Middletown transcript. [volume] (Middletown, Del.) 1868-current, 1919-05-24

Historic Edifice Beloved BY Az
Londoners.
IN IL Architecture the Building, the
Largest Protestant Church In the
World, Embodies Ideas Of
Many PerIodA

Even the war could not stop work
on st. Paul's cathedral in London. The
famous church, like the English con-
stitution, represents growth Of Gen.
turtles and not a definite period OF con-
struction."
This statement is made in bulletin
Of the National Geographic society In
connection with a London dispatch,
which notes a request for additional
funds to complete repair work on st.
Paul's.
"England's esteem for the historic
edif1ce is shown by the. continuation OF
the restoration work throughout the
war, despite the interruption to prac-
tically all other building" the bulletin
says. "Still fresh in public memory
is the notable service Of conservation,
attended by royalty and distinguished
Americans then in London, heldfin st.
Paul's April 20, 1917, to commemorate
the entry of the United States into the
war.
"St. Paul's is the largest Protestant
church in the world. Its dome is one
Of the most beautiful. The church en-
bodies architectural ideas Of many
periods, because it is not the product
Of a generation, or even a century.
True, Sir Christopher Wren is credited
with the structure as it stands today,
but he embodied many features of the
famous old st. Paul's,' RACED. in the
great London fire, 1866. Wren did not
wish the restoration to be after the
'Gothick Rudeness of the Old Design
But he was compelled to modify his
own plans to considerable extent.
Said he, of the balustrade added over
his veto: Ladies' think nothing well
without an edging.'
ITO this famous mathematician, as
tronomer and architect the London
fire blew much good. He had commits
sions to draw plans for rebuilding half
hundred churches. From these were
modelled many Of the American
churches of colonial days. For his mas
terpiece, st. Paul's, Sir CHRISTOPHER
is said to have received less than
the equivalent of $1,000 a year, an
amount which might engage the atten-
ton Of a modern architect of his stand
ing for an afternoons consultation.
The building was paid for by tax on
sea-bOrne coal to London.
'The motto was appropriate. Some
historians believe the cramped Lud-
gate Hill site originally was that Of a
Roman shrine of Diana. A Christian
church is known to have been built
there in the early seventh century. 1t
was burned two decades after William
the Conquerer come to England. From
the ruins emerged Old st. Pauls.' Fire
destroyed that building, too, but it was
restored on an even more pretentiOus
scale.
"At the Old st. Paul's' John Wy
cliffe faced the charge of heresy. Tyn-
dale's New Testament was burned,
Wolsey heard the reading Of the papal
condemnation of Luther and. under
'Powle's cross now marked by me-
mortal, heretics were forced to recant
and witches to confess.
even before the great fire old St.
Pauls' was crumbling, partly from
succession Of lightning strokes and
partly from neglect. Wine cellars and
workshops were to be found beneath
its lengthy corridors. The old build
ing was nearly as long as the union
station at Washington. The nave be-
came 'Paul's Walk promenade
1.-TWO towers, as we'll as the dome,
make the new st. Paul's conspicuous.
In one tower Great Paul. a 17-ton
bell, booms out daily at l p. m. A
smaller bell tolls when there is death
in the royal family.
"Tombs of Wellington and Nelson,
Turner and Reynolds and of other
famous men are to be found in st.
Paurs. Over Wren's grave is a plain
tablet bearing Latin inscription
cOunseling the visitor to look about
him if he would find the architects
monument.
''Sir Christopher should have be-
come renowned as a city planner as
well as church builder. After the
fire he prepared plan that would
have made London city Of wide
streets and radiating avenues. But
Londeners had become reluctant to re-
linquish property in family tenure for
years, unlike citizens Of such newer
cities as Baltimore and Chicago. st.
Pauls itself has owned farm in Es-
sex since the seventh century"
A0NN fo TanA Auhhv