AMONG the many vague legends preserved respect- | ing the first propagation of Christianity in Great Britain, there is one which attributes that service to the apostle whose name distinguishes this cathedral. The curious in such matters will find the question discussed at some length in the tracts on the British Church, which have been published by Dr. Burgess. The writers who enforce this as a fact add another equally difficult of proof-that the first foundation of our great national Church took place in honour of this saint during the time he sojourned on the island. It is scarcely necessary to observe that these points are disbelieved by modern authors. But though nothing certain can be affirmed of them, it is clear, upon many different heads of evidence, that the church was in existence during the rule of the ancient Britons, and was an archiepiscopal see in the second century. There is a papal bull upon record, issued by Pope Gregory to Augustine, which directs that the archbishop of London "shall be hereafter consecrated of his own synod, and receive his pall of the holy see." Bede also informs us, that the bishops of London and York had equal rank. His words are, "Between the bishops of London and York let this be the difference, that he be the highest who is the first ordained." The degree of faith to be placed upon the many stories related of the primitive foundation of St. Paul's may be inferred from the fact that Sir Christopher Wren was only able to conjecture that it was first built upon the site of a prætorian camp, established by the Romans, and reduced to ruins during the persecution of Dioclesian, in the third century.

Upon the ruins of that edifice another structure was raised, as the same architect conjectures, in the reign of Constantine the Great. But the relapses into paganism were frequent, and the maintenance of the Christian Church feeble and precarious until the reign of Sebert over the Eastern Saxons. Confirmed by the preaching of Augustine, the new faith then obtained numerous believers, the monarch himself being an ardent promoter of its cultivation. Historically speaking, the establishment of Christianity and St. Paul's Cathedral are held to have taken their rise from these proceedings in the year 604*. Sebert gave the Bishop

• Dugdale, History of St. Paul's, p. 2. Ed. 1818, speaks

Mellitus ecclesiastical authority over all his own dominions, which are supposed to have extended no further than the present diocese of London. Ethelbert, to whom Sebert was viceroy, fully approved of the creation of this new jurisdiction, and presented to the bishop of London and monastery of St. Paul's the manor of Tillingham, in Essex, which it still retains, and 3000 acres of marsh

of an introduction of Christianity in the year 185. Sir H. Palgrave, in his History of England (Anglo-Saxon period), printed in Murray's Family Library, will be held to come nearer the positive truth in the following passages:

"Sebert, the king of the East Saxons, was the nephew of Ethelbert, being the son of his sister Ricola, and the Christian missionaries therefore obtained an easy access into his dominions. London was still noted for its opulence; its fame was diffused far and wide; and the city was the resort of merchants from all parts of the world. I say, still, because it had been equally pre-eminent in the Roman times. And the great confusion consequent upon the Saxon conquest had scarcely injured the prosperity of London, which has continued increasing from the time of the Romans till the present day.

"London was quite unlike the great metropolis which we now inhabit. Its extent was confined to what is now termed the city,' then surrounded by a wall, built, as it is supposed, about the age of Constantine, and of which a few All around was open country. fragments are existing.

Towards the north-east a deep marsh-the name is yet

preserved in Moorfields-extended to the foot of the Roman

ramparts. On the western side of the city, and at the dis

tance of nearly two miles, the branches of a small river which fell into the Thames formed an island, so overgrown with thickets and brushwood, that the Saxons called it Thorney, or the Isle of Thorns.' The river surrounding Thorney crept sullenly along the plashy soil; and the spot was so wild and desolate, that it is described as a fearful and terrible place, which no one could approach after night-fall without great danger. In this island there had been an ancient Roman temple, consecrated to Apollo. And Sebert, perhaps on account of the seclusion which Thorney afforded, resolved to build a church on the site, and he dedicated the fabric to St. Peter the Apostle. This church is now Westminster Abbey; the busy city of Westminster is old Thorney Island, that seat of desolation; and the bones of Sebert yet rest in the structure which he founded. Another great church was built by Sebert, in the city of London, upon the ruins of the heathen temple of Diana. This church is now St. Paul's Cathedral; and Mellitus being appointed the first bishop by Ethelbert and Sebert, the succession has continued to the present day."

