UC-NRLF III *C 23k 35^1 MJLsL f P K E I F ' TEMPLES. PRIVATUS ILLIS CENSUS ERAT BREVIS, COMMUNE MAGNUM: NULLA DECEMPEDIS METATA PRIVATIS OPACEM PORTICUS EXCIPIEBAT ARCTON ; NEC FORTUITUM SPERNERE CESPITEM LEGES SINEBANT, OPPIDA PUBLICO SUMPTU JUBENTES, ET DEORUM TEMPLA NOVO DECORARE SAXO. TEMPLES, ANCIENT AND MODERN; NOTES ON CHURCH ARCHITECTURE WILLIAM BARDWELL, ARCHITECT. LONDON : PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR; AND SOLD BY JAMES FRASER, REGENT STREET; AND JOHN WILLIAM? CHARLES STREET, SOHO SQUARE. MDCCCXXXV1I. t. r. drury, printer, jounson's court, fleet street, London. ~33 TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, WILLIAM THE FOURTH. SIRE, YOUR MAJESTY'S most gracious permission that this Treatise should be honoured with your Royal sanction proves that its subject is near to your Majesty's heart, for it had no other recommendation than its aim to restore a purer taste in our Ecclesiastical Architecture. That the public monuments of your Majesty's happy reign, while they attest the revival of art and the progress of science, in felicitous union with liberties extended and rights preserved under your Majesty's auspices, may evince an awakened sense of the imperative duty of promoting religious instruction in Churches worthy of their dedication, is the fervent prayer of Sire, Your Majesty's Most devoted Servant and Subject, WILLIAM BARDWELL. 2fi, James Street, New Palace. 398 PREFACE. In order to state briefly the object of this work, it will be sufficient to repeat my answer to the question of an old friend, whose habit it is to indulge a certain cynical humour in deploring " the lamentable inferiority of modern architecture when compared with that of the middle ages." " My object is," said I, " to set aside your vocation, and to endeavour to excite among archi- tects a spirit of enquiry such as cannot fail to prevent a repetition of those improprieties, the existence of which, in our public edifices, has so long afforded subject for your complaints, and matter for your criticism." I would put an end to that inconsistency which is the cause of error — the tyranny of custom and the caprice of fashion — which while they compel the modern architect to copy in little and with meaner materials, the sublime works of revered antiquity, indulge a laugh at his expense, because his reproduction fails to excite those sensations of pleasure and admiration which are inseparable from the contemplation of the original. The architects of our modern churches are in general induced to adopt the pointed style of archi- viii. PREFACE. tecture ; while the material in which they are com- pelled to work was wholly rejected by their great predecessors in the middle ages. The pointed style of architecture, its character, its beauties, and even its faults, are essentially those of construction in stone. Had that substance been wanting, the style would not have existed, and a candid consideration of the criticisms I have collected will, I think, make it clear that the chief defects of modern imitation arise not so much from a want of acquaintance with the style as from the necessity of adapting it to the littleness and poverty of a brick construction. In all the great exemplars of the middle ages, stone alone is used; had brick been adopted, we have every reason to believe that the artists of those days would have adapted their style to its peculiarities, as they did to those of stone. The royal robes of a monarch are grand and dignified when " purple and fine linen " are their fabric, but let their form be imitated in paper and tinsel, and they excite only contempt and derision. The effect of a building owes much more to its materiel than is generally imagined ; but this is too often overlooked, or mistakenly regarded as a matter of indifference, while the style engrosses the deepest attention of the architect. The superiority of the City churches over those recently erected is attributable mainly to the component substances of which they are constructed ; and, as one PREFACE. ix result of my investigations, I may observe, in connection with these edifices, that notwithstanding his errors of detail, the general style and the materials of Sir Chris- topher Wren, are almost the perfection of Protestant church building. If, then, we be too poor to afford erections of stone, is it necessary, is it fitting, that we should continue to caricature the sublime conceptions of our ancient eccle- siastical architects by imitating their works in a material which they rejected as unworthy to embody them ? Let us, till better days arrive — till the public mind is more enlightened, and the public eye more instructed — prac- tise in the Italian style, in which buildings may be con- structed of almost any materials ; and which, with the strictest propriety, will bear the utmost extent of enrich- ment, and will preserve all the pittoresco of the Gothic, even when executed with a Quaker-like plainness. The great advantage, therefore, of this style is, that small as may be the sum appropriated, a church may be erected for that sum ; which, while it humbly answers the purposes of the building, may also do honour to the architect. But to compose in the Italian style will certainly require a knowledge of the principles of design, in order to effect any thing like a harmonious arrange- ment ; and it will put a stop to the practice of going to Stuart's Athens for a portico, and applying it, no matter how, and no matter where ; a practice, in b x PREFACE. reference to which the late Sir John Soane observed to me some years since, " My footman is as good an architect as I am." That the principles of design in the Grecian and in the Gothic styles of architecture are widely different, must surely be conceded ; an attentive examination of their peculiarities will abundantly prove this, the very essence of expression in the fine arts " being to produce the resemblance of a thing, but in some other thing which becomes the image of it." The architectural student will also find many excellent hints for the composition of buildings in the Italian style, in the backgrounds of the pictures of the old masters, the predecessors of Raffaelle. The theory of the origin of architecture suggested in these pages may, by some persons, be considered too fanciful. It is true the subject has been investigated, unawed by the authority and influence of mere names.* * By taking up things without enquiry we frequently establish and per- petuate the grossest errors ; thus, for instance, no two architectural words have been so misapplied and misunderstood as Piazza and Oriel — a Gothic bay window is the idea generally suggested by the latter : now in the middle ages I am not aware of its ever being so applied, but we find it made use of to express: — 1st. A Pent -house. 2nd. A Porch attached to any edifice. 3rd. A Detached Gate-house. 4th. An Upper Story. 5th. A Gallery for Minstrels. — How frequently also do we hear of persons meeting under the Piazza in Covent Garden: now " Piazza" is a word which, having been corrupted to mean an arcade and a colonnade, has given rise to a confusion of ideas. It answers to our word square or plain, in street architecture. The Piazza de Spagna at Rome is triangular; the Piazza di San Pietro is eliptical : and PREFACE. xi I do not flatter myself with having done more than open the enquiry ; the step I have taken will, I hope, be followed by some of those able men who ornament our Universities, who, with more leisure than a profes- sional man's pursuits will allow, are also endowed with talents and learning to which I do not pretend. If we may judge from two or three treatises lately set forth, there are among them men perfectly competent to achieve an enterprise which I can hardly hope is more than indicated in these pages. In order to point out the principles on which is founded a just and correct taste in church architecture, I have thought it right to trace them as they rise in a historical examination of the temples of all ages and countries. It is by such an examination only that we can discover the general principles of architectural composition, on which the effect of those buildings depends. If it be thought that I have in some instances recommended a style and class of edifices