Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1903-12-25
Glory OF ST. PAUL'S.
Facts About the Famous Old Cathe-
dral of London.
Without scaHOlding for the First
Time I'm Many Years-HaS Best
Choir i'm the WOrId-Its
Services.

Although so much of old London IS
eing torn away, st. Paups cathedral
till stands immoVable, incompatible
it's style of architecture, the greatest
york Of Sir Christopher Wren, who
vas paid salary of 81 900 year for de-
dgning it and experimenting its con-
truction. 1t is a common statement
hat the whole building was completed
" one architect and one master mason
Thomas Strong) under one bishop CDR.
compton,; but that is incorrect, al
hough it is true that Sir Christopher
designed it in 1875 and was able to at
end divine service within it's walls on
sunday, December 5, 1897, writes VIII
lam E. Curtis, in special correspond
nce to the Chicago Record-Herald. The
lone was not completed until Ii years
after. nor the decorations until two
Tears ago. st. Paul's was paid for
:hiefiy by tax on coal, although there
we're some large contributions by rich
PEOPLE toward it's construction, and the
cathedral has received many legacies
Turing the last 200 years. The old pri-
Dry, which originally stood upon the
ground, and is believed to have been
quilt by Ethelbert, king of Kent, about
the year 610, held considerable real
estate, including large farm in Essex,
which has been owned by and worked
Tor the benefit Of the church since the
seventeenth century, and doubtless rep
fesents the most venerable land tenure
q Great Britain.
: For the first time in many years the
cathedral has been without scaffolding
since the coronation, and the decoration
is practically completed. Ninety per
cent. of the population Of London, who
have never seen it without scaffolding
before. can now realize it's full beauty
and splendid proportions. Although st.
?auls is not nearly so large as St.
Peters. it is simpler, more symmetrical
Ind satisfying to the soul. There is less
color and more carving; the scheme Of
idornment is limited to marbles and
mosaics, but you cannot compare the
two any more than you can compare
Pixies Peak with Mount Shasta. ST..
Paul's is not the second church in chris
tendon, as is generally supposed, but
the fifth. being surpassed in size by st.
Peters and the cathedrals of Milan,
Florence and Seville. The trunk of the
.ross is 500 feet long and 118 feet broad
md the arms are $50 feet long The dome
Is 364feet high and 112 feet in diameter,
81 feet less than that Of ST. Peters.
Nowhere on this earth can you hear
such heavenly music as at the vesper
services at st. Paul's, where so boys,
chosen for their voices and trained with
greater care, perhaps, than any other
choir in the world, sing as you imagine
the angels may sing in paradise. 1t is
safe to contend that nowhere are sweet
er and nobler sounds produced by hui
man voices. The monks at the monas-
terry of ST Alexander Navsky, just out
side of ST Petersburg, have what is con-
sidered the finest choir in the world, and
the floods of harmony that pour from
their threats can scarcely be surpassed,
but the music at ST. Paul's is very diff
ferent. The childish tones of the boys
are lighter, sweeter and more angelic,
If we can use that term, than the ma
turer tones of the monks The great
choir at ST. Peters, in Rome, does not
compare with the boy choir of st. Paul's,
and the ford Italian music was never
intended for purposes Of worship
The service at st. Pauls is intoned like
On recent Sunday sweet-voiced priest
bhlciated and chanted in the same key
as the choir, which harmonized beauti-
fully, but you couldn't understand q
word he uttered You can seldom un-
derstand an English parson. Elocution
is not taught in the divinity schools over
here, and the clergy of the estab-
lished church are the poorest readers 1
- I'D iv1o Int n,,~ 4.
pan-Episcopal conclave that was held
In London several years ago. when bish-
ops from all the English-speaking coun-
tries assembled here, the Americans
made a distinct impression by the elo-
cutionary effect of their reading the
services, and the delivery of their SER
f. mons. The Englishmen thought it was
wonderful. and quite reform move
ment was started at that time. The
young and ambitious curates throughout
the country undertook to improve their
reading. They dropped the dearly be-
loved brethren" monotone to which they
are accustomed, and undertook to read
the service with accentuation and infiec-
tons, so as to bring out it's meaning.
but the reform did not go very far, and
does not appear to have been success
full. There is dean, four canons, 13
minor canons, three prebendaries and
six choral Wears connected with ST.
paul's, but not one of them can read
The service decently. There have been
lot Of deans of ST. Paul's since it was
established. and upon the walls are brass
tablets giving their names in order from
Wulfstan, who was in charge from 1865
10 1880, down to Arthur Foley Winning
ON Ingram, who died in 1891.