ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



reminds us of the character of Bishop Rainbow. The parochial activity 

 of the century is written in the ecclesiastical architecture of the diocese. 

 It was a time for the rebuilding and enlargement of churches. The 

 Georgian or ' churchwarden ' type of church is too well known : a large 

 rectangular building with sash-windows, overhanging galleries, and 

 ' three-decker ' pulpits, providing accommodation for the increasing 

 population, may still be seen in many parishes. The episcopal registers 

 contain many licences for restorations and rededications, as well as the 

 consecrations of new edifices to meet the wants of the growing industries 

 on the western coast. The inhabitants of Cumberland were a church- 

 going people, and traditions are still handed down to tell us of the vast 

 numbers that came from far and near in extensive parishes for the Sun- 

 day service and the Easter sacrament. In the churchwardens' accounts 

 of many parishes we read of the amount of wine used at the Easter or 

 one of the quarterly sacraments with as much astonishment as we view 

 the uncomfortable, high-backed pews. The parish church may have 

 been more of ' a preaching house ' than ' a place of worship,' but nobody 

 can deny that the Cumbrian looked upon it as his spiritual home. There 

 were few organs in the churches of the eighteenth century. Instru- 

 mental accompaniments to divine service were of a different character : 

 surpliced choirs were unknown except in the cathedral. The musical 

 portion of the service in the larger churches was rendered by a medley 

 of men, women and school children perched in a gallery at the west 

 end, with the assistance of the pitch-pipe or ' loud bassoon.' The 

 parish clerk was precentor, and the pitch-pipe was the badge of his 

 office. In most of the country parishes of Cumberland this instrument 

 of music is preserved to remind us of an extinct custom in divine service. 

 Men still live who were acquainted with no other church music in 

 their earlier years. 1 



The first symptom of the evangelical revival reached the diocese 

 through the agency of Dr. Isaac Milner, a distinguished mathematician, 

 the senior wrangler incomparabllu of his year, who became dean of 

 Carlisle in 1792. The sermons of the new dean took the people of 

 Carlisle by storm. ' When the dean of Carlisle preaches,' wrote Dr. 

 Paley, ' you may walk on the heads of the people. All the meetings 

 attend to hear him. He is indeed a powerful preacher.' a The orator 

 was untrammelled by considerations of formulary or creed : the noncon- 

 formist was captivated by his eloquence as well as the churchman. 

 During Milner's decanate (1792-1820) a transformation of ecclesiastical 

 feeling was made in Carlisle and the immediate neighbourhood. The 

 spirit of church party, soon to result in divided counsels, had been intro- 



of the church,' and that by his death society had lost one of its most valuable members, and the Church 

 of England one of its chiefest ornaments. 



1 In answer to Bishop Goodwin's articles of inquiry in 1872 ' whether any and what instrument is 

 used in each church,' the churchwardens made replies which the bishop tabulated thus : ' organ in 93 

 churches ; harmonium in 171 ; barrel organ in 3 ; and no instrument in 15 ' (Primary Visitation Charge, 

 p. 16). 



' E. Paley, Life of Dr. Paley, p. clxxxvi. ; M. Milner, Life of Dean Milner, pp. 1 16, 272. 



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