312 Removal of the Inscriptions from the Monument defended. [April, bated as destroyers, ought they not rather to be hailed as restorers ? It is only upon this being established on the most incontrovertible evidence, that I claim for this act of the Common Council the sanction of public approbation. And, first, as to the internal and circumstantial evidence on which I ground my opinion. Surely, Mr. Urban, if this pillar had been erected, not only "the better to preserve the memory of this direful visitation,”* but likewise to hold up the Papists as the authors of it, it is natural to conclude that the sculptor would have introduced something into the noble hieroglyphic which graces it, corresponding with such an idea: nothing, however, of the kind is to be traced; the only figure of an ungracious aspect which appears, is that of "Envy peeping forth underneath the stone pavement where the King stands;" while we find, on the contrary, "the Duke of York," who was a professed Papist, standing behind his brother King Charles the Second, "holding a garland ready to crown the rising City."+ Again, if this pillar had been intended to embrace that object, would not the inscription which was written under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren for this mighty effort of his genius, have contained some notice of it? yet it is in vain that we seek in this inscription, which is preserved in the Parentalia," for even the most distant allusion to such a circumstance. Another argument that this was not intended, may, I think, be gathered, from an examination of the inscriptions in question, and the situations assigned to them on the Monument; it is hardly to be believed that if this charge was originally meant to be made, one of the inscriptions containing it would have been brought in at the conclusion of an account of the fire, and have been so constructed as to show that it was principally written for the purpose of implying a continued apprehension of papistical fury;" and that the other would have occupied a position so little adapted to the importance of the subject it records. But leaving this view of the case, it may safely be affirmed that it was not till the year 1678, that this charge against the Papists obtained any thing like general credence; at that period, however, by reason of the plot ascribed to the Papists by Titus Oates (since acknowledged by all to be a pretended one), it not only began to be almost universally believed,§ but the public apprehension of them was excited to a very great degree; indeed to such an extent was this feeling carried, that it led in Parliament, in the year 1679, to the agitation of the question for the exclusion of the Duke of York from the Crown, and to a proclamation banishing all Papists from the City of London, the posts and chains of which were put up as in times of great tumult, and it prepared for a defence as if besieged. To prove that the charge against the Papists with respect to the Fire of London, was then first generally regarded as a fact, a multitude of authorities might be adduced. In the speech of Sir Thomas Player, Chamberlain of London, made on the 12th of September, 1679, the following passage occurs: "It cannot be forgot that thirteen years ago this City was a sad monument of the Papists' cruelty, it being now out of all doubt that it was they that burnt the City." These are the words of the Act of Parliament, 19th Charles the Second, c. 3, under the authority of which the Monument was erected. This figure is thus described in Stow's "London and Westminster," by Strype, edition 1720, and likewise in the edition published in 1756. In "Maitland's London," edition 1739, a similar description is to be found; but in later editions of this work the name of "the Duke of York" is superseded by that of "Mars," the "chaplet in his hand' being described as "an emblem that an approaching honourable peace would be the consequence of war!" This work, which is entitled "Parentalia, or Memoirs of the Family of Wren," was compiled by his son Christopher, and published by his grandson Stephen Wren, esq. with the care of Joseph Ames, F.R.S. and Secretary to the Society of Antiquaries, London, where it was printed in the year 1750. The disclosure made by Titus Oates, as it respects the Fire of London being the work of the Papists, will be found in the 34th article of his "True Narrative of the Horrid Plot, &c. of the Popish Party," edition 1679. 1831.] City Records relative to the Monument. Again, in the Votes of the House of Commons, of the 10th of January, 1680, the following resolution is to be found: "That it is the opinion of this House that the City of London was burnt in the year 1666 by the Papists, designing thereby to introduce arbitrary power and Popery into this kingdom." By a reference likewise to the Pageant exhibited on the 29th of October, being the show of Sir Patience Ward, Lord Mayor of London, as well as to "London's Defiance to Rome," and to "The Solemn Mock Procession, or the Tryal and Execution of the Pope and his Ministers," (the first of which was exhibited on the 17th of November, 1679, and the other on the same day in the year 1680,) additional evidence will be found to the same effect; in short, a fearful anxiety as to what the Papists might further accomplish, and a restless animosity, springing from the recollection of the awful conflagration which it was believed they had occasioned, almost wholly occupied the public mind, and hence most certainly the origin of these inscriptions on the Monument. In "England's