too expensive for our age, let the utilitarian be reminded, that money expended in public buildings is not an outlay on the part many piazze in Rome are of any shape, or no shape. In Norwich, Yarmouth, and some other old towns, wherever there is an open space surrounded by houses, it is called a plain ; thus St. Mary's Plain, the Theatre Plain, &c. : and the word plain, in this restricted sense, exactly answers to the Italian piazza. PREFACE. of a country, but a most useful and oeconomieal applica- tion of the national resources. Some conception may be formed of the vast sums expended on the embellishment of ancient Athens, under the direction of that true political ceconomist, the illustrious Pericles, when it is stated, that the cost of the Parthenon alone is computed at a hundred talents of gold ; although, from the multi- tude of slaves, manual labour was at a low price, and the materials were the produce of the country. Attica was not impoverished by these sacrifices ; nor would England, if a part of her enormous capital were similarly employed. The lowest class of the people would benefit, directly, by the sweet rewards of labour ; and the splendour of her works of art would make the poorest son of the soil proud of the country they adorned. The early chapters of this work were written, as the reader will readily perceive from the tone and matter, before the Chancellor of the Exchequer had explained to Parliament the Ministerial measure on the subject of church-rates. No allusion therefore to that measure could have been intended by the Author ; with him the question was, between church-rates and no provision for the church. I cannot close these prefatory remarks without acknowledging the gratitude I feel for the kind interest in the progress of my work, evinced even by the highest PREFACE. xiii and the noblest in the land ; but it might appear like vanity, rather than gratitude, were I to express myself more clearly. I must not, however, omit to mention one instance of warm-heartedness, for which I feel a deep sense of obligation. I allude to Mr. Brayley, of the Russell Institution, who, almost a stranger, has exhibited towards me the kindness of a friend. If the C( Notes" I have here thrown together should be found to merit attention, my labour will be rewarded ; and great indeed will be my gratification if they should the means of restoring to sacred architecture be its ancient and appropriate character. ERRATA. Page 11, line 4 of Note, for " cause," read " cure." — 16, for " Frazer's," read " Fraser's." — 33, line 8, for " Religion thus being," read " Religion then being.' — 136, line 3, for " three first Edwards," read " first three Edwards. I CONTENTS. Page 1. The General Subject Opened — Necessity of New Churches — Arguments in Favour of Limited Parishes — Attachment to the Church — Architectural Propriety a Cause of that Attach- ment 1 2. The Duty of Supporting a National Church 15 3. On the Advantages of an Established Church — The Clergy — The Village Church and its Effects on the Mind— The Cathe- dral 21 CHAP. 4. Errors in the Architectural Details of Late- Erected Churches. A Connected Series of Critical Observations 30 5. The Origin of Architecture 48 6. The Temple of Ammon 64 7. The Temple of Solomon 82 8. Greek and Roman Temples 88 9. The Primitive Church 93 10. The Christians in Britain — Cultivation of the Britons — Ca- lumnies of Julius Caesar 98 CHAP. 11. The Churches of Christian Rome, Constantinople, Asia- Minor, Egypt, and Russia 106 12. The Anglo-Saxon Church 125 13. The Arch — Anglo-Norman Architecture 136 14. English Churches in the Middle Ages 146 15. Elizabethan Architecture — Summary. Architecture in America . 160 16. On Columns and Porticos 169 17. Inefficiency of Skill without Taste ; of Rule, unless animated by Genius — Political Importance of Public Works — Architecture a Test of National Character 176 CHAP. 18. The Great National Advantages to be derived from the Cultiva- tion of a Pure Taste— Increase of Architectural Taste in England — The Public Monuments of France 187 19. Principles for Building New Churches 196 20. On Interiors 212 21. Music in Church Worship 228 CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. CHAP. LIST OF PLATES, No. Page 1. Whitby Abbey Frontispiece. 2. Preston Church 24 3. Temple at Keswick 54 4. Pharaoh's Banner , '.' . . 81 5. Atrium 94 6. Church of St. Mary Woolnoth 96 7. Mausoleum of Shere Shah 115 8. Roman Interior, Exterior, &c. . 100 9. Saxon Interior 132 10. Church of St. Mary, Temple 154 11. Whitby Abbey 153 12. Plan for Altering- City Churches ~\ 13. Exterior of design for do. do >198 14. Interior do. do 3 15. Fac-simile from Bishop Sparrow 214 TEMPLES, ANCIENT AND MODERN. CHAP. I. THE GENERAL SUBJECT* OPENED— NECESSITY OF NEW CHURCHES-ARGU- MENTS IN FAVOUR OF LIMITED PARISHES — ATTACHMENT TO THE CHURCH — ARCHITECTURAL PROPRIETY A CAUSE OF THAT ATTACH- MENT. " QUANTO PIACE AL MONDO 6 BREVE SOGNO." PETRABCA. F the discussion on the momentous question of erecting a number of new churches for the service of the National Religion, the first legitimate result is — a strong conviction that the division of large parishes is pre- ferable to the erection of chapels of ease. The source of this conviction is the manifest attachment of the people to the mother church, which is surrounded in their memories with a reverence that cannot by possibility attach to any chapel or minor edifice, to which associations connected with the parochial church are wanting. The fane in which we are devoted to the service of God, and enrolled at once in the registers of earth and heaven, is inexpressibly dear to the memory in after times and in distant lands ; the personal ceremonies of confirmation, and perhaps of marriage within our own consciousness, and the attendance at the B 2 TEMPLES, celebration of similar events in our families and among our friends and neighbours, are ties to the parish church, which are not the less strong because unrecognized until occasion compel us to regard and acknowledge them. Where the church is remarkable as an edifice it resembles still more strongly a sacred banner, lifting the eyes and thoughts together above the ordinary level, and attracting towards itself a common sympathy and veneration. When it becomes the tomb of the good and great, when its spire rises heavenward from the earth beneath which lie the bones of our fathers, our regard becomes a holy and exalted feeling ; — and of the pure spirit to which these associations tend, the Temple should be worthy. If proof were wanting of this strong attachment to the parish church, when, it is calculated, as a building, to attract regard, we might remind the reader of " Rett's Rebellion in Norfolk," when the " Commissioners" dishonestly unroofed Wymondham Abbey-church, after having been paid for the lead which covered it by the inhabitants. Other proofs of this feeling appear, in the pride the men of York and Lincoln take in their minsters and parochial churches — the miles that the yeomen of the Fens rode into Lincoln when an accident to " Great Tom" excited their interest and curiosity — the passion with which clergy and laity debated the position that the famous screen should occupy in York Minster, — the rising of the pa- rishioners of St. Margaret's, Westminster, against the Protector, Somerset, when he attempted to demolish their church; — not the present mongrel structure, but that erected in the time of Edward IV., of which the elegance may be imagined by the pillars and arches still remaining*; — and the defence of the * Some persons are now proposing the removal of this church in order to obtain a better view of the Abbey .- — Why not remove the north transept also ? and then a fine perspective of the whole flank would be gained without obstruction, according to the principles of design laid down by Milizia, in his " Lives of Architects." That arch- destructive, Wyatt, pulled down the bell-tower of Salis- ANCIENT AND MODERN. 