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gion without endangering the principle from whence they spring. Man is an imitative being, and it is scarcely possible to be present at Divine worship, where those around us are pouring out their prayers in the most fervent and serious manner, and imploring the protection of Heaven in postures which bespeak the utmost humility, without having our thoughts fixed upon the same object, or feeling devotion rise in our bosoms.

A place set apart for Divine worship depends not merely on a positive precept but arises from the reason of the thing; the reverence of God himself cannot well be preserved without it. Through this channel most of our ideas enter; and though some few contemplative persons may think they want no assistance from external objects to excite devotion and elevate their affections to God, yet mankind in general are not capable of such abstractions, but must be led by the things that are seen, to the things that are not seen. We acknowledge there may be danger in resting too much on the externals of religion-an error fatally indulged in by the church during what are sometimes called the dark ages: so also is there equal danger on the other side, lest while we indulge the faculties of our minds in too high a degree of mental refinement, we thereby lose ourselves in vision and enthusiasm, and thus terminate our religion in mere Quietism, Friendism, or some other ism.

The nature of man, considered as a compound being, is the same under the gospel as it was under the old law-his passions are the same, moved and actuated by the same applications; and whatever had then a natural propriety to fix impressions of awe and reverence towards God in the minds of men, is now, and ever will be, equally proper, to the end of time. That a visible beauty in His temple is acceptable to God, we may conclude, if we observe how particularly He himself directed the ornaments of the first Tabernacle, and even inspired the workmen with skill to execute the curious design; and all this elegance and expence He required from His people in poor and distressed circumstances, wandering through a desolate wilderness. And afterwards, when the Jewish state became established by the conquests of all their enemies, with what complacency did God approve, and with what blessings reward, the piety of David and Solomon-of the one in intending, and the other in finishing the most magnificent Temple in the world-a Temple adorned with all the splendour that the most exquisite workmanship, and the most costly materials, could give to any building, and one which tended to raise the most venerable conceptions of His majesty, and enliven the devotions of His worshippers! "The prophet David," says Hooker, "doth mention a natural conveniency which such kind of bounteous expenses have, as well for that we do thereby give unto God a testimony of our cheerful affection, which thinketh nothing too dear to be bestowed about the furniture of His service, as also because it serveth to the world for a witness of His Almightiness, whom we outwardly honour with the chiefest of outward things, as being of all things Himself incomparably the greatest."

In some of those noble structures which still remain to show the ancient piety of our predecessors, we may perceive somewhat of the mode they adopted to preserve a sense of religion in the minds of the people. A solemn awe seemed to have impressed their souls the moment they crossed the threshold of God's house. Before them, on the tombs and in the windows, were the effigies of their ancestors, with their hands uplifted in prayer, as a perpetual memento to their descendants to remember -ever to remember-their dependence upon God. Upon the walls hung helmets, corslets, and pieces of armour, to remind them that the deceased had bravely defended their king, their country, their wives, and their children. All around were the glittering ornaments of heraldry, to show them the honours and estates which their wisdom and their bravery had acquired for the enjoyment and happiness of their children. Every sentiment of what God is, and what we must all come to, was intensely excited. And there, too, the "pealing anthem swelled the note of praise," to wean the heart from its sins, and tune it aright to receive the lessons of religion, and prepare it for the joys of heaven.

The incidental notices preserved of the earliest constructed churches in this country are of a description too general, to give us much insight as to the kind of structures used by the converted Britons. We collect, however, that the British Christians possessed edifices exclusively set apart as churches prior to the Diocletian persecution; that they were then generally razed to the ground, and afterwards reconstructed; and allusion is made by St. Chrysostom to the churches and altars

which were in his time existing in the British islands. But of these primitive structures we have now no apparent vestiges.

