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 Introduction to
Computation and
Programming Using Python
 Introduction to
Computation and
Programming Using Python

Revised and Expanded Edition

John V. Guttag

The MIT Press

Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
©  2013  Massachusetts Institute of Technology  

All  rights  reserved.  No  part  of  this  book  may  be  reproduced  in  any  form  by  any  
electronic  or  mechanical  means  (including  photocopying,  recording,  or  information  
storage  and  retrieval)  without  permission  in  writing  from  the  publisher.  

MIT  Press  books  may  be  purchased  at  special  quantity  discounts  for  business  or  
sales  promotional  use.  For  information,  please  email  
special_sales@mitpress.mit.edu  or  write  to  Special  Sales  Department,  The  MIT  
Press,  55  Hayward  Street,  Cambridge,  MA  02142.  

Printed  and  bound  in  the  United  States  of  America.  

Library  of  Congress  Cataloging-­‐in-­‐Publication  Data  

 
Guttag,  John.  

Introduction  to  computation  and  programming  using  Python  /  John  V.  Guttag.  —  
Revised  and  expanded  edition.  

  pages   cm  

Includes  index.  

ISBN  978-­‐0-­‐262-­‐52500-­‐8  (pbk.  :  alk.  paper)    

1.    Python  (Computer  program  language)   2.    Computer  programming.   I.  Title.    

QA76.73.P48G88   2013  

005.13'3—dc23  

10   9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1  
To my family:

Olga
David
Andrea
Michael
Mark
Addie
 CONTENTS

PREFACE .......................................................................................................xiii  
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..................................................................................... xv  
1   GETTING STARTED .................................................................................... 1  
2   INTRODUCTION TO PYTHON ...................................................................... 7  
2.1   The Basic Elements of Python ............................................................... 8  
2.1.1   Objects, Expressions, and Numerical Types .................................... 9  
2.1.2   Variables and Assignment ............................................................ 11  
2.1.3   IDLE ............................................................................................ 13  
2.2   Branching Programs ........................................................................... 14  
2.3   Strings and Input ............................................................................... 16  
2.3.1   Input ............................................................................................ 18  
2.4   Iteration .............................................................................................. 18  
3   SOME SIMPLE NUMERICAL PROGRAMS .................................................. 21  
3.1   Exhaustive Enumeration .................................................................... 21  
3.2   For Loops............................................................................................ 23  
3.3   Approximate Solutions and Bisection Search ...................................... 25  
3.4   A Few Words About Using Floats ........................................................ 29  
3.5   Newton-Raphson ................................................................................ 32  
4   FUNCTIONS, SCOPING, and ABSTRACTION ............................................. 34  
4.1   Functions and Scoping ....................................................................... 35  
4.1.1   Function Definitions ..................................................................... 35  
4.1.2   Keyword Arguments and Default Values ....................................... 36  
4.1.3   Scoping ........................................................................................ 37  

4.2   Specifications ..................................................................................... 41  

4.3   Recursion ........................................................................................... 44  
4.3.1   Fibonacci Numbers ...................................................................... 45  
4.3.2   Palindromes ................................................................................. 48  

4.4   Global Variables ................................................................................. 50  

4.5   Modules .............................................................................................. 51  
4.6   Files ................................................................................................... 53  
viii

5
STRUCTURED TYPES, MUTABILITY, AND HIGHER-ORDER FUNCTIONS .. 56

5.1
Tuples ................................................................................................ 56

5.1.1
Sequences and Multiple Assignment............................................. 57

5.2
Lists and Mutability ............................................................................ 58

5.2.1
Cloning ........................................................................................ 63

5.2.2
List Comprehension ..................................................................... 63

5.3
Functions as Objects .......................................................................... 64

5.4
Strings, Tuples, and Lists ................................................................... 66

5.5
Dictionaries ........................................................................................ 67

6
TESTING AND DEBUGGING...................................................................... 70

6.1
Testing................................................................................................ 70

6.1.1
Black-Box Testing ........................................................................ 71

6.1.2
Glass-Box Testing ........................................................................ 73

6.1.3
Conducting Tests ......................................................................... 74

6.2
Debugging .......................................................................................... 76

6.2.1
Learning to Debug ........................................................................ 78

6.2.2
Designing the Experiment ............................................................ 79

6.2.3
When the Going Gets Tough ......................................................... 81

6.2.4
And When You Have Found “The” Bug .......................................... 82

7
EXCEPTIONS AND ASSERTIONS .............................................................. 84

7.1
Handling Exceptions ........................................................................... 84

7.2
Exceptions as a Control Flow Mechanism ........................................... 87

7.3
Assertions ........................................................................................... 90

8
CLASSES AND OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING ............................... 91

8.1
Abstract Data Types and Classes ........................................................ 91

8.1.1
Designing Programs Using Abstract Data Types ............................ 96

8.1.2
Using Classes to Keep Track of Students and Faculty ................... 96

8.2
Inheritance ......................................................................................... 99

8.2.1
Multiple Levels of Inheritance ..................................................... 101

8.2.2
The Substitution Principle .......................................................... 102

8.3
Encapsulation and Information Hiding .............................................. 103

8.3.1
Generators ................................................................................. 106

8.4
Mortgages, an Extended Example ..................................................... 108

 ix

9   A SIMPLISTIC INTRODUCTION TO ALGORITHMIC COMPLEXITY ............ 113  

9.1   Thinking About Computational Complexity ....................................... 113  
9.2   Asymptotic Notation .......................................................................... 116  

9.3   Some Important Complexity Classes ................................................. 118  

9.3.1   Constant Complexity .................................................................. 118  
9.3.2   Logarithmic Complexity .............................................................. 118  
9.3.3   Linear Complexity ...................................................................... 119  

9.3.4   Log-Linear Complexity ................................................................ 120  

9.3.5   Polynomial Complexity ............................................................... 120  
9.3.6   Exponential Complexity .............................................................. 121  
9.3.7   Comparisons of Complexity Classes............................................ 123  
10   SOME SIMPLE ALGORITHMS AND DATA STRUCTURES ......................... 125  
10.1   Search Algorithms .......................................................................... 126  
10.1.1   Linear Search and Using Indirection to Access Elements .......... 126  
10.1.2   Binary Search and Exploiting Assumptions .............................. 128  
10.2   Sorting Algorithms .......................................................................... 131  
10.2.1   Merge Sort................................................................................ 132  
10.2.2   Exploiting Functions as Parameters.......................................... 135  
10.2.3   Sorting in Python ..................................................................... 136  
10.3   Hash Tables .................................................................................... 137  
11   PLOTTING AND MORE ABOUT CLASSES ................................................ 141  
11.1   Plotting Using PyLab ....................................................................... 141  
11.2   Plotting Mortgages, an Extended Example ....................................... 146  
12   STOCHASTIC PROGRAMS, PROBABILITY, AND STATISTICS ................... 152  
12.1   Stochastic Programs ....................................................................... 153  
12.2   Inferential Statistics and Simulation ............................................... 155  
12.3   Distributions .................................................................................. 166  
12.3.1   Normal Distributions and Confidence Levels ............................. 168  
12.3.2   Uniform Distributions .............................................................. 170  
12.3.3   Exponential and Geometric Distributions ................................. 171  
12.3.4   Benford’s Distribution .............................................................. 173  
12.4   How Often Does the Better Team Win? ............................................ 174  
12.5   Hashing and Collisions ................................................................... 177  
x