3 Cathedral of St. Mungo, at Glasgow, by the populace when the Puritans proposed its demolition. These are proofs of the regard of the people towards their churches, as things touching their best inheritance ; and these illustrations — a few gathered from the multitude, of similar instances — may seem to exem- plify the degree to which the living principle of local attach- ment may be strengthened by a single class of monuments and traditions, provided always that the visible object be worthy, as a work of art, to embody and represent the invisible sources of the veneration and affection it demands and stimulates. But are our modern churches, as works of art, calculated to embalm themselves in our recollection, and to be recalled by the comparison of them with the works of other architects and the temples of other worshippers? Since the days of Queen Anne few parochial churches have been erected worthy of such distinction ! bury Cathedral ; laid bare the interior of Durham, and commenced the removal of its matchless Galilee ; and with " axes and hammers" made havoc with the " carved work" of Lichfield, for the same reason, or rather, want of reason. Such are a few only of the deplorable results of applying the principles of one style to improve another. Gothic architecture has always the charm of mystery ; it does not exhibit itself naked and bare like a Greek temple, perched on a rock ; but it appeals to the imagination, veiling itself with walls, and screens, and towers; in- ducing fancy to supply the deficiencies of the material scene : it delights in bold, striking, and picturesque irregularities, and always appears larger than its actual dimensions : the mouldings, the pillars, the arches, always create receding shadows and, to the eye, the idea of space arises from the succession of shadows and multi- tudinous parts of unequal dimensions, just as the conception of time results from the succession of ideas. Remove not St. Margaret's, restore it if you please, there are plenty of examples of the time as authorities ; modify its hideous galleries, and supersede its Batty- Langley porch, and its alms-house windows, but the Abbey church has already been too much deprived of its subordinate features ; it formerly arose a magnificent apex to a royal palace, surrounded by its own greater and lesser sanctuaries, its greater and lesser almonries, its bell-towers, gate- houses, boundary-walls, and a train of other buildings of which we at the present day scarcely form an idea. We, indeed, can but faintly imagine, the former glories of Westminster Abbey. 4 TEMPLES, The churches in France, in their various and appropriate decorations, as in architectural beauty, generally please the stranger. Not used as places of sepulture, they are free from the damp and unhealthy effluvia common to our older churches, whose foundations lie among the accumulated dead, the decay of ages of mortality ; and yet, not being devoid of " storied urn, or animated bust," we have the pleasing and instinctive associations of departed virtue, ..without the painful sense of proximity to the buried dead. No excluding pews deface the beauty, or limit the freedom, of the house of God ; all is open, light, and cheerful : here are the storied window, the sculptured column, and painted canvas to teach the unlearned the truths of sacred scripture ; the cathedrals of Amiens, Rheims, Chartres, &c. are indeed EmbellishectBibles ; they represent to the eye what the perusal of the scripture impresses on the mind ; but their language is more forcible than words, and capable of being read without previous tuition. Now, as the art of man is an effluence of the direct inspiration of divinity, can such a dedication of its achievements be displeasing to the source from whence it springs ? London, the largest and richest capital in the world, pre- sents in this respect a melancholy contrast to the metropolitan cities of the continent. The east end of the town, although far inferior in our day to its condition at the distance of two centuries, still abounds in noble specimens of the munificence of former ages. View it from whatever point you will it still presents the strongly marked features of a vast capital. Not so is it with the modern town, the additions to the ancient city. The parish of Mary-le-bone alone equals in population and extent, and far exceeds in riches, any one of our old provincial cities; but, while each of them has its cathedral and some dozen of beauteous churches, here the eye passes reluctantly over long-continued lines of unmeaning brick and mortar, with here and there a poor apology for a steeple, feebly ANCIENT AND MODERN. 5 breaking the dreary waste, and scarcely relieving its monotony. Not one church have the great land-owners of this district reared for the accommodation of any portion of the thousands who densely people their estates. Is this wise ? Is it just ? Our forefathers made enormous personal sacrifices to raise those piles which are the glory of our land. William of Malmes- bury says, the custom of expressing religious fervour by build- ing a church or monastery prevailed to such a degree, that a rich man would have thought he had lived in vain if he had not left such a monument of his piety and munificence. Hence it is that our old cities are recognised from afar by the tall spires or lofty towers of their churches, hallowing all the land- scape, and impressing us with the conviction that there God is worshipped, and the effects of piety are evident. How strong the contrast between such a scene and that presented to the eye at the approach to one of our modern towns. Of course the superstition of the former is not commendable, nor the industry and science of the latter to be spoken of without respect: but was it superstition alone that induced men to devote such .sums of money to purposes of piety and charity ? Count up the endowments of the church before she was de- spoiled ; imagine the cost of the Minster of York, or Durham, or Ely, or Lincoln, or of our colleges and schools ; the expences of their erection, endowment, and daily support, and if indeed the sacrifice of worldly wealth to the building of palaces for learning, temples for religion, and homes for poverty, be super- stition, it is an abused word and represents a virtue. Super- stition ! we blush for those who will not only not imitate the good deeds of their ancestors, but want hearts to understand even the frame of mind, the heroic piety, which prompted their exertions. Horace, in many passages, imputes the manifestation of divine protection to the pious care bestowed on temples conse- crated to deity ; while, among the monuments of the middle ages, 6 TEMPLES, we often find a model of a church placed in the hand of the founder's statue ; here is a species of mutually reflecting light between the heathen creed and the christian practice ; and if it were necessary to show by argument, that a pious care of God's house is a rational mode of seeking God's favour, the experience of every day might afford abundant proof: where is he that hath endowed a church who afterwards found cause to repent his pious sacrifice? unhappily the example is of too infrequent occurrence. Shall we, in this day of light and of knowledge, be put to shame by the superior works of our fore- fathers in all ages ? Have we the means of building extensive and magnificent gaols, bridges, roads, and workhouses, and yet have nothing to spare towards affording the people at large the means of attending divine worship, according to the creed of their fathers ? Shall a nation, possessing a revenue superior in amount to the combined resources of all the other states of Europe, have no portion of that vast fund to bestow on the religion which is our safeguard here and our only means of happiness hereafter ? The Church of England, formed on the purest model of Christianity, endeavours, in her ceremonies, to avoid with equal care the pomp of superstition, and the meagre negligence of sectarian worship ; but anxious that all should be done accord- ing to the Apostle's injunction, " decently and in order ;'' she does not despise, although she does not lay much stress on externals. But her ritual is the national form of worship, her buildings are, therefore, public edifices; consequently she re- quires temples commensurate both with her high purpose, and with the dignity of the British nation. Private liberality can- not fully accomplish this, nor is it even just that the wise and good should be doubly taxed, that the careless or indifferent man may be spared from contribution to promote the general good. We see what the voluntary system effects in the four walls and mere covering from the inclemency of the seasons — ANCIENT AND MODERN. 