1700-1708.
MEMBER FOR WEYMOUTH--RISING OF THE SAP IN TREES--PRINCE GEORGE'S
STATUE--JANE WREN'S DEATH--THANKSGIVING AT S. PAUL'S--LETTER TO HIS
SON--SON MARRIES MARY MUSARD--DEATH OF MR. EVELYN--QUEEN ANNE'S ACT
FOR BUILDING FIFTY CHURCHES--LETTER ON CHURCH BUILDING.
'The old knight turning about his head twice or thrice to take a
survey of this great metropolis, bid me observe how thick the City
was set with churches, and that there was scarce a single steeple
on this side Temple Bar. "A most heathenish sight!" says Sir Roger;
"there is no religion at this end of the town. The fifty new
churches will very much mend the prospect, but church work is slow,
church work is slow."'--_The Spectator_, No. 383.
In 1700 Wren was returned by the boroughs of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis
to a somewhat stormy Parliament.
He was finishing several of the City churches by the addition of towers
to some, where, as at S. Magnus, London Bridge, and S. Andrew's,
Holborn, the main parts had been previously built.
He gave a design for All Saints' Church, Isleworth; it was, however,
reckoned too costly, and nothing was done until, in 1705, Sir Orlando
Gee left a legacy of 500_l._ towards the rebuilding of the church, when
Wren's design was partially adopted, and the work done by his faithful
master-mason, Edward Strong.[223]
With all this work, Wren yet found time to write a treatise on 'The
rising of the sap in trees.' It is a short treatise, evidently copied by
a copyist, though a little indian-ink drawing at the side is probably
Wren's own. The question in dispute seems to have been whether this
natural rising of the sap contradicted the newly discovered law of
gravity.
'It is wonderful,' he says, 'to see the rising of the sap in Trees.
All will bleed more or less when they are tapped by boring a hole
through the Bark, some very considerably, as Birch, which will
afford as much liquor every day almost as the milke of a cow; in a
Vine when a bough is cut off it will if not stopped bleed to death.
Now by what mechanisme is water raised to such a height, as in
Palmitos to 120 foot high? A skillfull Engineer cannot effect this
without great force and a complicated engine, which Nature doth
without sensible motion; it steals up as freely as the water
descends: the reason of this is obscure as yett to naturalists.'
After some discussion of various theories, he proceeds to show by the
help of the little drawing, 'that the onely Vicissitudes of heat and
cold in ye aire is sufficient to raise the sap to the height of the
loftiest trees.' Then follows the proof of this by mechanics refuting
the notion of
'a secret motion in nature contrary to that of the gravity, by
which plants aspire upwards.
'But though I have shown how the sap may be mechanically raised
from the Root to the top of the loftiest trees, yett how it comes
to be varyed according to the particular nature of the Tree by a
Fermentation in the Root; how the Raine water entering the Root
acquires a spirit that keeps it from freezing, but also gives it
such distinguishing tastes and qualities is beyond mechanical
Philosophy to describe and may require a great collection of
Phenomena with a large history of plants to shew how they expand
the leaves and produce the Seed and Fruit from the same Raine water
so wonderfully diversified and continued since the first Creation.'
Another paper of the same date was written 'On the surface of the
terrestrial Globe,' but this does not appear to have been preserved.
Many of Sir Christopher's writing's and many also of his inventions were
lost by Mr. Oldenburg, the Royal Society's secretary, of whom Wren
frequently complained that he not only neglected to enter them on the
Society's Register, but conveyed them to France and Germany, where they
appeared, attributed as inventions to those who had stolen them.
One cannot but admire the versatility of mind which enabled Wren, in the
midst of great architectural works, and endless business details, to
write papers such as these, and to digest and decide upon Flamsteed's
long letters on the Earth's motion, his quarrels with Mr. Halley, and
his measurement of the height of the Welsh hills.
[_LONDON AS IT WAS._]
The progress of Greenwich and Chelsea Hospitals, the growth of his
beautiful S. Paul's, the repairs of the Abbey, were now the absorbing
interests of Wren's life. From the house in Whitehall which he occupied
with his daughter he could easily reach the two former by water, or the
latter on foot. Two most interesting pictures by Canaletto,[224] giving
a general view of the city and of Westminster, enable us to realise what
the whole effect must have been in an atmosphere far clearer than at
present, before the river was cut by iron bridges, or the city robbed of
steeple or tower. The death of King William and the accession of Queen
Anne in the spring of 1702 made little difference to Wren, except to
his advantage. He appears to have been on very good terms with her, and
with her Danish husband. He is said to have built S. Anne's, Soho,[225]
and to have made it externally to resemble a Danish church as much as he
could, out of compliment to Prince George. He also gave to the Town Hall
of Windsor, a statue of Prince George, to correspond with that of Queen
Anne. The Prince is dressed in a Roman costume, and the pedestal has the
following inscription:
SERENISSIMO PRINCIPI
GEORGII PRINCIPI DANIAE
HEROI OMNI SAECULO VENERANDO
CHRISTOPHORUS WREN, ARM:
POSUIT MDCCXIII.
