1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



73 



are disposed to think a more moderate use of colours than has been 

 made in recent restorations in London and Paris, might produce a 

 result equally excellent in an artistical, and more so in a devotional, 

 point of view. Scripture sentences upon the walls, " ywritten full 

 thicke," are amongst the most excellent and fitting adornments of a 

 church. 



The increased use made of stained glass in England is exceed- 

 ingly gratifying, and the excellent specimens which have been 

 prepared lately show clearly, as the writer has on many other occasions 

 asserted, that we could produce stained glass quite equal to anything 

 that was done by our forefathers if proper encouragement were 

 afforded to the professors of the art. Difficult of attainment, expen- 

 sive in its processes, so much so, indeed, as almost to prevent experi- 

 mentalizing except for actual commissions, and labouring under the 

 weight of an erroneous opinion that the art was lost, glass-painting 

 had remained for a long time in a very languishing condition. Lat- 

 terly, however, it has revived considerably, and many large works in 

 various parts of the country are now in progress. The opinion enter- 

 tained of our want of skill in glass-painting is hardly yet removed. 

 The author of "A few words to Church Builders," says, "stained 

 glass is of much importance in giving a chastened and solemn effect 

 to a church. Those who travel on the Continent might find many 

 opportunities of procuring from desecrated churches, at a very trifling 

 expense, many fragments which would be superior to any we can now 

 make. But if it be modern, let us at least imitate the designs, if we 

 cannot attaia to the richness of hues which our ancestors possessed." 

 Against the opinion to be inferred from this, we will venture to place 

 our feeble protest. There is much old stained glass to be found on 

 the Continent inferior to what we can now make, and there is not a 

 great deal which we could not equal if the proper opportunity were 

 afforded. Moreover, we do not believe there are any hues possessed 

 by our forefathers which could not now be produced. 



Let every material employed in the construction of a church be 

 real, is a wholesome injunction likely to produce excellent results, 

 although, perhaps, some may think it could be carried too far. It has 

 been too much the custom to endeavour to produce a showy and de- 

 ceptive external appearance, without proper regard to the fitness, 

 propriety, and excellence of all the various parts of the building, 

 which, indeed, have been sacrificed for it. While deal painted to 

 imitate oak, and Roman cement in lieu of stone, give entire satisfaction 

 to ourselves, and obtain the approval of the world, no efforts will be 

 made to obtain that which is better, and a niggardly calculating spirit 

 is engendered, grudgingly giving the "just enough," which is un- 

 worthy of Christians, and destructive of more good feelings than one. 



In designing buildings in the pointed style, this same doctrine 

 cannot be too constantly reflected on. The more fully our ancient 

 edifices are studied, the more clearly does it become apparent that 

 nothing was introduced unnecessarily or deceptively for mere appear- 

 ance sake — that the excellence of effect, which is apparent, resulted 

 from the use of sound principles, laid down not with the view of pro- 

 ducing that effect, but with reference to stability, convenience, and 

 fitness; good taste and great skill being afterwards employed in 

 adorning that which was necessary, and making the Useful a producer 

 of the Beautiful. Plans were not made to accord with a fanciful eleva- 

 tion, entailing thereby loss of convenience, and unnecessary outlay, 

 but were arranged first, to suit the requirements of the time, and upon 

 these naturally the elevation followed. All decoration grew out of 

 the construction, and reason governed instead of caprice. This is 

 now better understood than it was a few years ago, and will doubtless 

 produce its fruit in due season. 



The virtual abrogation of the regulation, at one time enforced by 

 the "Incorporated Society for Building Churches," that no timber 

 roof should be used without a tie beam, will do much to restore to 

 modern churches one of the most striking features of ancient build- 

 ings — the open arched roof — and is a subject for congratulation. The 

 same may be said of the feeling now fortunatelv growing, against the 

 tasteless tombs and monumental slabs with which our noble cathedrals 

 and churches have been gradually encumbered and overladen. Like 



some frightful fungus, they have spread insidiously over all parts of 

 these structures, destroying alike their beauty, propriety, and sta» 

 bility. Our metropolitan Abbey presents a lamentable example of 

 the evil ; and it is to be hoped that the acknowledged good taste of 

 those who now govern there, will not merely prevent the increase of 

 this abomination, but lead, as opportunities may from time to time 

 offer themselves, to the removal of the excrescences now deforming 

 that fine building, and to a restoration of its harmonious proportions 

 and original integrity. 



To say that every one of our ancient buildings should be most re- 

 ligiously preserved, is perhaps, less necessary now than it was some 

 little time ago; still it cannot be repeated too often, for alas! in- 

 stances of injury and destruction still occur, and not unfrequently. 

 Full of information, abundant of association, and suggestive of most 

 wholesome thoughts, they are contemporary histories, which once lost, 

 can never be replaced ; and in which every alteration even, or interpo- 

 lation, is an offence against society. They are the visible links which 

 make the past and the present one ; they are the standing monuments 

 of the Christian religion, and attest at one and the same time our 

 forefathers' piety and our forefathers' skill. 



THE NEW ROYAL EXCHANGE. 



Instead of being at all premature, some of the remarks we are 

 about to make come too late to be of the service they otherwise 

 might — that is, supposing suggestions so thrown out to be ever at- 

 tended to, which may fairly be questioned; for although architects 

 are apt to be not a little sensitive when their productions are ani- 

 madverted upon, they rarely seem disposed to screen themselves from 

 criticism by attending to, and profiting by, what it has objected to, 

 either in their own works or those of others. It is probable, therefore, 

 that our observations will be of just as much service now, as they 

 would have been if brought forward when they could have been acted 

 upon, at least fully taken into consideration before it had been deter- 

 mined to pursue an opposite course. But with regard to conside- 

 ration, none at all, as far as we can ascertain, appears to have been 

 given to what was one of the most essential points to be deliberated 

 upon at the very outset, viz. whether the new Exchange should be 

 covered in or not. All we know is that, instead of its being made a 

 question, it seems to have been settled, or rather assumed as matter 

 of course, that it should be a mere open court, such having been the 

 case in the former building. No idea of the possibility of any thing: 

 else appears to have occurred to any one — at least not to any one who 

 had a voice in the matter. Yet though we say it should have been 

 made a question for discussion, we do not think there was occasion 

 for much discussion, the advantages of the central area being covered 

 in instead of left open, being so many and so obvious, that merely to 

 specify them would have been sufficient, we think, to carry the de- 

 cision at once in favour of such plan. What could have been urged 

 in behalf of the contrary mode, the one actually adopted, we cannot 

 even conjecture; therefore, if any arguments at all were adduced in its 

 support or justification, we should be exceedingly glad to learn what 

 they were — which is more, we suspect, than any one can inform us. 

 The only satisfaction then left us, until we are so informed, is the 

 liberty of concluding that, notwithstanding all that was said at the 

 time about the vast importance of the Royal Exchange as " a National 

 Edifice, that should be in every respect worthy of the first commercial 



city in the world," and much more to the sa ifrect ; very little of 



careful consideration seems to have been bestowed upon it, great as 

 was the delay, and noisy as was the squabbling as to who should be 

 the architect. 



Had a thought been given to the matter at the outset, it would 

 probably have been perceived that, even supposing it otherwise mere 

 matter of indifference whether the area W I D or not, there 



was a golden argument to turn the Bcale in fivuur uf its being covered 

 —namely increased rental from tli" ■xterior of the build* 



ing, in consequence of the greater space thai could then have been 



10* 