13
RANDOM WALKS AND MORE ABOUT DATA VISUALIZATION ................. 179

13.1
The Drunkard’s Walk ...................................................................... 179

13.2
Biased Random Walks .................................................................... 186

13.3
Treacherous Fields .......................................................................... 191

14
MONTE CARLO SIMULATION .................................................................. 193

14.1
Pascal’s Problem ............................................................................. 194

14.2
Pass or Don’t Pass? ......................................................................... 195

14.3
Using Table Lookup to Improve Performance ................................... 199

14.4
Finding π ........................................................................................ 200

14.5
Some Closing Remarks About Simulation Models ............................ 204

15
UNDERSTANDING EXPERIMENTAL DATA .............................................. 207

15.1
The Behavior of Springs .................................................................. 207

15.1.1
Using Linear Regression to Find a Fit ....................................... 210

15.2
The Behavior of Projectiles .............................................................. 214

15.2.1
Coefficient of Determination ..................................................... 216

15.2.2
Using a Computational Model ................................................... 217

15.3
Fitting Exponentially Distributed Data ............................................ 218

15.4
When Theory Is Missing .................................................................. 221

16
LIES, DAMNED LIES, AND STATISTICS .................................................. 222

16.1
Garbage In Garbage Out (GIGO) ...................................................... 222

16.2
Pictures Can Be Deceiving .............................................................. 223

16.3
Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc ............................................................... 225

16.4
Statistical Measures Don’t Tell the Whole Story ............................... 226

16.5
Sampling Bias................................................................................. 228

16.6
Context Matters .............................................................................. 229

16.7
Beware of Extrapolation .................................................................. 229

16.8
The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy ...................................................... 230

16.9
Percentages Can Confuse ................................................................ 232

16.10
Just Beware .................................................................................. 233

17
KNAPSACK AND GRAPH OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS .............................. 234

17.1
Knapsack Problems ........................................................................ 234

17.1.1
Greedy Algorithms .................................................................... 235

17.1.2
An Optimal Solution to the 0/1 Knapsack Problem ................... 238

 xi

17.2   Graph Optimization Problems ......................................................... 240  

17.2.1   Some Classic Graph-Theoretic Problems ................................... 244  
17.2.2   The Spread of Disease and Min Cut .......................................... 245  

17.2.3   Shortest Path: Depth-First Search and Breadth-First Search .... 246  
18   DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING ..................................................................... 252  
18.1   Fibonacci Sequences, Revisited ....................................................... 252  
18.2   Dynamic Programming and the 0/1 Knapsack Problem................... 254  

18.3   Dynamic Programming and Divide-and-Conquer ............................. 261  

19   A QUICK LOOK AT MACHINE LEARNING ................................................ 262  
19.1   Feature Vectors .............................................................................. 264  
19.2   Distance Metrics ............................................................................. 266  
19.3   Clustering ....................................................................................... 270  
19.4   Types Example and Cluster............................................................. 272  
19.5   K-means Clustering ........................................................................ 274  
19.6   A Contrived Example ...................................................................... 276  
19.7   A Less Contrived Example ............................................................... 280  
19.8   Wrapping Up................................................................................... 286  
PYTHON 2.7 QUICK REFERENCE ................................................................. 287  
INDEX .......................................................................................................... 289  
 PREFACE

This book is based on an MIT course that has been offered twice a year since
2006. The course is aimed at students with little or no prior programming
experience who have desire to understand computational approaches to problem
solving. Each year, a few of the students in the class use the course as a
stepping stone to more advanced computer science courses. But for most of the
students it will be their only computer science course.
Because the course will be the only computer science course for most of the
students, we focus on breadth rather than depth. The goal is to provide
students with a brief introduction to many topics, so that they will have an idea
of what’s possible when the time comes to think about how to use computation
to accomplish a goal. That said, it is not a “computation appreciation” course.
It is a challenging and rigorous course in which the students spend a lot of time
and effort learning to bend the computer to their will.
The main goal of this book is to help you, the reader, become skillful at making
productive use of computational techniques. You should learn to apply
computational modes of thoughts to frame problems and to guide the process of
extracting information from data in a computational manner. The primary
knowledge you will take away from this book is the art of computational problem
solving.
The book is a bit eccentric. Part 1 (Chapters 1-8) is an unconventional
introduction to programming in Python. We braid together four strands of
material:

• The basics of programming,

• The Python programming language,
• Concepts central to understanding computation, and
• Computational problem solving techniques.
We cover most of Python’s features, but the emphasis is on what one can do
with a programming language, not on the language itself. For example, by the
end of Chapter 3 the book has covered only a small fraction of Python, but it has
already introduced the notions of exhaustive enumeration, guess-and-check
algorithms, bisection search, and efficient approximation algorithms. We
introduce features of Python throughout the book. Similarly, we introduce
aspects of programming methods throughout the book. The idea is to help you
learn Python and how to be a good programmer in the context of using
computation to solve interesting problems.
Part 2 (Chapters 9-16) is primarily about using computation to solve problems.
It assumes no knowledge of mathematics beyond high school algebra, but it
does assume that the reader is comfortable with rigorous thinking and not
intimidated by mathematical concepts. It covers some of the usual topics found
in an introductory text, e.g., computational complexity and simple algorithms.
xiv Preface

But the bulk of this part of the book is devoted to topics not found in most
introductory texts: data visualization, probabilistic and statistical thinking,
simulation models, and using computation to understand data.

