The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-07-05 00:00:00

visir TO ST. PAUL'S CATFLEDRAL.

St. Paul's Cathedral was next on the list, and St. Pears
Cathedral had been required to emotes the greatest sznottnt
of penman. At one uscicck but few persons on the outside
had be,ome aware of the intended visit, end hth the Shah
arrived a: that hour. he would have found the churceyard •
a gala haven as compared with the roar of the
other thoroughfares. But the appearance of a dozen
City policemen and the two vergers on the steps
at the south entrance was an intimation to the
Initiated that something important was about to happen, and
in this w.y the truth noon leaked out. A crowd resembles
the rolling stone In the stea ty manner In which It soon
When upon itself and thth It happened thee the ware-
housemen and pamers-by within • quarter of en hour grew
Into the dime odona of • rs+pectable throng. The Cethedral
was In repose About fifty ladies, some children, and a far
Clergymen were sealed In hushed expectation. The sun
shone through the windows upon the gilt corniced around
the dome. striking foil y across Salvthtis mosaic
of St Matthew on the spandril opposite the south
entrance roe dim religious light of the poet is eeldom eon
at St. Paul., thanks to the plain, square, cleanly kept
windows, and at this particular time the cohimns, end
capitals, and statuary in the glare of noonday were white and
new to appearance. A slight mist filled the dome, rendering
cartoons of events in the life of St Paul ladle
Met The empty chain on the broad thane under the dome
gave an air et harnthees to the general aspect 00th. siburch,
witildh one could only forget by tenth's to the Denim'.
nil western windows, and the rich alter table and
cram underneath. The archttectore of St. Paul's
esperially requires the relief of some orntment,
all the tpandrile of the dome Le may be seen
from fae effect of the two atomics that hen been made,
appear unfinished without dscoratina it was, indeed, •
pity that Archoishop Contwallla and Bishop Tared' refuted
Sir J shin IL yooldis offth to meta, gratuitonsly a series of
S..wiptura paintings to lighten the appaaranoe ot tne bare
walls and man It wee the general opinion within ths
Cath-dral that If the these, Better late than never" was at
any time applicable, it Canid on no re:l'ion be more safely
aged thth 00th. visit of the Shah of Persia to the far-famed
CIS), church. The beta/Mess usetherger who cause to Mr Super-
tatencent Foster with the inteligence of the S.- sh's approach
was therefore baled a• a peultc benefactor and wind*
trim n while the people crowding eh it the churchyard
cheered probabiy al, the louder for the reticencethey had
been forced to observe. Canon Gregory and Bishop Clatigh.
ton, Archdeatho of London, received the Shah and biennium,
et
the south entrance, but there was no formal reception,
and no ceremony, save that the vergen were then with
their wands, ar d the policemen kept the doors. The Shah,
no doubt, to k I. at • glance the main features of Sir
Christ 'phi. Wren. building, and remained but a few
minutes The crypt] would thwe been worth a visit ; the
ascent to the whitparing gallery would have been • good
adventors to relate at Teheran, and • birdmen view of
London from the MMUS of the dome would have been *ome-
n:dr g new hut his Majeaty cared for none of t 0... things.
He walked letthrely ander the dome. need looked up Into it,
turning the outer surface of hts spectaait gleans to hie eyes.
to obtain • clearer vise Ile then turned down the nave, mill
more leisurely examining the 'Diens right and left. He made
• ug• b bed nett at Nate... neaten:le:A by sod i
as explained to him that the robe which drapes the figure
was ilit• the garment girth to him by the Sultan. and that the
allegorical representations oath. pedintal wen of the North
Sea, the German °Cenci. the Nile, and the Mediterranean.
The Shah wee saliently well acquainted with the doing. of
our grand Admiral, and looked at the monument from
different points of .be.. The organ, which is divided into
two swans surprised hint. The instrument, one of Father
Smith's, built in If9i, used to stand o'er the thinnest to the
choir. but It was separated In re-sot yeara, and is played
from ore side ooly, as the Shah had an opportunity of
obeerring. Fn. the tint time ethos the Cathedral swam bath
Snah of Persia advanced up the choir, where, till within
the last cents:try, women were never allowed to enter, sod
where two centuries ago the magfaincy of the City were
only adzatilod by high !avow.