B

land, situate north of the walls of the city, but no longer possessed by the church.

With the life of Sebert, however, the progress of Christianity also stopped: the people rose against the monks, expelled Mellitus, and again restored the church to the celebration of idolatrous rites. Thirty-eight years had thus passed in apostasy, when St. Chad consecrated it anew, but was unable to conciliate followers enough to support him in retaining possession of it. After a short but perilous episcopacy he was forced to retire with thirty monks into Northumberland, and there one only of the emigrant band escaped the mortality of a violent pestilence which depopulated the province. For some length of time after this calamity it would seem that the East Saxons were without any preachers; and the next notice we have of their return is when Wulpher, king of Mercia, compelled the district to become tributary to his power, and sent missionaries to convert the inhabitants. Bede relates this event, and adds, that it was happily brought about: the instructors, according to him, were received with comfort, and the people returned to the faith with much joy. The name of the fourth bishop of London has been honourably preserved. He was called Erkonwold, and rendered many effective benefits to the religion he professed and the church which he governed. He obtained from the pope a confirmation of the various privileges it had formerly acquired, and added many endowments to its revenues. These services elevated him to a rank among the saints of the English Church; but the sudden fame of the see fell away after his death, which occurred in the year 686. East Saxony became incorporated with Mercia, the dignity of London declined, and the only particulars related of St. Paul's, during two centuries, is comprised in a barren list of the names of those who filled the

see.

Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, who was the first to make London the seat of government, restored St. Paul's to its former state, and liberally provided for its future independence. Encouraged by his patronage, the monks here made the first translation of the Scriptures into the Saxon tongue, and also opened the first school for the study of Greek that was ever taught in the kingdom.

The next superior over the diocese was Dunstan, the saint of that name, who makes so conspicuous a figure in English history, both as a statesman and a prelate. His administration was long and vigorous: he added as well to the privileges as to the possessions of the church; and when he died, in 988, the glory of St. Paul's, to use the emphatic words of the old chronicles, died with him. The only honour it derived from the reign of Ethelred II. was the burial of that monarch in the vaults. The city which had rendered him most essential aid during the vexations of life received the care of his corpse in the quiet of death; after which his son Edmond was crowned over his grave. It was to the pious attention of the monastery of St. Paul's that the conversion of Canute, the Dane, was attributed; and the warrior monarch showed his sense of the benefit by the favours he bestowed upon the clergy and the grants he conferred upon the cathedral. The post of dean of St. Paul's was first instituted during his reign, and by him endowed with a revenue for the support of its dig

nity. Canute's residence was near the church, and extended down to the banks of the Thames : the ground now covered by Castle Baynard Ward was the demesne of his palace. Edward the Confessor is next recorded among the royal benefactors of St. Paul's: but the celebrity of his patronage to this edifice is far eclipsed by the splendid works he erected in the monastery of St. Peter, on Thorney Island, which is now universally known as Westminster Abbey.

A fire laid the city, and with it the cathedral, in ruins in the year 1088. Mauritius, then bishop of London, soon commenced the work of rebuilding it upon a scale of greater extent, and in a style of higher magnificence. The labour was continued with laudable spirit by Richard de Belmeis, the succeeding bishop, who, besides devoting the whole of his ecclesiastical revenues, after the example of Mauritius, to the completion of this stately project, also found means to lay the first establishment of the grammar school, which has existed with such prosperity down to the present day. To him it was that Henry I. conceded the royal tower south of the church in order to increase the materials for the work. Different opinions have been expressed by antiquaries as to what tower or palace it was that was thus presented. Some have confounded it with the Palatinate Tower, near the river Fleet, on the ground of which the Fleet prison stood; others have erroneously supposed it to have been the Bell Tower, in Cheapside: but the fact is, that the gift consisted of the ruins of the palace, supposed to have been built by Athelstan, and which had been inhabited, as already mentioned, by Canute, the Dane. Exclusive of this donation from the sovereign, the contributions from private individuals, "to God and the church of St. Paul," were numerous and considerable. The consequence of all this ardour on the part of the bishop, and piety on the side of his flock, was the production of the Gothic fabric, which is so minutely described and eminently commended in the antiquarian writings of Dugdale, Hollar, and others,-a fabric which not only exceeded in beauties, but surpassed in every circumstance of riches and state, any thing before known in the capital of England. The space around was enlarged and extended over a considerable portion of ground, which has since been built upon. Its boundaries were Paternoster-row and Ave-Maria-lane on the one side; Old Change, Carter-lane, and Creed-lane on the other. The space thus formed was enclosed with suitable residences for the various dignitaries and dependants upon the cathedral.

