ST. PAUL'S.
Mr. George and Rollo, just before they reached St. Paul's, had a very
unexpected addition made to their party. The person was no other than
Rollo's mother.
Rollo's father and mother had come from Paris to London the day before,
though Rollo had not expected them so soon as this. It might have been
supposed that in making the tour they would keep in company with Mr.
George and Rollo all the time; but this was not the plan which they
adopted. Mr. Holiday's health was still quite feeble, and he wished to
travel in a very quiet and easy manner. Mr. George and Rollo, on the
other hand, were full of life and spirits. They wished to go every
where, and to see every thing, and had very little fear of either
fatigue or exposure.
"It will be better, therefore," said Mr. Holiday, "that we should act
independently of each other. You may go your way, and we will go ours.
We shall meet occasionally, and then you can relate us your adventures."
In accordance with this plan, Rollo's father and mother remained in
Paris a few days after Mr. George and Rollo had left that city; and now
they had just arrived in London. Jane came with them. And now it
happened, by a very remarkable coincidence, that Mr. George and Rollo
met them in St. Paul's Churchyard when they were going to visit the
cathedral.
St. Paul's Churchyard is a street. It surrounds the yard in which St.
Paul's stands, and is bordered on the outer side by ranges of
magnificent shops and houses. Thus the street has buildings on one side,
and the monstrous iron palisade which forms the enclosure of St. Paul's
on the other, all around it.
The yard in which St. Paul's stands is in general of an oval form,
though not regularly so. One side curves a great deal, while the other
side is nearly straight. The street, of course, corresponds with the
outline of the yard, being nearly straight on one side of the church,
and quite of a crescent form on the other--being shaped thus somewhat
like a bow. They call the curved side of the street the Bow, and the
straight side the String. The Bow is on the south side of the church,
and the String is on the north side.
Some of the most splendid shops in London are situated in this street,
particularly in the part of it called the String. There are shops for
the sale of books and engravings, of millinery of all kinds, of laces
and embroideries of every sort, of caps and bonnets, and of silver plate
and jewelry. It seems a little strange to the visitor to see so great a
display of such vanities as these in a street called a Churchyard; but
there are a great many such apparent inconsistencies between the names
and uses of the streets in London.
It was in St. Paul's Churchyard that Rollo met his mother. The cab which
he and his uncle were in had stopped opposite the great gate which led
to the church. Rollo stepped out first; and while he was waiting for his
uncle George, he saw his mother just coming out of one of the shops on
the other side.
"Why, uncle George!" said he; "there's mother!"
So saying, he ran across the street to meet his mother.
Mrs. Holiday was overjoyed to see Rollo coming; so was Jennie, who was
sitting all the time in the carriage with Mr. Holiday. After some
conversation on other subjects, Rollo told his mother that he and Mr.
George were going to see St. Paul's.
"_I_ might go too," said his mother.
"Yes, mother!" said Rollo, eagerly. "Do, mother!"
"I _would_ go," said Mr. Holiday. "It will be a very good opportunity
for you--the best you will have, in fact; for I shall not be able to go
up so many stairs myself. Jennie can go home with me."
Jennie did not like this part of the proposal, but seemed very desirous
to go with her mother.
"Why, Jennie!" said her mother. "I do not think you could climb so high.
I don't think you know how high it is."
"Ah, yes, mother," said Rollo, "she can climb very well; besides, I can
help her if she gets tired."
It was finally agreed that Jennie should go too; and so the whole party,
excepting Mr. Holiday, walked across the street and began to ascend the
great flight of circular steps which led to the door in the north
transept of the church, that being the door at which strangers and
visitors are usually admitted.
On entering the church, they found themselves ushered into an interior
so vast in extent, and so lofty in height, as to overwhelm them with
wonder. They walked along over the smooth stone pavement towards the
centre of the cross, and there stood and looked up into the dome, which
swelled in a vast concave far up over their heads, like a sky of stone.
The ceiling of the dome was divided into compartments, which were
covered with paintings. These paintings had become a good deal faded and
decayed; and on one side of the dome, nearly two hundred feet above
where the party was standing, there was a platform hanging in the air,
with workmen and artists upon it repainting the figures. From the place
where he now stood, however, Rollo could only see the under side of this
platform and some of the ropes by which it was suspended.
"Do you see that gallery," said Mr. George to Rollo, pointing upwards,
"which runs all around just under the dome?"
