History of London — 10 - Lessons 23 - 25: St. Paul's Cathedral (I - II), and Paul's Churchyard

PART I.

When London was converted to Christianity, in the year 610, the first Bishop of London, Mellitus, built a church on the highest ground within the walls of the City.

This church he dedicated to St. Paul the Apostle who first preached to the Gentiles.

What kind of church this was--whether great or small--whether of wood or of stone--how often rebuilt or repaired--we know not.

Probably it was quite a small church at first.

This church, or its successor, was taken down in the year 1087 when Bishop Maurice began to build a new and far more stately Cathedral.

Fifty years later most of the church, not yet completed, was burned down.

Its building, thus delayed, was continued for nearly two centuries.

The steeple was not completed, for instance, till a hundred and fifty years after the commencement of the building.

The drawing shows the church as it was in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Old St. Paul's was one of the largest churches in Europe: its length was at least 600 feet; the spire reached the height of 460 feet.

The church stood in a large walled enclosure, still kept partly open, though the wall has long since been pulled down and there have been encroachments on the north side.

[Illustration: LONDON BEFORE THE SPIRE OF ST. PAUL'S WAS BURNED: SHOWING

ALSO THE BRIDGE, THE TOWER, SHIPPING, ETC.

] The church in the fourteenth century was not regarded only as a place for public worship.

Masses and services of all kinds were going on all day long: the place was bright, not only with the sunlight streaming through the painted glass, but with wax tapers burning before many a shrine--at some, all day and all night.

People came to the church to walk about, for rest, for conversation, for the transaction of business--to make or receive payments: to hire servants.

The middle aisle of the church where all this was done was called Paul's Walk or Duke Humphrey's Walk.

Here were tables where twelve licensed scribes sat writing letters for those who wanted their services.

They would also prepare a lease, a deed, a conveyance--any legal document.

The church was filled with tombs and monuments, some of these very ancient, some of the greatest interest.

Here was one called the tomb of Duke Humphrey--Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, who was really buried at St. Alban's. On May Day the watermen used to come to St. Paul's in order to sprinkle water and strew herbs upon this tomb--I know not why.

Those who were out of work and went dinnerless were said to dine with Duke Humphrey: and there was a proverb--'Trash and trumpery is the way to Duke Humphrey.'

Trumpery being used in its original meaning--_tromperie_--_deceit_.

Among other tombs there were those of the Saxon Kings Sebbi and Ethelred.

The first of these was King of the East Saxons.

He was converted by Bishop Erkenwald.

The second was the elder brother of King Alfred.

There were tombs or shrines to many saints now forgotten--that of St. Erkenwald, whose fame rivalled that of Edward the Confessor at Westminster, St. Cuthbert at Durham, and St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury: that of St. Ethelbert: that of St. Roger, Bishop of London--a cope which St. Roger wore is still preserved in the Sacristy: and that of St. Wilford.

At every one of these shrines miracles were wrought--or believed to be wrought.

There was also a miraculous crucifix said to have been discovered by Lucius, the first Christian King of ancient Britain in the year 140. Great gifts were constantly made to this crucifix.

Under the Cathedral, in the crypt, was a parish church--that of St. Faith's--it is now united with the parish church of St. Augustine's in Watling Street.

[Illustration: OLD ST. PAUL'S, FROM THE EAST.

(_Showing its condition just before the Great Fire; from an engraving by Hollar.

_)] Outside the church, almost against the south wall, was the parish church of St. Gregory.

In the same way the parish church of St. Margaret's stands outside Westminster Abbey.

Within, we can see, in imagination, the people walking about--they have not yet begun to stand bareheaded in church--some dictating to the scribes: some leaning against the tombs: some sitting on the bases of the great round pillars--there were no pews, benches, or chairs in the Cathedral: the chantry priests are saying masses in the chapels: the people are kneeling before the golden shrine of St. Erkenwald, resplendent with lights, jewels, gold, and silver: women lay their offerings before the miraculous crucifix praying for the restoration to health of son or husband: a wedding is celebrated in one chapel: a funeral mass is being said in another: servants gather about a certain pillar waiting to be hired: porters carrying baskets on their heads enter at the north door and tramp through, going out of the south: processions of priests and choir pass up and down the aisles: the organ peals and echoes along the long and lofty roof.

See; here comes a troop of men.

They carry instruments of music: they are dressed in a livery, a cloak of green: they march together entering at the western doors and tramping through the whole length of the church to the chapel of Our Lady in the East.

This is the Guild of the Minstrels.

There were many other guilds attached to the Cathedral.

You shall learn presently what was the meaning of these guilds.

24. ST.

PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.

PART II.

Such was Paul's in the fifteenth century.

In the sixteenth the Reformation came.

The candles were all put out; the shrines were destroyed; the altars were taken out of the chapels: the miraculous images were taken away: the church, compared with its previous condition, became a shell.

