Bro. Sir Christopher Wren.

in 1718 , revoked it . Wren had anything but an easy position . He succeeded a poet ( Denham ) ancl was himself succeeded by a poetaster ( William Benson ) in 1718 . Benson was a favourite Avith the Germans who accompanied King George from the Continent , and influenced him in many of his appointments . Sir Robert Walpole truly says , thus Avas removed the man " the length of whose life enriched the reigns of several princesand disgraced the last of

, them . " Even while Wren continued architect , his political enemies thwarted his plans , ancl vexed him in every possible manner . His salary as architect was but £ 200 per year , and his enemies secured an order that one half of this sum should remain uncollected until the completion of the edifice , ancl then , in his old age , they retarded its completion as much as they could , so as to prevent him from drawing the sum which had accumulated . Wren appealed to

the king in this matter , who referred the case to his attorney-general , but that officer gave no conclusive opinion . Wren then appealed to the House of Commons , which body ordered that his suspended salary should be paid on or before December 25 , 1711 . Thus for the small annual salary of £ 200 , and one half of that sum kept in abeyance , he yet directed the building with so much energy that the parsimonious Duchess of Marlboroughwhen contrasting the

, charges of her own architect with the scanty remuneration of Wren , observed , " he was content to be dragged up in a basket three or four times a week for £ 200 a year . " Steele sketched him in his Tatter , No . 52 , under the name of "Nestor , " and says of him , " His personal modesty overthrew all his public actions ' ; he was one of the most accomplished ancl illustrious characters iu history . " " The

modest man built the cit y , and the modest man ' s skill was unknown . " Steele also gives the following romance , " Wren knew to an atom what foundation would bear such a superstructure , ancl the record of him states that he was so prodigiously exact , that for the experiment ' s sake he built an edifice of great beauty ancl seeming strength , but contrived so as to bear only its own weight , and not to admit the addition of the least particle . This building was beheld Avith much admiration by the virtuosi of that time ; but fell down with no other pressure but the settling of a wren upon the top of it . " This is so palpable a romance that it must have been coined out of Steele ' s own brain !

Sir Dudley North was a great lover of building , ancl often visited St . Paul ' s while it was in process of erection . He says , " We usually went there on Saturdays , which were Sir Christopher Wren ' s days , who was the surveyor ; ancl we commonly got a snatch of discourse with him , who , like a true philosopher , was always obliging ancl communicative , ancl in every matter we inquired about gave short but satisfactory answers . " During the building of St . Paul ' sin 1695 Wren issued the following

, , order , which i * emiuds us of one issued by Gen . Washington to his soldiers : " Whereas , among labourers , etc ., that ungodly custom of swearing is too frequentl y heard , to the dishonour of God ancl contempt of authority ; and to the end , therefore , that such impiety may be utterly banished from these works , intended for the service of God ancl the honour of religion , it is ordered that customary swearing shall be sufficient crime to dismiss any labourer that comes to

the call ; and the clerk of the works , upon sufficient proof , shall dismiss them accordingly . " St . Paul ' s originally comprehended three churches—the Cathedral proper , St . Faith ' s ( of which nothing remains now but the Cathedral crypt , yet styled the _ Church of St . Faith ) and St . Gregory ' s , which was annexed to St . Paul ' s at its south-west corner . Old Fuller wittily described St . Paul's as being trul

y the mother-church , having one babe in her body—St . Faith ' s—and another in her arms—St . Gregory ' s . " After his dismissal Wren had a town residence in London , ancl cjuiiiimed to superintend the repairs to Westminster Abbey until his death , J ^^ S ^ fehi lowers are of his design . He also had a country house , r ?&!^ iMyj )^ m iifLo ^ e ^ in WV UBRf ^ / 1 ^ £ 007