One marvels how 'Est-il possible' came to merit such an inscription as
this!
[THANKSGIVING AT S. PAUL'S.]
In 1702 Sir Christopher suffered a grievous loss by the death of his
only daughter, Jane, on the 29th of December. She was laid in the vault
of S. Paul's close to the graves of Dr. and Mrs. Holder,[226] and her
father wrote the short Latin inscription which records her virtues, her
skill in music, and implies how loving and how congenial a companion he
had lost in her. She was but twenty-six when she died. The sculptor,
Bird,[227] of whose power Wren had a good opinion, carved a monument in
low relief, representing Jane Wren playing on an organ; a harp and a
spinnet are beside her, and a group of angels in the clouds above, one
of whom holds the music. It is but an ordinary piece of monumental
sculpture, now much obscured by dust. Jane Wren's death must have left a
great blank in the life of the father whose interests and pursuits she
had shared, and one wishes she could have lived long enough to see the
top stone laid on the dome of S. Paul's. The Duke of Marlborough's
brilliant victory at Blenheim, on Aug. 13, 1704, brought Queen Anne and
all her court in their utmost splendour to a thanksgiving at S. Paul's
on the 7th of September.
'The streets were scaffolded from Temple Bar, where the Lord Mayor
presented her Majesty with the Sword, which she returned. Every
Company was ranged under its banners, the Citty Militia without the
rails, which were all hung with cloth suitable to the colour of the
banner. The Lord Mayor, Sheriffs and Aldermen were in their scarlet
robes, with caparisoned horses; the Knight Marshall on horseback,
the Foot Guards; the Queen in a rich coach with eight horses, none
with her but the Duchess of Marlborough in a very plain garment,
the Queene full of jewells. Music and trumpets at every Citty
Company. The great Officers of the Crown, Nobility and Bishops, all
in coaches with six horses, besides innumerable servants, went to
S. Paul's where the Deane preached. After this the Queen went back
in the same order to S. James's. The Citty Companies feasted all
the nobility and Bishops, and illuminated at night. Music for the
Church and anthems by the best masters. The day before wet and
stormy, but this was one of the most serene and calm days that had
been all the year.'[228]
No doubt it was a splendid pageant, the grandest that had been seen
since those which celebrated the Restoration, and S. Paul's, despite the
scaffolding still round the dome, must have looked magnificent. In 1705,
Sir Christopher's eldest son went abroad again, travelling this time to
Holland, where in the excitement of Marlborough's brilliant campaign he
very nearly joined the army as a volunteer.
[_BARCELONA._]
A letter[229] to him from Sir Christopher is extant; the handwriting is
not quite so steady as in the former letter, but still clear.
'Whitehall, Oct. 11, 1705.
'Dear Son,--I received at once three of y^r le^{trs}: one from
Harlem, Sep. 26, another from Amsterdam of Sep. 28, O.S., a third
of Oct. 13, N.S., by all which I rejoyced in your good Health &
your recovery from your cold. I am very well satisfied you have
layd aside your designe for the Army; which I think had not been
safe or pertinent, at least not soe much as Bookes & Conversation
with ye learned. Your Traffic for good Bookes I cannot disapprove.
You tell me Gronovius[230] is 25 volumes, I am told they are 26,
and that the last is the best & comonly sold by its selfe, you
will have a care [a word seems to be omitted] being imposed upon.
Mr. Bateman in his (?) will give you advice how you may get them
into the Secretary's packets. You remember how much trouble Mr.
Strong was put to at Dover by the impertinence of the Customer
there. I hope this may bee prevented. Wee have not yet rejoyced for
Barcelona[231] though you have; though wee doe not doubt it and
wagers are layd 6 to one: last night the seales were given to Mr.
Cowper & changes are made of Lord Lieutenants. Give my Service to
Mr. Roman & thanks for his Civilities to you. I am importuned to
take a little journy to my cosin Munson's to christen her 8^{th}
son. Wee are told here that my L^d D. of Marlborough goeth
certainly to Vienna, & you resolve well to wait on him before he
goes, & then I thinke you have little else to doe but to take the
best opportunity to returne, which I am told may happen if you come
with my L^d Woodstock[232] who will have convoy. Wee are all in
good health at both Houses and wish you happinesse w^{ch} wee also
contrive for you.
