Sir Christopher Wren Part 23

[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 a.s.sured 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 inc.u.mbents have lived far away, leaving their paris.h.i.+oners 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] _Doc.u.ments ill.u.s.trating 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 _Pa.s.sively 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-c.o.c.k_?

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 fas.h.i.+on, 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 pa.s.sing 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 a.s.sist me, not only for my sake, but your own that you might understand your affaires, before it shall please G.o.d 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 amba.s.sador;[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 pa.s.ses like a pleasant dream, or the amus.e.m.e.nt 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 G.o.d 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 unG.o.dly custom of swearing is too frequently heard, to the dishonour of G.o.d and contempt of authority; and to the end, therefore, that such impiety may be utterly banished from these works, intended for the service of G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 d.u.c.h.ess 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 s.h.i.+p-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.