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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stones of the Temple, by Walter Field
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Stones of the Temple
+       Lessons from the Fabric and Furniture of the Church
+
+Author: Walter Field
+
+Release Date: November 9, 2011 [EBook #37958]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STONES OF THE TEMPLE ***
+
+
+
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+
+
+  STONES OF THE TEMPLE
+
+
+
+
+  R I V I N G T O N S
+
+
+  London                  _Waterloo Place_
+
+  Oxford                  _High Street_
+
+  Cambridge               _Trinity Street_
+
+
+Illustration: STONES OF THE TEMPLE
+
+
+
+  STONES OF THE TEMPLE or
+
+  Lessons from the fabric and furniture of the Church
+
+  By WALTER FIELD, M.A., F.S.A.
+
+
+  RIVINGTONS London, Oxford, and Cambridge 1871
+
+
+
+
+"When it pleased  God to raise up  kings and emperors  favouring  sincerely
+   the Christian truth, that which  the Church  before either could not or
+     durst  not do,  was with all alacrity  performed.  Temples  were in
+       all  places erected, no  cost  was  spared:  nothing judged too
+         dear  which that way should  be spent.  The whole world did
+           seem to exult, that it had occasion of pouring out gifts
+             to so blessed a purpose. That cheerful devotion which
+               David did this way exceedingly delight to behold,
+                 and wish that  the same in the Jewish people
+                   might be perpetual, was then in Christian
+                     people  every  where  to   be   seen.
+                       So far as  our Churches and their
+                         Temple  have  one  end,  what
+                           should let but that they
+                             may lawfully have one
+                               form?"--Hooker's
+                               "Ecclesiastical
+                                   Polity."
+                                     {~MALTESE CROSS~}
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+            PREFACE.
+     _Chap._                                      _Page_
+
+         I. THE LICH-GATE                             1
+
+        II. LICH-STONES                              11
+
+       III. GRAVE-STONES                             19
+
+        IV. GRAVE-STONES                             31
+
+         V. THE PORCH                                43
+
+        VI. THE PORCH                                51
+
+       VII. THE PAVEMENT                             63
+
+      VIII. THE PAVEMENT                             73
+
+        IX. THE PAVEMENT                             81
+
+         X. THE PAVEMENT                             91
+
+        XI. THE WALLS                               103
+
+       XII. THE WALLS                               111
+
+      XIII. THE WINDOWS                             123
+
+       XIV. A LOOSE STONE IN THE BUILDING           145
+
+        XV. THE FONT                                155
+
+       XVI. THE PULPIT                              167
+
+      XVII. THE PULPIT                              175
+
+     XVIII. THE NAVE                                187
+
+       XIX. THE NAVE                                197
+
+        XX. THE AISLES                              209
+
+       XXI. THE TRANSEPTS                           217
+
+      XXII. THE CHANCEL-SCREEN                      225
+
+     XXIII. THE CHANCEL                             235
+
+      XXIV. THE ALTAR                               245
+
+       XXV. THE ORGAN-CHAMBER                       255
+
+      XXVI. THE VESTRY                              265
+
+     XXVII. THE PILLARS                             275
+
+    XXVIII. THE ROOF                                285
+
+      XXIX. THE TOWER                               295
+
+       XXX. THE HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS           311
+
+
+
+
+INDEX OF ENGRAVINGS
+
+                                                                    _Page_
+
+    St. Mildred's Church and Lich-Gate, Whippingham                     3
+
+    Lich-Gate at Yealmton                                               5
+
+    Lich-Gate at Birstal                                                7
+
+    Heywood Church, Manchester                                         13
+
+    Lich-Stone, Great Winnow, Cornwall                                 15
+
+    Lich-Stone at Lustleigh                                            18
+
+    Church of St. Nicholas, West Pennard                               21
+
+    Grave-Stones in Streatham Churchyard                               23
+
+    Grave-Stones in High-Week Churchyard                               24
+
+    Easter Flowers                                                     28
+
+    Stinchcombe Church                                                 33
+
+    Grave-Stones                                               35, 39, 41
+
+    Llanfechan Church                                                  42
+
+    Godmersham Church                                                  45
+
+    Porch of Luebeck Cathedral                                          53
+
+    Porch and Parvise of St. Mary's Church, Finedon                    55
+
+    Parvise, Westbury-on-Trim                                          60
+
+    Church of SS. Philip and James, Oxford                             65
+
+    Brass of John Bloxham and John Whytton in Merton College, Oxford   67
+
+    Heywood Church                                                     75
+
+    Brass of Henry Sever, at Merton College, Oxford                    77
+
+    Chancel of Whippingham Church                                      83
+
+    Brass of Sir Roger de Trumpington                                  85
+
+    Church of St. John the Baptist, Kidmore End                        93
+
+    Encaustic Tiles, Brooke Church                                 95, 97
+
+    St. Andrew's Church, Halstead                                     105
+
+    Ancient Wall Paintings in Kimpton Church                     108, 109
+
+    St. Michael's Church, Gloucester                                  113
+
+    Ancient Wall Painting in Bedford Church                           118
+
+    Wall Painting                                                     121
+
+    Church of St. John, Brandenburg                                   125
+
+    Doorway, St. Stephen's Church, Tangermuende                        127
+
+    Crowmarsh Church                                                  131
+
+    Stained Glass Windows in Great Malvern Church           137, 139, 141
+
+    Rose Window, Cremona Cathedral                                    143
+
+    Amberley Church, in ruin, and restored                            147
+
+    Ancient Font in West Rounton Church                               157
+
+    Stone Pulpit in Dartmouth Church                                  169
+
+    Church of St. Mary, Henley-on-Thames                              177
+
+    Stone Pulpit in North Kilworth Church                             179
+
+    St. Mary's Church, Sherborne                                      189
+
+    All Saints' Church, Bradford                                      199
+
+    Castle Cary Church                                                211
+
+    Church of SS. Peter and Paul, Ringwood                            219
+
+    Church of St. John, Walworth                                      227
+
+    Sutton Benger Church                                              237
+
+    Llanfaenor Church                                                 243
+
+    St. Alban's Church, Holborn                                       247
+
+    Icklesham Church                                                  257
+
+    Harpsden Church                                                   267
+
+    Church of St. John, Highbridge                                    277
+
+    Keynsham Church                                                   287
+
+    Clerestory Window                                                 294
+
+    Meopham Church                                                    297
+
+    Tower, Saragosa                                                   303
+
+    Window, Church of St. Petronius, Bologna                          309
+
+
+
+
+    "Who is able  to build  Him an house, seeing the  heaven and heaven of
+     heavens  cannot  contain Him?  who am  I then,  that I  should build
+       Him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before Him?
+        "Send  me now  therefore a  man  cunning  to work  in gold, and
+         in silver,  and in  brass,  and in iron,  and in  purple, and
+           crimson,  and blue,  and that can skill to grave with the
+            cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem,
+              whom   David   my   father   did   provide.    Send
+                me also cedar-trees, fir-trees, and algum-trees,
+                  out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants
+                   can   skill  to  cut  timber  in  Lebanon;
+                     and,   behold,  my  servants  shall be
+                       with thy servants, even to prepare
+                         me    timber   in   abundance:
+                          for     the    house  which
+                            I  am  about  to  build
+                              shall be  great and
+                                 wonderful."--
+                                  2 Chron. ii.
+                                     6--9.
+                                      {~MALTESE CROSS~}
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The following chapters are an attempt to explain in very simple language
+the history and use of those parts of the Church's fabric with which
+most persons are familiar.
+
+They are not written with a view to assist the student of Ecclesiastical
+Art and Architecture--for which purpose the works of many learned
+writers are available--but simply to inform those who, from having paid
+little attention to such pursuits, or from early prejudice, may have
+misconceived the origin and design of much that is beautiful and
+instructive in God's House.
+
+The spiritual and the material fabric are placed side by side, and the
+several offices and ceremonies of the Church as they are specially
+connected with the different parts of the building are briefly noticed.
+
+Some of the subjects referred to may appear trifling and unimportant;
+those, however, among them which seem to be the most trivial have in
+some parishes given rise to long and serious disputations.
+
+The unpretending narrative, which serves to embody the several subjects
+treated of, has the single merit of being composed of little incidents
+taken from real life.
+
+The first sixteen chapters were printed some years since in the _Church
+Builder_.
+
+The writer is greatly indebted to the Committee of the Incorporated
+Church Building Society for the use of most of the woodcuts which
+illustrate the volume.
+
+                                                   W. F.
+
+     GODMERSHAM VICARAGE,
+      _Michaelmas_, 1871.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER I_
+
+THE LICH-GATE
+
+
+"These words which I command thee; thou shalt write them on thy gates."
+
+Deut. vi. 6, 9.
+
+    "Who says the Widow's heart must break,
+       The Childless Mother sink?--
+     A kinder, truer Voice I hear,
+     Which even beside that mournful bier
+       Whence Parent's eyes would hopeless shrink,
+
+    "Bids weep no more--O heart bereft,
+       How strange, to thee, that sound!
+     A Widow o'er her only Son,
+     Feeling more bitterly alone
+       For friends that press officious round.
+
+    "Yet is the Voice of comfort heard,
+       For Christ hath touch'd the bier--
+     The bearers wait with wondering eye,
+     The swelling bosom dares not sigh,
+       But all is still, 'twixt hope and fear.
+
+    "Even such an awful soothing calm
+       We sometimes see alight
+     On Christian mourners, while they wait
+     In silence, by some Churchyard gate,
+       Their summons to the holy rite."
+
+                                         _Christian Year._
+
+Illustration: St. Mildred's Church and Lich-Gate, Whippingham
+
+
+
+
+THE LICH-GATE
+
+
+Illustration: Lich-Gate at Yealmton
+
+"Any port in a storm, Mr. Ambrose," said old Matthew
+Hutchison, as with tired feet, and scant breath, he hastened to share
+the shelter which Mr. Ambrose, the Vicar of the Parish, had found under
+the ancient and time-worn Lich-gate of St. Catherine's Churchyard. For a
+few big drops of rain that fell pattering on the leaves around, had
+warned them both to seek protection from a coming shower. "Ah, yes, my
+old friend," the Vicar replied, "and here we are pretty near the port to
+which we must all come, when the storm of life itself is past."
+
+"I've known this place,--man and boy,--Mr. Ambrose, for near eighty
+years; and on yonder bit of a hill, under that broken thorn, I sit for
+hours every day watching my sheep; but my eye often wanders across here,
+and then the thought takes me just as you've said it, sir. Ah! it can't
+be long before Old Matthew will need some younger limbs than these to
+bring him through the churchyard gate;--that's what the old walls always
+seem to say to me;--but God's will be done." And as the old Shepherd
+reverently lifted his broad hat, his few white hairs, stirred by the
+rising gale, seemed to confirm the truth of his words.
+
+"Well, Matthew, I am glad you have learnt, what many are slow to learn,
+that there are 'Sermons in stones,' as well as in books. Every stone in
+God's House, and in God's Acre--as our Churchyards used to be
+called,--may teach us some useful lesson, if we will but stop to read
+it."
+
+"Please, sir, I should like to know why they call the gate at the new
+churchyard over the hill, a _lich_-gate;--these new names puzzle a poor
+man like me[1]."
+
+"The name is better known in some parts of the country than it is here;
+but it is no new name, I assure you, for in the time of the Saxons, more
+than thirteen hundred years ago, it was in common use; but I will tell
+you all about this, and some other matters connected with the place
+where we now stand."
+
+"I shall take it very kind if you will, sir, for you know we poor people
+don't know much about these things."
+
+"Very often quite as much as many who are richer, Matthew,--but here
+comes our young squire, anxious like ourselves to keep a dry coat on his
+back; so I shall now be telling my story to rich and poor together, and
+I hope make it plain to both." After a few words of friendly greeting
+between Mr. Acres and himself, the three sat down on the stone seats of
+the Lich-Gate, and he at once proceeded to answer the old Shepherd's
+question. "The word _Lich_[2]," he said, "means a _Corpse_, and so
+_Lich-Gate_ means a Corpse-gate, or gate through which the dead body is
+borne; and that path up which you came just now, Matthew, used formerly
+to be called the _Lich-path_[3], because all the funerals came along
+that way. In some parts of Scotland is still kept up the custom of
+_Lyke-wake_ (_Lich-wake_), or watching beside the dead body before its
+burial[4]. The pale sickly-looking moss, which lives best where all else
+is dead or dying, we call _lichen_. Then you know the _Lich-owl_ is so
+called because some people are silly enough to think that its screech
+foretells death. And I must just say something about this word _lich_ in
+the name of a certain city; it is _Lichfield_. Now _lich-field_ plainly
+means the field of the dead: and where that city now stands is said to
+have been the burial-place of many Christian Martyrs, who were slain
+there about the year 290. You will remember, Mr. Acres, that the Arms of
+the City exhibit this field of the dead, on which lie three slaughtered
+men, each having on his head, as is supposed, a martyr's crown. Now,
+Matthew, I think I have fully replied to your question; but I should
+like to say something more about the use and the history of these
+Lich-Gates."
+
+Illustration: Lich-Gate at Birstal
+
+"Will you kindly tell us," said Mr. Acres, "how it is that there are so
+few remaining, and that of these there are probably very few indeed so
+much as four centuries old[5]."
+
+"I think the reason is, that at first they were almost entirely made of
+wood, and therefore were subject to early decay--certainly they must at
+one time have been far more general than at present. The rubrical
+direction at the beginning of the Burial Office in our Prayer Book seems
+to imply some such provision at the churchyard entrance. It is there
+said 'the Priest and Clerks' are to 'meet the Corpse _at the entrance of
+the Churchyard_.' But in this old Prayer Book of mine, printed in the
+year 1549, you see the Priest is directed to meet the corpse at the
+'Church-stile,' or Lich-Gate. Now as in olden times the corpse was
+always borne to its burial by the friends or neighbours of the deceased,
+and they had often far to travel, their time of reaching the Churchyard
+must have been very uncertain, and this uncertainty no doubt frequently
+caused delay when they had arrived, therefore it was desirable both to
+have a place of shelter on a rainy day, and of rest when the way was
+long. Hence I suppose it is, that the older Lich-Gates are to be found,
+for the most part, in widespread parishes and mountainous districts;
+they are most common in the Counties of Devon and Cornwall, and in
+Wales[6]. But even where the necessity of the case no longer exists, the
+Lich-Gate, adorned, as it ever should be, with some holy text or pious
+precept, is most appropriate as an ornament, and expressive as a symbol.
+Its presence should always be associated in our minds with thoughts of
+death, and life beyond it. It should remind us that though we must ere
+long 'go to the gates of the grave,' yet that it is 'through the grave
+and gate of death' that we must 'pass to our joyful resurrection.' It
+is here the Comforter of Bethany so often speaks, through the voice of
+His Church, to His sorrowing brethren in the world:--'I am the
+resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead,
+yet shall he live[7]."
+
+"Ah! sir," said the shepherd, "many's the poor heart-bowed mourner
+that's been comforted here with those words! They always remind me of
+Jesus saying to the widow of Nain, 'Weep not,' when he stopped the bier
+on which was her only son, and the bearers, and all the mourners, at the
+gate of the city."
+
+"Yes! and all this makes us look on the old Lich-Gate as no gloomy
+object, but rather as a 'Beautiful Gate of the Temple' which is
+eternal,--a glorious arch of hope and triumph, hung all round with
+trophies of Christian victory. But I see the rain is over, and the sun
+is shining! so good-bye, Mr. Acres, we two shepherds must not stay
+longer from our respective flocks:--old Matthew's is spread over the
+mountains, mine is folded in the village below." The old shepherd soon
+took his accustomed seat under the weather-beaten thorn, the Vicar was
+soon deep in the troubles of a poor parishioner, and the young Squire
+went to the village by another way.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER II_
+
+LICH-STONES
+
+
+"Man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets."
+
+Eccles. xii. 5.
+
+    "Say, was it to my spirit's gain or loss,
+    One bright and balmy morning, as I went
+    From Liege's lovely environs to Ghent,
+    If hard by the wayside I found a cross,
+    That made me breathe a prayer upon the spot--
+    While Nature of herself, as if to trace
+    The emblem's use, had trail'd around its base
+    The blue significant Forget-me-not?
+    Methought, the claims of Charity to urge
+    More forcibly, along with Faith and Hope,
+    The pious choice had pitch'd upon the verge
+      Of a delicious slope,
+    Giving the eye much variegated scope;--
+    'Look round,' it whisper'd, 'on that prospect rare,
+    Those vales so verdant, and those hills so blue;
+    Enjoy the sunny world, so fresh and fair,
+    But'--(how the simple legend pierced me thro'!)
+      'Priez pour les Malheureux.'"
+
+                                                 _T. Hood._
+
+Illustration: Heywood Church, Manchester
+
+
+LICH-STONES
+
+
+Illustration: Lich-Stone, Great Winnow, Cornwall
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Acres, and a happy Easter-Tide to you. This is indeed
+a bright Easter sun to shine on our beautiful Lich-Gate at its
+re-opening. I little thought on what good errand you were bent when last
+we parted at this spot. Hardly however had I reached my door when
+William Hardy came with great glee to tell me you had engaged his
+services for the work. May God reward you, sir, for the honour you have
+shown for His Church."
+
+"And an old man's blessing be upon you, sir, if you will let Old Matthew
+say so; for the Church-gate is dearer to me than my own, seeing it has
+closed upon my beloved partner, and the dear child God gave us, and my
+own poor wicket shuts on no one else but me now."
+
+"Thank you heartily, honest Matthew, and you too, sir," replied the
+squire, giving to each the hand of friendship; "I am rejoiced that what
+has been done pleases you so well. The restored Gate is in every respect
+like the original one, even to the simple little cross on the top of
+it. I have added nothing but the sentence from our Burial Office,
+'Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord,' which you see over the
+arch, and which I hope will bring comfort to some, and hope to all who
+read it. But the work would never have been done by me, Mr. Vicar, had
+you not so interested Matthew and myself in these Lich-Gates when last
+we met. And so, as you see, your good words have not been altogether
+lost, I hope you will kindly to-day continue the subject of our last
+conversation."
+
+"Most gladly will I do so; and as I have already spoken of the general
+purpose and utility of these Lich-Gates, I will now say a little about
+their construction and arrangement.
+
+"Their most common form, as you know, is a simple shed composed of a
+roof with two gable ends, covered either with tiles or thatch, and
+supported on strong timbers well braced together. But they are
+frequently built of stone, and in the manner of their construction they
+greatly vary. At Burnsall there is a curious arrangement for opening and
+closing the gate. The stone pier on the north side has a well-hole, in
+which the weight that closes the gate works up and down. An upright
+swivel post or 'heart-tree,' (as the people there call it,) stands in
+the centre, and through this pass the three rails of the gate; an iron
+bent lever is fixed to the top of this post, which is connected by a
+chain and guide-pulley to the weight, so that when any one passes
+through, both ends of the gate open in opposite directions. The Gate at
+Rostherne churchyard, in Cheshire, is on a similar plan. At
+Berry-harbour is a Lich-Gate in the form of a cross. At only one place,
+I believe,--Troutbeck, in Westmoreland,--are there to be found three
+stone Lich-Gates in one churchyard. Some of these gates have chambers
+over them, as at Bray[8], in Berkshire, and Barking[9], in Essex. At
+Tawstock there is a small room on either side of the gate, having seats
+on three sides and a table in the centre. It seems that in this, as in
+some other cases, provision is made either for the distribution of
+alms, or for the rest and refreshment of funeral attendants. It was
+once a common custom at funerals in some parts, especially in
+Scotland[10], to hold a feast at the Church-gate and these feasts
+sometimes led to great excesses: happily they are now discontinued, but
+the custom may help to point out the purpose for which these Lich-Gate
+rooms were sometimes erected. In Cornwall it is not customary to bear
+the corpse on the shoulders, but to carry the coffin, under-handed, by
+white cloths passed beneath and through the handles[11] and this partly
+explains the peculiar arrangement for resting the corpse at the entrance
+to the churchyard, common, even now, in that county, and which is called
+the _Lich-Stone_. The Lich-Stone is often found without any building
+attached to it, and frequently without even a gate. The Stone is either
+oblong with the ends of equal width, or it is the shape of the ancient
+coffins, narrower at one end than the other, but without any bend at the
+shoulder. It is placed in the centre, having stone seats on either side,
+on which the bearers rest whilst the coffin remains on the Lich-Stone.
+When there is no gate, the churchyard is protected from the intrusion of
+cattle by this simple contrivance:--long pieces of moor-stone, or
+granite, are laid across, with a space of about three inches between
+each, and being rounded on the top any animal has the greatest
+difficulty in walking over them, indeed a quadruped seldom attempts to
+cross them.
+
+"Lich-Stones are,--though very rarely,--to be found at a distance from
+the churchyard; in this case, doubtless, they are intended as rests for
+the coffin on its way to burial.
+
+"At Lustleigh, in Devonshire, is an octagonal Lich-Stone called Bishop's
+Stone, having engraved upon it the arms of Bishop Cotton[12]. It seems
+not unlikely that the several beautiful crosses erected by King Edward
+I. at the different stages where the corpse of his queen, Eleanor[13],
+rested on its way from Herdeby in Lincolnshire to Westminster, were
+built over the Lich-Stone on which her coffin was placed. And now, my
+kind listeners, I think I have told you all I know about Lich-Stones."
+
+Illustration: Lich-Stone at Lustleigh
+
+"These simple memorials of Church architecture are very touching,"
+replied Mr. Acres, as he rose to depart; "and the Lich-Stone deserves a
+record before modern habits and improvements sweep them away. They have
+a direct meaning, and surely might be more generally adopted in
+connexion with the Lich-Gate, now gradually re-appearing in many of our
+rural parishes, as the fitting entrance to the churchyard."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER III_
+
+GRAVE-STONES
+
+
+"When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is
+buried; lay my bones beside his bones."
+
+1 Kings xiii. 31.
+
+                              "I've seen
+    The labourer returning from his toil,
+    Here stay his steps, and call the children round,
+    And slowly spell the rudely sculptured rhymes,
+    And in his rustic manner, moralize.
+    We mark'd with what a silent awe he'd spoken,
+    With head uncover'd, his respectful manner,
+    And all the honours which he paid the grave."
+
+                                   _H. Kirke White._
+
+    "I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls
+       The burial-ground God's acre! It is just;
+     It consecrates each grave within its walls,
+       And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust.
+
+    "Into its furrows shall we all be cast,
+       In the sure faith that we shall rise again
+     At the great harvest, when the archangel's blast
+       Shall winnow, like a fan, the chaff and grain.
+
+    "With thy rude ploughshare, Death, turn up the sod,
+       And spread the furrow for the seed we sow;
+     This is the field and acre of our God:
+       This is the place where human harvests grow."
+
+                                        _Longfellow._
+
+Illustration: Church of St. Nicholas, West Pennard
+
+
+
+
+GRAVE-STONES
+
+
+Illustration: Grave-Stones in Streatham Churchyard
+
+"And so, Matthew, the old sexton's little daughter is to
+be buried to-day. What a calm peaceful day it is for her funeral! The
+day itself seems to have put on the same quiet happy smile that Lizzie
+Daniels always carried about with her, before she had that painful
+lingering sickness, which she bore with a meekness and patience I hardly
+ever saw equalled. And then it is Easter Day too, the very day one would
+choose for the burial of a good Christian child. All our services to-day
+will tell us that this little maid, and all those who lie around us here
+so still beneath their green mounds, are not dead but sleeping, and as
+our Saviour rose from the grave on Easter Day, so will they all awake
+and rise up again when God shall call them. I see the little grave is
+dug under the old yew-tree, near to that of your own dear ones. Lizzie
+was a great favourite of yours, was she not, Matthew?"
+
+"Ah, she was the brightest little star in my sky, I can tell you, sir;
+and I shall miss her sadly. She brought me my dinner, every day for near
+two years, up to the old thorn there, and then she would sit down on the
+grass before me, and read from her Prayer Book some of the Psalms for
+the day; and when she had done, and I had kissed and thanked her, she
+used to go trotting home again, with, I believe, the brightest little
+face and the lightest little heart in England. Well, sir, it's sorry
+work, you know, for a man to dig the grave for his own child, and so I
+asked John Daniels to let me dig Lizzie's grave: but it has been indeed
+hard work for me, for I think I've shed more tears in that grave than I
+ever shed out of it. But the grave is all ready now, and little Lizzie
+will soon be there; and then, sir, I should like to put up a stone, for
+I shall often come here to think about the dear child. Poor little
+Lizzie! she seemed like a sort of good angel to me,--children do seem
+like that sometimes, don't they, sir? Perhaps, Mr. Ambrose, you would be
+so good as to tell Robert Atkinson what sort of stone you would like him
+to put up."
+
+"Certainly I will; and I think nothing would be so suitable as a simple
+little stone cross, with Lizzie's name on the base of it. And as she is
+to be buried on Easter Day, I should like to add the words, 'In Christ
+shall all be made alive.'"
+
+"Thank you, sir; that will do very nicely. I'm only thinking, may be,
+that wicked boy of Mr. Dole's, at the shop, will come some night and
+break the cross, as he did the one Mr. Hunter put up over his little
+boy. But I think that was more the sin of the father than of the son,
+for I'm told the old gentleman's very angry with you, sir, 'cause he
+couldn't put what he call's a 'handsome monument' over his father's
+grave; and he says, too, he's going to law about it."
+
+Illustration: Grave-Stones in High-Week Churchyard
+
+"Ah, he'll be wiser not to do that, Matthew. The churchyard is the
+parson's freehold, and he has the power to prevent the erection of any
+stone there of which he disapproves; and I, for one, don't mean to give
+up this power. 'Tis true that every one of my parishioners has a right
+to be buried in this churchyard, nor could I refuse this if I would; but
+then, if I am to protect this right of my parishioners, as it is my duty
+to do, and to preserve my churchyard from disfigurement and desecration,
+I must take care that the ground is not occupied by such great ugly
+monuments as Mr. Dole wishes to build[14]. Why I hear he bought that
+large urn[15] which was taken down from Mr. Acres' park gates, to put on
+the top of the tomb. And then I suppose he would like to have the sides
+covered with skulls and crossbones, and shovels and mattocks, and fat
+crying cherubs, besides the usual heathen devices, such as inverted
+torches and spent hour-glasses; all which fitly enough mark an infidel's
+burial-place, but not a Christian's. For you see, my friend, that _none
+of these things represent any Christian truth_; the best are but emblems
+of mortality; some are the symbols of oblivion and despair, and others
+but mimic a heathen custom long gone by. The stones of the churchyard
+ought themselves to tell the sanctity of the place, and that it is a
+Christian's rest[16]. The letters we carve on them will hardly be read
+by our children's children. The lines on that stone there tell no more
+than is true of all the Epitaphs around us:
+
+    'The record some fond hand hath traced,
+     To mark thy burial spot,
+     The lichen will have soon effaced,
+     To write thy doom--Forgot.'
+
+But even then, if the symbol of our redemption is there, 'the very
+stones will cry out,' and though time-worn and moss-grown, will declare
+that it is a _Christian's_ burial-place. If, then, as Christian men and
+women 'we sorrow not as others without hope,' let us not cover our
+monuments with every symbol of despair, or with heathen devices, but as
+we are not ashamed of the doctrine, so neither let us be ashamed of the
+symbol of the cross of Christ. Besides, if we wish to preserve our
+graves from desecration, this form of stone is the most likely to do so;
+for in spite of outrages like young Dole's, which have been sometimes
+committed, we continually find that such memorials have been respected
+and preserved when others have been removed and employed for common
+uses. Why, Matthew, I've seen hundreds of grave-stones converted into
+fire-hearths, door-steps, pavements, and such like, but I never saw a
+monument on which was graven the Christian symbol so desecrated; and I
+believe such a thing has hardly ever been seen by any one."
+
+"Well, Mr. Ambrose, I should like there to be no doubt about little
+Lizzie's being a Christian's grave. I was thinking, too, to have a neat
+iron railing round the stone, sir."
+
+"I would advise you not to have it, Matthew; for the grave will be
+prettier without it. Besides, it gives an idea of separateness, which
+one does not like in a place where all distinctions are done away with;
+and, moreover, the iron would soon rust, and then the railing would
+become very untidy."
+
+"Yes, to be sure it would; I was forgetting that I shan't be here to
+keep it nicely painted:--but see, sir, here come the children from the
+village with their Easter flowers. I dare say little Mary Acres will
+give me some for Lizzie's grave."
+
+"Ah, I like that good old custom of placing flowers and wreaths on
+Christian graves at Easter, and other special seasons[17]. It is the
+simple way in which these little ones both show their respect for
+departed friends, and express their belief in the resurrection of the
+dead. I would say of it, as Wordsworth wrote of the Funeral Chant:--
+
+              'Many precious rites
+    And customs of our rural ancestry
+    Are gone, or stealing from us; this, I hope,
+    Will last for ever.'
+
+But you remember the time, Matthew, when there were very different
+scenes from this, at Easter, in St. Catherine's churchyard. If I mistake
+not, you will recollect when the Easter fair used to be kept here."
+
+Illustration: Easter Flowers
+
+"That I do, sir, too well. There was always a Sunday fight in the
+churchyard, and the people used to come from Walesborough and for miles
+round to see it. It's just forty years ago to-day poor Bill Thirlsby was
+killed in a fight, as it might be, just where I'm now standing[18].
+But, thank God, that day's gone by."
+
+"And, I trust, never to come back again. But have you heard, Matthew,
+that some great enemies of the Church are trying to spoil the peace and
+sacredness of our churchyards in another way? They want to bring in all
+kinds of preachers to perform all sorts of funeral services in them; and
+if they gain their ends, our long-hallowed churchyards, where as yet
+there has only been heard the solemn beautiful Burial Service of our own
+Church, may be desecrated by the clamour of ignorant fanaticism, the
+continual janglings of religious discord, or perhaps, the open blasphemy
+of godless men."
+
+"What! then I suppose we should have first a service from Master Scoff,
+the bill-sticker and Mormon preacher, and next from Master Scole, the
+Baptist preacher, then from Father La Trappe, the Roman Catholic
+minister, and then, perhaps, sir, it might be your turn. Why, sir,
+'twould be almost like going back to the Easter fair."
+
+"Well, my friend, in one respect it would be worse; for it would be
+discord all the year round. But I trust God will frustrate these wicked
+designs of our Church's foes. Long, long may it be ere the sanctity of
+our churchyards is thus invaded."
+
+"Amen, say I to that, sir, with all my heart."
+
+"And, thanks be to God, Matthew, that Amen of yours is now re-echoing
+loudly throughout the length and breadth of England."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER IV_
+
+GRAVE-STONES
+
+
+"And he said, What title is that that I see? and the men of the city
+told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God."
+
+2 Kings xiii. 17.
+
+    "I never can see a Churchyard old,
+       With its mossy stones and mounds,
+     And green trees weeping the unforgot
+       That rest in its hallow'd bounds;
+     I never can see the old churchyard,
+       But I breathe to God a prayer,
+     That, sleep as I may in this fever'd life,
+       I may rest, when I slumber, there.
+
+    "Our Mother the Church hath never a child
+       To honour before the rest,
+     But she singeth the same for mighty kings,
+       And the veriest babe on her breast;
+     And the bishop goes down to his narrow bed
+       As the ploughman's child is laid,
+     And alike she blesseth the dark brow'd serf,
+       And the chief in his robe array'd.
+
+    "And ever the bells in the green churchyard
+       Are tolling to tell you this:--
+     Go pray in the church, while pray ye can,
+       That so ye may sleep in bliss."
+
+                          _Christian Ballads._
+
+    "It is an awful thing to stand
+     With either world on either hand,
+     Upon the intermediate ground
+     Which doth the sense and spirit bound.
+     Woe worth the man who doth not fear
+     When spirits of the dead are near."
+
+                          _The Baptistery._
+
+Illustration: Stinchcombe Church
+
+
+
+
+GRAVE-STONES
+
+
+A golden haze in the eastern sky told that the sun which had set in all
+his glory an hour before was now giving a bright Easter Day to
+Christians in other lands. The evening service was ended, and a joyful
+peal had just rung out from the tower of St. Catherine's,--for such was
+the custom there on all the great festivals of the Church,--the low hum
+of voices which lately rose from a group of villagers gathered near the
+churchyard gate was hushed; there was a pause of perfect stillness; and
+then the old tenor began its deep, solemn tolling for the burial of a
+little child. The Vicar and his friend Mr. Acres, who had been walking
+slowly to and fro on the churchyard path, stopped suddenly on hearing
+the first single beat of the burial knell, and at the same instant they
+saw, far down the village lane, the flickering light of the two torches
+borne by those who headed the little procession of Lizzie's funeral.
+They, too, seemed to have caught the spell, and stood mutely
+contemplating the scene before them. At length Mr. Acres broke silence
+by saying, "I know of but few Parishes where, like our own, the funerals
+of the poor take place by torch-light; it is, to say the least, a very
+picturesque custom."
+
+Illustration: Grave Stones
+
+"It is, indeed," replied Mr. Ambrose, "I believe, however, the poor in
+this place first adopted it from no such sentiment, but simply as being
+more convenient both to themselves and to their employers. Their
+employers often cannot spare them earlier in the day, and they
+themselves can but ill afford to lose a day's wages. But these evening
+funerals have other advantages. They enable many more of the friends of
+the departed to show this last tribute of respect to their memory than
+could otherwise do so; and were this practice more general, we should
+have fewer of those melancholy funerals where the hired bearers are the
+sole attendants. Then, if properly conducted, they save the poor much
+expense at a time when they are little able to afford it. I find that
+their poor neighbours will, at evening, give their services as bearers,
+free of cost, which they cannot afford to do earlier in the day. The
+family of the deceased, too, are freed from the necessity of taxing
+their scanty means in order to supply a day's hospitality to their
+visitors, who now do not assemble till after their day's labour, and
+immediately after the funeral retire to their own homes, and to rest. I
+am sorry to say, however, this was not always so. When I first came to
+the Parish, the evening was too often followed by a night of
+dissipation. But since I have induced the people to do away with hired
+bearers, and enter into an engagement to do this service one for
+another, free of charge, and simply as a _Christian duty_, those evils
+have never recurred. I once preached a sermon to them from the text,
+'Devout men carried Stephen to his burial' (Acts viii. 2), in which I
+endeavoured to show them that none but men of good and honest report
+should be selected for this solemn office; and I am thankful to say,
+from that time all has been decent and orderly. When it is the funeral
+of one of our own school-children, the coffin is always carried by some
+of the school-teachers; I need hardly say this is simply an act of
+Christian charity. Moreover, this custom greatly diminishes the number
+of our Sunday burials, which are otherwise almost a necessity among the
+poor[19]. The Sunday, as a great Christian Festival, is not appropriate
+for a public ceremony of so mournful a character as that of the burial
+of the dead; there is, too, this additional objection to Sunday burials:
+that they create _Sunday labour_. But, considering the subject
+generally, I confess a preference for these evening funerals. To me they
+seem less gloomy, though more solemn, than those which take place in the
+broad light of day. When the house has been closed, and the chamber of
+death darkened for several days (to omit which simple acts would be like
+an insult to the departed), it seems both consonant with this custom
+which we have universally adopted, and following the course of our
+natural feelings, to avoid--in performing the last solemn rite--the full
+blaze of midday light. There is something in the noiseless going away of
+daylight suggestive of the still departure of human life; and in the
+gathering shades of evening, in harmony with one's thoughts of the grave
+as the place of the _sleeping_, and not of the _dead_. The hour itself
+invites serious thought. When a little boy, I once attended a midnight
+funeral; and the event left an impression on my mind which I believe
+will never be altogether effaced. I would not, however, recommend
+midnight funerals, except on very special occasions; and I must freely
+admit that under many circumstances evening funerals would not be
+practicable."
+
+"I see," said Mr. Acres, "that the system here adopted obviates many
+evils which exist in the prevailing mode of Christian burial, but it
+hardly meets the case of large towns, especially when the burial must
+take place in a distant cemetery. Don't you think we want reform there,
+even more, perhaps, than in these rural parishes?"
+
+"Yes, certainly, my friend, I do; and I regret to say I see, moreover,
+many difficulties that beset our efforts to accomplish it. Still
+something should be done. We all agree, it is much to be deplored that,
+owing to the necessity for extramural burial, the connexion between the
+parishioner and his parish church is, with very rare exceptions,
+entirely severed in the last office which the Clergy and his friends can
+render him, and the solemn Service of the Burial of the Dead is said in
+a strange place, by a stranger's voice. Now this we can at least partly
+remedy. I would always have the bodies of the departed brought to the
+parish church previous to their removal to the cemetery; and the funeral
+knell should be tolled, as formerly, to invite their friends and
+neighbours to be present, and take part in so much of the service as
+need not be said at the grave. It would then be no longer true, as now
+it is, that in many of our churches this touching and beautiful Service
+has never been said, and by many of the parishioners has never been
+heard. Then let the bearers be men of good and sober character. How
+revolting to one's sense of decency is the spectacle, so common in
+London, of hired attendants, wearing funeral robes and hat-bands[20],
+drinking at gin-palaces, whilst the hearse and mourning coaches are
+drawn up outside! Then I would have the furniture of the funeral less
+suggestive of _sorrow without hope_; and specially I would have the
+coffin less gloomy,--I might in many cases say, less _hideous_: let it
+be of plain wood, or, if covered, let its covering be of less gloomy
+character, and without the trashy and unmeaning ornaments with which
+undertakers are used to bestud it. As regards our cemeteries, I suppose
+in most of them the Burial Service is said in all its integrity, but in
+some it is sadly mutilated. 'No fittings, sir, and a third-class grave,'
+said the attendant of a large cemetery the other day to a friend of
+mine, who had gone there to bury a poor parishioner; which in simple
+English was this:--'The man was too poor to have any other than a
+_common grave_, so you must not read all the Service; and his friends
+are too poor to give a hat-band, so you must not wear a hood and stole.'
+My friend did not of course comply with the intimation."
+
+Illustration: Grave-Stones
+
+"Well, Mr. Vicar, I hope we may see the improvements you have suggested
+carried out, and then such an abuse as that will not recur. Much indeed
+has already been done in this direction, and for this we must be
+thankful."
+
+"Yes, and side by side with that, I rejoice to see an increasing
+improvement in the character of our tombstones and epitaphs."
+
+"Ah, sir, there was need enough, I am sure, for that. How shocking are
+many of the inscriptions we find on even modern tombstones! To 'lie like
+an epitaph' has long been a proverb, and I fear a just one. What a host
+of false witnesses we have even here around us in this burial-ground!
+There lies John Wilk, who was--I suppose--as free from care and sickness
+to his dying hour as any man that ever lived; yet his grave-stone tells
+the old story:--
+
+    'Afflictions sore long time I bore,
+        Physicians was in vain.'
+
+And beyond his stands the stone of that old scold Margery Torbeck, who,
+you know, sir, was the terror of the whole village; and of her we are
+told:--
+
+    'A tender wife, a mother dear,
+     A faithful friend, lies buried here.'
+
+I often think, Mr. Ambrose, when walking through a churchyard, if people
+were only half as good when living, as when dead they are said to have
+been, what a happy world this would be; so full of 'the best of
+husbands,' 'the most devoted of wives,' 'the most dutiful of sons,' and
+'the most amiable of daughters.' One is often reminded of the little
+child's inquiry--'Mamma, where are all the _wicked_ people buried?' But
+did you ever notice that vain and foolish inscription under the north
+wall to the 'perpetual' memory of 'Isaac Donman, Esq.'? Poor man! I
+wonder whether his friends thought the 'Esq.' would _perpetuate_ his
+memory. I wish it could be obliterated."
+
+"I have told John Daniels to plant some ivy at the base of the stone,
+and I hope the words will be hidden by it before the summer is over. I
+find this the most convenient mode of concealing objectionable epitaphs.
+But is it not an instance of strange perversity, that where all earthly
+distinctions are swept away, and men of all degrees are brought to one
+common level, people will delight to inscribe these boastful and
+exaggerated praises of the departed, and so often claim for them virtues
+which in reality they never possessed? What can be more out of place
+here than pride? As regards the frail body on which is often bestowed so
+much vain eulogy, what truer words are there than these?--
+
+    'How loved, how valued once, avails thee not;
+     To whom related, or by whom begot:
+     A heap of dust alone remains of thee,
+     'Tis all thou art, 'tis all the proud shall be.'
