the plan by a semicircular apsis or tribune, which is equal in diameter to the width of the choir.

The architectural elevation of this grand edifice consists throughout of two orders; the lower one Corinthian, the upper Composite. In both stories, excepting at the northern and southern entrances, which are enriched with semicircular porticoes, and on the western front, the whole of the entablatures rest on coupled pilasters; between these, in the lower order, a range of semicircular headed windows is introduced, and in the order above, the corresponding spaces are occupied by dressed niches, on pedestals pierced with openings, which give light to passages over the aisles. The upper order of architecture is merely a screen to hide buttresses which are carried across from the outer walls to resist the thrust of the great vaulting.

One of the principal objections made by architectural critics is, that the body of the church is divided into two equal orders, instead of an attic only being added, as in the instance of the church of St. Peter's, at Rome, also, that the surface of the building is crowded with festoons, and broken into minute rustic to the very summit. It is known that the original design which Sir Christopher Wren gave for the Cathedral of St. Paul, was more approved by himself than that adopted in the present building, and it had apparently some points of superiority: the whole fabric in the first design consisted of one order only, instead of an equal division into two, and the grand portico projected with a space and elevation not unequal to that of the Pantheon at Rome." An architect of eminence, after a comparison of St. Paul's with the churches of St. Peter, St. Mary, at Florence, and that of St. Geneviève, or the Pantheon, at Paris, three of the largest modern churches of Europe, admits that St. Paul's ranks high in point of constructive merit; but it appears there is least waste of interior effect in St. Mary's, at Florence, and that St. Paul's and the church of St. Geneviève, are very far from being economical in this view of their merits." The

11 The dome of the intended church did not rise from a peristyle as at present, but was supported by buttresses. The plan and elevation have been published, and the model is exhibited in the Cathedral.

12 Account of St. Paul's Cathedral, by Joseph Gwilt, architect, who is the author, also, of "A Comparative View of the Magnitude of the Four principal Modern Churches in Europe;" and besides extensive information on architecture, possesses a highly cultivated taste.

greatest defect in the architecture of St. Paul's Cathedral, says the same intelligent critic, arises from the multiplicity of breaks and incongruous forms in every part; hence a want of breadth and repose throughout, the cupola and its peristyle only excepted, in which a very opposite practice has produced the most delightful result. Another defect is the almost universal absence of even the semblance of tie and connexion which the want of continuous lines of entablature produces: pediments with the horizontal corona omitted, besides many minor abuses, such as deficiency of architraves, fritter in the ornament, &c. In short, all the details appear to have been copied from the worst examples of the worst Italian and French masters.

With respect to the general division of the body of the building into two orders of architecture, it is stated, in the Parentalia, that Sir Christopher Wren was obliged to yield to circumstances, as the Portland quarries would not afford stones of the required dimensions;13 but Mr. Gwilt says these excuses are unsatisfactory, it would have been far better to have had the columns in many pieces, and even with vertical joints, than to have placed one portico over another on the western front.

The lower division of the western portico is composed of twelve coupled columns of the Corinthian order, on a basement formed by a double flight of steps of black marble, and the upper of only eight columns supporting an entablature and pediment, the tympan of which is a bas-relief, representing the Conversion of St. Paul, the patron saint of the church," sculptured by Francis Bird. On the apex of the pediment is a colossal statue of St. Paul, and at the extremities are figures of St. Peter and St. James. On the sides of the portico are towers, each of which are surmounted

15

13 Parentalia, or Memoirs of the Family of the Wrens, but chiefly of Sir Christopher Wren. London, 1750.

14 The Conversion forms the subject of one of the oldest pictures in the National Gallery, a production of the Ferrarese school, obtained from the Aldobrandini collection.

15 This artist was employed by Sir Christopher Wren in the sculptural enrichment of the Cathedral; for the pediment, 64 feet by 17, and consisting of eight figures, of which six are equestrian, he received £650, for the reliefs under the western portico, the acts of St. Paul, he received £300, and £75 each for the panels. Lord Orford says, that “the many public works by his hand are not good testimonies in his favour ;" but it must be admitted that he succeeded well in monumental figures; that of Dr. Busby, in Westminster Abbey, by the same master, is sufficient to prove his ability.