Reformation," by Thomas Ward, a poem written about this period, the disclosures made by Titus Oates regarding the Papists, and the consequences to which they led with reference to the subject immediately in question, are thus distinctly pointed out : "He swore, with flaming faggot sticks, And burnt the City down with torches ; Suth is a portion of the internal and circumstantial evidence by which 313 I was convinced that these inscriptions were additions to those originally inscribed upon the Monument. To me the evidence of this kind which I had collected, appeared irresistible; and for my own satisfaction I required nothing beyond: I felt, however, that, if the facts were as I supposed, other evidence of a more direct nature must be in all probability accessible, and I determined for the satisfaction of others, and to place the subject beyond all doubt, to endeavour to obtain it. For this purpose I carefully examined the City Records, and was much gratified to find that they fully established the truth of the opinion I had formed. The following are correct copies of these official docuinents, commencing at the period when Dr. Gale was first required "to devise a fitting inscription to be set on the new Pillar," and ending at the period when these additional inscriptions, together with the inscription on the house in Pudding-lane, were set for the second time. up COURT OF ALDERMEN. 4th October, 1677.-This Court doth desire Dr. Gale, Master of the Schoole of St. Paul, to consider of and devise a fitting Inscription to be set on the new Pillar at Fish Street Hill, and to consult with Sir Christopher Wren, Kat. his Majesties Surveyor Generall, and Mr. Hooke, and then to pre sent the same unto this Court. COURT OF ALDERMEN, 22d Oct. 1677. Upon intimation now given by the Right Honble the Lord Mayor, that the Inscriptions for the new Pillar on ffish Street Hill, prepared and lately presented to this Court by Dr. Gale, had been tendered to and very well approved off by his Matie. This Court doth Order that the said Inscription be forthwith made upon the said Pillar accordingly. COURT OF ALDERMEN, 25th Oct. 1677. This Court now takeing into their consideration the ingenious Inscriptions prepared and presented unto this Court by Dr. Gale for the new Pillar on ffish Street Hill, doth order that Mr. Chamberlein doe deliver unto Mr. Lane, Comptroller of the Chamber, ten guineys (to be placed on account of It is worthy of remark that this was the first vote which the House of Commons came to on the subject. The Committee of that House, which was appointed on the 25th of September, 1666, to inquire into the causes of the Fire, made a Report bearing date the 22d of January, 1667, but upon the 8th day of February following, the Parliament was prorogued, before they came to give their judgment thereupon. "A Free and Faithful Account of the several Informations laid before the Committee," edition 1667. GENT. MAG. April, 1831. 314 City Records relative to the Monument. the cole duty), and hee to lay out the same in a handsome piece of plate, to be presented to the said Dr. Gale as a loveing remembrance from this Court. COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. 17 June, 1681.-This day Mr. Comptroller of the Chamber (p'suant to an Order of the 12th of November last) did present to this Court an Inscripcion in Latin and English by him composed, to be affixed on the Monument or Pillar on ffish Street Hill; the Latin is in these words (Sed Furor Papisticus qui tam dira patravit nondum restinguitur), w'ch he conceives might properly be added to the p'sent Inscripcon on the north side thereof, after these words (stetit Fatalis Ignis et quaquaversum elanguit). And the English Inscripcon follows in these words (viz.): (This Pillar was sett up in perpetuall remembrance of that most dreadfull burning of this Protestant City, begun and carried on by the treachery and malice of the Papists in the beginning of September in the year of our Lord 1666, in order to the carrying on their horrid plott for extirpating the Protestant Religion and old English liberty, and introducing Popery and slavery); which said inscripcons being read, this Court doth very well like and approve of them, and doth order that the same shall be forthwith affixed on the said Monument in the most convenient parts thereof, att the direccon and appointmt of the Rt. Honble the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldmen And it is likewise ordered, that another Inscripc'on in English now p'sented by Mr. Comptroller, and read in this Court, and agreed on, shall be likewise forthwith affixed on the front of the house where the said Fire began, at the like appointment of the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldmen, wch said Inscripc'on is in these words, viz.: (Here, by the permission of Heaven, Hell broke loose upon this Protestant City from the malicious hearts of barbarous Papists, by the hand of their agent Hubert, who confessed and on the ruines of this place declared the fact, for which he was hanged, viz. that here began that dreadful fire wch is described and perpetuated on and by the neighbouring Pillar.) COURT OF ALdermen, [April, held on the 23d day of June, 1681. The Right Hon'ble the Lord Mayor is desired by this Court to direct the setting up the Inscriptions lately agreed to in Common Counsell touching the fireing of this City by the Papists, A. D. 1666, upon the Pillar on Fish St. Hill, and the house where the Fire began, in such manner as his Lordship shall think convenient. A COURT OF Aldermen, held on the 12th day of July, 1681. It is now agreed by this Court that the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, who was desired by this Court to cause the additional inscriptions lately agreed to in Common Counsell, to be set up on the Pillar at Fish Street Hill, doe in order thereunto cause the Inscription already made on the said Pillar, or such part thereof as his Lordship shall think convenient, to be taken out and anew engraved, the better to make way for the said additional Inscription. COURT OF ALDERMEN. 