the -conception of a painter as well as an architect.' View the Cathedral -when and where we will, with every disadvantage of smoky atmosphere and -lack of space, it yet fascinates the eye by the perfection of its lines -and the majesty of the whole effect, so as to leave no power of -criticising petty defects. Such was the triumphant success achieved by -Wren's patient genius, but - - Envy will merit as its shade pursue; - -and a series of troubles fell upon him. - -There will always be a number of people who imagine that anything can be -procured by money, and that for the sake of money anything and -everything will be done. People of this mind considered that Sir -Christopher Wren prolonged the process of building S. Paul's in order to -prolong his own enjoyment of the 200_l._ a year which was the salary he -had himself chosen, though it was considered utterly inadequate by the -Commissioners when first the work began. - -Accordingly in 1696-7, a clause was inserted in the Act 'for the -completing and adorning S. Paul's' 'to suspend a moiety of the -Surveyor's salary until the said Church should be finished; thereby the -better to encourage him to finish the same work with the utmost -diligence and expedition.'[237] - -No doubt they considered that the Cathedral could be finished off -regardless of details, and so left like the shell of an ordinary house -to be adorned by any chance person; and to this end they offered their -grim 'encouragement'! - -It was an insult to a man like Wren, who had again and again--as in the -case of Greenwich--given his skill for nothing, and it was doubly unjust -because, what delays there were, sprang from the conceit and ignorance -of the S. Paul's Commission. Wren protested, but took no active step -until he had seen the Dome of his beloved Cathedral completed. - -Then he sent in a petition to Queen Anne as follows:-- - - 'The most humble petition of Sir Christopher Wren - - 'Sheweth, - - 'That there being a Clause in an Act of Parliament which suspends a - moiety of your Petitioner's salary at S. Paul's, till the building - be finished, and being obstructed in his measures for completing - the same, by the arbitrary proceedings of some of the Commissioners - for that fabric,-- - - 'Your Petitioner most humbly beseeches your Majesty graciously to - interpose your Royal Authority so as that he may be suffered to - finish the said building in such manner and after such designs as - shall be approved by your Majesty or such persons as your Majesty - shall think fit to appoint for that purpose; and your Petitioner, - etc., - - 'CHRISTOPHER WREN.' - -['_FRAUDS AND ABUSES._'] - -This petition was sent to the Commissioners, whose reply was, that when -Sir Christopher had acted without their approbation his performances had -proved very faulty;(!) they then digressed into remarks on their own -devotion to the Queen's service, and into a series of petty charges -against some of the workmen employed in the Cathedral, especially the -bell-founder, Richard Phelp, and Richard Jennings the master-carpenter, -whom they charged with a variety of frauds and abuses, and begged should -be at once dismissed; they also venture to assert that 'Sir Christopher, -or some employed by him, may be supposed to have found their advantage -in this delay.' There is little attempt at proof in this reply of the -Commissioners, but much supposition and conjecture. A pamphlet, 'Frauds -and Abuses at S. Paul's,' published anonymously at this time, sets out -all their suspicions in detail. Sir Christopher replied in a pamphlet -entitled 'An Answer to Frauds and Abuses in S. Paul's,' and laid a -petition before the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, -in which he sets out his grievances, how little power had been really -given to him and how far he had 'been limited and restrained.' - - 'However,' he says, 'it has pleased God so far to bless my sincere - endeavours, as that I have brought the building to a conclusion so - far as is in my power, and I think nothing can be said now to - remain unperfected, but the iron fence round the Church, and - painting the Cupola, the directing whereof is taken out of my - hands, and therefore I hope I am not answerable for them, nor that - the said suspending clause can, or ought, to affect me any further - on that account. As for painting the Cupola, your Lordships know - that it has been long under consideration; that I have no power - left me concerning it; and that it is not yet resolved in what - manner to do it, or whether at all. And as for the iron fence, it - is so remarkable and so fresh in memory, by whose influence and - importunity it was wrested from me, and the doing of it carried in - a way which I venture to say will ever be condemned. I have just - this to observe further, that your Lordships had no hand in it; and - consequently ought not share in the blame that may attend it.' - -He then asks them for their warrant for the payment of the arrears, -amounting to more than 1,300_l._, which were due to him, and says he -will ever be ready in the future, to give his advice and assistance in -anything about the said Cathedral. Archbishop Tenison and Bishop -Compton laid Wren's petition before the Attorney-General, Sir Edward -Northey, who pronounced 'that Sir Christopher Wren's case was very hard, -but that the terms of the Act were so positive that it could not be -overridden, but the Commissioners ought in justice to find some remedy.' - -Wren then addressed the House of Commons in a petition in which he -repeats that his 'measures for completing the Cathedral are wholly -over-ruled and frustrated.' - -[_A REMEDY FOUND._] - -The House considered the matter, and cut the knot by declaring the -Cathedral to be finished, and directing the payment of all the arrears -of the architect's salary. - -Their prompt decision gratified Sir Christopher, who contrasts it with -the conduct of the Commission, 'which was such as gave him reason enough -to think that they intended him none of the suspended salary if it had -been left in their power to defeat him of it.' - -The attacks on Jennings, whom Wren firmly defended, fell to the ground: -they probably had as little foundation as the 'Screw Plot,' by which at -a Thanksgiving, by one man's moving a few of the bolts and screws, the -whole dome was to fall in.[238] The bell-founder Phelps, who had removed -the faulty bell put up by Wightman under the direction of the -Commissioners, also triumphed: he offered to give a bond to the Dean and -Chapter to recast the bell at his own expense if, after a year's trial, -they were dissatisfied with it: as this offer was never claimed, Wren -justly says that they were either content with the bell or else showed -great neglect. Until the last few years it was the only bell possessed -by the Cathedral. - -To perfect S. Paul's some things had still to be done, and, rather than -these should suffer, Wren was willing still to undergo the slights and -annoyances of the other S. Paul's Commissioners, amongst whose names one -wishes that of Sir Isaac Newton did _not_ appear, without clear evidence -that he stood by his early patron and friend. One hopes it may have been -so, certainly he was not a frequent attendant at the meetings. - -[_DECORATION OF S. PAUL'S._] - -Within the Cathedral there was some important work to do. Gibbons' -carving had to be completed, and the beautiful iron-work gates on either -side of the choir had yet to be set up. For this work Wren employed a M. -Tijou, at that time a famous worker in iron, though no account of him is -to be obtained at the present day. Possibly he was one of the French -refugees. Wren saw both the carving and the gates successfully finished. -But for the east end of the Cathedral he had a magnificent design which -is unfulfilled to this day. He intended to inlay the columns of the apse -with rich marble, to use a considerable amount of colour and gilding, -and to place over the Altar a hemispherical canopy supported on four -writhed pillars of the richest Greek marbles, with proper decorations of -architecture and sculpture: he had prepared his model and the needful -drawings, Bishop Compton had even received some specimens of marble from -a Levant merchant in Holland, but unluckily the colours and the class of -marble were not what Wren desired, and the plan waited for a better -opportunity, which, in Wren's lifetime, never came. Thus, of all this -grand design, the only trace is the painting of the apsidal pillars, in -imitation of lapis lazuli, which was meant as a temporary experiment, -and the model of the canopy in the possession of the Dean and Chapter. -Hardly anything could be done which would more enhance the interior -beauty of S. Paul's than the erection of this canopy. - -Besides the adornment of the east end of the Cathedral there was also -that of the dome to be accomplished. The decoration of S. Paul's is so -vexed a question that one almost fears to touch upon it, but the -statement in the 'Parentalia' is explicit. - - 'The judgement of the Surveyor was originally, instead of painting - in the manner it is now performed, to have beautified the inside of - the Cupola with the more durable ornament of mosaic work, as it is - nobly executed in the Cupola of S. Peter's in Rome, which strikes - the eye of the beholder with a most magnificent and splendid - appearance; and which, without the least decay of colour, is as - lasting as marble, or the building itself. For this purpose he had - projected to have procured from Italy four of the most eminent - artists in that profession; but as this art was a great novelty in - England, and not generally apprehended, it did not receive the - encouragement it deserved; it was imagined also that the expense - would prove too great, and the time very long in execution; but - though these, and all objections were fully answered, yet this - excellent design was no further pursued.' - -In weighing the value of this evidence as to Sir Christopher's views, it -is important to remember that the 'Parentalia' was, though edited by -Stephen the grandson, actually written by Christopher, the son who was -constantly with his father and shared in his interests, and had himself -seen, and no doubt described to Sir Christopher that very cupola of S. -Peter's, of which he speaks. - -The question of the iron fence round the Cathedral, of which Wren made -mention in his petition, was much in his thoughts; he wished it to be -low, and made of hammered iron, the Commissioners were determined that -it should be high, and made of cast iron. - -Wren, who doubtless intended to employ Tijou, and have a low, graceful -railing which would throw up the height and solid grandeur of the -Cathedral, repeatedly expressed his opinion; but the majority overruled -him, and the Cathedral was imprisoned by a high, heavy, clumsy fence, -the gates of which were sedulously closed, and were but too apt an -emblem of the manner in which the Cathedral was soon shut off from its -true uses. A century later, and Bishop Blomfield could say, 'I never -pass S. Paul's without thinking how little it has done for -Christianity.' Now the iron fence has departed,[239] and with it all -possibility of such a reproach. - -During all this time Wren was engaged on the Abbey repairs and the -affairs of Chelsea College. The Duke of Ormonde sends him a summons in -November, 1713, the more pressing, as several Commissioners are out of -town, to meet him 'at twelve of the clock at his Grace's house at the -Cockpitt, in order to give directions for the cloathing of the Invalide -Companys who are in a perishing condition for want thereof, not having -been cloathed for near these three years past.' The death of Evelyn and -that of Sir Stephen Fox had lost to Chelsea Hospital its two best -friends, but doubtless the Duke and Sir Christopher were able to provide -for this emergency. - -We hear of Wren at this time busied as of old for the Royal Society, -going, with his son and Sir Isaac Newton, to inspect a house in Crane -Court,[240] and finally buying it as a residence for the Society. - -Again he appears with Newton, and the son who seems to have been his -constant companion, going down to Greenwich as visitors of the Royal -Observatory there and making their report upon it. As Flamsteed hated -Newton, and greatly resented any formal visitation, the expedition must -have taxed even Wren's peace-making powers, but Flamsteed never seems to -have quarrelled with him. - -[_DEATH OF QUEEN ANNE._] - -In the summer of the following year 'good Queen Anne' died, and with her -all real chance of the return of the Stuart family, despite the gallant -and devoted attempts made for 'Prince Charlie' in 'the '15' and 'the -'45.' The sixth and last English reign which Wren was destined to see -began in 1714 with the accession of George I. - -The S. Paul's Commission was renewed, with, of course, Wren's name upon -it, but the annoyances of his position increased. - -In his design, S. Paul's stood complete with a plinth over the -entablature, and with statues on the four pediments only. The -Commissioners took it into their heads that a balustrade with vases was -greatly needed, and that it should be put up, unless Wren could 'set -forth in writing, under his hand, that it is contrary to the principles -of architecture and give his opinion in a fortnight's time.' This looks -very like a device for tormenting the old man of eighty-five, and -revenging themselves for their previous defeat. Exactly within the -fortnight Wren sent an answer which certainly shows no trace of failing -powers. - - 'I take leave, first, to declare that I never designed a - balustrade. Persons of little skill in architecture did expect, I - believe, to see something they had been used to in Gothick - structures; and ladies think nothing well without an edging. I - should gladly have complied with the vulgar taste but I suspended - for the reasons following.' - -The technical reasons are given, and he adds: - - 'that as no provision was originally made in my plan for a - balustrade, the setting up one in such a confused manner over the - plinth must apparently break into the harmony of the whole machine, - and, in this particular case, be _contrary to the principles of - architecture_.' - -Nothing daunted, either by Wren's reasons or his sarcasm, and regardless -of their implied promise, the wise Commissioners of the Cathedral set to -work on their balustrade. - -[_DISMISSED FROM HIS OFFICE._] - -This transaction belongs to the autumn of 1717. In the April of the -ensuing year, George I., who cared nothing about art or architecture, -and who only wished to gratify his German favourites, was easily -prevailed upon to dismiss Sir Christopher Wren from that post of -Surveyor-General which he had held for forty-eight years, and to bestow -it upon William Benson, a favourite's favourite, as ignorant and -incapable as he was grasping and unscrupulous. There was probably but -little outcry, for, as Steele[241] had truly said, - - 'Nestor,' under which name he described Wren, 'was not only in his - profession the greatest man of that age, but had given more proofs - of it than any man ever did; yet for want of that natural freedom - and audacity which is necessary in commerce with men, his personal - modesty overthrew all his public actions.' - -The person least disposed to make a complaint was Wren himself. Finding -his patent superseded, he quietly retired to his house at Hampton Court, -saying, 'Nunc me jubet Fortuna expeditius philosophari.[242] One other -comment he made, as a note to the date (April 26, 1718) of this -dismissal: '[Greek: Hoti anestê Basileus hetepos hos ouk êdei ton -Iôsêph: kai ouden toutôn tô Galliôni emelen.][Maltese Cross]'[243] - -It is some satisfaction to know that Benson so disgraced himself as in -five years' time to be dismissed, and narrowly escaped a prosecution by -the House of Lords. Pope held him up to deserved scorn in the 'Dunciad,' -where he also says: - - While Wren with sorrow to the grave descends, - -but this, one is glad to think, tells rather what might have been Sir -Christopher's state of mind than what it really was. - -Wren had had the interest of watching his eldest son's career in -Parliament as member for that borough of Windsor which he had himself -represented. - -This son's wife had died, and in 1715 he married again. His second wife -was Constance, daughter of Sir Thomas Middleton, and widow of Sir Roger -Burgoyne; by this marriage he had another son, named Stephen. On this -occasion Sir Christopher bought the estate of Wroxhall Abbey[244] in -Warwickshire, which had belonged to the Burgoynes and was heavily -encumbered. Sir Christopher is said to have stayed at the Abbey -occasionally, and to have designed the kitchen garden wall which is -built in semicircles. It was probably when he thus became a Warwickshire -Squire that he gave the designs for S. Mary's Church at Warwick, designs -entirely different from those adopted in the present building, which is -said to have been designed and built by one Francis Smith, a mason in -the town. - -[_LONGITUDE AT SEA._] - -But the greater part of Wren's declining years was spent at Hampton -Court, from which he went up to London to watch the progress of the -works at Westminster Abbey, the surveyorship of which he still kept. A -report was spread that the ceiling of the Sheldonian Theatre, in which, -as a piece of mechanical construction, Sir Christopher took great pride, -was giving way. Careful examination proved this to be a perfectly -groundless rumour, and no further annoyance arose to disturb the calm -evening of the old man's life. To be 'beneficus humano generi,' as he -said, had ever been his aim and wish. He now employed his leisure in -looking over old papers on astronomy and mathematics and the method of -finding out the longitude at sea. It had been long considered by the -general world as impossible to find out as was the secret of perpetual -motion, and the attempt at either discovery was treated with equal -ridicule. The merchants, and captains of merchant ships were, however, -from bitter experience of vessels and crews wrecked or lost, aware of -the immense importance of the discovery of the longitude, if it could -be made. They presented, in 1714, a petition to Parliament, begging that -a reward might be offered 'for such as shall discover the same.' This, -after due consideration, was done by a Bill, passed rapidly through both -Houses, offering a reward of 20,000_l._. for the discovery.[245] - -The subject was one which greatly occupied Wren, who all his life had -been interested in sailors and sea matters. He amused himself by -throwing his latest thoughts on the longitude into the form of three -cryptographs:[246] - - 1. OZVCVAYINIXDNCVOCWEDCNMALNABECIRTEWNGRAMHHCCAW. - - 2. ZEIYEINOIEBIVTXESCIOCPSDEDMNANHSEFPRPIWHDRAEHHXCIF. - - 3. EZKAVEBIMOXRFCSLCEEDHWMGNNIVEOMREWWERRCSHEPCIP. - -A copy, signed by Halley as a true one, of this cipher was sent to the -Royal Society in 1714 by Wren's son. Probably Sir Christopher had not -perfected his instruments sufficiently to proclaim his discovery, and -did not wish either to lose his idea, or, when later on he disclosed it, -to appear as a plagiarist in case a similar method had suggested itself -to anyone else. Old age had weakened Wren's limbs, but had had little -effect on his clear understanding; his scientific pursuits interested -him still, and were among the employments of those few leisure years -which closed a life of incessant work. He gave, however, the greater -part of his time and care to the diligent study of the Holy Scriptures, -which all his life he had loved; and thus, serene and gentle as ever, -waited for his summons. - -[_HIS DEATH._] - -Once a year it was his habit to be driven to London, and to sit for a -while under the dome of his own Cathedral. On one of these journeys he -caught a cold, and soon afterwards, on February 25, 1723, his servant, -thinking Sir Christopher slept longer after dinner than was his wont, -came into the room and found his master dead in his chair, with an -expression of perfect peace on the calm features. - -They buried him near his daughter in the south-east crypt of S. Paul's, -by one of the windows, under a plain marble slab with this inscription: -'Here lieth Sir Christopher Wren, the builder of this Cathedral Church -of S. Paul, &c., who died in the year of our Lord MDCCXXIII., and of his -age XCI.' - -The spite of those who had hampered his genius in life showed itself -again after his death. The famous inscription, written by his -son:--'Subtus conditur hujus Ecclesiae et Urbis Conditor Christophorus -Wren, qui vixit annos ultra nonaginta, non sibi, sed bono publico. -Lector, si Monumentum requiris circumspice.'