7 the meeting-house — this is said without meaning any disrespect ; for these buildings, humble as they are, have often been raised, by noble instances of individual exertion and self-denial.* I am aware of the argument, that the Church of England, under the name of tithes, already possesses a sufficient fund for all the purposes of support to the ministry, the building, endowment, and maintenance of churches ; and in addition, can provide for the poor, independantly of any levy under the names of church- rate or poor-rate, and without appeal to the liberality of parlia- ment. If the alienated lands and buildings, and the impro- priated revenues of the church were restored to her, and if it were a practice of the present, as it was a characteristic of passed ages to increase, by a multitude of means, her income, fixed and fluctuating, we might be called upon to meet this argument ; but now when the fact is established, beyond the power of contradiction, that more than one landed pro- prietor in this kingdom might pay the whole of the stipends of the parochial clergy of Ireland out of his annual income, and leave £20,000 a year for his own individual use; and when it is known that the whole property of the Church of England would not divide among its ministers, so as to leave them £250 a year each; it is absurd to regard such a pro- position as tenable or deserving of answer. The erection of churches, one at least for every 5,000 of the population, or in the proportion of one church to 600 houses, is the first step towards making the establishment more extensively known to the people, in its beneficent and maternal character : this, with the proper organization of parishes, would do more for the church than the new-fangled reforms and intermeddling which * John Wesley was well aware of the inefficiency of the voluntary system when he ordained a perpetual fund to be raised by a minimum subscription of a penny a week from every member of his communion : hence it is that the Wesleyans find no difficulty in building a place of worship wherever the wants of their members require it. 8 TEMPLES, is sanctioned by her good but timid friends, on the demands of her avowed or suspected foes. The parochial administration, lately introduced, is in direct opposition to that which the expe- rience of ages has proved to be the best. In the old towns, where parishes are small, we have peace, subordination, and attach- ment to the church and constitution ; in the new towns, where parishes are large, and their administrative organization im- perfect, perpetual mobs and agitation, turmoil and confusion, infidelity and disloyalty. As old Quarles says : — " Soul-boiling rage, and trouble-state sedition And giddy doubt and goggle-eyed suspicion." Compare for example, the quiet well ordered parishes in the city, with that want of veneration for all that is great and good in the land, which is manifested in the suburbs — or the courteous and respectful demeanor of the inhabit- ants of Harrow, with the turbulent and vicious disposition of the lower classes at Brentford. Let us return to the wise practice of our ancestors, and have our districts so small that the inhabitants may know and remedy abuses, instead of depending for everything on the omnipotence of parliament. The word " centralization " is as foreign to our language as the practice is to that wise policy by which our ancient parishes were rendered each a little community, the affairs of which were as well ordered as those of a private family, as long as the minister and parochial officers performed their duties. The excessive growth of parishes, especially in London, is a great foe to this orderly and convenient system of subdivision, this admirable species of self-control, management, and direction in each parish respectively; and it is an evil which railroads will tend to increase, by bringing food and commodities more rapidly to London, with a consequent more rapid increase of population. These considerations should the more forcibly impress on the public mind, the necessity of restoring and establishing ANCIENT AND MODERN. 9 independent communities, and subdividing extensive districts, for the purposes of local government. There is sufficient op- portunity — nay demand, for legislative interference where paro- chial subscribers and individual liberality cannot avail, and it is the duty of the state to provide for the general want out of the general means. Reason, then, tells us that our course should be to separate the overgrown parishes, not partially but entirely, and organize new parishes in the original manner, and with the needful officers ; to appropriate to each new parish a part of the revenues of the mother church, and provide for the present incumbent with a prebend, or a deanery, as vacancies occur. But these are matters of detail, the principle is all that I insist on. In London, however, the surplus revenue of the see, will, in less than twenty years, accumulate a fund sufficient for the endowment of several churches. But our excellent and active diocesan has shown, that in the capital alone fifty new churches are absolutely required. And, indeed, where masses of the population have grown up in heathenism or sectarian error, the church requires for her safety and her efficacy the immediate erection of new churches ; now the state is bound to secure the former, and liberally to main- tain the latter. This is the argument of Dr. Chalmers, who has so deeply studied the details, and so clearly explained the principles of civic economy. " Let each family," he says, * be supplied with a church, so near that they may enjoy the public ministration of a clergyman ; and each clergyman pro- vided with a territory so moderate, that by his week-day labours he may ply the attentions of Christianity and kindness upon all the families of his congregation." This necessity was apparent in the reign of Anne, who decreed the erection of fifty churches, but of them only eleven were completed, so grievously was her good intent frustrated. That religion is honoured in our days by the erection of c i 10 TEMPLES, temples worthy of her sublimity and beauty cannot be con- tended. We are indebted to her for the most magnificent monuments of architecture ; but architecture is no wlittle obliged to devotion for protection and encouragement, nor does the art with filial piety endeavour to adorn its parent. nee grata parenti Officii reddit mutua jura Suo. A church should be erected near the west-end of the Bason in the Green Park, with a fine portico and cupola, something in the style of the Superga, or like the church of the As- sumption at Paris ; and another church, in the lancet - arch | style, with a very lofty spire, near Chesterfield Gate, Hyde Park. These churches are fea- tures absolutely ne- cessary to that part of the metropolis ; and money for their erection should be voted by parlia- ment, if we would not merit the charge of infidelity or bar- barism, now justly urged against us by the stranger, who, enteringLondon by J, Altar ; b,b, Vestries ; c,c, Schools : d,d,d, Pronaos and Baptistery. ANCIENT AND MODERN. 