The old church formerly consisted of a nave and chancel, built of stones and flint, and a low tower with a bell-shaped roof. It has been several times repaired, and the most recent of the restorations has taken away—externally, at least-all traces of its antiquity. In 1847-8 it was enlarged by taking the space occupied by the old square tower into the body of the church, and a spire was placed on the south side. The west end, which was lengthened, has an enriched Norman porch, and a wheel window in the gable above, which, together with the chancel windows, are filled with stained glass. The old monuments have been restored and placed as nearly as possible in their original positions. On the north wall, opposite the baptistery, is the early Tudor marble Purbeck memorial which Weever, in his "Funeral Monuments," ascribes to the ancient family of Gray, of Gray's Inn. The recesses for brasses are there, but neither arms nor date are remaining. A marble tablet, with palette and pencils, the memorial of Samuel Cooper, a celebrated miniature-painter, who died in 1672, is placed on the south-east interior wall. The church still consists only of a nave and chancel, without side aisles. Heavy beams support the roof, and upon those over the chancel and the western gallery are written in illuminated scrolls various sentences from Scripture, such as "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life;" "He that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out," &c. There is a very elegant stained-glass window over the altar, and on either side of the nave are pointed windows of plain glass. The walls are exceedingly thick, and will, no doubt, last for ages. A narrow strip of oaken gallery runs above the nave, affording accommodation for only two rows of seats. It is approached by a single circular staircase in the southern tower, and its diminutive size is in keeping with the other parts of the building. We may state here that, after his execution at Tyburn, the body of Lawrence Earl Ferrers was taken down and carried to this church, where it was laid under the belfry tower in a grave fourteen feet deep, no doubt for fear lest the popular indignation should violate his place of burial. During the removal of parts of the church, while the additions and alterations were being made, several relics of antiquity connected with the old structure were discovered. Among others were the following:--An Early-English piscina and some sedilia, found on the removal of some heavy wainscoting on the south side of the chancel, the mouldings of the sedilia retaining vestiges of red colouring, with which they had formerly been tinted. 333 A Norman altar-stone, in which appeared the usual decoration, namely, five crosses, typical of the five wounds of our Lord. The key-stone of the south porch, containing the letters H.R.T.P.C, incised, arranged one within the members of the other, after the manner of a monogram; these letters are apparently contemporary with the Norman moulding beneath. Part of a series of niches in chiselled brick was likewise discovered. These had been concealed by a sufficient coating of plaster, but were discovered in the first instance on the removal of some of the stonework in the exterior of the chancel. That operation being suspended, and the interior plastering being removed, the upper niche was discovered perfect, with mouldings and spandrils sharply chiselled in brick, but the impost being of stone, coloured so as to resemble the former. The back of the niche was in plaster likewise tinted and lined so as to correspond with the brick. Below this had been a double niche divided by a mullion, the principal part of which, however, was destroyed by the above-mentioned removal of the materials from without. These decorations were on the south side of the east window in the chancel, and had probably contained effigies. There was no corresponding appearance on the north side. A curious view of the old church, somewhat idealised, representing it as a cruciform structure with a central bell-turret or campanile, was published in 1800, by Messrs. Laurie and Whittle, of Fleet Street; but if it represents any real structure, it must be that of a much earlier date. In this print there are near it three rural and isolated cottages, and a few young elm or plane trees complete the scene, There is a tradition that this church was the last in or about London in which mass was said at the time of the Reformation, and that this was the cause of the singular fondness which the old Roman Catholic families had for burying their dead in the adjoining churchyard, where the cross and every variety of Catholic inscriptions may be seen on the tombs. It is, however, mentioned in "Windham's Diary," that while Dr. Johnson was airing one day with Dr. Brocklesby, in passing and returning by St. Pancras Church, he fell into prayer, and mentioned, upon Dr. Brocklesby