REMARKS 
 
 ON 
 
 GUSH CHURCH 
 
 8fC. 8fC. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/remarksonenglishOOmark 
 
MONUMENT IN COLYTON CHURCH, 
 DEVONSHIRE. 
 
REMARKS 
 
 ON 
 
 ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 AND 
 
 ON THE EXPEDIENCY OF RENDERING 
 
 &£pultf)ral JWemonab 
 
 SUBSERVIENT TO PIOUS AND CHRISTIAN USES. 
 
 
 BY 
 
 J. H. MARKLAND, F.R.S, & S.A. 
 
 Man. is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave, 
 solemnizing nativities and deaths with equal lustre. 
 
 Sib T. Browne, Hydriotaphia, ch. v. 
 
 THE THIRD EDITION, ENLARGED. 
 
 OXFORD. 
 
 JOHN HENRY PARKER ; 
 G. F. AND J. RIVINGTON, LONDON ; 
 SIMMS AND SON, POCOCK, AND COELINGS, BATH. 
 MDCCCXLIII. 
 
WHAT ADVANTAGETH A GORGEOUS TOMB — COSTLY OBSEQUIES 
 
 LAVISH EXPENSE ! BEFOREHAND THEN ARRAY THYSELF FOR 
 THY BURIAL — GODLINESS IS A COMELY SHROUD — DECK THY- 
 SELF IN ALL THY ROBES ERE THOU DEPARTEST HENCE — 
 CONVERT THY WEALTH INTO AN ENDURING ORNAMENT — 
 CARRY IT ALONG WITH THEE. 
 
 ST. BASH,, 
 
 Homilia in Ditescentes (folio), Parisiis, 1638, 
 torn. i. p. 348. 
 
 Oxford : printed by I. Shrimpton. 
 
TO THE 
 RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 EDWARD HERBERT, 
 EARL OF POWIS, 
 VISCOUNT CLIVE OF LUDLOW, 
 BARON HERBERT OF CHERBURY, 
 AND BARON POWIS OF POWIS CASTLE : 
 IN MUNIFICENCE, 
 IN ZEAL, 
 IN STEADFASTNESS, 
 A FAITHFUL AND DEVOTED SON OF THE CHURCH : 
 THESE PAGES ARE INSCRIBED, 
 
 WITH DEEP FEELINGS OF RESPECT AND ESTEEM, 
 AND 
 
 WITH THE FERVENT HOPE 
 THAT HEALTH, AND PEACE, AND LENGTH OF DAYS, 
 MAY BE THE PORTION OF HIS 
 INHERITANCE. 
 
 b 
 
THE PRESENT EDITION. 
 
 In giving another Edition of these Remarks to 
 the Public, the Author has endeavoured to fortify his 
 opinions by additional arguments, as well as by new 
 proofs and illustrations. No one can rejoice more 
 than himself, that the solicitude for the care and 
 restoration of our Ecclesiastical Edifices has now 
 become so general and so earnest. 
 
 It must be a matter of congratulation to all, that 
 the highest Dignitary of our Church regards with 
 favour and approval this increase of intelligence and 
 good taste a . So long as they are subsidiary to the 
 
 a " I am glad to find, that the feeling in respect to this important 
 subject, (Church Architecture,) which has of late years revived in Eng- 
 land, has been awakened in Ireland. It is naturally connected with a 
 strong religious feeling, combined with attachment to the Church. 
 
 " That such feelings, in regard to essentials, may continue to increase, 
 and produce their natural effect in drawing attention to matters, which, 
 though altogether subordinate, can never be considered as unimportant, 
 whilst they promote reverence for holy things, is my constant prayer."— 
 Letter, addressed by his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury to the 
 Lord Bishop of Down. Nov. 19th, 1842. 
 
c o 
 
 Viii PREFACE. 
 
 two great objects, for which Christians assemble in 
 the House of Prayer — devotion and instruction — the 
 wise and good can refuse neither their sanction nor 
 support, to any efforts, which are made for the 
 attainment of those most important ends. 
 
 England, — let it be thankfully said, — is again a 
 Church- Building Country : and may she so continue, 
 until she shall have provided the means of Divine 
 Worship for every son and daughter of her immense 
 population, who wish to abide in the Faith of her 
 Apostolic Church. 
 
 Amongst many gratifying results, which have 
 attended the publication of this Work, the Author 
 cannot omit to mention, that the Bath and Wells 
 Diocesan Church Building Association have, in their 
 last Report, cordially expressed their approval of his 
 suggestions. The more effectually also to promote 
 their adoption, the Committee have stated their readi- 
 ness to receive, and appropriate, any sums, which 
 may, in furtherance of these views, be placed at 
 their disposal. 
 
 The Author has to renew his especial acknow- 
 ledgments to his excellent Friend, the Archdeacon of 
 St. Alban's, for the patient kindness, and the judg- 
 ment, which have been again exercised by him in 
 
 C o 
 
O— — — o 
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 revising this Work. His thanks are also due to the 
 Rev. William Sewell, B.D., of Exeter College, for the 
 loan of a large Collection of Engravings of Monu- 
 ments, and still more for his valuable counsel. 
 
 To Mr. Wailes, of Newcastle on Tyne, he is in- 
 debted for a Print of the Monumental Window in 
 Chichester Cathedral, erected at the expense of the 
 Dean of Chichester. From the list of similar Works, 
 which either have been erected, or are in prepara- 
 tion, the reader will perceive, that this good example 
 has been extensively followed in that and other 
 Churches b . 
 
 To the Friends, who have contributed several of 
 the Drawings, which have been engraved for this 
 Volume, the Author's thanks would have been indi- 
 vidually expressed, were he not aware, how little 
 acceptable so public a tribute would have proved to 
 the Contributors themselves. 
 