Part 3 (Chapters 17-19) looks at three slightly advanced topics—optimization

problems, dynamic programming, and clustering.
Part 1 can form the basis of a self-contained course that can be taught in a
quarter or half a semester. Experience suggests that it is quite comfortable to fit
both Parts 1 and 2 of this book into a full-semester course. When the material
in Part 3 is included, the course becomes more demanding than is comfortable
for many students.
The book has two pervasive themes: systematic problem solving and the power
of abstraction. When you have finished this book you should have:

• Learned a language, Python, for expressing computations,

• Learned a systematic approach to organizing, writing and debugging
medium-sized programs,
• Developed an informal understanding of computational complexity,
• Developed some insight into the process of moving from an ambiguous
problem statement to a computational formulation of a method for
solving the problem,
• Learned a useful set of algorithmic and problem reduction techniques,
• Learned how to use randomness and simulations to shed light on
problems that don’t easily succumb to closed-form solutions, and
• Learned how to use computational tools, including simple statistical and
visualization tools, to model and understand data.
Programming is an intrinsically difficult activity. Just as “there is no royal road
to geometry,”1 there is no royal road to programming. It is possible to deceive
students into thinking that they have learned how to program by having them
complete a series of highly constrained “fill in the blank” programming
problems. However, this does not prepare students for figuring out how to
harness computational thinking to solve problems.
If you really want to learn the material, reading the book will not be enough. At
the very least you should try running some of the code in the book. All of the
code in the book can be found at http://mitpress.mit.edu/ICPPRE. Various
versions of the course have been available on MIT’s OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Web site since 2008. The site includes video recordings of lectures and a
complete set of problem sets and exams. Since the fall of 2012, edX and MITx,
have offered an online version of this course. We strongly recommend that you
do the problem sets associated with one of the OCW or edX offerings.

1 This was Euclid’s purported response, circa 300 BC, to King Ptolemy’s request for an

easier way to learn mathematics.

 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
the builders stopped work when Sweyn drove Ethelred out
of England.
The fine Jacobean Pulpit (1635), elaborately carved with
grotesques on the panels, deserves at least a passing glance.
The south transept has no aisles, for the western aisle
was cut off by the cloisters and the eastern aisle became St.
Lucy’s Chapel, in the second bay. Though there are many
old royalist tombs the chief interest here is the beautiful
Window of three lights, the Flamboyant tracery of which
frames the most splendid glass in the whole cathedral. It
dates from about 1330.
“In the uppermost compartment of the tracery is a figure of our Lord
seated in glory; below there are angels with censers, and next two
Augustinian monks in blue and white robes, kneeling with outstretched
arms; then come coats-of-arms, and various grotesque beasts, all most richly
coloured in ruby and blue and green and gold. Below, in the principal spaces,
are (1) St. Martin on horseback giving his coat to the beggar; (2) the
martyrdom of St. Thomas à Becket: St. Thomas’ head has been knocked out
by some fanatic, and replaced with white glass; the armour and shields of the
knights should be noticed; (3) St. Augustine, who holds a pastoral staff, is
teaching his monks and others. In the next four spaces are:—The head of a
king; St. Cuthbert, carrying the head of St. Oswald, and wearing a green
chasuble; St. Blaise, in a mulberry-coloured chasuble; the head of a queen.
The glass in the three main lights was destroyed, and then replaced by some
of Seventeenth Century work, but this too is now gone, all except a portion
of the upper part which shows that the design was architectural in character
and the colour that of fog-smitten stone-work.”—(P. D.)

The South-Choir-Aisle is of earlier date than the nave

and transept aisles. Scott rebuilt the southern windows in
the Norman style. Heads of men and monkeys decorate the
corbels that support the vault. The original half-flower
moulding adorns the Decorated east window (restored)
which contains one of Burne-Jones’s famous designs. It is a
memorial to Edith Liddell (1876), whose portrait appears
in the central figure as St. Catherine. In the tracery above
angels are playing musical instruments and in the panels
below are scenes from the life and death of St. Catherine.
The third window in the wall near St. Lucy’s Chapel is
of great interest. It is the only one of the original
Romanesque windows that remains. The old glass shows a
portrait of Bishop King, Abbot of Oseney and first Bishop
of Oxford. He died in 1557 and was buried in Christ
Church Cathedral.
“This window, with some others, was taken down during the Civil War,
buried for safety by a member of the family, and put up again at the
Restoration. The Bishop is represented standing vested in a jewelled cope of
cloth of gold, and mitre, a pastoral staff in his gloved hand. In the
background, among the trees, is a picture of Oseney Abbey in its already
ruined condition (c. 1630), drawn without much feeling for its architecture,
but of great value as almost the only picture of the place we possess. The
western tower was the first home of what are now the Christ Church bells.
Three coats-of-arms (being those of the Bishop, impaled with the Abbey of
Oseney and the See of Oxford) complete the richness of what is a very good
example of Seventeenth Century painted glass, in the strict sense of the
word.”—(P. D.)

South of the South Transept the slype, a vaulted passage

including part of the transept, leads into the Cloisters.
South of the slype lies the Chapter-House, deserving a
visit because it is a fine example of Early English. The
monks’ heads carved on the corbels, the bosses of the roof,
and the arcade of five arches at the east end are the chief
features of the interior.