'I am, dear Son, your affectionate Father,
'CHR. WREN.'
I suppose the mention of 'both houses,' and the hint of happiness being
contrived, refer to young Christopher's marriage, which took place in
the following year. He married Mary,[233] daughter of Mr. Philip
Musard, jeweller to Queen Anne, by whom he had a son, a fourth
Christopher Wren.
Wren lost a faithful and valued friend in Mr. Evelyn, who died in the
February of 1706, at the age of eighty-five. If Evelyn's diary, of which
such frequent use has been made in these pages, is not the same entire
revelation of the man himself as is the diary of his friend Pepys, it
yet possesses a singular charm in its refinement of thought, and, when
the veil is raised, shows us a gentleman and a Christian to be respected
as well as loved. He had kept up a steady friendship with Sir
Christopher since the day when they first met at Oxford, and had the
highest opinion of his powers: 'an excellent genius had this
incomparable person,' is his remark after a conversation with Wren.
Evelyn was on the S. Paul's Commission from the first, and Wren was
destined, a few years later, sorely to miss the support of this constant
friend.
The needful sum for covering in the dome of S. Paul's was voted by
Parliament in 1708. The question of using copper or lead was greatly
discussed; lead was finally chosen; it does not clearly appear which way
Sir Christopher's judgment inclined. Probably to the lead, as he
considered it susceptible of much ornament, and the lead covering of S.
Paul's dome is peculiarly beautiful. Bird in this year finished the
statue of Queen Anne, which is in the fore court of the Cathedral, and
is not without merit. He also carved the relief of the Conversion of S.
Paul above the western portico: the height is too great for it to be
possible to judge of the goodness of the sculpture.
[_FIFTY NEW CHURCHES._]
The Act known as 'Queen Anne's Act for building Fifty New Churches' was
passed in this year, and Wren was of course one of the commissioners. At
the age of seventy-six he could not undertake the designing of these new
churches. They were principally built by Gibbs, Hawksmoor, Vanbrugh and
others. S. George's, Hanover Square, S. Anne's, Limehouse, S. George's,
Bloomsbury, S. Leonard's, Shoreditch, are some of those built under this
Act. Perhaps the best specimen is the beautiful S. Mary-le-Strand, built
by Gibbs, on an old site stolen from the Church by the Duke of Somerset
in the reign of Henry VIII. Recent careful painting and gilding and the
removal of pews have made S. Mary's a charming example of the amount of
decoration which can be advantageously bestowed on a Paladian church.
Wren wrote on this occasion a letter to a friend on the Church-building
Commission in which he gives the result of his great experience in
building town churches. The letter is given with a few omissions. I fear
that few of the Queen Anne churches were built strictly on the
principles he here lays down; certainly the hint as to pews was
disregarded, and grievous indeed have been the results of such
disregard. It has been a common fallacy that all Wren's churches were
built for pews, and that anything but high pews would ruin the
architectural effect. What was Wren's own opinion is manifest from the
letter; the actual effect can be seen, for instance, in a print of S.
Stephen's, Walbrook, where this gem of all his churches is represented,
just after its completion, with the area clear; or in S. Mary's, Bow,
where the pews have lately been diminished into just such 'benches' as
the great architect desired.
'Since Providence,' he writes, 'in great mercy has protracted my
age, to the finishing the Cathedral Church of S. Paul, and the
parochial churches of London, in lieu of those demolished by the
fire, (all which were executed during the fatigues of my employment
in the service of the Crown from that time to the present happy
reign); and being now constituted one of the Commissioners for
building, pursuant to the late Act, fifty more Churches in London
and Westminster; I shall presume to communicate briefly my
sentiments, after long experience, and without further ceremony
exhibit to better judgement, what at present occurs to me, in a
transient view of this whole affair; not doubting but that the
debates of the worthy Commissioners may hereafter give me occasion
to change, or add to these speculations.
'1. I conceive the Churches should be built, not where vacant
ground may be cheapest purchased in the extremities of the suburbs,
but among the thicker inhabitants, for the convenience of the
better sort, although the site of them should cost more; the better
inhabitants contributing most to the future repairs, and the
ministers and officers of the church, and charges of the parish.
[_CEMETERIES._]
'2. I could wish that all burials in churches might be disallowed,
which is not only unwholesome, but the pavements can never be kept
even, nor pews upright; and if the churchyard be close about the
church, this also is inconvenient, because the ground being
continually raised by the graves, occasions, in time, a descent by
steps in the church, which renders it damp, and the walls green, as
appears evidently in all old churches.
