Sir Christopher Wren.

mind was most precocious , for they were told that at thirteen , he invented an , astronomical instrument , a pneumatic engine , and another instrument of use in gnomonics : these displays of genius doubtless helped his way at Oxford , for ere he was fourteen , he was entered as a gentleman commoner at Wadham College . It was also said , that in the next year he invented a pen that should write two hands at the same time , and which he brought forward as a security against forgery . In 1653 he was elected a Fellow of All Souls' College ; and while at

Oxford , he associated with Hooke and other scientific men , and their meetings laid the foundation of the Royal Society . By the time he was twenty-four , he was known to the learned of Europe by his various theories , inventions , and improvements . Passing over his other honours , they came to the time ( 1661 ) when his architectural skill caused his appointment , by Charles II ., as assistant to Sir John Denham , the surveyor-general , and commissioned to survey and report upon St . Paul's Cathedral , with a view to its restoration , and to rebuild a part so as to reconcile it with the colonade added by Inigo Jones . Jones , who had

been styled the English Palladio , and had in all his struct ures aimed at theltalian style , had been much commended for this addition to St . Paul ' s ; of its merit they were now unable to judge , as not a vestige of it now remains . Much time was spent by the opposition made by the clergy and citizens to Wren ' s plans ; and as political events had interfered with Jones ' s plans for building Whitehall , an event of a very different nature , calamitous in itself at the time , happened most opportunely for Wren , since the Great Eire of London not only decided that St . Paul ' s Cathedral should be entirely rebuilt , but also opened an extensive field for his

talents in other metropolitan buildings . It was not necessary for him to notice his works further than by remarking , that Wren , in his scientific arrangements , was unrivalled . Bro . Laughlin , doubtless to enliven his lecture , introduced matter that had no especial reference to Wren , such as notices of poets of the day , with extracts from Pepys and Evelyn , describing their impressions of the great plague that preceded the burning of London . Wren ' s first design for the cathedral was widely different from that which was adopted , and of this first design his model was still in existence , neglected and covered by dust , and , he believed , fast

tumbling to pieces : it is hoped that ere long it will be transferred to some public institution of the metropolis , better fitted for its preseiration than its present place in the cathedral . The first stone of the present edifice was laid June 21 st , 1675 ; the choir was opened for Divine Service in 1697 ; the entire building was finished in thirty-five years ; the last stone on the summit of the lantern being placed by the architect ' s son Christopher in 1710 . Taken altogether , St . Paul ' s

was a truly glorious building , and one of which the English people might justly be proud ; it was deserving of notice , that of this great work the same architect , the same master-builder , and the same bishop saw its completion . The lecturer further informed his hearers , that St . Paul ' s was built according to the formula and principles of Freemasonry , of which Order Sir Christopher was an active member , and became the Grand Master .

Bro . Wren was appointed a Grand Warden under Sir John Denham , the D . G . M ., in 1663 , was ma , de Deputy by the Earl Rivers , and in 1685 elected Grand Master . William III ., we believe , was initiated by Wren in 1695 , and visited the different Lodges , especially one at Hampton Court , where he presided on several

occasions . Bro . Wren was for eighteen years a member of the old Lodge of St . Paul ' s , then held at the Goose and Gridiron , near the cathedral , now the Lodge of Antiquity ; and the records of that Lodge show that the maul and trowel used at the laying the stone of St . Paul's , together with a pair of carved mahogany candlesticks , were presented by Wren , and are now in possession of that Lodge . Bro . Laughlin said

their own church was deserving of commendation , the interior possessing great beauty of design ; and he regretted that the unsightly pews much marred its general effect . Wren was decidedly opposed to pews , as he considered the great body of a church should be left open for standing-room . Throughout the reigns of William and Anne , Wren retained his office of surveyor-general ( which beheld for forty-nine years ) , but was dispossessed by George L , who had no taste for the line arts , science , or literature : but being then over eighty , Wren could have