+
+These kind of epitaphs, too, are so very unfair to the deceased. We who
+knew old Mrs. Ainstie, who lies under that grand tombstone, knew her to
+be a good, kind neighbour; but posterity will not believe that, when
+posterity reads in her epitaph that 'she was a spotless woman.' It is
+better to say too little than too much; since our Bibles tell us that,
+even _when we have done all, we are unprofitable servants_. There are
+other foolish epitaphs which are the result of ignorance, not of pride.
+For instance, poor old Mrs. Beck, whose son is buried in yonder corner
+(it is too dark now to see the stone), sent me these lines for her son's
+grave-stone:--
+
+    'Here lies John Beck, aged 19 years,
+     Father and mother, wipe away your tears.'
+
+I persuaded her instead to have this sentence from the Creed:--'I
+believe in the communion of Saints.' When I explained to her the meaning
+of the words, she was grateful that I had suggested them.
+
+Illustration: Grave-Stones
+
+The two things specially to be avoided in these memorials are flattery
+and falsehood; and, moreover, we should always remember that neither
+grave-stone nor epitaph can benefit the _dead_, but that both may
+benefit the _living_. Therefore a short sentence from the Bible or
+Prayer Book, expressive of hope beyond the grave, is always appropriate;
+such as:--'I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the
+world to come;' or words which either may represent the dying prayer of
+the deceased, or express a suitable petition for ourselves when thus
+reminded of our own approaching departure, such as: 'Jesus, mercy,' or
+'God be merciful to me a sinner,' or 'In the hour of death, good Lord,
+deliver us.' How much better is some simple sentence like these than a
+fulsome epitaph! But the funeral is nearly at the gate; so I must hasten
+to meet it."
+
+"And I will say good evening," said Mr. Acres, "as I may not see you
+after the service; and I thank you for drawing my attention to a subject
+on which I had before thought too little."
+
+Mr. Ambrose met the funeral at the lich-gate. First came the two
+torch-bearers, then the coffin, borne by six school-teachers; then John
+and Mary Daniels, followed by their two surviving children; then came
+old Matthew, and after him several of little Lizzie's old friends and
+neighbours. Each attendant carried a small sprig of evergreen[21], or
+some spring flowers, and, as the coffin was being lowered, placed them
+on it. Many tears of sadness fell down into that narrow grave, but none
+told deeper love than those of the old Shepherd, who lingered
+sorrowfully behind to close in the grave of his little friend.
+
+Illustration: Llanfechan Church
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER V_
+
+THE PORCH
+
+
+"Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God."
+
+Eccles. v. 1.
+
+    "When once thy foot enters the church, be bare.
+     God is more there than thou: for thou art there
+     Only by His permission. Then beware
+     And make thyself all reverence and fear.
+     Kneeling ne'er spoilt silk stockings: quit thy state,
+     All equal are within the Church's gate.
+
+    "Let vain or busy thoughts have there no part:
+     Bring not thy plough, thy plots, thy pleasures thither.
+     Christ purged His temple; so must thou thy heart.
+     All worldly thoughts are but thieves met together
+     To cozen thee. Look to thy actions well;
+     For churches either are our heaven or hell."
+
+                                       _George Herbert._
+
+    "One place there is--beneath the burial sod,
+       Where all mankind are equalized by death:
+     Another place there is--the Fane of God,
+       Where all are equal who draw living breath."
+
+                                          _Thomas Hood._
+
+Illustration: Godmersham Church
+
+
+
+
+THE PORCH
+
+
+Mr. Ambrose only remained in the churchyard a few moments after little
+Lizzie's funeral, just to say some kind words to the bereaved parents
+and the attendant mourners, and then hastened to comply with the urgent
+request of a messenger, that he would without delay accompany him to the
+house of a parishioner living in a distant part of the Parish.
+
+It was more than an hour ere the Vicar began to retrace his steps. His
+nearest way to the village lay through the churchyard, along the path he
+had lately traversed in earnest conversation with Mr. Acres. He paused a
+moment at the gate, to listen for the sound of Matthew's spade; but the
+old man had completed his task, and all was still. He then entered, and
+turned aside to look at the quiet little grave. A grassy mound now
+marked the spot, and it was evident that no little care had been
+bestowed to make it so neat and tidy.
+
+Mr. Ambrose was slowly walking on, musing on the patient sufferings of
+his little friend, now gone to her rest, when just as he approached the
+beautiful old porch of the church his train of thought was suddenly
+disturbed by hearing what seemed to him the low, deep sobbing of
+excessive grief. The night was not so dark but that he could see
+distinctly within the porch, and he anxiously endeavoured to discover
+whether the sound had proceeded from any one who had taken shelter there
+for the night; but the place was evidently tenant less. "It must have
+been only the hum of a passing breeze, which my fancy has converted into
+a human voice," thought he, "for assuredly no such restless sobs as
+those ever escape from the deep sleepers around me here." And so the
+idea was soon banished and forgotten. But as he stood there, his gaze
+became, almost unconsciously, fixed upon the old church porch. The dim
+light resting upon it threw the rich carvings of its graceful arches,
+and deep-groined roof, with its massive bosses of sculptured stone, into
+all sorts of fantastic forms, and a strange mystery seemed to hang about
+the solemn pile, which completely riveted his attention to it, and led
+him into the following reverie:--"Ah, thou art indeed a 'beautiful gate
+of the temple'! Well and piously did our ancestors in bestowing so much
+wealth and labour to make thy walls so fair and lovely. And well ever
+have they done in crowding these noble porches with the sacred emblems
+of our holy faith. Rightly have they deemed that the very highest
+efforts of human art could not be misapplied in adorning the threshold
+of God's House, so that, ere men entered therein, their minds might be
+attuned to the solemnity of the place[22]. All praise, too, to those
+honest craftsmen who cemented these old stones so well together that
+they have stood the storms of centuries, and still remain the unlettered
+though faithful memorials of ages long gone by. Ah, how many scenes my
+imagination calls up as I look on this old porch! Hundreds of years ago
+most of the sacred offices of our Church were there in part performed.
+Now, I think I see the gay bridal party standing in that dusky
+portal[23]; there comes the Priest to join the hands of the young and
+happy pair; he pronounces over them the Church's blessing; and the
+bridegroom endows with her bridal portion her whom he has sworn to love
+till one shall die. A thousand brides and bridegrooms, full of bright
+hopes of happy years, have been married in that porch. Centuries ago
+they grew old and died, and were buried in this churchyard, but the old
+porch still remains in all its beauty and all its strength. There,
+kneeling upon that well-worn pavement, I see the mother pour forth her
+thankfulness to God for her deliverance from sickness, and for the babe
+she bears[24]. And now, still beneath that porch, she gives her tender
+infant into the arms of God's priest, that he may present it to Him in
+holy Baptism. In yon dark corner I seem to see standing the notorious
+breaker of God's commands; his head is bent down with shame, and he is
+clothed in the robe of penance[25]. Now the scene is changed: the old
+walls resound with the voices of noisy disputants--it is a parish
+meeting[26], and passions long since hushed find there a clamorous
+expression; but there stands the stately form of the peace-maker, and
+the noisy tongue of the village orator is heard no more. Yes, rise up,
+Sir Knight, who, with thy hands close clasped as if in ceaseless prayer,
+hast lain upon that stony couch for five long centuries, and let thy
+manly step be heard beneath that aged roof once more; for, though a
+warrior, thou wast a good and peace-loving man, and a devout worshipper
+in this temple, or, I trust, thy burial-place would never have been in
+this old porch[27]."
+
+The eyes of the Vicar were fixed upon the recumbent effigy of an old
+knight lying beneath its stone canopy on the western side of the porch
+(of which, however, only a dim outline was visible), when the same sound
+that had before startled him was repeated, followed by what seemed the
+deep utterance of earnest prayer, but so far off as to be but faintly
+heard. He stood in motionless attention for a short time, and then the
+voice ceased. He then saw a flickering light on one of the farthest
+windows of the chancel; slowly it passed from window to window, till it
+reached that nearest to the spot where he was standing. Then there was a
+narrow line of light in the centre of the doorway; gradually it widened,
+and there stood before him the venerable form of the old shepherd.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VI_
+
+THE PORCH
+
+
+"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with
+praise."
+
+Ps. c. 4.
+
+    "Why should we grudge the hour and house of prayer
+         To Christ's own blind and lame,
+         Who come to meet Him there?
+       Better, be sure, His altar-flame
+       Should glow in one dim wavering spark,
+     Than quite lie down, and leave His Temple drear and dark.
+
+    "What if the world our two or three despise
+         They in His name are here,
+         To whom in suppliant guise
+       Of old the blind and lame drew near,
+       Beside His royal courts they wait,
+     And ask His healing Hand: we dare not close the gate."
+
+                                             _Lyra Innocentium._
+
+Illustration: Porch of Luebeck Cathedral
+
+
+
+
+THE PORCH
+
+
+Illustration: Porch and Parvise of St. Mary's Church, Finedon
+
+"The Vicar's first impulse, on recovering from his
+surprise at so unexpectedly meeting with the old Shepherd in such a
+place, at such an hour, was, if possible, to escape unnoticed, and to
+leave the churchyard without suffering him to know what he had heard and
+seen; but at that instant the light fell full upon him, and concealment
+was impossible.
+
+"You'll be surprised, Mr. Ambrose," said the old man, "at finding me in
+the church at this late time. But it has, I assure you, been a great
+comfort for me to be here."
+
+"My good friend," replied the Vicar, "I know you have been making good
+use of God's House, and I only wish there were more disposed to do the
+like. I rejoice to hear you have found consolation, for to-day has been
+one of heavy sorrow to you, and you needed that _peace which the world
+cannot give_. How often it is that _we cannot understand these trials
+until we go into the House of the Lord_, and then God makes it all plain
+to us."
+
+"I've learnt that to-night, sir, as I never learnt it before. When I
+had put the last bit of turf on the little grave, and knew that all
+my work was over, there was such a desolate, lonely-like feeling
+came over me, that I thought my old heart must break; and then, all
+of a sudden, it got into my head that I would come into the church.
+But it was more dull and lonesome there than ever. It was so awful
+and quiet, I became quite fearful and cowed, quite like a child, you
+know, sir. When I stood still, I hardly dared look round for fear I
+should see _something_ in the darkness under the old grey arches,
+and when I moved, the very noise of my footsteps, which seemed to
+sound in every corner, frightened me. However, I took courage, and
+went on. Then I opened this Prayer Book, and the first words I saw
+were these in the Baptismal Service:--'_Whosoever shall not receive
+the Kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein._'
+So I knelt down at the altar rails and prayed, as I think I never
+prayed before, that I might in my old age become as good as the
+little maid I had just buried, and be as fit to die as I really
+believe she was. Then I said those prayers you see marked in the
+book, sir (she put the marks), and at last I came to those beautiful
+words in the Communion Service (there is a cross put to them, and I
+felt sure she meant me particularly to notice them):--'_We bless and
+praise Thy holy Name for all Thy servants departed this life in Thy
+faith and fear._' I stood up, and said that over and over again; and
+as I did so, somehow all my fear and lonesomeness went away, and I
+was quite happy. It was _this_ that made me so happy: I felt sure,
+sir, quite sure, that my poor dear wife and our child and little
+Lizzie were close to me. I could not see nor hear them, but for all
+that I was somehow quite certain that they were there rejoicing with
+me, and praising God for all the good people He had taken to
+Himself. Oh! I shall never forget this night, sir; the thought of it
+will always make me happy. You will never see me again so cast down
+as I have been lately."
+
+"Well, Matthew, you cannot at least be wrong in allowing what you have
+felt and believed to fix more firmly in your faith the Church's glorious
+doctrine of the _communion of saints_."
+
+For some time each stood following out in his own mind the train of
+thought which these words suggested. Matthew was the first to break
+silence, by begging the Vicar kindly to go with him into the room above
+where they were standing, as he wished there to ask a favour of him.
+
+Matthew returned into the church to find the key of the chamber, and Mr.
+Ambrose at once recognized the volume which he had left on the stone
+seat of the porch, as that from which Lizzie was used to read when she
+sat beside the old Shepherd on the neighbouring hill. He took it up,
+and, opening it at the Burial Office, he found there a little curl of
+lovely fair hair marking the place. The page was still wet--it was the
+dew of evening, gentle tears of love and sorrow shed by one whose night
+was calmly and peacefully coming on.
+
+The old man soon returned with the key, and, bearing the lantern, led
+the way up a narrow, winding stone staircase, formed in the masonry of a
+large buttress, to the little chamber. As soon as they had reached it,
+he said, "Before I beg my favour, Mr. Ambrose, I should much like you to
+tell me something about this old room. Ever since I was a boy it has
+been a sort of lumber-room, but I suppose it was not built for that?"
+
+"Well, Matthew, there is not much here to throw light upon the history
+of this particular chamber; but I will tell you what I can about such
+places generally. The room is most commonly, but not correctly, called
+the _parvise_[28]. The word _parvise_, or _paradise_, properly only
+applies to an open court adjoining a church, and surrounded by
+cloisters; but in olden times a room in a private house was sometimes
+called a paradise[29], and hence, I suppose, the name came to be used
+for the porch-room of the church. It was also called the _priest's
+chamber_[30]; and such, I think, was the room in which we now are. You
+see it is provided with a nice little fire-place[31], and it is a
+comfortable little place to live in. Sometimes it was called the
+_treasury_[32], or record-room, because the parish records and church
+books were kept in it; or the _library_[33], from its being appropriated
+for the reception of a church or parochial library. There are many of
+these chambers furnished with valuable libraries which have been
+bequeathed from time to time for this purpose. It is also evident, from
+the remains of an altar and furniture connected with it, that not
+infrequently it was built for a _chapel_[34]. Occasionally it has been
+used as the _parish school_[35]; and I have heard that in some of the
+eastern counties poor people have occasionally, in cases of extreme
+distress, claimed sanctuary or refuge, both in the porch and parvise,
+and lived there undisturbed for some weeks together. But latterly, in
+many places, the parish clerk or sexton has been located in the parvise,
+that he may watch the churchyard and protect the church[36]; and I am
+inclined to think this is a much more sensible thing to do, than to
+give up the room to the owls and bats, as is very often the case now,
+but even that is better than to use it as it has sometimes been used--as
+a common prison[37]."
+
+"I am glad to hear you say that, sir, for it makes the way for me to ask
+my favour. John Daniels wants to give up the place of sexton; and as I
+am getting too old now to walk far, and to take care of the sheep as I
+used to do, I'm going to make so bold as to ask you to let me be sexton
+in his stead, and to live in this little room, if you please, sir. I
+could then keep the key of the church, and it would be always at hand
+when wanted: I should be near to ring the bell for morning and evening
+prayer; I could watch the churchyard, and see that no one breaks the
+cross on Lizzie's grave--I shall be able to see it from this window. And
+then, sir, if you will have this little window opened again into the
+church[38], why I can keep guard over the church too; and that's rather
+necessary just now, for several churches about us have been robbed
+lately. Besides all this, the room is much more warm and comfortable
+than mine in the village, and I shall enjoy the quiet of it so much."
+
+"Most glad, Matthew, shall I be to see the office of sexton in such good
+hands. You will not yourself be equal to all the work, but you will
+always be able to find a younger hand when you need one. And then, with
+regard to your living here, it's just the thing I should like, for,
+apart from other reasons, it would enable me to have the church doors
+always open to those who would resort thither for prayer or meditation.
+It is a sad thing for people to be deprived of such religious
+retirement. I almost wish that the church porch could be made without a
+church door altogether, as it used to be[39], and then the church would
+be always open. But, my friend, have you considered how gloomy, and
+lonely, and unprotected this place will be?"
+
+Illustration: Parvise, Westbury-on-Trim
+
+"You mus'n't say _gloomy_, if you please, sir; I trust and believe my
+gloomy days are past; and lonely I shall not be: you remember my poor
+daughter's little boy that was taken out to Australia by his father
+(ah! his name almost _does_ make me gloomy--but, God forgive him!)--he
+is coming home next week to live with me. He is now seven years old; I
+hear he is a quiet, old-fashioned boy. He will be a nice companion for
+me, and I hope you will let him help in the church; but we can speak of
+that again. Then for protection, sir, you must let my fond old dog be
+with me at nights; the faithful fellow would die of grief were we
+altogether parted. Come, sir, it's an old man's wish, I hope you'll
+grant it." This last sentence was said as they were returning down the
+little winding staircase back to the porch.
+
+"It shall be as you wish; next week the room shall be ready for you. And
+as I have granted all the requests you have made, you must grant me one
+in return. You must let me furnish the room for you. No, I shall not
+listen to any objections; this time _I_ must have _my_ way. Good
+night."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VII_
+
+THE PAVEMENT
+
+
+"The place whereon thou standest is holy ground."
+
+Exod. iii. 5.
+
+
+
+    "Mark you the floor? that square and speckled stone,
+            Which looks so firm and strong,
+                                    Is _Patience_;
+
+    "And the other black and grave, wherein each one
+            Is checker'd all along,
+                                    _Humility_;
+
+    "The gentle rising, which on either hand
+            Leads to the quire above,
+                                    Is _Confidence_;
+
+    "But the sweet cement, which in one sure band
+            Ties the whole frame, is _Love_
+                                    And _Charity_."
+
+                                        GEORGE HERBERT.
+
+
+Illustration: Church of SS. Philip and James, Oxford
+
+
+
+
+THE PAVEMENT
+
+
+Illustration: Brass of John Bloxham and John Whytton in Merton College,
+Oxford
+
+"Why, my dear Constance," said Mr. Acres, as one morning
+he found the eldest of his three children sitting gloomy and solitary at
+the breakfast-room window, "you look as though all the cares of the
+nation were pressing upon you! Come, tell me a few of them; unless,"
+added he, laughingly, "my little queen thinks there is danger to the
+State in communicating matters of such weighty import."
+
+"Oh, don't make fun of me, dear Papa! I have only one trouble just now,
+and you will think that a very little one; but you know you often say
+little troubles seem great to little people."
+
+"Then we must have the bright little face back again at once, if, after
+all, it is only one small care that troubles it," said he, kissing her
+affectionately. "But now, my darling, let me know all about it."
+
+"Well, Papa, I think it's too bad of Mary to go up to the church again
+to-day to help Ernest to take more rubbing's of those dull, stupid old
+brasses. I don't care any thing about them, and I think it's nonsense
+spending so much time over them as they do. I wish Mr. Ambrose would not
+let them go into the church any more, and then Mary would not leave me
+alone like this."
+
+"That's not a very kind wish, Constance, as they both seem so much
+interested in their work; but I dare say this is the last day they will
+give to it. Suppose we go this afternoon to look after them: we can then
+ask Ernest to bring home all the copies he has taken, and when Mr.
+Ambrose comes in by-and-by, perhaps he will tell us something about
+them; and who knows but your unconsciously offending enemies may turn
+out to be neither dull nor stupid, after all?"
+
+The proposal was gladly accepted, and at four o'clock they were enjoying
+their pleasant walk up to St. Catherine's Church.
+
+As they entered the church Mr. Acres heard, to his surprise, the clear
+ring of Mary's happy laugh. She was standing in the south aisle, beside
+the paper on which she had been vainly attempting to copy a monumental
+brass. Seeing her father approach with a serious and somewhat reproving
+countenance, she at once guessed the cause, and anticipated the
+reprimand he was about to utter. "You must not be angry with me, Papa,"
+she said, in a very subdued tone, "for indeed I could not help laughing,
+though I know it is very wrong to laugh in church; but, you know, I had
+just finished my rubbing of the brass here, and thought I had done it so
+well, when all of a sudden the paper slipped, and the consequence was
+that my poor knight had two faces instead of one; and he looked so queer
+that I could not help laughing at him very much."
+
+"No doubt, my dear child," said her father, "there was something in your
+misfortune to provoke a laugh, but I think you must have forgotten for a
+moment the sacredness of this place, when you gave vent to the merry
+shout I heard just now. You should always remember that in God's house
+you are standing on _holy ground_, and though it may be permissible for
+us to go there for the purpose of copying those works of art, which in
+their richest beauty are rightly dedicated to God and His service, and
+these curious monuments which you and Ernest have been tracing, yet we
+should ever bear with us a deep sense of the sanctity of the building as
+the 'place where His honour dwelleth,' and avoid whatever may give
+occasion to levity; or should the feeling force itself upon us, we
+ought, by a strong effort, to resist it."
+
+Although the words were spoken in a kind and gentle voice, many tears
+had already fallen upon Mary's spoilt tracing, so her father said no
+more on the subject; but, taking her hand, led her quietly away to a
+chapel at the north-east corner of the church, round which was placed a
+beautifully carved open screen. It was the burial-place of the family
+that formerly tenanted the Hall, and there were many brass figures and
+inscriptions laid in the floor to their memory. Here, attentively
+watched by old Matthew the sexton, Ernest was busily engaged tracing the
+figure of a knight in armour, represented as standing under a handsome
+canopy. He had already completed his copy of the canopy, and of the
+inscription round the stone, and was now engaged at the figure. Two
+sheets of paper were spread over the stone, and he had guarded against
+Mary's accident by placing on the paper several large kneeling hassocks,
+which were used by the old people. He was himself half reclining on a
+long cushion laid on the pavement, and having before marked out with his
+finger on the paper the outlines of the brass underneath it, was now
+rubbing away vigorously with his heel-ball[40], and at every stroke a
+little bit more of the knight came out upon the paper, till, like a
+large black drawing, the complete figure appeared before them. They had
+all watched Ernest's labours with the greatest interest, and, this being
+the last, they assisted in rolling up the papers, that they might be
+taken home for more careful examination in the evening.
+
+"I wish Master Ernest could take a picture of good old Sir John, as we
+call him, Mr. Acres," said Matthew; "I mean him as lies in the chancel,
+right in front of the altar; but he's cut out in the flat stone, and not
+in the metal, so I suppose Master Ernest can't do it. I remember the
+time, sir, when people as were sick and diseased used to come for miles
+round to lie upon that stone, and they believed it made them much
+better[41]; and if they believed it, I dare say it did, sir. And 'tisn't
+but a very few years back when it would have been thought very unlucky
+indeed if a corpse had not rested over good Sir John all night before
+its burial. We still place the coffins just in the same place at the
+funerals, but of course nobody any longer believes that good Sir John
+can do good or ill to those inside them."
+
+"I must bring some stronger paper than that I use for the brasses, to
+copy the stone figure, Matthew," said Ernest; "so that must be done
+another day."
+
+All said good-bye to the old sexton, and as he wended his way up the
+narrow stone stairs to his little chamber, Mr. Acres and his family
+returned to Oakfield Hall.
+
+The dining-room was soon decorated with the trophies of Ernest's four
+days' labour, and other rubbing's which he had before taken; and when
+Mr. Ambrose arrived he was met by several eager petitioners, praying him
+to give some explanation of the strange-looking black and white figures
+that hung upon the walls.
+
+"It would take me a whole day to tell you all that might be said about
+them," said he; "but I shall be very glad to give you a short
+description of each, and I will follow the course which Ernest has
+evidently intended me to adopt, for I see he has arranged all the
+bishops and priests together, and the knights, the civilians, and the
+ladies, each class by itself. But first I must tell you something of the
+general history of these brass memorials. There are an immense number of
+them in this country--it is supposed about 4000--and they are chiefly to
+be found in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Kent; but indeed there are
+comparatively few old churches in England in which you cannot find upon
+the pavement some traces of these interesting memorials. Though,
+however, so many remain, probably not less than 20,000 have been either
+stolen or lost. You will see on the pavement at St. Catherine's, marks
+of the force which has been used in tearing many from the stones in
+which they had been firmly fixed."
+
+"But who could have been so fearless and wicked as to take them away?"
+exclaimed Constance, who already had begun to feel a real interest in
+the subject.
+
+"Alas! Constance, that question is easily answered. There was indeed a
+time, long ago, when people would not have _dared_ to commit these acts
+of sacrilege. You know among the ancient Romans there was a belief that
+the manes or spirits of the departed protected their tombs, and so
+persons were afraid to rob them; but people since then have been
+deterred by no such fear, indeed by no fear at all. Within the period
+between 1536 and 1540 somewhere about 900 religious houses were
+destroyed, and their chapels were dismantled and robbed of their tombs,
+on which were a great number of brasses. And this spirit of sacrilege
+extended beyond the monasteries, for at this time, and afterwards, very
+many of our parish churches were also despoiled of their monumental
+brasses; indeed the evil spread so much that Queen Elizabeth issued a
+special proclamation for putting a stop to it. The greatest destruction
+of brasses, however, took place a hundred years after this, when
+thousands were removed from the cathedrals and churches to satisfy the
+rapacity or the fanaticism of the Puritan Dissenters, who were then in
+power[42]. In later times, I am sorry to say, large numbers have been
+sold by churchwardens, for the just value of the metal, and many have
+been removed during the restoration of churches and have not been
+restored; of course, those whose special duty it was to protect them
+have been greatly to blame for this. Then not a few have become loose,
+and been lost through mere carelessness. Some of the most beautiful
+brasses in our church I discovered a few years since under a heap of
+rubbish in the wood-house of Daniels, the former sexton[43]. So you see
+it is no wonder we find so many of those curiously-indented slabs in the
+pavement of our churches, which mark the places where brasses have
+formerly been.
+
+A few of these memorials are to be found in Wales, Ireland, and
+Scotland. Some also exist in France, Germany, Russia, Prussia, Poland,
+Switzerland, Holland, Denmark, and Sweden. In these countries, however,
+they have never been numerous.
+
+But now I must say a few words about their origin. The oldest memorials
+of the dead to be found in our churches are the stone coffin-lids, with
+plain or floriated crosses carved upon them. The stone coffins were
+buried just below the level of the pavement, so their lids were even
+with the floor of the church. Afterwards, similar crosses were graven on
+slabs of stone above the coffin; then the faces of the deceased were
+represented; and at length whole figures, and many other devices, were
+carved on the stone, and around the stone was sometimes an inscription
+consisting of letters of _brass_ separately inlaid. Then the figures and
+inscriptions were either altogether made of brass, or were partly graven
+in stone and partly in brass; specimens of both, I see, Ernest has
+provided for us. The earliest of these incised slabs are probably of the
+ninth century, but the faces of the deceased were not carved on them
+till about 1050. The earliest brass of which we have any account is that
+of Simon de Beauchamp, 1208; and the most ancient brass figure now
+remaining is that of Sir John Daubernoun, 1277.
+
+"The form of the brass has evidently been often suggested by the stone
+and marble effigies we see on altar-tombs. For we find that not only the
+costume and position of the figures are closely copied, but also the
+canopies above them, the cushions or helmets on which their heads rest,
+and the lions, dogs, or other animals on which the feet are placed. I
+have something more to say on the subject generally, before I come to
+speak particularly about Ernest's copies; so after the general interval
+of ten minutes I will resume the subject.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VIII_
+
+THE PAVEMENT
+
+
+"They bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement,
+and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good, for His
+mercy endureth for ever."
+
+2 Chron. vii. 3.
+
+
+    "This is the abode where God doth dwell,
+       This is the gate of Heaven,
+     The shrine of the Invisible,
+       The Priest, the Victim given.
+
+    "O holy seat, O holy fane,
+       Where dwells the Omnipotent!
+     Whom the broad world cannot contain,
+       Nor Heaven's high firmament.
+
+    "Here, where the unearthly Guest descends
+       To hearts of Innocence,
+     And sacred love her wing extends
+       Of holiest influence;
+
+    "Let no unhallow'd thought be here,
+       Within that sacred door;
+     Let nought polluted dare draw near,
+       Nor tread the awful floor;
+     Or, lo! the Avenger is at hand,
+     And at the door doth stand."
+
+                     _The Child's Christian Year._
+
+
+Illustration: Heywood Church
+
+
+
+
+THE PAVEMENT
+
+
+Illustration: Brass of Henry Sever, at Merton College, Oxford
+
+As soon as the short pause was over, all ears were open
+to learn something more on a subject which had been hitherto entirely
+without interest to most of the Vicar's little audience.
+
+"We find sometimes upon the pavement of our churches," said Mr. Ambrose,
+"memorials just like those I have spoken to you about, except that they
+are made of _iron_ or _lead_ instead of brass, but they are
+comparatively very rare, and, except in the metal of which they are
+composed, differ nothing from the _brasses_.
+
+"Sepulchral brasses must have been a great ornament to our churches
+before they were despoiled of their beauty by the hand of Time, and the
+still less sparing hand of man. The vivid colours of the enamel with
+which they were inlaid, and the silvery brightness of the yet
+untarnished lead which was employed to represent the ermine and other
+parts of official costume, must have added greatly to the splendour of
+these monuments. At first they were no doubt very costly, for there
+appear to have been but few places where they were made in this
+country, and, in addition to the cost of the brasses themselves, the
+expense of their carriage in those times must have been considerable. A
+great many of these monuments, however, are of foreign manufacture, and
+were chiefly imported from Flanders. It is easy to distinguish between
+the English and the Flemish brasses, for whereas the former are composed
+of separate pieces of metal laid in different parts of the stone, and
+giving the distinct outline of the figure, canopy, inscription, &c., the
+latter are composed of several plates of brass placed closely together
+and engraved all over with figures, canopies, and other designs. The
+later English brasses are, however, very similar to the Flemish. You see
+that little copy of a brass about three feet long by one foot deep which
+Ernest has somehow obtained from the church at Walton-on-Thames? Now
+that is a square piece of metal just like those they made in Flanders,
+but it was evidently engraved in England. It is dated 1587, and is in
+memory of John Selwyn, keeper of Queen Elizabeth's park at Oatlands,
+near Walton. It represents, as you see, a stag hunt, and is said to
+refer to this incident:--'The old keeper, in the heat of the chase,
+suddenly leaped from his horse upon the back of the stag (both running
+at that time with their utmost speed), and not only kept his seat
+gracefully, in spite of every effort of the affrighted beast, but,
+drawing his sword, with it guided him to wards the Queen, and coming
+near her presence, plunged it in his throat, so that the animal fell
+dead at her feet[44].'"
+
+"But, my friend," said Mr. Acres, "it seems to me that the record of
+such an event, even if it ever happened--which I must take the liberty
+to doubt--is quite as objectionable as any of those epitaphs in our
+churchyard which you once so strongly and justly condemned."
+
+"I quite agree with you. But this was made at a time when sepulchral
+monuments were frequently of a very debased character. At this period
+the brasses underwent a great change. They began to rise from their
+humble position on the pavement, and the figures were occasionally made
+without their devotional posture, which up to this date had been almost
+universal. They were then placed on the church walls, on tablets, or on
+the top and at the back of altar-tombs, and this led the way for the
+erection of a large number of monuments in stone of similar design, but
+more cumbrous and inconvenient. Inferior workmen also were evidently
+employed at this time to engrave the brasses, and they became more and
+more debased, till they reached the lowest point of all, a hundred years
+ago, and soon after their manufacture altogether ceased. It was near the
+time when this brass was put up to the old park-keeper, that that ugly
+monument in memory of Sir John York, with its four heathen obelisks, and
+its four disconsolate Cupids, was put up in our chancel, covering so
+much of the floor as to deprive at least twenty persons of their right
+to a place in God's House. About this time, too, that uncomfortable
+looking effigy of Lady Lancaster was put upon its massive altar-tomb. To
+judge from the position of her Ladyship, and hundreds of other similar
+monuments, represented as reclining and resting the face upon the hand,
+we might imagine that a large proportion of the population in those days
+died of the toothache. However, the attitude of prayer was that most
+commonly adopted, as well in stone as brass effigies, till long after
+this period.
+
+"If any thing more than the figure, canopy, inscription, and shield is
+represented on a brass, it is commonly a sacred symbol, a trade mark, or
+some badge of rank or profession. To this there are but a few
+exceptions, besides the brass of John Selwyn. At Lynn, in Norfolk, on
+one brass is a hunting scene, on another a harvest-home, such as it was
+in the year 1349, and on another a peacock feast, the date of which is
+1364. Founders of churches frequently hold in their hands the model of a
+church. The emblem of undying love we find in the heart, either alone or
+held by both hands of the effigy. A long epitaph was often avoided by
+the simple representation of a chalice, a sword, an ink-horn, a
+wool-sack, a barrel, shears, or some such trade or professional emblem.
+Some--comparatively few--of the inscriptions on brasses are, however,
+profusely long, and sometimes, but very rarely, ridiculous.
+
+In very early times the epitaphs were always written in Latin or Norman
+French; and if that practice had continued, it would not much matter to
+persons generally even if they were absurd, as few could read them: but
+about the year 1400 they began to be written in English, and then of
+course these foolish inscriptions must have been distracting to the
+thoughts of those who attended the church. But it very often happened
+that persons had their brasses put down some time before their decease,
+as is evident from the circumstance that in many cases the dates have
+never been filled in. This custom would much tend to prevent foolish and
+flattering inscriptions.
+
+"I have noticed that there is in nearly all brasses a solemn or serious
+expression in the countenance suitable to their presence in God's House.
+They were frequently _portraits_ of the persons commemorated[45]. This
+was no doubt the case in later brasses, and I think in the earlier also.
+Latterly the faces were sometimes coloured, no doubt to represent the
+originals more exactly. It seldom happens that the age of the person is
+otherwise than pretty faithfully portrayed.
+
+"I must next tell you something of the dresses of the clergy, the
+soldiers, and the civilians, as we see them engraved upon the pavements
+of our churches."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER IX_
+
+THE PAVEMENT
+
+
+"It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it."
+
+John xi. 38.
+
+
+                       "On the floor beneath
+    Sepulchral stones appear'd, with emblems graven
+    And footworn epitaphs, and some with small
+    And shining effigies of brass inlaid."
+
+                           Wordsworth's _Excursion_.
+
+
+    "The warrior from his armed tent,
+       The seaman from the tide--
+     Far as the Sabbath chimes are sent,
+       In Christian nations wide,--
+     Thousands and tens of thousands bring
+       Their sorrows to His shrine,
+     And taste the never-failing spring
+       Of Jesus' love Divine.
+
+    "If at the earthly chime, the tread
+       Of million million feet
+     Approach whene'er the Gospel's read
+       In God's own temple-seat;
+     How blest the sight, from death's dark sleep
+       To see God's saints arise,
+     And countless hosts of angels keep
+       The Sabbath of the skies!"
+
+                                   _Lyra Sacra._
+
+
+Illustration: Chancel of Whippingham Church
+
+
+
+
+THE PAVEMENT
+
+
+Illustration: Brass of Sir Roger de Trumpington
+
+"That costumes are pretty accurately represented on
+brasses," continued Mr. Ambrose, "we are sure, from the fact that many
+different artists have made the dresses of each particular period so
+much alike; and this circumstance adds much interest and importance to
+these monuments. I will now describe some of these dresses, and you must
+try to find out, as I go on, the several parts of the dress I am
+describing on Ernest's rubbing's which hang upon the wall. But I shall
+only be able to say a little about each. First there come the persons
+holding sacred office in the Church. The priests are usually, you see,
+dressed in the robes worn at Holy Communion, and they commonly hold the
+chalice and wafer in their hands. The robe which is most conspicuous is
+the _chasuble_. It is usually richly embroidered in gold and silk. This
+robe is one of the ornaments of the minister referred to in the rubric
+at the commencement of the Prayer Book. At the top of it you see the
+_amice_. This too is worked in various colours and patterns. The
+academic _hood_, some suppose, now represents this part of the priest's
+dress. You must remember we are looking at the dresses worn five hundred
+years ago, and which had been in use long before that time, and we
+cannot be surprised if some of them, as now worn, are a little changed
+in shape and appearance. The narrow band which hangs from the shoulders
+nearly to the feet, embroidered at the ends, is called the _stole_.
+This, you know, is still worn by us just as it was then. It is one of
+the most ancient vestments of the Church, and is intended to represent
+the _yoke of Christ_. The small embroidered strip hanging on the left
+arm is the _maniple_. It is used for cleaning the sacred vessels.
+Beneath the chasuble is the _albe_, a white robe which--changed somewhat
+in form--we still wear. It is derived from the linen ephod of the Jews.
+Sometimes on brasses, as on that beautiful one to the memory of Henry
+Sever[46], the _cope_ is represented. This is a very rich and costly
+robe, and is still always worn at the coronations of our Kings and
+Queens; it is also ordered to be worn on other occasions. Then the
+bishops wore, you see, other robes besides those I have mentioned:--the
+_mitre_, like the albe, handed down from the time of the Jews to our own
+period; the _tunic_, a close-fitting linen vestment; the _dalmatic_, so
+called because it was once the regal dress of Dalmatia; the gloves,
+often jewelled. They hold the _crozier_, or _cross staff_, or else the
+_crooked_, or _pastoral staff_, in their hand. As bishops and priests
+were then, as now, very often buried in their ecclesiastical vestments,
+the brass probably in such cases represented, as near as could be, the
+robed body of the person beneath. The earliest brasses of ecclesiastics
+are at Oulton, Suffolk, and Merton College, Oxford. The date of both is
+about 1310.
+
+"We must next come to the monumental brasses of _knights_ and warriors;
+and that curious brass to Sir Peter Legh, which is taken from Winwick
+Church, will do well for a connecting link between the clergy and the
+warriors. He is, you see, in armour, but over the upper part of it is a
+chasuble, on the front of which is his shield of arms. And this tells
+his history. He was formerly a soldier, but at the decease of his wife
+he relinquished his former occupation, and became a priest of the
+Church. You see before you soldiers in all kinds of armour, and you can
+easily trace the gradual change from the _chain mail_ to the _plated
+armour_, till you find the former almost entirely abandoned, and the
+latter adopted, in the early part of the fifteenth century. Now I should
+soon tire you if I were to describe all the curious sorts of armour
+these soldiers wear, so I must just take one of them, and that will go
+far to wards explaining others. There hangs Sir Roger de
+Trumpington[47], of Trumpington, Cambridgeshire; his date is 1289. You
+see he is cross-legged, and so you would put him down for a Knight
+Templar, and a warrior in the Holy Land. And so he was; but nevertheless
+you must remember all cross-legged figures are not necessarily Knights
+Templar. He rests his head upon a _bascinet_ (A), or helmet. His head
+and neck are protected by chain mail (B), to which is attached his
+_hauberk_ (D), or shirt of mail. On his shoulders are placed _ailettes_
+(C), or little wings, and these are ornamented with the same arms as
+those borne on his shield. They were worn both for defence and ornament,
+as soldiers' epaulettes are now. The defence for the knees (G) was made
+of leather, and sometimes much ornamented. At a later time it was made
+of plated metal. The legs and feet are covered with chain mail, called
+the _chausse_ (F), and he wears _goads_, or 'pryck spurs,' on his heels
+(H). Over the hauberk he has a _surcoat_ (E) probably of wool or linen.
+Here you see it is quite plain; but it is frequently decorated with
+heraldic devices; and such devices on the surcoat or armour are often
+the only clue left to the name and history of the wearer.
+
+"On the brasses of _civilians_ we find nothing like the present
+ungraceful and unsightly mode of dress; indeed we can scarcely imagine
+any thing more ridiculous than the representation of the modern
+fashionable dress on a monumental brass. But on these memorials, you
+see, the robes are, with rare exceptions, flowing and graceful. In the
+sixteenth century there was but slight difference between the male and
+female attire of persons in private life. Of course the dresses of
+professional men have always been characteristic. Civilians were, with
+hardly an exception, always represented on brasses _bare-headed_.
+Happily for the good people in those times they did not know the hideous
+and inconvenient _hat_ which continues to torture those who live in
+towns, but from which we in the country have presumed to free ourselves.
+
+"The dresses _actually worn_ by the deceased are probably sometimes
+represented on the brasses of _ladies_. You have before you every
+variety of costume, from the simple robe of the time of Edward II. and
+III., down to the extravagant dresses of Elizabeth's reign. On the early
+brasses the _wimple_ under the chin marked the rank of the wearer. Till
+about the year 1550 ladies are not infrequently represented with
+heraldic devices covering their kirtles and mantles; but I should think
+such ornamentation was never really worn by them. The different fashions
+of wearing the hair here represented are most fantastic. St. Paul tells
+us that 'if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her;' but these
+English matrons too often forgot that _simplicity_ which gives to this
+beauty of nature its chief charm. See, here is the _butterfly
+head-dress_, of the fifteenth century, extending two feet at the back of
+the head; and there is the _horn head-dress_, spreading a foot on either
+side of the head. The fashions among women then appear to have been as
+grotesque as they have been in our own day.