Oxford: Latin Chapel

St. Paul’s: West Front
 ST. PAUL’S, LONDON
Dedication: St. Paul. A Church formerly served by
Secular Canons.
Special features: Dome; Choir Stalls; Tombs and
Monuments.
The present building in the Renaissance style is the third
Christian church erected on this site. It is said that a Roman
temple to Diana stood here; but the earliest church of
which records exist was erected by Ethelbert, King of Kent,
in 610, in which he was assisted by Siebert, King of the
East Saxons, his nephew, who founded the monastery of St.
Peter, called Westminster, on Thorney Island. This
Cathedral, which owed much of its prosperity to St.
Erkenwald, fourth Bishop of London, to whose memory a
golden shrine was erected here, suffered from fire in 961
and was completely destroyed in 1086. On the ruins a
Norman church was immediately erected, the architect for
which was Bishop Maurice. Though injured by fire in 1193
it was a stately and beautiful building, in the Norman style.
It was cruciform, with two western towers for bells and a
high tower in the centre with a spire. In addition to the high
altar there were seventy or eighty chantries with their own
altars, and behind the high altar the golden shrine
containing the body of St. Erkenwald. The nave contained
twelve bays and also the choir rebuilt in 1221. The Lady-
Chapel was added in 1225. It was the largest Cathedral in
England. St. Paul’s was rich in relics and in treasure of all
kinds—pictures and frescoes, vestments, gold, silver and
jewels. In 1312 the nave was paved with marble and in
1315 a new wooden spire 460 feet high was added.
This great Cathedral became the very centre of the life of
the citizens. Here men met to defend their liberties,
summoned by the great bells of St. Paul’s, from the days of
King Stephen until the magnificent Cathedral perished in
the Great Fire.
“Again and again the tocsin sounded, as St. Paul’s bell rang clear and
loud, and the citizens seized their weapons and formed their battalions
beneath the shadow of the great church. Now it was to help Simon de
Montfort against the King; now to seize the person of the obnoxious Queen
Eleanor, who was trying to escape by water from the Tower to Windsor, and
who was rescued from their hands by the Bishop of London, and found
refuge in his palace. Now the favourites of Edward II. excited their rage,
especially the Bishop of Exeter, the King’s regent, who dared to ask the Lord
Mayor for the keys of the city and paid for his temerity with his life.[9]
“The chronicles of the Cathedral tell the story of the troublous times of
the Wars of the Roses. We see Henry IV. pretending bitter sorrow for the
death of the murdered Richard, and covering with cloth-of-gold the body,
which had been exhibited to the people in St. Paul’s. We see Henry V.
returning in triumph from the French wars, riding in state to the Cathedral
attended by ‘the mayor and brethren of the City companies, wearing red
gowns with hoods of red and white, well-mounted and gorgeously horsed
with rich collars and great chains, rejoicing at his victorious return.’ Then
came Henry VI. attended by bishops, the dean and canons, to make his
offering at the altar. Here the false Duke of York took his oath on the Blessed
Sacrament to be loyal to the King. Here the rival houses swore to lay aside
their differences, and to live at peace. But a few years later saw the new
King Edward IV., at St. Paul’s, attended by great Warwick, the king-maker,
with his body-guard of 800 men-at-arms. Strange were the changes of
fortune in those days. Soon St. Paul’s saw the exhibition of the dead body of
the king-maker, and not long afterwards that of the poor dethroned Henry,
and Richard came in state here amid the shouts of the populace. After the
defeat of the conspiracy of Lambert Simnel, Henry VII. celebrated a joyous
thanksgiving in the Cathedral, and here, amid much rejoicing, the youthful
marriage of Prince Arthur with Katherine of Aragon took place, when the
conduits of Cheapside and on the west of the Cathedral ran with wine, and
the bells rang joyfully, and all wished happiness to the Royal children whose
wedded life was destined to be so brief.
“St. Paul’s became the gathering-place for lords and courtiers and
professional people, who met every day from eleven till twelve and from
three till six to discuss the news of the day and to transact business.
“Here lawyers received their clients; here men sought service; here
usurers met their victims, and the tombs and font were mightily convenient
for counters for the exchange of money and the transaction of bargains, and
the rattle of gold and silver was constantly heard amidst the loud talking of
the crowd. Gallants enter the Cathedral wearing spurs, having just left their
steeds at The Bell and Savage and are immediately besieged by the
choristers, who have the right of demanding spur money from any one
entering the building wearing spurs. Nor are the fair sex absent, and Paul’s
Walk was used as a convenient place for assignations. Old plays are full of
references to this practice. Later on the nave was nothing but a public
thoroughfare, where men tramped, carrying baskets of bread and fish, flesh
and fruit, vessels of ale, sacks of coal, and even dead mules and horses and
other beasts. Hucksters and peddlers sold their wares. Duke Humphrey’s
tomb was the great meeting-place of all beggars and low rascals, and they
euphemistically called their gathering ‘a dining with Duke Humphrey.’
Much more could be written of this assembly of all sorts and conditions of
men, but we have said enough to show that the Cathedral had suffered
greatly from desecration and abuse. Indeed an old writer in 1561 declared
that the burning of the steeple in that year was a judgment for the scenes of
profanation which were daily witnessed in old St. Paul’s.”—(P. H. D.)
 Cromwell’s army demolished shrines and destroyed all
the relics and works of art, and seamstresses and hucksters
took up their abode in the western portico, built by Charles
I. after designs by Inigo Jones. At the Restoration plans to
repair and restore the Cathedral were being made by Wren
when the Great Fire destroyed it. Wren had the task of
rebuilding it, and produced a masterpiece that takes rank
with St. Peter’s in Rome and even surpasses it in some of
its details.
“The stones of Paul’s,” wrote Evelyn, “flew like
granados, the melting lead running down the streets in a
stream and the very pavements glowing with fiery redness,
so as no horse or man was able to tread on them, and the
demolition had stopped all the passages, so that no help
could be applied.”
It took a long time to remove the ruins and to decide
upon the plan for the successor of Old St. Paul’s. Wren
made numerous designs and drawings and there was great
delay. At length the royal warrant was obtained and the first
stone was laid June 21, 1675, at the south-east corner of the
choir. The Cathedral was building for thirty-five years. The
choir was finished and service held in it on December 2,
1697. It is sad to remember that the great architect was a
victim of jealousy and intrigue, and pleasant to know that
he lived to see the glorious church that had taken form in
his mind completed. It was finished in 1710.
 “Was there ever known in the history of the world any cathedral which
suffered from fire like St. Paul’s? The whole career of the church was an
ordeal by fire. It was injured by fire a hundred years before Westminster Hall
was built; it was totally destroyed by fire in the Eleventh Century and it took
nearly two centuries to restore it to anything like its former magnificence.
‘Away! we lose ourselves in light,’ might have been its motto, for it was all
but completely destroyed by fire in the Fifteenth Century, and its spire,
which was then claimed to be the highest in the world, was destroyed by fire
a century later. Thus we have brought it to the terrible days of 1666, when it
went under with so much of London to accompany it—one of the most
tremendous conflagrations recorded in the history of great cities. Then came
the Commission to rebuild it, of which brave John Evelyn was a member,
and then Sir Christopher Wren raised the monument to his fame which those
who would question his renown have only to look upon and be satisfied.”—
(J. McC.)

Coming along from Ludgate Hill we gain a splendid

view of the impressive Dome emerging through the mists
in the very heart of the City.
“St. Paul’s is often called Classical, or Roman, or Italian; it is not one of
these three: it is English Renaissance. It was, too, a distinctly happy thought
of Fergusson to suggest that the Cathedral takes a like place in English
architecture to that which the immortal ‘Paradise Lost’ does in English
literature. The plan is that of a mediæval church; the pilasters and entablature
are Roman; the round arch is found in both Roman and Romanesque, and
that commanding feature, the Dome, is the common property of many styles
and many ages. The general plan resembles the long or Latin Cross, with
transepts of greater breadth than length; and the uniformity is broken by an
apse at the east, and the two chapels at the west end.”—(A. D.)

Before we begin our tour of the Cathedral let us take a

little note of our surroundings.
“In olden times St. Paul’s Churchyard was one of the great business
centres of London. About the church men met to discuss the doings of the
day, the last piece of news from Flanders, France or Spain, or the rumours
from the country. Here the citizens gathered angrily when there was any talk
of an invasion of their cherished liberties, grumbled over the benevolence
demanded by his Majesty for the pay of the troops engaged in the French
war, or jeered at some poor wretch nailed by his ears in the pillory. Here the
heralds would proclaim the news of our victories by sea and land; here the
public newsmen would read out their budgets; vendors of infallible nostrums
would wax eloquent as to the virtues of their wares; and the wives and
daughters of the citizens would gather to gossip and flirt. It was at once the
exchange, the club, and the meeting-place of London. Paul’s Cross was the
heart of the City; here men threw up their bonnets when they heard of Crécy
and of Agincourt; here they listened to the preachings of the first followers
of Wycliffe; here they erected their choicest pageants when a new sovereign
visited the City for the first time, or brought his new-made spouse to show
her to his lieges; and gathered with frowning brows beneath iron caps when
London threw in its lot with the Parliament, and the train bands marched off
to fight the King’s forces. The business mart of the City lies now in front of
the Mansion House, but a great deal of business is still done under the
shadow of the Cathedral.”—(C. D.)