 Bath, Easter, 1843. 
 
 b Memorial Windows have also been executed by that excellent 
 Artist Mr. Willement, and many more are in preparation by that 
 gentleman, and others, who are distinguished for their skill in this 
 beautiful branch of art, 
 
 I 
 
 CD- 
 
 CD 
 
The Plates, in a great measure/ speak for themselves, 
 and require little explanation. 
 
 Frontispiece. — An Altar-tomb in the parish Church of 
 Colyton, Devonshire, upon which are placed the effigies of 
 a young female, with a coronet on her head, her pillow sup- 
 ported by an Angel, and a dog at her feet. Of this Monu- 
 ment, and the Lady to whom it is dedicated, Cleveland, 
 in his Genealogical History of the family of Courtenay% 
 gives the following account : — " The Lady Catherine, 
 (seventh) daughter of Edward IV., b had, by her husband 
 William Courtenay Earl of Devonshire, one son named 
 Henry, who was, after his father, Earl of Devonshire, 
 and afterwards Marquess of Exeter, and one daughter 
 named Margaret, who was choaked with a bone of a fish, 
 and died at Colecomb very young ; and there is a Monu- 
 ment of an antique figure still remaining for her in the 
 Parish Church of Coliton, where her Effigies is put at full 
 length, in a niche of the north wall, with an Angel at her 
 
 3 Exeter 1735, folio. 
 
 b This Lady is described upon her seal as " filia, soror, et amita 
 regum." — Sandford's Genealogical History, p. 419. 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
Q— 
 
 di ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 head, and another at her feet c ; and over are 1st. the 
 Arms of Courtenay, impaled with the Arms of England ; 
 2nd. the Arms of Courtenay, of themselves ; 3rd. the Arms 
 of England of themselves ; and the He where this 
 Monument is placed, is called Choke Bone He to this 
 day." 
 
 The Cornice on this Monujfcnt, is modern, and in 
 bad taste, and, in the engravin^nt has been replaced by 
 one better harmonizing with the original design. The 
 same restoration has been effected on a. tomb, which 
 has been lately erected in the Church of Powderham ; 
 this beautiful specimen of a sepulchral memorial, having 
 been selected, most appropriately, as the model. 
 
 Page 5. — The venerable Pulpit at ColdAshton, in Glou- 
 cestershire, is one of the small number still remaining of 
 this class of antiquities, to which attention has here been 
 directed. The pulpit itself is of wood, the canopy of stone ; 
 it is not only disused, but the very access to it is closed up. 
 Why is it not carefully repaired, and restored to its original 
 use ? Tradition says, and not without much probability, 
 that it was occasionally filled by Latimer. While he held 
 the Benefice of West Kington, in Wiltshire, his labours 
 were not confined to his own Parish ; — for we are told, 
 that "the pulpits every where were gladly opened for 
 him," and that he often preached at Bristol. In journey- 
 ing from West Kington to that City, Latimer would 
 necessarily pass through Cold Ashton. 
 
 The print at p. 29, is taken from a work, entitled, 
 " True information of the beginning and cause of all our 
 Troubles, how they have bin hatched, and how pre- 
 
 c On either upright, is an angel in flowing drapery, waving a censer ; 
 to these the writer probably alludes, when he speaks of angels at the 
 head and feet. 
 
 O 
 
 -o 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. xtii 
 
 vented. — London, 1648." — It is thus noticed under the 
 year 1640 d — "The Soldiers, in their passage to Yorke, 
 turn unto Eeformers, pull down popish pictures, hreak 
 down rayles, turn Alters into Tables, and those popish 
 Commanders, that were to command them, they forced to 
 eat flesh on Fridayes, thrusting it downe their throats, and 
 some they slew." We have here a graphic, and not very 
 agreeable, picture of the proceedings of the advocates for 
 civil and religious freedom in the seventeenth century ; — 
 or, as we might, with greater truth, style them, of " the 
 adversary, and the enemy, when they entered into the Gates 
 of our Jerusalem" — Lamentations, iv. 12. 
 
 The print at p. 41, represents the modernized Chancel 
 of the fine Church of St. Cuthbert, at Wells. The east 
 window is entirely blocked up, and the transmutations in 
 the Chancel, from good to bad, have been complete. 
 When we contrast the panelled oak roof, that remains 
 in the Nave, of which a specimen is here given, with the 
 
 d For this communication I am indebted to M. H. Bloxam, Esq. 
 
o 
 
 XIV ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ceiling in the Chancel, and reflect, that the extensive 
 injury to this part of the Church, must have heen at- 
 tended with considerahle labour and expense, we cannot 
 but feel amazed, that, in a literary and refined age, the 
 eyes of our forefathers should, in works of Architecture, 
 have been so thoroughly blinded. It has been stated, that, 
 had the funds been sufficient, the roof of the Nave 
 would have shared the fate of that in the Chancel. Surely 
 we ought, in candour and fairness, to shift the date of 
 " the dark ages," as they have been termed, from the 
 days, when Cathedrals were built, to much later periods. 
 During large portions of the 17th and 18th centuries, bad 
 taste was exhibited not only, as we shall see, in the de- 
 signs, and in the position, of monuments, but in a total 
 absence of feeling for all, that was truly beautiful and 
 sublime. To take one instance, not connected with 
 Churches — Bishop Kennet, when speaking, in 1707, of 
 that fine specimen of Baronial splendour, Haddon Hall, 
 in Derbyshire, describes it, — " as a house of no front, no 
 uniform figure, no good avenue on any side, no manner 
 of prospect, no walks or gardens, and, to all appearance, 
 nothing but strength and privacy : — no manner of beauty 
 in it e ." Our thanks are due to the noble possessor of this 
 most interesting structure, that, whilst it is carefully pre- 
 served in essentials, the hand of the improver is not per- 
 mitted to mar its original character. It is to be wished 
 that the inside of the Chapel should not be longer per- 
 mitted to remain in its present neglected state. 
 