+
+"_Children_ on these tombs are represented either behind or beneath
+their parents; sometimes they wear the _tabard_, a short coat, with
+heraldic figures upon it--as on this brass to John Ansty; you see there
+are twelve sons below the father, and four daughters below the
+mother--sometimes they wear a dress which marks their occupation; and in
+a few instances the name of each child is placed below it. _Skeletons_
+and emaciated figures, sometimes in shrouds, were represented on brasses
+after the fifteenth century. _Crosses_, with or without figures of the
+deceased, are very frequently to be met with, and their form is often
+exceedingly elegant[48]. You will not fail to notice the _canopies_ of
+many of these brasses; the beauty of some of these designs it would be
+impossible to surpass. But I fear you must be tired of my long lecture,
+so I must hasten to bring it to a close. These memorials I like better
+than any others for churches; for, first, they are by far the most
+_durable_ of all; then they are the most _convenient_, for they take up
+little space, and are a great ornament to the _pavement of the church_;
+moreover they teach their own _moral_, they occupy a _lowly_ place in
+God's House, and are all on one _common level_. I am, therefore, very
+glad to see them introduced again into many of our cathedrals and parish
+churches. And, my dear Constance, I must end with a word to you. I fancy
+by this time you have learnt that _monumental brasses_ are not dull and
+stupid. To the student of antiquity, history, genealogy, heraldry, and
+architecture, these _pavement monuments_ are, I assure you, of the
+greatest interest and value. They help to fix dates to ancient
+documents, to illustrate various periods of ecclesiastical architecture,
+and throw much light on the manners and customs of other times. They
+are, too, a constant protest against that excess in 'wearing of gold and
+putting on of apparel,' against which St. Paul wrote, and which is one
+of the great sins of our day; for though we find elaborate and costly
+robes represented on the brasses of the great and the wealthy, you
+always see the figures of the humbler classes clothed in neat and simple
+attire. If people would only follow the good advice of old Polonius to
+his son,
+
+    'Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
+     But not express'd in fancy[49],'
+
+there would be less sin, and less want, and less misery in the world."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER X_
+
+THE PAVEMENT
+
+
+"Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours."
+
+Isa. liv. 11.
+
+
+    "How all things glow with life and thought,
+       Where'er our faithful fathers trod!
+     The very ground with speech is fraught,
+       The air is eloquent of God.
+     In vain would doubt or mockery hide
+       The buried echoes of the past;
+     A voice of strength--a voice of pride--
+       Here dwells amid the stones and blast!
+
+    "Still points the tower, and pleads the bell,
+       The solemn arches breathe in stone,
+     Window and wall have lips to tell
+       The mighty faith of days unknown;--
+     Yea! flood, and breeze, and battle shock
+       Shall beat upon this Church in vain,
+     She stands a daughter of the rock--
+       The changeless God's eternal fane!"
+
+                         R. S. HAWKER.
+
+
+Illustration: Church of St. John the Baptist, Kidmore End
+
+
+
+
+THE PAVEMENT
+
+
+Illustration: Encaustic Tile, Brooke Church
+
+Mr. Acres and his family attended Morning Prayer at St.
+Catherine's the day following the Vicar's lecture; and after service
+they examined with greater interest than ever they had done before the
+floor of the church--indeed Mr. Acres confessed that till that morning
+he had never had the curiosity to walk up either of the aisles of the
+church with the view of finding any object of interest on the pavement.
+In the course of their search they now discovered a large flat stone,
+hitherto unknown even to the Vicar; the stone, when cleansed from the
+dust which had accumulated upon it (for it was placed in a remote corner
+of the church), was very white; it was engraved with the figure of a
+priest, and the incised lines were filled with a black resinous
+substance, so that it almost looked like a large engraving on paper, or
+still more like one of the copies of brasses which Ernest had exhibited
+the night before[50]. But what most attracted their attention was the
+curious old _pavement tiles_, of various patterns, which they found in
+different parts of the floor of the church. Their admiration of these
+ancient works of art was soon so deeply engaged, and their desire to
+know more about them so excited, that Ernest was speedily despatched to
+the vestry to request the Vicar to come and satisfy their inquiries.
+
+"I rejoice to see you, Mr. Vicar," said the Squire, as Mr. Ambrose
+approached; "pray come and save me from any further confessions of
+ignorance: the children have been persecuting me with a hundred
+questions about these ancient tiles, and I really am not able to answer
+one of them. We must again be dependent upon your kindness for some
+information on the subject."
+
+"Then, if you please, we will walk and talk, as I must go this morning
+to see old Wood, at the Warren Lodge; the poor man is very ill."
+
+"Oh, we shall enjoy that," exclaimed Constance, "and do, Mr. Ambrose,
+give us a nice lecture like you did last night."
+
+"Well, my dear, if it is to be a real lecture, we will suppose this
+gravel path to be my platform, and your father and yourselves to be my
+highly respectable and most intelligent audience; and so, making my bow
+to the company, I will begin.--There is considerable uncertainty as to
+the origin of these tiles. Most people suppose that the old Roman
+tessellated pavement suggested the idea of representing figures on
+tiles. But we may imagine them to be merely the result of successive
+improvements. First, there was the rude tile or brick; then, in very
+early times, the makers impressed their own particular marks upon them;
+and from this simple practice we can easily imagine the gradual
+introduction of the elaborate patterns you were looking at in the
+church."
+
+"If you please, Mr. Ambrose," said Constance, "will you tell us what was
+the Roman tessellated pavement?"
+
+"It was composed of a number of square pieces of hard-burnt clay, like
+dice, of different colours; these were arranged to form a pattern, and
+then firmly fixed in very strong cement. They were exceedingly durable,
+and often of most elegant design. When found in the ruins of Roman
+villas, which they frequently are, they generally appear almost as fresh
+as when they were put down. Tessellated or mosaic pavements are to be
+found in a few old churches; the most beautiful now existing in England,
+are in Westminster Abbey, and in Canterbury Cathedral, near the tomb of
+Thomas a Becket."
+
+"But don't you think it probable," inquired Mr. Acres, "if these tiles
+date pretty nearly back to the time when the mosaic pavement was used,
+that the pavement suggested the tiles? there seems to be some similarity
+of pattern, and I noticed that in one part of the church there are
+_plain_ tiles of different colours arranged so as to form a pattern[51],
+which seems, on a larger scale, a close imitation of the mosaic
+pavement."
+
+"It may be so; and this view seems confirmed by the circumstance that in
+some foreign churches the tiles are mixed in the same pavement with
+mosaic work. It certainly seems a natural transition from the one to the
+other.
+
+Illustration: Encaustic Tile, Brooke Church
+
+Encaustic tiles exist in abundance and great beauty in Normandy; and
+though, as I have said, we cannot fix a precise date to their
+introduction, it seems not improbable that we are indebted to that
+country for the first idea of using them in the pavement of our
+churches, since in some instances they appear to be coeval with the
+erection of the Norman churches in which they are found. Some have upon
+them the _semi-circular headed arch_, which is characteristic of Norman
+times; and as no doubt the later tiles frequently indicate by their
+patterns the period of ecclesiastical architecture to which they may be
+referred, most likely these may be equally relied upon as marking the
+Norman period. In Ireland, tiles of this date are more common than in
+this country. Their _general_ use, however, has prevailed among us from
+about A.D. 1250 to A.D. 1550, and the finest and most interesting
+specimens we have remaining are at Gloucester and Malvern.
+
+There are several different kinds of ornamental pavement of which
+specimens remain. In the ruins of Fountains Abbey are specimens having
+the pattern pierced through the entire tile, and afterwards filled in
+with clay of another colour. At Canterbury there are circles of stone
+pavement with patterns cut in relief, the spaces being filled in with
+dark cement. In the early stages of the art the pattern of the tiles was
+sometimes left in relief, the tile being of one colour only, but the
+uneven surface was found to be very inconvenient for walking upon.
+Encaustic tiles--so called because the patterns are _burnt into_
+them--are by far the most common sort of tile pavement in our English
+churches, especially in the southern and western counties."
+
+"I suppose, Mr. Ambrose," said Constance, "that the tiles in our church
+are of that sort?"
+
+"Yes, all of them, both the new and old, except the few of a different
+kind which Mr. Acres spoke of just now."
+
+"And will you be so kind as to tell us how they contrived to make those
+pretty patterns on them?"
+
+"Oh, yes; it was a very simple process: very much in the same way as
+Bridget makes those pretty pats of butter we admire so much; quite the
+same, if Bridget would only fill in the spaces between the patterns with
+butter of another colour. They first made the tile of clay, and then
+impressed it with a wooden stamp; then it was dried or burnt, then some
+thin clay or cement of another colour (usually white) was poured into
+the pattern, then it was glazed over and burnt, the glazing material
+making the white a rich yellow, and deepening the colour of the tile.
+The pattern is sometimes perfect in a single tile, sometimes four,
+eight, or a large number are required to perfect the design. Several
+ancient kilns for their manufacture have been discovered[52]. Some of
+these manufactories, it is evident, were very popular; for we find that
+the same kiln sometimes supplied a great number of churches. Most of our
+old churches have at some time been paved with these encaustic tiles;
+but in all cases they have in great measure been destroyed or removed
+when other beauties of God's house have been defaced, but often too
+where the hand of man has spared, the hand of Time has obliterated.
+
+"We find every variety of pattern upon these tiles. At Malvern and
+elsewhere are many letters on single tiles: sometimes they are
+alphabetically arranged, sometimes they read backwards, and sometimes
+to a centre. Frequently the tiles have upon them texts of Scripture or
+other inscriptions, such as 'The time is short,' 'Wait for the knell.'
+At Malvern is a very remarkable tile; it contains the following curious
+direction to executors, and was probably intended to be placed over a
+tomb:--
+
+    'Thenke . mon . þi . liffe
+     maij . not . cu . endure.
+     þat . þow . dost . þi . self
+     Of . þat . þow . art . sure.
+     but . þat . þow . kepist
+     un . to . þi . sectur . care.
+     and . eu . hit . auaile . þe
+     hit . is . but . aventure[53].'
+
+Sacred emblems are very common on encaustic tiles, and especially
+symbols of the Passion; within a single shield is sometimes to be found
+the cross, crown of thorns, the nails, hammer, scourge, spear, ladder,
+dice, vessel for vinegar, sponge on a rod of hyssop, and rarely, a sort
+of bill, perhaps representing an instrument used in removing the Body
+from the cross. The cross alone, floriated, is frequently composed of
+many tiles; but it enters too into the great majority of those
+geometrical and floriated patterns which form so large a portion of the
+encaustic pavements of most churches. Armorial bearings and mottoes of
+benefactors, founders, and others are frequently met with. At Great
+Bedwyn, and in the ruins of Chertsey Abbey, have been found knights in
+armour and other most interesting figures, throwing considerable light
+on the history of the armour and costumes of the period. At Westminster
+are figures of a king, queen, and abbot, which are supposed to represent
+King Henry III., his Queen, and the Abbot of Westminster. Then I have
+often seen the cock, the emblem of vigilance; the fox, the emblem of
+subtlety; the pelican, of piety."
+
+"Why," quietly inquired Ernest, "is the pelican an emblem of piety?"
+
+"There is an old legend which tells us that the young of a pelican were
+once saved from death by starvation by the parent bird tearing open her
+breast and feeding them with her own blood. This has from very early
+times been considered a very beautiful emblem of that Sacrifice which
+has been offered by Jesus Christ to save us from eternal death. Other
+emblems are--the circle, of eternity; the _fleur de lis_, of the Blessed
+Virgin; the triangle, of the Trinity; the fish, of the Second Person of
+the Trinity."
+
+"Now do tell me what that means, please, Mr. Ambrose," said Constance;
+"I cannot see why the fish should be so sacred an emblem."
+
+"As you don't understand Greek, my dear, it is not a matter of surprise
+that you have not understood this oft-recurring emblem. You must know
+that the Greek word for fish is {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} [ichthys], and the letters
+in this word form the first letters of each word of a Greek sentence, of
+which this is the English translation:--'Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
+the Saviour;' hence the employment of this sacred symbol. Other devices
+are stags, hounds, antelopes, and other animals; swans, and other birds;
+emblems of trades, &c. Some appear ludicrous to us, though no doubt many
+of them were originally intended to teach some useful lesson. At Little
+Marlow is a fool's head, or cock's comb; at Godmersham, on several tiles
+is a bending old man, with a staff in his hand, and on his head a fool's
+cap, representing age and folly. It would seem, however, that some of
+these grotesque figures were manufactured for no very useful purpose, as
+is evidenced by the penance once inflicted on a monk of Normandy for
+making tiles of this description[54]. Encaustic tiles have sometimes
+been used for memorials of the departed[55]. In the ruins of Evesham
+Abbey, _under_ a stone coffin, was found a pavement of tiles, on which
+were initials and a cross. _Above_ a stone coffin, in the ruins of
+Kirkstall Abbey, was found, in 1713, a pavement of similar tiles; in
+Gloucester Cathedral is a tile to the memory of John Hertford; and at
+Monmouth one to Thomas Coke and Alice his wife. These works of art are
+not only to be admired as the most suitable decorations for the floors
+of God's house; they are also interesting as specimens of art at various
+periods; frequently they throw light on the history of churches and
+religious foundations, and occasionally also of private families. I
+rejoice to see them again claiming the attention of modern artists and
+manufacturers, and finding a place once more in the churches, which on
+all sides are happily being restored to their former beauty and
+appropriateness.--But here we are at Wood's cottage."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XI_
+
+THE WALLS
+
+
+"Peace be within thy walls."
+
+Ps. cxxii. 7.
+
+
+    "Now view the walls: the church is compass'd round,
+      As much for safety, as for ornament:
+     'Tis an enclosure, and no common ground;
+       'Tis God's freehold, and but our tenement.
+         Tenants at will, and yet in tail, we be:
+         Our children have the same right to't as we.
+
+    "Remember there must be no gaps left ope,
+      Where God hath fenced, for fear of false illusions.
+     God will have all or none: allows no scope
+      For sin's encroachments, or men's own intrusions.
+        Close binding locks His Laws together fast:
+        He that plucks out the first, pulls down the last."
+
+                                                GEORGE HERBERT.
+
+
+Illustration: St. Andrew's Church, Halstead
+
+
+
+
+THE WALLS
+
+
+The Warren Lodge was one of those pretty little cottages which are often
+to be found nestling in bright, peaceful corners, about the parks and
+estates of such wealthy squires as Mr. Acres; men whose kindliness of
+heart and whose refinement of taste induce them to combine the
+picturesque with the comfortable, in the houses they provide for their
+tenants and retainers. It was built very near to the Warren Gate of the
+park, and old Wood had been placed here because, being a spot little
+frequented, it was a quiet resting-place for him in his old age.
+Opposite the cottage was a lovely glen, where yew-trees and laurels,
+mingling with oaks and beeches, hung in many beautiful and fantastic
+forms over a greensward which all the year round never lost its verdure
+or its softness. Seldom did old Master Wood and his wife wander farther
+from their cottage than the end of this quiet glen; but that was their
+daily walk, and Mr. Acres had put up two rustic seats for them to rest
+upon, so that the old couple might accomplish their daily journey
+without any great fatigue. But the old man was now too weak for this.
+
+"I think you and the children had better go in, and leave me outside,"
+said Mr. Acres, "as possibly poor Wood may feel more at his ease if I am
+not present."
+
+So Mr. Ambrose and the three children entered the cottage. It was, as
+always, the picture of neatness and cleanliness; there were a few
+well-tended geraniums in the windows, and some nice pictures on the
+walls--not the gaudy, vulgar prints which are so commonly found in the
+cottages of the poor, but really good and well-coloured engravings of
+sacred subjects--a supply of which Mr. Ambrose always kept on sale at a
+very low price[56]. There was enough of neat furniture in the rooms; and
+on a nice bed, with snow-white drapery, lay the poor old man. After a
+short conversation Mr. Ambrose read the twelfth chapter of St. Paul's
+Epistle to the Romans, and then, when he had given a short explanation
+of the chapter, all knelt down whilst he said some collects from the
+Office of the Visitation of the Sick, and a prayer applicable to the
+special circumstances of these humble cottagers.
+
+Illustration: Ancient Wall Painting in Kimpton Church
+
+The prayers ended, the old man rose up in his bed, and said, "Ah, sir, I
+have often thought of that chapter you read just now, when I was able to
+go to our dear old church. Just opposite my seat, you know, was the
+picture on the wall of the man giving a poor thirsting creature a cup of
+water, and of another giving a loaf of bread to somebody that looked
+very hungry. When Mr. Greekhurst was at our church, years ago, you know,
+sir, he used to preach very learned sermons, and we poor people couldn't
+understand much about them, but there was my text and sermon too,
+straight before me, and I always remembered the picture if I didn't
+remember the sermon. I really think that looking on the old picture made
+me somehow more kindly disposed to some of my neighbours. I suppose it
+has been there a great many years, sir?"
+
+Illustration: Ancient Wall Painting in Kimpton Church
+
+"Yes, my friend; I should think about five hundred years."
+
+"So long as that! Well then, I hope it has taught a good lesson to many
+before me."
+
+"No doubt it has; and though it is now almost worn away from the wall,
+you will be glad to know that we have the same subject in the new
+painted window close by, so the old sermon will not be lost."
+
+"'Tis strange, sir, how well one remembers pictures of this sort, and
+how they make one think about things which, but for them, we certainly
+might not care to inquire much about. Now when I was a young man I never
+thought a great deal of that beautiful chapter where St. Paul says so
+much about charity. I had often heard the chapter read, and sometimes
+read it myself, but still it never came to my mind how necessary a
+thing charity was for us to have, till one day I went to Sunday-morning
+service at an old church near our home. I got to the church some time
+before service, so I walked about the churchyard, and looked round the
+church, and there were pictures all round the outside of the walls of
+the church[57], explaining that chapter. There was one man bringing all
+his riches, and every thing he had, to give to the poor, and there was
+another poor man being burnt to death, and so on; and then at the last
+it said that, without love to God and man, all this was good for
+nothing. Now, sir, I don't recollect a single word of hundreds of
+sermons I have heard, but I shall never forget those pictures."
+
+"Very likely, for most of us remember better what we _see_ than what we
+_hear_, and it is a great mistake not to teach people through the _eye_
+as well as the ear. But we must say good-bye, as Mr. Acres is waiting
+for us in the park. God bless you, and, if it is His will, I hope you
+may yet be strong enough to enjoy many of your old walks."
+
+On their return home they followed a path which led them again through
+the churchyard of St. Catherine's, and were soon joined by the Squire,
+whose patience had been somewhat exhausted by the long stay of the
+little party at old Wood's cottage.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XII_
+
+THE WALLS
+
+
+"Thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise."
+
+Isa. lx. 18.
+
+
+    "Behold in heaven yon glorious bow,
+     Which spans the gleaming world below!
+     The hues distinct in order glow,
+     Yet each in each doth melt unseen,
+     That none can mark the bound between:
+     Lo, such is Faith's mysterious scroll,
+     A multiform harmonious whole,
+     Together gather'd for our aid,
+     And in the darken'd heights display'd:
+     The Church shall ne'er that emblem want
+     Of her eternal covenant."
+
+                               _The Cathedral._
+
+
+Illustration: St. Michael's Church, Gloucester
+
+
+
+
+THE WALLS
+
+
+Mr. Dole, the proprietor of the village emporium, where all sorts of
+inferior wares were to be had at the highest obtainable prices, was one
+of those persons who seem sent into the world for the special purpose of
+preventing others from being too happy in it. There are persons, no
+doubt, who go through life always frowning upon their fellow-creatures,
+ever throwing a dark shadow along the path before them; people who
+persistently turn their backs upon the sunny side of human life; who
+seem to think it wicked to take a bright and cheerful view of any thing
+or any body on all God's earth; whose whole countenances would be
+utterly revolutionized by the faintest approach to an honest, friendly
+smile. Such persons, we must believe, are often very sincere, and are
+endeavouring to do good in their own way; nor must we say that they
+always fail in their endeavour; nevertheless they are not the sort of
+persons we care to have as our frequent companions. It is true, there is
+enough about the lives of most of us to make us often sorrowful; but no
+less true is it, that the man who, leading a Christian life and doing
+God's work in the world, preserves "a conscience void of offence to
+wards God and to wards men" will take care that his outward demeanour
+does not make his religion unlovely and repulsive in the sight of
+others. Mr. Dole being of the class we have described, it was no wonder
+that the village lads had honoured his name with an affix, and that he
+was generally known among them as old Doleful; nor shall we be surprised
+that his appearance in the churchyard just as Mr. Acres and the Vicar
+entered it was not welcomed by them with any excessive pleasure.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Dole," said both gentlemen, as they approached him.
+But there was no responsive "Good evening" from Mr. Dole. Now it is
+always a bad sign when a man will not return such a simple salutation
+as that: I never knew but one who made me no answer when I wished him
+"Good evening;" I was at once impressed with the idea that there was
+little good in him, and my impression was correct, for in a few moments
+after the fellow had put a light to the thatched house of a poor
+neighbour who had offended him, and very soon the poor man's house and
+goods were crackling in a mass of flame. But, it must be confessed, Mr.
+Dole withheld his salutation from no such motive as influenced this man.
+There was something far too pleasant and cheerful about a kindly "Good
+evening" to harmonize in any way with the tone of Mr. Dole's voice or
+manner; but beyond this, he never said "Good morning" or "Good evening"
+to any one _on principle_. The fact is, Mr. Dole belonged to a portion
+of the sect of Anabaptists called "Calvinist Baptists," and the extreme
+Calvinistic feature of his Creed had become with him quite a monomania.
+The idea of _predestination_ haunted him every where and in every thing;
+it ran through his whole life of thought, word, and action; with it he
+justified all his own shortcomings, and it made him insensible to the
+right motives and doings of others. He had become so accustomed to look
+on the dark side of men and things, that he had gained for himself a
+settled character of gloominess and suspicion, and had quite lost sight
+of the Apostolic precept--"Be courteous." Thus he did not believe that
+these two gentlemen meant what they said, and _really wished_ him to
+have a "Good evening;" and, as regarded himself, he would have
+considered the words as a flying in the face of Providence, a direful
+offence against the phantom idol of inevitable Predestination which he
+had set up in his own heart. To him it seemed only a mockery to use
+those words of common courtesy, when--as he said to himself--it was
+already ordained whether these persons should have a good or a bad
+evening, and no words of his could affect or alter their destiny. And so
+he simply said, "How do you do, gentlemen?" But it was spoken in a deep,
+sepulchral voice, as though he reserved to himself a mental protest
+against even this small conformity to the world's civility.
+
+"People are talking about the painting you have been doing in the
+church, Mr. Ambrose, and I have just come up to look at it; not that I
+like that sort of thing, and I don't think the parish money should be
+spent in that way."
+
+"You need not be at all anxious on that score, Mr. Dole, as my friend
+here has defrayed the whole cost of the work; but let us go into the
+church together."
+
+Now the line of thought which this man had so long adopted, and the _one
+idea_ he had cherished, had so dulled his heart and mind to all sense of
+the beautiful that he could never appreciate, like other people, what
+was pure and lovely, either in nature or in art. No wonder then that he
+failed to admire the beautiful decoration with which the Squire had
+adorned St. Catherine's Church.
+
+First of all, Mr. Ambrose pointed out to him some old wall-paintings of
+great interest, which had been recently discovered. From these Mr. Acres
+had had the successive coats of whitewash carefully removed, and, though
+they were several centuries old, the colours were but little faded.
+Among the most curious were a series of paintings which quite covered
+the north wall of the chancel.
+
+Illustration: Ancient Wall Painting in Bedford Church
+
+"You will see, Mr. Dole, that these all represent events in the life of
+our Blessed Lord. Here is the beginning of the series; it is the Tree of
+Jesse, showing the descent of our Lord in the line of David,--next is
+the Nativity,--next the Adoration of the Magi,--then, the Massacre of
+the Holy Innocents,--then, the Presentation in the temple; and there, on
+the upper part of the wall, are--the Betrayal, our Lord before Pilate,
+being Mocked, being Scourged, bearing His Cross, His Crucifixion, and
+there, below the Crucifixion, His descent from the Cross, and His
+Entombment[58]. These, you see, Mr. Dole, are not only valuable as
+showing one way in which our Church five hundred years ago set before
+the eyes and minds of the people the human life of our Lord; but they
+are still well suited for the sacred place they adorn, inasmuch as they
+still serve to remind the worshipper in this House of Prayer of the
+great truths they represent. I must, however, confess that we brought
+to light some paintings on the walls of a different character; some of
+these were very grotesque, others were from some cause or other
+objectionable. These were copied, as possessing antiquarian interest,
+and were then obliterated. It was long before we could bring our minds
+to destroy these curious relics of old days[59], and had they occupied
+less conspicuous places in the church, I think we should have been
+tempted to preserve them, but the House of God has a higher use than to
+be a mere preserver of curiosities, and to this higher use its
+decorations and all within it should contribute."
+
+Mr. Ambrose then explained the new wall-decorations which had been
+painted by Mr. Acres. These consisted of groups illustrating sacred
+subjects, texts of Holy Scripture mixed with foliage and tracery; and,
+by clever introduction of foliage and holy texts among the old work, he
+had made the old and the new to harmonize very well. The colours were
+well arranged, and all was done with a due reference to the
+architectural features of the church. Before this time the only attempt
+at ornament for the walls of the church consisted of some square boards,
+put up about fifty years ago, on which were painted some ill-selected
+sentences, whilst beneath each sentence was painted a human head of
+inhuman ugliness.
+
+Not one word had as yet been spoken to the Vicar by his seemingly
+attentive listener. At length he said, in his usual dismal tone, "I
+don't see any use in it, sir. To my mind, our little Rehoboth down in
+the village is more like the simplicity of the Gospel. Besides, I call
+all this a breaking of the second commandment."
+
+"I leave you to judge whether the mean little meeting-house you call
+Rehoboth, or this beautiful church, is most in accordance with the only
+patterns we have in God's Word of houses dedicated to His worship, or
+most fitting as types of the Heavenly Temple whose magnificence is
+described in such glowing language by St. John; but as regards these
+paintings, the pictures and toys you sell in your shop are just as much
+a breaking of the second commandment; for these are no more made to
+worship than are those."
+
+"But nobody will kneel down before my toys and pictures; if they kneel
+at all, however, in your church, they must kneel before these pictures.
+I call them idolatrous images, and I say they are worshipped."
+
+"And, by the same mode of reasoning, I say, Mr. Dole, that the people at
+your meeting-house break the second commandment; for they fall down to
+whitewash, and worship it."
+
+"What do you mean, sir?"
+
+"Why, only this: that turn whichever way they will to worship, they must
+turn to one of your four whitewashed walls. But let us be quite fair to
+each other. The truth is, you don't worship whitewash, nor do we worship
+images; but whilst we think it most in accordance with reason and
+religion to decorate our walls with sacred subjects, such as are likely
+to suggest solemn and holy thoughts, and to make our churches as
+beautiful as possible, you, on the contrary, seem to regard it as a
+religious duty to make your meeting-houses as ugly as possible. And now
+I must say good-bye, Mr. Dole."
+
+"Sir, I should like to meet you here again some day."
+
+"I only wish we could at least meet here every Sunday. Good-bye."
+
+"I almost think," said Mr. Acres, as they left the church, "the outside
+of our church walls are as interesting as their interior. The north wall
+is evidently the earliest part of the church. It contains some Roman
+bricks, placed herring-bone fashion, among the old Norman rubble. This,
+doubtless, was erected immediately after the destruction of the little
+Saxon church with its wooden walls[60] which once stood on this very
+site; then come the Early English walls of the chancel, then the very
+interesting specimens of brick-work of the sixteenth century in the
+tower and western walls. But you have given Mr. Dole and us all such a
+long and useful lecture on the _inside_ of the walls, that we must not
+stop to say any more about their outside."
+
+"I must just say this, my friend, respecting the outside walls, that I
+can forgive a builder for any fault more easily than for want of
+_reality_ in the exterior of a church. For the sake of decoration and
+neatness it may be desirable that the internal walls should be covered
+with cement or plaster, but there is no excuse for so covering the
+church externally. If mean materials are used, let the mean materials
+appear; but it is unpardonable to use the mean and spread over it a
+false pretence of the costly. Brick walls are often very beautiful, and
+not inferior to flint or stone; but if they are of brick, let the brick
+be seen, and let it not pretend to be _stone_."
+
+Illustration: Wall Painting
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIII_
+
+THE WINDOWS
+
+
+"I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all
+thy borders of pleasant stones."
+
+Isa. liv. 12.
+
+
+    " ... Sometimes thoughts proud and wild
+        Have risen, till I saw the sunbeams steal
+     Through painted glass at evensong, and weave
+     Their threefold tints upon the marble near,
+     Faith, Prayer, and Love, the spirit of a child!"
+
+                                                FABER.
+
+
+Illustration: Church of St. John, Brandenburg
+
+Illustration: Doorway, St. Stephen's Church, Tangermuende
+
+
+
+
+THE WINDOWS
+
+
+Mr. Acres and his family had now learnt, from their many conversations
+with the Vicar on the subject, to take a deep interest in church
+architecture, and were ever seeking and finding some new beauties either
+in the solid building or the ornaments of their own ancient church,
+which now they looked upon with quite a new feeling of pride and
+admiration. When, therefore, Mr. Ambrose was a visitor at the Hall, he
+was not unfrequently called upon to deliver a short drawing-room lecture
+on some portion of the church or its furniture. "Now, Mr. Ambrose," said
+the Squire, on one of these occasions, "as we are only a family party
+this evening, will you kindly give us some more information on our
+favourite topic of conversation lately? I see the same request is on the
+lips of all these little people, but they are not so impudent, I
+suppose, as I am. You will, I hope, find us more profitable pupils than
+Mr. Dole, to whom you specially addressed your lecture in the church the
+other day."
+
+"I am not so sure of that; for what I said to him, if it did no more, at
+least set him _thinking_; and that is a great point, you know. You see,
+those kind of people, as a rule, never read and never hear any thing
+really worth reading or hearing about matters of this sort. They are
+simply taught to believe that all outward form and ceremony in the
+Services, and all outward _meaning_ and _beauty_ in the fabric of the
+church, are idolatrous and superstitious, and they care to inquire no
+further than that. Their prejudice is fostered by ignorance, and to lead
+them to _inquire_ is the first step to wards inducing conviction. Then,
+how very little our own people generally know about these things, and
+how seldom comparatively they are prepared with a ready answer with
+which to meet the objections of persons who are even more ignorant than
+themselves! This surely ought not to be. If we place beautiful and
+costly ornaments and furniture in our churches, the poorest person in
+the parish should be taught the meaning of them; and if the Stones of
+the Temple have each a lesson to teach, the poorest person in the parish
+ought to know what they say. But I am wandering from my point: our last
+subject was the _walls_ of the church; what shall we talk about to-day,
+Constance?"
+
+"Oh, I think the _windows_ should come next, Mr. Ambrose; but there are
+so many different kinds of windows, that, of course, you cannot tell us
+all that might be said about them."
+
+"No, indeed, my dear; I can only tell you a very small part of their
+history, but still enough, perhaps, to increase the interest you already
+feel on the subject. First, then, I shall say something about the
+_stone-work_ of the windows; and what I say about windows applies very
+much also to the _doors_ of a church, only the doors are generally much
+more richly ornamented. Now there are some very simple rules by which we
+may commonly know from the windows pretty nearly at what period that
+particular part of the church was built. You cannot, of course, always
+tell from any thing still existing at what time the church was _first_
+built, because often no part whatever of the first church is remaining.
+The font, from its sheltered position, is the most frequently preserved
+relic of the original church; sometimes one doorway alone remains, and
+sometimes but a single window to mark the earliest date of the church.
+
+"As I must not puzzle your brains with the hard words employed by
+persons learned in church building, I do not profess to give you the
+nice distinctions by which they arrive almost at exact dates. Ours must
+be a very rapid glance at the whole subject. The two great distinct
+characters, then, in church windows, as also in other parts of the
+building, are the _semi-circular arch_ and the _pointed arch_. The
+former is to be found in churches erected before the year 1150, and the
+latter since that year; but of course there are exceptions. The earliest
+round-headed windows (that the few buildings in which they are found
+were originally intended as Christian temples, I do not of course
+affirm) are the _Roman_, and these are easily known, for they are nearly
+always partly composed of red bricks[61]. Then come the _Saxon_; these
+are built of stone, but are quite plain, and generally as rude and rough
+as the Roman. You know the Romans held possession of our country from
+the year 50 before Christ till A.D. 450; and then the Saxons held the
+country till A.D. 1066; but it is impossible accurately to fix the dates
+of most of the churches they built. Next follow the _Norman_; these are
+more ornamental, and not so roughly executed; and after the Norman
+Conquest, when many clever builders and masons came over from Normandy,
+they were often most beautifully decorated. The figures of persons and
+animals, indeed, that are sometimes to be found (but more especially
+above the doorways) at this time seem very quaint and curious to us now,
+and often quite unintelligible, but no doubt they once all had an useful
+meaning and were specimens of the highest art of the time; very many of
+them are Scripture subjects. Sometimes triangular windows are to be met
+with of the Saxon and Norman periods, but very rarely. As I said before,
+some of their stone carvings appear to us to be very quaint and
+grotesque, and so too the arrangement of their windows was sometimes
+fanciful; they seem to have attempted occasionally[62], to represent the
+features of the face, the doorway representing the mouth, and the
+windows the eyes and nose.
+
+Illustration: Crowmarsh Church
+
+"The reason why the windows were in some instances so small, we may
+imagine was because they were sometimes not glazed, and it was
+desirable that, to keep out the wind and rain and the winter's cold,
+they should be only just large enough to admit the necessary light. I
+have lately seen an old Norman window which had been long bricked up, in
+which there had evidently never been any glass[63]. We need not be
+surprised at this, for even so lately as in the reign of Queen
+Elizabeth, it was no uncommon thing for the windows in private houses to
+have no glass in them.
+
+Illustration: Diagram of arches
+
+"Now we come to the pointed-headed arches. From about A.D. 1150 to A.D.
+1200, which is called the _Transition_ period the two styles were a good
+deal mixed. People have different, opinions as to the origin of these
+pointed arches. A learned friend of mine has an idea of his own about
+it, which he calls _the finger theory_. He supposes that all church
+arches and tracery may be derived from different positions in which the
+fingers may be placed when the hands are clasped as in prayer, and that
+from these, first the round, and then the pointed arch was suggested as
+a fit design to be adopted for a House of Prayer. It is at least an
+ingenious and a pleasing conception. Some have imagined that the meeting
+of branches in a grove of trees first gave the idea of the pointed arch.
+Often, as I have looked down the avenue by old Wood's cottage, has the
+opening at the opposite end reminded me of the eastern window of some
+splendid cathedral, whilst the long intervening rows of trees, with
+their branches uniting overhead, has suggested to my mind the pillars
+and groined roof of the building. Our old heathen forefathers knew well
+the grand effect of these magnificent temples of nature's building, when
+they selected them as the places best adapted for their awful
+sacrifices, and the worship of their 'Unknown God[64].' But it seems
+most probable that one style of architecture naturally introduced
+another, and that the pointed followed naturally from the semi-circular
+arch. When the builders saw what a beautiful arch was produced by a
+number of their old semi-circular arches intersecting each other, they
+gradually introduced the newly-discovered pointed arch, and at length,
+finding that it admitted of such a far greater variety of beautiful
+tracery in the window, they abandoned the old style altogether.
+
+"The first pure style of pointed windows is called the _Early
+English_[65], which prevailed from about A.D. 1200 to A.D. 1300. It is
+often very simple, the plain lancet-shaped window being the most common;
+it frequently has the same ornaments as the Norman, but its peculiar
+ornament is a flower, almost round, called the _ball-flower_. This was
+followed, up to about A.D. 1400, by a more graceful flowing style,
+called the _Decorated_ or _Florid_, and it is chiefly to be
+distinguished by the waving flame-like character of the stone-work in
+the upper part of the window. Then next we have quite a different style,
+which is called the _Perpendicular_, so named from its upright or
+perpendicular lines, some of which run up uninterruptedly from the
+bottom to the top of the window. This style is peculiar to England, and
+windows of this character are very rarely to be found elsewhere. In the
+sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the arch of the window gradually
+becomes depressed, first sinking to the _Tudor_ arch, and then losing
+its pointed character altogether and becoming quite flat; and this
+introduced what, from its comparative want of beauty, is called the
+_Debased_ style. The windows of this period were usually square-headed,
+and possessed, like the other parts of the building, little ornament. It
+prevailed till the middle of the seventeenth century, and may be
+considered the second childhood of Church Architecture; and it was
+certainly far inferior to the first. Succeeding to this period came all
+those hideous semi-classical erections, most of which, I believe, were
+built in the reign of Queen Anne, though some were before and some
+after; and those still more unsightly parodies on Gothic architecture
+which were erected at the close of the last and commencement of the
+present century. In our own day we have far _advanced_ by a complete
+_retrogression_, and churches are mostly copies of one or other of the
+styles I have mentioned. If, however, our present age may boast of a
+church architecture of its own, it will undoubtedly be that of those
+most beautiful _brick_ churches which have been but lately erected, such
+as All Saints' and St. Alban's, London, and St. James', Oxford."
+
+"You have not told us any thing about the _round_ windows, Mr. Ambrose,"
+said Constance; "you know we have a very pretty one in our church."
+
+"Yes, I ought to have told you that these circular windows are to be
+found in all styles of architecture, usually at the west end of the
+church. They are called rose windows and marigold windows, from their
+supposed likeness to those flowers; and St. Catherine's windows, from
+their resemblance to the wheel on which she suffered martyrdom. It is
+likely that this window was placed in our church because it is dedicated
+to St. Catherine."
+
+"That leads me to ask," said Mr. Acres, "what _symbolism_ there may be
+in the windows of a church; for in your sermon last Sunday you said that
+there was a lesson to be learnt from all the speechless stones of the
+sanctuary."
+
+"Yes; and every window in the church should remind us of certain
+Christian truths. The _light_ which they admit should make us think of
+Him who is the 'Light of the world,' 'a Light to lighten the Gentiles,'
+'the Day-spring from on high,' 'the Sun of Righteousness,' 'that
+lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' The window with its
+double compartments reminds us of the two natures of Christ; the triple
+window, and the many triple forms in it, of the Trinity[66]. But it is
+of course most chiefly in its storied panes that the church window
+becomes our teacher."
+
+"Certainly; I see that: and, by-the-by, as I am as ignorant as my
+children about the history of stained glass, please tell us something
+about that before we part."
+
+"I will, gladly. As far as we know, stained glass was never used before
+about the year 850; but when it once came into general use, it would
+appear that no church was considered complete unless every window was
+furnished with it. At first, it probably consisted of rude imitations of
+old mosaic patterns[67]. Then figures were introduced, which depended
+for their general effect upon broad black lines either produced by lead
+or colour. The old stained glass may always be known by the deep
+richness of its colours, especially of the blue and ruby. Probably
+Canterbury Cathedral possesses the earliest and best specimens
+remaining, the date of some of which is about A.D. 1120[68]. In the
+glass of this time you find small medallions containing several figures,
+the surrounding parts being filled with tracery. Next come small single
+figures, or groups of figures, with or without canopies, with border
+tracery and foliage; sometimes there are the shields of founders and
+benefactors. About A.D. 1350 larger figures of saints were painted, each
+occupying a whole compartment of the window, with larger and more
+elaborate canopies. Now, too, windows began to be _mortuary_, and
+contained figures of deceased persons, with their shields and banners.
+In the following century single subjects often extended over several
+compartments, or even the whole of the window. Sentences in old English
+letters were frequently painted, issuing from the mouths of figures
+(just as we find them on monumental brasses of the same date), and also
+in various other parts of the window. One colour only, commonly yellow,
+with black lines to mark the features and dresses, was now, and also
+before this time, frequently used.
