se reign the choir was
built. It was probably correct when put up; but poor Mary died before
the completion. The apse is of the breadth of the centre, and on
either side are the windows of the aisles, while the central one in
the basement belongs to the Crypt Chapel. There is nothing very
striking or remarkable in this part, the details being similar to the
rest of the church. Very different is the case with our next feature
of interest.

=The West Front.=--The best view is that from the direct front; but by
looking from the north or south-west the conjunction of the chapels
comes in sight, and the spectator can judge for himself whether or no,
so far as the exterior is concerned, they are any improvement. A few
additional dimensions are necessary. The summits of the towers are 222
feet high; the statue of St. Paul above the apex of the pediment is
135 feet. I have already given prominence to the cause of the defeat
of Wren's original conception of one main order and an attic, namely,
that he could not get blocks of stone of a sufficient size. The
Approved Design, so far as the colonnade is concerned, seems to have
been borrowed from the portico of Inigo Jones. The dimensions of the
blocks had been discovered, yet there was only one order of columns,
with a second story of three windows, and supported by Inigo Jones'
harp-shaped buttresses; the only buttresses that Wren even wished to
have visible. Now, the old portico was not cleared away until 1686;
and the west front was built after Wren's taste and judgment had been
given time to ripen. In consequence we have a complete revolution, so
far as the Approved Design is concerned, and something infinitely more
noble and dignified; and we may congratulate ourselves that his blocks
of stone were no larger, so that he produced two orders of columns. At
St. Peter's, where marble of 9 feet (8-1/4 only according to more
recent accounts) was used, the pillars have a shaft of 74 feet, not
including capital or base, and the highest statue is 175 feet from the
base, as compared with the 135 feet of St. Paul's.[84] Yet Wren, by
resorting to two orders of columns, has so increased his apparent
height, that those who have compared the two, assert that the west
front of St. Paul's _appears_ to be as high as St. Peter's.

In the lower order the columns are twelve in number, fluted and in
pairs. Claude Perrault had recently adopted this method of coupling in
the eastern facade of the L