 At the eastern extremity of the north aisle of Bristol 
 Cathedral was an Altar-screen, which is given amongst 
 Mr. Skelton's Etchings of the Antiquities of Bristol. The 
 
 e Restituta, by Sir E. Brydges, vol. iii. p. 362. 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
c 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. XV 
 
 monument of the Codrington Family (p. 60), which was 
 formerly placed in the Choir, has been intruded into this 
 beautiful series of niches. It is but justice to say, that 
 it was not the original cause of the mischief, as its present 
 place was occupied by a lofty, pyramidal monument, 
 erected in 1789. When the latter was removed, it is much 
 to be regretted, that the same good taste, which directed 
 the restorations, effected in the Choir, was not extended to 
 this part of the Cathedral. 
 
 The monument of Sir John Young (p. 61), erected 
 about 1603, has probably destroyed the ancient Sedilia 
 in the south wall of the Choir of Bristol Cathedral. 
 
 At p. 62 is given an existing portion of one of the small 
 Chapels, surrounding the eastern extremity of Henry the 
 Seventh's Chapel, that we may be the better aware of the 
 ravages committed by the erection of the Duke of Buck- 
 inghamshire's monument. The sculptor, doubtless, re- 
 garded the niches, the statues, brackets, &c, &c, which 
 he was permitted to destroy, with the same feeling of con- 
 tempt, that Evelyn f expressed, when speaking of the "Lace, 
 and other cutwork, and crinkle-crankle" of this building, 
 and considered, that these appropriate and beautiful orna- 
 ments were wisely sacrificed to receive the Koman General, 
 — the weeping Duchess, and the allegorical Group. 
 
 At p. 66, a proof is exhibited, that the injury, occasioned 
 by the erection of monuments, is not confined to the in- 
 terior of a Church. This Chapel terminates the northern 
 aisle of the Church of Lacock, Wilts. It is a highly deco- 
 rated building of a late period. The walls and roof were 
 richly painted, and the edifice, generally speaking, is in 
 
 f Evelyn's Miscell. Works, p. 266. This expression has been attri- 
 buted erroneously to the younger Wren. 
 
 
 
 •0 
 
o 
 
 -o 
 
 Xvi ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 good preservation, but two large monuments occupy nearly 
 the whole of the north wall, and, in order to receive them, 
 two of the three windows in this small Chapel have been 
 entirely blocked up. These monuments were raised to the 
 memory of Sir William Sherington, Knt., who died in 
 1566, and of John Talbot, who died in 1713. We may 
 hope, that these intruders will, ere long, be placed in 
 some other part of the Church. The mullions, which still 
 remain in one of these windows, will enable the restoration 
 of both to be effected with little difficulty. 
 
 P. 82. This plate presents a glimpse into the north Tran- 
 sept of Bath Abbey Church. It has been given, not to 
 ridicule, whatever the hand of affection may have placed 
 there, but as a striking illustration of that which has been, 
 not incorrectly, described as " Monumental patchwork on 
 the walls of Churches ; — marble excrescences ; — sepul- 
 chral fungi; — stone tumours*." We see here how the fair 
 proportions, symmetry, and effect of a fine Church may be 
 diminished, and injured by the indiscriminate accumula- 
 tion of monuments and tablets, when its walls become 
 " tesselated with closely packed slabs of many colours V 
 
 The monument of the Moore Family (p. 90), erected 
 in 1613, in the north aisle of the Nave of Worcester 
 Cathedral, is comparatively a slight blemish, but it 
 affords an early instance of the small regard, paid to 
 windows in Churches. Their partial, or entire obstruc- 
 tion has been little heeded, if a convenient space was thus 
 created for the reception of a monument. 
 
 The Plate at p. 224 represents the Bible used by the 
 officiating Minister, in the Chapel of the Holy Evangelists, 
 at Killerton, Devonshire ; and it is accompanied by a 
 
 b Brit. Critic, No. xxxiii. p. 79. 
 
 h Ibid. p. 101. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Prayer Book, similar to it in all respects. These Books 
 are bound in boards of three quarters of an inch in thick- 
 ness, each with two clasps, and eight corner pieces, simple 
 in character, and of great solidity. They were bound, — 
 as the kind friend to whom I owe this drawing informs 
 me, — by Mr. Tuckett (binder to the British Museum) 
 chiefly after the model of a copy of Bartholomeus, De 
 proprietatibus rerum. The gophering, on the edges, cor- 
 responds, in pattern, with the tooling on the sides. Such 
 is the massiveness of the binding, that the Bible weighs 
 391bs. Might not Church Furniture, like these volumes, 
 be occasionally selected as more durable and useful me- 
 morials of the dead, than Tablets ? 
 
c 
 
 o 
 
Page 
 
 Remarks on English Churches, and on Sepulchral Memo- 
 
 rials 1 
 
 Appendix: — 
 
 I. Epitaphs 141 
 
 II. Monuments. Interments in Churches 173 
 
 III. Church-yard Crosses 187 
 
 Church Building and Endowments for Churches . . . .191 
 Provision for the Repair and Improvement of Churches . . 200 
 
 Alms-giving in Churches 206 
 
 Substitutes for Sepulchral Memorials 224 
 
 Index 239 
 
o 
 
 o- 
 
 •o 
 
ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 Turrets, spires, 
 And windows, climbing high from base to roof 
 In wide and radiant rows, bespoke its birth 
 Coeval with those rich Cathedral fanes, 
 (Gothic ill-named,) where harmony results 
 From disunited parts ; and shapes minute, 
 At once distinct and blended, boldly form 
 One vast majestic whole. No modern art 
 Had marr'd with misplac'd symmetry the pile. 
 
