42. St. Dunstan’s Church.
This is in Fleet Street, and had a very narrow escape from the great fire of 1666, which stopped within three houses of it. There are two savage figures on the outside of the clock, that strike the quarters with their clubs, with which children and strangers are much amused. Dunstan, before he was made a saint, was well skilled in many arts: he was a good engraver and worker in brass and iron. He was supposed to be the inventor of the Eolian Harp, whose soft notes are produced by a current of air causing the wires to vibrate. This was not comprehended by the vulgar; so, from being wiser than his neighbours, he was deemed a conjuror by them.