162 



AN OCTOBER ABROAD. 



relaxation of the muscles, followed by a sense of phys- 

 ical weakness, and after half an hour or so I felt com- 

 pelled to go out into the open air, and leave till another 

 day the final survey of the building. Next day I came 

 back, but there can be only one first time, and I could 

 not again surprise myself with the same feeling of won- 

 der and intoxication. But St. Paul's will bear many 

 visits. I came again and again, and never grew tired 

 of it. Crossing its threshold was entering another 

 world, where the silence and solitude were so profound 

 and overpowering, that the noise of the streets outside, 

 or of the stream of visitors, or of the workmen en- 

 gaged on the statuary, made no impression. They 

 were all belittled, lost, like the humming of flies. 

 Even the afternoon services, the chanting, and the tre- 

 mendous organ, were no interruption, and left me just 

 as much alone as ever. They only served to set off the 

 silence, to fathom its depth. 



The dome of St. Paul's is the original of our dome 

 at Washington ; but externally I think ours is the more 

 graceful of the two, though the effect inside is tame 

 and flat in comparison. This is owing partly to the 

 lesser size and height, and partly to our hard, trans- 

 parent atmosphere, which lends no charm or illusion, 

 but mainly to the stupid, unimaginative plan of it.* 

 Our dome shuts down like an inverted iron pot ; there 

 is no vista, no outlook, no relation, and hence no pro- 

 portion. You open a door and are in a circular pen, 

 and can look in only one direction — up. If the iron 