 Mason's English Garden, B. iii. 
 
 Amongst the glories of our native land our Cathe- 
 drals and Churches claim the most distinguished rank, 
 whether we regard their magnificence — their variety 
 — their numbers, — and still more the sacred uses, 
 to which they are devoted. Which of the works of 
 
 o o 
 
2 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 man awakens in the mind so many holy and solemn, 
 yet soothing recollections? Which adds so impres- 
 sively to the beauties of a landscape ? I n cities the 
 Cathedral Church rises in awful majesty, and is the 
 absorbing object, to which the delighted eye per- 
 petually returns, while the buildings around it seem 
 but as humble vassals in the presence of their mighty 
 lord. If less considerable in magnitude and splen- 
 dour, scarcely less beautiful and attractive is the 
 Village Church, with its taper spire, pointing to that 
 Heaven, whither it would conduct us ; or, with its 
 massive well-proportioned Tower, its Chancel, Aisles, 
 and Porch gracefully projecting from the lofty Nave, 
 its windows filled with delicate and beautiful tracery, 
 and the whole structure crowned with light well- 
 executed pinnacles. These are not uncommon fea- 
 tures in our Ecclesiastical edifices, and never should 
 we gaze upon them but with the devoutest feelings 
 of gratitude and veneration. Thomson, when enu- 
 merating the nobler works of creation, specifies the 
 Church as the sole work of art, worthy of. being 
 united to them : 
 
 The forest darkening round, the glittering spire, 
 The ethereal mountain, and the distant main a . 
 
 :1 Spring, p. 531. — The reader may remember the picture, which is 
 presented to the eye in the grounds of Wilton, where the Cathedral of 
 Salisbury, with its lofty spire, has been most judiciously introduced. 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 3 
 
 With shame and sorrow we must confess, that, 
 during the largest portion of the last two centuries, 
 the greater number of these fabrics has been grossly- 
 neglected ; and, in the concern for their preservation, 
 our piety and our taste alike slumbered. Until late 
 years how few of those, who assembled within the 
 walls of our Churches, have appeared to appreciate 
 these precious gifts of their ancestors ! How few have 
 been mindful to cherish with care and reverence the 
 " goodly fanes," which the munificence of former 
 days has bequeathed to them ! To men, zealous 
 for the honour of God, there are few sadder sights 
 than the neglected Church, presenting, amidst vestiges 
 of its former splendour, and of the holy purposes of 
 its dedication, plain proofs of tasteless ignorance, 
 if not of indecent disrespect, enough to " sear the 
 eye and grieve the heart." A chill oftentimes per- 
 vades the building, so that " the tender and delicate 
 woman" amongst us may, with reason, hesitate to 
 " adventure to set the sole of her foot" upon the 
 damp ground, or broken pavement. Not now to 
 speak of the Font and the Altar, when we look 
 around us, where shall we not find cause for cen- 
 sure and regret? We see the mullions of the win- 
 dows broken, the few remaining relics of painted 
 glass disjointed or obscured, and the windows them- 
 selves partially filled with brick and common case- 
 
 o o 
 
4 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 ments b . Whatever of sculptured ornament once 
 existed has been industriously clogged by successive 
 coats of whitewash, and the outline of the arches 
 and windows has been picked out with yellow or 
 black borders. Large unmeaning monuments and 
 tablets are seen partially intercepting the light, or 
 covering panels, pillars, and pilasters. Where the 
 Commandments, Creed, and texts of Scripture have 
 found their place, no attention to propriety has been 
 observed, but the village painter has smeared the 
 Chancel-arch, and other portions of the walls, with 
 vulgar lettering, extravagant borders, and ornaments 
 fitted only for the sign-post. When we cross the 
 threshold, and pass into the area of the building, 
 we are made too sensible that the world is not shut 
 out. The original massive oak benches, on which 
 the rich and poor could once sit together, have been 
 either entirely swept away, or mutilated, past repair, 
 to admit mean and high unpainted deal pews, the 
 unhappy legacy of our Puritan forefathers. These 
 inclosures, sometimes small in themselves, embody, 
 alas! too much of pride, exclusiveness, and sloth. 
 
 b Mr. Streatfeild, speaking of the glass in Hawkhurst Church, Kent, 
 says that an examination of it cost him some labour, " for its constituted 
 guardians had found the bricklayer less chargeable than the glazier, 
 and had shut out the weather with mortar, applied by no delicate hand 
 to the once storied heads of its windows."— Prospectus of a History of 
 Kent, p. 4. 
 
 O ■ — O 
 
o- 
 
 o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 5 
 
 They become still more unsightly, from being occa- 
 sionally dislocated when burials are improperly per- 
 mitted to take place beneath them. The reading 
 and clerk's desks, often of gigantic size and of 
 paltry materials, obscure the chancel, and form a 
 striking contrast to the ancient grave coloured 
 pulpit of carved stone, sometimes remaining, and 
 which, if properly restored, would be an ornament 
 to the building. 
 