11 any of the great western roads, must, after travelling nearly forty miles without seeing anything worthy of the country's religion, penetrate as far as St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, before his eye rests on a building to justify the conclusion that God is honoured in the land ! The mean exterior of St. James's is beneath his notice. Who indeed would imagine that this barbarous brick-cased and ill-shapenpile, inclosed one of the choicest and most elegantly formedinteriors which the metro- polis can boast ? To the want of such erections may be attributed much of the disgraceful ignorance and consequent cruelty of the lower orders, and the utter want of taste and veneration in the class immediately above them. Whence the indifference to the church, whence the objection to the rates ? * The buildings are such as men cannot be proud of: and, within, the apportionment of the pews prevents the church from supplying sufficient ac- commodation to the rich, while to the poor only a few seats in the aisle are appropriated. The very beasts given to man for his use feel, in the living death to which in this metropolis their cruel masters condemn them, the effects of that ignorance, and heathenism, and indifference to christian feeling, which may be traced to the want of the means of instruction. There can be no more efficient system of reforming the poorer classes, * Mr. Gisborne, in his speech in the debate on Church-rates (March 16th), bore testimony to the only real excuse urged by the few churchmen who refuse to pay church-rate for their opposition to the system. That excuse is, the immense extent of the parishes. The evident and only cause of the evil on which the excuse rests is the sub-division of these parishes, and the erection of churches more conveniently situated with respect to every portion of the parishioners. " In Derbyshire many of the parishes were divided into townships, each having a chapel, and some of them five and twenty miles from the mother church. Now, the inhabitants of these townships felt it to be a great grievance that they had not only to repair their own chapel, but to contribute to the repair of the mother church. The cases of Bakewell and Stockport were strong instances of the evil." IS TEMPLES, than the restoration of that noble plan of our ancestors, — placing the means of religious knowledge and the practice of devotion within the reach of the poorest. K The bible would soon cease to be read if it ceased to be preached ; and how is it to be preached without churches ? The sums appropriated in more auspicious times to the erection of new churches have brought into the fold 400,000 christians, and repaid every citi- zen his share of the outlay by the improved habits of the persons who were degraded by that destitution of which we now urge the supply." There are instruments for the good work, rusting for want of use; our universities teem with men of enlightened piety and extensive knowledge, whose talents, now in abeyance, only wait for a sphere of usefulness to render them a blessing and an honour to the country. To multiply a resident ministry, composed of such men in the populous districts, will be attended with the most beneficial effects on the manners of the people. Whenever the life and doctrine of a clergyman are what they ought to be, his influence is always conspicuous in the place where he resides ; and it is almost exclusively to the resident clergy that the government can look with confidence for correct information as to the state and character of their respective districts. There are situations also in which the means of erecting and endowing churches almost voluntarily present themselves ; such are the occasions offered by the inclosure of commons and waste lands, in which cases a certain portion of land should be appropriated to erecting, and a certain portion of the future products of the soil devoted to the support, of an edifice suited to the accommodation of the district population. But to all these means must be superadded the feeling to apply and use them, and to sanctify at once the service and the temple. The piety of our ancestors, whatever may be said of the form of their worship, was sublime. They did not enter ANCIENT AND MODERN. 13 churches merely to "say their prayers." A solemn awe impressed their souls the moment they crossed the sacred threshold ; and how much of this holy feeling was created or excited by the architectural arrangement of the interior ? Before them, on the tombs and in the windows, were the effigies of their an- cestors, with their hands uplifted in prayer, as a perpetual memento to their descendants to remember their absolute de- pendance on the God of their fathers ; upon the walls hung helmets, corslets, swords, and banners, to remind the beholder that the deceased had bravely defended their king, their coun- try, their wives, and children. All around hung the expressive ornaments of heraldry, bearing bright testimony to the honours and estates which their wisdom and bravery had acquired for the enjoyment and happiness of their children. Every senti- ment of what God is, — of the shortness of life in this world, and the eternity of that which is to come — was intensely excited ; and the pealing anthem swelled the note of praise to minds overpowered with the religio loci, as well as elevated beyond earth by the divine principle in the abstract. Then charity too, marshalled the funeral procession; — long trains of poor, clothed and fed; grey-headed serving men provided with alms-houses and annuities; poor bed-ridden people re- lieved ; orphan-maidens portioned ; indigent children sent to school ; bridges built and repaired ; sums of money bequeathed — for raising gorgeous monuments, (not from ostentation, but that posterity might not forget to pray for their souls) ; for finishing and completely repairing churches ; for erecting new aisles and chapels ; for inserting new windows, and adding every species of decoration to the holy fabric; — these and various other benefactions show that, if the moderns are upon the whole a great deal wiser than their forefathers they are also a great deal meaner. What is more grateful to the eye of the man of sentiment, philanthropy and religion, than a church ? Travel 14 TEMPLES, over the country, every tower that rises between the trees is a hieroglyphic of the word ** God I" Humble as may be the temple, it is in harmony with the unpolished manners of the peasantry ; — it is venerable : it is a Church ; not an unmeaning public room, with pews and a pulpit. XU lUCtUbtf (BotJ, and retttttttfoer Bcatft, is the awful impression which every man ought to feel on his entrance into a church. ANCIENT AND MODERN. id CHAP. II. THE DUTY OF SUPPORTING A NATIONAL CHURCH. god's altar to disparage and displace for one of syrian mode." MILTON. TTACKS have, from time to time, been made upon the established church of this country, and upon the religion of which it is the guardian, as an easy and safe mode of obtaining political noto- riety : for, invented or exaggerated statements against the lives of the clergy, their wealth, their pride, or their indolence, are always eagerly received by a credulous and greedy populace ; and, strange to say, their author is lauded to the skies as a patriot. These attacks are so diversified in their origin, and so hollow in themselves, that I will not fatigue the reader with an attempt to enumerate or classify them. The source from which the church derives its property is constantly mis-stated, the amount of that property grossly exaggerated, and a new application of it often urged, under the specious pretext of popular relief. Thus, for instance, it is sometimes stated that church property was given, or bequeathed, for the sake of pro- curing masses for the souls of the donors. This is a great 16 TEMPLES, mistake ; the lands left for that purpose were the chantry lands, none of which are now in the hands of the church ; one of the first acts of Edward the Sixth's reign was to impropriate them to the crown. But the delusion, about the wealth of the church, is fast passing away : the late Parliamentary Returns, and the writings of many able men, who have examined the subject,* have in some degree opened the eyes of the people to the deceptions of their misleaders ; and that man must be besotted and ignorant indeed, who now believes that the Church of England is a wealthy establishment ; that our present estimable primate has fifty thousand pounds a year, or even a third part of that sum. I shall show, in the succeeding chapter, some of the uses to which the wealthier clergy have applied the means of doing good, committed to their hands, and the public evil that will follow the efforts of innovators to remove them, or restrain their exertions, by limiting their incomes. The Tithe Commu- tation Bill of last session has, at least for the moment, silenced the unreasonable cry for the abolition of tithes ; but, should it be renewed, it will be well to remember that a simple repeal of tithes would only be a simple addition to the rental of the land- lord : and what benefit would result to the people from a mere robbery of themselves ? The landed proprietors should also recollect, that if once they sanction the principle of interference, with the most ancient title to property in the realm, they in fact acknowledge that rights and titles are dependant upon the public will ; therefore the legal owners may be stripped of them whenever public clamour requires it. The church herself, however, should take a high ground, and stand on the known utility of her establishments, on the venerable and unimpeachable charter of her rights, and on the high sanctity of her office. She should call for her convocations, * See Frazer's and the British Magazines. ANCIENT AND MODERN. 