2"'» S. N« 01., Feb. 28. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



175 



Churches by which they are acknowledged. The 

 first six being acknowledged as oecumenical by 

 the Universal Church rest therefore on it for 

 their authority, and are alone properly styled 

 oecumenical. The 7th and 8th rest on the joint 

 authority of the Greek and Latin Churches. 



The remainder, from the 9th to the 20th inclu- 

 sive, being acknowledged as General by the 

 Roman Church alone, rest on it solely for their 

 authority. If, in any of the above remarks, I 

 have erred, I shall be glad of correction or addi- 

 tional information from any of your numerous 

 correspondents. Ax-rKED T. Lee. 



Elson, Gosport. 



The following is a correct list of the General or 

 (Ecumenical Councils of the Church : 



A.D. 



i. Nice, i. - ' - - - 325 



F. C. H. 



[We are also indebted to G. K. Holmes for "The 

 Order of the Councils according to Pantaleon," extracted 

 from The Stnffe of Christian Faith, ike, 1577, a curious 

 article, but which, we regret, is too long for our pages. ] 



LEANIKG TOWERS AND CROOKED SPIRES. 



(2'"^ S. iii. 18.) 



The steeple of the cathedral of Glasgow has an 

 inclination commencing at the highest battlement, 

 perhaps thirty to forty feet from its top. I think, 

 from careful observation, the inclination is towards 

 the south-west, though some will have it to be a 

 little different. The optical illusion from the 

 passing clouds gives rise to a variety of opinions. 

 The steeple is 225 feet in height, all of stone. In 

 1756 it was struck by lightning, and so much 

 damaged as thought not to be capable of repair 

 without taking down the greatest part of it. A 

 committee of wiseacres proposed that cannon should 

 be planted on the neighbouring height (now the 

 necropolis) and the whole steeple demolished. A 

 most ingenious mason, Mungo Naismith (partly, 1 

 suppose, for the honour of his namesake St. Mungo, 



the founder), undertook to erect scaffolding, and 

 in a short time accomplished the repair most tho- 

 roughly. It is probable that the inclination may 

 be dated from the period of the accident. Mungo 

 gained other laurels in masonry, having built St 

 Andrew's church (on the model of St. Martin's 

 church, in London), with the celebrated flat arch 

 of its noble portico, which at the time was ex- 

 pected would come tumbling down about his ears. 

 To this day it is as sound and magnificent as when 

 he erected it 100 years ago. 



It may be mentioned as curious, that In ascend- 

 ing the. pathway (instead of a stair) leading to the 

 top of the leaning tower at Pisa, from -the great 

 inclination of the tower the sensation is always as 

 if you would fall over to one side. According to 

 what was told me on the spot, the first six storeys 

 of it were built, and from the subsidence of the 

 foundation (the ground apparently being very 

 marshy * in that district) were allowed to re- 

 main In that unfinished state for 200 years, aft^i" 

 which the two highest storeys were added, and by 

 an attentive survey it will be seen that the two 

 last have been erected so far to counterbalance or 

 compensate the inclination ; it is wonderful how 

 the tower endures so stable. Those towers or stalks 

 at Bologna are certainly singular for their droop- 

 ing appearance, but possess notliing of the archi- 

 tectural elegance and philosophical Interest (as 

 attached to the name of Galileo) of the Campanile 

 at Pisa. We could show here to strangers a few 

 similar leaning h-ick stalks, not less to be admired 

 than those at Bologna, and one of an opposite 

 quality in being quite perpendicular (a style more 

 to be cherished) 450 feet high from its foundation. 



G. N. 

 Glasgow. 



I have a great respect for Mr. Ferret's know- 

 ledge of ecclesiastical architecture, and entirely 

 concur with him in opinion as to the probable 

 causes of the distortion of the spire of Chesterfield 

 church, and no doubt of many other erections 

 which diverge from the perpendicular. 



But I am puzzled, probably from my own stu- 

 pidity. In reading the last sentence of his note. 

 He says : 



" Regarding the entasis in spires, it would be an in - 

 teresting subject for further examination than has yet 

 been made ; many appear to hollow inwards as described 

 by Mk. Buckton. But there are also a great number 

 which haye considerable entasis ; few, I believe, are quite 

 straight on the sides ; much of the beauty which is re- 

 markable in our best examples owe it to the skilful 



* From the damp unwholesome nature of the country 

 may have arisen the old adage — 



" Pisa pesa a chi posa," 

 which may be Englished — 

 « Pisa sits ill 

 Upon him who sits still." 