During the seventh and eighth centuries a number of churches were erected in Britain, but these were almost all reduced to ruin by the Danes, who in their predatory incursions during the ninth and tenth centuries every where, as the Saxon Chronicle informs us, 66 plundered and burnt as their custom is." The active zeal of Augustine, however, cannot but be an object of commendation, as it was so eminently instrumental in first converting one of our Saxon monarchs to the Christian faith. And in consequence of this we find, that British churches, which had been deserted and profaned, were rebuilt; that such as had been damaged or decayed, were repaired; and that several new fabrics were erected. Temples likewise, which had been dedicated to Pagan deities, were cleared from their superstitious ornaments, and consecrated to the service of the true God. To this, it may be added, that in those parts of the country where no sacred edifices of any kind as yet occurred, the new converts occasionally assembled for public worship, in any commodious place, where some memorial of our Saviour's passion was exhibited.*

For many years the number of rural Churches in no degree corresponded to the moral wants of the population, and it was necessary to supply this defect by sending itinerant pastors into different parts of the kingdom. The Cathedrals were endowed; and it was the office of those who presided over them, to dispense the revenues, oblations, and other emoluments belonging to them: and hence their presbyters were authorised and commanded to repair, at stated times, to villages for solemnising public worship, for administering the Sacraments, and for giving spiritual instruction.

It is obvious, however, that the want of determinate places of residence for pastors, and of particular parochial churches in particular districts for the people, must be attended with numerous inconveniences: and hence the redressing these evils became an object of public concern. With this view the gentry and nobility within their capital manors, and princes. within their royal demesnes, erected and endowed churches; to which incumbents were fixed for the special use of their servants and tenants. The superior Clergy greatly promoted by their examples, and encouraged by their exhortations, all undertakings of that kind. In this manner Cead, bishop of London, Sexulphus, bishop of the Mercii (the Middle Angles), with the prelates Felix and Bizinus, amongst the East and West Saxons, particularly signalised their zeal; but none more so than Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, who is said to have encouraged the rich to found and endow parochial churches, by procuring royal licences, and vesting their patronage in them. And thus before the end of the seventh century, in every kingdom of the Heptarchy, many rural churches and parochial divisions were added to those cathedral and collegiate foundations, which were first raised and endowed.

The following is an excellent compendious mode of determining the era of parish churches by their form. The most ancient are those small massive buildings, which have no visible distinction in the masonry to separate the chancel from the nave, and terminate at the eastern end in a semi-circular form. To these succeeded those of an oblong form, called "four square," from their length being generally found to be four times their breadth; having a tower supported by semi-circular arches, situated between the nave and chancel. In subsequent periods these were again enlarged, and, in imitation of the conventual churches, were furnished with a cross aisle or transept; but ultimately the transept was abandoned, and churches of this form entirely superseded by those composed of a nave with lateral aisles, a chancel, and a square tower at the western end.

Some obelisks and stone crosses with Saxon inscriptions are still extant in different parts of Britain. Mr. Gordon (Her. Sept. App. 160) mentions a remarkable one, with our Saviour's passion engraven on it, near Annan, in Scotland. And one of a similar kind was formerly placed in the Church of Reculver. Vide Harris's Hist. of Kent, p. 245.

The first author of note who learnedly and judicially considered the Origin and Division of Parishes in the Anglo-Saxon Church, was Mr. Selden, in his history of Tythes, ch. ix. Improvements indeed have been made on this account by the labours of some eminent modern antiquaries, particularly Mr. Wharton and Bishop Stillingfleet and Kennet. Mr. Carte Hist. of England, i. 242, largely insists on the merits of Theodore in this respect, as if he was the sole instrument of this institution, or had in a high degree perfected it, which does not admit of any just proof.

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This form continued for ages. Towards the close of the fifteenth century a style prevailed of low massive heaviness, and short thick towers with cumbrous large battlements, and square windows.