[247]--was placed in the -crypt, and in the Cathedral itself there was nothing to preserve the -memory of its architect. - -This has in later years been remedied and the inscription is now in gold -letters over the door of the north transept. Some of Sir Christopher's -plans have, as has been shown, been executed; and further, the Cathedral -has been set in green turf, and all around it is cared for instead of -neglected, the once empty campanile is filled by twelve bells, whose -music floats down over the roar of London, as if out of the sky itself, -and the Dome is filled by vast congregations in the way which Sir -Christopher almost foresaw. - -In the Cathedral his memory is cherished; but in the city of London, -which he rebuilt from its ashes, no statue has been erected to him, no -great street has been honoured by taking as its own the name of -Christopher Wren, though a name - - On fame's eternall beadroll worthie to be fyled. - -FOOTNOTES: - - [234] This lease was renewed to his eldest son in 1737 for 28-1/2 - years, running on from 1758. - - [235] Now in the possession of Mrs. Pigott. - - [236] _Annals of S. Paul's_, p. 432. - - [237] It must be to this that Wren refers in his letter to his son, - p. 282. - - [238] _Documents illustrating, &c._, p. 62. - - [239] The Dean and Chapter of S. Paul's removed the fence in 1874, - and substituted the present open, low one, thus removing a - blemish from the exterior of the Cathedral. - - [240] The Royal Society occupied this house, till 1847, when it was - pulled down to make room for the new Record Office.--_Hist. R. - S._, p. 399. Weld. - - [241] _The Tatler_, No. 52, 1709. Both the paper and its note - contain eloquent tributes to Wren. It is remarkable that - Steele wrote this at the very time Wren's salary was first - 'suspended.' - - [242] 'Now Fortune commands me to apply myself more closely to - Philosophy.' - - [243] 'Then another king arose which knew not Joseph.'--_Acts_ vii. - 18. 'And Gallio cared for none of these things.'--_Acts_ - xviii. 17. - - [244] Now spelt Wroxall. This property remained in the hands of Sir - Christopher's direct lineal descendants (five Christophers - held it in succession) until 1861. Wren's son and heir died in - 1747, and is buried in Wroxhall Abbey; his son Christopher - displeasing him, he left away much of the estate to his - stepson, Sir Roger Burgoyne. At the death of the elder - Christopher many of the great architect's plans and drawings - were bought by Mr. Justice Blackburn, who presented them to - All Souls' College. The _Parentalia_ was principally written - at Wroxhall by Sir Christopher's son Christopher, and was - published by his second son Stephen Wren, M.D., in 1750. See - _Worthies of Warwickshire_, p. 852, and _Biog. Hist. of - England_, vol. iii. p. 329. Noble. - - [245] The reward was adjudged in two portions of 10,000_l._, to Mr. - J. Harrison in 1726 and 1775, for making two chronometers, - which gave the longitude within 10' 45" of the truth. Rewards - were offered for further discoveries. The Board of Longitude - was abolished in 1828.--_Life of Sir Isaac Newton_, vol. ii. - p. 258-267. Sir David Brewster. - - [246] These cryptographs were first published by Sir David Brewster - in his _Life of Sir Isaac Newton_, vol. ii. p. 263, ed. 1855. - No key was found until Mr. Francis Williams, of Grange Court, - Chigwell, sent the following: - - 1. WAcCHhMArGNwETrICeBAnLAmNCdEWcOUcNDxINiVAvCUzO. - Wach magnetic balance wound in vacuo. - (One letter a misprint). - - Omitted letters make CHR. WREN, MDCCXIV. - - 2. FIcXHhEArDHwIPrPEeSHnANmDEdSPcOIcSExTUiBEiONiEYieZ. - Fix head hippes handes poise tube on eye. - (One letter a misprint). - - Omitted letters make CHR. WREN, MDCCXIIII. - - 3. PIcPEhSCrRewWErMOeVInNGmWHdEEcLScFRxOMiBEvAKzE. - Pipe screwe moving wheels from beake. - - Omitted letters make CHR. WREN, MDCCXIV. - - The three last omitted Z,s occurring in the first part of each - cipher to show that that part must be taken _last_.--_Report - of the British Association for 1859._ - - [247] 'Beneath is laid the builder of this church and city, - Christopher Wren, who lived more than ninety years, not for - himself, but for the good of the State. Reader, if thou ask - for a monument, look around thee.' - - - - - APPENDICES. - - - APPENDIX I. - - _REVERENDO PATRI DOMINO CHRISTOPHORO WREN, S.T.D. ET D. W. - CHRISTOPHORUS FILIUS HOC SUUM PANORGANUM ASTRONOMICUM D. D. XIII. - CALEND. NOVEM. ANNO 1645_, p. 73. - - - Si licet, et cessent rerum (Pater alme) tuarum - Pondera, devotae respice prolis opus. - Hic ego sidereos tentavi pingere motus, - Coelicaque in modulos conciliare breves. - Quo (prolapsa diù) renoventur tempora gyro, - Seculaque, et menses, et imparilesque dies. - Quomodo Sol abeat, redeatque, et temperet annum, - Et (raptum contra) grande perennet iter; - Cur nascens gracili, pleno orbe refulget adulta, - Cur gerat extinctas menstrua luna faces. - His ego numinibus dum cito, atque ardua mundi, - Scrutor, et arcanas conor inire vias, - Adsis, O! faveasque, pater, succurre volanti - Suspensum implumis dirige prolis iter, - Ne male, praecipiti, nimium prae viribus audax - (Sorte sub Icarea) lapsus ab axe ruam: - Te duce, fert animus, studiis sublimibus hisce - Pasci, dum superas detur adire domos. - - - APPENDIX II. - - _CHURCHES, HALLS, COLLEGES, PALACES, OTHER PUBLIC BUILDINGS, AND - PRIVATE HOUSES, BUILT AND REPAIRED BY SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN._ - - - _Churches._ - - S. Alban, Wood Street. | S. Lawrence, Jewry. - * All Hallows, Bread Street. | S. Magnus, London Bridge. - " Lombard Street. | S. Margaret Lothbury, Pattens, - " Upper Thames St. | Rood Lane. - All Saints, Isleworth. | S. Martin, Ludgate Hill. - S. Andrew, Holborn. | S. Mary, Abchurch. - " by the Wardrobe. | " Aldermanbury. - SS. Anne & Agnes. | " Aldermary. - S. Anne, Soho (?). | " at Hill. - * S. Antholin, Watling St. | " le Bow. - S. Augustine. | * " Somerset. - * S. Bartholomew, Bartholomew | " Woolnoth. - Lane. | S. Mary Magdalen, Old Fish St. - * S. Benedict, Gracechurch Street.| S. Matthew, Friday Street. - * " Fink, Threadneedle | S. Michael, Bassishaw. - Street. | " Cheapside. - S. Benedict, Paul's Wharf. | " Cornhill. - S. Bride, Fleet Street. | * " Crooked Lane. - Chichester Cathedral. | * " Queenhithe. - Christ Church, Newgate. | " Royal, College Hill. - * S. Christopher, Threadneedle | S. Mildred, Bread Street. - Street. | * " Poultry. - S. Clement Danes, Strand. | S. Nicholas, Cole Abbey. - " Eastcheap. | S. Olave, Jewry. - Dartmouth Chapel, Blackheath. | S. Paul's Cathedral. - * S. Dionysius, Back Church. | S. Peter's Abbey, Westminster. - S. Dunstan in the East. | " Cornhill. - S. Edmund the King, Lombard | Salisbury Cathedral. - Street. | S. Stephen, Coleman Street. - S. Faith (Crypt of S. Paul's). | " Walbrook. - S. George, Botolph Lane. | S. Swithin, Cannon Street. - S. James, Garlickhithe. | S. Vedast, Foster Lane. - " Westminster. - - * Signifies that the church has been destroyed. - - _Halls._ - - Mercers Company. | Saddlers Company - * Grocers " | Cordwainers " - Drapers " | Paper Stainers " - * Fishmongers " | Curriers " - * Goldsmiths " | Masons " - Skinners " | * Plumbers " - Merchant Taylors " | Innholders " - Haberdashers " | Founders " - * Salters " | Coopers " - Ironmongers " | Tilers and Bricklayers " - Vintners " | Joiners " - * Dyers " | Weavers " - Brewers " | Plasterers " - * Leathersellers " | Stationers " - Cutlers " | Apothecaries " - Bakers " | Pinmakers " - Tallow Chandlers " | Coachmakers " - Girdlers " | - -Many of these buildings have been considerably altered since Wren's -time, and many are now let as warehouses, or turned to other uses. - - _Colleges._ - - Christ Church, Oxford. | Pembroke, Cambridge. - Emmanuel, Cambridge. | * Physicians, Warwick Lane, - Holy Trinity " London. - " Oxford. | Queen's (?) Oxford. - Morden, Blackheath. | Sion, London. - - - _Palaces._ - - Hampton Court. Kensington. * Newmarket. Winchester. - - _Other Public Buildings._ - - Alderman's Court, Guildhall. | Middle Temple, front of. - Archbishop Tenison's Library. | Monument, the. - Ashmolean Museum. | Monument { to Edward V. & - Bohun's Almshouses, Lee. | { Richard, Duke of York - Bushey Park, { Pavilion. | - { Ranger's house at.