1801.] 
time-fhattered, edifice. We remembered 
- Chatterton—his Rowley, and his fatal 
cup—his premature genius, and his pre- 
mature fate! We recolle&ted alfo fome 
later inftances—lefs tragical indeed—but 
not lefs eloquent to prefageful conclufion. 
We recolletted, that whenever genius has 
fought for patronage in the fecond city of 
this great commercial nation, it has fought 
in ‘vain. And perhaps to the obfervant 
moralift and calculator on exilting appear- 
arices it may be evident, that it is fome- 
_ thing more than fancy that traces, in the 
traits of charaéter connected with this neg- 
le& of genius, the fore-doomed decay of 
the trade and opulence of Briftol; while 
Liverpool, from charaéteriftics the very 
reverfe, is rifng, with incalculable, rapi- 
dity, to a precedence that appears ine- 
vitable, 
The Tower of St. Stephen’s—the frag- 
ment of the Cathedral—the New-bridge— 
the Quay {on which, at that time, were 
fcarcely any veflels, except a few Weft 
Indiamen and Americans recentlyarrived), 
and another vifit to St. Vincent’s Rocks, 
and the extenfive fcenery of Durdham- 
Down, occupied our time till dinner, when 
a pleafant family-party, and an interefting 
converfation on fubjects of literature and 
fcience, at Dr. ’s, prepared my 
mind to enjoy with full zeft the beauties of 
an evening-profpeét of Briftol from Bran- 
don-hill. 
The evening was devoted to a chearful 
fupper at the Rummer ; and it commenced 
with aufpices highly flattering.- The 
fpirits flowed without the neceility of fti- 
mulating excefs—Hilarity hovered over the 
board, and that fort of free-thinking and 
free-{peaking, in which the moft oppofite 
opinions chime together without difcord, 
gave wings to the happy hour. ’ But fud- 
denly all was blafted. The fire-bell jarred 
its horrible peals in our ears ; and all was 
panic and apprehenfion. All flew to the 
{cene of dilafter. Fortunately the hour 
was too early for life to be endangered ; 
and the flames, though very furious at 
~ firft, were extinguifhed before their ravages 
had fpread to any thing like the extent 
that wasexpected. Thecompany return- 
ed to the place of meeting, ‘hey endea- 
voured to refume their -vivacity, but in 
vain. The genii who prefide over the 
focial banquet, had fled: they refuled our 
libations—our invocation was rejected— 
our efforts at mirth only increafed the ge- 
neral tedium. We kept it up till one 
o'clock, in the hope that we fhould be 
merry ; and retired, at laft, to our beds, 
aifatisfied that we had not been fo. 
Pedeftrian Excurficn through England and Wales. 307 
Wednefday 12. Having enjoyed a focial 
(almoft a public) breakfaft, to which fome 
fine paflages from **Lucan’s Pharfalia” and 
‘¢ Southey’s Joan of Arc’ furnifhed a 
fort of poetical grace, we proceeded to 
complete our perambulation about the 
town. Of the objeé&s that now attracted 
our attention, I feleét only that expenfive 
pile of grotefque abfurdity—the new 
church of St. Paul, in Portland-{quare. 
Th¢ Gothic front that prefented itielf as 
we approached, infpired me with a fort of »- 
hope, that we were going, for once at leat, 
to contemplate a decent modern imitation 
of that fine, but obfolete, ftyle of facer- 
dotal building. But, what was our fur 
-prife! when, inftead of the long-drawn 
aifles—the high-peaked roof, and the com- 
paratively narrow body, that harmonifes 
fo finely in the archite€ture of our ancef- 
tors, and give {pace for that fublime pers 
{pective that at once fafcinates the eye, 
and awes the mind to devotion, we per- 
ceived our Gothic-{pire to be flanked with 
a fhort, {quab, fquare, flat-roofed, box, of 
a body that gave us more the idea (only 
that it lacked dimenfions) of a modern 
mufic-room, than an ancient church. 
With thefe proportions correfpond the 
back-front, which is in the Grecian ftyle : 
but the windows again are Gothic. The 
infide is equally pie-balled with the out ; 
the pillars, the arched-roof,the decorations 
of the galleries, &c. being all in fine At- 
tic-ftyle; while the part affigned to the 
communion fervice is Gothic, with a Go- 
thic-arch behind the altar, blended with 
an Attic-termination, apparently copied 
from that of St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, in 
the metropolis. 
Appearances fo incongruous mutt necef- 
farily have originated in fome latent caufe 
“out of the cuitomary routine: for, certain 
it is, that the parts-and proportions (dif- 
proportions, I fhould fay) of the church of 
St. Paul, Portland-fquare, Briftol, did 
not come together by accident ; and equal- 
ly certain 1¢ is, that no architet, capable 
of projeéting thofe parts refpectively, 
could have been mad enough, or ftupid 
enough, to have devifed fo heterogeneous 
a combinations The myftery, however, 
was foon explained. Tworival archite&ts 
had been employed by two rival church- 
wardens, and each had produced his plan 
in the parochial conclave. Each of the 
patrons was inflexible in the fupport of his 
particular protegé; and each of the patrons 
had his party inflexible in the fupport of his 
fuperior {cience: and the veftry, thus equally 
divided, was in danger of open ruptare and 
civil-war; to avoid the horrers of which, 
if Rr a2 it 