A church or a cathedral admits generally of four great divisions; namely, a tower, or steeple; a nave, which is the body of the church; a chancel, or choir; and one or more aisles. Many large churches, and all cathedrals, are built in the form of a cross, of which the parts running north and south are called the North and South Transepts; but small churches, erected in former times, and almost all in the present day, have only a body and chancel. In fact, in many of the latter, the chancel has almost disappeared, and there is only a recess for the altar instead of it. The nave, or body of the church is the part westward of the chancel or choir, and is situated within the piers supporting the roof or galleries. They were not always paved; whence the use of rushes for warmth and better kneeling. Men used to stand on the right hand, or south side; women on the left, or north. The aisles are those divisions, north or south, which are between the piers and the outer walls. From them there is an entrance to the pews, which have been introduced since the Reformation. The following figure represents the general form in which a cathedral is built:

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The eastern space near the altar, in collegiate and cathedral churches, is called the choir, because in it were chanted or sung the services of the church, by a choir of singers appointed for the purpose. In most churches, however, this part is called the

VOL. XII.

D

West.

chancel a name given to it from the screen or lattice work (cancelli) by which it was separated from the outer part of the church. This skreen is frequently very beautifully carved, as are also the stalls or seats with desks before them, which still remain in the choirs of many ancient churches.*

If we carefully observe the external structure of our old churches, we shall find much to delight the eye and inform the mind. The very elements and shapes of their architecture embodied the mysteries of the faith of their founder; so that an eye of thought might reach some familiar truth even in their seeming deformities. The massive tower, emblem of the strong hold of God's truth-the triple aisles-the cross of the transept-the elevation of the altar-even the remarkable peculiarity almost universal in ancient churches, the inclination of the chancel from the nave all had their meaning. And because, says one of our homilies, "when the Christian religion was most pure, and indeed golden, Christians had but low and simple oratories, yea, caves under ground, called Crypts, where they for fear of persecution assembled secretly together-a figure whereof remaineth in the vaults which are yet builded under great churches, to put us in remembrance of the old state of the primitive church before Constantine." Every thing, in short, appeared in perfect harmony and keeping; and the whole effect was heightened by the windows filled with painted glass, casting a "dim religious light" on all around. In Bishop Sparrow's valuable little work on the Book of Common Prayer, the reader will meet with an exposition of many of the usages of the English Church soon after the Reformation. "In time past," he says, "the fabric of the Church as to the nave or body, was built somewhat in the form and fashion of a ship, which very figure might mind us thus much-that we were in the world as in a sea, tossed and hurried with the troublesome waves and boisterous winds of divers temptations, which we could not be carried safely through, to our haven of rest and happiness, but only in the ship of the church." Again, he remarks" The church of old was parted into two principal parts-the nave or body of the church, and the chancel. The first, the nave, was common to all the people that were accounted worthy to join in the service of the church: the chancel was proper and peculiar to the priests and sacred persons. The nave represents the visible world; and the chancel the invisible. The whole church is a type of heaven (Gen. xxviii. 17), the house of God is heaven upon earth. The nave represents the visible or lowest heaven, or paradise; the circling roof the firmament; the priests within the choir, beginning the Divine hymns, represent the first order of angels that stand before God; the deacons with the readers and singers orderly succeeding, the middle order or choir of heaven; the whole company of true believers joining with the priests and deacons in heart and affection, saying Amen to the Divine hymns and prayers, and so inviting and alluring the mercy of God, resemble the lowest rank of angels, with whom no profane heretic or unclean notorious sinner is suffered to assemble, for 'what fellowship hath light with darkness?' Thus the whole Church typifies heaven; but the chancel, parted and separated from the nave or body of the church, so as that it cannot be seen into by those that are there, typifies the invisible heaven, or things above the heaven, not to be seen by the eye of flesh."