| Observatory, Greenwich. - Chapter House, S. Paul's. | * Royal Exchange, London. - * Custom House, Port of London. | Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford. - Deanery, St. Paul's, London. | Temple Bar. - Hospitals, { Chelsea College. | Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. - { Greenwich. | Theatre in Salisbury Court. - London, City of. | Tower of London. - Merchant Taylors' Almhouses, | Windsor, Town Hall. - London. - - _Private Houses._ - - Allaston's, Lord, London. | Fawley Court, Oxon. - Bloomsbury, two in. | Marlborough's, Duchess of, London. - Buckingham's, Duchess of, | Oxford's, Earl of, London. - London. | Sunderland's, Lord, London. - Chichester, two at. | Windsor, two at. - Cooper's, Madam, London. - -This list, which is, I fear, imperfect, only professes to give such -buildings as were actually built or repaired; there are, besides, a -large number of unexecuted designs. - - * Signifies that the building has been destroyed. - - - APPENDIX III. - -Sir Christopher Wren left the rough drafts of four tracts on -architecture, which are printed in the 'Parentalia,' and a few notes on -Roman and Greek buildings, some of which Mr. Elmes transcribed in his -'Life;' they are for the most part very technical and are incomplete. -The copy of the 'Parentalia' now in my hands contains the autograph -draft of a Discourse on Architecture, which, as I think, has never been -printed; it appears to me to be of great interest. It is therefore given -entire, though I regret I cannot give the quaint prints of Noah's Ark, -the Tower of Babel, Babylon, &c., with which the original is -illustrated. The two former prints tally so exactly with the -descriptions in the 'Discourse'--the print of the ark containing a small -section, an elevation, and a vignette of a man feeding one of the -creatures, besides a large drawing of the floating Ark--that I incline -to think they were engraved, either by Wren himself, or from his -drawings. Engraving was an art he well understood. He divides with -Prince Rupert the honour of the invention of mezzo-tint. The prints are -numbered Pl. IV. and V. respectively, and have no signature. - - - _Discourse on Architecture._ - -Whatever a man's sentiments are upon mature deliberation, it will be -still necessary for him in a conspicuous Work to preserve his -Undertaking from general censure, and so for him to accomodate his -Designs to the gust of the Age he lives in, thô it appears to him less -rational. I have found no little difficulty to bring Persons, of -otherwise a good genius, to think anything in Architecture would be -better then what they had heard commended by others, and what they had -view'd themselves. Many good Gothick forms of Cathedrals were to be seen -in our Country, and many had been seen abroad, which they liked the -better for being not much differing from ours in England: this humour -with many is not yet eradicated, and therefore I judge it not improper -to endeavour to reform the Generality to a truer taste in Architecture -by giving a larger Idea of the whole Art, beginning with the reasons and -progress of it from the most remote Antiquity; and that in short -touching chiefly on some things, which have not been remarked by others. - -The Project of Building is as natural to Mankind as to Birds, and was -practised before the Floud. By Josephus we learn that Cain built the -first City, _Enos_, and enclosed it with Wall and Rampires; and that the -Sons of Seth, the other son of Adam, erected two Columns of Brick and -Stone to preserve their Mathematical Science to Posterity, so well built -that thô ye one of Brick was destroy'd by the Deluge, ye other of Stone -was standing in ye time of Josephus. The first Peece of Naval -Architecture we read of in Sacred History was the _Arke_ of _Noah_, a -work very exactly fitted and built for the Purpose intended. - -It was by measure just 6 times as Long as Broad, and the Heighth was 3/5 -of the Breadth. This was the Proportion of the Triremes afterwards. The -Dimensions, and that It was 3 Stories high, and that It had a Window of -a Cubit Square is only mention'd; but many things sure were of necessity -to be contrived for Use in this Model of the Whole Earth. - -First, One small Window was not sufficient to emit the Breath of all the -Animals; It had certainly many other Windows as well for Light as Air. -It must have Scupper-Holes and a large Sink and an Engin to Pump It; for -It drew, as I compute, with all its Cargo and Ballast, at least 12 foot -Water. There must be places for Insects the only Food of some Birds and -Animals. Great Cisterns for Fresh Water not only for Land Animals, but -for some Water fowl and Insects. Some Greens to grow in Tubs, the only -food of Tortoises and some Birds and Insects; since we certainly have -learnt that nothing is produced by Spontaneous Generation, and we firmly -believe there was no new Creation. I need not mention stairs to the -several Stories, with many other things absolutely necessary for a -year's Voyage for Men and Animals, thô not mention'd in the Story, and -Providence was the Pilot of this Little World, the Embrio of the next. - -Most certainly Noah was divinly qualified not only as a Preacher of -Righteousness but the greatest Philosopher in the 'Historia Animalium' -that ever was; and it was Work enough for his whole Family to feed them, -and take care of the young Brood; for in a year's time there must be a -great increase in the Ark, w^{ch} was food for the Family, and the -Beasts of Prey. - -The first Peece of Civil Architecture we meet with in Holy Writ is the -Tower of Babel. Providence scatter'd the first Builders, so the Work was -left off, but the Successors of Belus the son of Nimrod probably -finished It and made it His Sepulchre, upon his Deification. - -It was built of Burnt Brick Cemented with Bitumen. - -Herodotus gives us a surprizing Relation of it w^{ch} being set down by -measure is not beside our subject to observe. It consisted of Eight -several Stories; the First was one Stade, or 625 foot square, and of the -same measure in Height upon which were rais'd seven more, w^{ch} if they -were all equal with the First would amount to 2,500 foot, which is not -credible: the Form must be therefore Pyramidal and being adorn'd on the -outside with Rows of Galleries in divers stories diminished in Height in -Geometrical Proportion; so the whole Mass would have the Aspect of Half -an Octaedron, which is that of all the Egyptian Pyramids. - -These Corridors being Brick wasted in more than 1600 years: and it was -these which Alexander actually began to Repair, not the whole Bulk, as I -suppose. - -How Herodotus had his measures I question, for He flourish'd but 100 -years before Alexander's Conquests of Babylon, so it was then 1500 years -Old. - -I proceed next to those mighty Works of Antiquity the Wonderful -_Pyramids_ of Egypt yet remaining without considerable decay after -almost 4000 years: for 2000 years agoe, they were reckon'd by Historians -of Uncertain Original. - -I cannot think any Monarch however Despotick could effect such things -meerly for Glory; I guess there were reasons of State for it. - -Egypt was certainly very early Populous, because so Productive of Corn -by the help of Nile, in a manner without labour. They deriv'd the River -when it rose, all over the Flat of the Delta; and as the People -increas'd, over a great deal of Land that lay higher. The Nile did not -always Flow high enough for a great Part of the then inhabited Country, -and without the Nile, They must either Starve or prey upon those who had -Corn; This must needs create Mutiny and Bloodshed, to prevent which it -was the Wisdom of their ancient Kings and Priests to Exact a certain -Proportion of Corn, and lay it up for those who wanted the benefit of -the Rivers when it disappointed their sowing. - -Thus Joseph lay'd up for seven years, and sur'ly He was not first: this -Provision being ever so essentially necessary to support the Popularity -and consequently the Grandure of the Kingdom; and continued so in all -Ages, till the Turks neglected all the upper Canales except one which -still suppli'd Alexandria. Now what was the consequence? It was not for -the Health of the Common People nor Policy of the Government for them to -be fed in Idleness: great Multitudes were therefore imploy'd in that -which requir'd no great Skill, the Sawing of Stone Square to a few -different scantlings, nor was there any need of Scaffolding or Engines, -for hands only would raise them from step to step: a little teaching -serv'd to make them set Line: and thus these great Works in which some -Thousands of hands might be imploy'd at once, rose with Expedition: the -difficulty was in mustering the men to move in order under proper -Officers, and probably with Musick, as Amphion is said much about the -same Age to have built the walls of Thebes with his Harp; that is Musick -made the Workmen move exactly together without which no great weight can -be moved, as Seamen know, for the Sheet Anchor will by no means be moved -without a fiddle to make men exert their United force in equal time: -otherwise they pull one against another and lose great part of their -force. - -The next observable Monument of great Antiquity which yet remain is the -Pillar of Absolom. - -By the description given of it, and what I have learnt from Travellers -who have seen it, we must allow it to be very Remarkable though not -great. - -It is compos'd of seven Pillars six about in a Hexagon, and one in the -middle and the Tholus solid, a large Architrave, Frize and Cornice lie -upon the Pillars which are larger in proportion to their height then -what we now allow to the Tuscan order, so likewise is the Entablature -larger. - -This whole composition though at least 30 foot high, is all of the one -Stone, both Basis, Pillars and Tholus cut as it stood out of the -adjacent Cliff of white Marble. - -I could wish some skilful Artist would give us the exact dimensions to -inches, by which we might have an idea of the Antient Tyrian manner; -for it was probable Solomon by his correspondence with King Hiram -employ'd the Tyrian Artists, in his Temple; and from the Phoenicians I -derive as well the Arts as the Letters, of the Graecians, thô it may be, -the Tyrians were Imitators of the Babylonians, and they of the -Egyptians. Great Monarchs are ambitious to leave great Monuments behind -them, and this occasions great Inventions and Mechanick Arts. - -What the Architecture was that Solomon used we know little of, though -Holy Writ hath given us the general dimensions of the Temple, by which -we may in some manner collect the Plan but not of all the Courts. - -Villapandus hath made a fine Romantick Piece after the Corinthian Order, -which in that age was not used by any Nation: for the First Ages used -grosser Pillars then Dorick. In after Times they began to refine from -the Dorick, as in the Temple of Ephesus (the United Work of all Asia) -and afterwards improved into a Slenderer Pillar, and Leavy Capital of -various inventions which they called Corinthian. So that if we run back -to the Age of Solomon, we may with reason believe they used the Tyrian -manner, as gross at least as the Dorick, and that the Corinthian manner -of Villapandus is meer fancy: Nay when long after Herod built the -_Atrium Gentium_, he that carefully considers the description in -Josephus will find it to be a Tripple Portico, and thick Pillars of the -grosser Proportions which being whole stones of an incredible Bulk--our -Saviour's Disciples