From this period, St. Paul's became distinguished for the charitable support it gave to the poor and the sick, for the numbers educated within its studious precincts, and the hospitality and learning that characterized its inmates. Indeed, the services formerly rendered to society by the monasteries established under the Benedictine order, were in most respects equal, and in some other superior, to the advantages which are now derived from our more popular universities. The amazing wealth which St. Paul's must then have been possessed of, may be conjectured from the various officers attached to its multiplied foundations. At first it was governed by a bishop, fifty canons, or prebendaries, and twelve minor canons. As the monastery grew in public estimation, different priests were drawn off from

the parent fount, to preach holiness and inculcate learning at other places; fifty more canons were created to supply the labours of this draft. The body consisted exclusively of clerks or priests, whose duties consisted in discharging the ministerial services of the different altars and confessionals of the cathedral in rotation; consoling the sick, and distributing charity; teaching in the grammarschool, as well as instructing the poor in the cathedral; transcribing the most approved works upon religious matters, from foreign languages; collecting amongst themselves the revenues of their church, and superintending the distribution of them. Superadded to these cares was the education of the choristers, and the young men intended for the ministry of the Gospel.

The first creation of the office of dean has already been recounted; the change was demanded by the increased duties imposed upon the attention of the bishop, as his diocese became populous, and the affairs of the cathedral grew in number and importance. Next to the dean in point of precedence is the precentor, or chanter; his duty originally lay in the instruction of the singers, and the regulation of the choral service of the cathedral. After him comes the chancellor, who was formerly required to read lectures in divinity, provide a grammar-master for the choristers, and serve the chapter upon all occasions of public business, in the capacity of secretary. This officer is still retained, though his original functions have long ceased to be exercised. The treasurer is the last of those who are styled the dignitaries of the cathedral: the nature of his duties is clearly indicated by his name.

The archdeaconries are five in number, and take their names from London, Middlesex, Essex, Colchester, and St. Alban's. For each of these, except St. Alban's, there is an appropriate stall in the choir. The major canons, or prebendaries, are still as numerous as ever; though the duties required from them are all reduced in a great degree, and many wholly abolished. Formerly they were obliged to reside in the church close, and led a regular monastic life, according to the rules of the Benedictine order. But in proportion as the landed possessions conferred upon them became more extensive, a pastoral residence upon these different properties was assigned to the greater part of them; and thus by degrees they were excluded from any share in the direct revenues, which became confined to those only who continued to perform the ministerial duties of the church. For some time, the number of resident canons was unfixed, and consequently variable: since the Reformation, they have been limited to four, including the dean, who take the task of reading the service, preaching, and residing on the spot, in monthly turns between them. The other twentysix prebendaries have nothing to do but to perform service once upon their induction, and deliver two sermons in the course of the year: even this latter duty is often discharged by proxy.

