May, 1630, when Charles the First proceeded in state to St. Paul's to return thanks for the birth of his son, afterwards Charles the Second.

In September, 1643, the Long Parliament voted the destruction of the different crosses in London and Westminster, as offensive relics of Popery; and accordingly, the following year, Paul's Cross was razed to the ground.

The gradual decay and final destruction of the venerable cathedral may be briefly related. Like many other religious structures which for centuries had been the glory of the land, St. Paul's suffered considerably at the Reformation. Not only were its ancient monuments and brasses either defaced or destroyed, but, as has already been mentioned, its beautiful cloisters were sacrificed to furnish materials for the Protector Somerset's new palace in the Strand. Again, in 1561, we find the noble steeple entirely destroyed by fire; besides other parts of the edifice being at the same time greatly injured. In this state of semi-dilapidation it appears to have remained till 1633, when, chiefly by the instrumentality of Archbishop Laud, large sums of money were subscribed for the purpose of restoring it to its ancient magnificence. Laud laid the first stone, and Inigo Jones the fourth. Charles the First, at his own expense, erected the portico at the west front, while Sir Paul Pindar not only restored the beautiful screen at the entrance into the choir, but also gave £4000 towards the repair of the south transept. At length, with the exception of the steeple, the whole was completed, at an expense of nearly £100,000, in 1643, when the breaking out of the Civil Wars again doomed St. Paul's to havoc and desecration. The beautiful carved ornaments were recklessly demolished by the Puritans with axes and hammers, and the body of the church converted into stalls for troopers' horses. Lord Brooke was even heard to observe,

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that he hoped to see the day when not one stone of St. Paul's should be left upon another. Charles the Second commenced repairing it in 1663, but three years afterwards it was. entirely destroyed by the great fire.

The present St. Paul's Cathedral-less interesting, perhaps, but still a scarcely less magnificent structure than its predecessor-was commenced in 1675, and, with the exception of some of the decorations, was completed in 1710. Not only is it unquestionably the greatest architectural work ever designed and erected by a single individual, but the fact is a singular one, that notwithstanding it occupied thirty-five years in building, it was begun and completed by one architect, Sir Christopher Wren; under one Bishop of London, Dr. Henry Compton; and under one master-mason, Mr. Thomas Strong: whereas St. Peter's at Rome occupied one hundred and fifty-five years in building, under the rule of nineteen Popes, and under the superintendence of twelve successive architects. The height of St. Peter's, to the top of the cross, is four hundred and thirtyseven feet and a half; its length seven hundred and twentynine feet; and its greatest breadth five hundred and ten feet. The dimensions of St. Paul's are three hundred and sixtyfive feet in height; five hundred in length; and two hundred and eighty-two at its extreme breadth. The total original cost of the present St. Paul's Cathedral was £747,954 2s. 9d. As a remuneration for his labours in superintending the progress of his great work, Sir Christopher Wren is said to have received no more than two hundred a year. The celebrated Duchess of Marlborough was once squabbling with an architect whom she employed in the works at Blenheim; the latter insisting that a charge which he had made was not an exorbitant one-"Why," said the Duchess, "Sir Christopher Wren was content to be dragged up to the top of St.

Paul's three times a week in a basket, and at a great hazard, for £200 a year." But the true reward of Wren was the prospect of undying fame. When compelled to add the side aisles, which unfortunately injure the effect of his noble cathedral, he is said to have actually shed tears. The addition of these aisles is stated to have been owing to the influence of the Duke of York, who, contemplating the day when high mass might again be performed in St. Paul's, proposed to convert them into auxiliary chapels.

The greatest satisfaction of Sir Christopher Wren at the close of his life, is said to have been derived from the occasional visits which he paid to London for the purpose of contemplating the magnificent structure which his genius had created. His remains lie interred in the crypt of the cathedral, beneath the great dome.

"Si monumentum requiris circumspice."

Among many other celebrated men whose remains lie interred in the present cathedral may be mentioned the names of Bishop Newton, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West, James Barry, John Opie, Lord Nelson, Lord Collingwood, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Henry Fuseli; John Rennie, the architect of Waterloo Bridge; and the Duke of Wellington.

In the crypt of the cathedral the resting-place of Nelson is probably that which excites the most general interest. The sarcophagus which encloses his coffin was originally made at the expense of Cardinal Wolsey, and was intended to contain the remains of his royal master, Henry the Eighth. The coffin itself was manufactured out of the mainmast of the French ship, L'Orient, blown up at the battle of the Nile. It was sent as a present to Nelson by one of his gallant followers, Captain Hallowell, of the Swiftsure. "I have taken the liberty," he wrote to the hero, "of presenting you

a coffin made from the mainmast of L'Orient, that, when you have finished your military career in this world, you may be buried in one of your trophies." Nelson accepted the melancholy offering in the same spirit in which it had been sent. He even ordered it to be placed upright in his cabin, as if to serve him as a memento mori in the hour of victory and triumph; and it was only at the entreaties of an old and favourite servant that he at length consented to its removal.

THE OLD BAILEY, NEWGATE, CHRIST'S

HOSPITAL, ST. SEPULCHRE'S CHURCH.

DERIVATION OF NAME OLD BAILEY.

MAJOR

GREAT ANTIQUITY OF COURT OF JUSTICE THERE.-THE PRESS YARD. PEINE FORTE ET DURE. STRANGEWAYS.-GAOL FEVER.-NEWGATE PRISON.-IVY LANE.-PANNIER ALLEY.-OLD CHRIST CHURCH, NEWGATE.—PERSONS INTERRED THERE. — MODERN CHRIST CHURCH, NEWGATE. - CHRIST'S HOSPITAL. - ST. SEPULCHRE'S CHURCH.-CURIOUS CEREMONY AT EXECUTIONS.-PIE CORNER. -GREEN ARBOUR COURT.

HE street which bears the name of the Old Bailey runs

THE parallel with the site of that part of the City wall

which anciently connected Lud Gate with New Gate. Here stood Sidney House, the residence of the Sidneys, Earls of Leicester, previously to their removal to Leicester Square; and here, at the house of his father, in May, 1551, was born the celebrated antiquary, William Camden. No. 68, close to Ship Court, was the residence of the notorious Jonathan Wild, and in Ship Court Hogarth's father kept a school.

The word Old Bailey has been supposed to be derived from the Ballium, or outer walled court, attached to the ancient fortifications. According to other accounts, the word is corrupted from Bail Hill, the place where offenders were tried by the Bailiff; a derivation which appears to be the more reasonable, from the circumstance of that part of the court in which prisoners are confined previously to their trial still retaining the name of the Bail Dock.