'3. It will be enquired, where then shall be the burials? I answer,
in cemeteries seated in the outskirts of the town....
'A piece of ground of two acres in the fields will be purchased for
much less than two roods among the buildings; this being enclosed
with a strong brick wall, and having a walk round, and two cross
walks decently planted with yew trees, the four quarters may serve
four parishes, where the dead need not be disturbed at the pleasure
of the sexton or piled four or five upon one another, or bones
thrown out to gain room.... It may be considered further, that if
the cemeteries be thus thrown into the fields, they will bound the
excessive growth of the city with a graceful border, which is now
encircled with scavengers' dung-stalls.
'4. As to the situation of the churches, I should propose they be
brought as forward as possible into the larger and more open
streets; not in obscure lanes, nor where coaches will be much
obstructed in the passage: nor are we, I think, too nicely to
observe east or west in the position, unless it falls out
properly; such fronts as shall happen to lie most open to view
should be adorned with porticoes, both for beauty and convenience;
which together with handsome spires or lanterns, rising in good
proportion above the neighbouring houses (of which I have given
several examples in the City of different forms), may be of
sufficient ornament to the town, without a great expense for
enriching the outward walls of the Churches, in which plainness and
duration ought principally, if not wholly, to be studied....
[_CHURCHWARDEN'S CARE DEFECTIVE._]
'5. I shall mention something of the materials for public fabrics.
It is true, the mighty demand for the hasty works of thousands of
houses at once after the Fire of London, and the frauds of those
who built by the great,(?) have so debased the value of materials,
that good bricks are not to be now had without greater prices than
formerly, and indeed, if rightly made, will deserve them; but
brickmakers spoil the earth in the mixing and hasty burning, till
the bricks will hardly bear weight; though the earth about London,
rightly managed, will yield as good bricks as were the Roman bricks
(which I have often found in the old ruins of the City), and will
endure, in our air, beyond any stone our island affords; which,
unless the quarries lie near the sea, are too dear for general use.
The best is Portland or Roch-Abbey stone; but these are not without
their faults. The next material is the lime: chalk-lime is the
constant practice, which, well mixed with good sand, is not amiss,
though much worse than hard stone-lime. The vaulting of S. Paul's
is a rendering as hard as stone: it is composed of cockle-shell
lime well beaten with sand: the more labour in the beating, the
better and stronger the mortar. I shall say nothing of marble
(though England, Scotland, and Ireland afford good, and of
beautiful colours); but this will prove too costly for our purpose,
unless for Altar-pieces. In windows and doors Portland stone may be
used, with good bricks and stone quoins. As to roofs, good oak is
certainly the best, because it will bear some negligence. The
churchwardens' care may be defective in speedy mending drips; they
usually whitewash the church, and set up their names, but neglect
to preserve the roof over their heads. It must be allowed, that the
roof being more out of sight, is still more unminded. Next to oak,
is good yellow deal, which is a timber of length, and light, and
makes excellent work at first; but, if neglected, will speedily
perish; especially if gutters (which is a general fault in
builders) be made to run upon the principal rafters, the ruin may
be sudden. Our sea-service for oak, and the wars in the North Sea,
make timber at present of excessive price. I suppose, ere long, we
must have recourse to the West Indies, where most excellent timber
may be had for cutting and fetching. Our tiles are ill made, and
our slates not good: lead is certainly the best and lightest
covering, and being of our own growth and manufacture, and lasting,
if properly laid, for many hundred years, is, without question, the
most preferable; though I will not deny but an excellent tile may
be made to be very durable: our artisans are not yet instructed in
it, and it is not soon done to inform them.... Now, if the churches
could hold each 2,000, it would yet be very short of the necessary
supply. The churches, therefore, must be large; but still, in our
reformed religion it should seem vain to make a parish church
larger than that all who are present can both hear and see. The
Romanists, indeed, may build larger churches; it is enough if they
hear the murmur of the Mass, and see the elevation of the Host; but
ours are to be fitted for auditories. I can hardly think it
practicable to make a single room so capacious, with pews and
galleries, as to hold above 2,000 persons, and all to hear the
service, and both to hear distinctly, and see the preacher. I
endeavoured to effect this in building the parish Church of S.
James, Westminster, which, I presume, is the most capacious, with
these qualifications, that hath yet been built; and yet, at a
solemn time, when the church was much crowded, I could not discern
from a gallery that 2,000 were present. In this church I mention,
though very broad, and the middle nave arched up, yet as there are
no walls of a second order, nor lanterns, nor buttresses, but the
whole roof rests upon the pillars, as do also the galleries, I
think it may be found beautiful and convenient, and, as such, the
cheapest of any form I could invent.
