he not only rebuilt the Bishop's Palace at his own
expense but contributed munificently to the new building. Sancroft
preached within the ruined building before the King on October 10th,
1667, from the text, "His compassions fail not," and the sermon is
really eloquent. The congregation was gathered at the west end, which
had been hastily fitted up. The east end was absolute ruin.

Wren had already declared that it was impossible to restore the old
building, and in the following April, Sancroft wrote to him that he
had been right in so judging. "Our work at the west end," he wrote,
"has fallen about our ears." Two pillars had come down with a crash,
and the rest was so unsafe that men were afraid to go near, even to
pull it down. He added, "You are so absolutely necessary to us that
we can do nothing, resolve on nothing without you." This settled the
question.

There is a little difficulty with regard to the drawing, preserved
in the library of the cathedral, of the West Front after the Fire.
Evelyn, as we have seen, seems to describe it as far more ruinous than
the picture before us shows. Perhaps the artist filled up some of the
details from his memory, for the drawing hardly looks so desolate a
ruin as Evelyn implies. The gable of the nave roof is striking
enough, and evidently exactly according to fact; and the tower of St.
Gregory's preserves its external form, though it is inwardly
consumed, as is the whole nave. I am inclined to judge that this is
substantially the appearance of the porch after the west end had
been fitted up for worship as Sancroft described. However, Wren had
condemned the structure as unsafe, and the Dean had acquiesced, and
the new cathedral was resolved upon.

There was delay, which was inevitable. Not only was the whole city
paralysed with the awful extent of the ruin, but there were questions
which had to be referred to Parliament, as to the method of raising
the funds. Happily the whole voice of the people was of one accord in
recognising that it was a paramount duty for the nation to build a
splendid cathedral, worthy of England and of her capital city. It
was not until November 1673 that the announcement was made of the
determination of the King and his Parliament to rebuild St. Paul's.
The history of that rebuilding belongs to New St. Paul's. The King
wanted to employ a French architect, Claude Perrault, who had built
the new front of the Louvre, but this was objected to. Then Denha