"I see a small railing, or balustrade," said Mrs. Holiday.
"There is a gallery there," said Mr. George, "eight or ten feet wide,
though we do not see the width of it very distinctly here. And the
railing, or balustrade, which looks so small here, we shall find is not
very small when we come to get up to it."
"Can we get up there?" said Mrs. Holiday.
"Yes," replied Mr. George. "That must be the celebrated whispering
gallery."
"How do you know?" asked Rollo.
"I have read descriptions of it in books," said Mr. George. "They said
that the whispering gallery was a gallery passing entirely around the
centre of the church, over the choir, and just under the dome; and so
that must be it. All that is the dome that rises above it."
"Let us go up there, then," said Rollo.
The party walked about the floor of the church a few minutes longer,
though they found but little to interest them in what they saw except
the vastness of the enclosed interior and the loftiness of the columns
and walls. There were several colossal monuments standing here and
there; but in general the church had a somewhat empty and naked
appearance. The immense magnitude, however, of the spaces which the
party traversed, and the lofty heights of the columns, and arches, and
ceilings which they looked up to above, filled them with wonder.
At length, near the foot of a staircase, in a sort of corner, they found
a man in a little office, whose business it was to sell to visitors
tickets of admission, to enable them to view such parts of the church,
especially those situated in the upper regions of it, as it would not be
proper to leave entirely open to the public. For these places attendants
are required, to guard the premises from injury, as well as to show the
visitors the way they are to go and to explain to them what they see;
and for this a fee is charged, according in tariff, which is set down in
the guide books thus:----
COST OF ADMISSION.
_s. d._
Whispering, Stone, and Golden Galleries, 0 6
Ball, 1 6
Library, Great Bell, Geometrical Staircase, and Model
Room, 0 6
Clock, 0 2
Crypt and Nelson's Monument, 0 6
----
3 2
Mr. George knew in general that this was the arrangement for showing the
church to visitors; but he had not examined the tariff particularly to
know what the prices were which were charged for the several parts of
the show. He did not care particularly about this, however, for he meant
to see all.
Accordingly, when the party came up to the little office where the man
sold the tickets, and the man asked them how much they wished to see,
Mr. George turned to Mrs. Holiday, saying,--
"We wish to see all, I suppose, do we not?"
"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "let us see all there is to be seen."
"Then it will be nine shillings and sixpence," said the ticket man;
"three shillings and twopence each for the three. I shall not charge for
the young lady. I presume, moreover," he added, with a smile, "that she
will not wish to go up into the ball."
So Mr. George took out his purse, and Mrs. Holiday took out hers at the
same time.
"I will pay," said Mr. George.
"We will all pay," said Mrs. Holiday. "The easiest way to keep our
accounts is for each to pay as we go."
So Mrs. Holiday, Mr. George, and Rollo paid each three shillings and
twopence, and the man gave them a variety of tickets in return.
"_Those_," said he, "are for the gallery," pointing out the tickets at
the same time as he presented them; "and _those_ are for the ball.
_These_ are for the crypt. You keep these till you get down stairs."
Rollo wondered what the crypt could be; but, as he considered the whole
party as now under Mr. George's guidance, he thought he would not
inquire, but wait until he should see.
There are several different staircases in St. Paul's by which one can
ascend to the upper portions of the edifice. Our party began immediately
to mount by one which commenced very near to the place where they had
bought their tickets. The stairs were circular, being built in a sort of
round tower which stood in the angle of the cross.
Rollo took Jane by the hand and went before, while Mr. George and Mrs.
Holiday followed.
"Round and round, round and round, higher and higher above the ground,"
said Rollo to Jennie.
"Go slowly," said Mr. George, "or else you will get very tired before
you get to the top."
"The stairs are very easy," said Mrs. Holiday.
"Yes," said Mr. George; "they are very easy indeed."
The stairs were, indeed, very easy--the steps being very broad, and the
"rise," as it is called, of each one being very small. Rollo and Jennie
went on very gayly; and, as they kept about half a turn, of the
staircase in advance, they were generally just out of sight of Mr.
George and Mrs. Holiday, who followed somewhat more slowly behind.
Jennie would have been afraid to have gone thus out of sight of her
mother and uncle were it not that she could hear their voices all the
time close at hand, and their footsteps, also, on the stairs.
