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'ghtness, as the design admitted, he chose to encroach one entablature of the order ; and thus, by a slight alterationr °>n general rules, he improved the effect of his building.

According to the large plan, published by Gwyn, theof ? rna * kngth of the building, from east to west, exclusiven 1 ) e Projection of the portico, appears to be 502 feet ; fromtl u t0 sout h> excluding the two circular porticos, 244 feet ;

breadth of the western front, 177 ; the diameter of thectagonal area, at the crossing of the nave and transept, 107 ;e diameter of the tambour of the dome, 112; and thet h^ meter of the dome itself, 102. The total height, from370 ? avement °f the church-yard, to the top of the cross, is£ The total expense of the building amounted to

j ‘>^54. 3s. which was defrayed by a duty on coalsWa P°p e d into London ; but not less than £126,604. 6s. 5d.

furnished by voluntary contributions, chiefly from thej , Sy. See The Fine Arts of the English School, edited by°“n Britton, F. S. A.

Pa ''i ^ r ' sto pher was architect of no less than fifty-one0 tk' s ‘'uhurohes in the metropolis, besides the cathedral andCU | er Public buildings, but of these we cannot speak parti-ar ‘y. we can only mention such as are more deserving01 Notice.

niast" ^Phon’s, Walbrook, is looked upon by some as Wren ’sCen ® r 'P>cce, not even excepting St. Paul’s, and the interiorp nn a,nl y is worthy of much praise both for taste and pro-c| lu lotl > although by no means faultless. The exterior of thel lag c h like those of the greater number of his churches,no pretensions to beauty, being plain even to ugliness, if'jj Xc ®P t the steeple.

divi(/V nter i°r, which approaches a parallelogram in plan, is(■Vi j • ' nto three aisles, and a cross aisle by four rows ofr 0o f 1 ,| an columns raised on pedestals; these support theti 0tl ’ p *ch is divided into compartments. The central por-Port' * dle c hurch is covered by a dome, which is finely pro-WJtij ne< ^ anf l divided into small compartments, decoratedsi(j ea ^ rea t elegance, and crowned with a lantern. On thethe lower roofs, are circular windows, but thosethe p 1 '^ 1|; the upper roof are small arched ones ; and atsi ons S p en d are three larger arched windows. The dimen-'height . the building are:—length 75 feet, breadth 36 feet,Qp tl° r °°^ feet, and to lantern 58 feet,are St B , re maining churches, those most worthy of noticeabl e ' ■° r *de’s and St. Mary-le-Bow, and these are remark-by ■ty n ° re especially for their steeples, a feature introducedhis . ' nt ° his churches, and one on which he bestowedre S p* H^.'Pal care, many of his churches being in otherUp° n httle worthy of the praise that has been bestowed

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.■steeple of St. Bride’s is certainly a very excellentin p i a tlon - The spire is placed on a lofty tower, is octagon°iie a | ) ’ ) an< ( consists of four similar octagonal stories placedrise, So Ve t he other, and decreasing in dimension as theypri Seg as . to present a pyramidal appearance. Each tier com-°n eaeli Sln ole order, having a semicircular-headed apertureatl gles ,k 8 ‘ de of the octagon, and a pilaster at each of its'bird J • two l°wer stories being of the Tuscan order, the

8, aal] et . 0nic ’ an< l the fourth Composite. Above these is astory, W ] licll

is surmounted by a small spire. The“ " was origi-

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j , ■"■iivii io ouuiiuuuicu vjj tv oiuaii oj

bal) v pL, ei (?ht of this steeple is 226 feet, but it

•■iiily e j , mis sieepie is zzo ieet, out it was ungi-

afte r 11 ! eet higher, the difference having been deductedTl,‘e a ? Cldent hy lightning in 1764.fro m „ j p ! re °f St. Mary-le-Bow rises in a similar manner0 y S( luare tower ; from a stylobate, on the top of

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a, ul Balust 8 f c ’ rcu ^ ar peristyle surmounted by entablaturebutt,.,, rade " Upon this rises above each column a kindVoi..,, ^suming in profile a curve of double curvature,

and falling inwards towards the summit, so as to diminishthe horizontal area. Above this is another peristyle withentablature and buttresses of a similar form above, support-ing a small spire which carries the vane. This steeple isdeservedly admired.

We must pass by Wren ’s other churches, and content our-selves with enumerating some few of his other works,amongst which the most conspicuous in this style are—Greenwich Hospital, Theatre at Oxford, College of Physi-cians, and Temple Bar.

Of all Wren ’s pupils, only one attained to any great emi-nence, and this was Nicholas Hawksmore, one of whosechurches, that of St. Mary, Woolnoth, is of considerablemerit; this church is thus described by Mr. Godwin. Speakingof the interior, he says—“ It is nearly square, and on themodel of a Roman atrium. Twelve well-proportioned Cor-inthian columns, placed three in each angle, at a distancefrom the outer walls, equal to about one-sixth of the wholewidth of the church, support an entablature and a clere-storyabove it, which latter presents a large semicircular windowon each of the four sides. The ceiling of the square areaenclosed by the clere-story walls, as well as the soffit of theaisles formed by the columns, is profusely decorated withpanels and carved mouldings. A ponderous, but elegantlyornamented gallery, is introduced on three sides of thechurch with so much skill, that it does not mar the generaleffect, as is often, nay, with some few exceptions, alwaysthe case.

“ The general effect of the interior is rich and beautiful,and the proportions of the plan and section good ; the columnsare admirably arranged, and every part displays talent; thewhole design is nevertheless somewhat crowded in detail, andoverlaid with ornament, and, according to our view of thecase, wanting fitness for its purpose, is less deserving ofapplause than it would be, were the building otherwiseappropriated than it is.” St. George’s, Bloomsbury, isanother church by the same architect.

The next architect of any note practising this style, wasJames Gibbs, the architect of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields , andSt. Mary-le-Strand, both which churches present many goodfeatures ; the portico to the former is much admired. Gibbs introduced a practice of placing the spire over the body ofthe church, so that it appears as if rising out of the roof;this is decidedly objectionable.

Passing by many architects of less note, we arrive at SirWilliam Chambers , who greatly excelled his cotemporariesand many of his predecessors in this style of building ; hisgreatest work is Somerset House, which we must not pass bywithout a short description. “ This building,” says Mr. Bury,

“ stands on an area of 800 feet in width, by 500 feet in depth,and is disposed on the four sides of a rectangular court, theinterior length of which is 319 feet from north to south, and224 feet in breadth : the facade towards the Strand is 133feet long, and consists of three stories ; nine arches are assignedto the basement, whereof the three in the centre are open,and lead to the great court, besides having entrances to theapartments of this wing ; the other rusticated arches areoccupied by windows, decorated with pilasters, entablatures,and pediments. Above this story are two tiers of windows,of which those in the lower tier have entablatures supportedby Ionic columns; the upper windows are square, and aresurrounded by square architraves. Between these windows,the walls are ornamented with three-quarter columns of theCorinthian order, standing on pedestals, and extending theheight of the two stories; the height of the order withoutthe pedestals is 23 feet, and that of the entablature is 5 feet.Over the three central compartments of this fi^ade, is an