+
+"At this period glass painters fell into a great error by studying more
+to paint pictures, correct in all the lesser and unimportant parts of
+the drawing, than to produce a pleasing and solemn distant effect; they
+often lost the effect of a grand accessory to the beauty and harmony of
+a Gothic temple, in order to gain that of a piece of painted calico.
+From about A.D.1600 this art gradually declined, and, with some
+exceptions, the glass painting and architecture of our churches fell
+together, the inferior artist of the former being often employed in
+depicting the debased style of the latter. Immense quantities of stained
+glass were destroyed by the sacrilegious hands of the Puritans in the
+seventeenth century[69], and of course much, from its brittle nature,
+has otherwise perished; enough, however, remains to show how splendidly
+our churches were formerly decorated with it, and to afford invaluable
+aid to those who are now engaged in promoting the happy revival of this
+noble art.
+
+Illustration: Stained Glass Window in Great Malvern Church
+
+Illustration: Stained Glass Window in Great Malvern Church
+
+Illustration: Stained Glass Window in Great Malvern Church
+
+"There is just one other point to which I must briefly allude--the value
+of stained glass windows as _historical records_. There can be no
+objection to windows in some parts of the church (specially those placed
+over the arches of the nave which are called _clerestory_ windows) being
+thus employed, though the presence of these subjects in some parts would
+be most objectionable. There are some most interesting windows of this
+character still remaining. I have only time to notice some of those in
+Great Malvern Church. I have brought you some drawings of these windows;
+they represent some events in the life of St. Werstan, who was martyred
+in a small chapel near to the spot where these windows are. This glass
+preserves the only ancient record we have of this saint. In the first
+pane you see there is a representation of Werstan himself; the hills at
+the back, with the flowers and ferns upon them, probably represent the
+Malvern hills; and the painting above, the plot of ground on which his
+church was built. The key has reference either to the material fabric or
+the spiritual efficacy of its sacred services, and the four
+corner-stones, held by four angels, each with three fingers raised in
+the attitude of blessing in the name of the Trinity, are doubtless
+intended to indicate the favour of Heaven on his pious work. In the next
+pane the figure and hills are repeated, and above is a representation of
+the different ceremonies attending the consecration of the completed
+church. In the third pane you see the hills, with their flowers and
+ferns, covering the whole background; in the lower part, the now regular
+services of St. Werstan's little church appear to be represented by
+three choristers; and standing near them are two persons who are
+probably their instructors. The upper part represents the martyrdom of
+the saint in his own chapel. The stained glass in Great Malvern Church
+contains other historical records, but we have not time to notice them."
+
+Illustration: Rose Window, Cremona Cathedral
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIV_
+
+A LOOSE STONE IN THE BUILDING
+
+A DIGRESSION
+
+
+"Let the priests repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any
+breach shall be found."
+
+2 Kings xii. 5.
+
+
+    "Men, who have ceased to reverence, soon defy
+     Their forefathers; lo! sects are form'd, and split
+     With morbid restlessness;--the ecstatic fit
+     Spreads wide; though special mysteries multiply,
+     _The saints must govern_, is their common cry;
+     And so they labour, deeming Holy Writ
+     Disgraced by aught that seems content to sit
+     Beneath the roof of settled modesty."
+
+                                         WORDSWORTH.
+
+
+Illustration: Amberley Church, in ruin, and restored
+
+
+
+
+A LOOSE STONE IN THE BUILDING
+
+A DIGRESSION
+
+
+Since the last conversation which we recorded between the Vicar and Mr.
+Dole, the character of the latter had become much softened. On various
+occasions they had been brought into each other's company, and the
+consequence was that each had begun to think more favourably of the
+other, and to find some unsuspected good qualities which promised well
+to establish between them that cordial good feeling and mutual respect
+which ought always to exist between a Pastor and each member of his
+flock.
+
+The following close of a long conversation might explain the loss of
+esteem and influence which many a parish priest, besides the Vicar of
+St. Catherine's, has had to deplore:--
+
+"Well, Mr. Ambrose, had we known each other more, we should have
+understood each other better; my lips, at least, would have been saved
+the guilt of many hard words; perhaps, too, sir, you would have thought
+of me a little more charitably."
+
+"There may be truth in that, Mr. Dole," said the Vicar; "but then you
+must own that you have always shown such sternness and severity to wards
+me as to forbid any friendly approach on my part. I have, indeed, put it
+down, in a great measure, to that harsh judgment of the conduct and
+opinions of others which I considered your form of dissent tended to
+foster--but this has not relieved me of my difficulty."
+
+"I suppose I must confess that those who hold very strictly to the
+doctrines in which I have been brought up, have generally a severe and
+sour bearing to wards others who do not believe as they do, and,
+indeed, very often to wards members of their own body also. Then, you
+see, sir, at their prayer meetings, and their Sabbath services, they get
+much more excited and animated than people do at church, and so,
+perhaps, it's natural for them to be a little more subdued and less
+lively when they are out of 'meeting.'"
+
+"Yes, that's natural; and no doubt what you say accounts for some
+differences in the opinions we form of each other's characters. At
+'meeting' I am aware persons are commonly wrought up, by exciting
+appeals, loud words, and wild gestures, to a state of _high pressure_,
+of which we at church know little; and so they consider the calm,
+dignified solemnity of our services as cold and lifeless. Out of
+'meeting' a reaction takes place, and they become comparatively
+depressed and undemonstrative, and we consider them morose and
+ill-tempered; _we_ have no such reaction to undergo, and to us the world
+seems brighter than to them, and so they think us frivolous and worldly.
+But for my part, Mr. Dole, I can't possibly see what is the use of a
+man's speaking ten times louder than is necessary in order to make
+himself heard, just that he may produce a fever-heat in the pulses of
+his congregation. If continued for any length of time, it leads to
+something very like temporary madness; if not, it is likely to subside
+into a dull, sullen apathy. Moreover, I have yet to learn that it is
+wrong, provided we do not abuse them, to enjoy the good things God gives
+us, with a _cheerful countenance_--aye, and with a merry heart, too.
+
+"On that point I have for some time been inclining to your opinion, sir;
+though, I fear, you will think I have not given much outward proof of
+it. But, nevertheless, you have in this matter as yet partly mistaken
+me--indeed we have partly mistaken each other. Perhaps my religion may,
+in some degree, account for my seeming gloominess and indifference; but
+these have arisen quite as much from home sorrows and disappointments,
+and the coldness and cruelty I have experienced from others. I will not,
+however, trouble you with these matters now, more than to say, that if
+you could have overlooked the ungracious words I may sometimes have said
+to and of you, and have looked in upon me, and for my evil have
+returned good, by speaking some kind and friendly words to me, you would
+have done much to brighten a life that has known but little sunshine;
+for I have longed more than I can tell you for a friend to whom I could
+fearlessly tell the sorrows of my heart. I know I have been to blame,
+for I always used to think you too _proud_ to take much interest in my
+cares and troubles; may be, sir--I am sure you will forgive my plain
+speaking--may be we have been both a little to blame.
+
+"Now, Mr. Ambrose," continued his parishioner, in a far more cheerful
+voice than was usual with him, "you know that since your friendly
+conversation with me that day in the church, I have followed the advice
+you then gave me, and have never failed to be one of your congregation
+at least once on the Sunday. I trust I have profited by what you have
+taught me: will you not be offended if I for a moment turn the tables,
+and preach a few words to you? I don't mean to _you_ yourself
+personally, sir, but I mean to you as one of the ministers of the
+Church."
+
+"I am sure you will not say any thing that will give me just cause for
+offence, my friend, and so I promise not to be offended."
+
+"Well then, sir, you know I have always lived amongst Dissenters, so I
+know pretty well who and what they are. You will agree with me, that
+there are many excellent people among them, and there are some learned
+people among them; but generally they have but little learning. Very
+often their attention has been almost solely directed to _a single point
+of doctrine_ which itself forms the ground of their dissent from the
+Church--just as with me; though I do not think the Church is quite right
+on some other matters, yet I should not separate from it could I be
+persuaded that the Church was right about _Baptism_. That has always
+been _my one_ great stumbling-block. But I think, sir, speaking with all
+respect for yourself, that there is _one great cause_ in the Church
+ministers themselves which has kept the Dissenters from coming back to
+the Church. I know that this has more to do with the _past_ than the
+_present_; I know too that it could not of itself justify any one in
+separating from the Church. But, sir, look at the class of people
+Dissenters are of, in this country; their whole strength lies in the
+middle and the small-trade class. There are among them comparatively
+very few rich and educated, very few poor. You will say the love of the
+power and position which those people obtain for themselves in the
+meeting-house, but which they could not possess, in the same way, in the
+Church, naturally draws them to the Dissenters. That is no doubt partly
+true; giving them also credit--as I am sure you do, sir--for higher
+motives. But I see another reason; and that is, the wide difference
+between the Church ministers and the people."
+
+"I see what you mean," said the Vicar: "the difference in their social
+position. I admit that the social position of the dissenting preacher is
+more on a level with that class of which, as you say, Dissenters are
+chiefly composed than is that of the Clergy. But then, Mr. Dole, the
+Church does not only retain its hold on the upper and the educated
+classes, but also on the poor (of course I speak generally; for there
+are, alas! a large number of these which are beyond the reach of any
+religious ministrations whatever)."
+
+"Ah, yes, sir, that's the very point. I think in times past the Church
+ministers have stood too much on their social and worldly dignity: they
+have made too much of the _man_, and too little of the _office_. It's
+different now almost every where. But you see, sir, this just separated
+them from the tradespeople, but it didn't separate them from the poor.
+They didn't feel their pride wounded when they took the horny hand of
+the labourer; but it was a greater trial of humility to shake hands with
+the tradesman over the counter, and to go and sit down in the parlour
+behind the shop, in the same friendly way in which they visited the poor
+cottagers. Then, you know, sir, there were many other ways in which this
+class was neglected: _we_ think it was lest too great attention should
+lead to too great familiarity. The wealth and education of a tradesman
+perhaps sometimes made his social position border too closely on that of
+the Church minister, and perhaps the minister felt it his duty carefully
+to guard the narrow barrier; but, oh, dear me, sir, what is all that
+compared with the work God has given him to do! I don't think that one
+who has the salvation of his people at heart will stop to consider
+whether a friendly, faithful pastoral visit may or may not result in a
+more familiar nod from his parishioners for the future. Do you know,
+sir, I think this is one of the loose stones in your spiritual House."
+
+"I agree with much that you have said, as regards _past years_: but you
+must not put all down to _pride_; you must make more allowances for
+men's peculiar habits, and circumstances, and manners. Only just now you
+excused a kindred fault in yourself on the ground of private cares and
+anxieties. However, our views on this matter are not far apart. I
+consider, with you, that a clergyman's _office_ overrides all social
+distinctions; and that he should be equally at home at the squire's
+mansion, the tradesman's parlour, and the meanest cottage in his parish;
+none should be too high for his familiarity, none too low for his
+friendship: as Chaucer says, 'the beggar is his brother.' His _social_
+position is certainly as nothing compared with his _official_, and
+should always be made subservient to it. I cannot understand how any
+clergyman, who rightly estimates the high dignity of his sacred office
+as a priest, can take a different view from this. However--God be
+praised!--times are altered in this respect: the Clergy have thrown away
+almost every where that reserve which no doubt lost to the Church many
+of the class which the Dissenters have gained. And we see now the good
+results; for in thousands of parishes the sons and daughters of these
+very people are working hand-in-hand with their Pastor, and are among
+the most zealous and faithful children of the Church, bringing again
+within the walls of her Temples multitudes of those who have been
+fellow-wanderers with themselves, and so helping to repair, one by one,
+the many breaches which have, alas! been made in the House of the
+Lord."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XV_
+
+THE FONT
+
+
+"Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not; for of
+such is the kingdom of heaven."
+
+Luke xviii. 16.
+
+
+    "There is a Font within whose burnish'd face
+     The o'erarching pile itself reflected sleeps,
+     Columns, arch, roof, and all the hallow'd place,
+     Beauteously mirror'd in its marble deeps;
+     And holy Church within her vigil keeps:
+     Thus round our Font on storied walls arise
+     Scenes that encompass Sion's holy steeps,
+     Rivers of God and sweet societies,
+     The mountain of our rest, and Kingdom of the skies."
+
+                                          _The Baptistery._
+
+
+Illustration: Ancient Font in West Rounton Church
+
+
+
+
+THE FONT
+
+
+A few weeks after the interview mentioned in the last chapter, the Vicar
+preached three sermons from the same text, St. John iii. 5: "Except a
+man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
+of God." The first sermon was on the _necessity of Baptism_; the second,
+on _its benefits_; and the third, on _its mode of administration_,
+specially in the case of infants. Mr. Ambrose could not help noticing
+that Mr. Dole was on each occasion deeply affected, for he saw tears on
+his face, which evidently manifested deep emotion within. He was,
+therefore, hardly surprised, when, after his third sermon, a knock at
+the vestry-door announced a visit from his parishioner.
+
+"I have listened very attentively to your last three sermons, Mr.
+Ambrose," said he, "and the subjects of them have also, as you know, for
+a long time past been seriously and prayerfully considered by me; I am
+now come to ask you to receive me into the Church by Baptism."
+
+"Have you never yet been baptized, my friend?" inquired the Vicar,
+taking his hand in a kind and friendly way.
+
+"No, I have not; when I was an infant, my parents objected to my being
+baptized, and since I became a man, I must confess with shame, that I
+have never had the _courage_ to go through the service at our _meeting_.
+That service, you know, sir, is such as to deter far more courageous
+men--and specially women--than I am, and I have always, too, had my
+doubts about its propriety."
+
+"I am not surprised at that. I once, when a boy, attended a baptism at
+one of your _meetings_, and I shall never forget it; for a more unseemly
+spectacle I never witnessed. There were several young men and women
+immersed by the preacher, in a large tank of water, in the middle of the
+meeting-house. Each was clothed in a flannel garment fitting almost
+closely to the body, and the appearance of the first of them was the
+signal for a general rush to the best places for seeing; men and boys
+climbed noisily over the pews, and some took their places on the backs
+of the seats, so as to get a good view; and the whole scene was most
+disorderly and irreverent.
+
+"I have explained to you that our own Church also admits of baptism by
+_immersion_[70], but it does not _require_ it, nor even recommend it.
+Nevertheless occasionally persons desire it; and there are a few
+churches, chiefly in Wales, where a large tank of water, as well as a
+smaller font, is provided for such special cases. But this mode of
+baptizing is not encouraged by the Church, for these among other
+reasons:--It is _not necessary_--for 1, the word _Baptism_, in the
+original, does not necessarily mean entire immersion; 2, in the absence
+of proof to the contrary, we may fairly conclude, from the peculiar
+circumstances[71] of the cases, that many of whose baptism we read in
+the New Testament were not so immersed; 3, the Church from the earliest
+period has not considered immersion as necessary to the validity of
+Baptism. It is also _inconvenient_--for 1, in some cases it would be
+most difficult to obtain sufficient water for the purpose; 2, in many
+cases there would be much risk and danger attending its practice; 3, in
+all cases there would be difficulty in securing that solemnity,
+propriety, and order so desirable in the administration of this holy
+sacrament. But the Baptism of adults, even according to the Church's
+ordinary rules, is no small test of courage, as well as sincerity. You
+are aware, no doubt, that your own Baptism and reception into the Church
+must be _in the face of the congregation_. The law of the Church is very
+plain on this point; it distinctly forbids Baptism to be administered
+_privately_, either at home or in the Church, 'unless upon a great and
+reasonable cause;' and it is much to be regretted that this rule has
+ever been departed from."
+
+"Yes, sir, I have well considered that point."
+
+The Vicar remained long that afternoon in the vestry in serious
+conversation and earnest prayer with his parishioner. He again went over
+the subject of the last three sermons; showing, 1st, how the text could
+refer to nothing else than holy Baptism, and that, if it did refer to
+it, then no doubt, where it can be had, Baptism must be necessary for
+us, in order that we may "enter into the kingdom of God;" 2ndly, that
+the _promise_ is as sure as the _warning_; and, 3rdly, that the terms of
+the text are _unexceptional_, that they refer to _all mankind_ without
+any exception whatever, men, women, and children. In speaking of these
+different subjects, of course he had to meet the various objections
+which Dissenters are used to adduce; but on all these points it was not
+very difficult to satisfy the mind of one who had already freed himself
+from the trammels of prejudice, and was earnestly seeking for the
+_truth_.
+
+On the following Sunday afternoon therefore, after the second lesson,
+Mr. Dole presented himself, with his chosen witnesses, at the Font of
+St. Catherine's. The service was a very solemn one, and all the
+congregation evidently took the greatest interest in it. Mr. Dole made
+the responses in a firm manly voice, its very tone seemed to say, "This
+is the result of my deep and honest conviction; I have been wrong, and I
+am not ashamed to say so before all those who are here present, from
+whom I have so long been separated, but who are henceforth my brethren
+in Christ." And then for the first time, he quietly and calmly took his
+place on a bench at the west end of the building--a sincere member of
+the Christian Church.
+
+It was natural that the Squire and Vicar should have some conversation
+after service on an event of so much importance in the village as was
+this. They both foretold, and rightly, the downfall of the little
+village "Bethel" as soon as its chief supporter had left it.
+
+Its former attendants came back to the Church one by one, till at length
+the owner of the building, finding no prospect of receiving his rent,
+closed the "Meeting," and appropriated it to another purpose.
+
+The Vicar and Squire were standing near the Font, and the conversation
+took its rise from the object before them.
+
+"How often, Mr. Vicar, we find these old Norman Fonts preserved, when
+there is hardly another bit of masonry remaining in the church of the
+same date."
+
+"Yes; and it is remarkable it should be so, considering the exposed part
+of the church in which they are placed, and the perishable stone of
+which they are not unfrequently composed; besides which, the carvings
+upon them are often of so mysterious and grotesque a character as
+naturally to excite the wrath of the Puritan fanatics who so
+relentlessly destroyed the beauty of our Houses of God, and 'brake down
+all the carved work thereof with axes and hammers.'
+
+"It is very interesting to watch the progress of architectural changes
+as delineated on Fonts. Each period of ecclesiastical architecture, as
+well in its general features as in its details, is abundantly
+illustrated by the carvings and mouldings to be found on Fonts. The
+early Fonts were with few exceptions made of stone. Marble was seldom
+used till in comparatively recent times. Some of the early Fonts had a
+solid leaden bowl, placed on a stone base[72]; I have never seen but one
+ancient wooden Font[73]; that was placed on a stone base of the Norman
+period, but was itself no doubt much later. The sculpture on very
+ancient Fonts, as well as other church carving of the time, sometimes
+borrowed its symbolism from the heathen mythology which preceded
+it[74]."
+
+Constance Acres, who had been hitherto a quiet listener, here asked Mr.
+Ambrose why the Font was always placed near the door of the church.
+
+"It's a natural inquiry, my dear, for one of your age," said the Vicar,
+"but the reason is evident. Its position there, at the entrance of the
+material fabric, fitly represents _Baptism_ as the outward form of
+admission into the Christian Church. The Font, too, thus placed, should
+ever remind us, as we enter the church, of the vows and promises made in
+our name when first we were brought in our helpless infancy to be
+presented to God, and to be made members of Christ through the grace of
+our second birth. If people would only accustom themselves to associate
+such thoughts with the baptismal Font, then just a glance at it as they
+come into the church would be enough to solemnize their minds, and help
+to fit them for the sacred services in which they are about to take a
+part. It was once the custom, Constance, to place what were called
+_stoups_, at the entrances to our churches, and there are still remains
+of them at the doors of many old churches. These were small basins, made
+of stone, for the purpose of holding water, which--like the water in the
+Font--was consecrated by the priest. When persons came into the church,
+they dipped a finger in the basin, and crossed their forehead with the
+water, just as the priest now crosses the brow of the person who has
+been baptized. The _forehead_, you know, is always regarded as the seat
+of _shame_ or _courage_[75]; and so the person, when baptized, is signed
+with 'the sign of the _Cross_, in token that hereafter he shall _not be
+ashamed_ to confess the faith of _Christ crucified_.' The old custom of
+frequent crossing with holy water has now for a long time been
+discontinued by us, the practice was regarded by many as superstitious,
+nor does there appear to be authority for it in the Primitive Church.
+The same motive which prompted the use of the _stoup_, however, still
+induces some persons to use the sign of the Cross on entering a church:
+I do not myself do so; not that I see any harm in the practice in
+itself, as it is intended to remind persons of the Sacred Presence to
+which they are about to enter, and to drive away worldly thoughts by
+this memento of the crucifixion of their Lord; but I think it is
+better, in my own case, as some would be offended by it, to try to
+accomplish this right object by other means."
+
+"People's minds have very much changed in late years respecting the use
+of the Cross," said Mr. Acres. "A few years ago not only was the sign of
+the Cross in baptism considered superstitious, but it was considered
+even wrong to use it in church architecture, or as an ornament within
+the church, or as a part of a memorial in the churchyard; there are few
+now, I suppose, who regard such use of the sacred symbol as
+superstitious. I was in a bookseller's shop the other day when a
+'Baptist' preacher came in to purchase a Prayer Book to present to a
+friend; the bookseller said to him, 'Of course that will not suit you,
+sir, as it has a Cross upon it.' 'I like the book very much,' was his
+reply; 'and as for the Cross, why the Puritans may object to that if
+they like, I don't.' But I am of opinion that people are going a little
+in the opposite extreme, and, at least as a personal _ornament_, the
+Cross is become too common."
+
+"Why _do_ you fall into the popular error, my good friend," said the
+Vicar, reprovingly, "of calling these Anabaptist preachers, _Baptists_?
+Surely they ought to be called any thing rather than _Baptists_, for
+they make more light of Baptism than any other people who can properly
+be said to believe in Baptism at all. Do let us call things by their
+proper names;--why, to call them _Baptists_, is almost as bad as to call
+Roman Catholics, _Catholics_, and so to ignore our own claim to be
+members of the Christian Church, because we allow them a name which
+would imply that _they_ are the _only_ Church in the world. I need not
+tell you that the word ANA_baptist_[76] exactly expresses what they are,
+namely, they who _baptize a second time_ those who have already been
+baptized in infancy. The term 'Baptist' is far more applicable to Church
+people than to them."
+
+"I see, I deserve your rebuke: mine is a mistake too often made.
+By-the-bye, Mr. Vicar, I was very pleased to hear your reply to Mr.
+Dole, when he inquired what was the _fee_ to be paid for his baptism. I
+heard you tell him that the sacraments of the Church were always
+_free_."
+
+"Yes, certainly I did; and I confess I cannot understand how any one can
+dare, in these days, to demand a fee for Baptism; the claim is as
+_illegal_ as it is _unchristian_, and I believe goes far to make the
+poor take a low view of this holy rite. I wish, too, I could make the
+poor understand that _Baptism_ has nothing to do with _Registration_;
+many of the most ignorant of them really regard them as the same thing.
+Some of them, too, will persist in thinking that to be _privately
+baptized_, is to be '_half baptized_.' Of course _they must be
+altogether baptized, or not baptized at all_; but they do not readily
+see that the _baptism_ is complete, though the _reception into the
+Church_ is not perfected till the service is concluded in the face of
+the congregation."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVI_
+
+THE PULPIT
+
+
+"He commanded us to preach unto the people."
+
+_Acts_ x. 42
+
+
+    "The pulpit, therefore (and I name it, fill'd
+     With solemn awe, that bids me well beware
+     With what intent I touch that Holy thing),
+     I say the pulpit (in sober awe
+     Of its legitimate peculiar powers)
+     Must stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand,
+     The most important and effectual guard,
+     Support and ornament of virtue's cause.
+     There stands the messenger of truth: there stands
+     The legate of the skies! His theme divine,
+     His office sacred, his credentials clear.
+     By him the violated law speaks out
+     Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet
+     As angels are, the Gospel whispers peace."
+
+                                                 COWPER.
+
+
+Illustration: Stone Pulpit in Dartmouth Church
+
+
+
+
+THE PULPIT
+
+
+"I suppose we must not expect you to conform to all our usages at first,
+Mr. Dole," said Mr. Acres, as they walked out of the churchyard one
+Sunday, after the Afternoon Service; "but no doubt you will soon see the
+fitness of our several forms and ceremonies, and then you will do as we
+do. Of course these things are--compared with others--of no great
+importance; but still it is better, even in small matters, to avoid
+differences in our mode of worship."
+
+"Yes, that is so, sir; but you must give me time, and I shall be glad if
+you will tell me what you have specially noticed in my manner different
+from others? I don't wish to seem particular."
+
+"Well, to be candid then, Mr. Dole, it seems strange to us to see a man
+when he comes into church _stand up_ and say his prayers in his _hat_,
+instead of reverently _kneeling down_."
+
+"I never thought of that before, but I dare say it does; but then you
+know, sir, that is our way at the _meeting_. I see, however, that it is
+much more proper in God's house to obey the precept of His Holy Word,
+and 'fall low on our knees before His footstool.'"
+
+"Then for the same reason you will, I am sure, see that, instead of
+_sitting_ during the other prayers, as I notice you do, it is proper to
+_kneel_ at those times too. You will find that all in our church, from
+the oldest to the youngest, except poor Old Reynolds and Tom Barham (who
+are too infirm to kneel), do so. Then again, when the _Creed_ is said, I
+see you do sometimes stand up, but not always; and I notice you don't
+turn to the _East_, as all the rest of the congregation do."
+
+"No, I confess I don't do that. I like the idea of repeating our
+Confession of Faith whenever we meet at church: I suppose the want of
+this practice is one reason why the different leading sects of
+Dissenters are constantly being broken up into fresh divisions. Yes,
+there is certainly something very supporting to a Christian in so
+declaring with the Church every where, his belief in the great doctrines
+of their common Faith; but the fact is, I have some scruples about
+turning to the East at that time. Even old Mrs. Tubbs, who, you know, is
+a Church-woman, says she thinks it is superstitious."
+
+"All I can say, then, is, that Mrs. Tubbs doesn't know the meaning of
+the word she uses; and in this she is like a great many more people who
+think themselves very wise about these matters. Now, my good friend,
+when you next come to church, stand up with the rest, and turn to the
+East as the others do, and first say to yourself some such words as
+these:--'We all _stand_, to signify that we are _not ashamed_ of our
+Belief, and that, if need be, we will manfully defend it. We all _turn
+in one direction_, to signify that we all hold _one and the same faith_.
+We all turn to the _East_, because there in the east of our churches
+every thing reminds us of the presence of Him in whom we profess our
+belief; because there, in remembrance of Him, we celebrate the highest
+and most sacred mysteries of our Faith; and because the East specially
+reminds us of the holy life, the Divine teaching, the miracles, the
+suffering, the death of our Blessed Lord--"the _Sun_ of Righteousness,"
+"the _Day-spring_ from on high"--_in the East_[77].' Do this, Mr. Dole,
+and you will never again be disposed to regard this custom as
+superstitious. Why, some people even think it is superstitious to bend
+the head reverently at the name of Jesus, when it is mentioned in the
+Creeds and the other parts of the Service."
+
+"I don't think so, though once I did. Since I have considered more about
+it, it has seemed to me that some outward show of reverence at the
+mention of the Sacred Name is quite Scriptural[78]. But as I am yet only
+a learner about these outward forms, will you kindly tell me, sir,
+whether there is any rule of the Church about this custom?"
+
+"The Vicar will be able to answer that better than I can."
+
+"I could not help overhearing our friend's question," said Mr. Ambrose,
+"as I was close behind you, and I will answer it at once. The rule of
+our Church is very plain on this point; it is this: 'All manner of
+persons present shall reverently kneel upon their knees, when the
+general Confession, Litany, and other prayers are read; and shall stand
+up at the saying of the Belief, according to the rules in that behalf
+prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer; and likewise, when in time of
+Divine Service the Lord Jesus shall be mentioned, due and lowly
+reverence shall be done by all persons present, as it hath been
+accustomed: testifying, by these outward ceremonies and gestures, their
+inward humility, Christian resolution, and due acknowledgment that the
+Lord Jesus Christ, the true eternal Son of God, is the only Saviour of
+the world[79].'"
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Ambrose, nothing could be plainer, or more reasonable
+than that direction; but, you see, I have for so many years _sat under_
+Mr. Scole, who never taught us any thing of this sort, that you will
+forgive me if I seem a little more ignorant than those who have been all
+the time _sitting under_ you."
+
+"What do you mean by 'sitting under,' my friend?" said the Vicar, very
+innocently.
+
+"I mean _hearing you preach_," was Mr. Dole's reply. "It's a curious
+expression, now I come to think about it."
+
+"It certainly is so, and the meaning of it is not very clear. But in our
+Church we don't talk about _sitting under_, or _hearing_ this or that
+preacher. We simply say we attend this or that church, as the case may
+be. And the reason is, that--although very important in its proper
+place--we consider preaching of little moment (and the preacher of far
+less), when compared with the other objects of Christian
+worship,--_Prayer_ and _Praise_. We look upon God's House as
+pre-eminently 'a House of Prayer.'"
+
+"Well, I do think we used to make too much of the sermon at the meeting;
+and I remember all our conversation afterwards was about the sermon or
+the preacher. One Sunday we had a young gent. from London, Mr. Sweetly,
+to preach, and our people never ceased to talk about him. I believe,
+however, none of them recollected a word he said; but they could
+remember well enough 'his lovely voice,' and 'how nice he looked in his
+beautiful black silk gown' (you know, sir, our people always preach in
+black gowns), 'and those charming lavender gloves! and then the sweetest
+embroidered white lawn pocket-handkerchief imaginable!' It had just been
+presented to him, he told me, by a young lady--Miss Angelina
+Gushing--who sat under him at his London meeting-house. I never was a
+preacher-worshipper myself, sir."
+
+"Save me from the man with the _lavender gloves and the white
+embroidered pocket-handkerchief_, I say," said Mr. Acres. "If there is
+one thing in nature I shrink from more than another, it is a _fop_, and
+a _fop_ in the pulpit is beyond endurance."
+
+"A most offensive person, indeed," said the Vicar, "and one that brings
+great discredit upon the ministry; but it can be no matter of surprise
+that men sometimes a little over-estimate themselves in some of our
+fashionable towns, where the people (specially the ladies) flock to
+_hear_ 'dear' Mr. Somebody, and so abundantly supply him with those
+articles of personal furniture which are usually the reward of a popular
+preacher. It is not so very long ago that in our own church every thing
+was made to give way to the sermon. You remember, Mr. Acres, when many
+of the people in St. Catherine's used to sit and sleep through the
+prayers[80], and just wake up for the sermon. Then the pulpit was every
+thing, and little else could be seen by the people; the galleries were
+built so that the people might sit and see the preacher, and the pews
+were likewise built up only with a view to sitting comfortable during
+the sermon. It is all different now, I am thankful to say, and the
+pulpit takes once more its old and appropriate position. But we must
+take care not to esteem too lightly the office of the preacher, in our
+contempt for one who preaches merely to _please the people_. To 'preach
+the Word' is one of the solemn duties laid upon us at our ordination;
+and woe be to us if we neglect to do so earnestly and faithfully!"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVII_
+
+THE PULPIT
+
+
+"Because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge;
+yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs."
+
+Eccles. xii. 9.
+
+
+      "Unskilful he to fawn, or seek for power,
+       By doctrines fashion'd to the varying hour;
+       Far other aims his heart had learn'd to prize,
+       More bent to raise the wretched than to rise.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+       At church, with meek and unaffected grace,
+       His looks adorn'd the venerable place;
+       Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway,
+       And fools, who came to scoff, remain'd to pray."
+
+                             GOLDSMITH'S _Country Parson_.
+
+
+      "Resort to sermons, but to prayers most:
+       Praying's the end of preaching."
+
+                                        GEORGE HERBERT.
+
+
+Illustration: Church of St. Mary, Henley-on-Thames
+
+
+
+
+THE PULPIT
+
+
+Illustration: Stone Pulpit in North Kilworth Church
+
+"It's curious to note," continued the Vicar, "how the
+Pulpit and the Gallery have kept company in rising higher and higher. At
+first the pulpit was placed at a moderate height above the congregation,
+and then the church improvers (?) were usually contented with erecting a
+small low gallery at the west end of the church[81]. It is true, that
+was bad enough; for in order to construct it, it was nearly always
+thought necessary to fill in the tower arch and to hide the western
+window--often the most beautiful features in the church; and then the
+organ was taken up into this gallery, and the singers followed it; and
+nothing, you know, could be more inconvenient than that those who help
+to _lead_ the services of the Church should be _behind_ those they
+profess to lead. But when people had once tasted the luxury of sitting
+in a church gallery, the demand for it rapidly increased, and my Lady
+Pride, who had very comfortable crimson-cushioned seats in her box at
+the theatre, could not be content without an equally comfortable and
+elegant _box_ in the gallery at her church, where she could see all the
+people quite as well as in her box at the theatre, and had such a good
+view of the pulpit and its occupant, that, with a good opera-glass, she
+could even read the manuscript from which the clergyman was preaching.
+As the taste spread, of course galleries multiplied, and not only
+extended in a lateral direction over all available parts of the church,
+but sometimes mounted up one above another (as witness many of our
+London churches) till they almost touched the very roof. Indeed, to
+build a new gallery was one of the most popular things a local magnate
+could do; and even Members of Parliament, who desired to make sure of
+their next election, could hardly adopt better means for recommending
+themselves to their constituents than by disfiguring their church with
+one of these hideous structures, and recording the same on some
+conspicuous part of the church[82]. But worse still; these galleries
+were sometimes even still more nearly connected with the political
+parties of the day. I know one church[83]--and that is not the only
+instance--in which are galleries, having complete opera-boxes, furnished
+with luxurious chairs, stoves, &c., and every box is a two-pound
+freehold, and the boxes are, from time to time, advertised for sale,
+with the inviting recommendation that each one _gives a vote for the
+county_. One great piece of presumptuous vanity connected with these
+galleries, is the numberless instances in which the names of
+churchwardens, that otherwise would have been unknown to fame, have been
+emblazoned upon them."
+
+"You remember, no doubt," said Mr. Acres, "the inscription, in large
+gilt letters, that covered the front of our old gallery--'This gallery
+was erected A.D. 1716, Thomas Grubb and Matthew Stokes, Churchwardens;
+enlarged, and newly painted and ornamented, A.D. 1760, Peter Jenks and
+Samuel Styles, Churchwardens.' I believe I have read that inscription
+thousands of times, and those names used even to haunt me in my dreams.
+Had those churchwardens been four of the greatest saints in the
+calendar, it would have been gross impiety to emblazon their names so
+conspicuously as thus to force them upon one's notice during the whole
+service. If, however, tradition does not speak falsely of them, those
+men were by no means too correct either in their private life or in
+their parish accounts. But let them be never so good, people who go to
+church for Christian worship, don't wish to have the names and exploits
+of these worthy or unworthy men staring them in the face every moment
+they are there. But I beg your pardon, Mr. Vicar, I interrupted you when
+you were speaking of the pulpit."
+
+"Well, you know, when the gallery had reached the ceiling, it could go
+no higher; but then its upper tenants could no longer see the preacher.
+So the pulpit rose too, and, to enable all to see it, sometimes took its
+place just in front of the altar, so as completely to hide that from
+most of the congregation; nay, I have seen it even over the altar
+itself[84]. Then the prayer-desk came climbing up after the pulpit; and
+then the clerk's desk came creeping up below them, till that, too,
+became one of the most conspicuous and important objects of the church.
+Thus the three together grew into that clumsy, unsightly mass which has
+been not inaptly called the _Three Decker_!"
+
+"Ah, I shall never forget poor old Mowforth's perplexity," said Mr.
+Acres, "when he looked about for his peculiar box in our restored
+church. First he looked doubtingly at your prayer-desk; then he examined
+the lectern from which you read the lessons; then he looked with some
+faint hope at the pulpit; at last he came to me, and said, 'Please, sir,
+which of these is to be my place?' and his look of dismay was
+indescribable when I told him that, as you intended that henceforth the
+choir should lead the responses, he would be absorbed in the
+congregation, and would in future be able to take his place with the
+rest of his family. But the man is a sensible fellow, and he confessed
+to me the other day that he considers the new arrangement a great
+improvement, and wonders that the people could have so long endured the
+duet service in which only the voices of the parson and himself could be
+heard. But we have again wandered a little from our subject. Let us go
+back to the pulpit; it must have a history of its own, like every other
+part of the church. Will you kindly enlighten me and our friend here on
+the subject? for it must be one of much interest to us both."
+
+"Well--to begin at the beginning--I suppose we must look for the origin
+of our pulpits in the 'brazen scaffold' which Solomon set 'in the midst
+of the Temple[85],' and the 'pulpit of wood[86]' from which Ezra read
+the Book of the Law.
+
+"There are in this country many very beautiful examples of ancient
+pulpits; these are, with but very few exceptions, constructed of
+_stone_, and very generally of the same date as the church itself.
+Sometimes they were erected outside the church[87], but usually in the
+place where we are still accustomed to see them. Sometimes stone pulpits
+were quite separate buildings, erected in some much frequented place,
+usually near a cathedral or other church[88]. 'In the ancient rites of
+Durham there is mention of a "fine _iron_ pulpit, with iron rails to
+support the monks in going up, of whom one did preach every holiday and
+Sunday at one o'clock in the afternoon." This was situated in the
+Galilee, or western division of the church, which was open to the public
+even when the entrance to the rest of the church was interdicted[89].'
+Although the most beautiful pulpits, both ancient and modern, are of
+stone--many of them being richly carved and inlaid with costly
+marbles--yet the greater number of the more modern pulpits are made of
+wood[90]. By an injunction of Queen Elizabeth in 1559, pulpits were
+ordered to be erected in all churches[91], and by a canon of 1663 it was
+ordered that pulpits should be placed in all the churches of the country
+not already provided with them. The pulpits then erected were in almost
+every case made of wood, and their pattern has since then been
+generally, though by no means universally, followed.
+
+"A curious appendage to the pulpit sometimes found is the horologium, or
+hour-glass. Whether this was placed there for the information of the
+congregation as to the progress of the hour, or to teach them its own
+solemn moral, or as a guide to the preacher respecting the length of his
+discourse[92], I cannot say. Another adjunct to the pulpit is the
+sounding-board, or, as it should rather be called, the _lid_ or _cover_
+of the pulpit; and a thing more useless, and usually more ugly, one
+cannot conceive[93]. It certainly always seems to me rather to impede
+the sound of my voice than to assist it; and then it has, to say the
+least, a most uncomfortable appearance; and though I never heard of the
+accident really happening, yet it always appears to me to be on the
+point of falling and crushing the poor preacher below it. It is not,
+however, difficult to trace the origin of these covers to the pulpit;
+they were really necessary where the pulpits were _separate
+buildings_--as at St. Paul's Cross--in order to protect the preacher
+when the weather was inclement. At St. Paul's Cross, and at the Cross
+Pulpit at Norwich, and probably elsewhere, not only the preacher, but
+also the audience, were provided with such a shelter[94]."
+
+"Will you kindly tell us," said Mr. Dole, "why you discarded the large
+handsome velvet cushion that was once on your pulpit, and have, instead,
+adopted the embroidered piece of velvet which now hangs in front of the
+pulpit?"
+
+"Well, as a matter of taste, I think you will agree with me that the
+present beautiful frontal, with its richly-embroidered cross, is an
+improvement upon the old cushion. But I discarded the old big
+_pillow_--for such, indeed, it was--not only because it was unsightly,
+but also because it was useless, for my head is not so much more tender
+than that of other persons, that I, any more than they, should require a
+pillow to rest it on during my private devotions; and as I am not
+accustomed to perform the part of a mountebank in the pulpit, or, as
+some say, to use much _action_ when preaching, I need no such protection
+in order to preserve my limbs safe and sound. But, besides this, there
+is a manifest objection to these huge cushions; undoubtedly they tend to
+impede the sound of the preacher's voice[95]; so I was very glad to get
+rid of your handsome cushion, and adopt our more convenient and more
+beautiful pulpit frontal."
+
+"I often think," said Mr. Acres, "if the old pulpits could speak, what a
+strange account they would give of the various preachers that have
+occupied them. Take our own old stone pulpit, for instance. In early
+times, of course, there were only sermons at long intervals, perhaps
+often dependent upon the occasional visits of some old preaching friar.