 To point out these defects is an ungrateful, but 
 not a useless, theme, but, before the mischief and 
 neglect of past years can be remedied, the whole 
 extent of the evil must be fully and clearly de- 
 tailed. From the days, when Inigo Jones prefixed 
 a Roman portico, magnificent as it was, to the old 
 Cathedral of St. Paul, and thrust a screen of the 
 same style into the Cathedral of Winchester, to a 
 very recent period, purity of design and character in 
 our Ecclesiastical buildings, seems to have been well- 
 nigh banished from the land. Batty Langley made 
 bad worse ; for he, that could admire and adopt his 
 barbarisms, would not have scrupled to deface York 
 Minster, had it been entrusted to his hands . Justly 
 is it remarked by Dr. Ingram, that "the modern 
 
 o " Many a fine Minster has, from bad taste, been robbed of its native 
 character, and many a parish Church degraded beneath the level of the 
 barns that surround it." See the valuable observations of the Rev. Gr. A. 
 Poole, in his useful work on Church Architecture, page 11. 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
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 6 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 mode of adorning our ancient edifices has done more, 
 under injudicious management, to disfigure and obli- 
 terate the memorials of past ages, than the slow 
 ravages of time, or the barbarous devastations of 
 popular fury d ." Time was, when a building, con- 
 secrated to God, was considered as an object of the 
 deepest religious veneration. The good work was 
 eagerly promoted by munificent gifts or by personal 
 exertion. Land, stone, and timber, as well as money, 
 were freely given ; workmen and carriages were no 
 less freely provided. These contributions should be 
 estimated as money, for it is idle to say, that such 
 structures could be erected with ease, because wages 
 in those days were low e . If our ancestors wanted 
 our science and our numerous aids for curtailing 
 labour, we must contrast the purer taste and the 
 more liberal spirit, which animated the builders of 
 old, with the cold and selfish calculation too often 
 manifested in modern times. Our profusion has been 
 freely lavished on schemes and undertakings, which 
 are to yield us a profitable return, or to conduce to 
 our individual comfort, too rarely on works of charity 
 or devotion. 
 
 In examining a fine Church of the thirteenth or four- 
 teenth century, where we mark the enduring (might 
 
 d Memorials of Oxford, vol. i. p. 7. 
 
 e Whitaker's Richmondshire, Preface, p. vi. 
 
 o ; O 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 7 
 
 we not almost say the eternal) workmanship of those 
 periods, nothing strikes us more than the ample space, 
 allotted to the several portions of the building, or 
 the minute and painful labour, which was bestowed 
 upon every part of the edifice, whether the material 
 was wood or stone. This labour was not confined 
 exclusively to those portions of a Church, that were 
 most important and conspicuous ; but it extended to 
 parts, which can only be discovered, and properly 
 appreciated after the closest investigation. "The 
 roofs of Cathedrals generally deserve quite as narrow 
 an inspection as the interiors ; and the inspection is 
 often as full of wonder as that of the inside f ." Even 
 in the crypts, architectural propriety and beauty pre- 
 vail ; the extent of which cannot, perhaps, be fully 
 known, " till the ruin of the incumbent edifice shall 
 have exposed its subterranean foundation to the light 
 of day s." In the Chapel of St. Joseph at Glaston- 
 bury, not only are the pillars and fine groining of the 
 crypt deserving of minute examination, but the very 
 arch that covers the well in the lowest depth, and the 
 obscurest corner, is gracefully formed and ornamented 
 with a moulding of good character. There is a win- 
 dow in Exeter Cathedral, which can only be viewed 
 from the roof, but it is finished with as much care, as 
 
 f Faber's Foreign Churches and Peoples. 
 
 g Transactions of the Cambridge Camden Society. Pt. i. p. 21. 
 
 o 6 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 8 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 if it were exposed on one of the main fronts of the 
 Church. 
 
 When we find in a petty village, a substantial spa- 
 cious Church, with its noble tower, and, though in 
 decay, still bearing evidence, that no pains or suitable 
 embellishment was spared in its construction; it 
 might be asked, by whom, at whose expense, for 
 whom, and for what useful object was all this cost ? 
 Such questions, natural to the utilitarian of our own 
 days, were never put by our forefathers, — They knew 
 that the act was one of grateful homage on their part 
 to the Giver of all Good; that the building must 
 be beneficial to the inhabitants of the District, how- 
 ever few and scattered they might be ; and would 
 confer blessings on generations yet unborn ; they 
 knew that they had " wrought a good work ;" — this 
 truth was enough to silence every enquirer — to satisfy 
 every doubt : 
 
 They dreamt not of a perishable home, 
 Who thus could build. 
 
 Where the hand of man has not been mischievously 
 busy, and only ordinary attention has been paid to 
 the repair of accidental injury, we may contemplate, 
 in one of these fabrics, what their Founders themselves 
 beheld, and much in the same state. " Let us then 
 be grateful for such works, the ornaments and the 
 
 o 
 
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o- o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 9 
 
 pride of our country ; to that Church, which, however 
 great its defects, or rather its superfluities, neither 
 grudged expense, nor toil, nor privations, in pro- 
 viding these durable and magnificent buildings h ." 
 When a Church was completed, not only each Chan- 
 try, but every principal part of the edifice, had its 
 appointed guardian. These feelings of devotion were 
 too often mingled with superstition : yet well would 
 it have been, had the good part been spared, and 
 that, whilst the tares were gathered, the wheat had 
 not been rooted up also ! 
 
 At the Reformation, the condition of the Churches 
 themselves was, probably, excellent ; and here it may 
 not be irrelevant to point out the actual extent of 
 injury, which they then sustained. Much misconcep- 
 tion prevails by confounding the proceedings, w T hich 
 occurred at this period, with that ruthless violence, to 
 which Churches were subjected in a subsequent cen- 
 tury. A short statement will shew, that the spolia- 
 tion at these two periods of our history, differed widely 
 both in kind and degree. 
 
 As regards the Churches themselves, the object of 
 the Reformers was, generally speaking, to purify, not to 
 desecrate, while, on the other hand, the Puritans were 
 not satisfied, unless desecration was accompanied by 
 demolition. But when we turn to the Monastic 
 
 h Whitaker's Richmondshire, vol. ii. p. 128. 
 
