the body of the church Wren, always
ingenious, contrived an ambulatory the whole depth of the tower, to
deaden the sound of passing traffic. The church is a cube, the length 57
feet, the breadth 66 feet; the spire, 168 feet high, is dwarfed by St.
Paul's. The church cost in erection L5,378 18s. 8d.

The composite pillars, organ balcony, and oaken altar-piece are
tasteless and pagan. The font was the gift of Thomas Morley, in 1673,
and is encircled by a favourite old Greek palindrome, that is, a puzzle
sentence that reads equally well backwards or forwards--

"Tripson anomeema me monan opsin."
(Cleanse thy sins, not merely thy outward self.)

This inscription, according to Mr. G. Godwin ("Churches of London"), is
also found on the font in the basilica of St. Sophia, Constantinople. In
the vestry-room, approached by a flight of stairs at the north-east
angle of the church, there is a carved seat (date 1690) and several
chests, covered with curious indented ornaments.

On this church, and other satellites of St. Paul's, a poet has written--

"So, like a bishop upon dainties fed,
St. Paul's lifts up his sacerdotal head;
While his lean curates, slim and lank to view,
Around him point their steeples to the blue."

Coleridge used to compare a Mr. H----, who was always putting himself
forward to interpret Fox's sentiments, to the steeple of St. Martin's,
which is constantly getting in the way when you wish to see the dome of
St. Paul's.

One great man, at least, has been connected with this church, where the
Knights Templars were put to trial, and that was good old Purchas, the
editor and enlarger of "Hakluyt's Voyages." He was rector of this
parish. Hakluyt was a prebendary of Westminster, who, with a passion for
geographical research, though he himself never ventured farther than
Paris, had devoted his life, encouraged by Drake and Raleigh, in
collecting from old libraries and the lips of venturous merchants and
sea-captains travels in various countries. The manuscript remains were
bought by Purchas, who, with a veneration worthy of that heroic and
chivalrous age, wove them into his "Pilgrims" (five vols., folio), which
are a treasury of travel, exploit, and curious adventures. It has been
said that Purchas ruined himself by this publication, and that he died
in prison. This is not, however, true. He seems to have impoverished
himself chiefly by taking upon himself the care and cost of his brot