72 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[March, 



forth the Holy Trinity, to which numerous other references are ever 

 found, in the windows and tracery of ancient ecclesiastical buildings. 

 In a cruciform church, the best form, but to be adopted only when 

 funds are plentiful, the four arches at the junction of the nave, chan- 

 cel, and transept, symbolise that by the -writings of the four Evange- 

 lists, the doctrine of the cross is taught to the four quarters of the 

 world. Further, on the altar are to appear two candles, to signify 

 that "Christ is a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his 

 people Israel." 



Now, that it is wise and proper to enforce this system so strongly 

 and so constantly as lias been done — to render matters of this descrip- 

 tion all-important — we should be quite unwilling to assert. We 

 would give all " the aid which slackening piety requires ;" we 

 would not 



■ conceal the precious cross 



Like men ashamed : the sun with his first smile, 

 Shall greet that symbol crowning the low pile ; 

 And the fresh air of incense-breathing morn, 

 Shall wooingly embrace it ; and green moss 

 Creep round its arms thro' centuries unborn." 



We would place 



" Our Christian altar faithful to the east, 

 Whence the tall window drinks the morning rays;'" 



We would most worthily adorn the house of God, to render it to the 

 extent of our means fitting for its high purpose — but at the same 

 time we would carefully avoid all proceedings, however agreeable to 

 our temperament, however enticing to us as an artist, which should 

 give undue importance to bricks and stones, and man's inventions and 

 devices, which should increase the number of ceremonial observances, 

 which should threaten to exalt the shadow in the place of the sub- 

 stance, and so lead to a state of things which did once result from 

 such a course, and may result again, notwithstanding the increased 

 amount of information possessed, and the general comparative en- 

 lightenment. 



Relative to the size of the chancel, the Cambridge writers say, it 

 " should not be less than a third, or more than the half, of the whole 

 length of the church. The larger it is made within the prescribed 

 bounds, the more magnificent will be the appearance of the build- 

 ing." 1 Into this portion of the structure, none but those engaged in 

 the ceremonies are to enter ; and here the whole of the service is to be 

 performed with the exception of the sermon. The north side of the 

 chancel-arch is pointed out as the best position for the pulpit. It 

 seems to us, and we say it with the greatest deference, that a deep 

 chancel, such as is here insisted on, however magnificent and striking 

 it may, and does, make a building, is unsuited to the Protestant ser- 

 vice as it has been heretofore performed. The fact is evident in an 

 examination of the arrangements made in the majority of our cathe- 

 drals, wherein, if the service were read in the chancel, so to term it, 

 and the worshippers were confined to the nave, nothing said by the 

 priest at the altar could possibly be heard by them. In ordinary 

 sized parish churches too, if the chancel were one-third the length of 

 the building, and still less if half, the majority of priests would fail to 

 make themselves heard, unless indeed the altar were placed at the 

 west-end of it, with a reredos or screen, to rail off the remainder of 

 the chancel. The use of the rood-screen, still further to separate the 

 laity from the clergy, which is strongly insisted on, would throw an 

 additional impediment in the way. If it he not necessary that the 

 service should be heard and understood, and into this inquiry we will 

 not venture to go, then of coruse the objection vanishes. The very 

 occurrence of this question in the mind, however, serves to explain 

 ■why the architectural works to which we have referred, are termed 

 by some, " engines of polemical theology." 



Writers of the Roman Catholic faith insist on the inconsistency of 

 the position held by Protestant divines, who urge this and other 

 opinions relative to the form, arrangement, and decoration of our 

 churches. " The good men who are so earnestly labouring for the 



» " A few words to Church Bui Iders," 2nd Edition. Published by " Cam- 

 bridge Camden Society," 1842. 



revival of Catholic church architecture," says the Dublin Reviem, 2 

 must be convinced that we must have the Catholic service revived, in 

 the first place, before any real good can possibly be accomplished." 

 This last necessity, (Catholic meaning here Roman Catholic,) we deny 

 altogether. The principles of ancient church architecture, as applied 

 to suit one set of circumstances, being studied and understood, may 

 be adapted without difficulty to other, and in this case but slightly 

 modified, circumstances, and made to produce as efficient a result. 

 The remark, however, may possibly be deemed to apply in some 

 degree to those who would bring back all such forms and details as 

 were anciently used, although altogether unsuited to present require- 

 ments. 



The antiquity alone, of a practice or form (strong as it makes its 

 claim), would hardly seem sufficient authority in all cases for its re- 

 vival: thus, (to illustrate our meaning from a different source,) the 

 certainty that the practice of burying in churches is of very ancient 

 date, and its consonance with our feelings, are now not deemed by the 

 majority sufficient reasons for its continuance, the injurious tendency 

 of the custom being fully known. 



According to recent writers, nothing is to be done that has not 

 been done before. Fearing the ignorance of modern architectural 

 professors, (a little too imperiously stated, be it remarked, by some of 

 the non-professional writers,) the necessity of having a precedent 

 for every tower, and door, and window, and moulding, is insisted on. 

 Design nothing, copy all, is the deduction which forcibly presents 

 itself. " Inspice et fac secundum exemplar quod tibi monstratura 

 est." This course has safety to recommend it, but will hardly effect 

 for posterity, what our forefathers have done for us. 



To rid our churches of close pews and lumbering galleries, and to 

 destroy the opinion, that to accommodate the greatest number of 

 people at the smallest possible cost, is the chief problem to be solved 

 in church building, would be a great achievement. Something has 

 already been done towards this very desirable end, and the work is 

 progressing. The fact once thoroughly understood, that more wor> 

 shippers may be seated by means of open benches than in pews, will 

 in this utilitarian age, operate more powerfully in leading to their 

 disuse, than any of the other numerous arguments against them 

 which have been advanced. So far as appearance is concerned, there 

 cannot be two opinions on the subject. 



As an artist and an enthusiastic, though humble, advocate of the 

 fine arts, the writer cannot regard the present views on church deco- 

 ration, but with gratification, seeing in them the promise of a noble 

 field for their exercise and development. Less than seventy years ago, 

 Sir Joshua Reynolds, West, Barry, Dance, Cipriani, and Angelica 

 Kauffman, offered munificently to adorn the interior of St. Paul's Ca« 

 thedral with paintings, with the view of convincing the public of the 

 improvement in our sacred buildings, which might be effected by this 

 means, and so of obtaining an opening for the encouragement of 

 British art. The then Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of 

 London, however, could not be induced to entertain the p roposition, 

 on the ground that it savoured of Popery, and the idea was in conse- 

 quence abandoned. How doubtful of one's own judgment should 

 such marked changes in opinion make us — how tolerant of the senti- 

 ments of others should we be, remembering as all must, the different 

 light in which we ourselves have viewed the same circumstances at 

 different epochs, and the alteration which is constantly taking place 

 in our own views and opinions. 



In one of the latest publications of the Cambridge Camden Society, 

 containing many very excellent suggestions, 3 it is remarked, "a church 

 is not as it should be till every window is filled with stained glass, till 

 every inch of floor is covered with encaustic tiles, till there is a rood- 

 screen (?) glowing with the brightest tints and with gold ; nay, if we 

 would arrive at perfection, the roof and walls must be painted and 

 frescoed." In carrying out such views it is hardly necessary to say, 

 the greatest care must be taken to prevent a theatrical effect likely to 

 result from such a course, unless pursued with great judgment. We 



2 February, 1842. 



3 " Church Enlargement and Church Arrangement." 