All the streets bear names that remind us of the vicinity

of St. Paul’s—Creed Lane, Ave Maria Lane, Sermon Lane,
Canon Alley, Amen Corner and Paternoster Row known
throughout the world as the headquarters of the book trade
and publishers, while Cheapside, Ludgate Hill, Fleet Street
and St. Paul’s Churchyard swarm with ghosts and
memories of London’s stirring events.
“The modern passenger through St. Paul’s Churchyard has not only the
last home of Nelson and others to venerate as he goes by. In the ground of
the old church were buried, and here therefore remains whatever dust may
survive them, the gallant Sir Philip Sidney (the beau idéal of the age of
Elizabeth), and Vandyke, who immortalised the youth and beauty of the
court of Charles the First. One of Elizabeth’s great statesmen also lay there
—Walsingham—who died so poor that he was buried by stealth to prevent
his body from being arrested. Another, Sir Christopher Hatton, who is
supposed to have danced himself into the office of Her Majesty’s Chancellor,
had a tomb which his contemporaries thought too magnificent, and which
was accused of ‘shouldering the altar.’
“Old St. Paul’s was much larger than now, and the Churchyard was of
proportionate dimensions. The wall by which it was bounded ran along by
the present streets of Ave Maria Lane, Paternoster Row, Old Change, Carter
Lane and Creed Lane; and therefore included a large space and many
buildings which are not now considered to be within the precincts of the
Cathedral. This spacious area had grass inside, and contained a variety of
appendages to the establishment. One of these was the cross of which Stow
did not know the antiquity. It was called Paul’s Cross, and stood on the north
side of the church, a little to the east of the entrance of Cannon Alley.”—(L.
H.)

At first the space around it was used for the meeting of

the populace—the Folkmote—when their magistrates were
elected, public affairs discussed and criminals tried and
sentenced. At a later period Paul’s Cross was chiefly used
for proclamations, and from the pulpit, which in Stow’s
time was an hexagonal piece of wood “covered with lead,
elevated upon a flight of stone steps and surmounted by a
large cross,” sermons were preached.
In 1879 the foundations of Paul’s Cross were discovered
on the north-east side of the present Choir. A monument is
now being erected on the spot.
If we wish to examine the north and south fronts more
particularly we first go to the former and
“We note the two-storied constructions, the graceful Corinthian pillars,
arranged in pairs, with round-headed windows between them; the
entablature; and then, in the second story, another row of beautiful pilasters
of the Composite order. Between these are niches where one would have
expected windows; but this story is simply a screen to hide the flying-
buttresses supporting the clerestory, as Wren thought them a disfigurement.
The walls are finished with a cornice, which Wren was compelled by hostile
critics to add, much against his own judgment. There are some excellently
carved festoons of foliage and birds and cherubs, which are well worthy of
close observation. The North and South Fronts have Corinthian pillars,
which support a semicircular entablature. Figures of the Apostles adorn the
triangular-shaped heads and balustrade. The Royal Arms appear on the north
side, and a Phœnix is the suitable ornament on the south, signifying the
resurrection of the building from its ashes. The south side is almost similar
to the north. The east end has an apse.”—(P. H. D.)

On the south-west is the Dean’s yard, leading past the

Deanery to the Choir House in Great Carter Lane where the
choir-boys are trained. Doctors’ Commons, where marriage
licenses used to be issued, only survives in name.
Opposite the north porch of the Cathedral is the Chapter-
House and from this side St. Paul’s Bridge, the plan for
which was adopted in 1909, will start. It will cost no less
than £1,600,000, and will cross the Thames between
Blackfriars and Southwark.
Facing Ludgate Hill stands a statue of Queen Anne, a
modern replica of the original statue by Bird. At the foot of
the 22 marble steps leading up to the doorway is a marble
slab commemorating the Diamond Jubilee Thanksgiving
(June 22, 1897). From time immemorial national
thanksgiving services have been offered at St. Paul’s. The
first in this building was a special thanksgiving for the
Peace of Ryswick. Queen Anne returned thanks for
Marlborough’s victories in the Low Countries and the
destruction of the Spanish fleet at Vigo and for the victory
of Blenheim (1702 and 1704). Here thanks were also
offered for the recovery of the Prince of Wales (Edward
VII.) from a serious illness in 1872 and by Queen Victoria
for the sixtieth anniversary of her reign (1897); by King
Edward and Queen Alexandra for the restoration of peace
in South Africa (June 8, 1902); by King Edward on
October 18, 1902, for his recovery from the illness that
delayed the Coronation; and by King George and Queen
Mary.
“The West Front has a magnificent portico, divided, like the rest of the
building, into two stories. The lower consists of twelve coupled and fluted
columns; that, above, has only eight, which bear an entablature and pediment
of which the tympanum is sculptured in bas-relief, representing the
conversion of St. Paul. On the apex of the pediment is a figure of the Saint
himself, and at its extremities, on the right and left of St. Paul, are figures of
St. Peter and St. James. The transepts are terminated upwards by pediments,
over coupled pilasters at the quoins, and two single pilasters in the
intermediate space. On each side of the western portico a square pedestal
rises over the upper order, and on each pedestal a steeple, or campanile
tower, supported upon triangular groups of Corinthian columns finishing in
small domes formed by curves of contrary flexure very like bells. Lower
down in front of these campaniles, the Four Evangelists are represented with
their emblems. In the face of the southern campanile a clock is inserted. A
flight of steps extending the whole length of the portico forms the basement.
In the southwest tower is the Great Bell of St. Paul’s, cast in 1709 by
Richard Phelps and Langley Bradley. It is ten feet in diameter, ten inches
thick in metal and weighs 11,474 pounds.”—(M.)

First we will take a general view of the exterior:

“The form of St. Paul’s is that of the long or Latin cross. Its extreme
length, including the porch, is 500 feet; the greatest breadth, that is to say
across the transept but within the doors of the porticoes, 250 feet; the width
of the nave, 118 feet. There are, however, at the foot or western end of the
cross, projections northward and southward, which make the breadth 190
feet. One of these, namely, on the north side, is used as a morning chapel,
and the other, on the south side, contains the Wellington Monument, but was
formerly used as the Consistory Court. At the internal angle of the cross are
small square bastion-like adjuncts, whose real use is to strengthen the piers
of the dome; but they are inwardly serviceable as vestries and a staircase.
The height of the Cathedral on the south side to the top of the cross is 365
feet.
“The exterior consists throughout of two orders, the lower being
Corinthian, the upper composite. It is built externally in two stories, in both
of which, except at the north and south porticoes and at the west front, the
whole of the entablatures rest on coupled pilasters, between which in the
lower order a range of circular-headed windows is introduced. But in the
order above, the corresponding spaces are occupied by dressed niches,
standing on pedestals pierced with openings to light the passages in the roof
over the side aisles. The upper order is nothing but a screen to hide the
flying-buttresses carried across from the outer walls to resist the thrust of the
great vaulting.”—(M.)