inquiring why the Catholics selected that spot for their burial place, that some Catholics in Queen Elizabeth's time had been burnt there. This would, of course, give additional interest to the sacred spot. In this churchyard were buried, amongst many others, Abraham Woodhead, a Roman Catholic controversialist, who died in 1678; Obadiah Walker, writer against Luther, 1699; John Ernest Grabe, editor of the Alexandrian Septuagint, 1711; Jeremy Collier, nonjuring bishop, and castigator of the stage, 1726; Edward Walpole, translator of Sannazarius, 1740; James Leoni, architect, 1746; Simon Francis Ravenet, engraver, and Peter Van Bleeck, portrait-painter, 1764; Abraham Langford, auctioneer and dramatist, 1774; Stephen Paxton, musician, 1787; Timothy Cunningham, author of the "Law Dictionary," 1789; Michael John Baptist, Baron de Wenzel, oculist, 1790; Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, author of "Rights of Women," 1797, with a square monumental pillar with a willow-tree on each side; the Bishop of St. Pol de Leon, 1806; John Walker, author of the "Pronouncing Dictionary," 1807; Tiberius Cavallo, the Neapolitan philosopher, 1809; the Chevalier d'Eon, political writer, 1810; J. P. Malcolm, historian of London, 1815; the Rev. William Tooke, translator of Lucian, 1820; and Governor Wall. Among the eccentric characters who lie buried here is William Woollett, the landscape and historical engraver, known by his masterly plates of Wilson's pictures and his battle-pieces; his portrait, by Stuart, is in the National Gallery. He lived in Green Street, Leicester Square; and whenever he had finished an engraving, he commemorated the event by firing a cannon on the roof of his house. He died in 1785, and sixty years after his death his gravestone was restored by the Graphic Society. Another eccentric individual whose ashes repose beneath the shade of Old St. Pancras Church, is the celebrated "Ned" Ward, the author of the "London Spy," and other well-known works. He was buried here in 1731. The following lines were written by him shortly before his death : "MY LAST WILL. "In the name of God, the King of kings, Whose glory fills the mighty space; Creator of all worldly things, And giver of both time and place: And that immortal soul He gave me, The merits of His Son will save me. In Cripplegate, where discord dwells, 'Twixt sun and sun I only crave Here, too, is buried Pasquale de Paoli, the hero of Corsica, who died April 5th, 1807, at the age of eighty-two. The early part of his life he devoted to the cause of liberty, which he nobly maintained against Genoese and French tyranny, and was hailed as the "Father of his country." Being obliged to withdraw from Corsica by the superior force of his enemies, he was received under the protection of George III., and found a hearty and cordial welcome from the citizens of London. A bust, with an inscription to his memory, is erected in the south aisle of Westminster Abbey. The best known to fame of the many Roman Catholic priests, not mentioned above, who have been interred here, was "Father O'Leary," the eloquent preacher, and “amiable friar of the Order of St. Francis," who died in 1802. His tomb was restored by subscription among the poor Irish in 1842-3. Many amusing anecdotes are related concerning this witty divine :-"I wish, Reverend Father," once said Curran to Father O'Leary," that you were St. Peter, and had the keys of heaven, because then you could let me in." "By my honour and conscience," replied O'Leary, "it would be better for you that I had the keys of the other place, for then I could let you out." Again, a Protestant gentleman told him that whilst willing to accept the rest of the Roman Catholic creed, he could not believe in purgatory. “Ah, my good friend," replied the priest, "you may go further and fare worse!" Here, in 1811, was buried Sidhy Effendi, the Turkish minister to this country. A newspaper of the time thus describes his interment :-" On arriving at the ground, the body was taken out of a white deal shell which contained it, and, according to the Mahometan custom, was wrapped in rich robes and thrown into the grave; immediately afterwards a large stone, nearly the size of the body, was laid upon it; and after some other Mahometan ceremonies had been gone through, the attendants left the ground. The procession on its way to the churchyard galloped nearly all the way. The grave was dug in an obscure corner of the churchyard." Besides the graves of famous men in Old St. Pancras churchyard, this old-fashioned pook has St. Pancras.] MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT GODWIN. other and interesting memories associated with it. 335 "Truth's deathless voice pauses among mankind; If men must rise and stamp with fury blind Among the quaint epitaphs in this old churchyard, we may be pardoned for printing the following, as it is now nearly illegible: "Underneath this