17 and claim the right which she possesses of managing her own affairs — her revenues, are rights derived from such ancient occupation that no other property in the empire can show a title of like antiquity. Nearly a thousand years have rolled by since the establishment became possessed of the tithes, and of the greater part of the estates now^belonging to her ; and those who imagine that it was the Romish church that was so endowed, betray the greatest historical ignorance. The English and Irish church, at the time when the tithes were assigned to them, held scarcely one of the tenets of the Church of Rome that are not even now common to both — the errors of popery crept in upon the pure doctrine and discipline of the early church ; and our reformation was not the robbing of one set of men to give their estates to another set, nor was it the raising up a new religion : it was the restoration of our ancient church in its original purity ; the clearing our service book from the errors forced upon us, and the abolishing of the homage and tribute exacted from us by an Italian court. We know that, in her tenets, the Anglo-saxon Church, as com- pared with the Church of Rome at the time of the Reformation, was — like her representative of the present day, — Protestant, and not Popish ; that the change which took place at the Reforma- tion was a return to the pure faith and worship of our fore- fathers, by whom the titles and estates of the church were originally granted ; and that, consequently, her claim to have her property respected, out of regard to the wills of those from whom it came, remains unimpaired. Set apart from the earliest times we find, in 969, Alderman Aylwin at the dedication of the church of Ramsey, which he had founded, conjuring those present to gainsay, if they could, the title of the monks to their lands. As no one came forward, he continued: " I call then on you all to bear witness, before God, that on this day we have offered justice to every adversary ; and that no one has dared 18 TEMPLES, to dispute our right. Will you, after this, permit any new claim to be preferred against us ? " " But if tithe be a property," argue the opponents of the church, " are not the clergy greatly overpaid ? " how easy is the answer. Seldom indeed is the income of the clergyman at all equal to the sacrifice of years and money devoted to his professional education, or to the demands of his professional duty. Ask any barrister, solicitor, surgeon, merchant, &c, if he would be content with £300 a year ? Double it, quadruple it, and he would tell you the combined amount would be inadequate to his views — " well, but, — pluralities, — surely there is nothing to be said in favour of one man holding two or three livings ? " Let us put this objection to the test of expe- rience. My early tutor is one of these scandalous pluralists, holding no less than five livings, for which, as rector, vicar, and perpetual curate, he receives the enormous sum of two hundred and twenty pounds a year ; the population of the five parishes is 1079 : two of the parishes are united, and two of the churches are adjoining each other. In each of these latter the inhabitants assemble alternately, so that by giving three full services each Sunday, and residing in the midst of his flock, this excellent man efficiently fulfils his pastoral duties, whereas, if pluralities had not existed, these small parishes must have been deprived of the benefit of a resident minister, because any one of those separate livings would not afford its incumbent the common necessaries of life — -verily those who exclaim most against the church will find, on examination, that they know very little about the matter. But there is still another point on which much disputation has been fastened — I mean church rates, and the opposition to them has been defended on grounds which demands some notice, as involving the main subject of this work. In some parishes the care of the church and the provision ANCIENT AND MODERN. 19 for its maintenance and embellishment have not been left to the chances of futurity, for charitable individuals have appro- priated lands or funds to that exalted purpose ; in other cases the impropriator of the great tithes is bound to repair at least the chancel of the sacred edifice ; but where a church rate is necessary, it has been of late, on various pretences, repeatedly objected to — by some on the plea that the rate has been misap- plied — others urging their own non-attendance at church, and some refusing to pay for conscience sake. Upon this subject Dr. D wight says, " Men may just as well refuse to support schools because they have no children, or roads and bridges because they stay at home, and don't use them, as to refuse the small sums required for the keeping up the public building of their parish. All these are things which enter into all the happiness he enjoys, and without them, he and his countrymen would be hermits and savages." Nothing can be more dishonest than the conduct of those persons who refuse to pay church-rates, — a tax to which their property has been subject for many hundred years before they or their fathers became possessed of it, and on account of which they obtained that property at so much the less cost, because it was charged with the duty of keeping up the parochial edifice ; but this duty they are now endeavouring to transfer to other property which has never borne it — for, in spite of infidelity, the churches must be kept up. In short, it is a mere question of property, and not of person ; and a man may just as reason- ably refuse to pay the interest money upon a mortgage over his estate, or the King's taxes, or any other burden upon property, as the church-rate, upon the specious pretext of its being against his principles. There is a remarkable incident in the history of the great founder of our faith. By a law of human origin the tax of half a shekel was annually levied on every male in Judea for the d 2 20 TEMPLES, repair, decoration, and ministerial outlay of the Jewish temple on mount Zion. It was a tribute from which the Son of God was on every account plainly exempted. It was not enforced by scriptural enactment — it was collected for the support of an edifice of which he himself declared that not one stone should stand on another. Yet when the collectors of this church-rate inquired of Peter whether his master paid the tribute, aware of the strict honesty and justice which charac- terized his Lord, he answered in the affirmative. Peter was right : for, said his master, in words that must strike mute every babbler about " conscientious scruples," and objections to pay for « religion's" sake — proh pudor ! — " Go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take the first fish that cometh up, and when thou hast opened his mouth thou shalt find a piece of money ; that take and give them for me and for thee." Not content with the mere payment, he impressed on the minds of all generations, by the graphic imagery of a striking miracle, the conduct of the Saviour of mankind as a payer of church- rate in the country of his birth. If the objectors to church-rates are not stimulated by this noble example, let them tremble at the curse pronounced by Malachi on the people of Israel because they had not paid those rights, tithes, and contributions towards the maintenance of the religion of the country which had been, for time immemorial, a law of obligation with the chosen people of God.* • Dr. Isaac Watts, Dr. Doddridge, Dr. John Owen, Matthew Henry, and other distinguished non-conformist divines were advocates for the payment of church, rates. ANCIENT AND MODERN. 