Having been appointed by the Stuarts to the office of surveyor-general, Wren retained the royal favor unclouded through the reigns of William and Mary, and Queen Anne; but on the accession of the Hanoverian family in 1714, the jealousies which his high position had created were able to prevail against him. At first he was subjected to repeated annoyances, but, after having endured these for four years, during which time he was able to complete the fabric of St. Paul's, he was finally superseded in 1718. Wren after this retired from practical business (he was eighty-six years old), retaining only the supervision of Westminster Abbey, which he held until his death.

FOUNTAIN COURT

HAMPTON COURT PALACE

For the last five years of his life Wren resided much at his house in Hampton Court, which he held on a lease from the crown. Once a year it was his habit to be driven to London and to sit for a while under the dome of his own Cathedral; on one of these journeys he caught a cold, and soon afterwards, on February 25, 1723, his servant, thinking Sir Christopher slept longer after dinner than was his wont, came into the room, and found his master dead in his chair. He was ninety-one years old. On the fifth of March he was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, under the south aisle of the choir, and in his honor an inscription was placed at the entrance to the choir ending with the words, "Si monumentum requiris, circumspice."

Sir Christopher's personal appearance is only known to us through pictures: it appears that he was mild yet dignified of countenance, and "thin and low of stature."

"Though he did fail sometimes," writes Mr. Fergusson, "it cannot be denied that Wren was a giant in architecture, and, considering the difficulties he had to contend with, not only from the age in which he lived, but from the people he had to deal with, and the small modicum of taste or knowledge that prevailed anywhere, we may well be astonished at what he did accomplish that was good, rather than wonder at his occasional failures. His greatest praise, however, is, that though he showed the way and smoothed the path, none of his successors have surpassed—if, indeed, any have equalled—him in what he did, though more than a century has now elapsed since his death, and numberless opportunities have been offered in every department of architectural art."

Competition "P." the details of which are printed on an advertising page of this issue, closes on Dec. 15, 1900. The prize awards will be announced in January.

PLATE XC

GARDEN FAÇADE: HAMPTON COURT PALACE