16 Sept. 1689.-It is unanimously agreed and ordered by this Court, that the two severall Inscripc'ons formerly sett up by order of this Court in the Mayoralty of Sr Patience Ward, on the Monument and the house where the dreadfull Fire began (which have been since taken down,*) be again sett uppt in their former places, and that Mr. Chamb'laine and Mr. Comptroller doe se the same done accordingly. Thus conclude these documents; and now, Mr. Urban, when I state that I had the honour, during the discussion of the question in the Court of Common Council for the erasure of these Inscriptions, to bring forward evidence so incontrovertible, how I ask was it possible for the Court to do otherwise than adopt the Resolution? I am almost ashamed to argue the subject further. Here is a Pillar erected for a certain purpose, in the words of the Act of Parliament, "the better to preserve the memory of this direful visitation." Years pass on; folly, ignorance, passion, prejudice, -what you will-comes into action, and sets up inscriptions turning this *This was soon after the accession of James the Second. + How long the Inscription thus "again set up on the house where the dreadful Fire began," remained, I have not been able to ascertain. In an "Historical Narrative of the great and terrible Fire of London," W. Nicholl, London, 1769, it is stated to have been "there very lately." 1831.] Church of St. Etienne-du-mont, Paris. Pillar of remembrance into a firebrand of a more deadly nature to the peace and happiness of the citizens of London, than the Fire, on the ruins of which it was erected, was destructive to the property of the inhabitants. Under such circumstances, can there be any difficulty in finding out "the wisdom which led to their removal?" or can such an act be truly characterized as a "childish proceeding?" I will only add, that the course which has been adopted is that which justice pointed out, and which antiquaries (if merely judging as antiquaries) should join with the wise and good in applauding. It is in truth nothing more than the restoration of this grand national Pillar to its original state, and thereby preventing it from being any longer made an instrument for the dissemination of falsehood, and the exciting of party spirit and religious animosity. FREDERICK THORNHILL. MR. URBAN, Paris, March 14. ST. ETIENNE-DU-MONT is the parochial church of the 12th Arrondissement of Paris; it is situated on one of the highest spots of ground within the walls, at the top of the Rue de la Montagne Ste. Genevieve. It was originally no more than a subterraneous chapel in the abbey of St. Genevieve; and the present building is so contiguous to its successor, the Pantheon, that the English visitor is forcibly reminded of St. Margaret's, Westminster, standing like a pious handmaid by the side of that venerable Abbey. In 1221, the population of the neighbourhood having greatly increased, a separate Church was erected; but it was still considered a part of the Abbey, in order to be exempted from the jurisdiction of the Bishops of Paris. The chancel was added in 1491; and the side chapels were constructed at subsequent periods. The portail, or grand front, was built in 1610 by Margaret of Valois, the divorced queen of The Resolution of the Court of Common Council was begun to be carried into execution on the morning of the 26th of January last, when Mr. Charles Pearson, Mr. Richard Taylor, and the writer of this article, attended with the workmen, and were the first to commence the erasure of these Inscriptions. 315 Henry IV. Such an edifice naturally exhibits a great diversity of style. On approaching the Church from the west, the front presents four Corinthian pillars with a pediment. The columns are ornamented with annular bands, and other devices commonly introduced at the close of the 16th century: there is a specimen of this style in the Tuileries, and in that part of the gallery of the Louvre built by Henry IV. Above the pediment are four pilasters; in the centre is a circular window, and between the pair on each side is a niche; the whole is surmounted by a corniced arch. The upper part of the front forms a gable end; and in the triangle is an opening for a window, latticed up with fantastic curves in stone work. On the northern side, and a little behind the front, rises a slender square tower of three stages, with a projecting circular staircase; and at the corner of the building is a little round turret, with a slated cone-shaped roof: this turret contains a staircase leading to a room over a porch at the north-west end. It is probable that the tower and this porch were erected at the same time as the chancel, for the style is of that age. The partition walls of the chapels on the south side, are carried up to a considerable height, and terminate in slopes on a line with the roof. The design of the north side is different, as there are two rows of buttresses; the inner row being ornamented with pinnacles. The roof is formed so as to represent a cross more