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the so-called restoration of the crypt. Itis true that a few Members 
of Parliament condemned these proceedings, and protested against 
them—but their efforts were in vain. The omnipotent power of 
“taste” overwhelmed their opposition, and by an enormous majority 
of voices this inestimable relic was handed over to the pupils of 
South Kensington and decorating tradesmen, and by them painted, 
polished, burnished, furnished, gilded, glazed, and tiled, so that 
every ancient feature was successfully obliterated, and the new 
chapel placed upon an artistic level with Madame Tussaud’s 
Museum or the transformation scene of a Christmas pantomime. 
And yet even now the members of the House of Commons do not 
repent these enormities; on the contrary, they seem to approve 
them,.for scarcely a day during their Session passes but that con- 
stituents and friends are conducted to this dimly illuminated vault, 
where they are told that it is one of the prettiest sights in London, 
and well worth its extravagant cost. The blaze of modern manu- 
facture absorbs the wonder of these open-mouthed visitors, but it 
never occurs to them to consider whether the new lamp is of more 
value than the old. 
While Parliament was thus employed, the heads of the legal 
profession were following their bad example. The old Temple 
Church was one of the most interesting monuments our country 
possessed. Its restoration was decreed, and carried into effect in 
the most barbarous fashion possible. The exterior is now entirely 
new, and the interior scraped, polished, painted, and glazed, so 
that it is utterly impossible to discover any detail that a Knight 
Templar ever beheld ; the interesting monuments, the records of 
various ages, have been removed to inaccessible and even ridiculous 
positions, and, in short, what has been done amply justifies a 
remark made some years ago by an able critic, “that if the 
Benchers must needs have a showy and luxurious chapel, they 
should have built one for themselves, and have left the old Templars 
and their historic church quietly alone.” f 
While the Legislature and the lawyers were thus playing ducks 
and drakes with the monuments under their charge, it is not 
surprising that the prevailing epidemic should rage with unlimited 
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