The Dome, the great feature of the church, is very

beautiful when seen from a distance, as from one of the
bridges, rising with its graceful curves far above the roofs
and other spires.
“The dome, which is by far the most magnificent and elegant feature in
the building, rises from the body of the church in great majesty. It is 145 feet
in outward and 108 feet in inward diameter. Twenty feet above the roof of
the church is a circular range of twenty-two columns, every fourth
intercolumniation being filled with masonry, so disposed as to form an
ornamental niche or recess, by which arrangement the projecting buttresses
of the cupola are concealed. These, which form a peristyle of the Composite
Order, with an unbroken entablature, enclose the interior order. They support
a handsome gallery adorned with a balustrade. Above these columns is a
range of pilasters, with windows between them, forming an attic order, and
on these the great dome stands. The general idea of the cupola, as appears
from the Parentalia, was taken from the Pantheon at Rome. On the summit
of the dome, which is covered with lead, is a gilt circular balcony, and from
its centre rises the lantern, adorned with Corinthian columns. The whole is
terminated by a gilt ball and cross.
“But with the matchless exterior ceases the superiority, and likewise, to a
great degree, the responsibility of Wren. His designs for the interior were not
only carried out, but he was in every way thwarted, controlled, baffled in his
old age to the eternal disgrace of all concerned; the victim of the pitiful
jealousy of some, the ignorance of others, the ingratitude of all.”—(M.)

It is singular to note that when Wren laid the corner-

stone on June 11, 1675, there was no solemn ceremonial.
The King, the Court, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the
Lord Mayor of London were all notably absent, but when
he laid the last stone in the lantern of the cupola in 1710
“all London poured forth for the spectacle, which had been publicly
announced, and were looking up in wonder to the old man, or his son, if not
the old man himself, who was, on that wondrous height, setting the seal, as it
were, to his august labours.
“When one enters the west door one cannot fail to be struck with the
vastness of the space enclosed within its massive walls; there is no screen to
break the view towards the east, and, as one stands beneath the dome and
looks up into its enormous hollow, the sense of overpowering height is felt
as in no other church in England.”—(T. P.)

Entering through the western door we are struck with the

immensity of the Nave and overspreading dome, the effect
of the lights, and, if service is being held, the peculiar
beauty of the chants of the choristers, whose voices seem to
come from the dome and float through the misty light to
our ears.
 It would be interesting to know if Wagner ever heard the
choir-boys of St. Paul’s and sought to reproduce the effect
in Parsifal, by arranging the voices of knights, squires and
youths at various stages in the dome of Montsalvat to sing
softly of the “wondrous work of mercy and salvation.”
“The interior of the nave is formed by an arcade resting on massive
pillars and dividing the church into a body and two aisles. The eastern piers
of the nave serve at the same time for the supports of the cupola. They are
wider than the other piers, and are flanked by pilasters at their angles and
have shallow oblong recesses in the intercolumniations. The roof over these
piers is a boldly coffered waggon-vault, which contrasts very effectively
with the rest of the vaulting.
“The nave is separated from the choir by the area over which the cupola
rises. From the centre of this area, the transepts, or traverse of the cross,
diverge to the north and south, each extending one severy, or arch, in length.
The choir, which is vaulted and domed over, like the nave and transepts,
from the top of the attic order, is terminated eastward by a semicircular
tribune, of which the diameter is, in general terms, the same as the width of
the choir itself. The western end of the choir has pillars similar to those at
the eastern end of the nave, uniform with which there are at its eastern end
piers of the same extent and form, except that they are pierced for a
communication with the side aisles. Above the entablature and under the
cupola is the Whispering Gallery, and in the concave above are
representations of the principal passages of St. Paul’s life in eight
compartments, painted by Sir James Thornhill.”—(M.)

We should note that there are three stages—the main

arcade, the triforium and the clerestory. The piers are faced
with Corinthian pilasters that divide off the bays east and
west. The arches spring from an entablature. They are very
high. The “triforium belt,” as the “attic” is termed by those
critics who have dropped the Classical nomenclature, and
clerestory above are easily understood at a glance.
“The great arches overhead divide the vault as the greater pilasters and
their continuations do the walls. Between these arches are the small saucer-
shaped domes, 26 feet in diameter. The reason for these and their
accessories, the pendentives, may best be understood from Wren’s own
words. He says that his method of vaulting is the most geometrical, and ‘is
composed of Hemispheres, and their Sections only; and whereas a Sphere
may be cut all Manner of Ways, and that still into Circles.... I have for just
Reasons followed this way in the Vaulting of the Church of St. Paul’s.... It is
the lightest Manner, and requires less Butment than the Cross-vaulting, as
well that it is of an agreeable View.... Vaulting by Parts of Hemispheres I
have therefore followed in the Vaultings of St. Paul’s, and with good reason
preferred it above any other way used by Architects.’ The saucer-shaped
domes are sections of spheres, as are both the pendentives, and the sides of
the clerestory windows. The wreaths, garlands, and festoons, and the various
conventional patterns with which the edges and surfaces of the various parts
of the vaulting is adorned cannot be estimated from the pavement.”—(A. D.)

From the Crypt to the dome the space measures 190 feet.
“When Wren planned his dome interior he had the difficulty caused by
the four limbs and their side aisles to overcome. He must have turned to his
uncle’s cathedral at Ely for enlightenment. In the earlier years of the
Fourteenth Century the central tower of Ely collapsed, and the sacrist Alan
de Walsingham, who acted as architect, seeing that the breadth of his nave,
choir and transepts happened to agree, took for his base this common
breadth, and cutting off the angles, obtained a spacious octagon. The four
sides terminating the main aisles are longer than the four alternate aisles at
the angles of the side aisles; but at Ely this presents no difficulty, owing to
the use of the pointed arch. As you stand in the centre of the octagon under
the lantern you see eight spacious arches of two different widths, all
springing from the same level and rising to the same height of eighty-five
feet, the terminal arch of the Norman nave pointed like its opposite
neighbour of the choir. Amongst Gothic churches the interior of Ely reigns
unique and supreme, certainly in England if not in Europe. Wren was
familiar with this cathedral, and even designed some restorations for it; and
he adopted the eight arches in preference to any possible scheme of four
great arches of sixty feet: but the use of the round arch, as distinct from the
pointed, deprived him of Sacrist Alan’s liberty, who without incongruity
made his intermediate arches of the shorter sides, springing from the same
level, rise to the same height as the others. Wren was compelled to make use
of some expedient to reconcile his two different spaces between piers of
forty feet and twenty-six feet, and accordingly arched these four smaller
intermediate spaces as follows. A smaller arch, rising from the architrave of
the great pier, spans each shorter side of the octagon, and has a ceiling or
semi-dome in the background, coming down to the terminal arches of the
side aisles. A blank wall space above is relieved by a section of an
ornamental arch of larger span, resting on the centre of the cornice; and
above this a third arch, rising from the level of the triforium cornice, rests
more upon the outer side of the great supporting pier, and thereby obtains the
required equal span of forty feet, and equal height of eighty-nine feet from
the ground. This also has a semi-dome; and the platform beneath on a level
with the clerestory is railed.
“The reduction of the octagon to the circle is facilitated by giving the
spandrels between the arches the necessary concave surface; and this stage is
finished off with a cantilever cornice, the work (at least in part) of one
Jonathan Maine. The eight great keystones of the arches by Caius Gabriel
Cibber are seven feet by five, and eighteen inches in relief.”—(A. D.)