stone doth lye Worker in Barbicanne; Well known to be a good manne By all his Friends and Neighbours too, And paid every bodie their due. A more affecting incident, perhaps, might have been witnessed here, when Shelley, the poet, met Mary, the daughter of William Godwin, and in hot and choking words told her the story of his wrongs and wretchedness. This girl, afterwards the wife of the poet, has been thus described by Mrs. Cowden Clarke: "Very, very fair was this lady, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, with her well-shaped golden-haired head almost always a little bent and drooping, her marble-white shoulders and arms statuesquely visible in the perfectly plain black velvet dress, which the customs of that time allowed to be cut low, and which her own taste adopted; her thoughtful, earnest eyes, her short upper lip and intellectually curved mouth, with a certain close-compressed and decisive expression while she listened, and a relaxation into fuller redness and mobility when speaking; her exquisitely-formed, white, dimpled, small hands, with rosy palms, and plumply commencing fingers, that tapered into tips as delicate and slender as those in a Vandyke portrait, all remain palpably present. Through Pancras Churchyard as two tailors were walking, to memory. Another peculiarity in Mrs. Shelley's hand was its singular flexibility, which permitted her bending the fingers back so as almost to approach the portion of her arm above her wrist. She once did this smilingly and repeatedly, to amuse the girl who was noting its whiteness and pliancy, and who now, as an old woman, records its remarkable beauty." Many are the verses written by Shelley to Mary Godwin, the dedication to "The Revolt of Islam" being among the most im * See Vol. II., p. 547. He died in the year 1737, August 10th, aged 80; his soule, we hope, 's in A good epigram, by an unknown hand, thus com- Of trade, news, and politics earnestly talking, In 1803 a large portion of the ground adjoining the old churchyard was appropriated as a cemetery for the parish of St. Giles's-in-the-Fields; and in it was buried, among other celebrities, the eminent architect, Sir John Soane, and also his wife and son, whose death, in all probability, caused Sir John to make the country his heir, and to found, as a public institution, the museum which bears his name in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and which we have already described. In 1862 the Midland Railway Company, wishing to connect their line of railway in Bedfordshire with the metropolis, obtained an Act of Parliament, and liabilities in all respects as if it were a churchyard; and make the necessary repair of the walls and other fences of the disused burial-ground; and he or they respectively shall be the person or persons from time to time legally chargeable for the costs and expenses of and incident to any such ment to the contrary notwithstanding, provided that the rector and his successors, from time to time, respectively shall not interfere with, or wilfully permit injury to be done to, any vault, grave, tablet, monument, or tombstone, either in the disused burial-ground, or in or under the chapel." ST. PANCRAS WELLS AND CHURCH IN 1700. From an Old Print. (See page 339.) entitled the "St. Giles's in-the-Fields Glebe Act." | maintenance and repair, any Act or Acts of ParliaIt was so called because this new line, in its course through the north-western part of London, would cross a portion of the above-mentioned burial-ground, which immediately adjoins the more famous one of St. Pancras. In one section of the above Act it is stated that "the rector and his successors, at his or their expense, shall maintain the disused burial-ground in decent order as an open space for ever, and subject to the same rights In the following year the same railway company obtained further powers from the Legislature (who offered little or no opposition) to take a corner same time to be rumbling over the tombs of the hallowed dead. The only reason for taking this corner was because it was supposed by the engineer of the railway company "not to have been used for interment, there being no tombstone or any superficial indication of the fact." This, it was maintained, would appear as if the railway company had not made those minute inquiries into the matter which they should have done, when they urged such a reason as an excuse for their acts; In 1864, not content with the powers they had obtained in 1862 and 1863, the railway company asked for fresh powers—namely, to take the old church and the whole of the graveyard attached thereto as being part of the land required, in order to effect a junction between the main line and the Metropolitan Railway at the King's Cross Station; but this modest request was refused, and no further power was conceded to the company than to cross the entire breadth of the St. Pancras burial-ground |