+At length there came the quaint old Homilies of the Church; then there
+came an interruption to all true religion and order, and the old pulpit
+poured forth the mad ravings of the fanatical Puritans who got
+possession of it. Now and then came a noisy soldier to hold forth, and
+there was--as our old registers show--the _Reverend_ Ebenezer Bradshaw,
+the Presbyterian, who left his snuff and tobacco shop to enlighten our
+poor benighted people; next came the _Reverend_ Obadiah Brent, late of
+the 'Green Dragon,' the Independent preacher; and then the _Reverend_
+Jabez Zanchy, the baker of Starchcombe, the Anabaptist preacher[96];
+then there was a century of long learned essays freely interspersed with
+Greek and Latin, so that, if the prayers were said in a language
+'understanded of the people,' the sermon certainly was not. Following
+upon this came what we may call the _muscular_ style of
+preaching--usually extempore--requiring the pillows of which you have
+been speaking to save the knuckles of the preacher from entire
+demolition. Thank God, amid these many changes, there have always been
+some good men to be found in our pulpits; but, for my part, I like the
+quiet, sober, persuasive style, which--saving your presence, Mr.
+Vicar--I am thankful to say, characterizes the sermons at St.
+Catherine's. I think sermons cannot be too _practical_; and, whilst they
+should be addressed both to the heart and the intellect, they should
+most of all be designed to touch the _heart_."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVIII_
+
+THE NAVE
+
+
+"My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of
+Glory, with respect of persons."
+
+S. James ii. 1.
+
+
+    "At length a generation more refined
+     Improved the simple plan....
+     And o'er the seat, with plenteous wadding stuff'd,
+     Induced a splendid cover, green and blue,
+     Yellow and red, of tapestry richly wrought,
+     And woven close, or needlework sublime."
+
+                                                COWPER.
+
+
+Illustration: St. Mary's Church, Sherborne
+
+
+
+
+THE NAVE
+
+
+"Ah, Mr. Beeland, I'm so glad to see you!" said the Vicar, as, on
+leaving the church, he met his neighbour the newly-appointed Vicar of
+Droneworth. "I have been much grieved to hear of the sad opposition you
+have had to encounter in restoring your fine old church; but this was
+sure to be the case in a parish like yours, which has been so long
+neglected; indeed it must be so, more or less, in every parish, so long
+as there are people who honour themselves much more than they honour
+God; and such, I suppose, there will be till the end of the world. You
+may be sure, my friend, the woe of universal commendation[97] never yet
+fell upon any _church restorer_."
+
+"Never, certainly. But what makes our position often so difficult and so
+painful is the fact that, whilst we are fully sensible of the rectitude
+of our own course, we cannot help, to some extent, sympathizing in the
+feelings of those who blame us. For instance, in almost every case of
+church restoration it is necessary to disturb a large number of human
+bones, and yet we can but sympathize in that feeling of respect for the
+departed, which sometimes expresses itself in the most strenuous
+opposition to any work involving this painful necessity. Then, you see,
+there is the rooting up of long-cherished associations. We have a case
+in point close at hand. There's the grand old church of Rainsborough
+will be left in its miserable condition so long as the present Vicar
+lives, and for no other reason than this:--ten years since he lost a
+favourite daughter, and she had always been accustomed to sit in one
+particular corner of their large pew." Now the Vicar fears (and no doubt
+justly) that should the church be altered, the old pew with its fond
+associations would be swept away--and so the church will never be
+improved as long as he lives[98]. We must respect the old man's tender
+love for the spot sacred to the memory of his dear child, yet we plainly
+see it is all wrong that for the sake of the private feelings (however
+praiseworthy) of any one person, God's house should remain in a state of
+neglect, and the poor should be uncared for therein. This, however, is
+an oft-told tale. But most of all, we have to contend against _wounded
+pride_ in its most cherished strong-hold--alas!--the Church of God; and
+the enemy is all the more fierce because it is prostrate.
+
+"My two great opponents, Sir John Adamley and Mr. Parvener, are to meet
+me this evening, and I am come to ask you and Mr. Acres to walk back
+with me to Droneworth, so that I may have the benefit of your support.
+You see these two gentlemen had pews in the nave of our church, lined,
+cushioned, and carpeted in dazzling crimson; each pew was as large as a
+good-sized room, and the two occupied nearly half the nave. Mr. Parvener
+was generally at church once on a Sunday, and then he sat not only in
+luxurious ease, but also in solitary dignity. Sir John never came to
+church, as there was some old feud respecting the right owner of his
+pew; but the door was always locked, and a canvas cover was stretched
+over the top. These precautions, however, failed to keep out an
+occasional intruder, and at last the door was securely _nailed up_[99].
+The worst of it was, that all this time there was not a seat in the
+church which a poor man could occupy with any chance of either seeing or
+hearing the ministering Priest. Now people talk about _proper_
+distinctions in church between the high and the low, and we sometimes
+hear much about old ancestral pews. Believe me, it's all nonsense, my
+dear sir; the distinction is _solely between riches and poverty_. If a
+man has plenty of money, he may (or rather, till lately he might)
+secure the biggest pew in England; and if he has not money, though he
+be entitled to quarter the royal arms on his escutcheon, he will get no
+pew at all. Mr. Parvener is an exact instance of this. But a few years
+since he was working for half-a-crown a day. No sooner did he become
+wealthy than he obtained a large pew at our church, whilst its former
+owner, whose fall had been as complete and rapid as was the rise of his
+successor, was driven to a remote corner of the church allotted to
+degraded poverty."
+
+The walk to Droneworth was soon accomplished, but the Rector with his
+two friends only reached the Parsonage a few moments before the arrival
+of the two aggrieved parishioners. It was evident from the first
+greeting that they had come in no friendly spirit. But few words passed
+before Sir John came direct to the object of the interview.
+
+"The purpose of our visit," said Sir John, "you are aware, is to protest
+against the removal of our pews at church, and to declare our
+determination to have them replaced if it is possible."
+
+"But, gentlemen, you are aware that we have provided good accommodation
+for you in the restored church," replied the Vicar.
+
+"Good accommodation, sir!" exclaimed Sir John. "Why, you have given us
+nothing but low wooden benches to sit upon; and, to add to the insult,
+sir, there is not the semblance of a _door_; so that our devotions may
+at any time be interrupted by the presence of an inferior. Why, sir, the
+very labourers, who earn their half-crown a day, have seats in the
+church just as good as ours!"
+
+The last sentence made poor Mr. Parvener writhe a little; and that
+indeed was its real intention, for the two neighbours had, in truth,
+little love for each other. The words, however, accomplished another and
+a better purpose; they broke up at once any thing like united action on
+the part of the opposition.
+
+"Let me ask you, gentlemen, a very simple question," said the Vicar.
+"_Why should not_ the labourer have as good a place in God's house as
+yourselves?"
+
+"You might as well ask," said the Baronet, "why they should not have as
+good houses as we have."
+
+"The cases are in no way similar. You live in better houses than the
+poor, simply because your worldly means enable you to do so; but I have
+yet to be taught that in the Church wealth is to be exalted and poverty
+degraded. No, Sir John, be sure this distinction is out of place
+_there_. We go to church to _worship_ and to _learn_, and if favour is
+shown to any class, no doubt it should be to the ignorant and the poor;
+but this is a matter on which we are not left to our own judgment. There
+are not many instructions in our Bibles as to the manner of arranging
+our churches, but here the direction is plain and unmistakable."
+
+"Indeed, sir! I had no idea that any thing about church seats was to be
+found in the Bible."
+
+"Oh, but indeed there is. The passage to which I refer is in St. James'
+Epistle; and it is this: '_My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord
+Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, with respect of persons. For if there
+come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and
+there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have respect to
+him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a
+good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my
+footstool: are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges
+of evil thoughts[100]?_'"
+
+"If those words are in the Bible, I must confess the Bible is against
+me; but I had no idea that they were there."
+
+"I assure you they are the exact words of Holy Scripture."
+
+"It's clear enough to me," interposed Mr. Parvener, "that the labourer
+ought to have as good a place at church as the lord. I don't think the
+church is the place to show off aristocratic pride. Why, for that
+matter, there's many a man that doesn't know who was his grandfather
+doing more for the glory of God and the good of his fellow-creatures
+than your grandest aristocrats." This was intended as a counter-thrust,
+and it created a wider breach in the enemy's camp. "But," continued he,
+"I don't see why, if all have good places in the church, we should not
+make our own seats as comfortable as we can."
+
+"Ah, but there comes in just what St. James tells us we ought to keep
+out: the distinction between _riches and poverty_, distinctions which
+among our fellow-men have their advantages, but not before God in His
+house. Just hear what St. James says again: 'Hearken, my beloved
+brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and
+heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him? But
+ye have despised the poor[101].' I was much struck with a sermon I heard
+the other day on this subject. The preacher said, 'If our Lord Jesus
+Christ were to enter some of our churches just as He went to the temple
+at Jerusalem, do you think He would take His seat in the luxuriously
+furnished pew of the rich, or in the open bench of the poor[102]?' Now,
+let me ask you too, Mr. Parvener (for this is, after all, the sum and
+substance of the matter), do you think that He 'who was rich, yet for
+our sakes became poor[103],' and whose life was a perfect pattern of
+_humility_, would sanction the distinctions which either pride of
+station, or pride of riches, would create in the House of Prayer?"
+
+"Well, sir, I must say that's a solemn question, and it sets one
+a-thinking more than I have thought before about this."
+
+"But, Mr. Beeland," said Sir John, interrupting, for he saw the ground
+of his arguments was slipping from under him, "you will acknowledge that
+these open benches in church are a _novelty_, and you often talk to us
+about keeping to the _old paths_. Now, here you are teaching us to
+strike out a new way altogether. I wish I knew something more than I do
+about the history of these pews."
+
+"I anticipated some such remark from you, and knowing that my friend Mr.
+Ambrose is more learned than I am in all these subjects, I induced him
+to join us this evening, and if he will kindly give us the benefit of
+his information, he will, I am sure, convince you that _pews, and not
+benches, are the modern innovation_."
+
+"If you can have patience to listen to me," said the Vicar of St.
+Catherine's, "I will gladly give you the history of pews, as far I know
+it."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIX_
+
+THE NAVE
+
+
+"Take theses things hence; make not My Father's house a house of
+merchandise."
+
+John ii. 16.
+
+
+      "Not raised in nice proportions was the pile,
+       But large and massy; for duration built;
+       With pillars crowded, and the roof upheld
+       By naked rafters intricately cross'd,
+       Like leafless underboughs, 'mid some thick grove,
+       All wither'd by the depth of shade above,
+                            ... The floor
+       Of nave and aisle, in unpretending guise,
+       Was occupied by oaken benches ranged
+       In seemly rows."
+
+                                            WORDSWORTH.
+
+
+Illustration: All Saints' Church, Bradford
+
+
+
+
+THE NAVE
+
+
+"In order to trace the history of pews[104] to their first source, I
+must, as Mr. Beeland has hinted, go back to a time when pews, as we now
+see them, had never been thought of. It is pretty certain that the first
+seats in churches were stone benches placed round the north, south, and
+west walls, portions of which are still remaining in many old
+churches[105]. In some ancient churches in Ireland the stone bench has
+also been found adjoining the _eastern_ wall, the altar being placed a
+little distance before it. In those early times people were far less
+self-indulgent than at present in God's House, and the usual custom was
+to stand or kneel during the whole service. The first wooden seats were
+small stools, each intended to seat one person, and placed in the nave
+as suited the convenience of each occupier. Then came plain benches, and
+next, benches with backs to them. The priest's _reading-pew_ was
+probably the origin of all pews. They seem to have been unknown in any
+form till the end of the thirteenth century, but the earliest record we
+have of a pew is 1602[106]. Next to the 'reading-pew' came the 'bride's
+pew[107],' the 'churching-pew,' and the 'churchwarden's pew.' In the
+nave of Little Berningham Church, Norfolk, is a pew erected by a
+shepherd; a skeleton carved in wood is fixed at the south-west corner of
+it, and these lines are carved on the pew:--
+
+    'For couples join'd in wedlock; and my friend
+     That stranger is: this seat I did intend,
+     But at the coste and charge of Stephen Crosbee.
+         All you that do this place pass by,
+         As you are now, even so was I--
+         Remember death, for you must dye,
+         And as I am, soe shall you be.
+
+             'Anno Domini, 1640[108].'
+
+The general adoption of pews began with Puritanism, and with its
+increase they too grew in width and stature. First of all, people were
+satisfied with the uniform arrangement and space of the old oak benches,
+only erecting on the top of them an ugly and useless panelling of deal.
+This was bad enough, but worse soon followed; and, to make the seats
+more luxurious, first one bench was taken away, and the _two benches_
+made _one pew_; then two were removed, then three, till at last it
+required the removal of _six benches_, which formerly would accommodate
+thirty persons, to make _one pew_ to accommodate two or three. Now,
+either men are giants in these days and were pigmies in those days, or
+else the pride and luxury of man claim a prominence now in God's House,
+which was quite unknown then. I will ask either of you, gentlemen, to
+decide which is the true explanation."
+
+"I fear it must be against ourselves," said Mr. Parvener.
+
+"I fear so, indeed[109]. But now let me explain to you more fully what
+are the real evils of this wretched pew system. And first, as to the
+_private pew_--for, besides sharing in the evils of _all_ the rest, _it_
+has some peculiarly its own. Of these, the _pride_ it fosters, and the
+'_respect of persons_,' so severely condemned by St. James, are the
+worst. My dear sir, I assure you it has often made my blood boil to see
+some poor old man with his venerable bare head exposed to the cold
+draught of a neglected part of the church, whilst a young, pampered son
+of fortune has been cushioned up under the stately canopy of his own
+pew[110]. Oh, sir, I'm sure you must agree with me that this is
+altogether against the spirit of Christianity! I'm no leveller _out of
+church_; the social distinctions must be there kept up; but _in God's
+House_ these should have no place at all. Then, surely, the _luxury_ of
+many of these private pews is altogether inconsistent with the object of
+our meeting in the House of Prayer. It is--as it shows the progress of
+luxury, and its concomitant, effeminacy--a curious circumstance, that
+when the custom of having pews in our churches began to spread, they
+were, by our hardy ancestors, considered as _too great indulgences_, and
+as temptations to repose. Their curtains and bed-furniture, their
+_cushions_ and _sleep_, have, by a long association of ideas, become
+intimately connected. The Puritans thought _pews_ the devil's _baby_, or
+_booby hutches_[111]. I have heard that in America they go even beyond
+us in the luxury of pews, and that in Boston some of them are actually
+lined with _velvet_[112]. I believe that both there and here the private
+pew system has done very much, not only to force the poor from the
+Church, but to drive many of all classes over to dissent."
+
+"I can't see how that can be," said the Baronet.
+
+Why, "naturally enough, sir, for they find all this the very opposite to
+what the Church professes to be and to teach. They see the rich exalted,
+and the poor debased; they find a house of pride, instead of a house of
+prayer.
+
+"The _exclusiveness_ of this system is one of the most curious as well
+as absurd features in its history. True, the change in our social habits
+has created a change for the better here; but much of the old temper
+survives. You would hardly believe, perhaps, that years ago it was not
+only considered an impropriety for the squire and the dame to sit in the
+same pew with any of their inferior fellow-worshippers, but the presence
+of their own children[113] was even considered an indecent intrusion.
+This was, indeed, ridiculous; but, in truth, the whole system would be
+monstrously grotesque, were it not so very wicked.
+
+"There is a curious inscription on an old seat in a church at Whalley,
+which seems to throw some light on the early history of private pews; it
+is this:--'My man Shuttleworth, of Hacking, made this form, and here
+will I sit when I come, and my Cousin Nowell may make one behind me if
+he please, and my sonne Sherburne shall make one on the other side, and
+Mr. Catterall another behind him; and for the residue, the use shall be
+first come first speed, and that will make the proud wives of Whalley
+rise betimes to come to church[114].'
+
+"The first seat thus appropriated was, no doubt, a rude wooden bench;
+but certain it is, that no sooner were even these claimed as private
+property than _quarrelling_ began[115]; and the quarrel has, alas! been
+kept up to our own day. The right to these _faculty pews_, as they are
+called, is, however, in most cases very questionable, and often leads to
+costly law processes[116]. Many sensible men and earnest Churchmen are
+giving up their supposed right to them, and are contented to take their
+place in church like _ordinary mortals_. I sincerely trust, gentlemen,
+this may be your case.
+
+"Now, let me notice a few of the evils which are common to _all pews_.
+They tend to destroy the _unity_ and _uniformity_ of common worship,
+which forms so grand a feature in our church system. 'They are very
+inconvenient to _kneel_ down in, necessarily oblige some to sit with
+their backs to the speaker, and when they rise up, present a scene of
+confusion, as if they were running their heads against one another[117].
+As God's House is a House of Praise and Prayer, so before all things the
+arrangement there should have reference to the proper _posture_[118] of
+praise and prayer. Then see how these pews shelter and encourage
+_levity_ in God's House. As long ago as the year 1662, a bishop of
+Norwich wrote this satire upon pews: 'There wants nothing but beds to
+hear the Word of God on. We have casements, locks and keys, and
+cushions--I had almost said bolsters and pillows--and for those we love
+the church. I will not guess what is done within them: who sits, stands,
+or lies asleep at prayers, communion, &c.; but this, I dare say, _they
+are either to hide some vice or to proclaim one_[119].' I will only
+mention one more objection to pews: they harbour dust and dirt[120], and
+otherwise disfigure the beauty of our churches."
+
+"Well, Mr. Ambrose, I must confess myself brought to the same opinion as
+yourself," said Sir John, "and the reformation of the evil may commence
+at Droneworth to-morrow without any obstacle whatever from me."
+
+"Nor yet from me," rejoined Mr. Parvener: "I certainly never heard the
+case fairly stated before, and now I have, I own I'm convinced."
+
+"Heartily glad, I'm sure, my friend here must be to part with the old
+_half empty packing-cases_, and to see proper benches in their place.
+And as you have been kind enough to listen to me so far, I will just say
+a few more words to explain the two desks which the Vicar has placed in
+the nave of your church, and of which I heard you had disapproved. One
+is the _Litany-desk_, or _faldstool_[121],--as it is called in the
+Coronation Service. The Litany is a very solemn, penitential service,
+and from very early times it has been said from the appropriate place
+where the Vicar has placed the Litany-desk in your church--namely, just
+at the entrance to the chancel. Its position there has reference to that
+Litany of God's own appointing, of which we read in the Book of
+Joel[122], where, in a general assembly, the priests were to weep
+_between the porch and the altar_, and to say, '_Spare Thy people, O
+Lord_.' In allusion to this, our Litany--retaining also the same words
+of supplication--is enjoined, by the royal injunctions[123], still in
+force, 'to be said or sung in the midst of the church, at a low desk
+before the chancel-door[124].' The other desk is called the _lectern_,
+or _lettern_, and sometimes the _eagle-desk_; and, as you are aware, is
+the desk from which the lessons are read. They were first made of wood,
+and often richly carved; afterwards they were commonly made of brass or
+copper. They were first used about the end of the thirteenth century,
+and although most of our country churches have been despoiled of them,
+yet they have never ceased to be used in our cathedrals, as well as many
+other churches[125]. The desk is often supported by a pelican feeding
+its young with its own blood, the emblem of our Saviour's love; more
+frequently it is supported by an eagle, the symbolic representation of
+the Evangelist St. John. It is true that both the faldstool and the
+lectern have long been unknown at Droneworth, yet I feel sure you will
+not, on second thoughts, consider the restoration of such convenient and
+appropriate furniture as objectionable."
+
+The two late dissentients agreed that as they had overcome the greater
+difficulty, they should withdraw all opposition in the matter; and, it
+being now late, the party broke up, each one feeling glad that a good
+thing had been done on a good day.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XX_
+
+THE AISLES
+
+
+"Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise Him, O ye servants of the Lord.
+Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of
+our God."
+
+Ps. cxxxv. 1, 2.
+
+
+    "Three solemn parts together twine
+    In harmony's mysterious line
+    Three solemn aisles approach the shrine,
+            Yet all are one."
+
+                                     KEBLE.
+
+
+Illustration: Castle Cary Church
+
+
+
+
+THE AISLES
+
+
+Mr. Beeland accompanied his two friends some distance on their way home.
+
+"I remember noticing," said Mr. Acres, "that the pews of your two
+parishioners very much blocked up the _centre aisle_ of the church;
+their removal will much widen the aisle, which will be a great
+improvement."
+
+"Forgive me for correcting you," said Mr. Ambrose, "there can be no such
+thing as a _centre aisle_. You are speaking of the centre _alley_ or
+_passage_. The word _aisle_[126] can only refer to the wing of a
+building, and it always denotes that portion of a church which runs
+laterally north or south of the nave or chancel. I see, Mr. Beeland, you
+have some work to do in that aisle of yours before your church will be
+in good order."
+
+"Yes, that is my greatest remaining difficulty. I have observed that
+those of the congregation who occupy that aisle are far less attentive
+and devotional than the rest; and the reasons are obvious. They are cut
+off from the main portion of the church, not only by the high backs of
+the existing pews, and by the hat and cloak rails which run from pillar
+to pillar, but also by needless masses of modern masonry. Moreover, they
+can see nothing of that part of the church which is sacred to the most
+solemn offices of our worship. Then, again, what the people _do see_ is
+enough to divert all devotional thought and feeling from any but the
+_most_ seriously and religiously disposed."
+
+"You mean the hideous heathen monument which occupies the east end of
+the aisle. If I remember rightly, it is a sort of monstrous Roman altar,
+with four huge bull's heads at each corner."
+
+"Yes; it is in the centre of a mortuary chapel, once belonging to a
+family named Bullock, and their frightful crest, in gigantic
+proportions, is the one object on which the eyes of at least a third of
+our congregation must rest, if they open their eyes at all. I can hardly
+conceive any thing more calculated to deaden the fervour of Christian
+worship than an object like this placed before the gaze of the
+worshipper. Much as I object to the bare walls of Dissenting
+meeting-houses, and the many-altared aisles of Roman Catholic churches,
+I believe neither are so distracting to the minds of the congregation
+generally as are the mortuary chapels, with their uncouth _adornments_,
+which occupy so large a space in the aisles of many of our own churches.
+Unfortunately, this chapel now belongs to a young man who has recently
+seceded to the Church of Rome, and he will neither allow me to
+appropriate for the use of the parishioners any of the space we so much
+need, nor will he consent to have the unsightly monument removed to a
+less conspicuous place."
+
+"The bitter hostility to wards the Church of their baptism, and the
+utter absence of Christian sympathy in good works of this nature, which
+characterize so many of those who have fallen away from our Communion,
+is indeed most deplorable. But even if your unreasonable and
+narrow-hearted parishioner will oppose all improvement in that part of
+the aisle which--stolen from God and His people--he claims as his own
+private property, there is much you can do, when you set about your work
+of restoration, to make that part of the church less isolated than at
+present. At least, you can remove much of the useless wood and masonry
+which now separate the aisle from the nave."
+
+"I propose also to re-open the ancient hagioscope in the south wall of
+the chancel, by which means the people in the aisle will once more gain
+a view of the altar, and be enabled to see and hear the priest when
+officiating there."
+
+"Will you kindly tell me, Mr. Beeland," said Mr. Acres, "what are
+_hagioscopes_[127]? I never remember having heard the word before."
+
+"You probably have heard them called by their more common name of
+_squints_. They are openings in the north or south walls of the chancel,
+or perhaps more commonly in the walls supporting the chancel arch, and
+are intended to give a view of the altar to those who are worshipping in
+the aisles. They are to be found in most old churches, but they have
+commonly, as in our case, been bricked up. It is manifestly very
+desirable that in all cases they should be restored, not only on account
+of their architectural beauty, but also for their practical utility in
+the services of the Church."
+
+The party then separated, and the Vicar of Droneworth took back to his
+parish a lighter heart than he had known for many a day.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXI_
+
+THE TRANSEPTS
+
+
+"Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary."
+
+Ps. xcvi. 6.
+
+
+    "Pace we the ground! our footsteps tread
+      A cross--the builder's holiest form--
+    That awful couch where once was shed
+      The blood with man's forgiveness warm,
+    And here, just where His mighty breast
+      Throbb'd the last agony away,
+    They bade the voice of worship rest,
+      And white-robed Levites pause and pray."
+
+                                        HAWKER.
+
+
+Illustration: Church of SS. Peter and Paul, Ringwood
+
+
+
+
+THE TRANSEPTS
+
+
+"Much of the objection which you have expressed to the prevailing
+arrangement of the aisles," said Mr. Acres, continuing the conversation
+with his Vicar, "seems to me to apply also to that of the transepts--I
+believe that is the proper name for those portions of a church which
+extend in a _transverse_ direction north and south?"
+
+"Yes," replied the Vicar; "and the remedies for the evil are in both
+cases nearly the same. Great inconvenience often arises from the
+exclusive character of the parclose. I would have the solid part of this
+made lower, and the upper part more light and open."
+
+"Pardon me, my friend, but I am ignorant as to what you mean by the word
+_parclose_."
+
+"I refer now to the screen which encloses the chancel on the north and
+south sides; but I believe the word may apply to any screen in the
+church. By means of these screens, however, the persons in the transepts
+are needlessly excluded from a view of the altar."
+
+"Yes; but the change in them which you suggest would not fully meet the
+difficulty, even if a squint or hagioscope should also be provided."
+
+"I see that," said the Vicar; "and for that reason I would, as a rule,
+only have those portions of the transepts nearest the chancel fitted
+with permanent seats. On special occasions chairs could be placed in the
+back parts; or, perhaps, the whole of the transepts might be given up to
+the children of the parochial schools, the elder children, who could
+best understand the nature of the services, being placed in the front."
+
+"A very proper arrangement, indeed, I should think, for all of them
+would be able at least to _hear_, and they would be conveniently placed
+for assisting in the musical parts of the service. It has often struck
+me as the refinement of cruelty to place these children in the remote
+damp corners of country churches, where too often they are to be found;
+or, worse still, in the topmost galleries of city churches, where the
+air they breathe is heated and impure. In both cases there is a manifest
+unconcern as well for the temporal as for the spiritual welfare of these
+little ones of Christ's flock."
+
+"To whatever use, however, they may be applied, or even if they are
+entirely unappropriated, so far as regards affording accommodation for
+the congregation, I would, by all means, wherever practicable, retain
+the transeptal arrangement of our churches, not only as being the most
+ornamental form of structure, but as preserving in the entire building
+the distinct form of the _Cross_; and as symbolizing in the gathering
+together of each congregation of Christ's Church--which is _His Body_,
+that Body itself. Thus the nave represents the body, the transepts the
+outstretched arms, and the chancel--being the most excellent part of the
+church--the head[128] of our Lord. Some perhaps might think it fanciful,
+but to me there is something very solemn and beautiful in the idea, not
+only of the church's whole fabric assuming these symbolic forms, but
+also of the united prayers and praises of the congregation making, as it
+were, in their very sound _the sign of the Cross_."
+
+"I think so too. And to my mind it has always seemed that the grand
+symbolism which looks through, as it were, the _whole_ fabric of the
+church, and the _whole_ congregation therein assembled, was formerly
+much marred in our churches, when there were _many_ altars, dedicated to
+_many_ saints, instead of the _one_ altar, which we now only retain,
+dedicated to the _one Head_ of the Christian Church."
+
+"Yes; and your remark, of course, applies specially to the _transepts_
+about which we were speaking, since even in our country churches every
+transept had its separate altar, the _piscina_ attached to which is
+still to be found in almost every old church."
+
+"I suppose," said Mr. Acres, "that beautiful Gothic niche in our south
+transept which you recently restored is a _piscina_?"
+
+"Yes, it is. The piscina was always placed on the south side of the
+altar, and it was used chiefly as the receptacle for the water used in
+cleansing the sacred vessels, or for that used by the priest in washing
+his hands[129]. It is to be found in our earliest Norman churches, and
+evidently dates from the time of their erection. There is often a
+_shelf_ placed over the basin of the piscina, which was used as a
+_credence_[130]."
+
+"We heard much about the credence-table some time since," interrupted
+the Squire, "when there was a suit in law about this and some other
+matters; but I confess I am still ignorant as to the purpose of the
+credence-table."
+
+"It is usually a small table, or, when forming part of the piscina, a
+shelf, on which the elements intended for use at the Eucharist are
+placed before their consecration. Just before the prayer for the _church
+militant_ in the Communion Service there is this direction: 'The priest
+shall _then_ place upon the table (i.e. the altar) so much bread and
+wine as he shall think sufficient.' Now, you see, it would be very
+inconvenient, and a sad interruption of that part of the service, to
+bring these from a distant part of the church. The ancient custom,
+therefore, of placing the elements on the credence-table at the
+commencement of the service is most convenient for the proper observance
+of this rubric. And so, although the credence has only been preserved as
+an interesting relic, or ornament in other parts of the church, in the
+chancel it has been preserved or restored[131], as being still a most
+useful and important part of the furniture of the church."
+
+Having now arrived at the vicarage-gate, the two friends bade each other
+good-night.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXII_
+
+THE CHANCEL SCREEN
+
+
+"The vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most
+holy."
+
+Exod. xxvi. 33.
+
+
+    "I love the Church,--the holy Church,
+       The Saviour's spotless bride:
+     And, oh, I love her palaces
+       Through all the land so wide!
+     The cross-topp'd spire amid the trees,
+       The holy bell of prayer;
+     The music of our mother's voice,
+       Our mother's home is there.
+
+    "I love the Church,--the holy Church,
+       That o'er our life presides;
+     The birth, the bridal, and the grave,
+       And many an hour besides!
+     Be mine, through life, to live in her,
+       And when the Lord shall call,
+     To die in her--the spouse of Christ,
+       The mother of us all."
+
+                           _Christian Ballads._
+
+
+Illustration: Church of St. John, Walworth
+
+
+
+
+THE CHANCEL SCREEN
+
+
+Perhaps, gentle reader (all readers are supposed to be "gentle,"--they
+_ought_ to be), if you live in a retired village, you will find that in
+the course of many years, your village annals present little or nothing
+worthy of record, as matter of general interest or importance; you will,
+therefore, understand how that the past six years at the little village
+of St. Catherine's have been so uneventful as to be noticed only by a
+blank in our narrative. But now, on this twenty-sixth day of June, in
+the year 1866, an event of no common interest in a country parish is
+about to take place.
+
+Since their first meeting, four years ago, at the vicarage of
+Droneworth, a close intimacy had grown up between the families of Mr.
+Acres and his neighbour Sir John Adamley; the upright integrity and
+manly candour which marked both their characters soon begat a deep
+mutual respect, which, in course of time, ripened into a warm
+friendship, now about to be sealed in the marriage of the Baronet's
+eldest son Egbert with Mr. Acres' eldest daughter Constance.
+
+The place is all astir betimes. Early in the morning a merry peal is
+sounding from the old church tower, and many hands are busy in
+decorating with flowers and evergreens arches placed at intervals
+between the church and the Hall. It is by no order of the Squire or his
+steward that these arches--erected at no slight cost of money and
+labour--are put up; they are the spontaneous expression of the interest
+which the villagers themselves take in the day's rejoicing. There are
+William Hardy, Robert Atkinson, Mr. Dole, even old Matthew and his
+grandson, and indeed half the village, as busy as bees in and out of the
+church, vying with each other in their endeavour to make every thing
+look bright and joyful. Every one has put on something gay and
+cheerful, purchased specially for the occasion; there is the light of
+honest gladness on every face; and now that the children with their
+baskets of fresh flowers stand ranged on either side of the pathway that
+leads from the main road to the lich-gate, the scene is one of the most
+picturesque that can be imagined....
+
+"Does Mr. Ambrose particularly wish that the first part of the service
+should take place near the _chancel screen_?" inquires Sir John.
+
+"Yes," answers the Squire; "it is always the custom here, and I think
+you will afterwards acknowledge that this arrangement is very fitting
+and appropriate; and, indeed, adds not a little to the impressiveness of
+the ceremony."
+
+"I can quite imagine that; but what authority has the Vicar for the
+practice?"
+
+"Oh, that is very plain. If you just look at your Prayer Book, you will
+see this rubric at the commencement of the Marriage Service: 'At the
+time appointed for the solemnization of matrimony, the persons to be
+married shall come into the _body of the church_ with their friends and
+neighbours, and _there_ standing, the priest shall say'--then follows
+the address to the congregation assembled, and the rest of the service,
+till the priest pronounces the first blessing; and after that, the
+priests and clerks, 'going to the Lord's Table,' are directed to say or
+sing one of the Psalms, and it is evidently intended that the
+newly-married persons should accompany them, for when the Psalm is ended
+they are mentioned as 'kneeling before the Lord's Table.' This
+procession to the altar of course loses much of its meaning and
+impressiveness when there is no celebration of Holy Communion. But,
+then, this ought not to be omitted, except in very extreme cases."
+
+"I quite see now that Mr. Ambrose is following the rule of the Church. I
+certainly never read the directions in the Service before. I suppose,
+however, there is no particular part of the body of the church named?"
+
+"No; I believe it is only ancient custom which decides upon the chancel
+screen; it is, too, the most convenient part of the church for this
+purpose." ...
+
+Why is it that all those young eyes are so bright with love, as from
+each ready hand falls the gay flowers at the feet of the happy pair? Why
+is each knee bent during _every_ prayer in that solemn service? And,
+now, when the hands of Mr. Ambrose rest on the heads of Constance and
+her husband, as he pronounces over them the last blessing of the Church,
+why does the deep _Amen_ sound from _every_ lip? Why is there that
+breathless silence as those happy ones kneel before the altar to bind
+themselves yet more closely together, and to God, in Holy Communion? And
+now, as they come forth from God's House, how is it that there is no
+faltering voice in all that assembly as the glad shout of Christian joy
+rings up through the air to heaven? I'll tell you. It is because the
+priest and the Squire have ever recognized their joint duties in that
+parish; because Constance has been a sister of charity and mercy among
+the poor; because they have striven with all their might to do the work
+God gave them to do; and now they have their reward in the hearty
+affection and respect of all their neighbours.
+
+There were but two exceptions to this general manifestation of good
+feeling among the villagers, and they were the last evil growth of the
+old Anabaptist schism in the parish. At the same time that Egbert and
+Constance were breathing their mutual vows beneath the old chancel
+screen of St Catherine's, William Strike and Sally Sowerby were being
+"married" by Mr. Gallio at the new register-office at Townend....
+
+"There is something very touching," said the Squire to Mr. Ambrose, as
+they walked back together to the Hall, "in that old custom preserved in
+our village of hanging a white glove on the chancel screen[132]. That
+was the very glove my dear Mary wore when she promised to be the wife of
+Edward Markland, and poor Edward himself placed it there. I saw
+Constance's eyes fill with tears to-day as she ventured to give one look
+at the sad memento."
+
+"The custom is fast dying out, and only survives in a few rural
+parishes. Indeed, the very screens themselves have, you know, in most
+churches been swept away[133]. The finer carving is often to be found
+worked up into pews, and the large timbers have been used in building
+galleries. Where these screens were made of stone[134], they have
+generally been preserved unharmed. In some cases, alas! people have not
+been contented with demolishing the screen, but have actually in their
+place built a gallery[135] for a family pew, extending all across the
+front of the chancel, but I am thankful to say such instances are very
+rare."
+
+"Will you kindly tell me the origin of the chancel screen?"
+
+"It was formerly called the rood screen, or rood gallery, and where the
+rood has been restored, it is still properly so called. The Gospel used
+to be read from this gallery, and sometimes the psalms were sung there
+by the priests and choristers. The custom of reading the Gospel from
+this position was evidently intended to express a special respect for
+this portion of God's Word; and so, for the same reason, now the Gospel
+is read from the _north_ side of the chancel, whilst the Epistle is read
+from the south. The _rood_[136], which consisted of a crucifix with the
+figure of the Blessed Virgin on one side, and of St. John on the other,
+was placed at the top of the screen. Over this, and between the chancel
+arch and the roof, the wall was painted, the subject usually being the
+Doom, or representation of the Last Judgment. To replace this, it would
+seem that, at the Reformation, the Commandments were ordered to be
+painted at the east end of the church."
+
+"You think, then," said the Squire, "that the order in the canons does
+not refer to the east end of the _chancel_?"
+
+"It is a disputed point, but _I_ think not. Had the chancel been
+intended, I think it would have been so stated. Besides, it was ordered
+that they should be so placed that the 'people could best see and read
+the same,' and certainly they could not do the latter if they were
+painted at the east end of the chancel. Indeed, I regard that as the
+least convenient and appropriate place in the whole church for them. If
+we have them any where, the east end of the nave or aisles is the best
+place for them; but, really, the need to have them at all is now passed
+away, as those who can read, can read the Commandments in their Bibles
+and Prayer Books; and for those who cannot, it is useless placing them
+on the walls of the church[137]. However, it is far better to have the
+Commandments over the chancel arch than the _royal arms_. It is
+wonderful how silly people become when they have a superstitious dread
+of superstition. For instance, I know a church where the congregation
+were offended by an old painting in the church, the subject of which was
+at least calculated to inspire solemn thoughts, yet could be contented
+that the most conspicuous object in the church should be a hideous
+representation of the royal arms, with this sentence below it in large
+characters: 'Mrs. Jemima Diggs, widow, gave this painting of the Queen's
+arms, A.D. 1710[138].' I should like to know what there is in that to
+remind us that we are in the House of God?"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIII_
+
+THE CHANCEL
+
+
+"In this place is One greater than the temple."
+
+S. Matt. xii. 6.
+
+
+   "Our life lies eastward: every day
+    Some little of that mystic way
+      By trembling feet is trod:
+    In thoughtful fast, and quiet feast,
+    Our thoughts go travelling to the East
+      To our incarnate God.
+    Fresh from the Font, our childhood's prime,
+    To life's most oriental time,--
+
+   "Still doth it eastward turn in prayer,
+    And rear its saving altar there:
+    Still doth it eastward turn in creed,
+    While faith in awe each gracious deed
+    Of her dear Saviour's love doth plead;
+    Still doth it turn at every line
+    To the fair East--in sweet mute sign
+    That through our weary strife and pain,
+    We crave our Eden back again."
+
+                                    FABER.
+
+
+Illustration: Sutton Benger Church
+
+
+
+
+THE CHANCEL
+
+
+"I hope you and my friend Mr. Beeland here are now working harmoniously
+together at Droneworth," said Mr. Ambrose to Sir John Adamley, as with
+Mr. Acres and the Vicar of Droneworth they were enjoying a pleasant
+afternoon stroll in the gardens of the Hall.
+
+"Well, I think we must say yes and no to that, for though we have never
+had any difference of opinion respecting the restoration of our church
+since the evening when I first had the pleasure of meeting you--and,
+indeed, I am proud, and we are all proud, of our renovated and beautiful
+church--yet there is one point on which we cannot quite agree. You see I
+am Lay Rector, and though I have long ago given up my old selfish idea
+about pews, and only claim the space in the church which I really want
+to occupy, yet I do consider that, as the chancel belongs to me, I have
+a right to a place _there_ for my family and servants, as well as for
+myself. But, unfortunately, Mr. Beeland thinks otherwise."
+
+"The chancel is furnished with handsome oak stalls for the choristers, I
+believe; as every chancel ought to be. You propose, if I understand you,
+to remove the choristers, and to occupy the stalls for yourselves and
+servants?"
+
+"I think I have a right to do so."
+
+"The right is very doubtful. The position of a lay rector is altogether
+an anomalous one; but the duty and the privilege connected with it are,
+to my mind, definite and plain enough. The duty is to keep out the wind
+and water from the chancel, the privilege is to receive the great tithes
+of the parish. Now, of course, this privilege and duty were originally
+never intended to be associated with other than a spiritual office. The
+tithes were for the support of the parish priest, and in return for
+them, there was laid upon him not only the spiritual supervision of the
+parish, but also the duty of keeping the _shell_ of that portion of the
+church which was occupied by him and the assisting clerks sound and
+entire. Now, of course, the rector, being a priest, had a right to his
+proper place in the chancel; and I by no means deny that the lay rector
+succeeds to the same right; but my belief is that the right (if any)
+extends _no farther than himself_. He represents the clerical rector,
+who certainly could only claim a right to a seat for _himself_, and it
+is my opinion the layman can claim no more. But, my dear sir, this is
+surely a case where higher considerations than mere legal rights should
+have influence. Even if you have the right, ought you not to waive it?