The choir was walled off for public worship: the rest of the church became a place of public resort: the poets of the time are full of allusions to Paul's Walk.

It was a common thoroughfare even for men leading pack horses and asses.

The Cathedral, left to neglect, began to fall into a ruinous condition.

An attempt was made at restoration: funds were collected, but they came in slowly.

Laud, who became Bishop of London in 1631, gave an impetus to the work: the celebrated Inigo Jones was appointed architect: in order to prevent the church from being turned into an Exchange, he built a West Porch, which is shown in some of the pictures of St. Paul's. In the time of the Commonwealth this portico was let off in shops and stalls: the nave of the church actually became a cavalry barrack.

[Illustration: OLD ST. PAUL'S ON FIRE.

(_From Longman's 'A History of the Three Cathedrals of St. Paul's.' _)] When King Charles returned it was resolved to repair and restore the cathedral, by this time almost in ruins: but while the citizens were considering what should be done, the Great Fire of London settled the question by burning down all that was left.

Then Christopher Wren began the present building.

The first stone was laid on June 21, 1675, nine years after the Fire.

Divine service was performed on December 2, 1697, the day of thanksgiving for the Peace of Ryswick.

The work was completed in 1710, thirty-five years after its commencement.

The present church is 100 feet shorter than its predecessor: its dome is also 100 feet lower than the former spire.

The grandeur of the building cannot be appreciated by any near view, because the houses block it in on all sides, and the former view from the bottom of Ludgate Hill is now spoiled by the railway bridge.

Those who wish to see what St. Paul's really is--how splendid a church it is--how grandly it stands above the whole City--must cross the river and look at it from Bankside, Southwark.

The dome is three fold: it consists of an outer casing of wood covered with lead: a cone of bricks which supports the lantern and cross: and an inner cupola of brick which supports nothing.

The towers at the west end are 222 feet in height.

St. Paul's, especially since the crowding at Westminster Abbey, is becoming the National Burial Church.

It is already well filled with monuments of British worthies and heroes of this and the last century.

Of men distinguished in Literature, Art, and Science, there are buried here Dr. Johnson, Hallam the historian, Sir Joshua Reynolds the painter, Turner the painter, Rennie the engineer who built Waterloo Bridge, Sir William Jones, the great Oriental scholar, and Sir Astley Cooper, the great surgeon.

There is also buried here, as he should be, Sir Christopher Wren himself.

But those who visit the Cathedral desire most to see the tombs of Wellington and Nelson.

The remains of the former lie in a great sarcophagus worked out of a single piece of Cornish porphyry.

Those of the Admiral were placed first in a coffin made from the main mast of the French ship _Orient_, taken at the Battle of the Nile.

This was deposited in a sarcophagus made by Cardinal Wolsey and intended for the burial of King Henry the Eighth.

In the Cathedral, too, you will find the monuments of those splendid fighting men, Lord Collingwood, Nelson's friend: Howe and Rodney: Earl St. Vincent, who won the battle of Cape St. Vincent: Lord Duncan of Camperdown, and many others.

[Illustration: WEST FRONT OF ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL CHURCH.

(_Built by Sir Christopher Wren.

_)] In the crypt you will find, if you look for it, the brass tablet which marks the spot where lie the remains of a man whose history should be an encouragement to every boy who reads this book.

His name was Edward Palmer.

Born without family influence, plainly educated at the grammar school of his town, he taught himself in the teeth of all difficulties--that of bad health especially--Arabic, Persian, and all the languages which belong to that group: at the age of twenty-four he was so splendid an Oriental scholar that the greatest Orientalist at Cambridge declared that he could teach him nothing.

He was elected to a Fellowship at St. John's College and became the Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic.

He mastered, in addition to his Oriental studies, all the European languages except Russian and the Slavonic group.

He explored the Desert of the Exodus and the Peninsula of Sinai.

He did a great deal of literary work.

But he was not buried in St. Paul's Cathedral for these studies.

In the year 1882, when the Egyptian War broke out, he was sent on a secret mission to the tribes of the Desert.

He knew them all: he could talk their language as well as his own: he was the equal of any one in his knowledge of Arabic poetry and his power of telling stories: they welcomed him with open arms: the service that he rendered to his country for which he was honoured with a funeral at St. Paul's, was that he prevented these tribes from destroying the Suez Canal.

He succeeded in reaching the British camp at Suez in safety, his task accomplished, the safety of the Canal assured.

He was murdered in return by a party of Egyptian Arabs sent from Cairo.

His bones were recovered by Sir Charles Warren--who further tracked down and hanged every man connected with the murder.

The road to possible greatness lies open to all, but the way leads through a difficult and thorny way only to be passed, as Palmer found, by resolution invincible and by long patient industry.

25. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD.

St. Paul's Cathedral stood in the centre of an oval-shaped enclosure very much like the present St. Paul's Churchyard, save that the houses now in the north are an encroachment.

This open space was surrounded by a wall, in which were six gates embattled.

The first was the Great Western Gate, facing Ludgate Hill: the second in Paul's Alley in Paternoster Row: the third at Canon Alley: the fourth, or Little Gate, where is now the entrance into Cheapside: the fifth, St. Augustine's Gate, Watling Street: the sixth at Paul's Chain.

[Illustration: PAUL'S CROSS.

] Walking round this enclosure we come first upon the Bishop's Palace, standing on the north side of the Nave.

The Palace was provided with a private entrance into the Cathedral.

Beyond the Palace was a very beautiful cloister called Pardon Church Haugh.

In this cloister stood a chapel built by Gilbert, father of Thomas a Becket.

Many monuments and tombs of great persons stood within this cloister, which was also remarkable for its 'Dances of Death.'

This was a series of paintings representing Death as a skeleton armed with a dart, leading by the hand men and women of every degree, from the highest to the lowest.

There were formerly many examples of such dances.

Next to the cloister was the library, the catalogue of which still exists to show what a scholar's collection of books then meant.

Next to the library stood the College of the Minor Canons: then came Charnel Chapel, beneath which was a crypt filled with human bones taken from the churchyard.

Remember that this has been a burial place ever since the year 610, when a church was first built here.

From the year 610 till the year 1840, or for a period of 1,200 years, new graves were continually made in this ground.

Who can guess how many thousands lie buried here?

Every handful of the dust is a handful of human remains.

From time to time, however, the bones were collected and placed in this crypt of Charnel Chapel.

The chapel itself was apparently a large building, for when it was pulled down the materials were used by the Duke of Somerset at the Reformation in building Somerset House in the Strand.

There are yet standing some portions of the original house, so that the stones of Charnel Chapel may still be seen.

As for the crypt, they carried away the bones, which made a thousand cartloads, and laid them over Finsbury Fields, covering them with ground, on which were erected three windmills.

The site is marked by the street called Windmill Street.

Next to Charnel Chapel stood the famous Paul's Cross.

This famous place was a Pulpit Cross, from which sermons might be preached in the open air.

Several London churches had their open-air pulpits: notably St. Michael's, Cornhill; St. Mary's Spital, without Bishopsgate--at this Cross a sermon was preached every Easter to the Lord Mayor and aldermen.

When Paul's Cross was erected is not known: it probably stood on the site of some scaffold or steps, from which the people were anciently harangued, for this was the place of the folk-mote, or meeting of the people.

Here were read aloud, and proclaimed, the King's Laws and Orders: here the people were informed of War and Peace: here Papal Bulls were read.

There was a cross standing here in the year 1256--very likely it was already ancient.

In the year 1387 it was ruinous and had to be repaired.

It was again repaired or rebuilt in 1480. Paul's Cross played a very important part in the Reformation.

Here the 'Rood' of Bexley, which was a crucifix where the eyes and lips were made to move and the people were taught that it was miraculous, was exposed and broken to pieces: here the famous images of Walsingham and Ipswich, the object of so many pilgrimages, were brought to be broken to pieces before the eyes of the people.

Here Latimer preached, a man of the people who could speak to them in a way to make them understand.

Had it not been for the preaching of Latimer and others like him in plain language, the Reformation would have been an attempt, and probably a failure, to enforce upon the people the opinions of certain scholars.

Paul's Cross did not perish in the Fire: it was taken down in the year 1643, or thereabouts, in order to be rebuilt; but this was not done, and when the Fire destroyed the Cathedral Paul's Cross was forgotten.

Its site may be seen in the churchyard at the N. E.

corner of the choir, marked by a flat stone, but it must be remembered that the old church was wider but farther south.

On the south side of Paul's Churchyard we pass in succession the beautiful Chapter House: the Church of St. Gregory and the Deanery.

Close to the western gate are residences for the Canons, south of the enclosure are the Cathedral Brewhouse and Bakehouse.

Such are some of the buildings in Paul's Churchyard.

The Cathedral establishment supported a great army of priests and people.

For many of them, perhaps for most, there were residences of some kind either within the enclosure or close beside it.

Thus the priests, including Bishop, Dean, Archdeacons and Canons, a hundred and thirty in number: then there were the inferior officers: yet persons of consideration and authority, such as Sacrist, Almoner, Bookbinder, Chief Brewer, Chief Baker, with all their servants: scribes, messengers, bookbinders, illuminators and copyists: singing-men and choir boys, and women to keep the church clean.

When we add that the Brewer had to provide 200 gallons of beer a day, it is obvious that there must have been a good many people belonging to the Cathedral who lived in the enclosure called the Churchyard.