From time to time, as our party ascended, they met other parties coming
down. When there were children in these descending parties, they tripped
along very lightly in coming down; but Rollo and Jennie soon found
themselves growing quite tired. So they stopped to rest. After stopping
a moment, Rollo's mind seemed to swing, like a pendulum, to the opposite
extreme.
"Let us run, Jennie," said he, "and then we shall get up quicker."
"No, it will tire us more to run," replied Jennie.
"But then we shall get up all the quicker," said Rollo, "and so it will
not make any difference. We may as well work hard and have it over quick
as to work not so hard and have it last a great while."
"Well," said Jennie, "then let us run."
This reasoning of Rollo's was very specious and plausible, but it was
very erroneous notwithstanding; for it is found by experience that the
whole amount of fatigue which results from doing any given piece of work
is by no means the same when it is done quickly as when it is done
slowly. A horse, for example, if you allow him to jog along slowly, at
the rate of three or four miles an hour, can travel forty miles a day,
for months at a time, without growing thin; but if you drive him at the
rate of eight miles an hour, he cannot stand more than ten miles a day
for any long period. That is, he can do four times as much in amount,
with the same degree of fatigue, if you allow him to do it slowly.
It is curious that the case is precisely the same with a steam engine. A
steamer can cross the Atlantic with a very much smaller supply of coal,
if she goes slowly, than if she goes fast. One might imagine that it
would take just twice as much coal to go ten miles an hour as would be
required to go five; but in reality it takes more than four times as
much--the higher rate of speed requiring a very disproportionate
expenditure of power.
If, therefore, you have a long way to walk, or a high ascent to climb,
and are afraid that your strength may not hold out;--
Or if you have a horse to drive a long journey, and are afraid that he
will tire out before he gets to the end of it;--
Or if you have a steamer to propel, and are not sure that you have coal
enough to last to the end of the voyage;--
In these, and in all similar cases, the more slowly you go, the farther
the force you have will carry you before it becomes exhausted.
Rollo and Jennie went on running for a few minutes, as they ascended the
staircase, round and round; but their strength was soon spent by this
violent exertion, and they sat down on the stairs entirely exhausted.
And yet they had not come up very high. The whole height of this first
staircase, which the party were now ascending, was only about as much
as a house four stories high; whereas the whole height of the church, to
the very top, is equal to that of a house--if such a house there could
be--_forty_ stories high. So that thus far they had come not one tenth
part of the way to the top.
While Rollo and Jennie were sitting on the stairs, resting from their
fatigue, they began to hear, after a time, the voices of Mr. George and
Mrs. Holiday, ascending.
"Are we nearly at the top?" said Rollo.
"I don't know," said Mr. George. "Stay till you get rested, and then
follow on."
So saying, Mr. George and Mrs. Holiday passed by, ascending the stairs
very slowly, step by step, as they had begun.
Rollo and Jennie were not willing to be left behind; so they followed
immediately; and after a few more turns they found themselves, to their
great joy, at the top of the staircase. They came out in a large
garret-like looking room, which was over the south transept of the
church. You can see the end of the south transept in the engraving. It
is the part which you see projecting from the main body of the church on
the right, with a circular portico leading to it. There is a similar
circular portico, with circular steps outside, at the entrance to the
north transept, on the other side of the church, which, however, is not
shown in the engraving.
[Illustration: ST PAUL'S.]
The party passed under a great archway which led towards the centre of
the church, and presently they came to another long and garret-like
looking hall, or corridor, with great arches of masonry passing over it
from one side to the other at regular intervals along its whole length,
like the beams and rafters of wood in an ordinary garret. This great
vacant space was directly over one of the side aisles of the church.[D]
[D] The reader will recollect, from the description of Westminster
Abbey, that the central part of the body of the church is called the
_nave_, and that the parts of each side of the nave, beyond the ranges
of columns that border it on the north and on the south, are called the
_aisles_, and that the aisles are not so high usually as the nave. The
long, vacant space which our party was now traversing was directly over
the south aisle. They were coming _towards_ the spectator, in the view
of the church represented in the engraving. You see two towers in the
front of the building shown in the engraving. The one on the right hand
is on the south, and is called the clock tower. The other tower, which
is on the north, is called the belfry. The party were coming along over
the south aisle and south transept towards this south tower. If you read
this explanation attentively, comparing it with the engraving, and
compare the rest of the description with the engraving, you will be able
to follow the party exactly through the whole of their ascent.