distinctly on the outside than within. At each corner of the arms are flying buttresses; and to the north-east of the cross is another cone-topped turret, nearly as high as the top of the chancel, which ends in a heptagon; that distribution of the east end of the building has, however, lost a great part of its effect by a circular chapel having been erected behind the principal altar. The interior of this Church has long attracted notice: the screen of the choir is formed by a narrow gallery, which passes round the pillars supporting the roof. The side facing the nave is lower than the others, and is placed over an arch. A spiral staircase, of remarkable construction, winds up a column on each side; and a handsome porch is placed at each entrance 316 Church of St. Etienne-du-mont, Paris. to the continuation of the aisle, which passes behind the choir. Galleries similar to the above, connect the pillars forming the side aisles, at one third of their height, and thus render the slender form of those columns less striking. The curious workmanship of the balustrades of the gallery, and staircases leading to it, the rich gilding about the altar, the shrine of S. Genevieve placed above it, and the stained glass in the eastern windows, all contribute to give this Church an appearance both singular and interesting. No other transept appears than that indicated by the discontinuance of the gallery before described, and a trifling difference in the height of the ceiling. The roof is groined, and appears to be of brick, thinly stuccoed over. The compartment forming the centre of the cross, is ornamented with medallions, roses, &c. and an inverted pinnacle of unusual boldness. The groins over the south, are higher than those over the north aisle, which is moreover filled up in part by the base of the tower, as the Church was enlarged on the erection of the western front. This edifice contains several interesting monuments, for which the lovers of Church antiquities are indebted to the late incumbent, Mr. F. A. de Voisins, who exerted himself to recover the wrecks of the revolution. He died Feb. 14, 1809, and his heart is buried behind the great altar, which he had been instrumental in restoring, as appears from the following inscription on a brass plate : "27 Mars, 1806. La pieté des fidèles a relevé du milieu des ruines cet autel, consacré par M'g'r André, ex-Evêque de Quimper: curé, M. F. A. de Voisins." Another remnant of antiquity, recovered by Mr. Voisins is the tomb of S. Geneviève. It is now placed in a chapel on the right of the choir, and is constantly supplied with consecrated tapers, &c. by the old women of this city. A long inscription on marble gives the history of this highly venerated relic. The body of the Saint reposed in it, 120 years after her death, which occurred Jan. 3; 511. St. Eloi, Bishop of Noyon, made a shrine for her in 631. The tomb was long an object of veneration. Having been stripped of the decorations bestowed by the pious Cardinal de la Roche * [April, foucauld, it was placed in an underground chapel of the Abbey, whence it was brought to this Church by Mr. de Voisins, Dec. 31, 1803. Near the door of the Church is an inscription on a plain marble tablet, to the memory of the talented author of the Lettres Provinciales, who was interred at the back of the choir : "Pro columna superiori, sub tumulo marmoreo, jacet Blasius Pascal, Claromontanus, Stephani Pascal in supremâ apud Arvernos curiâ præsidis filius, post aliquot annos in severiori secessu, et divinæ legis meditatione transactos, feliciter et religiosè in pace Christi vita functus, anno 1662, ætatis 39°, die 19a Augusti," &c. &c. In a stone frame to correspond with the above, is fixed a tablet, originally placed in the church of Port Royal. The epitaph being the composition of Boileau, I imagine your readers will be gratified by its insertion at length. "Hic jacet nobilis vir Joannes Racine, Franciæ thesauris præfectus, regi à secretis atque à cubiculo; necnon unus è quadraginta Gallicanæ Academiæ viris, qui postquam profana tragediarum argumenta diù cum ingenti hominum admiratione tractasset, musas tandem suas uni Deo consecravit, omniumque ingenium in Eo laudando contulit, Qui solus laude dignus. Cùm eum vitæ negotiorumque rationis multis nominibus aulæ tenerent addictum, tamen infrequenti hominum consortio, omnia pietatis ac religionis officia coluit. A christianissimo rege Ludovico magno selectus, una cum familiari ipsius amico fuerat, qui res eo regnante, præclarè ac mirabiliter gestas præscriberet; huic intentus operi repentè in gravem æquè et diuturnum morbum implicitus est: tandemque ab hac sede miseriarum in melius domicilium translatus, anno ætatis suæ lix; qui mortem longiori adhuc intervallo remotam valdè horruerat, ejusdem præsentis aspectum placidâ fronte sustinuit, obiitque spe multò magis et piâ iu Deum fiduciâ erectus quam fractus metu: ea jactura omnes illius amicos à quibus nonnulli inter regni primores emicabant acerbissimo dolore pertulit. Mauavit etiam ad ipsum regem tanti viri desiderium. Fecit modestia ejus singularis, et præcipua in hanc Portûs Regii domum benevolentia, ut in isto cœmeterio piè magis quam magnificè sepeliri vellet, adeo There were two Cardinals of this fa mily: 1. Francis de la Rochefoucauld, Bishop of Senlis and Abbot of St. Genevieve, ob. 1645, æt. 87; and 2. Frederic de Roye de la Rochefoucauld, Archbishop of Bourges, and Abbot of Cluny, ob. 1757. The former is the person alluded to in the inscription : his life has been written by the Jesuit de la Morinière. |