CHAPTER VIII. 1672-1677. BIRTH OF HIS ELDEST SON-S. STEPHEN'S, WALBROOK-S. BENNET FINK-PLANS FOR S. PAUL'S THE EXCAVATIONS-SON CHRISTOPHER BORN-DEATH OF FAITH, LADY WREN-SECOND MARRIAGE-CITY CHURCHES-THE MONUMENT-TOMB OF CHARLES I.-REMAINS OF THE LITTLE PRINCES IN THE TOWER. K. Rich. But didst thou see them dead? K. Rich. And buried, gentle Tyrrel? Tyr. The chaplain of the Tower hath buried them, CHAPTER VIII. EARLY in October, 1672, Christopher Wren's eldest son was born, and baptized by the name of Gilbert, at S. Martin's-in-the-Fields, a very different-looking building from the present S. Martin's with its stately portico. Wren and his wife lived in the house in Scotland Yard, and, avoiding the uneven, difficult streets, could daily go by water, then the favourite way of transit for a Londoner, to examine and superintend his works in the city. Later on Wren built himself a little house of red bricks in the yard of the Falcon Inn at Southwark, and watched from its window the progress of S. Paul's and of his other buildings in the city. 1 Besides the churches already begun, three new ones were taken in hand that year. S. Mary-at-Hill 1 was only partially destroyed by the fire. Upon it Wren first tried his plan of a domed roof, and succeeded in making it, at any rate within, a beautiful little church. S. Michael's, Cornhill, of which only the tower was left 1 To this church and parish belongs the honourable distinction of having successfully resisted the encroachments of the railway company which recently attempted to desecrate the church. 'The City Church and Churchyard Protection Society'-alas! that any such society should be needed-which fought this battle, must have the best wishes of any biographer of Christopher Wren. standing, was rebuilt that year; its situation threw a great difficulty in the architect's way, as it could only be lit from one side; this difficulty Wren overcame and produced an interior1 equally light and good. The tower was taken down in 1722, and rebuilt from designs of Wren's. These designs were taken from the tower of Magdalen College at Oxford, and instance Wren's power of producing a bold, rich effect in a style of architecture altogether foreign to his taste. Perhaps the most beautiful of all Wren's churches is S. Stephen's, Walbrook, begun at this same time, and finished seven years later. The outside, cramped by its situation, and overshadowed by tall houses, is not handsome, but within, the church is as original as it is graceful and beautiful : 'The circular dome, placed on an octagonal base supported by eight pillars, was an early, and long a favourite, mode of roofing in the East . . . .. Wren, however, is the only European architect who availed himself of it. . . . he certainly has produced the most pleasing interior of any Renaissance church which has yet been erected.'2 So great was the fame, and such the charm of the building that when the great sculptor Canova3 visited England, and was asked should he ever wish to return to the country? he answered, 'Yes, that I might again see S. Paul's Cathedral, Somerset House, and S. Stephen's, Walbrook.' 1 The interior has been lately altered. 2 History of Modern Architecture. Fergusson, p. 307. 3 Antonio Canova, born 1757, died 1822. He had come to England to see the Elgin Marbles. SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 193 In the midst of so much work it is not wonderful that, for the moment, Wren's diligent attendance at the Royal Society slackened somewhat, though at the end of 1672 his name occurs among those of the Society who cordially welcomed Isaac Newton to their fellowship. Wren bestowed especial praise on Newton's invention of a refracting telescope. Friends they appear always to have remained, and their dispositions were not unlike, though the travels and varied experiences of Wren's early years had quickened his faculties, and prevented that entire absorption in one idea which is evident from many stories about Isaac Newton. As, for instance, when one of Newton's philosophical friends abroad 'Sent him a curious prism, at that time a rarity in England, it was taken to the Custom House and Newton claimed it. The officers asked him to set some value upon it that they might regulate the duty. Newton, rating the prism by his own idea of its use and excellence, replied, "The value is so great I cannot ascertain it." They pressed him. again to set some estimate on it, but he still replied, "I cannot say what it is worth, for the value is inestimable." The honest Custom House officers took him at his word, and made him pay an exorbitant duty for the prism, which he might have taken away upon only paying a rate according to the weight of the glass!' 1 1 History of the Royal Society, p. 237. Weld. The anecdote is taken from an article in an old Gentleman's Magazine, written professedly by one who knew Sir I. Newton. |