As we pass under the western portico we notice the bas-reliefs of Francis Bird above the doors, and on either side of the main door. They are respectable and nothing more. Over the central door St. Paul is preaching at Berea. The original pavement of Purbeck, Welsh, and Torbay marble remains throughout the building, excepting where the new reredos has necessitated certain alterations. The length to the dome area is a little over 200 feet, the width as above, and the height of the central vaulting 89 feet. The main west doorway has the round arch resting upon coupled pilasters, the keystone is adorned with the head and arms of a winged figure. On either side are likewise coupled pilasters of the largest size. The doors of the small rooms or closets on either side reveal the enormous size of the end piers projecting from the west wall. Above the entablature of the main arch is a gallery, and the window has lately been filled in with designs in Munich glass in memory of Mr. Thomas Brown, of the firm of Longmans and Co. The subjects are appropriately taken from the life of St. Paul--the Conversion, and the subsequent visit of Ananias at Damascus. The kneeling figures below are those of Mr. Brown and his wife. [Illustration: THE CHOIR AND NAVE, FROM THE EAST END.] The general ground-plan is of five compartments. Four are formed by the arcading, and the fifth by the great transverse archway connecting the nave and dome. The western bay or severy has a greater extension east and west than the three to the east, and corresponds to the adjacent chapels. It is square in the plan, and the others oblong; an important difference, as we shall see when we come to the Vaulting. There are throughout in reality three stages in the elevation--The Main Arcade, Triforium Belt, or "Attic," and Clerestory. The pedantic objection to the use of this simple and familiar terminology and system of classification seems to have arisen from the idea that St. Paul's must be treated as though it were a purely Classical building. Upon their fronts the piers have great Corinthian pilasters. These are continued above the capitals, and the great transverse arches of the vaulting spring from the continuations on a level with the top of the triforium. These great pilasters form the divisions east and west into severies. [Illustration: THE ORDER OF THE INTERIOR. _Drawn by Peter Cazalet._]