+For you cannot doubt that the chancel was never built to supply seats
+for the Squire's family, but for the priest and those whose office it is
+specially to assist him in _leading_ the prayers and praises of the
+congregation. No church is properly ordered where the chancel stalls are
+not occupied by the choir; and you can only rightly occupy a place there
+as one of them. So I venture to advise you to follow the example of our
+friend Mr. Acres, and next Sunday put on a surplice, and take your place
+as a member of the choir, for you have a good bass voice, which would be
+of great assistance there."
+
+"So you really think my claims as a lay rector should come down to
+this?"
+
+"Nay, I think they should come _up_ to this, for your highest, as well
+as most fitting office as a lay rector, is to assist in his duties the
+Vicar of your parish."
+
+"Well, I will think about that. You have studied these matters much more
+deeply than I have, and you always have the best of the argument. But I
+have something more to say. I should like to have your opinion as to the
+proper arrangement and furniture of the whole of the chancel[139], for
+ours has not yet been completed, and I have undertaken to finish it."
+
+"I will gladly give you my opinion on the subject. Of course, the altar
+should be the central and principal object in the church. For this
+reason, the east of the chancel should be the highest part, but for
+evident reasons the whole of the chancel should be higher than the
+nave[140]. There should be a marked difference between the chancel--or
+choir, and the sanctuary--or space immediately surrounding the altar; a
+difference which had its type in the 'Holy Place' and the 'Holy of
+Holies' of the Jewish temple. The _lectern_--or desk, from which the
+lessons are read, and the _faldstool_--or Litany desk, may be either
+just without or within the chancel screen. The _sedilia_[141]--a stone
+recess for the seats of the officiating clergy, with the
+_piscina_[142]--should be on the south side, and the _credence[143]
+table_ may be on the north or south side of the altar. The
+_reredos_[144], at the east end of the chancel, should be the most
+costly and elaborate part of the church, as it is connected with the
+most dignified portion of the building. Its most prominent feature
+should be the symbol of our salvation, and whatever adornment is
+employed, it should have distinct reference to the 'sacrifice of the
+death of Christ.' _Empty niches_ should here and every where be
+carefully avoided; for they have little beauty and no meaning. Without
+their tenants, they are ridiculous forms of ornamentation, for the
+corbel--or bracket, has no meaning unless it is intended to support a
+figure, nor its canopy, unless intended to shelter and protect one. I
+have seen slabs containing epitaphs and the armorial bearings of private
+persons, as well as the royal shield, substituted for a proper reredos,
+but this is a sad profanation[145]. There is one thing worse; and that
+is engraving armorial bearings on the sacred vessels. The _prayer
+desk_[146] should form part of the choir stalls, and look in the same
+direction; this desk should not face the congregation, as the priest
+does not preach the prayers _to_ the congregation, but says the prayers
+_with_ them. When the Absolution is said, the case is different, and the
+propriety of the change of posture and position is evident. This is
+directly addressed _to_ the congregation, and to be 'pronounced by the
+priest _standing_.' So in the Communion Office the Priest is directed to
+_stand up, and, turning himself to the people, pronounce the
+Absolution_."
+
+"I quite acknowledge the justness of what you say on these points, and
+shall gladly avail myself of your further counsel; specially I shall be
+grateful for your advice respecting the construction of the _altar_, and
+providing its proper furniture: but I have now already trespassed so
+long on your time, that I must only ask you to explain one thing more,
+and that is the meaning of the two little hollow square places in the
+north wall of our chancel."
+
+"They formerly were closets, and had doors, no doubt, of carved oak.
+They are commonly called _almeries_, and are to be found in all old
+churches, their use in the chancel being to hold the sacred vessels
+used at the altar; even where they can no longer be utilized, they ought
+to be preserved as objects of interest[147]."
+
+Illustration: Llanfaenor Church
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIV_
+
+THE ALTAR
+
+
+"We have an altar."
+
+Heb. xiii. 10.
+
+
+   "Whene'er I seek the holy altar's rail,
+      And kneel to take the grace there offer'd me,
+    It is no time to task my reason frail,
+      To try Christ's words, and search how they may be.
+    Enough, I eat His flesh, and drink His blood;
+    More is not told--to ask it is not good.
+
+   "I will not say with these, that bread and wine
+      Have vanish'd at the consecration prayer;
+    Far less, with those, deny that aught Divine,
+      And of immortal seed, is hidden there.
+    Hence, disputants! The din which ye admire
+    Keeps but ill measure with the church's choir."
+
+                                    _Lyra Apostolica._
+
+
+Illustration: St. Alban's Church, Holborn
+
+
+
+
+THE ALTAR
+
+
+It was late in the evening before the other guests had left the Hall,
+and our four friends sat down together in the library, without fear of
+interruption, to continue the conversation of the afternoon.
+
+"I should like you to tell me, Mr. Ambrose," said Sir John, "whether you
+consider that the word _altar_ is properly applied to a table made of
+wood."
+
+"Oh, most certainly it is. The term is equally applicable, whether the
+altar be made of wood or stone. No doubt stone was the material first
+used[148], yet at so early a period as the building of the tabernacle,
+we read that God commanded Moses to make an altar of _wood_[149]. In the
+earliest days of the Christian Church the altars were, probably without
+exception, made of wood; but afterwards it became the practice to erect
+them of stone, and from the sixth[150] to the sixteenth century this
+rule was all but universal."
+
+"How is the change to be accounted for?"
+
+"During the persecutions of the early Christians under the heathen
+Emperors of Rome, they resorted, as you are aware, to the subterranean
+catacombs there, as the only places where they could, in comparative
+safety, hold their religious services. Here the stone altar-tombs of
+those who had suffered martyrdom offered the most convenient and fitting
+altars for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. In after times, when
+the Church was prosperous and at peace, the remembrance of these
+altar-tombs not only suggested the material for the Christian altar, but
+also the custom of erecting it over the relics of saints and martyrs.
+This custom of building the altar over the bones of martyrs (which is
+still continued in the Roman Church, but which has for many years ceased
+to be the practice in our own), is, moreover, supposed to have reference
+to that mysterious vision in the Revelation of St. John, which you will
+remember he thus describes: 'When the Lamb had opened the fifth seal, I
+saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of
+God, and for the testimony which they held[151].'
+
+"The use of stone instead of wood was, no doubt, adopted also for other
+reasons than the one I have stated. Stone altars were less liable to
+desecration; they possess, too, a symbolism of their own, representing
+both the _incarnation_ and _entombment_ of our Blessed Lord[152]. The
+scriptural symbol of a Rock[153], as representing our Lord, might appear
+to be more evidently connected with the stone than the wooden altar, but
+this symbol must always be associated with the idea of altar, of
+whatever material it is made. The wooden altar, on the other hand, may
+seem to refer more directly to the _institution_ of the _Lord's Supper_;
+and the altar candlesticks have, of course, a peculiar and very manifest
+appropriateness when the altar is so considered."
+
+"But surely, my friend, the word _table_ seems to be here exactly
+applicable."
+
+"Yes, so it is; but you must not try to separate things which are
+inseparable. Every altar is a table, though every table is not an altar.
+Both terms are correct, but the one must not be supposed to exclude the
+other; and it would be strange indeed if, having a _priest_ and an
+_oblation_[154], the church should be without an _altar_. The top slab
+of the altar is the table[155], whether it is made of wood or stone.
+Where this slab is of stone, it has from early times been considered to
+represent the stone rolled to the mouth of the sepulchre of our Lord. In
+the Greek Church the _seal_ that was set on the stone[156] is
+represented by the consecrated wafer; in the Roman Church this seal is
+represented by the small square stone let into the centre of the altar
+table[157]. In the primitive Church there was but one altar in each
+church, but afterwards it became a custom to erect many others,
+dedicated to as many saints and martyrs. This was the custom in our own
+Church--just as it is still in the Roman Church--before Queen Elizabeth
+ordered all altars to be removed in every church, except the _high
+altar_, which is the only one we now retain; and, for my part, I
+certainly wish for no other. But at the same time _all stone altars_
+were ordered to be removed, and then altars of wood were once more
+placed in almost every church. I am sorry to say the old stone altars
+were broken up and desecrated. Some few, however, of them escaped[158],
+and many more have since that time been erected. There are probably
+hundreds of stone altars to be found in our cathedrals, college chapels,
+and parish churches, and I don't suppose (though some seem to do so)
+that people attach more superstitious meaning to them than to the most
+modern oaken Communion table. But, as I said before, to my mind it is
+indifferent whether the altar be of wood or stone."
+
+"I should like your opinion about the proper furniture for the altar."
+
+"First, with regard to its _covering_: the canon directs that the altar
+shall be covered with 'a carpet of silk, or other decent stuff' on
+ordinary occasions, and with 'a fair linen cloth' at the time of the
+celebration of Holy Communion. This order allows considerable liberty as
+to colour and pattern; but it appears to imply that it should be as rich
+as the circumstances of each case will allow[159]. Where cloths of more
+than one colour are used, these five--in accordance with very ancient
+practice--are commonly employed as specially adapted to the different
+seasons of the Christian year: _white_, at Christmas and certain other
+festivals, as emblematical of purity; _red_, as representing the blood
+of martyrs, and at Pentecost, as emblematic of the fiery tongues;
+_green_, for general use, as the prevailing colour of nature, and a sort
+of middle colour between the rest in use; _violet_ and _black_ as
+colours of mourning."
+
+"But, surely, this variety is _unnecessary_?"
+
+"Most assuredly. Nevertheless, where they can conveniently be had, they
+are _appropriate_, and teach their own lesson. It was not _necessary_ to
+put a cloth of black on the altar at Droneworth when your father died
+two years since; and I am doubtful whether Mr. Beeland was quite right
+in doing so. But surely if you thought it was right for him to do this
+at the funeral of a mere mortal man, you cannot say that it is wrong to
+use a black altar-cloth on _Good Friday_; and, of course, the same
+argument applies to all the rest. With regard to the custom in some
+places of covering half the church with black for a month, because some
+rich man has died in the parish--I say plainly that I regard that as
+next to impiety and profanation."
+
+"I see the justness of your words. What do you say to _cushions_ on the
+altar?"
+
+"Say! _they ought never to be there_. I can imagine nothing more out of
+place. I have often wondered for what purpose they could originally have
+been put there. They are certainly not required, nor yet convenient as a
+rest for the Altar Service Book. It is too shocking to suppose they were
+intended to enable the priest to rest his arms and head softly on God's
+altar! I have sometimes fancied I see their origin in an old custom
+observed in the Roman Church of placing the two lambs, whose wool was
+used for making the palls[160] with which the Bishop of Rome invests his
+archbishops with their archiepiscopal authority, on _two richly
+embroidered cushions, one of which was placed on the north, the other on
+the south side of the altar_; but I know not. A _desk_ of brass or oak
+is convenient to support the office-book, and _two candles_ are ordered
+to be placed on the altar."
+
+"But, my dear sir, I am told that is a very _Romish_ custom."
+
+"Well, Sir John, and so it is a very Romish custom to say the Lord's
+Prayer, and it is a very Hindoo custom for a wife to love her husband
+with a special devotion; but we shall not, for either reason, be
+disposed to blame either custom. The thing with us, like every thing
+else, is either right or wrong _in itself_, independent of the use of
+any other Church. But it so happens that this is the very reverse to a
+Romish custom, for these two candles were ordered to be placed on the
+altar in direct opposition to the custom of the Roman Catholic
+Church[161]. Nothing can be more expressive, and utterly
+unobjectionable, than the symbolism of these _two_ candles (of course,
+it is not _necessary_ that they should be _lighted_ in order to preserve
+their emblematic meaning), and I should be very sorry to see this simple
+symbolism broken into by the introduction of more than two lights upon
+the altar[162]. I have not by any means mentioned all that is required
+for the service of the altar; I have only spoken of its ordinary
+furniture. That which is specially required for the Eucharistic services
+is, doubtless, already provided in your church."
+
+"Before we say good-night," said Mr. Acres, "let me ask you one question
+indirectly connected with this subject. I notice that many of my
+neighbours receive the consecrated bread _on the palm of the hand_, some
+holding both hands in the form of a cross. I suppose this is in
+accordance with your instruction: I should like to know the reason for
+it. Where there are high altar-rails--which I much object to, and which,
+of course, are altogether unnecessary when the chancel screen is
+properly arranged, as with us--this custom would be very inconvenient."
+
+"The short rail, north and south, for the use of the aged and infirm, is
+certainly all that is required. As regards the manner of receiving the
+sacred element, to which you refer, I certainly have recommended it, and
+for these reasons: it is much more convenient both for the priest and
+the communicant; it avoids all danger of any portion of the bread
+falling on the floor; and it is most in accordance with the rubric,
+which directs that the minister shall deliver the communion _into_ the
+hands of the recipients."
+
+"Thank you. I consider your reasons as amply sufficient, and I see no
+possible objection to the custom."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXV_
+
+THE ORGAN-CHAMBER
+
+
+"Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen
+ephod."
+
+1 Sam. ii. 18.
+
+
+   "But let my due feet never fail
+    To walk the studious cloisters pale,
+    And love the high embowed roof,
+    With antique pillars, massy proof,
+    And storied windows, richly dight,
+    Casting a dim religious light.
+    There let the pealing organ blow,
+    To the full-voiced quire below,
+    In service high, and anthems clear,
+    As may with sweetness, through mine ear,
+    Dissolve me into ecstasies,
+    And bring all Heaven before mine eyes."
+
+                             _Il Penseroso._
+
+
+Illustration: Icklesham Church
+
+
+
+
+THE ORGAN-CHAMBER.
+
+
+"And so, Harry, my boy, you have really made up your mind to be a
+chorister?" said Mr. Ambrose to old Matthew's grandson, one Sunday
+morning.
+
+"Yes, if you please, sir," was his reply. "Grandfather says he should
+like me to be one."
+
+"And you wish it yourself, do you?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Very well. You are a well-conducted boy, and God has given you a good
+musical voice, so we shall be very pleased to have you amongst us. But
+you must never forget that there is not only a high honour, but also a
+very solemn responsibility connected with the office of a chorister.
+Always remember, then, that you are in a very especial way _God's
+servant_, that His eye is upon you, and that He will expect you to do
+your duty in the _very best way you possibly can_. You must _sing and
+give praise with the best member that you have_[163]--that is, you must
+devote to God's praise and glory the very best service you can render.
+You are a little boy to talk to about setting a good example to a
+congregation, composed for the most part of persons so much older than
+yourself, but yet that is one of your chief duties. When you are in the
+choir, the eyes of all the congregation are upon you, and they should
+not only _hear_ you singing as well as you can, and so be led themselves
+to join heartily in the musical parts of the service, but also _at all
+other times_ they should _see_ you reverent and devout in your conduct;
+and be sure, my boy, this good and serious behaviour of yours will have
+its influence upon others, though perhaps they may be hardly conscious
+of it. Now there is enough in this to make you very serious, but yet the
+thought that God permits you in your young years thus to help in
+promoting His glory, and to be such a blessing to your fellow-creatures,
+should make you very happy and very thankful to Him." ...
+
+Before the commencement of the Morning Prayers little Harry was solemnly
+admitted a member of the choir. The ceremony was a very simple, but yet
+a very solemn one. On this occasion the usual order of entering the
+church was reversed. Mr. Ambrose came first, then the eight senior
+members of the choir, then the seven boy choristers, and last came
+Harry. All wore their surplices except Harry, and he carried his new
+little surplice on his arm. During the procession solemn music was
+played on the organ. As soon as it ceased, all knelt down to say their
+private prayers, Harry kneeling on a cushion prepared for him at the
+entrance to the chancel. It was the custom at St. Catherine's for all
+the congregation to stand up when the priest and choir entered; which
+custom, besides being a mark of respect for His presence to whom they
+were about to dedicate their worship and service, had this
+advantage--that it induced all to say their private prayers at the same
+time, and thus avoided much confusion; it tended also to prepare the
+mind _at once_ to enter into the spirit of the _public_ service.
+
+After a short pause, Mr. Ambrose read a portion of the third chapter of
+the first book of Samuel. He then addressed Harry in these words:--
+
+"Henry, before I proceed to admit you a member of the choir of this
+church, you must promise, before God and this congregation, that in the
+solemn office on which you are about to enter, you will always strive
+above all things to promote His glory. Do you so promise?"
+
+Little Harry, in a timid, trembling voice, answered, "I do so promise."
+
+The Vicar and choir then sang, alternately, the following sentences:--
+
+  _Priest._--"Our help is in the name of the Lord;"
+
+  _Choir._--"Who made heaven and earth."
+
+  _P._--"O Lord, bless and keep this Thy servant;"
+
+  _C._--"Who putteth his trust in Thee."
+
+  _P._--"Accept his service in this Thy House;"
+
+  _C._--"And make the voice of Thy praise to be glorious."
+
+  _P._--"Lord, hear our prayer;"
+
+  _C._--"And let our crying come unto Thee."
+
+Mr. Ambrose then read these verses:--
+
+"And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy
+place--also the Levites, which were the singers, all of them of Asaph,
+of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed
+in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the
+east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests
+sounding with trumpets:--it came even to pass as the trumpeters and
+singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and
+thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets
+and cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For
+He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was
+filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests
+could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the
+Lord had filled the house of God[164]."
+
+The choir then sang, "Glory be to Thee, O God," during which time the
+senior choir boy led little Harry into the middle of the choir, where he
+knelt down on a cushion prepared for him.
+
+Mr. Ambrose then said this prayer: "O most merciful Father, before whom
+'Samuel ministered, being a child, girded with a linen ephod,' give, we
+pray Thee, to this Thy youthful servant such gifts as shall enable him
+to sing Thy praise, and promote Thy glory in this Thy Temple, and grace
+to worship Thee acceptably in the beauty of holiness, and to adorn the
+doctrine of Christ his Saviour in all things. Amen."
+
+Harry then stood up, and as Mr. Ambrose placed on him his little
+surplice, he said,--
+
+"Henry, I robe you in this surplice in token that you are now set apart
+to be a chorister, and, together with those around you, to assist in the
+high and glorious work of leading the praises of God in this church: let
+the whiteness of this robe always remind you of that purity which should
+mark the service you here offer up to God. I pray you never, either
+here or elsewhere, to disgrace this robe of your solemn office. What
+you sing with your lips believe in your heart, and what you believe in
+your heart fulfil in your life; and may God so bless and protect you,
+that when this life is ended, you may join that angel choir who in robes
+of white sing before the Throne, 'Glory to God and to the Lamb for ever
+and ever.' Amen."
+
+The new chorister then took his place in the choir, whilst the organ
+almost thundered the following chorus, in which all joined:--
+
+"O Great and Mighty God, with angels and archangels we laud and magnify
+Thy glorious name. Amen."
+
+The usual morning service then proceeded. Many eyes were fixed on the
+earnest, thoughtful little face that appeared for the first time in the
+choir; and with not a little pardonable pride did old Matthew watch the
+hearty efforts of his grandson to fulfil the promise he had just made.
+
+It had long been a custom for the Vicar and Mr. Mendles, the organist,
+to partake of a late meal at the Hall when their Sunday duties were
+ended; and on this Sunday evening the Squire accompanied them home from
+church.
+
+"Our little friend," said he, "will be quite an acquisition to the
+choir; he has a very sweet voice."
+
+"Yes, he has," replied the Vicar; "and what is of no less importance, he
+is sure to conduct himself well. But, for that matter, I have no reason
+to complain of any one of our choir; for, thanks to Mr. Mendles, and to
+their own sense of propriety, I don't believe there is a better
+conducted choir in any parish than ours."
+
+"That is very much owing to your allowing no men to be there who are not
+communicants."
+
+"That's a good rule, no doubt, and accounts, perhaps, more than any
+thing for their reverent behaviour. You well know, Mr. Mendles, there
+was little reverence enough once."
+
+"The great difficulty," said Mr. Mendles, "is to persuade the choir that
+they should sing to God, _with_ the congregation, not _to_ the
+congregation. I strive both to learn myself, and to teach them, that our
+singing should be _worship_, not the mere exhibition of _talent_, and
+that we ought to rejoice when the congregation _join in_, not when they
+only _listen to_ our hymns and chants. I believe we have now learnt the
+lesson, and are the happier for it."
+
+"And we all feel the benefit of that lesson too," said the Vicar, "for
+whereas formerly nothing but flashy tunes which enabled them to show off
+their own talent would please the choir, we have now, thank God, a
+solemn and devotional character in the music of our liturgical services,
+and a joyful gladness in the music of our hymns--equally far removed
+from levity and from mournfulness--which, with our praises and our
+prayers, seem to float up our very souls to heaven."
+
+"I think we must attribute the success of our musical services in some
+measure to the new position of the organ, must we not, Mr. Mendles?"
+said the Squire.
+
+"Most certainly. There can be no doubt that the most convenient position
+for the organ-chamber is either on the north or south side of the
+chancel; or, if the organ is divided, on both sides. It is a misfortune
+that, as organs were but little known when most of our old churches were
+erected[165], we find no fitting place provided for them in the original
+structure. There is, however, no excuse for our modern architects who
+are guilty of such an omission; and it is a matter of surprise to me
+that they do not make the organ-chamber a feature of more prominence and
+greater beauty, both externally and internally, than they are accustomed
+to do."
+
+"True," said the Squire; "specially as in our days the organ is regarded
+as all but a necessity in every church. Certainly, there is no musical
+instrument so suitable for congregational worship, for whilst it
+represents all kinds of music, it exactly realizes the description given
+in the account of the dedication of the temple which Mr. Ambrose read
+this morning, and brings together the cymbals and the psalteries and the
+harps, and the trumpeters and the singers '_as one_.'
+
+"It is a curious fact--is it not, sir?--that whereas the presence of
+organs in our churches used to be the source of great offence to
+Dissenters in this country, and has recently been the subject of much
+dispute among Presbyterian Dissenters, yet you can now hardly find a
+Dissenting meeting-house of any size but can boast of its organ, and
+often a very good one too. Let us hope, Mr. Vicar, that ere long they,
+may become reconciled also to other things in our Church which now they
+may regard with the same horror with which they once looked upon the
+church organ."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVI_
+
+THE VESTRY
+
+
+"Let all things be done decently and in order."
+
+1 Cor. xiv. 40.
+
+
+    "Avoid profaneness! Come not here.
+     Nothing but holy, pure, and clear,
+     Or that which groaneth to be so,
+     May at his peril farther go."
+
+                         GEORGE HERBERT.
+
+
+Illustration: Harpsden Church
+
+
+
+
+THE VESTRY
+
+
+To the close friendship which existed between the Squire and the Vicar,
+constantly cemented by such meetings as we have just described, was
+owing, in a considerable degree, the general harmony and goodwill which
+made St. Catherine's one of the most peaceful villages in England. When,
+many years ago, Mr. Ambrose first became Vicar there, he felt it his
+duty to make many changes in a parish which had been long neglected, and
+in a church which was almost a ruin. His labours were then regarded with
+much suspicion and disfavour; but he had now been long enough resident
+in the parish to live down all that hostile feeling. Nevertheless, it
+was not all peace at St. Catherine's. From time to time there would be
+an importation of cross-grained malcontents, who usually succeeded in
+stirring up some parochial strife.
+
+Such had for some time past been the laudable occupation of William
+Strike and his too faithful companion, whom, by kind permission of Mr.
+Gallio, the registrar, he was allowed to call his wife. He had never
+promised to love her, and she had never promised to obey him, and on
+these little points each scrupulously maintained a right to act in
+perfect independence of the other: nevertheless, they heartily united in
+a common effort to instil into the minds of their neighbours a feeling
+of hostility to wards the church; and some discord in the parish was the
+natural consequence. An opportunity offered on the morning of Easter
+Monday for Strike to find a full vent for all his spleen.
+
+It is a sad, sad thought, that at this season of the Christian year,
+when all should be peace, the bitterness of party strife should break up
+the harmony of so many parishes. But so it is; and so it was at St.
+Catherine's; and this one man was at the bottom of all the mischief.
+
+"I am sorry to see you are going to the vestry this morning, William,"
+said Mr. Dole, as they met in the village street.
+
+"I've as much right there as you have, I suppose," he replied; "you're
+going to support the Vicar, and I'm going to oppose him thick and thin."
+
+"Peace is better than war, William."
+
+"Well, _you_ used to be on our side once, and I should like to know
+what's made you turn round?"
+
+"It would take too long to answer that question fully, William. It will
+be enough if I tell you that where I thought I knew most, I found myself
+all wrong; and the more I thought and inquired, the more convinced I was
+that there could be only one true Church committed by Christ to His
+Apostles and their successors, and that to separate from that, and cause
+division and schism, must be a sin. After long and prayerful
+consideration, and many conversations with Mr. Ambrose on the subject, I
+was convinced that the sect to which I belonged--and you do still--was
+not the one true Church; and so I left it."
+
+"Well, I don't mean to leave it; and I don't mean that the parson shall
+have it all his own way in this parish."
+
+Mr. Dole had in vain tried to bring his companion to a better mind when
+they reached the vestry[166]. It was a small chamber on the opposite
+side of the chancel to the organ[167], and there was a sombreness about
+it that harmonized with the solemn use for which it was intended. On the
+eastern side were two small windows filled with stained glass, and over
+them, in large letters, was the sentence, "Let thy priests be clothed
+with righteousness, and let thy saints sing with joyfulness." Between
+these two windows stood an oaken table, on which was a small desk or
+lectern; and on this, written in beautifully illuminated characters,
+were the prayers used by Mr. Ambrose and the choir before and after the
+Church services. Before the table was a small embroidered kneeling
+cushion for the priest at these times. The parish chest[168], and two
+ancient chairs, all of oak and richly carved, completed the furniture of
+the vestry; whilst on its walls were hung the surplices of the choir and
+the vestments of the priest[169].
+
+The meeting was called together for the double purpose of electing
+churchwardens and making a church-rate, and it was soon evident to the
+Vicar that Strike and his friends had come determined on a stormy
+meeting. But few angry words, however, had been spoken, when Mr. Ambrose
+rose and said, "My friends, I had hoped that this meeting would have
+been conducted in that spirit of Christian charity and peacefulness
+which has been our custom; but as I find this is not to be the case, I
+will not allow any part of God's House to be desecrated by the
+exhibition of party animosity and angry strife[170]. This vestry is
+known to those of you who are associated with me in conducting our
+religious services, as the place of holy meditation and solemn prayer;
+nor are its associations less sacred to those among you who have come
+here, with unquiet consciences or troubled minds, to seek my counsel and
+advice. All around us here, my friends, reminds us of the service of a
+God of love; so if the Demon of Discord must come into our little
+parish, let this place, at least, not be the scene of his unhallowed
+presence."
+
+It was then proposed to adjourn the meeting to the house of Mr. Walton;
+and he, having both a good heart under his waistcoat, and a large room
+in his house, readily agreed to the proposal. He was, moreover, one of
+the churchwardens, and, though the village blacksmith, was a man in good
+circumstances, and exercised considerable influence for good in the
+parish.
+
+Nothing can be less profitable than to read the "foolish talking" which
+commonly characterizes a discordant vestry meeting; we will, therefore,
+pass that over. The churchwardens were re-elected, and the church-rate
+was carried. The Vicar then endeavoured to pour oil upon the troubled
+waters by delivering a kind and friendly address, which he ended in
+these words: "Mr. Strike tells you that he will always oppose the Church
+so long as it is in any way supported by the State. But let me remind
+him that the Church did not receive from the State the possessions with
+which she is endowed for the maintenance of true religion in this land.
+Those were, for the most part, given to our Church by pious men and
+women, many hundreds of years ago; and the State, in securing these to
+us, is only acting with common honesty, and doing no more for the Church
+than it does for every other society--indeed, for every person--in the
+country. But Mr. Strike tells you, too, he will not give a penny for
+keeping up the fabric of the Church, because he is a Dissenter. Now, my
+friends, to take the _very lowest_ view of the Church, and regarding her
+temples only as places in which a high standard of _morality_ is set up,
+it is surely for the advantage of the _State_, and for the _community_,
+that they should be maintained; and, therefore, _all_ should help to
+maintain them. 'Yes,' you say, 'but we teach morality, too, in our
+little Salem Chapel at Droneworth: why should not our meeting-house be
+supported as much as your Church?' My answer is, that your Salem Chapel
+may any day share the fate of the Little Bethel Meeting-House that used
+to be in our parish. Besides, on your own principles, you cannot accept
+State aid to keep it up. Of course I have myself higher reasons for
+considering it the duty of the State to secure the proper reparation of
+the fabric of our churches; but I have only taken the lowest ground; I
+think, however, that even that is firm enough to bear the weight of the
+whole argument. But now, my friends, let us part in peace, and let all
+angry feeling die away."
+
+"The church-rates will soon be done away with altogether, depend upon
+it, sir," shouted Mr. Strike, in a tone which was an evident
+protestation against that spirit of peace which Mr. Ambrose was so
+anxious should pervade his parish.
+
+"It may be so," said the Vicar; "and if so, I believe and pray that God
+will overrule even that for the benefit of His Church."
+
+And so the St. Catherine's vestry ended.
+
+"I am heartily glad," said Mr. Acres to the Vicar, "that we did not have
+all that row in the church to-day. Sorry as I am to make Mr. Walton's
+house the scene of such discord, yet I am sure he would far rather have
+it here than in the church vestry."
+
+"Any where's better than the church," said Mr. Walton, "for such
+quarrels as these."
+
+"By the bye," said Mr. Acres, as they both rose to depart, "do you
+remember the time when the churchwardens used to retire to the vestry
+before the conclusion of the service to count up the alms? We could, you
+know, hear the jingling of the money during all the later prayers of the
+service, and a most indecent interruption it was. How far more seemly is
+your custom of reverently presenting the alms at the altar, where it
+remains till the close of the service. And I am so grateful to you for
+abandoning that objectionable and most ridiculous custom of holding the
+_plates_ at the church door. The custom seemed so completely to do away
+with the idea of almsgiving as an _act of worship_. How many a wickedly
+grotesque scene has occurred at the door of our own church, plainly
+showing that many who contributed their alms simply gave them to Mr.
+Walton or Mr. Acres, and least of all thought of giving them _to God_.
+Nay, so anxious was dear old Lady Angelina Hilltower and her daughter to
+confer upon _us_ equal honour, and to avoid any just cause of jealousy
+between us, that they used to create quite a pantomime at the door
+whenever there was a collection, by crossing over to put half-a-crown in
+each plate, making at the same time a profound obeisance to each of us."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Acres, "I certainly am glad all that's done away with;
+but I'm more glad that at last we have been able to get rid altogether
+of the plates for collecting the offertory, and to substitute _Bags_.
+There has been some opposition, as you are aware; some pleaded long
+custom as a reason for retaining the plates, and some, who were rather
+proud of their stereotyped shilling, did not wish their benevolence to
+be hidden. In fact all those who _did their alms before men, to be seen
+of them_, were of course hostile to the change."
+
+"I know," said the Squire, "that some were at first offended, but none
+knew why. I never heard the faintest approach to a reasonable objection
+to this plainly scriptural manner of _secret_ almsgiving; nor did I ever
+hear an argument of any weight in favour of the plate system, except
+that it sometimes forces money from unwilling contributors, and that
+argument is too contemptible to notice.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVII_
+
+THE PILLARS
+
+
+"The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
+
+1 Tim. iii. 15.
+
+
+    "See, the Church her head once more hath lifted;
+       Seemly order dwells within her gate;
+     God-sent art adorns her holy precincts,
+       And no more she lieth desolate.
+
+    "What is it that she is saying, brothers?
+       All the subtle skill of graver's hand,
+     All the heavenward shafts, and bended arches,
+       Utter speech to those that understand.
+
+    "You can hear them telling some things loudly,
+       Telling of ungrudging love and care;
+     But I catch an inner voice that pleadeth
+       Soft and sweet, like music in the air.
+
+    "And it saith,--from every wreathed column,
+       Every leafy carving, breathing low,--
+    'Take our message, O ye _living_ temples,
+       Fold it in your breasts, before ye go.
+
+    "'Purge the shrine of your own souls within you
+       From all stain of pride and sloth and sin,
+     Grace it with all saintly decoration:
+       Then your God shall come and dwell within.'"
+
+                                                  W. W. H.
+
+
+Illustration: Church of St. John, Highbridge
+
+
+
+
+THE PILLARS
+
+
+It was the day before the Festival of the Ascension, and Ascension Day
+being not only one of the greatest festivals of the Christian year, but
+being, moreover, the day on which the people of St. Catherine's were
+used to commemorate with great rejoicing the restoration of their now
+beautiful temple, old Matthew and the Vicar were busily engaged
+assisting those of the parishioners, old and young, who had the time to
+spare and were sufficiently skilful, in decorating the church with
+flowers and evergreens.
+
+"I remember, sir, when I was a boy, we used to call those twelve pillars
+that the ladies are putting the flowers on, the _twelve Apostles_," said
+old Matthew.
+
+"It's a common number in large churches," replied the Vicar, "and the
+name for them which you remember is not an unusual one. I remember one
+church where there are eleven pillars, and the old sexton told me they
+stood for eleven of the Apostles, and that there would have been twelve,
+but Judas was omitted. The pillars of the church, as the chief supports
+of the fabric, are said to represent the Apostles, Prophets, and
+Martyrs[171]. As I have often told you, there is hardly a part of the
+church without its special meaning: 'even the smallest details should
+have a meaning, or serve a purpose[172],' and whatever has a meaning
+serves a purpose, and whatever serves a purpose, has a meaning, and a
+very important one too. The four main walls of the building have a
+similar meaning to the pillars. They are supposed to represent the four
+Evangelists[173]. The stones of which they are composed represent
+Christians--the living stones of the spiritual building[174]; the
+cement which joins them together is charity, 'the bond of
+perfectness[175]' which binds together the members of the Christian
+Church. The door[176] represents the means of entrance to the invisible
+kingdom; the windows remind us of that sacred presence which keeps out
+the storm of angry and sinful life, and admits the light of Christ and
+His Word. You see, Matthew, the old church builders were themselves
+_Churchmen_; sometimes even bishops were famous architects, like
+Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, and William of Wykeham, Bishop of
+Winchester; and then they made themselves felt in all their works--I
+mean, they gave a religious character and meaning to all parts of the
+structure they reared. And so there were always a hundred preachers in
+the Church, though not a tongue uttered a single word."
+
+"I understand what you mean, sir--the stones were the preachers."
+
+"Just so, Matthew; and then the churches were always open, and people
+used to go and meditate and pray there at all hours; for in church they
+found themselves surrounded by so much that reminded them of Heaven and
+God's presence, and sacred things, and so little to remind them of the
+world and of sin, that they could think and pray there better than any
+where else. But in after times the old churches became neglected and
+dilapidated, and the new churches were so mean and cold and bare, that
+there was every thing to chill and nothing to warm devotion, and so
+people gave up the good old custom of going to hear the stones preach,
+and to say their daily prayers to God in His sanctuary. But the time is
+coming back again, I am thankful to say, and church builders are again
+good Churchmen, and regard the building of churches as a sacred art and
+a religious work; and the people are less contented to be ignorant about
+these things; and the churches are no longer closed from Sunday night to
+the next Sunday morning, as they used to be."
+
+"I haven't read my Bible right, Mr. Ambrose, if it isn't a very wicked
+thing to allow God's House to go to decay. In our old church people
+seemed to have forgotten all about the '_beauty_ of holiness,' both in
+their manner of worship and in the house where they worshipped. They had
+their own houses 'ceiled with cedar and painted with vermilion,' and
+this house was 'laid waste[177].' I have been told how grand Queen
+Victoria's Palace is, and how beautiful the Parliament House is, and I
+have often thought that surely, sir, the house of the great King of
+kings, and the great Ruler of all our rulers should be grand and
+beautiful too. But our churchwardens not only didn't try to make the old
+church beautiful, sir, but hid as much as possible of whatever beauty
+they found."
+
+"Too true, my friend," said the Vicar: "these old pillars had become so
+coated over with whitewash that their rich carved work could hardly be
+seen at all. Whitewash was the cheapest thing they could use to hide the
+green damp and the plaster patches, and for that reason I suppose they
+used it."
+
+The work of decoration went on rapidly; the many busy hands soon
+effected a wonderful change in the appearance of the church, which gave
+it a very festive character. The choicest flowers were placed at the
+back of the altar, others were used in various ecclesiastical designs,
+or woven into wreaths of evergreens. The texts of Holy Scripture painted
+above the arches from pillar to pillar were neatly framed in borders of
+evergreens, and wreaths of the same were already twined around many of
+the columns[178].
+
+The capitals of all the pillars were carved in imitation of the many
+wild flowers and ferns which grew in the neighbourhood[179]. Although
+these had been carved not less than five hundred years ago, the same
+wild flowers were still to be found in the parish; and every year on
+Ascension Day it was the custom at St. Catherine's to decorate each of
+these pillars with the same natural flowers that had been imitated in
+stone. It was a pretty custom, for as the natural leaves and flowers
+faded or were removed, their more enduring likenesses were disclosed,
+and remained throughout the year the faithful representatives of their
+bright and gay originals.
+
+"Well, my dear," said the Vicar, addressing Ellen Walton, his
+churchwarden's little daughter, "you have really shown great taste in
+arranging those ferns; they look beautiful indeed."
+
+"I deserve but little credit, sir, for any taste of my own," she
+replied, "for I have but copied the stone carving as near as I could."
+
+"Yes, but you _do_ deserve great credit, as every body does who copies
+exactly that which is worth copying. The workman who so cleverly
+imitated in stone these beautiful works of God, in order to adorn God's
+House throughout the year with memorials of His goodness in making our
+summer fields so lovely, deserved much praise; and now, though yours is
+a lighter task, that you have given life, as it were, to his work, by
+your nice arrangement of leaf to leaf, and flower to flower, I must give
+you some praise too. But I see you are anxious to ask me a question."
+
+"Yes, sir. I was talking to Sally Strike this morning about the
+decorations, and she says they are all nonsense and unmeaning; she says,
+too, it's very wicked to put flowers about the church, for it's nothing
+but a heathen and idolatrous custom. Of course, I don't much notice what
+she says about it, but I don't very well know what to answer her, and I
+was going to ask you, sir, to be kind enough to tell me."
+
+"Sally Strike doesn't often say any thing very wise, my dear, and this
+is no exception to the rule. You had better answer her out of her own
+mouth. Ask her, when she gathered all the flowers her own garden could
+produce to decorate the little 'Rehoboth'--as they call that
+meeting-house on Wanderer's Heath--when they held their last 'love
+feast,' and had tea and cake in their chapel, did she put the flowers
+there to make the place look gloomy, or to make it look festive and gay?
+Or, why did she do the same thing a little while ago, when they gave a
+children's treat in their meeting-house? Was it because it was a time of
+sadness or of rejoicing? No doubt, she will tell you it was the latter.
+Well, we decorate our churches for a similar reason. We regard all the
+Christian festivals as seasons for great gladness and rejoicing, and
+whilst at other times we are obliged, for the most part, to content
+ourselves with such ornamentation of God's House as our own poor
+imitations of the forms and colours of Nature can supply, on these high
+days we press into the service of the temple the lovely originals of all
+those forms and colours, fresh and pure as when they first left the hand
+of their Divine Maker.
+
+"'Tis true that the heathen used flowers in decorating their temples and
+altars, and also their victims prepared for sacrifice[180]. But they
+used them just as Sally Strike uses them at her meeting-house, for the
+_sole_ purpose of _decoration_. Now, though we use flowers to give a
+festive appearance to our churches, our use of them has, too, always a
+meaning beyond that: how they remind us of the _love of God_ in arraying
+this earth with so much beauty for our enjoyment; how they remind us of
+the pure and lovely delights of the Paradise that is lost; and of our
+future resurrection[181] to a Paradise of yet greater beauty. And it is
+from our Bibles that we learn to give, too, an _emblematic_ meaning to
+particular flowers, so that, whether carved by man, or moulded by the
+hand of Nature, each one teaches its own useful lesson. There we find
+the lily mentioned as the emblem of God's providence; the rose as the
+type of youthful beauty; the cedar, of manly strength. Nay, my dear
+Ellen, we may even find in Holy Scripture itself our authority for
+decorating our churches with these pure and unsinning works of God. You
+remember, no doubt, the verse to which I allude: 'The glory of Lebanon
+shall come unto thee: the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together,
+to beautify the place of My sanctuary[182]'."
