from the designs of G. F. Watts and others, executed by Salviati. Wren had looked forward to a comprehensive scheme of decoration in mosaic. The later extension of this work was entrusted to Sir W. B. Richmond. Above the arches is a circular gallery known as the Whispering Gallery from the fact that a whisper can be easily heard from one side to the other. Above this there are pilasters, with square-headed windows, in three out of every four intervening spaces; and above again, the domed ceiling, ornamented in monochrome by Sir James Thornhill immediately after its completion; but the paintings have suffered from the action of the atmosphere and are hardly to be distinguished from below. The inner wall of the dome begins to slope inward from the level of the Whispering Gallery, but this is masked outside by a colonnade, extending up to a point a little above the top of the internal pilasters. From this point upward the dome is of triple construction, consisting of (1) the inner dome of brick, pierced at the top to render the lantern visible from below; (2) a brick cone, the principal member of the structure, bearing the lantern; (3) the dome visible from without, of lead on a wooden frame. The golden gallery at the base of the lantern (top of the outer dome) is about 65 ft. above the top of the inner dome.
The monuments in St Paul’s are numerous, though not to be compared with those in Westminster Abbey. The most notable is that in the nave to the duke of Wellington (d. 1852) by Alfred Stevens. In the crypt, which extends beneath the entire building, are many tombs and memorials—that of Nelson in the centre beneath the dome, those of many famous artists in the so-called Painters' Corner, and in the south choir aisle that of Wren himself, whose grave is marked only by a plain slab, with the well-known inscription ending Si monumentum requiris, circumspice (“If thou seekest a monument, look about thee”). Above the south-west chapel in the nave is the chapter library, with many interesting printed books, MSS. and drawings relating to the cathedral. For St Paul’s School, established by John Colet, dean, and formerly adjacent to the cathedral, see the article on Hammersmith, whither it was subsequently removed.
Authorities.—Parentalia or Memoirs (of Sir Christopher Wren), completed by his son Christopher, now published by his Grandson, Stephen Wren (London, 1758); Sir William Dugdale, History of St Paul’s (1818); Dean Milman, Annals of St Paul’s (1868); William Longman, The Three Cathedrals dedicated to St Paul (1873); Documents illustrating the History of St Paul’s (Camden Society, 1880); Rev. W. Sparrow-Simpson, Chapters in the History of Old St Paul’s (1881); Gleanings from Old St Paul’s (1889); and St Paul’s and Old City Life (1894); Rev. A. Dimock. St Paul’s (in Bell’s “ Cathedral " series, 1901); Rev. Canon Benham, Old St Paul’s (1902). In this last work and elsewhere are shown the valuable drawings of Wenceslaus Hollar, showing the old cathedral immediately before the great fire.
ST PAUL’S ROCKS, a number of islets in the Atlantic, nearly
1° N. of the equator and 540 m. from South America, in 29° 15′
W. The whole space occupied does not exceed 1400 ft. in length
by about half as much in breadth. Besides sea-fowl the only
land creatures are insects and spiders. Fish are abundant, seven
species (one, Holocentrum sancta pauli, peculiar to the locality)
being collected by the “ Challenger ” during a brief stay. Darwin
(On Volcanic Islands) decided that St Paul’s Rocks were
not of volcanic origin; later investigators maintain that they
probably are eruptive.
See Reports of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger: Narrative of the Cruise, vol. 1.
ST PETER, a city and the county-seat of Nicollet county,
Minnesota, U.S.A., on the Minnesota river, about 75 m. S.W. of
Minneapolis. Pop. (1905, state census) 4514 (875 foreign-born);
(1910) 4176. It is served by the Chicago & North-Western
railway and by steamboat lines on the Minnesota river, which
is navigable for light draft steamboats to this point. The
neighbouring lakes with their excellent fishing attract many
summer visitors. The city has a Carnegie library, and is the seat
of the Minnesota Hospital for the Insane (1866), and of Gustavus
Adolphus College (Swedish Evangelical Lutheran; co-educational),
which was founded in 1862 and has a college, an Academy
and School of Pedagogy, a School of Commerce and a School
of Music. St Peter is an important market for lumber and grain;
it has stone quarries and various manufactures. Settled about
1852, St Peter was incorporated as a village in 1865, and was
chartered as a city in 1891. In 1857 the legislature, a short time
before its adjournment for the session, passed a bill to remove
the capital of Minnesota to St Peter, but the bill was not presented
to the governor for his signature within the prescribed
time, and when the legislature re-convened a similar bill could
not be passed.