The minor canons, twelve in number, are said to have been attached to the primitive foundation. They were constituted a body corporate within themselves, under the denomination of the Warden and College of Minor Canons of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, by the unfortunate Richard II., who bestowed upon them a gift of lands, in

dependent of the general property of their own church, and the common usage of the period. Henry VI. added the rectory of St. Gregory's church, near St. Paul's, to their patronage. When a vacancy occurs in their college, they elect two candidates themselves, one of whom the dean and chapter are bound to approve of. The qualifications commonly required for the situation are, besides the understood attainments of a clerk, a good voice and a knowledge of music. After the minor canons are placed the vicars choral: contrary to the old custom, these are now all laymen. The organist generally is one of them; and the almoner another. The latter officer assumes his style from the almonry, better known in olden times as St. Paul's hospital, a charitable institution of infinite public service, which was founded in the twelfth century, but in our days is perverted from its original use, to serve as a school for the education of the choral boys to the cathedral.

If what has hitherto been related of the history of St. Paul's has been properly expressed in the language of praise and admiration, what is left to be told cannot be conveyed in too severe terms of reprobation and sorrow. The pillage of every ecclesiastical foundation in the kingdom by Henry VIII. has been often described, and is sufficiently known; it is, therefore, enough to state here, that St. Paul's suffered greatly in the universal robbery. It suffered greatly from the barbarous fury with which hatred of popery impelled the rabble of England to mutilate their churches and cathedrals in the reigns of Edward VI. and Elizabeth. In the time of Cromwell it was still more scandalously desecrated. Horse-soldiers were then quartered in it, and the portico filled with sempstresses' shops. Thus invaded, destitute of all resources and every means of support, it gradually declined into a state of utter ruin. What the neglect of man thus hurried on to decay, an accident soon precipitated into the last stage of destruction. On the night of Saturday, September the 2d, 1666, a fire broke out near the spot on which the monument now stands, in Fish-street, and spread with irresistible rage and rapidity over the devoted city. The flames, wrapping every thing with fire, proceeded on in two great volumes, of which the one consumed Cheapside, and the other all that stood before it between Watlingstreet and the river. On the Monday evening, this double tide of destruction joined in St. Paul's church-yard, and having darted over on the roof, soon reduced to ashes all that was combustible in the venerable pile.

Fire had more than once proved a fatal enemy to old St. Paul's. One broke out on Candlemas Eve, 1444, which did so much damage that it was not entirely repaired until 1462. In 1561 the vane was set on fire by lightning, and the steeple burned. The upper roof of the aisles was so extensively injured on this occasion, that a public subscription was opened to restore it. The work proceeded so actively, that in 1566 all the timber frames of the roof (they were put together in Yorkshire, and transported to London by sea) were finished and leaded. But the steeple, says Dugdale, was let alone. In other respects the building was much neglected. At length King James, in 1620, went in solemn procession to the cathedral, and took active measures to put it into a state befitting a

place of worship. A commission of noblemen, ecclesiastics, and citizens, including amongst them the celebrated Inigo Jones, was issued for the purpose, and a public subscription set on foot, in the midst of which James died. But the commission was renewed, and the subscription continued under Charles I., who rebuilt, at his own charge, a portico, magnificent and stately, say the chroniclers, but certainly, though the work of Inigo Jones, not in the best taste, being formed of Corinthian pillars attached to a Gothic church. Independently of the cost of this structure, 126,604l., being the total receipts of the public subscription, were now spent upon the cathedral. The outlay was considered to have put it in a state of finished repair, with the exception of the steeple, to which nothing was done, as it was intended to rebuild it. Writers say that the architectural effect of the whole was now much improved. This may have been the case, and yet must have been far from good: for although the Gothic style was preserved throughout the interior, externally two orders of architecture were confounded together. Eastward all was Gothic; westward, and at the north and south porticos, were Grecian pillars. In the one half were the old pointed arch windows, and in the other a heavy round-headed Italian window. Such was old St. Paul's.