About a hundred feet from the pavement and the same

distance across is the celebrated Whispering Gallery,
where a curious effect is obtained.
The attendant whispering across the whole area can be
distinctly heard, an acoustic property seemingly caused by
the nearness of the concave hemisphere above.
The Cross is quite 260 feet above us. The gallery
projects so that the lectern steps and the pulpit are
underneath.
 Now we come to the Drum. The actual bend inwards
now begins, but for this part only in straight lines. First
comes the plain band or Podium, panelled and of a height
of twenty feet. On this stand thirty-two pilasters, in reality,
as well as in appearance, out of the horizontal. Three out of
each four
“intervening spaces are pierced with square-headed windows; and from
them such light as the dome receives, streams down through the windows of
the exterior colonnade. The alternate fourth recesses, apparently nothing
more than ornamental niches, conceal the supports which bear the weight
above. In the recent scheme of decoration they have been filled with statues
of Early Fathers—the four eastern, SS. Chrysostom, Gregory Nazianzen,
Basil, and Athanasius; and the four western, SS. Ambrose, Augustine of
Hippo, Jerome, and Gregory.
“The straight lines bearing inwards give way to the sphere; and here, too,
the three separate coverings, which constitute the dome, begin. The circular
opening below the lantern coincides with the lower edge of the fluting of the
exterior shell, and is about two hundred and fifteen feet from the pavement.
“These upper regions, hidden in an almost perpetual gloom, were
decorated in monochrome by Sir James Thornhill; but his work has failed to
resist the chemical action of the surcharged atmosphere. In these
compartments are scenes from the life of the patronal saint: (1) The
Conversion, (2) Elymas, (3) Cripple at Lystra, (4) Jailer at Philippi, (5) Mars
Hill, (6) Burning Books at Ephesus, (7) Before Agrippa, (8) Shipwreck. We
have all heard the story of the painter, on a platform at a great height, who
stepped back to get a better view of his work. As he did so, an assistant,
standing by, brush in hand, observed with alarm that the slightest further
backward step would entail his falling headlong and being dashed to pieces.
He deliberately daubed the painting; and the artist, stepping instinctively
forward to prevent this, saved his life. The painter is said to be Thornhill: the
scene, the giddy height under the dome.”—(A. D.)
 The beautiful iron-work of the gates is by Tijou, both at
the ends of the aisles and doorways of the reredos arch.
The Choir-stalls are by Grinling Gibbons and are very
ornate and handsome. The Lord Mayor’s stall is on the left,
or north side, and the Bishop of London’s on the right, or
south. The latter’s throne is near the altar. There are thirty-
one stalls altogether.
“The exquisite carvings of Grinling Gibbons in the stall-work of the choir
were not merely in themselves admirable, but in perfect harmony with the
character of the architecture. They rivalled, if they did not surpass, all
Mediæval works of their class in grace, variety, richness; they kept up an
inimitable unison of the lines of the building and the decoration. In the
words of Walpole ‘there is no instance of a man before Gibbons who gave to
wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers and chained together the
various productions of the elements with a fine disorder natural to each
species.’ ”—(M.)

The Organ is one of the finest in the world. It was

reconstructed by Willis in 1897, and still contains parts of
the original organ built by the German, Schmidt, in 1697. It
consists of 4,822 pipes and 102 stops and is divided into
two parts, placed on either side of the choir. These are
connected by pneumatic tubes beneath the floor. The
keyboard is on the north side.
The older part of the case with its foliage, figures and
architectural devices was also designed by Grinling
Gibbons.
The Altar stands between the great eastern piers and is
surmounted by a tall reredos of white marble.
 “The symbolism is expressed in the frieze above the Crucifixion, ‘Sic
Deus dilexit mundum’ (‘God so loved the world’). The lower part is pierced
with doors on either side; and ‘Vas Electionis’ (‘A chosen vessel’) over the
north door refers to St. Paul, and ‘Pasce oves meos’ (‘Feed my sheep’) over
the other to St. Peter; and here are the crossed swords, the arms of the
diocese. The section above has the Entombment in the centre, and the
Nativity and Resurrection on either side. A Crucifixion occupies the central
position. The framework is of Roman design, with pilasters and a round
arch; and remembering Wren’s conception, it is interesting that the columns
of Brescia marble, supporting the entablature above, are twisted. This is
flanked with a colonnade; the figure on the north being the Angel Gabriel,
and to the south the Virgin. Above the pediment is a canopy with the Virgin
and Child, and St. Peter and St. Paul to the north and south; and above all,
and nearly seventy feet from the ground, the Risen Christ completes this
most reverent design.
“The altar cross is adorned with precious stones and lapis lazuli; and the
massive copper candlesticks are imitations of the original four said to have
been sold during the Protectorate.”—(A. D.)

