408 LON 
generous offers from the two artifls, took upon himfelf 
to o'otain the confent of the truftees and guardians of the 
metropolitan church. He waited upon his majefty firft, 
and received a inoft gracious affent. The archbifhop of 
Canterbury had no objection to the plan; the lord-mayor 
was happy to find that the church would become properly 
adorned infide ; and the chapter’s confent was of courfe 
eafily fecured by that of the dean himfelf—but, unfortu¬ 
nately, the bilhop of London, who bad been privately in¬ 
formed of the bufinel's, was confulted la(t-~and from this 
folecifm in etiquette, the whole plan was entirely marred 
and fell to the ground—for the venerable prelate, pretext¬ 
ing feme qualms of confidence, and the fear of introducing 
popery, as he called it, into the church of England, pro¬ 
nounced at once his potent and irrevocable veto: thus, by 
a flight error in formality, this beautiful pile remained de¬ 
prived of the works of the chromatic art.—Meanwhile, 
Dr. Wilfon, reel or of St. Margaret, Weft minder, had been 
putting up the famous and really-beautiful ftained-glafs 
window, which is Hill the greateft ornament of that church, 
and which he had bought in Flanders. Being acquainted 
with Mr. Weft, he deplored with him the failure of Dr. 
Newton’s exertions about the pictorial decorations of St. 
Paul; and propofed to the artift the idea of placing a pic- 
cure over the altar of St. Stephen, Walbrook, of which he 
■was rector at the fame time. The painter caught warmly 
at the propofition, and volunteered a painting to adorn 
this beautiful edifice: and thus to the difappointment at 
St. Paul’s we owe the decoration at St. Stephen’s, of which 
-we (hall fpeak in the proper place. 
Since the publication of our article Architecture, 
feveral monuments have been erefted in the metropolitan 
church, in honour of l'ome of our countrymen who fell 
in defending their country’s rights, and who Inve contri¬ 
buted, by their exploits, to encircle, with unfading lau¬ 
rels, the brows of Britannia, and to produce (we hope a 
lading) peace.—Much had fir Chriltopher Wren to con¬ 
tend againft the prejudices exifting at the time he built 
this noble pile, even to obtain that the twelve Apoftles 
and four Evangelifts might have their ltatues on the fur¬ 
rounding attic, as fit ornaments far the cathedra!; and it 
was fuppofed at one time that the exifting opinions would 
have prevailed againft his plan, had he not ftrenuoufly 
protefted againft any farther deviation from it ; and, 
indeed, had he been overpowered by the iconoclaftic 
party, the church would have flood deprived of thofe ap¬ 
propriate appendages, the abfence of which would have 
damped it for ever as incomplete and unfinilhed. We 
happily live in milder days, and tolerance feems even to 
outdo, in one fenfe, what intolerance had performed in 
another. But, leaving thefe tranfitory obfervations, let 
us take a furvey of the three ltatues and nine monuments 
which add confiderable dignity to the naked walls of the 
interior of the metropolitan bafilica. 
The firft ftatue, placed in remembrance of Mr. How¬ 
ard, was introduced by proper feelings of humanity and 
gratitude towards this benevolent charafter, whole philan¬ 
thropy prompted him to defeend into the darknels of dun¬ 
geons, to dare the danknefs and unwholefomenefs of 
places of confinement, in order to reftore light and air, 
thole two free gifts of heaven, to the wretches who had 
loll their liberty. For the life of this martyr to humanity, 
fee vol. x. p. 4-33—His ftatue, the work of the late 
Mr. Bacon, is, like all the reft, in white marble, and does 
great honour to the artift. Howard is reprefented Hand- 
fng, holding a key in his right hand, and one of his feet 
treading upon the irons which are ufually feen on the 
hands and, feet of prifoners. The bafio relievo, on the 
front of the pedeftal, is exprefiively allufive to his deeds 
of mercy; and the whole prefents a majeltic appearance. 
But if foreigners, if indeed our countrymen, lhouLd alk 
why he is drefled like a Roman general, will the hackneyed 
anfwer, that our modern coftume is too fcanty, too mea¬ 
gre, too frivolous, to give a proper fcope to the fculptor’s 
art, iktisfy the enquirers ? fince in fome of the other nio- 
D O N. 
numents they will find glorious examples glaringly prov¬ 
ing to the contrary. 