The massy walls, the work of years, and which had endured for ages, stood after the great fire, above the universal wreck, awful and sublime. Much doubt and consideration now ensued, in order to determine what best could be done with this range of grand ruin, which covered a space of ground nearly equal to three acres and a half. Several ineffectual attempts to repair were made; at last commissioners were appointed to report upon the subject, and, fortunately for posterity, they agreed in recommending a new building. The work was confided to Sir Christopher Wren, and the present edifice affords the best proof that can be offered of the excellence of the choice made upon that memorable occasion. The first stone of the new cathedral was laid June 21, 1675, during the reign of Charles II., and the choir was opened for divine service on the day of thanksgiving for the peace of Ryswick, December 2, 1697. So commendable an instance of public spirit and personal ability cannot be too often referred to as an example to other days. St. Peter's at Rome, which is the only compeer in the world with the metropolitan church of Great Britain, occupied 145 years in building, and twelve successive architects were required to complete it: St. Paul's was finished in forty years, under the presidency of one bishop of London, and the direction of one architect. The parliamentary grants for this purpose were increased by a tax levied on all coals imported into London, and still further enlarged by the contributions of private individuals. This liberality amply redeemed the promises held out in the instructions given to the architect at the commencement of his labours, and which enjoined him to frame a design handsome and noble, suitable to all the ends of religion, to the expectations of the city, and the reputation of the country at large; and to take it for granted that money would be provided to accomplish the purpose. whole expense of the building, according to the estimate in Sir H. Ellis's edition of Dugdale's St. Paul's, amounted to 736,7521. 2s. 3d.

The

The present edifice of St. Paul's is a rich and tasteful specimen of Grecian architecture, and the only English cathedral built in the same style. According to the prevalent models of such buildings, it is in the shape of a cross, and divided, according to the established plan, into aisles and a nave. The extreme length is 500 feet, and the greatest breadth, which is from north to south, along the proper transept, 250 feet. The length of the choir is 165 feet, and its breadth, in the middle aisle, 40 feet. The length of the nave and aisles is 107 feet; and the height, from the pavement in the street to the top of the cross, is 404 feet. Internally the height from the floor to the dome is 356 feet. The ground plot occupies a space equal to 2 acres, 16 perches, and 70 feet. This area is situated in the wards of Castle Baynard and Farringdon Within, and in the parishes of St. Gregory and St. Faith. The burial-ground is elevated above the street, and surrounded by a stately balustrade of cast iron, with each palisade 5 feet 6 inches in height, from the forge of Lamberhurst, in Kent.

Before the front portico, which faces the west, stands a statue of Queen Anne, in whose reign this splendid building was finished. At the base of the figure are allegorical personifications of her different dominions-Great Britain, Ireland, France, and America. This group was the work of Francis Bird, a man of considerable repute in his time. For this work, no small portion of which was supplied by the hands of a later artist, to fill up the breaches of time and accident, Bird received 1180l. The arcade of St. Paul's is generally preferred to that of St. Peter's, as being at once simpler, nobler, and more consistently effective. It is composed of a double elevation of porticos*; the first of twelve pillars in the Corinthian, the second of eight, in the Composite order, which are crowned with a triangular pediment. Upon the entablature is worked the story of St. Paul's conversion, by Bird, and on the apex of the pediment rises a statue of the same apostle. St. Peter is recognised by the attendant cock to the right, and on the left stands St. James in the habit of a pilgrim. These statues are each 11 feet in height. It may be as well here to admit, that the only sound objections made to this front condemn the form of the campanile turrets which flank the sides; and perhaps the inverted segments thus distinguished are not altogether accordant with the more simple outlines which constitute the charm of all classical buildings in the Grecian or Roman style.

The transepts are entered by semicircular porticos, with the royal arms supported in the hands of angels, engraved upon the entablature of that one to the north, and a phoenix rising from flames on the entablature of the southern portico. This phoenix is the work of Gabriel Cibber, the father of Colley Cibber the comic author and actor. Beneath appears the emphatical word, Resurgam"I shall arise," which is the motto of the cathedral, as the phoenix is its crest. The choice is

* Wren's original idea was better still: in that but one order of architecture is used, and a single range of pillars ninety feet high. There is no room to doubt the superiority of this design in chasteness and majesty. The difficulty of procuring stone of a sufficient size for such pillars is assigned as the cause of its being abandoned.