The apse behind the altar cut off by the reredos is now
called the Jesus Chapel. Over the altar here is a copy of
Cima de Conegliano’s Doubting Thomas (in the National
Gallery).
The apse and the vaulting and the walls of the choir and
ambulatory have in recent years been decorated by Sir
William Richmond with richly-coloured mosaics. The chief
panels of the apse represent our Lord enthroned, with
recording angels on either side. In the choir the three
“saucer domes,” or cupolas, represent three Days of
Creation: Beasts, Fishes and birds. The four pendentives of
each bay are decorated with herald Angels, with extended
arms. Mosaics of the Crucifixion, Entombment,
Resurrection and Ascension, also by Sir William
Richmond, adorn the “quarter domes.”
The eight paintings by Thornhill, of scenes from the life
of St. Paul, can be viewed properly only from the
Whispering Gallery. In the niches above this Gallery are
statues of the Fathers of the Church. The spandrels between
the great arches are decorated by eight large mosaics
representing apostles and prophets: St. Matthew and St.
John are by G. F. Watts; St. Mark and St. Luke, by A.
Brittan; and the four prophets are the work of Alfred
Stevens.
The Transepts are of one arch only. The windows are
modern and represent bishops and kings of early days. In
the south transept aisle there is a window commemorating
the recovery of the Prince of Wales (Edward VII.) in 1872;
and a bronze tablet by Princess Louise in memory of
“4,300 sons of Britain beyond the seas” who were killed in
the South African war of 1899-1901.
To the left of the chief entrance is St. Dunstan’s Chapel,
sometimes called the North-West, or Morning Chapel. It
is richly decorated and contains a Salviati mosaic
representing the Three Marys at the Sepulchre.
In the south aisle, opposite, is the Chapel of the Order
of St. Michael and St. George, a Colonial order, conferred
only for distinguished services beyond the seas. The
Sovereign’s stall is at the western end; and on each side of
it is that of the Grand Master (Prince of Wales) and the
Duke of Connaught. From these diverge the oak stalls of
the Knights Grand Cross of the Order, over each of which
is suspended a silk banner with his personal arms. The
richly-gilded ceiling is decorated with the arms of the
King, the Prince of Wales, the late Duke of Cambridge and
Sir Robert Herbert, who were responsible for the scheme.
In the south window is a kneeling figure of the donor, Sir
Walter Wilkin. The chapel was dedicated on June 13, 1906,
in the presence of King Edward, the Prince of Wales and
many Knights.
Above this chapel the Library is situated to which the
curious Geometrical Staircase leads. This is circular, of a
diameter of twenty-five feet, and each step is supported by
the one below it. This is in the South tower.
St. Paul’s is second only to Westminster Abbey in the
number of Monuments to the celebrated dead. Immediately
within the west door stands a gilt monument to the officers
and men of the Coldstream Guards who fell in the South
African War. In the north aisle of the nave we come to
monuments of General Gordon, a recumbent figure on a
sarcophagus by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm; Wellington, by
Alfred Stevens; Lord Leighton; Lord Melbourne. In the
north transept Sir Joshua Reynolds, by Flaxman; and
Admiral Rodney, by Rossi; in the south transept Nelson,
by Flaxman, who thus describes his work:
“Britannia is directing the young seamen’s attention to their great
example, Lord Nelson. On the die of the pedestal which supports the hero’s
statue are figures in basso-relievo, representing the Frozen Ocean, the
German Ocean, the Nile, and the Mediterranean. On the cornice and in the
frieze of laurel wreaths are the words, Copenhagen, Nile, Trafalgar. The
British Lion sits on the plinth, guarding the pedestal.”

In the South transept: Lord Cornwallis, by Rossi,

commemorates his Indian career. He appears in his mantle
of the Garter, with an allegorical female figure of the
Eastern Empire and a male figure representing an Indian
river.
At the east side of the south transept is the entrance to
the Crypt, sombre, dimly lighted and sepulchral. In the
centre a circle of pillars surrounds the tomb of Nelson,
whose remains lie in a plain tomb under a black-and-white
sarcophagus (Sixteenth Century), which was made for
Cardinal Wolsey’s monument and confiscated with his
other possessions. Through a grating here the dim light
from the far-away dome sifts down upon England’s great
admiral. To the left of Nelson lies Collingwood, and, to the
right, Cornwallis. Not far away we come to the simple
tomb of Arthur, Duke of Wellington, a great block of
porphyry on a granite base.
In the east recess of the south-choir-aisle is the grave of
Sir Christopher Wren marked by a plain black marble slab.
On the wall is the celebrated inscription: “Lector, si
monumentum requiris, circumspice.” Then comes
Painters’ Corner with Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin
West, Lawrence, Turner, Landseer, Millais, Leighton and
others.
 We have yet to make the ascent of St. Paul’s. The way is
long and grows more tedious and steeper as we ascend. It
will be well to stop at the Stone Gallery (200 feet high), for
although the Golden Gallery, at the top of the dome, is a
hundred feet higher, the view is not so distinct. The Stone
Gallery is safe, and delightful views are to be had in the
spaces between the balustrades. The view extends from
Harrow on the north-west, to the Crystal Palace, Shooter’s
Hill and Greenwich Observatory in the south-east. The
tourist will, however, take more pleasure in looking over
the territory covered by the Great Fire of 1666 and all the
Wren steeples (there are thirty at least) that rise through the
mists below us. Here we again think of Sir Christopher’s
genius and remember again his epitaph: “If you wish an
estimate of his genius, look around.” It is interesting, too,
to trace Fleet Street, Cheapside and the other great arteries
of traffic and travel, to look at the Thames and understand
its peculiar windings and to view from this height the grim
old Tower half a mile below London Bridge—the oldest
building in England and the most romantic. Without the
Tower of London and without St. Paul’s what would
London be? Westminster Abbey is the church of the King
and the government; St. Paul’s is the church of the citizens,
the church that, as we have seen, has been a central point
for the stirring events of the City of London. Whenever the
traveller thinks of London, he sees its majestic dome rising
above London Bridge or Ludgate Hill, or Cheapside,
purple in the mists, golden in the sunlight—the emblem of
London’s antiquity and its present immensity.
“I always endow St. Paul’s Cathedral with life and human nature and
sympathy. I cannot well explain what early associations and chances have
made St. Paul’s a more living influence to me than the much grander and
nobler Westminster Abbey; but so it is and I feel as if St. Paul’s were a living
influence over all that region of the metropolis which is surveyed by its ball
and its cross. But in another sense it is unlike other buildings to me. It is not
one long-lived, long-living cathedral; it is rather a generation of cathedrals.
Westminster Abbey takes us back in unbroken continuity of history to the
earlier days of England’s budding greatness. Westminster itself, nevertheless,
was only called so in the beginning to distinguish it from the earlier East
Minster, which was either the existing St. Paul’s or a cathedral standing on
Tower Hill. It would seem, then, that St. Paul’s rather than Westminster
Abbey ought to represent the gradual movement of English history and
English thought and the growth of the metropolis. But observe the
difference. Westminster Abbey has always since its erection been sedately
watching over London. It has been reconstructed here and there, of course—
repaired and renovated, touched up and decorated with new adornments in
tribute of grateful piety; but it is ever and always the same Westminster
Abbey. Now observe the history of St. Paul’s. St. Paul’s has fallen and died
time after time, and been revived and restored. It has risen new upon new
generations. It has perished in flame again and again, like a succession of
martyrs, and has come up afresh and with new spangled ore flamed in the
forehead of the morning sky. St. Paul’s is a religious or ecclesiastical dynasty
rather than a cathedral. It has been destroyed so often and risen again in so
many different shapes, that it seems as if each succeeding age were putting
its fresh stamp and mint-mark on it and so commending it to the special
service of each new generation.”—(J. McC.)
St. Paul’s: Choir, east
St. Saviour’s, Southwark
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