admired them: _Master_, said they, _see what stones -are here_! Titus would have sav'd this noble structure, but a soldier -throwing a torch upon the Roof which was Cedar planks covered with -Bitumen, it easily took Fire and consumed the whole Building. All the -City was thus covered flat with Bitumen (easily gathered from the Lake -of Sodom) and upon the flat roofs the Jews celebrated under Palm-boughs -the Feast of Tabernacles. - -The Body of the First Temple was gilt upon Bitumen, which is good Size -for gilding and will preserve the timber. The Roof and Cedar Wainscot -within being carved with Knotts was gilded all over with a thick Leaf, -so I understand the word _Overlay'd_; for if it was cover'd with plate -apply'd over the knots and Imbossments the gold nails to fix it on would -have increased the Weight of the plate, whereas the quantity of the -Nails is reckoned but small in Proportion. The Doors might be plated -over and nail'd, and the Hinges and Bars, called Chains, might be solid; -for these were afterwards stripp'd when the Egyptians pillaged the -Temple in the Reign of Rehoboam. - -That Herod did more than the Upper Portico doth not appear, for the -substruction under the Portico was certainly Solomon's Work. The whole -Hill Moriah was wall'd upright by him from the bottom of the Valley -which render'd a broad Area above for all the Buildings of the Courts. -This is the work in which were us'd stone of 10 and 12 Cubits, call'd as -well they might _Costly Stones_. - -Now it may well be inquired how in an uneven craggy Country, as it is -about Jerusalem, such mighty Loads of Stone could be brought. I shall -give my thoughts. - -Solomon had an Army of Labourers in his Works; now suppose 12 Cubits -long and 2 broad, and 1 thick, this would amount to 648 of our solid -feet, which in marble would be 64 Tuns and more. Eight men can draw a -Tun, but the ground being hilly, we will allow 10 men to a Tun which -would be 640 men. Now how all these men can be brought to draw together -I show as follows. First, 10 men draw in a Rope (as bargemen with us) at -the end of this Rope is a Spring-tree (as our Coachmen use for ye two -fore Horses) to each end of which is a rope so 20 men can draw in the -second rank; each rope hath again its Spring-tree, and so on to a sixth -rank each rank doubling the number and supposing 10 men to govern the -rest (possibly with Musick) makes the number 640 men; and this will be -found readier than capsterns, and by this means much vaster stones may -be mov'd and even by Barbarous People without Engins. I cannot otherwise -see what need Solomon had of such great multitudes of Labourers as -_Threescore and ten Thousand Bearers of Burdens_, and _Fourscore -Thousand Hewers of stone in the Mountains_, &c. Probably too they were -employ'd by Months, and the rest were by turns to till the ground and -bring food for the Labourers that the Country Work might proceed. - -The Walls of Babylon were most stupendious Works, built with Brick and -Cement with Bitumen; the Height of them, according to Herodotus, was Two -Hundred Royal Cubits, and the Breadth Fifty; which in our measure -(reckoning every Royal Cubit with Herodotus 1 foot 9 inches which is 3 -inches above the common cubit measure) makes the Height 375 foot and the -Breadth 93 ft. 9 in. - -In these Walls were one hundred gates of Brass with Ornaments in -Architecture of the same metal. Besides the first Wall, (which was -encompassed with a wide and deep Foss always supply'd with water the -sides of which were Lin'd with Brick) was an inner Wall built of near -the same strength, thô not altogether of the same Breadth. - -The extent of the City must add to the Surprise which being a Square -contained a Front on every Side of one hundred and Twenty Stadia, that -is Fifteen of our miles, and makes up in the whole Threescore miles. - -Another stupendious Fabrick of I think also Tyrian architecture, was the -monument of Porsenna, King of Etruria. This Sepulchre we have describ'd -by Pliny, with the particular Dimensions in Feet which I have -accordingly Delineated. - -First, a Basis of squar'd stone fifty foot high rais'd the Pile above -any vulgar contiguous Buildings which being solid only in those Parts -that bore weight was so contriv'd within-side as to form a very -intricate Labyrinth, into which whoever enter'd without a clew of thread -would not be able to find the way out. Upon this Basis stood five -Pyramids of 150 foot high; Four in the Angles, and one in the Centre; -Bodies call'd Pyramids thô it is manifest they must have been so cut off -as to have a large space on the Top to carry a Second Story of Four more -lofty Pyramids of 100 foot high; and over them a third Order of Five -more. Now how these could be borne is worth the consideration of an -architect. I conceive it might be thus perform'd securely. - -Set half Hemispherical Arches, such as we make the heads of Niches, but -lay'd back to back, so that each of these have its Bearing upon three -Pyramids of the Lower Order, that is two angular ones and the middle -Pyramids; and these cutting one another upon the Diagonals will have a -firm bearing for all the Works above. - -Pliny mentions a Brass Circle and Cupola, lay'd upon the Five Lower -Pyramids, not I suppose to bear anything, but chiefly for Ornament, and -to cover the stone work of the Arches upon the strong Spandrells of -which if another Platform were rais'd upon that might the upper -structure be built and the whole have a stupendious effect, and -seemingly very open. Pliny took his Description of this extraordinary -Pile from the Measures set down by Varro, a diligent and therefore -credible author, who probably might have taken his Dimensions when it -was standing before the absolute conquest of Etruria by the Romans; the -summary then of this prodigious Edifice (erected to show the Vanity of -the Eastern Monarchy could be exceeded by the Italians) may be thus -compriz'd. - -The Basis of the whole was 300 ft. square, and 50 ft. high; upon which -stood Five Pyramids each of 75 ft. square at 150 ft. high; upon which -rested the Brazen Circle and Cupola, stil'd by Pliny _Petasus_, (which I -take to be a Brass Covering securing the Arches) from which hung little -Bells by Chains, which sounded as they mov'd by the Winds. - -The Four Pyramids of the Second Order of 100 ft. high standing upon the -Circle or Brim of the _Petasus_ as upon an Entablature, were evidently -the Four First Angular Pyramids continu'd to an Apex, or near to a -Point, so each will be in all from the Basis 450 ft. high, and rise as -high as the _Petasus_; above which was again a Platform containing the -Third Order of Five more Pyramids, of which the four angular Pyramids -rested firmly upon the keys of the Diagonal Sections of the half -Hemispherical Vaultings, which were called by the Ancients _Conchae_ -resembling the heads of Niches joyn'd back to back. This Platform I take -to have been round as being the Horizontal Section of the _Petasus_; and -the Bases of the Five Upper Pyramids would be contiguous, and thus -would be of the same shape and as high as the same below, as Varro -asserts with some suspicion, fearing how they would stand, but I with -confidence, the Proportions persuading, which indeed are very fine. - -The Heighth to the Breadth of the Basis is 6 to 1. The Heighth of the -Pyramids to the Brass _Petasus_ is 2 to 1, but taking in their whole -heighth it would have 4 to 1, but allowing the Point of the Pyramid to -be taken off (as it ought) and allowing for the Brasen Brim and Bells it -will be 250 foot, above which was the Floor that bore the Five upper -Pyramids of 4 to 1, so the Heighth is 550 foot as 6 to 11. - -I have ventured to put some Ornaments, at ye Top belonging to the Tuscan -superstition, (They then us'd not Statues) They are Golden Thunderbolts, -so the whole will be 600 foot high, that is double to the Basis and the -Heighth to the Brass circle will appear half the Face, or like the -Façade of a Tuscan Temple, to which the Breadth of the Brim of the -_Petasus_ and the Bells supply the Place of an Entablature: - -I have been the longer in this Description because the Fabrick was in -the Age of Pythagoras and his School, when the World began to be fond of -Geometry and Arithmetick. - -N.B. In all the Editions of Pliny for _Tricenum_ read Tricentinûm as the -sense requires. - - At the end of the Discourse on Architecture is an elevation, drawn - in pen and sepia, of the tomb of Mausolus, as Sir Christopher - supposed from Pliny's account that it must have been constructed. - It is drawn to a scale, with indications of statues, of which he - supposed there to have been forty-eight. It is remarkable how - closely Sir Christopher's conjectural elevation tallies with what - recent excavations have brought to light. - - - - - INDEX. - - - Abbot, Bishop of London, 11, 14; - Archbishop of Canterbury, 24 - - Académie Royale des Sciences, 148 - - Addison, 74, 179 - - All Hallows, Bread Street, rebuilt by Wren, 232; - destruction of, 232, 234 - - -- -- Lombard Street, rebuilt by Wren, 271, 272 - - -- -- Thames Street, 240 - - All Saints, Isleworth, 298 - - Andrewes, Lancelot, Dean of Westminster, Bishop of Chichester, - of Ely, of Winchester, kindness of, to Matthew Wren, 6, 7; - his prophecy, 10, 13; - his death, 14; - funeral of, at St. Saviour's, Southwark, 15; - care of, in giving church preferment, 31; - chaplain sent to the New Forest by, 40; - appointment of Mr. Bois by, 46; - quoted by Bishop Wren, 62; - church views of, 120; - legacy of, to Pembroke College library, 134 - - 'Annals of England,' 20, 58, 77, 122 - - Anne, Queen, 300, 301, 305, 317, 320, 327 - - 'Annual Register,' the (1765), 174 - - Arches Court, The, origin of the name, 184 - - Architecture, 119, 148, 150, 171, 184, 197, 240, 268, 290, 329; - Discourse on, by Sir C. Wren. _See_ Appendix III., 340 - - Artillery Company, the, 185 - - Ashburnham, Mr., 75 - - Ashmole, Mr. Elias, founder of the Ashmolean Museum, 217 - - Atterbury, Dean of Westminster, and Bishop of Rochester, 203, 209 - - Aubrey, the Wiltshire Antiquary, 91 - - Ayliffe's 'Oxford,' 125, 141 - - - Bancroft, Archbishop, 14 - - Barrow, Dr. Isaac, eulogy of, on Christopher Wren, 128, 129 - - Barwick, Dr., Dean of Durham, of S. Paul's, 'Life of,' 72, 76, 85, - 110, 112, 115, 120, 140 - - Bathurst, Dr., 144, 145, 270, 271 - - 'Beauties of England and Wales,' 16 - - Bedloe, witness in the Popish plot, 227 - - Benson, William, appointed by George I. to supersede Wren, 329, 330 - - Bernini, Giov., 145, 149 - - Billing, A., 'Restoration of the Church of S. Sepulchre,' 183 - - Bird, Francis, sculptor, 300, 304 - - 'Black Book of the Garter,' the, 4, 68 - - Blenheim Palace, building of, by Vanbrugh, 286 - - Blenheim, victory of (1704), 301 - - 'Blue Book of the Garter,' the, 68 - - Blunt, 'Key to the Holy Bible,' 46 - - Bois, Mr. John, 46 - - Bow Church. _See_ S. Mary-le-Bow - - Boyle, Robert, 283 - - Brewster, Sir David, 'Life of Newton,' 330 - - British Association, the, report of, for 1859, 333 - - Brouncker, Lord, 124, 126, 143 - - Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, 279 - - Burton, Henry, 251 - - Busby, Dr., head-master of Westminster, 41, 300 - - Bushnell, John, 179 - - Butler, Bishop of Bristol, 65 - - Butler, Samuel, 130 - - - Cambridge, 6, 15, 45, 216 - - Canova, Antonio, 192 - - Catechism, the, clergy compelled to use, 22, 50 - - Cave, Dr. William, 240 - - Cemeteries, Wren's plan for placing outside London, 307 - - Chardin, Sir John, 230, 231 - - Charles I., his journey to Spain as Prince of Wales, 7-9; - his coronation in Scotland, 16; - sets up his standard at Nottingham (1642), 60; - sends a pardon to Laud, 70; - his flight from Oxford, 75; - his death, 86; - his bust by Bernini, 149; - proposed monument to, 209, 210 - - Charles II., escape of, after the battle of Worcester, 91; - letter of, to Monk from Breda, 112; - entry of, into London, 117; - encouragement given by, to the founding of the Royal Society, - 124, 130; - spirited behaviour of, at the Fire of London, 156; - first stone of the Royal Exchange laid by, 178; - portion of the tax on coal given to building of S. Paul's by, - 198; - palace at Newmarket built for, 225; - death of, 246 - - Chelsea College, building of the hospital at, 239, 240, 300, 326, - 327 - - Chichester, sack of, by the Parliamentary troops, 79, 123 - - -- cathedral of, spire repaired by Wren, 243 - - Christ Church, Newgate, repaired by Wren, 260 - - Christ Church, Oxford, gateway at, built by Wren, 232 - - 'Church Quarterly Review,' the, 65, 123 - - Cibber, Caius, 207 - - City churches, the. _See_ Names of Churches. - For complete list of, see Appendix II., 338 - - City Church and Churchyard Protection Society, 191; - Report of, 205 - - City companies' halls rebuilt by Wren, 266. - For list of, see Appendix II., 339 - - Clarendon, Lord, 19, 20, 23, 47, 110, 121, 160 - - Claypole, Richard, 99 - - Coal, portion of tax on, granted for the rebuilding of S. Paul's, - 198 - - Coghill, Faith, 91, 176, 177 - - Collier, 'Ecclesiastical History,' 20 - - Common Prayer. _See_ Prayer Book - - Compton, Bishop of London, 220, 279, 323, 324 - - Convocation, meeting of, in S. Paul's (1661), 119, 120 - - Corbet, Bishop of Norwich, of Oxford, 22, 24, 27, 215 - - Cosin, Dean of Peterborough, Bishop of Durham, 153 - - Coverdale, Bishop Miles, 219 - - Cowley, Abraham, 124, 147 - - Cromwell, Oliver, 9, 91, 99, 102 - - Cromwell, Richard, 103 - - Custom-house, the, rebuilt by Wren, 176 - - - Dale, Rev. T. P., rector of S. Vedast's, Foster Lane, imprisonment - of, 273 - - Davenport, 'Oxfordshire Annals,' 25 - - 'Decoy Duck,' the, a pamphlet against Archbishop Williams, 59 - - Denham, Sir John, 127, 139 - - De Ros, Lord, 'The Tower of London,' 211 - - Dore, Abbey of, 19 - - Doyley, 'Life of Sancroft,' 165, 166 - - Dunton, John, leader of the expedition against the Sallee - pirates, 20 - - Duppa, Dr. Brian, Bishop of Salisbury, appointed executor of - Archbishop Laud's will, 71; - Archbishop Tenison secretly ordained by, 123 - - - East Knoyle, living of, held by Dr. Wren, 31, 32, 33 - - Elmes, 'Life of Sir C. Wren,' 90, 97, 200, 230 - - Ely, 44, 45 - - Ely House, 118, 119 - - Ely, Bishop of. _See_ Wren; Turner - - Emmanuel College, Chapel of, built by Wren, 215, 216 - - Evelyn, John, 'Diary' of, 15, 49, 50, 51, 89, 93, 94, 95, 99, 114, - 117, 118, 127, 145, 146, 154, 155, 181, 206, 209, 215, 217, - 226, 228, 229, 230, 242, 244, 260, 286, 287, 302 - - -- -- death of, 304 - - Exchange. _See_ Royal Exchange - - - Fawley Court built by Wren, 245 - - Fell, Bishop of Oxford, 220 - - Fergusson 'Hist. of Architecture,' 15, 184, 192 - - -- 'Illustrated Handbook of Architecture,' 139 - - Fifty new churches, Act for building the, 305 - - Fire of London, the, 155, 159, 175, 184, 185, 187, 191, 192, 204, - 219, 243, 288 - - Flamsteed, Astronomer Royal, 216, 299, 327 - - Fogg, Captain, pillage of S. George's Chapel by, 67 - - Fox, Sir Stephen, 239, 269, 327 - - 'Fragmentary Illustrations of the History of the Book of Common - Prayer,' 120 - - Freemasons, the Order of, 147, 200, 285 - - Frogley, Richard, Wren's carpenter, 142 - - Fuller, Dr. Thomas, 6, 10 - - - Garter, the Order of the, 4, 5, 16, 34-36, 67, 68, 80, 81, 123, 217 - - Garth, Samuel, physician and poet, 265 - - George I., 329 - - George, Prince, 235, 300 - - Gibbons, Grinling, 194, 195, 242, 252, 253, 324 - - Gibbs, James, pupil of Wren's builder of S. Mary-le-Strand and - S. Martin's-in-the-Fields, 233, 286, 305 - - Goddard, Dr., Warden of Merton College, 77, 78, 103, 104, 105, 124, - 125 - - Godwin, 'De Præsulibus Angliae Commentarius,' 57, 94 - - Grainger, 'Biographical History of England,' 59, 149, 231 - - Great Haseley, detection of a murder at, 38 - - Greenwich Hospital, 269, 299 - - -- Observatory, 216, 327 - - -- Palace, 127 - - Gresham College, London, 98, 103, 105, 123, 240 - - Gresham Professors. _See_ Ward's 'Lives of' - - Grey, 'Examination of Neale's Hist. of the Puritans,' 62, 86, 122 - - Griffiths, Matthew, Rector of S. Mary Magdalene's, Fish St. 248 - - Gustavus Adolphus, his George and Garter, 37, 67 - - - Hackett, Dr., 18 - - Hall, Bishop of Norwich, 58 - - Halley, Dr., 247, 299, 333 - - Hampton Court Palace, Wren's alterations at, 267, 268. - - Hare, A. C., 'Walks in London,' 119, 252 - - Harris, Renatus, builder of the organ at S. James', Westminster, - 243; - at S. Paul's, 274, 275 - - Hatton, E. 'New View of London,' 219, 262, 271, 272 - - Hawkins, Sir John, monument of, at S. Dunstan's-in-the-East, 287. - - Hawksmore, Nicholas, a pupil of Wren's, 206, 286, 293, 305 - - Henchman, Bishop of London, 154, 222 - - Henley-on-Thames, 38, 75, 159 - - Henry VI., 4 - - Hewet, Dr., 99 - - Heylin, 'Cyprianus Anglicus,' 15, 22, 44 - - Hoare, Sir R., 'History of Wiltshire,' 33 - - Holder, Dr. 42, 177, 222, 223, 261, 300 - - Holder, Mrs., 42, 176, 223, 224, 225, 261, 300 - - Hooke, Robert, 159, 246, 247 - - Hope, Right Honourable, A. J. B. B. 'Worship in the Church of - England,' 65 - - Hoskyns, C. Wren, 3, 231 - - Hoskyns, Sir John, 231 - - Hudson, Dr., chaplain to Charles I., 75 - - Hume, 'History of England,' 102 - - Hyde, Mr., 110, 111, 112, 113, 115. - _See_ Clarendon. - - - Inigo Jones, 42, 93, 127, 166, 243, 269 - - Ipswich, Disturbances at, stirred up by Prynne, 44, 45; - Tower church at, 65. - - - James I., visit of, to Cambridge, 6; - plans the Spanish match, 7; - his opinion of Bishop King, 222 - - James II., Inscription on Monument effaced by, 208; - continues Wren on S. Paul's commission, 248; - Declaration by, of liberty of conscience, 260; - Abdication of, 263; - Residence of, at S. Germain's, 283 - - Jarman, the city architect, 266 - - Jeffreys, Judge, his letter to Pepys, 161, 162 - - Jennings, Richard, Wren's master carpenter, 159, 200, 321, 323 - - Juxon, Bishop of London, 17, 49, 86, 109; - Archbishop of Canterbury, 118 - - - Ken, Prebendary of Winchester, Bishop of Bath and Wells, 220, 234, - 260 - - Kennet, Bishop, 122 - - Kensington Palace, additions to, made by Wren, 268 - - King, Bishop of London, his gravestone, 222 - - Knolles, 'Historie of the Turks,' 19 - - - Lake, Bishop of Chichester, 260 - - Lalanne, L., 'Dictionnaire Historique de la France,' 149 - - Lambeth Palace, 41, 47, 48, 239 - - Lane, Mr. Peter, Rector of S. Bennet's, Paul's wharf, 243 - - Lathbury, 'History of Book of Common Prayer,' 123 - - Laud, Bishop of S. David's, of London, Archbishop of Canterbury, - advice of, respecting chaplains for the Prince of Wales, 7; - form of penance, and reconciliation for a renegado prepared with - Bishop Wren by, 20; - measures taken by, against the lecturers, 22; - his treatment of the foreign congregations, 23, 24; - works at S. Paul's carried on by order of, 41, 42; - yearly report of, to the King, 45; - impeachment and imprisonment of, in the Tower, 48, 50; - his refusal to escape, 61; - Trial of, 69, 70; - his execution on Tower Hill, 70; - order of, respecting altar-rails, 249 - - Lecturers, measures taken against, 22, 27 - - Lenthall, William, Speaker of the House of Commons, 38, 79 - - Le Soeur, Hubert, his statue of King Charles, 195 - - Littleton, Lord Keeper, 57 - - Lloyd, Bishop of S. Asaph, 217, 226, 260, 281 - - Longitude, the, attempts to discover accurately, 215, 331, 332 - - London, city of, 25, 41, 98, 142, 154, 155, 179, 186, 188, 335. - _See_ Fire; Plague; Tower. - - London Bridge, 204, 262, 288 - - -- Stone, 219 - - Long Parliament, the, 56, 68, 103 - - Longman, 'Three Cathedrals dedicated to S. Paul's in London,' 198, - 222, 273, 293 - - Louvre, the, 148, 149 - - Lysons, 'Environs of London,' 298 - - - Macaulay, 'History of England,' 261, 281 - - Marah, 'Life of Archbishop Juxon,' 18 - - Marlborough, Duchess of, 285, 286 - - -- Duke of, 301, 302 - - Mary, Princess, her marriage, 49 - - -- Queen, her arrival in England, 263; - employs Wren to rebuild Hampton Court, 267; - her death, 268 - - Maw, Bishop of Bath and Wells, 7 - - 'Memorials of the See of Chichester,' 79, 123, 245 - - Merchant Taylors' School, 6 - - Milford, Rev. R.N., 33 - - Milman, 'Annals of S. Paul's Cathedral,' 197, 203, 318 - - Milton, 122, 232 - - Monk, George, afterwards General, 71, 72, 103, 112, 114 - - Monument, the, built by Wren, 207; - inscriptions on, 207, 208 - - Morley, Bishop of Winchester, 220 - - Morton, Bishop of Durham, 112 - - Motley 'Life of Barnevelde,' 61 - - - Neale, 'History of the Puritans,' 58 - - Neile, Bishop of Rochester, of Lichfield, of Lincoln, of Durham, - of Winchester, and Archbishop of York, 10, 11, 13, 57, 70 - - Newcourt, 'Repertorium,' 118, 183, 218, 222, 241, 243, 249, 250, - 273 - - Newmarket, hunting palace built for Charles II. at, 225 - - Newport, Lord, 218 - - Newton, Sir Isaac, 154, 193, 232, 246, 247, 324, 327 - - Noble, 'Biographical History of England,' 225, 330 - - Non-jurors, the, 264, 281 - - Norris, Lord, 38, 39 - - Norwich, diocese of, overrun with lecturers, 22; - weavers at, Bishop Wren's treatment of, 23, 25 - - Notes and queries, 90 - - - Oates, Titus, 226 - - Oldenburg, Mr., Secretary of the Royal Society, 299 - - Oughtred, the Rev. W., 78; - his death from joy at the Restoration, 79 - - Oxford, 25, 31, 74, 75, 90, 93, 140, 144, 192, 217, 232 - - - Papin, Denys, inventor of Papin's Digestor, 229, 230 - - Parentalia, the, 26, 32, 34, 66, 74, 82, 87, 90, 98, 153, 154, 155, - 177, 200, 201, 203, 223, 235, 247, 281, 325, 326, 330 - - Pascal, 101, 102, 148 - - Pearson, Dr., His sermon at Bishop Wren's funeral, 160 - - Peck, 'Desiderata Curiosa,' 46, 75, 160 - - Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, 6, 134; - Consecration of chapel of, 162; - Bishop Wren buried at, 160; - Matthew Wren buried at, 161; - Sir C. Wren's son educated at, 265 - - Pepys' Diary, 118, 142, 143, 144, 156, 158, 161, 175, 178, 182, 228 - - Perier, Madame, 'Vie de Pascal,' 102 - - Peter the Great at Sayes Court, 286, 287 - - Peterhouse, Cambridge, 15, 17, 45, 88, 153, 160 - - Petty, Dr., afterwards Sir William, 89, 124, 125 - - Phelp, Richard, bell-founder, 321, 323 - - Philosophical Society, the, 126 - - Philosophy Act, the, kept at Cambridge, 6; - at Oxford, 93 - - Physicians, College of, built by Wren, 265 - - Pierce, Edward, sculptor under Wren, 207 - - Pigott, Mrs., only surviving descendant of Sir C. Wren, 231, 304, - 317 - - Plague, the (in 1636), 25; (in 1665), 142, 143, 144, 154, 243 - - Plot, Dr., 142, 300 - - Pope, 'Moral Essays,' 208 - - -- 'Dunciad,' 330 - - Popish Plot, the, 227 - - Portland, Earl of, 282, 303 - - Portland quarries, the, 221, 279 - - Prayer Book, the, 65, 69, 118 - - -- of Edward VI., the first, 121 - - Prynne, William, 44, 45, 50, 70 - - - 'Quench Coal,' pamphlet by Prynne, 44 - - 'Querela Cantabrigiensis,' 76 - - - Raikes, Captain, 'History of the Honourable Artillery Company,' 185 - - Randolph, Thomas, 90 - - Red Book of the Garter, the, 68 - - Renegado, form of penance and reconciliation for, 19, 20 - - Restoration, the, 79 - - Rooke, Laurence, Astronomy Professor at Gresham College, 125, 128 - - Rowe, Sir Thomas, 34, 35 - - Royal Exchange, the, rebuilt by C. Wren, 178 - - Royal Society, the, 95, 124, 129, 141, 145, 154, 159, 193, 194, - 203, 208, 222, 223, 228, 230, 231, 239, 240, 246, 284, 299, - 327, 333; - 'History of,' by Sprat, 95 - - -- 'History of,' by Weld, 124, 327 - - Ryswick, peace of (1697), 271 - - Ryves, Dr., Bruno, Dean of Chichester, and of Windsor, and - Registrar of the Garter, 123 - - - S. Alban's, Lord, 146, 148, 241 - - -- Alban's, Wood St., rebuilt by Wren, 248 - - -- Andrew's, Holborn, rebuilt by Wren, 259, 297 - - -- Andrew's-by-the-Wardrobe, rebuilt by Wren, 271 - - SS. Anne and Agnes' Church, rebuilt by Wren, 218 - - S. Anne's, Soho, 300 - - -- Antholin's, Watling St., rebuilt by Wren, 233; - destruction of, 234 - - -- Augustine's Church, 234 - - -- Bartholomew's, Bartholomew Lane, rebuilt by Wren, 218; - destroyed to give site for the Sun Fire-office, 219 - - -- Bartholomew's Day (1662), 122 - - -- Bennet's, Gracechurch St., rebuilt by Wren, 250; - destruction of, 250 - - -- Bennet's, Paul's Wharf, rebuilt by Wren, 243 - - -- Bennet Fink, rebuilt by Wren, 194; - destruction of, 194 - - S. Bride's, Fleet St., rebuilt by Wren, 219, 220 - - -- Christopher-le-Stocks, repaired by Wren, 185 - - -- Clement Danes, rebuilt by Wren, 233 - - -- -- Eastcheap, rebuilt by Wren, 252 - - -- Dionysius or S. Dionis, Back Church, rebuilt by Wren, 194; - destruction of, 194 - - -- Dunstan's in the East, repaired by Wren, 287, 288 - - -- Edmund the King, rebuilt by Wren, 267 - - -- Faith (crypt of S. Paul's), built by Wren, 262 - - -- George's, Botolph Lane, rebuilt by Wren, 194 - - -- George's Chapel, Windsor, 4, 5, 67, 68, 209 - - -- Gregory's Church, 41, 99, 250 - - -- James's, Garlickhithe, rebuilt by Wren, 243 - - -- -- Westminster, built by Wren, 241, 242, 310 - - -- John's College, 31, 71 - - -- Lawrence, Jewry, rebuilt by Wren, 206 - - -- Magnus, London Bridge, 5; - rebuilt by Wren, 204, 297 - - -- Margaret's, Fish St., 5 - - -- -- Lothbury, rebuilt by Wren, 267 - - -- -- Pattens, rebuilt by Wren, 259 - - -- Martin's-in-the-Fields, 191; - rebuilt by Gibbs, 233 - - -- Martin's, Ludgate Hill, rebuilt by Wren, 248 - - -- Mary's, Abchurch, rebuilt by Wren, 252 - - -- -- Aldermanbury, rebuilt by Wren, 207 - - -- -- -at-Hill, 191 - - -- -- -le-Bow, rebuilt by Wren, 183 - - S. Mary-le-Strand, built by Gibbs, 233, 305 - - -- -- Somerset, rebuilt by Wren, 273 - - -- -- Woolnoth, repaired by Wren, rebuilt by Hawksmore, 206 - - -- -- Magdalene, Fish St., rebuilt by Wren, 248 - - -- Matthew's, Friday St., rebuilt by Wren, 250 - - -- Michael's, Bassishaw, rebuilt by Wren, 219 - - -- -- Cornhill, rebuilt by Wren, 191 - - -- -- Crooked Lane, rebuilt by Wren, 262; - destruction of (1830), 262 - - -- -- Queenhithe, repaired by Wren, 207 - - -- Mary's, Royal College Hill, rebuilt by Strong, Wren's - master-mason, 272 - - -- Mildred's, Bread St., rebuilt by Wren, 240 - - -- -- Poultry, rebuilt by Wren, 205; - destruction of, in 1872, 205 - - -- Nicholas, Cole Abbey, rebuilt by Wren, 206 - - -- Olave's, Jewry, rebuilt by Wren, 194 - - -- Paul's Cathedral, old, repairs of, 41, 42; - attacked by the Puritan mob (1640), 46-47; - meeting of the Convocation of Canterbury at (1661), 119; - Wren's proposed repairs of, 139, 140, 154; - burning of, in the Great Fire (1666), 156, 158; - removing the ruins of, 165; - Sancroft's letters to Wren respecting, 166, 168; - Wren's account of the effect of the fire upon, 169, 170, 171; - sale of the ruins of, for the rebuilding of parochial churches, - 186, 187; - ruins of, blown up with gunpowder, 187, 188; - New or present building, different designs for, and Wren's model - of, 196, 197; - first stone of, laid by Wren, 200; - Wren's care in laying the foundations of, 201; - Bishop Compton's address to obtain contributions for, 220; - quarries of Portland stone set apart for, 221; - the crypt of, finished, 261, 262; - part of the money for, taken by Parliament for the expenses of - King William's wars, 273; - placing of the organ in, 273, 274, 275; - opening of the choir of, 279; - Wren's order against swearing among the workmen in, 285; - morning-prayer chapel of, opened, 288; - burial of Jane Wren in, 300; - thanksgiving for the victory of Blenheim at, 301; - covering of the dome of, with lead, 303; - last stone of, laid by Wren's son, 318, 319; - the iron gates set up in, 324; - Wren's design for east end of, 324, 325; - iron fence round, 326; - design of the commissioners to put up a balustrade, in, 328; - late improvements in, 334 - - S. Peter's, Cornhill, rebuilt by Wren, 233; - charitable legacies belonging to, 233 - - -- Sepulchre's Church, 182, 183 - - -- Stephen's, Coleman St., rebuilt by Wren, 205 - - -- -- Walbrook, rebuilt by Wren, 192, 225, 226 - - -- Swithin's, Cannon St., rebuilt by Wren, 219 - - -- Vedast's, Foster Lane, steeple of, added by Wren, 273 - - Salisbury Cathedral, Wren's work at, 17 - - Sancroft, Dr., Dean of S. Paul's and Archbishop of Canterbury, - appointed a S. Paul's commissioner, 154; - sermon of, after the Fire, 1, 5; - letters of, to Sir C. Wren, 166-168; - contributions of, to the building of S. Paul's, 220; - imprisonment of, in the Tower, 260, 261; - refuses to take the oath of allegiance to William III., 264 - - Savoy conference, the, 120 - - Sayes Court occupied by Peter the Great, 286, 287 - - Scarborough, Sir Charles, 78, 224 - - Scudamore, Lord, 19 - - 'Sessional Papers, R. I. B. A.,' 267, 268 - - Seven Bishops, the, trial of, 235, 260 - - Seward, 'Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons,' 222 - - Sheldon, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, 140, 146 - - Sheldonian Theatre, the, built by Wren, 140, 331 - - Sherlock, Dean of S. Paul's, 281 - - Simpson, Dr. Sparrow, 'Documents illustrating the History of - S. Paul's,' 27, 274, 280, 288, 323 - - Smith, Bernard, or Father, builder of organ at S. Paul's, 275, 288 - - South, Dr., 69, 141 - - Spain, expedition of the Prince of Wales to, 7, 9 - - 'Spectator, the,' 179 - - Sprat, Dr., Dean of Westminster and Bishop of Rochester, - his account of the meetings of the Royal Society, 95; - 'History of Royal Society,' 95; - letters of, to Christopher Wren, 105, 132, 133; - his sermon before the Commons, 209; - is succeeded by Atterbury, 289 - - Steele, Sir R., 'The Tatler,' 239 - - Strafford, Lord, 48, 49, 50 - - Strong, Edward, Wren's master-mason, 272, 284, 297, 303 - - - -- Thomas, brother of Edward, 200 - - Tangiers, fortifications of, 132 - - Tenison, Thomas, Bishop of Lincoln and Archbishop of Canterbury, - his secret ordination by Bishop Duppa, 123; - founding of a library at S. Martin's by, 226; - building of the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, Conduit St., by, 243 - - Temple Bar, built by Wren, 179 - - Tijou, M., worker in iron, maker of the gates in S. Paul's, 324, - 326 - - Tilbury Fort, 216 - - Torricelli, his invention of the barometer, 100, 101 - - Tower of London, the, 44, 58, 59, 69, 71, 87, 114, 115, 187, 210, - 211, 260, 261 - - Tradescant, John, collector of the objects of natural history in - the Oxford Museum, 217 - - Trelawney, Bishop of Winchester, 235 - - Trinity College, Oxford, 144, 145, 146 - - Trinity College, Cambridge, 146 - - Turner, Bishop of Ely, 260 - - - Vanbrugh, Sir John, 286, 305 - - Van Vianen, Christian, 37 - - Ven, Colonel, 68 - - Verrio, painter, his work at Whitehall and Windsor, 252 - - - Wadham College, Oxford, 73, 77, 79, 93, 95, 105 - - Waller, Edmund, 9, 196 - - Waller, Sir William, sack