 O O 
 
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 10 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 houses, it is to be lamented, that at their Dissolution, 
 they were not only stripped of their lands and re- 
 venues, but their roofs were shamefully dismantled, 
 and the lead, bells, and whatever other property or 
 articles of value they possessed, were seized upon or 
 destroyed. The Certificate of the Commissioners for 
 the Suppression of the Monastery of Tewkesbury, will 
 give the reader a clear insight into the usual mode of 
 proceeding on such occasions. The Abbot's lodging, 
 and other buildings of a domestic character were 
 " assigned to remain undefaced," doubtless, as a re- 
 sidence for the Grantee or his dependants. The 
 Church, Chapels, Cloisters, Chapter- House, &c, 
 were " deemed to be superfluous " The lead and 
 bells ' l were estimated by weight for sale. The jewels, 
 plate, and ornaments, were "reserved to the use of 
 the King's Majesty k ." Instances also occur, where 
 individuals, like the Protector Somerset, actually 
 destroyed a Church for selfish purposes; and vast 
 
 ' " England had been largely replenished with bell-metal since the 
 Dissolution, and vast quantities of it were shipped off for gain." In 
 1547 this was prohibited, lest the enemy might be supplied with it "for 
 great guns against ourselves, and our own country and army want." 
 Strype's Mem., vol. ii. pt. i. p. 71. 
 
 t Burnet's Reformation, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 234. The purchasers of Reli- 
 gious Houses delayed not often in pulling down the edifices, " particularly 
 the Churches and Chapels, that they, no longer subsisting in the eyes of 
 the people, might be the sooner forgotten by them." Bentham's Ely, 
 p. 190. 
 
 O : O 
 
o o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 11 
 
 Conventual Churches, even when preserved and 
 granted to the use of the parish, were diminished 
 in size. 
 
 No friend of his country could desire, that the 
 monastic estates should have remained in mortmain. 
 Had such been the case, would England, at this day, 
 have stood higher amongst European nations than 
 Spain or Portugal ? But of the £161,000 per annum, 
 (the revenue of the greater Abbeys,) how very small 
 a portion was reserved for objects of public utility ! A 
 limited part of their revenues might have been re- 
 tained for the support of some of the fabrics them- 
 selves, or of portions of them, and these might have 
 been rendered subservient to pious and charitable 
 uses. We should not have deemed " a glut of Pre- 
 bendaries and Schoolmasters essential for the benefit 
 of religion or learning V' hut are we not now made 
 fully sensible that the nation would have been mate- 
 rially benefited had the twenty additional Sees m , once 
 
 1 Hallam's Constit. Hist., vol. i. p. 107. 
 
 m The number of places for the intended Bishoprics, made out in 
 the King's own hand, and amounting to twenty-one, will be found in 
 Strype's Memorials, vol. i. pt. ii. No. cvi. Of these, Peterborough is the 
 only place that now possesses a Bishop. The other four Sees, Glouces- 
 ter, Bristol, Oxford, and Chester, erected out of the ruins of dissolved 
 monasteries, are not included. These would have made a total of twenty- 
 five additional Sees. The king also made out a list of new deaneries 
 and colleges, No. cvii. Strype justly observes, that the Church, having 
 more Bishops, "the flock of Christ would be the better regarded. — But 
 alas! these many new Bishoprics and Deaneries, at first so well intended, 
 
 Q 
 
 O 
 
o 
 
 -o 
 
 12 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 designed by Henry VIII, been erected out of the 
 
 and solitary, as Malvern, Whalley, and Glastonbury, 
 retained their Priories and Abbeys as seats of educa- 
 tion and religious retirement, under prudent manage- 
 ment and judicious regulations 11 ? From such semi- 
 naries scholars might have emanated widely differing 
 from the ignorant and unlettered Clergy, who, at a 
 most critical moment, were called upon to uphold the 
 Anglican Church, in the eyes of a people, not too 
 well disposed to regard it with favour. 
 
 Why Libraries should have been recklessly de- 
 stroyed at the Reformation does seem astonishing ; 
 classical literature was then extending itself ; our 
 
 dwindled away at last to six (five?) Bishoprics only,'' (Strype's Memo- 
 rials, vol. i. p. 540.) a striking proof how widely men often vary in their 
 promises, and in the performance of them, when their own interests are 
 concerned. 
 
 u Latimer "moved the Lord Cromwell in behalf of the priory 
 of Malvern, to continue not in Monkery, God forbid ! but to main- 
 tain preaching, study with praying, and good house-keeping. The 
 country is poor, and full of penury." — Strype's Memorials, vol. i. 
 pt. i. p. 400. 
 
 ° A reference to the Life of Richard Coxe, Dean of Christ Church, 
 (Wood's Athen. Oxon., Ed. Bliss, vol. i. p. 466,) may suffice to shew us the 
 ravages then committed in libraries. Old chronicles were mutilated, as 
 the portraits of kings and warriors were supposed to represent saints and 
 popes. At Malmsbury, which possessed some of the finest manuscripts 
 in the kingdom, broken windows were actually patched with portions of 
 them, and for many years after the dissolution bakers had not consumed 
 the stores, which they had accumulated for heating their ovens. — Bodl. 
 Letters, vol. i. p. 279. 
 
 Abbey lands, and had places, comparatively secluded 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 13 
 
 Universities were not only spared but enlarged, and 
 Professorships were founded in them. "The same 
 reverence, says Sir J. Mackintosh, which spared their 
 monastic regulations, happily preserved their rich en- 
 dowments from rapine P." What would we now give, 
 had Bale's wish been realized, that " in every shire of 
 England there had been one solemn library for the 
 preserving the noble works of men, godly-minded, 
 and lively memorials of our nation 1." 
 
 In a sensible letter from Hearne to Browne Willis r 
 (which, as the Editor justly remarks, does no less 
 credit to Hearne's heart than his head), the writer 
 observes, that the Reformation " extirpated those 
 gross errors, which had, by degrees, crept into the 
 Church/' but that " the nation groans to this day" 
 by the demolition of the religious houses, and by 
 the mode in which their lands and revenues were 
 seized upon. We must readily admit the truth of 
 this last observation, when we look at the miserable 
 manner in which the existing Conventual Churches 
 are endowed. 
 
