A WORD OR TWO ABOUT RURAL CHURCHES. 



(see frontispiece — dr. Muhlenberg's church, n. y.) 



Our frontispiece, this month, is a view of 

 a very pleasing and tasteful church, de- 

 signed by Mr. Upjohn, and built in New- 

 York, by Dr. Muhlenberg's congregation. 



We give this view, with the hope of 

 leading some of our readers, who have to 

 do with the building of churches in the 

 country, to reflect on the superior beauty 

 and fitness of simple forms of rural pointed 

 architecture, over all other modes for a 

 Christian church in the country. 



The most conspicuous object in almost 

 all village landscapes is the church ; and 

 we regret to say that the deepest sigh, 

 drawn by the man of taste in the middle 

 and eastern states, is over the sad architec- 

 tural monstrosities built, in so many coun- 

 try villages, as houses of worship. Lean 

 and meagre wooden structures, filled with 

 windows, painted so white that all is glare 

 within and Avithout, and surmounted by a 

 tower or steeple that defies all rules and 

 precedents, both in proportion and decora- 

 tion, the only satisfaction one has in look- 

 ing at them is the feeling that, from the 

 frailness of their materials, they cannot 

 last many generations. 



The Gothic or pointed style of architec- 

 ture is so associated with our religion, and, 

 in its aspiring lines, is so symbolic and 

 suggestive of its faith and hope, that its 

 appropriateness for church architecture is 

 largely felt and acknowledged. 



What we especially commend to atten- 

 tion, in Dr. Muhlenberg's church, is the 

 modesty and simplicity of the structure. It 

 is the common error of uneducated build- 

 ers to suppose that no architecture is effec- 

 tive or agreeable unless it is elaborate and 



highly ornamental. Hence, we frequently 

 see, in the country, a good deal of means 

 expended upon ornamental work, copied 

 from some large building, like Trinity 

 Church, where it is real and excellent, and 

 introduced in some part of a rural church 

 where it is flimsy, and wholly out of keep- 

 ing with all the rest of the building. 



Those points which should be aimed at 

 in a country church are, mainly, that it 

 should have a truthful, church-like expres- 

 sion ; that it should never be mistaken for 

 any. other public building, without ; and 

 that it should always inspire devotional 

 feeling, within. Next to this, a rural 

 church, and more especially when placed 

 essentially in the country, should always 

 have a simple and modest character, in 

 keeping with the rural expression of the 

 quiet nature about it, rather than with the 

 highly artificial objects which surround the 

 church in the town or city. 



An admirable and beautiful effect is al- 

 ways produced in churches in the style of 

 our frontispiece, by leaving the whole inte- 

 rior open to the roof, finishing the timber 

 work of the roof (which is either oak, or 

 stained to resemble it,) so as to become 

 characteristic and ornamental. The high 

 roof lines, all tending upwards, give the 

 interior of even a small church, constructed 

 in this way, a lofty, dim and solemn as- 

 pect, far more in keeping with devotional 

 feelings and purposes than the plastered 

 ceiling and white walls of most of our 

 country churches. 



As regards expense, in all districts where 

 stone or brick is abundant, a rural church 

 may be erected in this simple pointed style 