of the city of Chichester by, 79, 123 - - Wallis, Dr., 77, 78, 112, 141, 222, 223 - - Walpole, 'Anecdotes of Painting,' 37, 268 - - Walworth, Sir William, his tomb, 262 - - Ward, 'Lives of the Gresham Professors,' 79, 89, 128, 226 - - Ward, Dr. Seth., Bishop of Exeter, of Salisbury, 90, 124, 125, 171, - 206 - - 'Warwickshire Worthies,' 3, 330 - - Weather-clock, the invention of, by Wren, 89 - - Weavers, the, at Norwich, 23 - - Weld, 'History of the Royal Society,' 124, 193, 327 - - Westminster Abbey, 57, 230, 289, 293, 320, 331 - - -- School, 41, 57, 69, 90, 231 - - White, Bishop of Peterborough, 260, 281 - - Whitehall, 144, 149, 252, 299, 317 - - Whittington, Sir Richard, 272 - - Wilkins, Dr. John, Bishop of Chester, 74, 77, 93, 94, 95, 124, 206 - - William, Prince of Orange, 49 - - William III., 208, 263, 268, 299 - - Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, and Archbishop of York, 57, 59 - - Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man, 220 - - Winchester, Wren's scheme for palace at, 234, 235 - - -- House, conference at, 10, 11 - - Windsor, 4, 16, 37, 40, 68, 263, 264, 265, 300 - - Wiseman, attack of the mob on Westminster Abbey, led by, 57 - - Wood, 'Athenæ Oxonienses,' 153 - - -- 'Fasti,' 223 - - Wood, Philip, carvings of, 253-255 - - Woodward, Dr., 202, 203 - - Worcester, battle of (1651), 91, 93 - - 'Workman, the British,' 253 - - Wren, Capt, 161, 162 - - -- Charles, son of Bishop Wren, 161 - - Wren, Christopher, Dr., birth of, 5; - education of, 31; - given the living of Fonthill Bishops, 31; - of East Knoyle, 31; - made Dean of Windsor and Registrar of the Garter, 34; - made rector of Great Haseley, 38; - building at Windsor for Charles I. designed by, 40; - his care for the treasures of the Order of the Garter, 67; - letter of, to the Knights of the Garter, 80, 81; - death of, 96 - - Wren, Sir Christopher, birth of, 32; - sent to school at Westminster, 41; - his Latin letter to his father, 42, 43; - goes to Oxford, 73, 74; - his life there, 77, 78; - his translation of the 'Clavis Aurea,' 78, 79; - his early Inventions, 88, 89, 90; - friendship of, with Evelyn, 93, 94; - made Gresham professor of astronomy, 97; - his first lecture, 97, 98; - discovery of the barometer by, 101; - origin of the Royal Society in meetings in his rooms, 124; - is made Savilian professor, 125; - and doctor of civil laws at Oxford and Cambridge, 126; - his letter to Lord Brouncker on Experiments, 126, 127; - writes the preamble to the Charter of the Royal Society, 129; - declines the commission to direct the fortifications of - Tangiers, 132; - his designs for the chapel at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, 134; - his letter to Dr. Bathurst, 144; - his journey abroad, 146; - his journal, 149-152; - his return to London and inspection of S. Paul's, 154; - his plan for rebuilding the city after the fire, 157, 158, 172, - 173; - Sancroft's letters to him as to the patching of S. Paul's, - 166-171; - his work at Salisbury Cathedral, 171; - letter of, to Faith Coghill, 177; - his marriage, 178; - rebuilding of the Exchange by, 178; - building of Temple Bar by, 178; - petition of, to Charles II., 180-182; - rebuilding of Bow Church by, 183-184; - of S. Christopher-le-Stocks, 184; - is made a member of the Honourable Artillery Company, 185; - resigns the Savilian astronomy professorship, 186; - appointed architect of S. Paul's, 187; - clears away the ruins of old S. Paul's, 187; - his experiment in blowing up the tower with gunpowder, 188; - his use of a battering ram, 188; - birth of his eldest son, 191; - repair of S. Mary-at-Hill by, 191; - building of S. Stephen's, Walbrook, by, 192, 225; - knighted by Charles II., 194; - rebuilding of Drury Lane by, 196; - salary as architect of S. Paul's, 196; - his model for S. Paul's, 196-198; - lays the first stone of S. Paul's, 200; - death of his wife, 203; - his second marriage, 203; - rebuilding of eight city churches by, 204-207; - building of the Monument by, 207; - his designs for a monument to Charles I., 209; - building of the chapel at Emmanuel College by, 216; - of the Observatory at Greenwich, 216; - birth of his daughter Jane, 217; - rebuilding of five more city churches by, 218, 219; - the marking out of the dome of S. Paul's by, 222; - death of his second wife, 226; - elected President of the Royal Society, 228; - Christ Church gateway built by, 232; - All Hallows, Bread Street, rebuilt by, 232; - S. Peter's, Cornhill, and S. Clement Danes rebuilt by, 233; - his design for a palace at Winchester, 234, 235; - Chelsea Hospital built by, 240; - S. James's, Westminster, built by, 241; - Chichester Cathedral repaired by, 245; - Fawley Court built by, 245; - made Controller of the Works, 246; - elected member for Plympton, 247; - eight more city churches built by, 248-252; - death of his sister Susan, 261; - buildings by, erected at Windsor, 264, 265; - College of Physicians built by, 265; - halls of city companies rebuilt by, 266; - Hampton Court palace rebuilt by, 257, 268; - scheme of, for Greenwich Palace, 269; - his difficulties in placing the organ of S. Paul's, 273; - invention by, of a pulpit on wheels, 280; - letter of, to his son in Paris, 282, 283; - chosen Grand Master of the Freemasons, 285; - Marlborough House built by, 286; - S. Dunstan's-in-the-East repaired by, 287, 288; - statement of, as to repairs of Westminster Abbey, 289-293; - elected member for Weymouth, 298; - death of his daughter Jane, 300; - second letter of, to his son, 302, 303; - letter of, on church building, 305-313; - private houses built by, 317; - last stone of S. Paul's laid by his son, 318; - attack on, by S. Paul's Commissioners, 320; - his petition to Queen Anne, 320, 322; - his unfulfilled design for east end of S. Paul's, 324, 325; - dismissal of, by George I., from the post of surveyor-general, - 329; - purchase of Wroxhall Abbey by, 330; - his studies and papers in cipher respecting the longitude at sea, - 331, 332; - his death 333; - his burial and monument, 334 - - Wren Christopher, son of Sir C. Wren, 200, 265, 269, 281, 282, 283, - 302, 303, 304, 318, 330 - - Wren, Francis, 5 - - -- Geoffrey, 4, 5 - - -- Jane, daughter of Sir C. Wren, 217, 269, 288, 300, 301 - - -- Matthew, birth and education of, 6; - sent with the Prince to Spain, 7, 8; - return and statement of, to three Bishops respecting the Prince - of Wales, 10-13; - elected Master of Peterhouse, 15; - made Dean of Windsor, 16; - his marriage, 16; - made Bishop of Hereford, 17; - Clerk of the Closet, 17; - service composed by, for the Reconciliation of Renegados, 19, 20; - made Bishop of Norwich, 23; - translated to Ely, 44; - his care for his diocese, 45, 46; - Sir Harbottle Grimston's and Hampden's attack upon him, 48, 49; - officiates at the marriage of Princess Mary, 49; - resigns the Deanery of the Chapels Royal, 51; - articles of accusation drawn up against him in the Commons, 55; - his imprisonment, 58; - his defence, 61-66; - death of his wife, 85; - his life in the Tower, 86; - refuses freedom on Cromwell's terms, 100; - his conferences with Dr. Barwick, 110-113; - released from prison, 115, 116; - revision of the Prayer Book by, 120; - consecration and dedication of Pembroke Chapel by, 152; - second visitation, 153; - death and funeral of, 159, 160, 161 - - Wren, Matthew, son of Bishop - - Wren, 60, 78, 85, 88, 92, 103, 112, 124, 160, 161, 194 - - -- Stephen, grandson of Sir C. Wren, 224 - - -- Susan, daughter of Dean Wren, 34, 41. - _See_ Holder. - - -- Thomas, son of Bishop Wren, 161, 162, 224 - - -- William, 4, 5 - - -- Sir William, son of Bishop Wren, 161, 162 - - Wrenne, ancient form of spelling Wren, 4 - - Wrenne, John, 4 - - Wroxhall Abbey, purchase of, by Sir C. Wren, 330 - - - York, Duke of, 160, 185, 228, 234. - _See_ James II. - - LONDON: PRINTED BY - SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE - AND PARLIAMENT STREET - - - - - * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber's note: - -Separate characters 'oe' are used for the 'oe' ligature. - -Each chapter begins with a separate chapter page and summary, followed -by a separate epigraph page, and an additional chapter heading. The -redundant chapter headings have been removed. - -Quoted matter was printed with a reverse, or hanging indentation, with -the first line of each quotation on the normal margin and the remaining -lines indented. This indentation was repeated on each new page. These -quotations are rendered here by simply indenting all the quoted matter. - -The reference made in Archbishop Laud's diary, quoted on p. 48, -would seem to be to Isaiah 50 (i e., 'l'). - -Words found only when hyphenated across lines were handled according to -modern usage. A number of words are found both with and without hyphens -in mid-line, and are left as printed. - -Irregularities in the punctuation of the Index have been corrected. The -entry for Nicholas Hawksmore was incorrectly placed, and has been moved -to its proper position. An incorrect page reference for the Tower of -London (pp. 211, 212) was changed to pp. 210, 211 where the White Tower -is discussed. - -The following corrections, most of them sins of omission, presumably by -the printer, are corrected, except as noted. There is a discrepancy in -the quotation marks on p. 64 which is not readily resolved, and has been -left as printed. - -Corrections: - - p. 32 _March_ 1631[.] (O.S.) Removed. - - p. 43 foveasque sinu.['] Removed. - - p. 64 of Popish recusants.['] ... not to say _sic?_. - - p. 76 propriety of our goods[.] Removed. - - p. 89 n. 56 an interesting [a]ccount Added. - - - p. 127 made as bi[g] as a tennis-ball Added. - - p. 149 n.102 in the fire[ ]at Whitehall Space added. - - p. 153 n. 105 repeated at [t]he consecration Added. - - p. 167 [']Sir,--Yesterday my Lords of Canterbury Added. - - p. 245 n. 190 _Memorials of the See of Chichester_, - p. 306[.] Added. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN*** - - -******* This file should be named 42007-8.txt or 42007-8.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/2/0/0/42007 - - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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