 The most important changes, that were effected in 
 Churches at the Reformation, were within the build- 
 ings. The interior of them, accordingly, it may be 
 
 p History of the Reformation, p. 135. 
 i Strype's Life of Parker, vol. ii. p. 521. 
 * Bodleian Letters, vol. i. p. 272. 
 
14 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 remarked, is often more mutilated than the outside, 
 which has been exposed to less rude treatment. The 
 stone Altars, especially those in Mortuary Chapels, 
 were destroyed. " Images, shrines, and candlesticks, 
 were to be removed everywhere, wheresoever they 
 had been abused by pilgrimages, censings, and offer- 
 ings. " As the first Injunctions had been but partially 
 obeyed, Inquiries were to be made in 1547, "whe- 
 ther there do remain, not taken down in Churches, 
 Chapels, or elsewhere, any misused images, with 
 pilgrimages, cloths, stones, shoes, offerings, kiss- 
 ings, candlesticks, trindals of wax, and such other 
 like ? And whether there do remain, not defaced and 
 destroyed, any shrines, coverings of shrines, or any 
 other monuments of idolatry, superstition, and hypo- 
 crisy 8 ?" Again, it was subsequently enjoined that 
 all images graven, carved, or painted, should be re- 
 moved. 
 
 Thus we see, that image-worship was the besetting 
 sin, so far as respected externals, against which our 
 Reformers chiefly, and w 7 isely, directed their attacks. 
 This was the foul abuse to be extirpated, and the de- 
 struction of whatsoever fostered it was with them the 
 primary object. Our ancestors could not be blinded, 
 any more than we at the present day, to the truth, 
 that the Virgin, the Saints, and Angels, constitute, 
 
 s Strype's Memorials, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 77. 124. 
 
o 
 
 -o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 15 
 
 as it were, a polytheism most popular in the Romish 
 Church * ; and that acts of worship and adoration were 
 paid to them, justifying the charge of superstition and 
 creature-worship u . " Had images and relics been in 
 themselves as sacred, as venerable, and as authentic 
 as the Brazen Serpent in the wilderness, yet when they 
 became, like that most holy relic, objects of supersti- 
 tious adoration, the fathers of our Reformation piously 
 and wisely followed the example of the good King 
 
 1 There can be no misunderstanding the following passages from the 
 work of an Augustine Friar of the fifteenth century : 
 Theophyl — " So folwyd hys mastrysse dorothye 
 And cam to cryst in blysse regnynge 
 Whedyr thorgh hyr merytys he mote us bryg." . . . 
 
 " Now blyssyd Agas wych in hevene on hy 
 Crounyd as a quene wyth joye and blys 
 Lyvyst and regnyst as wurthy ys 
 And eve more shait wy* owtyn ende 
 Purchace us gee or we hens wende." . . . 
 
 " She put hyr (viz. Elizabeth of Hungary) in our ladyis pteccyoun 
 Hyr mekely besechyng hyr advocate to be." 
 
 Lyvys of Seyntys, translated by Osbern Bokenam, circa 1447, 
 [printed from a MS. in the Arundel Collection, No. 327, and 
 presented to the Roxburghe Club by the Earl of Powis], 
 pp. 143, 256, 276. 
 u Consult Hallam's Constit. Hist. Engl., vol. i. p. 116; Southey, Vind. 
 Eccles. Angl., p. 450. " The Council of Trent (says Bossuet) endeavoured 
 to guard against this danger by their doctrine, but our Church acted more 
 piously and charitably in removing a practice, which we knew by expe- 
 rience could not be generally purified from idolatry, though the better 
 informed might use it without committing that dreadful sin." Palmer 
 on the Church, vol. i. p. 518. 
 
 O- 
 
 o 
 
16 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 Hezekiah, in destroying them x ." But although it 
 must be admitted, that, in too many instances, the 
 Royal Order for destruction was exceeded, and " was 
 executed with a rigour, which lovers of art and anti- 
 quity have long deplored V still the fabrics of Cathe- 
 drals and Churches were generally respected. So 
 far was Elizabeth from encouraging any needless de- 
 molition in the interior of the Churches, that, in the 
 second year of her reign, (1560,) Archbishop Parker 
 procured Letters under the Great Seal to certain 
 Commissioners, "to take remedies about decays of 
 Churches and the unseemly keeping of Chancels, and 
 for the comely ordering the east parts of the Churches. " 
 
 The Archbishop animadverts on the neglect "in 
 many Churches, and especially Chancels, in keeping 
 them decent, which betrayed so much want of re- 
 verence for the places, where God is served." 
 Amongst the Articles to be enquired of in the Me- 
 tropolitan Visitation in all Cathedral and Collegiate 
 Churches in 1560, the following queries occur: 
 " Whether you have necessary Ornaments and Books 
 for the Church ? Whether your Church be sufficiently 
 
 x "A few Thoughts on the Interior Arrangement of Churches, by the 
 Dean of Exeter," p. 24. 
 
 y Hallam ut supra. True it is, that oftentimes the Injunctions, given 
 to the Commissioners in the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and 
 Elizabeth, for removing shrines and superstitious relics, were carried to 
 excess more from sacrilegious avarice, than from zeal for the glory of 
 God, and the advancement of true religion. Bentham's Ely, p. 42. 
 
 ■0 
 
o o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 17 
 
 repaired in all parts ? What stock or annuity is there 
 toward the reparation of the Cathedral Church 2 ?" 
 