21 CHAP. III. ON THE ADVANTAGES OF AN ESTABLISHED CHURCH-THE CLERGY— THE VILLAGE CHURCH AND ITS EFFECT ON THE MIND— THE CATHEDRAL. " FOUNDED ON TRUTH ; BY BLOOD OF MARTYRDOM CEMENTED ; BY THE HANDS OF WISDOM REAR'D IN BEAUTY OF HOLINESS,— WITH ORDERED POMP, DECENT, AND CNREPROVED. Y a church establishment, and by the doctrines of belief and behaviour which the clergy are sworn to teach, no less than by the high style of education required to qualify them for their functions, a good guarantee is afforded to the country for the progress of general and theolo- gical literature, for the relief of the wants and the improvement of the condition of the poor, and for the residence in every parish of a gentleman responsible to God and his country for the performance of his sacred duties. The clergy, as instructors, arbitra- tors, trustees, advisers in domestic difficulties, and in parochial concerns, have raised the character of the English peasantry to a degree of excellence which can only be appreciated by those who see the effects produced by the influence of a lower grade of priesthood in other countries. There is not a body of men on earth more to be respected for manners, learning, integrity, loyalty, and piety than the English clergy, or who in general make their duty more a matter of conscience. Most of them are husbands and fathers, residing in the midst of their flocks ; their conduct seen and scrutinized by all ; many 22 TEMPLES, passing life in great privation, and all in much self-denial — removed from the temptations of life ; unable to partake in its social enjoyments, except in a most limited manner; men of study and abstraction from the world ; of high attainments themselves, yet dwelling among the ignorant and uneducated ; and having the education of a prince with little more than the pittance of a peasant. It is, as we have already shewn, a national benefit, of no ordinary kind, to have dispersed over every part of the country a number of well-educated men, whose especial business it is to keep up and enforce the knowledge of those most exalted truths which relate to the duties of man, and his ultimate destiny ; to relieve sickness and poverty, comfort affliction, counsel igno- rance, compose quarrels, soften violent and uncharitable feelings, and reprove and discountenance vice. The clergyman's family is, generally, a little centre of civilization, from which gleams of refinement, of manners, of neatness, of taste, as well as of science and general literature, are diffused through districts which they would otherwise never penetrate, and which nothing but an endowed parochial clergy could regularly and perma- nently influence. If such remarks as these appear uncalled for in a work of this nature, let it be remembered that of the good thus effected, the clergyman is the agent, while the church — the parochial church — is the instrument. It is impossible to regard the curate without thoughts of his vocation, while reciprocally, " The spire upsoaring from the bosky glade," immediately recals the image of the pastor's fireside, and all the delightful duties of the rural priest. The village church attracts immediate attention by its modest and unadorned exterior, often perfectly devoid of archi- tectural display, and only aspiring to the rank of those edifices ANCIENT AND MODERN. 23 winch stand as memorials of past ages, to remind us that our fore- fathers adapted their places of worship to the occasion upon which they were raised. Their own simplicity of character ap- pears to have been the guide of their works ; and the little village church will always furnish us with reflections of the most in- teresting nature on the feelings and the manners of ancient times. The surrounding gravestones, " adorned with rude sculp- ture," and worn and discoloured by the hand of time, battered by the storms of winter, and here and there spotted with moss — the green mark of antiquity — are peculiarly calculated to aid the effect of the scene 'upon a mind that indulges in con- templation on the transient nature of all earthly things. These humble tributes of regard give a pleasing idea of the tenderness that existed among families who derived all their refinement from the pure instruction of nature, and were perfectly unacquainted with the pride of later times. I cannot better illustrate the advantages of the Established Church in a rural district, than by quoting here, at full, the lively, graphic, and touching description of a scene from real life, in which the architecture and the services of the village church are happily combined. ** I descended," says the writer, " the steep, chalky road into the village of Preston, on a Sabbath morning, while the three small bells from the church tower were calling the villagers to prayer, with the gentlest notes of invitation and persuasion ; not like the vehement and authoritative power of address thrown from the steeple over the streets of some popu- lous town, but rather with notes affectionate and almost collo- quial. A green field, with its calm and soothing surface, led to the church-yard, where the white-frocked peasants were gra- dually assembling. The church and all around it displayed the purest simplicity of taste and character. The building was of that beautiful style in use in the thirteenth century, when a 24 TEMPLES, delicacy almost feminine produced the slim lofty window, ter- minating in a gently pointed arch. The door-way of entrance was in the same character, receiving only a stronger form, and a little more of weight and dignity, from the few rows of simple and plain mouldings by which its arch was surrounded. The small tower at the western end arose but little above the roof, and while it claimed a decided pre-eminence over the other buildings in the valley, yet seemed to evade any competition with the greater elevation of the hills around it, leaving it to them, ( to raise the eye and fix the upward thought/ For our ancestors were ever careful to appropriate the form of churches to their situations, rarely using the lofty spire, except where the flat continuing line of earth called for some object to excite elevation and sublimity of feeling. A small chancel terminated the eastern end of the building, and the whole was one of those humble edifices for worship which are so common in Sussex, and which possess, from their size and familiar style of archi- tecture, very much of a domestic character, a private chapelry for the villagers considered as one fixed and resident family. This feeling, no doubt the true and proper one, is sensibly possessed and enjoyed in places like this that retain their early and patriarchal aspect. And by this habit of a limited number, well known to each other, domesticating themselves once a week, friendship and mutual interests and attachments are, no doubt, gently and imperceptibly produced and preserved among them. The church-yard was in perfect harmony with the edifice. Removed from all approach of noise and occupation, it seemed to retain the same character as the fields around it, differing only in its holy purpose and consecration, as being ( the field of God, sown with the seeds of the Resurrection.' The lofty aspen poplars, and elm trees surrounding it, gave it that proper gravity and seclusion which, while they afforded the pleasure arising from beautiful objects of nature, brought gently to mind the serious appropriation of the spot." TOW CJHLILJRCn., & trs sex:. ANCIENT AND MODERN. 