+
+"Thank you, sir, I quite understand your explanation. But Sally Strike
+said she didn't object to the way the church used to be decorated thirty
+years ago, when plain twigs of evergreen were put at the corners of the
+pews, and some large branches fixed here and there on the walls; but she
+does not like the triangles and circles and crosses, and the other
+designs we now use."
+
+"And yet nothing could be more silly than the dislike, though I fear it
+is one in which many--for mere want of thought--share. Surely, the
+twigs themselves must be at least as harmless when bound together as
+when used singly; and certainly it is better that they should be formed
+into beautiful and religiously _suggestive_ designs, than scattered
+unmeaningly about the church. The cross, often repeated, reminds us, you
+know, of the one grand pervading truth of our religion; the circle, of
+eternity; the triangle, of the Holy Trinity. We almost even forget the
+beauty of the design itself in the beauty of its symbol."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVIII_
+
+THE ROOF
+
+
+"Thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the roof thereof."
+
+Exod. xxx. 3.
+
+
+    "Give all thou canst; high heaven rejects the lore
+     Of nicely calculated less or more:
+     So deem'd the man who fashion'd for the sense
+     These lofty pillars,--spread that branching roof,
+     Self-poised, and scoped into ten thousand cells,
+     Where light and shade repose, where music dwells
+     Ling'ring and wand'ring on, as loth to die,
+     Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof
+     That they were born for immortality."
+
+                                            WORDSWORTH.
+
+
+Illustration: Keynsham Church
+
+
+
+
+THE ROOF
+
+
+"I'm glad to see you both among the helpers to-day," said the Vicar, as
+he shook hands with William Hardy and Richard Atkinson, "though I know
+this must cost you at least the value of a day's work."
+
+The village carpenter and mason were always accustomed on these
+occasions to give their services gratuitously.
+
+"Very glad indeed to come and do the best we can, sir," replied William
+Hardy, "though we couldn't quite agree about it at home, my wife and me,
+till we'd talked it over a bit."
+
+Now Hardy's wife, though not generally unamiable, was like many other
+wives in this respect; namely, she had acquired a habit of always
+questioning the wisdom or sincerity of her husband's actions, which she
+could now no more shake off than she could her own identity.
+
+"I'm sorry to hear that," said the Vicar; "but how was it?"
+
+"Well, you see, sir, my wife says to me, 'William, you might turn your
+time to better account than going up to the church with Richard Atkinson
+to-day. You'd be able to earn five shillings, and that would just pay
+for the new ribbon for my bonnet, which indeed I do want very much.' 'I
+really believe you do, my dear,' says I, 'and so I must just alter my
+plans a little. I thought I wanted a new Sunday hat very much indeed,
+and I was just going to buy one at Master Dole's the other day, when
+thinks I to myself--no, I mustn't buy it, because I shall lose a day's
+earnings at church next week, so I'll give the new hat to the church,
+and have one for myself six months hence. But that's no reason why you
+should lose your ribbons, so I'll over-work for a few days, and earn the
+ribbons that way.' You see, Mr. Ambrose, I was thinking of that text,
+'God forbid that I should offer to the Lord my God of that which doth
+cost me nothing.' Well, sir, them words softened her a good deal; but
+then she says to me, 'William, what's the _use_ of all them ornaments at
+the church? I really do call it waste of time and money.' 'My dear,'
+says I, 'there's something better than _use_, I mean as you and I talk
+of use, there is such a thing as doing things out of love and reverence
+for God, and for nothing else, and that's what I should like to do if I
+can. There wasn't no more _use_ in the precious ointment which the good
+woman poured on our Saviour's head, than in these ornaments we put up in
+His church. And you know who it was that called that a _waste_, and you
+know who it was too that praised her for what she did[183].' 'I think
+you're right,' says she; and so I came away."
+
+"And so you were, my friend. But it's hard to persuade people that there
+is such a thing as _a worship of adoration_, prompted simply by a sense
+of love, gratitude, veneration, entirely apart from all idea of benefit,
+advantage, or use to ourselves in _any way_. As you rightly say,
+however, _there is_.--But I see the children have finished the frames
+for the clerestory[184] windows, so you had better put them up."
+
+"You mean the windows just under the roof, sir?"
+
+"Yes; it is not safe for them to climb so high."
+
+"I suppose you won't attempt to carry your decorations higher than that,
+Mr. Vicar?" said the Squire, as he approached to see how the work was
+going on.
+
+"No, that must satisfy us. Indeed, this roof is so rich in colour and
+carving that we could hardly make it look more festive than it does."
+
+"It is, indeed, a grand old roof; but I rather prefer the high-pitched
+roof of the chancel to this flatter one of the nave, though certainly
+nothing can be more beautiful than its carving. The figures of angels on
+the corbels[185] supporting the principal timbers are exceedingly well
+done. What do you imagine to be the dates of these two roofs?"
+
+"I should say that that in the chancel was built about A.D. 1350, and
+this in the nave about A.D. 1500. These flatter roofs of our
+perpendicular period do not any of them date much farther back than A.D.
+1500[186]."
+
+"I quite agree with you in preferring the older high-pitch for our
+timber roofs. By-the-bye, it is a curious conception that this
+particular kind of roof has a likeness to the inverted keel of the
+ark[187]--itself an emblem of the Christian Church. But I prefer to
+regard it, as I do the windows, and doors, and arches of _pointed_
+architecture, as an emblem of the _incompleteness_ of our worship here.
+As I look up through the intricate multitude of timbers, and my gaze
+becomes lost amid the dark top beams of the roof, my thoughts are
+insensibly led higher still[188]. There is something in these lofty open
+roofs that always seems to invite one's thoughts _above them_--so
+different from the flat ceilings of most dissenting meeting-houses, and
+some of our churches built a hundred years ago. To me these flat
+ceilings are very depressing."
+
+"Yes; and not a little irritating too, when you consider what splendid
+timber roofs in old churches, they often conceal. Ugly, however, and
+objectionable as they are, they have the one merit of being
+_unpretending_; and give me any thing rather than a _sham_--a
+lath-and-plaster roof with papier-mache or stucco bosses, and all sorts
+of painting and shading in perspective, in imitation of wood or stone,
+making the poor roof guilty of a perpetual _lie_. I do own that tries my
+temper immensely!"
+
+"There can be no doubt, too, that the high-pitch better suits our
+variable climate than any other. I fear, however, that many of those
+which were built but a few years since are not very enduring. Young, or
+badly-seasoned wood, thin, poor timbers, which cannot last long, have
+too often been put into the roof. Sometimes this has been the dishonest
+act of the builder; but we have been too much in the habit of building
+for _ourselves only_--not like our forefathers, who put up those big
+masses of timber over our heads. They built for themselves and for
+_posterity too_.
+
+    "'They dreamt not of a perishable home,
+      Who thus could build[189].'"
+
+"Ah, yes! and that is, of course, especially true of those who erected
+the noble _stone_ roofs of our cathedrals, and many parish churches too.
+Nothing, of course, can equal the stone roof with its beautiful carvings
+and mouldings, richly gilt and coloured. Nothing like stone for colour!
+How very beautiful is the deep blue, with its golden stars, over the
+altar in our own cathedral! They look well in our own church, but the
+colours are richer there, not so much faded. That representation of
+Heaven's canopy mantling over the most holy part of our church always
+seems to me so very appropriate and suggestive."
+
+"It is a matter of surprise to me," said the Squire, "that more care has
+not generally been taken to beautify the _external_ part of our church
+roofs. What relief is given to the long line of a nave roof by a good
+patterned row of ridge tiles, or by some ornamental ironwork on the
+ridge! The gable cross considerably relieves the chancel roof. And
+where the roof is of stone, why don't we have richly-carved _external_,
+as well as internal, stone-work? That, to my mind, is the perfection of
+a stone roof[190]."
+
+At this point, the attention of both was directed to little Harry, old
+Matthew's grandson, who, with a fixed expression of deep thoughtfulness,
+was looking up to wards the roof of the church.
+
+"Why so very serious just now, my dear boy? What may your thoughts be
+about, Harry?" said the Vicar.
+
+"Please, sir, I was wondering what they used to do with the
+roof-gallery, where we've been putting the evergreens?"
+
+"What does he mean by the roof-gallery?" said Mr. Acres.
+
+"Oh, he means the triforium[191]."
+
+"I must confess that is still more unintelligible to me. Please explain
+it to me, as well as to Harry, for we are evidently equally ignorant
+about it."
+
+"The triforium is the gallery you see just above the arches of the
+nave--between them and the clerestory. It is not commonly found in
+parish churches, but I believe all cathedrals have it. It generally
+extends nearly all round the building. There are different opinions as
+to its original purpose. Some suppose that it was reserved for the use
+of women. On the Continent, it has been set apart for young men, or for
+strangers. It is the opinion of some that it was merely built for
+affording ready access to the various parts of the roof. As an
+architectural feature, it is very effective, and occupies a space which
+would otherwise be a blank wall. In this country, however, we know that
+it was often used for a similar purpose to that for which we have now
+been using it--the ornamentation of the church on special festivals,
+when banners and tapestry and other ornaments were suspended from the
+several arches[192]."
+
+"I have often, like little Harry, looked up at those arches and wondered
+what they were built for; and, not knowing, I came to the conclusion
+that the passage must have been used for religious processions."
+
+"It is not at all improbable that occasionally they were so used. And I
+can hardly imagine any thing more solemn than a torch-light procession
+of chanting choristers threading their way round the sacred building,
+the sound of their voices undulating in solemn cadence as they would
+pass the arches of the triforium, and then dying away amid the groined
+or timber roof above them."
+
+Illustration:  Clerestory Window
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIX_
+
+THE TOWER
+
+
+"The house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding
+magnifical."
+
+1 Chron. xxii. 5.
+
+
+    "Lift it gently to the steeple,
+       Let our bell be set on high;
+     There fulfil its daily mission,
+       Midway 'twixt the earth and sky.
+
+    "As the birds sing early matins
+       To the God of nature's praise,
+     This its nobler daily music
+       To the God of grace shall raise.
+
+    "And when evening shadows soften
+       Chancel-cross, and tower, and aisle,
+     It shall blend its vesper summons
+       With the day's departing smile.
+
+    "Year by year the steeple-music
+       O'er the tended graves shall pour
+     Where the dust of saints is garner'd,
+       Till the Master comes once more."
+
+                                J. M. NEALE.
+
+
+Illustration: Meopham Church
+
+
+
+
+THE TOWER
+
+
+When the Vicar and the Squire met on their way to church the following
+day, the conversation of the previous evening was thus resumed:--
+
+"You will, I am sure, agree with me," said Mr. Ambrose, "in regarding
+the church spire as ever teaching _outside_ the building the same lesson
+that the open timber roof, as you so truly said yesterday, is teaching
+_inside_. It is always pointing the thoughts of thoughtful men up above
+the earthly temple."
+
+"Quite so; and, as is the case with many other great teachers, the
+earthly fabric has, I believe, in both these cases, a very humble
+origin; for as the grandest cathedral roof is but a development of the
+simple _tent_ which formed the early habitation of the once rude
+inhabitants of this and other countries, so has its lofty and elegant
+spire gradually raised itself from the low and unpretending roof which
+covered in the towers of our earliest parish churches.
+
+"I am inclined myself to think that, as a matter of taste and beauty, no
+church tower is complete without a spire in some form[193], and it is a
+question whether, in every case, the tower was not at first built with a
+view to such an ornament. The termination with a flat or only embattled
+cornice does not harmonize well with pointed architecture; the spiral
+form seems to me the only appropriate termination; and, as you say, the
+symbolic teaching of this part of the building depends upon it. And yet,
+though it may almost seem a contradiction to what I have said, the spire
+always needs some object for the eye to rest upon at its summit. The
+time-honoured _weather-cock_ which every body knows to be the emblem of
+_watchfulness_, seems by far the most convenient and suitable, though I
+am aware that other forms--such as a dragon, and a boat--are fixed to
+the summits of some spires."
+
+"We do not generally succeed well," said Mr. Ambrose, "in our imitations
+of the Norman style of architecture. Its extreme massiveness, on which
+so much of its beauty depends, renders it very costly; and if this is
+abandoned, as it often is, for the sake of saving expense, and only the
+details of the style are copied, whilst the walls are thin and
+unsubstantial, the building has always a mean and cardboard appearance.
+But where the style is faithfully carried out, it is a matter of
+surprise to me that the _round_ tower is not more often adopted. It
+harmonizes so well with the semi-circular arches and the apsidal
+termination of the chancel. We have, you know, many splendid examples of
+such towers[194]. It is true, indeed, that the architects may in some
+cases have adopted this form, in places where there was difficulty in
+obtaining the stone required for the corners of a square tower, as being
+the most convenient for a building composed of flint only; but that they
+did not always choose this form as a mere matter of convenience, and not
+for its own peculiar beauty, is evident from the fact that in the
+construction of some round towers not only flint, but also stone, is
+largely employed. The objection to these towers, founded on the
+supposition that they are not adapted for the use of bells, may, I
+think, be easily met by a little constructional arrangement of the
+interior of the belfry."
+
+"The erection of towers _detached_ from the church has not, I am glad to
+say, gained much favour in this country[195]. They certainly lose much
+of their beauty when separated from the main building. The custom,
+however, greatly prevails in Italy. The appropriation of a portion of
+the tower as a priest's chamber is, I believe, far more common with us
+than it is abroad[196]."
+
+At this moment the bells of St. Catherine's commenced a cheerful peal.
+
+"After all," said the Vicar, "_that sound_ indicates the real purpose of
+the tower."
+
+"True enough," answered Mr. Acres; "no doubt our towers were built to
+hold the _bells_[197]; and so, if the tower is good and sound, and the
+bells are there, we must not complain if the spire is wanting."
+
+"Yes; but I wish the bells were under better control than they commonly
+are."
+
+"Ah, so indeed do I. There's no part of the church so much desecrated as
+the tower. Now, I grieve for this; for to my mind there's no music so
+delightful as that of the church bells, provided there is nothing in the
+occasion of their being rung which grates upon one's feelings. I often
+think of the story of a savage people who had never seen a church bell
+before, when for the first time they heard it ringing, they believed
+that it was _talking_ to them[198]. There is certainly no music that
+_speaks_ to us like that of the church bells. What call is there more
+eloquent than the chimes 'going for church'? What voice more reproachful
+than theirs to one who disobeys their summons? What sound so solemn as
+the deep-toned knell? What so happy as the marriage peal? Ah, my dear
+friend, you and I know full well what joys and sorrows, what hopes and
+fears, the dear old church bells can tell of. How the old memories of
+half-forgotten home-scenes come back to us when we listen to their merry
+Christmas ringing! Nothing like them to fill the arm-chairs that have so
+long stood empty, to tenant the old places with the once familiar forms
+which have long gone from us! Nothing like them to bring back the dear
+old voices and the dear old faces; nothing like them to put back the old
+furniture in its old places again; nothing like them to revive the
+bright and happy hours that are past! Then, somehow, the bells always
+seem to adapt their voices to each particular season. What joyful hope
+there was in their music at Easter! a still gladder song they sing
+to-day. They seem to me to have their own peculiar utterance for Sunday
+and for saints' day, for fast and for festival. What a joyful song of
+thanksgiving they sang at our harvest festival last year! I shall never
+forget what the bells said to me on that day.
+
+"You must forgive me, my dear Vicar, for intruding this long rhapsody
+into our conversation, my fondness for the music of church bells is so
+intense, that I fear you will consider the expression of my admiration
+to be quite childish. I don't mean to say they always make me feel
+cheerful and happy. Oh, no, they don't do that; but most commonly they
+induce a sort of pleasant melancholy--harmless, and even good in
+moderation, but morbid in excess. These simple lines exactly express
+what I often feel when the bells are ringing:--
+
+    "When twilight steals along the ground,
+     And all the bells are ringing round,
+       One, two, three, four, and five;
+     I at my study window sit,
+     And, wrapt in many a musing fit,
+       To bliss am all alive.
+
+    "But though impressions calm and sweet
+     Thrill round my heart a holy heat,
+       And I am inly glad,
+     A tear-drop stands in either eye,
+     And yet, I cannot tell thee why,
+       _I'm pleased, and yet I'm sad_[199]."
+
+Illustration: Tower, Saragosa
+
+"I know the feeling well," said Mr. Ambrose; "we love the _silent
+eloquence_ of each feature of the church's fabric as we love the vivid
+expression of each feature of a dear friend, and we love--as we love his
+familiar voice--the well-known _uttered language_ of the old church
+tower."
+
+"Yes; and not more discordant would be the merry voice of a friend, with
+a heart bowed down with sorrow, than seems to me a merry peal of the
+church bells, with the penitential seasons of the Christian year. I
+greatly admire your custom of only ringing three bells during Lent and
+Advent, and tolling a single bell on Good Friday. The contrast to the
+usual joyful chimes cannot fail to strike every one."
+
+"I am most thankful that in our parish we have a set of bellringers who
+really feel a proper interest in the work, and regard theirs as a
+_religious_ office. I have only allowed men of well-known steady habits
+and good moral character to be among them. From the time I came here, as
+you know, I have been their president, and have always attended their
+annual dinners. Then their _rules_[200] are good. No drinking is allowed
+in the belfry, no one is allowed to wear his hat there, and no loud and
+boisterous language is permitted: any one using offensive words or
+swearing is at once expelled. In fact, I think we do all that can be
+done to teach the ringers that they are engaged in a religious duty, in
+a part of _God's house_. I am fully sensible that much of our success is
+due to your influence among them, and I very much wish that more Church
+laymen in your position would follow your example, and take part in the
+_actual ringing_ of the church bells[201]. On one occasion, long ago, I
+had some difficulty with our ringers. You remember old Sir Perrygal
+Biber? a greater profligate or drunkard perhaps never lived. He had wit
+enough, however, to secure his election for the county, and money enough
+to reward those who voted for him. I am sorry to say that in many
+parishes the church bells, which had once been solemnly dedicated to
+God's service, were impressed to do honour to that man, whose immorality
+was patent to the whole county. Our ringers naturally thought that what
+was not wrong elsewhere would not be wrong here, and so begged
+permission to follow the example of their neighbours. However, they were
+good fellows, and open to reason. I explained to them first that our
+church bells had nothing whatever to do with mere secular matters, such
+as the election of a member of Parliament; and then I showed them that
+their neighbours were specially wrong in this instance, because they
+were employing what was intended for God's service in doing honour to an
+impious man. I believe they were all of them, at heart, glad to get out
+of it; and, in fact, would never have thought of ringing at all had not
+William Strike put it into their heads. Since then they have not caused
+me a moment's trouble.
+
+"The church bells have, alas! often been sadly ill-used; sometimes
+broken up and employed for secular purposes[202]; sometimes sold to pay
+the cost of repairing the building: but this, to my mind, is not half so
+bad as their desecration when rung on improper occasions."
+
+"No doubt, Mr. Vicar, you have often read with interest the very quaint
+legends which are to be found on many church bells. I very much like the
+terse Latin sentences, and the oft-repeated '_Jesu, miserere mei_,' we
+meet with on the oldest of them. Not a few, too, of the more modern
+bells have simple pious inscriptions[203]. But there are some, both
+ancient and modern, that have foolish or otherwise objectionable
+sentences upon them[204]. In some cases they are merely laudatory of
+the donor; in others of the founder, or of the churchwardens of the
+parish. I should think, however, that there is scarcely a peal of bells
+in the country, except, perhaps, a few very recently cast, but possesses
+some both interesting and instructive inscriptions. Of course, many
+volumes would be filled with them, could they be all collected. I once
+copied one of these legends which much pleased me, but I cannot now call
+to mind where I found it. Let me repeat it to you.
+
+    'Men's death I tell by doleful knell,
+     Lightning and thunder I break asunder,
+     On Sabbath all to church I call,
+     The sleepy head I raise from bed,
+     The winds so fierce I do disperse,
+     Men's cruel rage I do assuage.'"
+
+"It was a curious conceit, which I suppose every body once accepted,
+that the ringing of the church bells cleared the air of all evil and
+discordant spirits, and caused the storm and the tempest to cease. But
+the Church had another and a better reason for ordering the bells to be
+rung at such times; and that was, 'that the faithful might be admonished
+to be urgent in prayer for the instant danger[205].' I like the idea of
+the Church bell inviting to _private prayer_ as well as public worship,
+but we have almost lost it. The _passing bell_ used to ask the private
+prayers of the faithful in behalf of the spirit passing from earth. This
+was truly a Christian custom; nevertheless, I see difficulties in the
+way of its general revival."
+
+"_You_ have not, however, lost sight, my dear friend, of the invitation
+to _private_ devotion as associated with church bells; for it is in this
+light I regard the ringing of the little sancte bell just before the
+consecration of the elements at the celebration of Holy Communion. I
+was very glad when you restored the old bell to its little turret over
+the chancel arch; and I know that when it is rung, many who cannot come
+to church bend their knees and join heartily with us in our prayers and
+adoration."
+
+"Yes, that is a good old practice of the early Church, and I am very
+glad to know that its revival has been a blessing and a comfort to many
+by awakening solemn thought and earnest prayer."
+
+Illustration: Window, Church of St. Petronius, Bologna
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXX_
+
+THE HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS
+
+
+"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house."
+
+1 Pet. ii. 5.
+
+
+      "One sweetly solemn thought
+        Comes to me o'er and o'er,--
+       I'm nearer home to-day
+        Than I have been before;
+
+      "Nearer my Father's House,
+        Where the many mansions be,
+       Nearer the great white Throne,
+        Nearer the jasper sea;
+
+      "Nearer the bound of life,
+        Where we lay our burdens down,
+       Nearer leaving the Cross,
+        Nearer gaining the Crown."
+
+                               CAREY
+
+
+
+
+THE HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS
+
+
+"I must just go up for a minute to see poor Matthew. I hear he is not
+quite so well," said the Vicar, as he parted from his companion, and
+entered the little door that led up to the old sexton's chamber.
+
+"My dear friend," said the Vicar, taking the old man's trembling hand,
+"I see you are still very weak; but I trust you are not suffering much?"
+
+"Weak, very, sir; but, thank God, no pain. I feel, however, that the end
+can't be very far off. You must look out for another sexton, sir, for
+old Matthew's work is nearly over."
+
+"_His_ will be done," said the Vicar; and the old man breathed a solemn
+"Amen," which seemed spoken for no earthly ears.
+
+"I've been thinking," at length said Matthew, "that it's ten years since
+you and I, sir, and Mr. Acres, met at the old lych gate in that terrible
+storm. I remember I said then that it wouldn't be long before some
+younger ones would have to carry me through the gate, but God has spared
+me these ten years more, and now I shall need none to bear me through
+the gate; for here I am--thanks to your kindness, sir--already within
+the gate, and even within the House of God itself."
+
+"Yes; and so when God calls you to Himself, He will but take you from
+one temple to another--from the courts of His House here, to live for
+ever in His heavenly mansions. 'Those that be planted in the House of
+the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God[206].'"
+
+"If you please, sir, I should like to be buried beside little Lizzie
+Daniels. 'Tis long ago now since I made that little grave, and I fear
+the flower-bed is a good deal overgrown with grass, for I have been too
+poorly to look after it as I used to; but I think you'll know it, sir.
+She helped in her own quiet, simple way to teach an old man the way to
+Heaven; and I have never forgotten her lessons. How often she used to
+talk about this day--Ascension Day! She once said to me, sir, that you
+had told her we ought to remember this day throughout the year, and to
+try and lead an _Ascension_ life, and let our thoughts and desires dwell
+as much as possible where our Saviour has gone before. I have tried to
+do so--God forgive me, for I have often failed!"
+
+He then drew the Vicar nearer to him, and whispered in his ear, "Be good
+to dear little Harry, sir, when I'm gone. He loves me so, I fear 'twill
+break his heart."
+
+The "parson's bell," as it was called, was now ringing, so the Vicar,
+having promised that his wishes should be fully carried out, was
+compelled to hasten into the church. He first laid his hand on the noble
+brow of the good old man, and pronounced the blessing of Heaven upon
+him, and then bade him farewell, adding, "I hope, my dear friend, we may
+be permitted to meet again in this earthly house of God; but if not, my
+heart-deep hope and prayer is, that we may meet in His house not made
+with hands, eternal in the heavens[207]."
+
+The little window that looked into the church from the sexton's chamber
+was opened, and none listened more earnestly to the festive service, and
+to the Vicar's sermon, on that Ascension Day than did old Matthew
+Hutchinson.
+
+Although it was a common practice with the Vicar on festivals not to
+preach from any particular passage of Holy Scripture, but simply to make
+the festival itself the subject of his discourse, yet on this occasion
+he selected these words as his text: "The patterns of things in the
+heavens[208]." He showed how that all this world of ours, in which so
+much that is beautiful and lovely has survived the fall, is full of
+patterns, or symbols, or types of things in that Heaven to which Christ
+has ascended; how that the whole Bible abounds with the most vivid
+symbolism and the most graphic imagery representative of the glories of
+that Heavenly kingdom; and then, looking round the beautiful church, now
+so richly adorned with its festive decorations, he explained how the
+earthly building, in its several parts, possessed a thousand patterns of
+those heavenly things which make up the spiritual fabric of the Church
+of Christ. "When we regard the material fabric of the Christian Church,"
+he said, "as a type of the spiritual house, ever rising higher and
+higher in honour of its Divine Founder, of which the saints on earth and
+the saints in Heaven are the living stones, we are arraying the noblest
+work of man with its grandest and most exalted dignity. 'Ye are built
+upon the _foundations_ of the Apostles and Prophets,' writes St. Paul to
+the Church of Ephesus, 'Jesus Christ Himself being the chief _corner
+stone_; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an
+holy _temple_ in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an
+habitation of God through the Spirit[209].' Here, in the symbol of the
+_foundation stones_ of the material structure, we have represented to
+us, as it were, at one view, all those heavenly graces and blessings
+which from the day of Pentecost down to this time have flowed to God's
+people through the visible ministry and appointed ordinances of the
+Christian Church. Then, under the figure of the _corner stone_--the key
+stone of the edifice--we have gathered up all those old prophecies and
+types which pointed on forward, through the sufferings and death of the
+Saviour, up to the time when, having established His Church in the
+world, He should be Himself the heavenly life of its living members.
+Long had it been 'contained in the Scriptures: Behold, I lay in Zion a
+chief _corner stone_, elect, precious; and he that believeth on Him
+shall not be confounded[210],' and in the fulness of time 'the stone
+which the builders refused became the _head stone of the corner_[211].'
+
+"And next see, my friends, how the figure is carried out by the two
+Apostles, St. Paul and St. Peter, so as to embrace all the faithful
+members of Christ's Church. They are represented by St. Paul as 'the
+whole _building fitly framed together_[212],' and by St. Peter, as the
+living stones which compose this living temple--'Ye also as _lively
+stones_ are built up a _spiritual house_[213].' And this figure of a
+living temple is thus constantly employed by the sacred writers: 'Know
+ye not that your bodies are the _Temple of God_?' writes St. Paul to the
+Corinthian Church; and, again, 'Ye are the _Temple of the living
+God_[214].' St. Jude is following out the same idea when he exhorts
+Christians to _build up themselves in their most holy faith_."
+
+The Vicar ended his sermon with an earnest, practical application of the
+subject. "Let me entreat you, my dear friends, often to suffer the
+solemn thoughts which this sacred symbol suggests to dwell on your
+minds: '_The temple of the Lord_ is holy, which temple _ye are_.' Holy
+Prophets and Holy Apostles, and confessors, and martyrs, are the
+foundation of the sacred building; the Holy Jesus is the corner stone,
+in whom ye--the living stones--must be _fitly framed together_. Mark, my
+friends, there must be _no schism, no division, no rent or fissure_,
+that ye may be a spiritual house perfect in all its parts, and pure in
+all its adornments. Oh, then, cherish that heavenly life within you,
+which alone can keep the building compact and firm! Be fruitful in good
+works. Remember faith without works is not living, but _dead_[215]. 'Put
+on charity, which is the _bond of perfectness_[216],' and will be the
+best evidence to God and man, and to your own souls, that you possess a
+living faith; that you are, indeed, _living stones in a living temple_.
+Be sure the cement that must unite the living stones of the spiritual
+house is brotherly love and fervent charity. Without these, the house
+will be divided against itself; its walls will be 'daubed with
+untempered mortar[217],' and, instead of living stones, there will be
+but the dead, outlying blocks of a ruined house. 'Except the Lord build
+the house, their labour is but lost that build it[218].'
+
+"Be it yours, then, 'by patient continuance in _well doing_, to seek for
+glory and immortality[219]' in that 'house eternal in the heavens, whose
+Builder and Maker is God.' Learn to see in the whole earth, and air, and
+sky--with their countless beauties and wondrous harmonies--reflections
+of the glories of Heaven, and promises of the coming bliss of eternity.
+Learn to read lessons of wisdom and religion from the many instructive
+patterns, and symbols, and emblems in nature, and in art, with which you
+are ever surrounded. Thus go on, day by day, advancing nearer to your
+mansion in Heaven. Thus, in these earthly temples of Jehovah, be ever
+purifying your hearts, and attuning your voices to share in that
+glorious song of the Lamb when the sweet music of angels' harps shall
+vibrate on this regenerate earth, when her ten thousand choirs shall
+join with theirs in joyful harmony--and melt their united praises in one
+never-ending rapture, singing, 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
+which was, and is, and is to come;' 'Blessing and honour, and glory and
+power be unto Him that sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for
+ever and ever[220].'"
+
+In the prayer for the Church militant, which followed the sermon, the
+Vicar paused longer than usual when he prayed God to _succour and
+comfort those who were in sickness_. All knew that he was inviting a
+special prayer for the old man whom all the village loved; and had they
+been offered for the proudest potentate, the most learned philosopher,
+or even the greatest philanthropist that ever lived, the prayers that
+went up to Heaven amid that solemn silence for him "for whom the prayers
+of the Church were desired," could not have been more fervid and
+sincere. When Mr. Ambrose proceeded with the prayer, a slight stir in
+the porch chamber was heard by those near at hand, but it was little
+noticed.
+
+At the conclusion of the service Mr. Acres met the Vicar in the vestry.
+
+"I should like," said he, "to go with you to see our poor old friend
+once more."
+
+"It will probably be the last time," replied the Vicar, "for he was
+evidently sinking when I saw him before service. I told little Harry to
+go up to him as soon as we had sung the last hymn."
+
+Both went up together. The Vicar was not mistaken. Calm and peaceful,
+without a line of care or pain, there lay the placid face, and the eyes
+were closed in the last, long sleep. One hand lay motionless upon the
+bed, grasped by his little grandson, who was kneeling beside him, still
+robed in the snow-white surplice with which he had recently left the
+choir.
+
+"Poor little fellow!" said the Vicar; "I will keep my promise to the old
+man. He shall not be left without a friend, though his best is gone."
+
+But Mr. Acres saw that the little hands were white as the aged hand they
+clasped.
+
+"He's with a better Friend now, my dear Vicar," said he, "than this
+earth can give him. We shall hear his sweet voice no more in our choir
+here; he has gone to join the choir of angels in a nobler temple than
+ours."
+
+Old Matthew's words were true; the loving little heart was broken. The
+old oak had fallen, and crushed the tender sapling as it fell[221]. On
+the morning of Trinity Sunday, there stood under the old yew-tree of St.
+Catherine's churchyard, three little stone crosses side-by-side, where
+but one had been before.
+
+THE END
+
+GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE, LONDON.
+
+
+
+
+Footnotes
+
+
+1: In some parts of Devonshire and Cornwall, Lich-Gates are called
+"Trim-Trams." The origin of this word is not easy to determine; it is
+probably only a nickname.
+
+2: Anglo-Saxon, _lic_,--a dead body. In Germany the word _leiche_ has
+doubtless the same original; it is still used to signify a corpse or
+funeral. The German _leichengang_ has precisely the same meaning as our
+_Lich-Gate_.
+
+3: It is stated in _Britton's Antiquities_ that there was formerly a
+Lych-Gate in a lane called Lych-lane in Gloucester, where the body of
+Edward II. rested on its way to burial in the Cathedral.
+
+4: A Lyke-wake dirge:--
+
+    "This ae nighte, this ae nighte,
+       Every nighte and alle;
+     Fire and sleete, and candle lighte,
+       And Christe receive theye saule."
+
+            (Scott's "_Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_.")
+
+5: On the Lich-Gate at Bray, Berks, is the date 1448; but there are very
+few examples so early.
+
+6: The following are among the most interesting of the ancient
+Lich-Gates still remaining:-- Beckenham, Lincolnshire; Berry-Harbor,
+Devonshire; Birstal, York; Bromsgrove, Worcestershire; Burnside,
+Westmoreland; Compton, Berkshire; Garsington, Oxon; Tawstock,
+Devonshire; West Wickham, Kent; and Worth, Sussex. The construction of
+the gate at Burnside is very curious, and Tawstock Lich-Gate possesses
+peculiar features of interest, which are noticed in the next Chapter.
+One of the finest Lich-Gates was at Arundel, in Surrey, but it has been
+removed, and is now the Church Porch.
+
+7: St. John xi. 25. The first words of the Burial Office, said by the
+Priest at the entrance to the Churchyard.
+
+8: A very interesting paper on Lich-Gates, in the "Clerical Journal,"
+affords much information on this subject. Over the gate at Bray are "two
+chambers, connected with an ancient charitable bequest."
+
+9: This chamber was formerly called the Chapel of the Holy Rood.
+
+10: The custom of distributing "cakes and ale" at the churchyard on the
+occasion of funerals in Scotland, has been but very recently given up.
+Dean Ramsey, in his interesting "anecdotes," has informed us that at the
+burial of the Chief of a clan, many thousands would sometimes assemble,
+and not unfrequently the funeral would end in a disgraceful riot.
+
+11: In Cornwall the now common practice of placing a wreath of white
+flowers on the coffin is a very ancient and still prevailing usage.
+
+12: Consecrated Bishop of Exeter A.D. 1598.
+
+13: These crosses were erected at the following places:--Lincoln,
+Northampton, Dunstable, St. Alban's, Waltham, Stratford, Cheapside,
+Blackfriars, and Charing; those at Waltham and Northampton alone remain.
+The statue of King Charles now stands where the Charing ("Chere Reine")
+Cross formerly stood.
+
+14: In a churchyard in Oxfordshire, a large altar-tomb, surrounded by
+iron railings, occupying a space of ground in which at least thirty
+persons might be buried, covers the grave of an infant of three months.
+
+The erection of these masses of stone without restraint would make our
+churchyards only the burial-places of the rich, and would soon entirely
+exclude the poor from a place in them; whereas the poor have an equal
+claim with the rich to be buried there, and when buried, the same title
+to respect and protection.
+
+15: The urns which are placed upon so many tombs in our cemeteries and
+churchyards, unless they have reference to the heathen custom of burning
+the dead, and placing the ashes in funeral urns, can have no meaning at
+all. We moreover not unfrequently see a gilded flame issuing from these
+urns, and here of course the reference is most clearly marked. The
+Christian custom of burying the dead, which we practise in imitation of
+the entombment of Christ, dates from the earliest history of man; and as
+well from the Old as the New Testament we learn that it has ever been
+followed by those who professed to obey the Divine will. The first grave
+of which we have any account was the grave of Sarah, Abraham's wife
+(Gen. xxiii. 19), and the first grave-stone was that over the
+burial-place of Rachel, Jacob's wife (Gen. xlix. 31).
+
+16: There are comparatively but few churchyard grave-stones more
+than 250 years old, and probably there are very few of an earlier
+date but have engraved upon them the sign of the Cross. There are
+two very ancient grave-stones of this character, having also heads
+carved upon them, in the churchyard of Silchester. It is likely that
+the old churchyard crosses were often mortuary memorials. Probably
+there is hardly an old churchyard but has, at some time, been
+adorned with its churchyard cross; in most cases, some remains of
+this most appropriate and beautiful ornament still exist, and
+doubtless is often older than the churchyard as a place of Christian
+burial. In many places this cross has been lately restored to its
+proper place, near to the Lich-Gate. "Let a handsome churchyard
+cross be erected in every churchyard."--Institutions of the Bishop
+of Winchester, A.D. 1229.
+
+17: The interesting custom of placing natural flowers and wreaths upon
+graves, is in every respect preferable to that which we see practised in
+Continental burial-grounds, where the graves are often covered with
+immortelles, vases of gaudy artificial flowers, images, &c. We have seen
+as many as fifty wreaths of artificial flowers and tinselled paper, in
+every stage of decomposition, over one grave in the cemetery of Pere la
+Chaise, in Paris. In Wales it is a more general practice than in
+England, to adorn the graves with fresh flowers on Easter Day.
+
+18: This story is true of a parish in Monmouthshire.
+
+19: It is comparatively seldom that any other than the funerals of the
+_poor_ take place on Sunday, and the reason commonly assigned is--that
+it is the only day on which their friends can attend. In one, at least,
+of the large metropolitan cemeteries, exclusively used as a burial-place
+for the _rich_, no funerals _ever_ take place on a Sunday.
+
+20: Let us hope that the time is near when this objectionable and
+unsightly appendage will be banished from our funeral processions. The
+late Mr. Charles Dickens, in his will, forbad the wearing of hat-bands
+at his funeral.
+
+21: "In several parts of the north of England, when a funeral takes
+place, a basin full of sprigs of boxwood is placed at the door of the
+house from which the coffin is taken up, and each person who attends the
+funeral ordinarily takes a sprig of the boxwood and throws it into the
+grave of the deceased."--_Wordsworth_ (_Notes, Excursion_, p. 87).
+
+22: Great care was taken by the medieval architects to make the porches
+of their churches as beautiful as possible. During some periods,
+especially the Norman, they seem to have bestowed more labour upon them
+than upon any other portion of the building. Both externally and
+internally they were richly decorated, and often abounded in emblematic
+tracery.
+
+23: "The custom formerly was for the couple, who were to enter upon this
+holy state, to be placed at the _church door_, where the priest was used
+to join their hands, and perform the greater part of the matrimonial
+office. It was here the husband endowed his wife with the dowry before
+contracted for."--_Wheatley._ In a few church porches there are, or have
+been, galleries, which seem to have been intended to accommodate a choir
+for these and other festive occasions.
+
+24: "The porch of the church was anciently used for the performance of
+several religious ceremonies appertaining to Baptism, Matrimony, and the
+solemn commemoration of Christ's Passion in Holy Week," &c.--_Brandon's
+Gothic Architecture._ The Office for the Churching of Women also used to
+be said at the church porch.
+
+25: As our Commination Service declares, persons who stood convicted of
+notorious sins were formerly put to open penance. The punishment
+frequently inflicted was--that they should stand at the church door,
+clothed in a white sheet, and holding a candle in each hand, during the
+assembling and departure of the congregation on a Sunday morning. The
+old parish clerk of Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, remembers, when a boy,
+seeing a Jew perform this penance in Walton church.
+
+26: "Formerly persons used to assemble in the church porch for civil
+purposes."--_Brandon._
+
+27: "At a very early period, persons of rank or of eminent piety were
+allowed to be buried in the porch. Subsequently, interments were
+permitted within the church, but by the Canons of King Edgar it was
+ordered that this privilege should be granted to none but good and
+religious men."--_Parker's Glossary._
+
+28: The parvise is to be found over church porches in all parts of
+England. It is more common in early English than in Norman architecture,
+and very frequently to be found in churches of the Decorated and
+Perpendicular periods. Probably the largest parvise in England is at
+Bishop's-Cleeve, near Cheltenham. There are interesting specimens at
+Bridport, Bishop's Auckland, Ampthill, Finedon, Cirencester, Grantham,
+Martley, Fotheringay, Sherborne, St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, Stanwick,
+Outwell, and St. Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford. In a few instances there
+are two parvises, one over the north and one over the south porch, as at
+Wellingborough. In some cases, as at Martley, Worcestershire, the upper
+moulding of the original Norman doorway has been concealed by the
+parvise of later architecture.
+
+29: "The name was formerly given to a favourite apartment, as at
+Leckingfield, Yorkshire. 'A little studying chamber, caullid paradise.'
