Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-04-17
A CHURCH WITH A STORY
ST. Paups In London-Remsrkable His
tory Of Largest Protestant Church

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81. Pauls in London-RemnrI<able His
tory Of Largest Protestant Church
Even the war could not stop work on
st. Pauis Cathedral in London The
famous church. like the English constitu-
ton. represents a growth of centuries and
not definite period of construction"
This statement is made in a bulletin
Of the National Geographic society in
connection with a London dispatch
which notes n request for additional
funds to complete repair work on st.
Paul's.
"Ensiand's esteem for the historic
edifce is shown by the continuation of
the restoration work throughout the war
despite tire interruption to practically
all other building" the bulletin says.
still fresh In public memory is the
notable Service Of Conservation. attend
ed by royalty and distinguished Amer
leans then in London, held in 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.
the structure as it stands to-day, but he
embodied many features Of the famous
Old st. Paul's. RACED in the great Lon
don hre of 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 we'll without an edging'
ITO this famous mathematician. as
tronomer and architect the London FIRE
blew much good. He had commissions
to draw plans for rebuilding half a hun
dred churches. From these were model
ed many of the American churches Of
Colonial days. For his masterpiece, st.
PauPs, Sir Christopher is said to have
received less than the equivalent Of
sl,OW year. an amount which might
engage the attention of a modern archi-
tect or his standing for an afternoons
consultation. The building was paid for
by tax on sea-borne coal to London
travellers are apt to pass by an in
scrfption on the south porch pediment,
Resurgam' Il shall rise again) as a re.
lisious reference to the Resurrection.
When the architect was surveying this
ruins he wished to mark the centre Of
the projected dome. He asked a work.
: hioh " Hnuu u StOHe. Inc workman
CHANGED to pick up a chip from an old
tomb bearing the inscription. which Sir
Christopher adopted.
THE motto was appropriate. Some
historians believe the cramped Ludgate
Hill site originally was that Of 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
came to England. From the ruins
emerged old st. Paul's.' Fire destroyed
that building. too, but it was restored
on an even more pretentions scale.
AT the Old st. Pauls' John Wycliffe
faced the charge of heresy. Tyndales
New Testament was burned, wolsey
heard the reading of the Papal condem-
nation of Luther and under 'Powles
Cross" now marked by a memorial
heretics were forced to recant and
witches to confess.
Even before the great fire old st.
Paul's' was crumbling. partly from a
, succession Of lightning strokes and part
! ly from neglect. Wine cellars and work
: shops were to be found beneath its
lengthy corridors The old building was
nearly as long as the Union Station in
, Washington. D. c. The nave became
'Paufs Walk promenade.
, Two towers, as well as the dome,
make the new st. Pauls conspicuous.
In one tower Great Paul., a seventeen
ton bell. booms out daily at one D. m. a
smaller bell tolls when there is a death
in the royal family
"Tombs OF Wellington and Nelson,
: Turner and Reynolds. and Of other IA
nous men are to be found in st. Paul's
over Wren's grave is a plain tablet
bearing Latin inscription counseling
the visitor to look about him il he would
. md the architects monument.
Sir Christopher should have become
renowned as city planner as we'll as a
church builder. After the fire he pre-
, pared plan that would have made Lon
y don a city Of wide streets and radiating
avenues. But Londoners had become re-
luctant to relfnQuish property In family
J tenure Tor years, unlike citizens of such
r newer cities as Baltimore and Chicago.
D st. Paufs itself has owned a farm in
Essex since the seventh century.