ST PETER PORT, the chief town of Guernsey, one of the
Channel Islands. Pop. (1901) 18,264. It lies picturesquely on a
steep slope above its harbour on the east coast of the island.
The harbour is enclosed by breakwaters, the southern of which
connects with the shore and continues beyond a rocky islet on
which stands Castle Cornet. It dates from the 12th century
and retains portions of that period. Along the sea-front of the
town there extends a broad sea-wall, which continues northward
nearly as far as the small port of St Sampson’s, connected
with St Peter Port by an electric tramway. To the south of
the town Fort George, with its barracks, stands high above the
sea. On the quay there is a bronze statue of Albert, Prince
Consort (1862), copied from that on the south side of the Albert
Hall, London. St Peter Port was formerly walled, and the sites
of the five gates are marked by stones. St Peter’s, or the town
church, standing low by the side of the quay, was consecrated
in 1312, but includes little of the building of that date. It has,
however, fine details of the 14th and 15th centuries, and is, as a
whole, the most noteworthy ecclesiastical building in the islands.
The other principal buildings are the court house, used for the
meetings of the royal court and the states, the Elizabeth College
for boys, founded by Queen Elizabeth, but occupying a house
of the year 1825, and the Victoria Tower, commemorating a
visit of Queen Victoria in 1846. Hauteville House, the residence
of Victor Hugo from 1856 to 1870, is preserved as he left it, and
is open to the public. The harbour is the chief in the island,
and a large export trade is carried on especially in vegetables,
fruit and flowers. The construction of the harbour was ordered
by King Edward I. in 1275.
ST PETERSBURG, a government of north-western Russia, at the head of the Gulf of Finland, stretching for 130 m. along
its south-east shore and the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, and
bordering on Finland, with an area of 17,221 sq. m. It is hilly
on the Finland border, but flat and marshy elsewhere, with the
exception of a small plateau in the south (Duderhof Hills), 300
to 550 ft. high. It has a damp and cold climate, the average
temperatures being: at St Petersburg, for the year 39° F., for
January 15°, for July 640; yearly rainfall, 18.7 in.; at Sermaks,
at the mouth of the Svir on the E. side of Lake Ladoga
(60° 28′ N.), for the year 37°, for January 13°, for July 62°;
yearly rainfall, 20.8 in. Numerous parallel ridges of glacier
origin intersect the government towards Lake Peipus and north
of the Neva. Silurian and Devonian rocks appear in the south,
the whole covered by a thick glacial deposit with boulders
(bottom moraine) and by thick alluvial deposits in the valley
of the Neva. The bays of Kronstadt, Koporya, Luga and
Narva afford good anchorage, but the coast is for the most part
fringed with reefs and sandbanks. The chief river is the Neva. The feeders of Lake Ladoga-the Volkhov, the Syas, and the Svir, the last two forming part of the system of canals connecting the Neva with the Volga-are important channels of commerce, as also is the Narova. Marshes and forests cover about 45% of the area (70% at the end of the 18th century). The population, which was 635,780 in 1882, numbered 873,043 in 1897, without the capital and its suburbs; including the latter it was 2,103,965. Of this latter number 466,750 were women and 160,499 lived in towns. The estimated pop. in 1906 was 2,510,100. The average density was 121 per sq. m. The population is chiefly Russian, with a small admixture of Finns and Germans, and according to religion it is distributed as follows: Greek Orthodox, 78%; Nonconformists, 1.6%; Lutherans, 17%; and Roman Catholics, 2.4%. A remarkable feature is the very slow natural increase of the population. During the 25 years 1867 to 1891 the natural increase was only 867. The government is divided into eight districts, the administrative headquarters of which, with their populations in 1897, are: St Petersburg (q.v.), Gdov (2254 inhabitants), Luga (5687), Novaya Ladoga (4144), Peterhof (11,300), Schlüsselburg (5285), Tsarskoye Selo (22,353) and Yamburg (4166). Most of the towns are summer resorts for the population of the capital. Till the latter part of the 19th century education stood at a very low level, but progress has since been made, and now three-quarters of all who