+(Leland's Itinerary.)"--_Glossary of Architecture._
+
+30: The room may have been the residence of one or more of the ordinary
+priests of the church, or perhaps only a _study_ for them (see previous
+note), or it may have been occupied by an anchorite or hermit, or by a
+chantry priest. Rooms for these several purposes are also not
+unfrequently to be found over the vestry, as at Cropredy, near Banbury,
+and at Staindrop, Durham.
+
+31: Fire-places are of frequent occurrence in these chambers; many of
+them are coeval with the porch, but others appear to have been erected
+at a later date.
+
+32: At Hawkhurst, Kent, the porch-chamber is called _the treasury_. At
+St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, the room over the grand north porch, in
+which are the remains of the chests in which Chatterton professed to
+find the manuscripts attributed to Rowley, was at one time known as the
+_treasury house_.
+
+33: "The chamber over the porch was generally used for the keeping of
+books and records belonging to the church. Such an appendage was added
+to many churches in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; and some of
+these old libraries still remain with their books fastened to shelves or
+desks by small chains."--_Brandon's Gothic Architecture._
+
+Over the porch at Finedon (of which we give an engraving) is a parvise
+in which is contained a valuable library of about 1000 volumes, placed
+there by Sir John English Dolben, Bart., A.D. 1788. At St.
+Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford, and many other places, are similar
+libraries.
+
+34: These were probably small chantries. It is comparatively seldom that
+any vestige of the altar remains; but the credence and piscina--certain
+proofs of the previous existence of the altar--are very commonly found.
+
+35: "The custom of teaching children in the porch is of very early
+origin; it is distinctly mentioned by Matthew Paris in the time of Henry
+III."--_Glossary of Architecture._
+
+After the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., in which reigns all
+chantries were suppressed, the children were promoted from the porch to
+the parvise.
+
+36: "Above the groining of the porch is a parvise, accessible by a
+turret-stair, having two Norman window-openings, unglazed, and a
+straight-gabled niche between them on the outside. In former days this
+chamber was constantly inhabited by one of the sextons, who acted as a
+watchman, but since the restoration of the church it has been
+disused."--_Harston's Handbook of Sherborne Abbey_.
+
+In the church accounts of St. Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford, A.D. 1488,
+there is a charge for a "key to clerk's chamber." This no doubt referred
+to the parvise.
+
+37: As, a few years ago, at Headcorn in Kent.
+
+38: There was frequently, but not always, a window or opening from the
+room into the church; and it would seem that it was so placed to enable
+the occupant of the room to keep a watchful eye over the interior of the
+church, and not for any devotional exercise connected with the altar, as
+we never find this window directed obliquely to wards the altar, as is
+commonly the case with windows opening from the vestry, or chamber above
+the vestry, into the church.
+
+39: Many porches seem originally not to have had doors, but marks exist
+which indicate that barriers to keep out cattle were used.
+
+40: It is composed of lamp-black, bees'-wax, and tallow, and is commonly
+used by shoemakers to give a black polish to the heels of boots.
+
+41: These superstitions existed a few years since in connexion with an
+old incised slab in the chancel of Christ Church, Caerleon.
+
+42: "In the year 1657, the adherents of a Preacher of the name of Cam
+obtained the grant of the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church, Hull, from
+the council of state under the Protectorate, and whilst the mob without
+were burning the surplice and the Prayer Book, those within were tearing
+the brasses from the grave-stones."--_History of Kingston-upon-Hull._
+
+                                                           s. d.
+
+ "1644, April 8th, paid to Master Dowson, that came with
+ the troopers to our church, about the taking down of
+ images and brasses off stones                              6 0
+
+ "1644, paid, that day, to others, for taking up the
+ brasses of grave-stones before the Officer Dowson came     1 0
+
+--_Churchwarden's accounts_; _Walberswich, Suffolk._
+
+"This William Dowing (Dowson), it appears, kept a journal of his
+ecclesiastical exploits. With reference to the Church of St. Edward's,
+Cambridge, he says,--
+
+"'1643, Jan. 1, Edward's Parish, we digged up the steps, and broke down
+40 pictures, and took off ten superstitious inscriptions.'
+
+"Mr. Cole, in his MSS., observes,--
+
+"'From this last entry we may clearly see to whom we are obliged for the
+dismantling of almost all the grave-stones that had brasses on them,
+both in town and country; a sacrilegious, sanctified rascal, that was
+afraid, or too proud, to call it _St._ Edward's Church, but not ashamed
+to rob the dead of their honours, and the church of its ornaments.--W.
+C.'"--_Burn's Parish Registers_.
+
+43: The very interesting brasses in Chartham Church, Kent, were found a
+few years since as here described, by the present rector, and replaced
+by him on the chancel pavement.
+
+44: "Manual of Monumental Brasses," vol. i. p. 34.
+
+45: "If any one will lay the portrait of Lord Bristol (in Mr. Gage
+Rokewode's _Thingoe Hundred_) by the side of the sepulchral brass of the
+Abbess of Elstow (from whom he is collaterally descended) figured in
+Fisher's _Bedfordshire Antiquities_, he cannot but be struck by the
+strong likeness between the two faces. This is valuable evidence on the
+disputed point whether portraits were attempted in sepulchral
+brasses."--_Notes and Queries_.
+
+46: See page 77.
+
+47: See page 85. [The engravings of sepulchral brasses and of stained
+glass windows are kindly supplied by the Editor of the _Penny Post_.]
+
+48: See page 67.
+
+49: _Hamlet_, Act i. Sc. 3.
+
+50: Monumental slabs of this description are most common on the pavement
+of churches in the midland counties.
+
+51: This is the case in Ely Cathedral.
+
+52: At Bawsey, Lynn; Droitwich; Great Malvern; and recently near
+Smithfield, London, when excavating for the subterranean railway.
+
+53: Thus translated in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for October, 1833:--
+
+    "Think, man, thy life       |     But that thou keepest
+     May not ever endure,       |     Unto thy executor's care,
+     That thou dost thyself     |     If ever it avail thee
+     Of that thou art sure;     |     It is but chance."
+
+
+54: "Anno 1210. Let the Abbot of Beaubec (in Normandy), who has for a
+long time allowed his monk to construct, for persons who do not belong
+to the order, pavements, which exhibit levity and curiosity, be in
+slight penance for three days, the last of them on bread and water; and
+let the monk be recalled before the feast of All Saints, and never again
+be lent, excepting to persons of our order, with whom let him not
+presume to construct pavements which do not extend the dignity of the
+order."--Martini's _Thesaurus Anecdotorum_.--Extracted from Oldham's
+"Irish Pavement Tiles."
+
+55: Specially in Normandy, where they are occasionally found under
+trefoil canopies, resembling our sepulchral brasses.
+
+56: Some excellent coloured engravings for cottage walls, of a large
+size, have been published by Messrs. Remington, under the direction of
+the Rev. J. W. Burgon, of Oriel College, Oxford. Others, both large and
+small, suitable for this purpose, are published by the Society for
+Promoting Christian Knowledge, and also by several other publishers.
+
+57: These wall paintings exist (or did till recently) on the outside of
+a church at High Wycombe. They are curious, and very grotesque; no
+doubt, however, in their day they have served a good and useful purpose.
+
+58: These mural paintings still remain, as here described, on the north
+wall of the chancel of Chalgrove Church, Oxon. There are also on the
+east and south walls of the chancel of the same church, many other
+paintings possessing great interest.
+
+59: A very interesting mural painting, of which the above is a copy, has
+been lately discovered in a recess in the north wall of the nave of
+Bedfont Church. The colour is exceedingly rich and well preserved. The
+painting measures 4 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft., and is supposed to be of the
+thirteenth century. It represents the Last Judgment. Our Lord is sitting
+on His Throne, showing the five wounds. On the right hand is an angel
+showing the Cross, on the left an angel with a spear. Four nails are
+represented near the head of our Lord. In the lower part of the painting
+are two angels holding trumpets, and below them three persons rising out
+of the tomb.
+
+It is probable that the interior of almost every old church in the
+country has at some time been decorated with wall-paintings--very many
+of them have been brought to light in recent works of church
+restoration. The favourite subjects were representations of Heaven and
+Hell, and of the Day of Judgment. In many cathedrals and some parish
+churches the _Dance of Death_ was painted on the walls. This was one of
+the most popular religious plays about four centuries ago.
+
+60: No doubt the earliest church walls were made of wood. Greenstead
+Church, in Essex, affords a most interesting example of these old wooden
+walls.
+
+61: Roman bricks are generally easy to be distinguished from others by
+their colour and shape. They were not all made in moulds of the same
+size, as we now make bricks, and on this account we find them to vary
+much in size and form.
+
+62: As at Crowmarsh, Oxfordshire, of which an engraving is given.
+
+63: At Godmersham, Kent.
+
+64: It is certain that many of the splendid yew-trees in our old
+churchyards are far older than the churches themselves. And it is more
+than probable that in many instances they mark the places where heathen
+rites were once celebrated. It was natural for our Christian forefathers
+to select these spots as places of worship, since, being held sacred by
+the heathen people around them, they would be regarded by them with
+reverence and respect, and thus the cross which they reared, and the
+dead which they buried beneath the wide-spreading branches of these old
+trees would be preserved from desecration.
+
+65: These styles are now frequently called _first_, _second_, and _third
+pointed_.
+
+66: "The glass windows in a church are Holy Scriptures, which expel the
+wind and the rain, that is, all things hurtful, but transmit the light
+of the True Sun, that is, God, into the hearts of the faithful. These
+are wider within than without, because the mystical sense is the more
+ample, and precedeth the literal meaning. Also, by the windows the
+senses of the body are signified: which ought to be shut to the vanities
+of this world, and open to receive with all freedom spiritual gifts. By
+the lattice-work of the windows, we understand the Prophets or other
+obscure teachers of the Church Militant: in which windows there are
+often two shafts, signifying the two precepts of charity, or because the
+Apostles were sent out to preach two and two."--_Durandus on Symbolism_.
+
+67: Stained glass is said to have been first used in churches in the
+twelfth century. Windows were at first filled with thin slices of talc
+or alabaster, or sometimes vellum. As the monks spent much time in
+illuminating their vellum MSS., it has been thought likely that they
+also painted on the vellum used in the windows of their monasteries, and
+that afterwards, on the introduction of glass, their vellum
+illuminations suggested their glass painting.
+
+68: At Brabourne, Kent, is a Norman window filled with stained glass of
+the period, which is still quite perfect.
+
+69: "One who calls himself John Dowsing, and, by virtue of a pretended
+commission, goes about ye country like a Bedlam, breaking glasse
+windows, having battered and beaten downe all our painted glasse, not
+only in our Chappels, but (contrary to order) in our Publique Schools,
+Colledge Halls, Libraries, and Chambers."--Berwick's _Querela
+Cantabrigiensis_.
+
+70: The rubric in the Service for the Public Baptism of Infants directs
+the priest, _if the godfathers and godmothers shall certify that the
+child may well endure it_, to _dip it in the water_. In the first Prayer
+Book of Edward VI. the priest is directed to "_dyppe it in the water
+thryce_."
+
+71: Acts xvi. 15, 33. 1 Cor. i. 16.
+
+72: As at Dorchester and Warborough in Oxfordshire, and Brookland in
+Kent; each of these have very elaborate mouldings upon them.
+
+73: At Llanvair Discoed, Monmouthshire.
+
+74: The Font at West Rounton, of which we have given an engraving, is
+one of many examples of this. The _Centaur_, the arrow from whose bow is
+just about to pierce the monster, probably represents the Deity
+conquering Satan, or perhaps the continual conflict of the baptized
+Christian against sin and Satan. The other figure may represent the
+Divine and human natures united in our Lord. This exceedingly curious
+Font was discovered during the recent restoration of the little Norman
+Church of West Rounton, Yorkshire. It was found under the pulpit, of
+which it formed the base, having been turned over so that the bowl
+rested on the floor, and so carefully plastered that there was no
+external indication of its original form. It has now been restored to
+its former position near the south-west door of the church.
+
+75: Ezek. iii. 7, 8; ix. 4. Rev. vii. 3; ix. 4; xiii. 16; xiv. 1, 9;
+xxii. 4.
+
+76: {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~} [baptizo], to baptize, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA~} [ana], again.
+
+77: "God planted a garden eastward;" man went westward when he left it;
+he turns eastward to remind him of his return. Almost every church in
+England is built _east and west_, with the altar at the east.
+
+78: Phil. ii. 10.
+
+79: Canon XVIII. 1603.
+
+80: "Many monuments are covered with seates, or pewes, made high and
+easie for parishioners to sit or sleepe in, a fashion of no long
+continuance, and worthy of reformation."--Weaver's _Funeral Monuments_.
+Temp. James I.
+
+81: It is likely that the idea of a gallery at the west end of the nave,
+was first suggested by the gallery of the Rood Screen at the eastern
+end.
+
+82: At H.... church, Kent, for instance.
+
+83: Chertsey, Surrey.
+
+84: One of the churches in Edinburgh, for instance.
+
+85: 2 Chron. vi. 13.
+
+86: Nehem. viii. 4.
+
+87: As at Magdalene College, Oxford. "Formerly, when the annual sermon
+was preached on the feast of the nativity of St. John the Baptist, from
+the stone pulpit before the chapel of Magdalene College, Oxford, the
+whole area before it was covered with rushes and grass, to represent, it
+is said, the wilderness: and doubtless also for the accommodation of the
+hearers; the seats being set for the University authorities."--_History
+of Pues._
+
+88: Such an one formerly existed near the cathedral of Exeter.
+
+89: Parker's "Glossary of Architecture," part i. p. 171. At the west end
+of Boxley Church, Kent, is a Galilee. There are very few--if any--other
+churches in which the ancient _Galilee_ is to be found.
+
+90: Many of the wooden pulpits have dates upon them. The earliest of
+these is A.D. 1590, on a pulpit at Ruthin, Denbighshire.
+
+91: "The Churchwardens, at the common charge of the Parishioners in
+every parish, shall provide a comely and honest pulpit, to be set in a
+convenient place within the Churche, and to be there seemly kept, for
+the preaching of God's worde."--_Injunctions given by the Queen's
+Majestie_, 1559.
+
+92: It seems most probable that the last of these was the real object.
+In some old discourses the following phrase is met with:--"Let us now
+take another _glass_," meaning another period of time to be measured by
+the hour-glass: and the preacher reversed the glass at this point.
+Ancient hour-glasses remain in the church of St. Alban's, Wood Street,
+City; and at Cowden, Kent. The iron frames of hour-glasses still remain
+in the churches of Stoke Dabernoun, Surrey; Odell, Bedfordshire; St.
+John's, Bristol; Cliff, Kent; and Erdingthorpe, Norfolk, and doubtless
+others are to be found elsewhere. The Queen has lately presented an
+hour-glass of the measure of eighteen minutes for the pulpit of the
+chapel royal in the Savoy, to replace the old one, which was destroyed
+in the recent fire.
+
+93: Some few of these sounding-boards are, however, very handsome. At
+Newcastle there is, or lately was, a sounding-board which was a
+representation of the spire of the church.
+
+94: _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. 1. p. 364. Preaching-Crosses are also
+at Hereford, near the Friary of the Dominican (or Preaching) Friars; and
+in the churchyards of Iron Acton, Gloucestershire, and Rampisham,
+Dorsetshire.
+
+95: See a curious letter on this subject in the _Gentleman's Magazine_,
+vol. 1. p. 527.
+
+96: See Walker's "Sufferings of the Clergy," p. 310.
+
+97: S. Luke vi. 26.
+
+98: The Vicar of the church here referred to has lately deceased, and
+his successor has commenced the much needed improvements. The Vicar's
+good daughter, who was quite a _sister of mercy_ in the parish, is not
+likely to be forgotten, though the old pew has gone. A beautiful window
+of stained glass has been erected to her memory by the parishioners.
+
+99: This phase of the pew system is not over coloured. A few years
+since, a pew in the nave of Old Swinford Church was so nailed up; but
+other instances of this might be mentioned.
+
+100: James ii. 1-4.
+
+101: James ii. 5, 6.
+
+102: Sermon by the Rev. E. Stuart, preached at the Church of St. Mary
+Magdalene, Munster Square, London.
+
+103: 2 Cor. viii. 9.
+
+104: Much information on this subject can be obtained from "The History
+of Pues: a Paper read before the Cambridge Camden Society, November 22,
+1841."
+
+105: Stone seats were often placed round the bases of the columns of the
+nave; examples are at St. Margaret-at-Cliffe, and Challock, in Kent.
+
+106: _British Critic_; see _History of Pues_.
+
+107: "'1612, 27 May.--Ye Ch. Wardens meeting together for seekeing
+                       for workmen to mak a fitt seete in a convennent
+                       place for brydgrumes, bryds, and
+                       sike wyves to sit in                     ijs.
+
+--_Extract from Parochial Books of Chester-le-Street, Durham_.
+
+"It is plain that at this period the privilege of a separate pew was
+confined to persons of the first rank; the rest sat promiscuously on
+forms in the body of the church, and the privilege is here extended only
+to sick wives and brides, who sat to hear the preacher deliver 'The
+Bride's Bush,' or 'The Wedding Garment beautified.'"--Surtees' _Hist. of
+Durham_.
+
+108: Blomfield's _Norfolk_, vi. 317.
+
+109: "Several congregations find themselves already very much
+straitened; and if the mode increases, I wish it may not drive many
+ordinary women into meetings and conventicles. Should our sex at the
+same time take it into their heads to wear trunk breeches, a man and his
+wife would fill a whole pew."--_Satire on Female Costume. Spectator_,
+No. 127.
+
+            "At church in silks and satins new,
+               And hoop of monstrous size;
+             She never slumber'd in her pew
+               But when she shut her eyes."--_Goldsmith._
+
+
+110:    "He found him mounted in his pew,
+        With books and money placed for shew."
+
+                         _The Lawyer's Pew_, Butler's _Hudibras_.
+
+           "A bedstead of the antique mode,
+            Compact of timber many a load,
+            Such as our ancestors did use,
+            Was metamorphosed into pews;
+            Which still their ancient nature keep
+            By lodging folks disposed to sleep."
+
+                                Swift's _Baucis and Philemon_.
+
+
+111: _European Magazine_, 1813.
+
+112: _History of Pues_, p. 77.
+
+113: "1617. Barnham _contra_ Hayward Puellam.--Presentatur--for that she
+being but a young maid sat in ye pew with her mother, to ye great
+offence of many reverent women: howbeit that after I Peter Lewis the
+Vicar had in the church privately admonished her to sit at her mother's
+pew-door, she obeyed; but now she sits with her mother again."--_God's
+Acre_, by Mrs. Stone.
+
+114: Whittaker's _Whalley_, p. 228.
+
+115: "We have also heard that the parishioners of divers places do
+oftentimes wrangle about their seats in church, two or more claiming the
+same seat, whence arises great scandal to the Church, and the divine
+officers are sore set and hindered; wherefore we decree that none shall
+henceforth call any seat in the church his own, save noblemen and
+patrons: but he who shall first enter shall take his place where he
+will."--Quivil, Bishop of Exeter, A.D. 1287.
+
+116: In the vestry of the church of East Moulsey is suspended a map of
+considerable size, showing the land that has been left to the parish for
+the sustentation of the church. The land ought to produce 120_l._ but
+some years since the parishioners engaged in a law-suit respecting a pew
+in the church, and lost the suit, and the income from the charity land
+was year by year absorbed in the payment of the debt then incurred. One
+evidence brought forward to prove the faculty was the following
+inscription, which is still (or was till lately) _over the altar_,
+painted at the foot of a _daub_, having the Ten Commandments surrounded
+by drapery, &c.:--
+
+"In lieu of the Commandments formerly written on the wall (when by
+     consent of the parish he made his pew) these tables were placed here
+     by--Mr. Benson, MDCCXII."
+
+117: _Gentleman's Magazine_, A.D. 1780, p. 364.
+
+118: We are so used to speak of the _seats_ in church, that we commonly
+forget the more proper appellation of _kneeling_. This, however, was not
+always so. An old metal plate formerly on a pew in a church in the
+diocese of Oxford, has this inscription:--
+
+"No 83. Vicar and Churchwardens, two kneelings. Trustees of Poor House
+three kneelings."
+
+119: See _History of Pues_, p. 37.
+
+120: "Item. Paid to good wyfe Wells for salt to destroy the fleas _d._
+in the _Churchwardens' Pew_                                       vi.
+
+                _St. Margaret's Accounts._ _Dublin Review_, xiii.
+
+
+121: So called, as some suppose, because it could be _folded_ and
+removed when necessary.
+
+122: Joel ii. 17.
+
+123: Injunctions of Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth.
+
+124: See _Wheatly on the Common Prayer_, p. 161.
+
+125: "The earliest examples remaining are of wood, many of them
+beautifully carved, as at Bury and Ramsay, Huntingdonshire;
+Swancombe, Debtling, and Lenham, Kent; Newport, Essex; Hawstead,
+Suffolk."--Parker's _Glossary_.
+
+There are beautiful examples of brass lecterns at Magdalene and Merton
+Colleges, Oxford, in most of our cathedrals, and many parish churches.
+
+126: Derived from the French _aile_, a wing. It is no uncommon thing to
+hear persons who ought to know better talk about _side_ aisles, as if
+there were any other than side aisles.
+
+127: Derived from the Greek, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} [hagios], holy, and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}
+[skopeo], to view. There are very good specimens at St. Clement's,
+Sandwich, and at St. Mary's, Gloucester. The latter has three
+compartments.
+
+128: In some few churches--as at Rottingdean, Sussex--the chancel, by
+the deviation of its north or south wall from the line of the nave,
+represent the inclined head of our Lord upon the cross.
+
+129: The German word for piscina is Wasserhaelter, _water-holder_.
+
+130: Derived from the Italian _credenzare_, to test by tasting
+beforehand; which refers to an ancient custom for the governor of a
+feast to taste the wines before presenting them to his guests. The
+application of the word to this piece of Church furniture is supposed to
+have its origin in an attempt once made to mix poison with the
+eucharistic elements.
+
+131: The rubric at the commencement of the Prayer Book concerning "the
+Ornaments of the Church, and of the ministers thereof," still directs a
+credence-table to be placed in every church.
+
+132: In Flamborough Church, Yorkshire, a few years since, a white glove
+was hanging over the centre arch of the very beautiful chancel
+screen,--perhaps is hanging there still. Sometimes a bridal wreath was
+hung up with the glove.
+
+133: When the rood screens were pulled down by the Puritans and the
+chancels were alienated from their proper use, it became necessary, in
+order to protect the immediate precinct of the altar from general
+intrusion, to erect around it some barrier; hence the origin of
+altar-rails, which were first ordered to be put up by Archbishop Laud.
+There are a few instances of ancient screens of considerable height
+immediately surrounding the altar.
+
+134: As in Bottisham Church, Cambridge; Westwell, Kent; and most of our
+cathedrals.
+
+135: Such galleries existed in the parish churches of Whitby, Yorkshire,
+and of Sandon, Staffordshire, a few years ago, but these have probably
+been since removed.
+
+136: Rood is analogous to our common word _rod_. It is a Saxon word, and
+means a cross.
+
+137: It is a question whether the order in the canons for placing the
+Commandments in churches was intended to be other than temporary. At the
+time few comparatively had Bibles or Prayer Books, so there was then a
+reason for the order, which no longer exists. One of many churches in
+which the Commandments were painted at an early date over the chancel
+arch, is Fordwich, Kent; the date is 1688. At Dimchurch, in Kent, there
+is an old painting of the Commandments over the chancel arch, and a
+modern one over the altar.
+
+138: As at C.... Church, Kent.
+
+139: "_Cancellae_ are lattice-work, by which the chancels being formerly
+parted from the body of the church they took their names from thence.
+Hence, too, the Court of _Chancery_ and the Lord _Chancellor_ borrowed
+their names, that court being enclosed with open-work of that kind. And
+so to _cancel_ a writing is to cross it out with the pen, which
+naturally makes something like the figure of a lattice."--Pegge's
+_Anonymiana_.
+
+140: Some of our chancels, however, were originally made considerably
+_lower_ than the nave. When the church has been built on a slope it has
+sometimes followed the fall of the ground from west to east.
+
+141: So called from the Latin word _sedes_, a seat. This position, on
+the south side of the altar, is in all respects the most convenient for
+the clergy when not officiating. To sit _facing_ the people is a most
+painful position for the priest, as the eyes of all the congregation
+naturally rest upon him; it has, too, the _appearance_ of irreverence.
+
+142: See p. 223.
+
+143: See p. 223.
+
+144: This word is tautological, derived from our common word _rere_,
+back, and the French _dos_, back, from its position at the back of the
+altar. Many of these altar-screens have in recent years been restored at
+immense cost, as at Ely Cathedral.
+
+145: In Braburn Church, Kent, an altar-tomb, with armorial bearings
+around and above it, occupies the very place of the altar itself. In the
+church of Prendergast, South Wales, large marble slabs with elaborate
+epitaphs occupy the _entire_ east end of the chancel. The most prominent
+of these--immediately over the altar--records that the departed "had
+learned by heart the whole Book of Psalms, and all the Collects of the
+Book of Common Prayer, with twenty-four chapters of the Old and New
+Testaments, before she was thirteen years old, and several more after"
+However praiseworthy and marvellous these accomplishments, this is
+surely no fitting place for proclaiming them!
+
+146: It is probable that the prayers and the sermon were formerly read
+from the same lectern. The first authoritative document of which we have
+record in which mention is made of the _prayer desk_, is the Visitation
+Articles of the Bishop of Norwich (Parker), in A.D. 1569.
+
+In the parish accounts of St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, is an item in 1577 for
+"colouring the Curate's desk." But prayer desks were used at a much
+earlier time.
+
+147: So called from the Latin word _almarium_, a closet or locker. The
+almery had many uses, and is to be found in all parts of the church, but
+chiefly in the chancel. Sometimes it was used to hold the priest's
+vestments; and in conventual churches, to hold the gold and silver
+vessels belonging to the monastery.
+
+148: Gen. viii. 20; xii 7; xxxv. 1.
+
+149: Exod. xxvii. 1.
+
+150: The Council of Epaone in France (A.D. 509) ordered that none but
+_altars of stone_ should be _consecrated with chrism_. The custom of
+consecrating the altar with chrism is supposed to symbolize the
+anointing of our Lord's Body for the burial.--See _The Stone Altar_, by
+Rev. J. Blackburn, p. 46.
+
+151: Rev. vi. 9-11.
+
+152: "A type both of the womb and of the tomb."--_The Stone Altar_, p.
+41.
+
+153: 1 Cor. x. 4.
+
+154: See "Prayer for the Church Militant."
+
+155: Queen Elizabeth's _Advertisements_, A.D. 1564, require "that the
+Parish provide a decent TABLE, _standing on a frame_, for the Communion
+Table." Hence it appears that by the word _table_ at the era of the
+English Reformation, the _slab_ only was meant.--Parker's _Glossary_.
+
+156: Matt xxvii. 66.
+
+157: "The seal of the altar--that is, the little stone by which the
+sepulchre or cavity in which the relics be deposited, is closed or
+sealed."--_Durandus_, p. 128.
+
+158: As at St. Mary's Hospital, Ripon. These ancient stone altars may
+always be known by the _five crosses_ on the table, emblematic of the
+five wounds of Jesus. Not infrequently, alas! this slab is to be found
+as part of the church flooring. The altar table of Norwich Cathedral is
+(or was lately) to be seen in the floor of the nave.
+
+159: "Have you a Communion Table with a handsome carpet or covering of
+silk stuff, or such like?"--_Visitation Articles_, Bishop Bridges, 1634.
+
+"Have you a carpet of silk, satin, damask, or some more than ordinary
+stuff to cover the Table with at all times?"--_Visitation Articles_,
+Bishop Montague, 1639.
+
+160: The pall is an archiepiscopal vestment, forming at the back a
+figure like the letter Y, as seen on the armorial bearings of our
+archbishops.
+
+161: "All Deans, Archdeacons, Parsons, Vicars, and other Ecclesiastical
+persons shall suffer from henceforth no torches nor candles, tapers, or
+images of wax to be set before any image or picture. But only two lights
+upon the high altar (the only altar now retained in our Church) before
+the Sacrament, which, for the signification that Christ is the true
+Light of the World, they shall suffer to remain still."--_Injunctions of
+King Edward VI._
+
+"And here it is to be noted, that such ornaments of the Church and of
+the ministers thereof, at all times of their ministration, shall be
+retained and be in use, as were in this Church of England by the
+authority of Parliament in the second year of the reign of _King Edward
+the Sixth_."--_Rubric before morning Prayer._
+
+162: Durandus, who wrote about A.D. 1290, says, "At the horns of the
+altar _two_ candlesticks are placed to signify the joy of Jews and
+Gentiles at the Nativity of Christ."
+
+In the Sassetti Chapel at Florence is a beautiful fresco painting, by
+Ghirlandaio (A.D. 1485), representing the death of St. Francis. The
+painting, which has been copied by the Arundel Society, has all the
+character of a really historical work, and is particularly interesting
+as representing an altar with the _two_ candlesticks upon it.
+
+163: Ps. cviii, 1.
+
+164: 2 Chron. v. 11-14.
+
+165: Organs appear to have been used at a very early period, and some
+have thought that allusions to them are to be found in the Psalms of
+David; but till the commencement of the last century they were probably
+used in very few country churches. In cathedrals the organ was sometimes
+placed in the clerestory; its position over the choir screen is in every
+respect most objectionable.
+
+166: _Vestry_, so called because it is the place where the vestments of
+the priests and their assistants are kept. It is also called the
+_sacristy_, because the _sacred_ vessels and other furniture for use at
+the altar are kept there. The keeper of the vestry is properly called
+the _sacristan_. This word has now degenerated to _sexton_.
+
+167: Some of the subterranean and other small chambers in churches,
+supposed to be chantries or mortuary chapels, have probably been used as
+vestries. The following is extracted from Neal and Webb's edition of
+_Durandus_:--"On eache side of this chancelle peradventure (for so
+fitteth it beste) should stand a turret; as it were for two ears, and in
+these the belles to be hanged, to calle the people to service, by daie
+and by night. Undre one of these turrets is there commonly a vaulte,
+whose doore openeth into the quiere, and in this are laid up the
+hallowed vesselles, and ornamentes, and other utensils of the churche.
+We call it a vestrie."--_Fardle of Facions_. Printed 1555.
+
+168: Early examples of these chests for containing the parish records
+may be found in most old churches. Frequently they are of very rude
+design, and the box is formed of a single block of wood strongly bound
+with iron hoops. Sometimes, however, they are richly carved, as in the
+churches of Clymping, Sussex; Luton, Bedfordshire; and Faversham, Kent.
+The proper place for the parish chest is the vestry, but it is not
+unfrequently to be found in some other part of the church. We often meet
+with several large chests of common deal in various parts of the church
+containing useless papers and other rubbish. The sooner these are swept
+away the better.
+
+169: See pages 85 and 86 for a description of some of these vestments.
+
+170: It is _always lawful_, and almost always desirable, to hold
+"vestry" meetings in some hall or room in the parish, and _not in the
+church vestry_.
+
+171: Eph. ii. 20.
+
+172: Pugin's _True Principles of Architecture_.
+
+173: _Durandus._
+
+174: 1 Pet. ii. 5.
+
+175: Col. iii. 14.
+
+176: John x. 9.
+
+177: Jer. xxii. 18.
+
+178: Most persons know--at least from engravings--the famous "Apprentice
+Column" in Roslin Chapel. That was perhaps the first church pillar that
+ever was wreathed with flowers, and those stone flowers are as fresh and
+beautiful now as when they were carved five hundred years ago.
+
+179: This old custom of copying in stone or marble the surrounding
+objects of nature has been imitated on the capitals of pillars in the
+church of St. Mary, Devon, which has recently been so beautifully
+restored in memory of the late Bishop of Exeter.
+
+180: Acts xiv. 13. Virgil, _AEneid_, i. 417; ii. 249.
+
+181: 1 Cor. xv. 42.
+
+182: Isa. lx. 13.
+
+183: Mark xiv. 4.
+
+184: This word, formerly spelt _clear story_, plainly expresses its own
+meaning--a clear or separate story or flight of windows. They are placed
+between the roof and the nave arches of a church.
+
+185: The word corbel, French _corbeille_, means literally a large flat
+basket. It is curious to note how the word obtains its present use in
+architecture. After the destruction of the city of Caryae in Arcadia by
+the Greeks, Praxiteles, and other Athenian artists, employed female
+figures, instead of columns, in architecture, to commemorate the
+disgrace of the Caryatides, or women of Caryae (see Dr. Smith's Dict. of
+Greek and Roman Antiquities, _Caryatis_). These figures were always
+represented with corbels or baskets on their heads. The basket, being
+thus placed between the head of the figure and the roof, was that which
+_immediately_ supported the roof. Hence those projecting pieces of stone
+or wood which support the roofs of our churches, as well as other
+buildings, have received the name of corbels. _Caryatides_ may be seen
+on the north and south sides of New St. Pancras Church, London--a church
+which externally possesses all the appearances of a heathen temple, and
+few of a Christian church.
+
+186: Although the carved roofs of this period cannot compare in point of
+elegance and beauty with those of an earlier date, yet, for the
+abundance of rich and elaborate detail in wood-carving (oak and walnut),
+no period equalled this. The bench-ends, screens, rood-screens, tombs of
+wood at this time were exquisitely beautiful. The roofs, however, were
+too flat, and externally they were concealed altogether by parapets.
+
+187: In some chancels the idea of the keel of a ship is fully carried
+out, the walls widening as they ascend.
+
+188: The flat roofs well suited the heathen worship of ancient Greece
+and Rome, where the object of worship was shut up within the walls of
+the temple itself. It is far different with us, who worship a Deity who,
+though specially present there, is "not _confined_ to temples made with
+hands."
+
+189: Wordsworth.
+
+190: See the _Builder_, Jan. 29, 1865, "The Roof and the Spire."
+
+191: So called from the _triple form_ of the arches it most commonly
+has.
+
+192: See Parker's _Glossary_, "Triforium;" and Hook's _Church
+Dictionary_.
+
+193: It is probable that all Norman towers originally had low-pointed
+roofs covered with tiles (as at Sompting, Essex); tower roofs of this
+period with gable-ends are also sometimes to be found.
+
+194: Chiefly in Norfolk and Suffolk. Of these the round towers of Little
+Saxham and Brixham are perhaps the most interesting.
+
+195: There are several instances, however, in England of bell-towers
+standing detached from the church, as the beautiful tower at Evesham,
+Worcestershire, and the curious belfry at Brookland in Kent.
+
+196: Evidences of these priests' chambers exist throughout England:
+there are instances at Challock, Sheldwich, and Brook in Kent. In the
+last mentioned are the remains of an altar, with a portion of the
+original rude painting above it still remaining.
+
+197: Bells are said to have been introduced into the Christian Church by
+Paulinus; Bishop of Nola, at the end of the fourth century. The first
+peal of bells in England was put up in Croyland Abbey, about A.D. 870.
+
+198: "When they heard the bell of the chapel of Isabella sounding through
+the forests as it rung for mass, and beheld the Spaniards hastening
+to wards the chapel, they imagined that it _talked_."--Irving's
+_Life of Columbus_, ch. iv.
+
+The office of the church bell in summoning the people to prayer and holy
+worship was regarded in olden times with such respect that the bell was
+very solemnly set apart by a special religious service for this sacred
+use.
+
+In the churchwarden's accounts of St. Lawrence, Reading, is the
+following curious entry:--
+
+"1449. It payed for halowing of the bell named Harry, vj_s_. viij_d_.,
+and over that, Sir William Symys, Richard Cleck, and Maistres Smyth,
+being Godfaders and Godmoder at the consecraycyon of the same bell, and
+beryng all oth' costs to the suffrygan."
+
+199: Kirke White.
+
+200: In the last century it was a favourite custom with village
+bellringers to set forth their rules in verse. They were generally
+painted on a board and fixed in the belfry. In all cases the rhyme
+appears to be the production of native talent. The rules are themselves
+unexceptionable. The following are examples:--
+
+In the belfry, Charlwood,--
+
+    "Ye men of action, strength, and skill,
+     Observe these rules which I do will:
+     First,--Let none presume to swear,
+     Nor e'er profane the house of Prayer.
+     Next,--He that doth a bell o'erthrow
+     A groat shall forfeit where'er he go;
+     And if he do refuse to pay,
+     Be scorn'd, and simply go his way,
+     Like one who will for ever wrangle
+     As touching of a rope to jangle."
+
+In the belfry, Bredgar,--
+
+    "My friendly ringers, I do declare
+     You must pay one penny each oath you do swear.
+     To turn a bell over
+     It is the same fare;
+     To ring with your hats on you must not dare.
+                 "MDCCLI."
+
+In the belfry, All Saints', Hastings,--
+
+    "This is a belfry that is free
+     For all those that civil be;
+     And if you please to chime or ring,
+     It is a very pleasant thing.
+     There is no music play'd or sung
+     Like unto bells when they're well rung;
+     Then ring your bells well if you can;
+     Silence is best for every man.
+     But if you ring in spur or hat
+     Sixpence you pay, be sure of that;
+     And if a bell you overthrow
+     Pray pay a groat before you go.
+                 "1756."
+
+
+201: In the preface to the Prayer Book the curate is directed to "cause
+a bell to be tolled" for morning and evening prayer; but Durandus says
+that this ringing of the bell was itself once part of the minister's own
+duty.
+
+202: At Cairnwent, in Wales, the parish clerk "used often to knock a bit
+or two from one of the bells when any one wanted a bit of metal." In a
+neighbouring church two bells were taken down and sold to pay for the
+_ceiling of the roof_. Many church bells in England have, alas! met with
+as sad a fate. The same parsimony which has sacrificed the bells has, in
+many cases, not spared the belfry. It seems hardly credible--but it is
+true--that some years ago, at St. Bride's, Monmouthshire, there being no
+ladder in the village long enough to reach the top of the tower, _the
+tower was lowered to meet the length of the ladder_.
+
+203: The following are a few examples taken from village church bells in
+Wales. At Nevern,--
+
+    "I to the church the living call,
+     And to the grav do summon al.--1763."
+
+At Llandyssil,--
+
+          "Come at my call,
+           Serve God, all.--1777."
+    "Fear God, honour the king.--1777."
+
+At Llangattock,--
+
+    "Be peaceful and good neighbours."
+
+
+204: Such as:--on six bells at Northfield Church,--
+
+    1st. "We now are six, tho' once but five,"
+    2nd. "But against our casting some did strive;"
+    3rd. "But when a day for meeting they did fix,"
+    4th. "There appear'd but nine against twenty-six:"
+    5th. "Thomas Kettle and William Jervis did contrive"
+    6th. "To make us six that were but five."
+
+At Tamworth,--
+
+    "Be it known to all that doth me see,
+     That Newcombe, of Leicester, made mee.--1607."
+
+At Nevern,--
+
+    'Thomas Rudall
+     Cast us all.--1763.'
+
+205: Durandus, "Of Bells."
+
+206: Ps. xcii. 13.
+
+207: 2 Cor. v. 1.
+
+208: Heb. ix. 23.
+
+209: Eph. ii. 20-22.
+
+210: Isa. xxviii. 16. 1 Pet. ii. 6.
+
+211: Ps. cxviii. 22. Matt. xxi. 42.
+
+212: Eph. ii. 21.
+
+213: 1 Pet. ii. 5.
+
+214: 2 Cor. vi. 16.
+
+215: S. James ii. 17.
+
+216: Col. iii. 14.
+
+217: Ezek. xiii. 10.
+
+218: Ps. cxxvii. 1.
+
+219: Rom. ii. 7.
+
+220: Rev. iv. 8; v. 13.
+
+221: In the parish registry of Dymock, in Gloucestershire, is the
+following entry:--"Buried: John Murrel, aged 89 years. Thomas Bannister,
+aged 13 years." To which is appended the following note: "John Murrel
+and Thomas Bannister died nearly at the same moment, though the latter
+was in apparent good health. He had always attended upon Murrel, who was
+much given to prayer, and being by his bed at the time, Murrel, in his
+last struggle, extended his hand to him, when both instantly expired."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stones of the Temple, by Walter Field
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