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from the beautifully painted windows, with
feelings of reverence in our hearts, although we at the same time
may admit that the great Deity can be acceptably worshiped by His
people where there is no canopy but the heavens; yet we are
constrained to use the sublime language of the old Patriarch, and
cannot help exclaiming, "Surely this is none other than the
house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven!" and the
feelings of our soulsfind vent in the warmest prayer,—
" Long may our spiry abbeys, high cathedrals,
stand!
The arks of God! the bulwarks of the
land!"
Many churches have recently been erected, at which we
may well rejoice; and though of course the first object is
to obtain the means of public worship for the people, it is still
an important though a secondary consideration that they should be
constructed in a style worthy of the solemn service for which they
are built, and worthy in some degree of the great Being to whom
they are dedicated; and in this respect it is gratifying
to admit that better principles than once prevailed are now
generally acted upon, and the ecclesiastical architecture which
most pleases the eye is undoubtedly that which is borrowed from
the models of former days. Nothing shows more our obligations to
bygone taste and skill than the modern term " restoration"
as applied to the work now going on in many of our parish
churches. I recollect being a few years ago in a church undergoing
this process, and observed a notice emblazoned on the walls in a
kind of triumphal wreath, to this effect: "This church was
repaired and beautified in 17—;" and the
beautification consisted in daubing the walls and pillars with
whitewash, blocking up a splendid arch, and completely hiding a
magnificent western window. A friend who was with me made this
observation: "When these restorations are complete, the
proper inscription will be, 'This church was and beautified anno
Domini 1850.' "
With regard to sculpture also, which is so
closely united with architecture: though we may be justly proud of
the works of some of our own sculptors, yet they invariably
succeed best when they most closely adhere to the noble works left
by the artists of antiquity. I remember, some years ago, when
taking a tour amongst other scenes of interest, I visited the seat
of that eminent antiquary, the late Sir Richard Colt Hoare, and
whilst walking in his beautiful grounds, suddenly came upon a
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