The next, and in the oppofite corner, is the ftatue- 
of Dr. Johnfon, a man who deferved well of his country 
as a profound philologift, and whofe writings breathe un¬ 
interruptedly the mild lpirit of morality, religion, and 
kindnefs to others. Here again it will be difficult to vin¬ 
dicate the whim of the fculptor, who has reprefented 
him like Euclid laborioufly refolving one of his famous 
propofitions, or, like Archytas, feratching his head, in fad 
difappointment, at the non-folution of fome intricate pro¬ 
blem. The fculptor was the fame Mr. Bacon.—It fhould 
be recorded, to the credit of the dean and chapter of the 
cathedral, that, on application being made to them for 
permiftion to eredt the firft of thefe ltatues, they confented 
without requiring any fee for its admiffion ; making it, 
however, a condition, that no monument Ihould be eredl- 
ed, unlefs the defign was firft approved by a committee 
appointed by the Royal Academy ; in order to prevent 
the introduction of any which might be difeordant with 
the building, or incompatible with general propriety. 
The third ftatue is that of fir William Jones, fo de- 
fervedly celebrated for his deep refearches into the laws 
and literature of the Hindoos. (See vol. xii. p. 250.) But 
his coftume is as whimfical as that of the two preceding. 
He is invelted with a curioufly-ornamented fort of belt 
(and why a belt?) on the wrong fide. The medallion on 
the pedeftal is myfterioufty connected with the Hindoo 
theology; and, as well as the ftatue above, executed in 
a manner to enhance the merit due to the chifel of Bacon. 
The other corner is ftill vacant, and waits for the ftatue 
of fome of our worthies. 
In the left recefs of the lobby leading to the entrance 
into the choir, rifes molt majeltically the monument voted 
and eredled to the marquis Cornwallis. It has been con¬ 
ceived by a great mind, and not lefs mafterly executed. 
The noble marquis Hands on a high pedeftal, in a grave 
and commanding attitude, and his charadieriftic benevo¬ 
lence ftill lives in his features. He is habited in the robe 
and with the collar of a knight of the garter, thrown over 
a military uniform. Here we find elegance united with 
clafticality; the drefs of our own and of former times, 
fupported by great tafte in the folding and difpofsng of 
the drapery. Here no anacronifm hurts the delicate eye 
of the beholder; and the whole (hows that the adoption 
of the Grecian or Roman drefs is lefs owing to the un- 
couthnefs or frivolity of the modern coftume than to the 
deficiency of tafte anil invention in the artift. The French 
fculptors in the middle of the lall century, following 
blindly —0 imitatores, Jlultum pecusl —certain abfurd prece¬ 
dents, had exhibited the naked anatomy of the Neftor of 
their literature, Voltaire; a wonderful piece of art, but 
more fit for an academy of drawing, to teach the ftate of 
wrinkled fkin, decayed mufcles, and prominent bones, 
than to adorn an apartment in the Louvre—and indeed 
the whole was foolifh with a vengeance, for it was carved 
out of a block of black marble.—The ftatue of Buffon, the 
liiftorian of nature, was alfo naked, and often offended 
the light of the company afeending the flairs of the mu- 
feum at the Botanical garden. We believe that both thefts 
good pieces of fculpture have been removed to the Grande 
Gallerie, to keep company with other French worthies. 
But the tafte of the people was foon dilgufted ; the rage for 
the nud began to wane ; and we remember to have feen 
La Fontaine the fabulift, Moliere the dramatift, Lamoig- 
non the lawyer, See. Sec. in the Cour du Louvre leading 
to the Exhibition of Piftures, and executed, by order, in 
the modern garb, with much more elegance than any of 
the nudities expofed before.—But to return, and we do 
return with pleafure, to the work of Mr. Rofli, the beau¬ 
tiful and well-conceived monument of lord Cornwallis. 
Before the pedeftal, bearing a well-written infcnptioo. 
Hands, looking up with true feelings of regret at the lofs 
of a protedlor and friend, an allegorical figure, with all 
the fimplicity of natural grandeur, reprelenting the Hia- 
3 do© 