25 An established place, to which every one may repair for religious consolation, an appointed minister always resident, and always ready to listen to complaints and offer advice, are benefits conferred by the Established Church alone. Nor are the public value and national importance of a wealthy hierarchy less demonstrable, although perhaps less appreciated. It is well known that enormous sums are dis- pensed by the richer bishops in charities, and in the support of learning and religion. In our own days, and in the see of Durham alone, examples of munificence have been presented, such as we may vainly hope to see followed by men of any other order in the state. The late venerated Bishop Van Mildert laid out on the average £6,000 or £7,000 a year in building schools, erecting churches, and endowing, with ample means, the poor livings in his diocese. It has been shown that in one year, when the amount of fines received was unusually large, the bishop's charities exceeded £13,000, and that in another year, when the revenues of the see were only £15,300, he gave upwards of £4,000 to various charities. This princely minded man died poor, leaving to his widow nothing but a small sum for which he had insured his life some years before. Bishop Barrington, his predecessor, was of the same munificent disposition ; and it appears from his secretary's accounts that the money expended by this prelate for charitable purposes very much exceeded £200,000. Now, when the force of example on the surrounding gentry is taken into account, when it is remembered how much the erection and endowment of churches and schools depend upon the promised aid of the bishop, the impolicy of cutting the episcopal revenues down to the mere means of supporting the baronial dignity, will be at once apparent. Bishop Crewe converted the surplus of his income into per- petual wells of instruction and charity. He built and endowed a college, purchased and placed in trust for the poor, the ancient 26 TEMPLES, fortress of Bamburgh Castle, and its adjacent lands ; and there alone, as far as our knowledge extends, are concentrated into one focus the great aims of charity. The ruined castle was repaired, and the keep converted into a defence against, and a consolation under shipwreck, on one of the most fatal coasts of the island. The vaults were made cellerage for stowing away the relics of wrecked vessels, that the property might be saved for the owners ; a dormitory, a refectory, and wardrobe for the solace of one hundred shipwrecked persons, are at all times ready for such unfortunate persons; and, whether sailors or pas- sengers, they are clothed, fed, and kept at the castle on the bishop's charity, until perfectly refreshed, and ready to return to their ports, when they are supplied with money for their journey. One floor of the keep is furnished with Captain Manby's apparatus for the preservation of life and property in shipwreck ; a gun and bell are fixed on the top of the tower for signals in hazy weather, rewards are given to men who bring the earliest intelligence to the castle of vessels in distress, and proportionate prizes to those who venture most for the relief of the persons in distress. Schools for boys and girls are main- tained in the castle : there is a dispensary, and medical advice is given, gratis, to the poor ; and there are shops for the sale of groceries, corn, &c., at low prices in times of scarcity ; and on the surrounding estates are erected cottages, which are let with little plots of ground, at low rents, to the respectable poor of the neighbourhood, who have families ; and lastly, by the benevolence of another churchman, Dr. Sharpe, a prebend of Durham, the castle is stocked with a valuable library, which is free to every housekeeper in the county for a subscription of two shillings and sixpence a year. The wise provision that one order in a Christian state should be placed in such a situation, that they might from age to age command the means of virtuous munificence is farther ANCIENT AND MODERN. 27 conspicuous in Bishop Still's Hospital of Charity at Wells; Bishop Beckinsal's benevolent Asylum for Friendless and Indigent Age at Bath ; Bishop Ward's College of Matrons, widows of the clergy, at Salisbury, and Bishop Moreley's beneficent endowment of the same kind at Winchester; and monuments, unperishing, of mercy in every diocese and city of this civilized and Christian land. These are sufficient instances of the useful application of episcopal wealth ; but how many might be added. The noble Lord Primate of Ireland gave, in one donation, the splendid sum of £8,000 towards the subscription for the repair of Armagh Cathedral. What effect must these examples have on subscriptions for public purposes ; and how unwise to take away the means of making them ? The spirit of innovation, in its pursuit of false " ceconomy," of theoretical " symmetry," or asserted " justice," little regards these things. Amidst the well-founded complaints against ab- senteeism in Ireland, ten resident noblemen were extinguished at a blow. What availed it that their residence was a blessing to the wretched poor of their respective neighbourhoods, who now vainly bewail their loss ? What availed it that, in this cutting off ten bishops from the hierarchy, you closed so many doors to distinction, hitherto open to low-born merit ? For it must not be forgotten that the ministry of the Church of England, as a profession, is accessible to the children of the poorest classes in the kingdom : it is a gift from the rich to the poor, its endowment may become the inheritance of the peasant's son, by which he sometimes attains not only a maintenance, but honour, rank, the society of the great and good, intercourse with majesty itself; and by his learning, wisdom, and piety, displayed as a senator, may prove the saviour of his country in the hour of danger. This is no fanciful picture ; the his- tory of our country will fully prove that the cardinal's cap e 2 28 TEMPLES, and the bishop's mitre have often fallen on the humblest brow. The cathedral establishments of this country are of infinite value to the cause of true religion, as they are adapted for training and affording a gradation for the reward of merit amongst the clergy, and fitting them for the various stations in the church. They are of great assistance to the bishop in the performance of his different duties, and they maintain with becoming dignity the connection between the church and the state. In their social and friendly connection with their fellow- citizens, they give a tone of propriety and elegance to the soundest and best part of the community. In their liberal pursuits — in the useful channels in which they direct their means — in support of the various charities ; and in aid of all those works and institutions connected with trade and com- merce, the purity of their lives, and the exercise of their christian virtues, tend to ameliorate and form the character of the people at large. Is it nothing, that the cathedrals are the only Protestant churches in England which preserve the daily offering of sup- plication and thanksgiving ! Are we to listen to men who themselves comprehend not the elevating charity, the per- manent and lofty gifts which such edifices are ever pouring forth on the anxious feelings of a busy commercial nation? How do they send away from their shrines thousands of pilgrims, who enter them, worn down by the fretfulness of a vulgar and too-anxious life ! How many degraded and worldly hearts are they ever recalling to the love of grandeur and beauty ! How, in respect to God, are they ever assisting and strengthening the idea of his awful sublimity and mystery ! and, in respect to man, teaching, among other lessons, a convincing one of the greater nobility, magnificence, and taste of the minds of our ancestors, with a proportionate respect and love for them, and a clearer ANCIENT AND MODERN. 29 insight into the character of the times in which it has pleased Providence to place us. All these and a thousand similar chari- ties and instructions, are supplied by these holy cathedrals, which are, alas ! too sparingly distributed through our land, but which, like oases in the desert, assure us that the forms of piety, gentleness, repose, and beauty, are still left upon the earth. There is a quiet, solemn voice of sober reason in these works of human zeal, which reaches the most thoughtless ear. How much of all that men most value must have been sacrificed to raise these piles ! How much of thought, and science, and rare intellect, concentred on every part ! How much of earnest faith and ardent love of God ; to raise for prayer, and scarcely more than prayer, these glorious gigantic halls. — How many generations too have dwelt beneath their shadow, upheld their worship, added to their splendour, and so engraven upon the very stones their witness to the truth of that invisible world, of which they are, in every part, the symbol and the type ! 90 TEMPLES, CHAP. IV. ERRORS IN THE ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS OF LATE-ERECTED CHURCHES. A CONNECTED SERIES OF CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS. Eu8t< ^ava