'7. Concerning the placing of the pulpit, I shall observe a
moderate voice may be heard fifty feet distant before the preacher,
thirty feet on each side, and twenty behind the pulpit; and not
this unless the pronunciation be distinct and equal, without losing
the voice at the last word of the sentence, which is commonly
emphatical, and, if obscured, spoils the whole sense. A Frenchman
is heard further than an English preacher, because he raises his
voice, and sinks not his last words: I mention this as an
insufferable fault in the pronunciation of some of our otherwise
excellent preachers, which schoolmasters might correct in the young
as a vicious pronunciation, and not as the Roman orators spoke: for
the principal verb is, in Latin, usually the last word; and if that
be lost, what becomes of the sentence?
'8. By what I have said, it may be thought reasonable, that the new
church should be at least sixty feet broad, and ninety feet long,
besides a chancel at one end, and the belfry and portico at the
other.
[Sidenote: '_NO PEWS, BUT BENCHES._']
'These proportions may be varied; but to build more than that every
person may conveniently hear and see is to create noise and
confusion. A church should not be so filled with pews, but that the
poor may have room enough to stand and sit in the alleys; for to
them equally is the Gospel preached. It were to be wished there
were to be no pews, but benches; but there is no stemming the tide
of profit, and the advantage of pew-keepers; especially since by
pews, in the chapel of ease, the minister is chiefly supported. It
is evident these fifty churches are enough for the present
inhabitants, and the town will continually grow: but it is to be
hoped, that hereafter more may be added, as the wisdom of the
Government shall think fit; and, therefore, the parishes should be
so divided as to leave room for subdivisions, or at least for
chapels of ease.
[_CLEAR BUILDING GROUND._]
'I cannot pass over mentioning the difficulties that may be found
in obtaining the ground proper for the sites of the churches among
the buildings, and the cemeteries in the borders without the town;
and, therefore, I shall recite the method that was taken for
purchasing in ground at the north side of S. Paul's Cathedral,
where, in some places, houses were but eleven feet distant from the
fabric, exposing it to the continual dangers of fires. The houses
were seventeen, and contiguous, all in leasehold of the Bishop, or
Dean alone, or the Dean and Chapter, or the petty-Canons, with
divers under-tenants. The first we recompensed in kind, with rents
of like value for them and their successors; but the tenants in
possession for a valuable consideration; which to find what it
amounted to, we learned by diligent inquiry, what the inheritance
of houses in that quarter were usually held at; this we found was
fifteen years' purchase at the most, and, proportionably to this,
the value of each lease was easily determined in a scheme,
referring to a map. These rates, which we resolved not to stir
from, were offered to each; and, to cut off much debate, which it
may be imagined everyone would abound in, they were assured that we
went by one uniform method, which could not be receded. We found
two or three reasonable men, who agreed to these terms; immediately
we paid them, and took down their houses; others, who stood out at
first, finding themselves in dust and rubbish, and that ready money
was better, as the case stood, than to continue paying rent,
repairs, and parish duties, easily came in. The whole ground at
last was cleared, and all concerned were satisfied, and their
writings given in.... This was happily finished without a
judicatory or jury; although, in our present case, we may find it
perhaps, sometimes necessary to have recourse to Parliament.'
FOOTNOTES:
[223] _Environs of London_, vol. iv. p. 450. Lysons.
[224] In the possession of H.M. the Queen.
[225] I can find no proof of this, and it is not mentioned in any
list of his buildings that I have seen.
[226] Dr. Holder died 1694.
[227] Francis Bird, born in London 1667. His masterpiece was the
monument to Dr. Busby. He died in London 1731. A stonecutter
of the same name at Oxford is mentioned by Plot in connection
with an invention for staining marbles and cutting them like a
cameo, who I am inclined to think was a relation.
[228] Evelyn's _Diary_, September 7, 1704.
[229] Hitherto unpublished.
[230] G. F. Gronovius, 1613-1672. He was the author of many works,
chiefly annotations of the classics, and succeeded Heinsius in
the Greek chair at Leyden.
[231] Barcelona was taken by Lord Peterborough and Sir Cloudesley
Shovel, October 4, 1705, in the war of the Spanish Succession.
[232] The eldest son of the Earl of Portland, afterwards created
Duke of Portland.
[233] A portrait of this lady in full profile, with a pale face and
black hair, painted somewhat in the style of Sir Peter Lely,
is in the possession of Mrs. Pigott.