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known in the capital of the English realms. The space around was enlarged and extended over a considerable portion of ground, which has since been built upon; for its boundaries were Paternoster-row, and Ave-Maria-lane, on the one side; Old Change, Carter-lane, and CreedJane, 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 walls, and the hospitality and learning that characterised 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. 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 their learning at other places; and a creation of fifty more canons ensued to supply the labours of this draft. The body consisted exclusively of clerks; the duties of their office was to discharge the ministerial services of the different altars and confessionals in the Cathedral in rotation; to console the sick, and distribute charity; to teach in the grammar-school, as well as to instruct the poor in the Cathedral; to transcribe the most approved works upon religious matters, from foreign languages; and to collect amongst themselves the revenues of their church, and superintend 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 proceeded from the encreased duties demanding the attention of the Bishop, as the number of his flocks encreased, and the necessity there was for a constant head, and superintendence of the internal affairs of the Cathedral. Next to the Dean in precedence of rank, is the Precentor, or Chaunter; 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 dignity is still retained, though the

offices attached to it have long ceased to be required. The Treasurer is the last of those who are styled the dignitaries of the Cathedral: the description of his situation is comprehended in the meaning of the word.

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 utterly 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; and take the task of reading the service, preaching, and residing on the spot, in monthly turns between them. The other twenty-six prebendaries have nothing else to do, but to perform service once upon their induction, and deliver two sermons in the course of the year even this latter requisite 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 the II., who bestowed upon them a gift of lands, independent of the general property of their own church, and the common usage of the period. Henry the 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 necessitated 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 day is perverted from its original use, to serve as a distinct school for the education of the Choral boys to the Cathedral.

There remains nothing of interest to be added for a long series of years; on the contrary, if what has hitherto been related of the history of St. Paul's, has been very properly expressed in the language of praise and admiration, what is left to be told cannot be expressed in too severe terms of reprobation and sorrow. The pillage of every ecclesiastical foundation in the kingdom by Henry the VIII. has been often enough described, and is sufficiently known; it is, therefore, enough to state here, that St. Paul's suffered greatly in the universal robbery. During the frenzy which characterised the desperate commotions of the seventeenth century, it was nearly desecrated; and thus, destitute of all resources, and every means of greatness, it gradually declined into a state of utter ruin. What the neglect of man thus hurried on to decay, an accident of nature 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 body of fury joined in St. Paul's Church-yard, and having soon darted over on the roof, soon reduced to ashes all that was combustible in the venerable pile.

The massy walls, the work of years, and the duration of ages, stood above the universal devastation in the most awful sublimity. Much doubt and consideration now ensued, in order to determine what best could be done with this range of grand ruin, which covered space of ground nearly equal to three acres and a half. Several attempts to repair it were ineffectually made; and at last commissioners were appointed to make a report upon the subject, and, fortunately for posterity, they agreed in their recommendation of a new building, The work was confided to the genius of Sir Christopher Wren, and the existing monument is a glorious proof of the happiness of the trust, The first stone of the new Cathedral was laid on the 21st of June, 1675, during the reign of Charles the II. and the Choir was opened for divine service on the day of thanksgiving for the Peace of Ryswich, December the 2d, 1697. So commendable an instance of public spirit and personal ability cannot be too often inculcated for the example of other

days, as the fact, that, whereas St. Peter's at Rome, which is the only compeer in the world with the Métropolitan Church of Great Britain, occupied a series of 145 years in building, and required the aid of twelve successive architects to complete it; St. Paul's was magnificently completed within the term of forty years, under the presidency of one Bishop of London, and the talents of one architect. The parliamentary grants for this purpose were encreased by a tax levied on all coals imported into London, and still farther enlarged by the contributions of private individuals. This liberality amply redeemed the generous spirit of 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. The charge was estimated at a million and half sterling money of the realm.

The present edifice of St. Paul's is an elegant specimen of Grecian architecture, and the only cathedral in the island 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 transepts, 210 feet. The length of the choir is 165 feet; and its breadth, in the middle aisle, 40 feet. The length of the 107 feet; and the height from the pavement to the top of the cross, 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 five feet six inches in height, from the forge of Lamberhurst, in Kent.

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Before the front portico, which faces the west, stands a statue of Queen Anne, in whose reign this singular monument was finished. 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, although the performance cannot be altogether taken as a test of it, inasmuch as no small portion of the effigy, as it now stands, was supplied by the hands of a later artist, to fill up the breaches of time and accident. The arcade of St. Paul's is generally preferred to that of St. Peter's, as one more simply noble and consistently effective.

It consists 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, int the habit of a pilgrim. These statues are each eleven feet in height. It may be as well here to admit, that the only plausible criticism upon this front has been condemnatory of the style of the campanile turrets which flank the sides; and perhaps the inverted segments thus distinguished, are not altogether accordant with the plain geometry which constitutes 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 said to have been made from the following circumstance: one day as Sir Christopher Wren was marking out the foundations of the great dome, a labourer was desired to carry a stone from a heap of adjoining rubbish, and lay it down as a mark for the workmen. It happened to be the fragment of an old tomb-stone, upon which one only word of the epitaph remained visible, and that word "Resurgam," which was popularly accepted as an omen of the undertaking.

The dome intersects the cross, and is supported in majestic simplicity by four massive piers, each forty feet square. Externally it is environed with a beautiful colonnade, terminated by a lantern and globe, surmounted by a cross. The diameter of this globe is six feet, and it is capable of containing six persons: the cross is in height six feet. The best view of the church is taken under the cupola, which was painted by Sir James Thornhill, who may justly be esteemed the first historical painter this country can boast. The design records the principal features in the life of the Apostle, to whom the fabric stands dedicated. His miraculous conversion near Damascus, according to Acts, chap. ix. is first delineated; then, his address before Sergius Paulus, and the judgment of Elymas, Acts, chap. xiii.; next, the conversion of the jailor of Philippi, chap. xiv., which is preceded by the sacrifice at Lystra, in the same chapter. After these he is represented preaching