"What a monstrous long garret!" said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George; "and there is something very curious about this
garret, as you call it, which I will explain to you some other time."
Rollo was very willing to have this explanation postponed; for his
attention was just now attracted by some curious-looking tools,
consisting of axes, hammers, and saws, which were arranged in a very
symmetrical manner, in a sort of circle, on the wall near him. There
were two or three men in this part of the building, and one of them came
forward to show this party which way they were to go. Rollo asked this
man what these tools were for. He said they were to be used in case of
fire.
The tools were very antique and venerable in their form, and looked as
if they might have been hanging where they were untouched for centuries.
"Yes," said Rollo; "and there are some buckets, too, for the same
purpose."
So saying, he pointed to a row of buckets which he saw hanging along the
wall on the other side.
"Yes," said Jennie; "and there is a little fire engine."
The man who had undertaken to guide them now led the way, and the party
followed him, till they came to the clock tower, which is the one that
is seen in the engraving in the front of the building, towards the
right. Then he conducted them, after passing through various galleries
and chambers, to a large and handsome room, with a table and some chairs
in the middle of it, and carved bookcases filled with very
ancient-looking books all round the sides. As soon as the party had all
entered the room the guide turned round towards them, and, in a very
formal and monotonous manner, like a schoolboy reciting a speech which
he had committed to memory for a declamation, made the following
statement:--
"This room is the library room of the dean and chapter. It is fifty
feet long and forty feet wide. The floor is of oak. It is made of
two thousand three hundred and seventy-six square pieces, curiously
inlaid, without a nail or a peg to fasten them together."
After looking about for a little time in this room, in which, after all,
there was nothing very remarkable or interesting except the idea that it
was situated in one of the towers of St. Paul's, the party were
conducted across the end of the church towards the other tower seen in
the engraving; that is, the tower on the left, which is used as a
belfry. In passing through from one of these towers to the other, the
party traversed a sort of gallery which was built here across the end of
the church, and which afforded a very commanding view of the whole
interior of the edifice. The whole party stopped a moment in this
gallery to look down into the church below. They could see through the
whole length of it, five hundred feet; and Rollo and Jennie were very
much amused at the groups of people that were walking about here and
there, like mites, on the marble floor. They could see, at a great
distance, the place where the transepts crossed the main building; but
of course they could not see far into the transepts. In the same manner
they could see the beginning of the dome; but they could not see very
far up into it, the view being cut off by the vaulted roof of the nave,
which was nearer.
After this our party went to see various other curious places in and
near these two great towers. One of these places was called the model
room, where there is a very large model of a plan for a church which Sir
Christopher Wren, the architect who built St. Paul's, first designed. By
most good judges, it is thought to be a better design than the one which
was finally adopted. There were, besides this, various other curious
models and old relics in this room.
The party also went up into the clock tower, by means of a very narrow,
steep, and winding staircase, where there was only room for one to go at
a time. The steps were of stone, but they were greatly worn away by the
footsteps of the thousands of visitors that had ascended them.
There was a woman at the top of the stairs who had the charge of the
clock room. This woman showed the party the wheels of the clock, which
were of prodigious magnitude.[E] There were three bells--two that were
called the small bells, though they were really very large, and one
which was called the large bell. This last, Rollo said, was a monster.
[E] The works of this clock are on such a scale that the pendulum is
fourteen feet long, and the weight at the end weighs more than one
hundred pounds. The minute hand is eight feet long, and weighs
seventy-five pounds.
"The small bells," said the woman, pointing up to the bells, which Rollo
and Jennie saw far above their heads, in the midst of a maze of beams
and rafters, "chime the quarter hours. The great bell strikes the hours,
and tolls in case of the death of any member of the royal family."
"I don't see any thing very remarkable about them," said Rollo to his
mother. "They are only three common bells."
"No," replied Mrs. Holiday, "the things themselves that are to be seen
are nothing. It is only the curious places that we climb up to to see
them, and the thought that we are in the veritable old St. Paul's."
After having talked some little time with the woman about the clock and
the bells, and about the visitors that come from day to day to see
them, the party descended again, by the dark and narrow stairway, to
the great corridor by which they came to this part of the church, in
order to visit the parts of the edifice connected with the dome and
cupola, which are, in some respects, more interesting than all the rest.