In our present number we have given a fac simile of an engraving which appeared in the first edition of Bishop Sparrow's work. It represents the minister reciting the litany, kneeling at a low desk, (commonly called the fald-stool) fronting the altar, or before the chancel door, processions about the church having been abolished. This custom is agreeable to the eighteenth Injunction of Elizabeth, A.D. 1559, and is still in force. The reason assigned for it by Bishop Andrewes is, that "the Litany, being a penitential office, is there appointed to be said, in imitation of God's command to the priests in their penitential service, (Joel ii. 17,) Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say,

The Plans for a superb and majestic Cathedral at Calcutta have just been arranged by Bishop Wilson, under the superintendance of an able Architect, Captain Forbes. It is proposed to build it about 200 feet in length, 60 feet wide, and 60 feet high; with north and south transept, and a suitable choir; a spire resembling Norwich Cathedral, will be constructed at the west end, in such a beautiful gothic style, as to give a dignity to our religions worship in the sight of the heathens and Mohammedans. Five clergy will be attached to it--the archdeacon as a kind of Dean, and four native Priests as Piebendaries. The whole expense is put down at £40,000.

Spare Thy people, O Lord.'" In the plate the officiating minister is represented kneeling on the marble pavement of a Gothic church; the congregation, cloaked and with broad-brimmed hats, are kneeling around him. There is also a partial division of the males from the females-an old custom still retained in a few of our country churches, especially during the administration of the Holy Communion, when the communicants kneel in rows one behind another, and there continue till the minister comes to them. In the First Book of Common Prayer of King Edward, it is ordered-"That so many as shall bee partakers of the holy communion, shall tarye still in the quire, or in some conveniente place nigh the quire, the men on the one side, and the women on the other side." It will be perceived that there is not a seat of any kind to be seen, pews not having become at this time a general appendage to churches. In the reign of Elizabeth, they were mostly fitted with ranges of

open seats.

Amongst the canons published during the reign of Charles I. we find one entitled "A Declaration concerning some Rites and Ceremonies," by which it appears that the communion-table was without rails, as in our engraving. Their utility is thus set forth-" And because experience hath showed us, how irreverent the behaviour of many people is, in many places, some leaning, others casting their hats, and some sitting upon, some standing, and others sitting under the communion table in time of Divine service; for the avoiding of these and the like abuses, it is thought meet and convenient by this present Synod, that the said communion tables in all churches and chapels be decently severed with rails to preserve them from such or worse profanations." In the acts of spoliation which took place during the Commonwealth, when

"dark fanaticism rent

Altar, and screen, and ornament,"

the rails which had been recently introduced into several churches round or in front of the communion table, were mostly broken down.

We must not conclude without adverting to the efforts which are now being made in the metropolis to supply the wants of a constantly increasing population with church accommodation. Three years have now elapsed since the formation of the Metropolis Churches' Fund. When the Bishop of London put forth his proposals in April 1836, he contemplated the erection of at least fifty new churches; and for the accomplishment of this purpose it was estimated that a sum of not less than £300,000 must have been raised. It is to be regretted, however, that the sum placed at the disposal of the Committee is somewhat below one half of this amount. The subscription up to 1st June last, is £132,728: 13s: 6d., showing an increase during the last year of £5,604: 0s: 3d. By the blessing of God, however, the Committee are enabled to hold out the prospect of forty-one new churches being built, either wholly, or in part, from this fund.

Churches completed, or in progress

Churches to which the fund was before pledged

Churches to which the fund has been pledged during the past year

Total

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This number includes the ten churches which it is proposed to build in Bethnal Green.

In the opinion expressed by the Committee in their first Report we entirely conour-that "the house which is dedicated to the honour of God ought to excel all other buildings in the beauty of its architecture." But owing to the limited means at their disposal, they have rigidly abstained from any expenditure beyond what has been deemed essential to give the churches an ecclesiastical character.* A Society can as little cultivate architectural taste and magnificence, as it can call forth gratitude in those who benefit by its bounty. Its operations are of necessity conducted

We are glad to find there exists a prevailing desire to improve the architectural appearance of the places of worship among the orthodox dissenters. The first number of the Congregational Calen dar contains two Engravings of recently erected buildings, which are alike creditable to the taste and udgment of the Committee of the Metropolis' Chapel Fund.

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