 Elizabeth ascended the throne under trying cir- 
 cumstances. The great object with herself and her 
 most confidential advisers was, as Burnet states, "to 
 unite the whole nation into one way of religion and 
 the Queen and her Ministers must not be hastily ac- 
 cused of temporizing policy, either because she re- 
 tained a large number of Romanists in the Privy 
 Council, or opposed sudden and violent innovations 
 in the work of reformation. In protesting against 
 the gross errors of the Church of Rome, Elizabeth's 
 sincerity is placed beyond all doubt by the general 
 correspondence of her measures, with those adopted 
 by her deceased brother. The Proclamation issued 
 by the Queen, on her Accession, was most judicious. 
 Preaching, by which " unfruitful disputes in matters 
 of religion among the common sort" arose, was for- 
 bidden. The resistance of the Romanists to the pro- 
 posed changes, and the discontent of those who held 
 extreme opinions on the other side, were clearly fore- 
 seen. The latter, " when they shall see, per adven- 
 ture, that some old Ceremonies shall be left still, or 
 that their doctrine is not allowed and commanded 
 only, and all other abolished and disproved, shall be 
 
 2 Strype's Life of Parker, vol. i. p. 148. 
 
18 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 discontented, and call the alteration a cloaked papistry 
 or a mingle mangle a ." 
 
 The wisdom of those, who chiefly guided the 
 mighty movement of the Reformation, and achieved 
 this great blessing, was in many respects most con- 
 spicuous. Knox, indeed, emphatically says, that " what 
 was then done, was wisdom itself. The actors were 
 Cranmer and Ridley, both amazingly formed for their 
 respective purposes, the former the man of power at 
 court, the latter of business in the study ; but even 
 that will not sufficiently account for what they accom- 
 plished. He, who destined them to their work, most 
 evidently guided them in it b ." " The Reformers puri- 
 fied religion of all the gross corruptions, with which 
 Rome had polluted it, and retaining only that which, 
 as they thought, could allowably be retained, offered 
 so little violence to old feelings, that more outcry was 
 raised against them by the zealots of the Reforma- 
 tion, than by the Roman Catholics themselves. In 
 reality the effect of the outward and visible forms, 
 which were retained, was such, that, during the first 
 years of Elizabeth, the Roman Catholics very gene- 
 rally frequented the English Service; and of what 
 advantage this must have been to the new Establish- 
 ment, will be apparent to all, who know how much 
 
 a Strype's Annals, vol. i. pt. ii. pp. 391, 394. 
 b Knox's Remains, vol. iii. p. 53. 
 
o o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 19 
 
 more we are the creatures of habit than of reason ." 
 It was, to use the language of Bishop Hall, "the 
 overcasting of the ancient stones, with untempered 
 mortar of new inventions, that displeased us/' in re- 
 moving which we happily neither disturbed the foun- 
 dation, nor injured the walls. Still, the Queen herself, 
 though she avowed her own conscientious preference 
 of the Reformed Church, might think that the Refor- 
 mation was, in some points, carried too far. One of 
 her most marked qualities, according to Dr. Cardwell, 
 was, "a reverence for old observances. Her judg- 
 ment and her passions were equally engaged in resist- 
 ing the progress of innovation d ." She considered that 
 in the Romish system there were many good institu- 
 tions and practices and feelings which might have 
 been advantageously retained e , and that the remains 
 of original Catholicity within that Church should not 
 have been offensive to any sound Churchman. 
 
 Would that our scrupulous Sires had dared to leave 
 Less scanty measure of those graceful rites 
 And usages, whose due return invites 
 A stir of mind too natural to deceive ; 
 
 c Quarterly Review, vol. x. p. 94. Heber's Life of Jer. Taylor, p.cxx. 
 d Hist, of Conferences, Introd., p. 16. 
 
 e A late distinguished writer has given it as his opinion that " it 
 would be most desirable to restore many of these institutions, practices 
 and feelings, amongst ourselves." Arnold's Sermons on Christian Life, 
 Introduction, p. lvi. [But, in doing so, how much of wisdom and prudence 
 should be exercised !] 
 
 O O 
 
20 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 Giving the memory help, when she would weave 
 A crown for Hope ! I dread the "boasted lights, 
 That all too often are hut fiery blights, 
 Killing the hud, o'er which in vain we grieve £. 
 
 According to Neal, Elizabeth " affected a middle way 
 between Popery and Puritanism, though more in- 
 clined to the former ; disliking the secular preten- 
 sions of the Court of Rome over foreign States, 
 though she was in love with the pomp and splendour 
 of their worship ; on the other hand, she approved 
 of the doctrines of the foreign Reformed Churches, 
 but thought they had stripped religion too much of its 
 ornaments V 
 
 Time and frequent communication with her sound- 
 est Divines were required to reconcile her to many of 
 the recent changes, to the abandonment of some 
 venerable and Jong- cherished practices, and to the 
 adoption of others, that might, without due expla- 
 nation, appear to her to be novelties. Naturally, 
 therefore, at the outset, some things, which were 
 loudly condemned by grave Divines, and afterwards 
 generally censured as abuses, did not, to the Queen 
 herself, seem equally obnoxious. The impressions, 
 made in early life, could not be at once effaced. 
 For a while she retained in her private Chapel the 
 
 s Wordsworth's Eccles. Sonnets, pt. iii. p. 23. 
 h History of the Puritans, vol. i. p. 383. 
 
 O O 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 21 
 
 Crucifix, and Images of the Virgin and St. John 1 . 
 She was also disinclined to substitute Tables for 
 Altars, and Archbishop Parker was engaged in many 
 struggles with her on the subject of the Priest's apparel. 
 In a letter to Peter Martyr, dated 1560, Sandys, then 
 Bishop of Worcester, well describes the progress 
 made towards bringing the Queen nearer to the 
 opinions, entertained by the more determined Re- 
 formers. 
 
 " Eucharistise doctrina hactenus Dei beneficio non 
 impugnata, nobis salva et incolumis manet, mansu- 
 ramque speramus. Pro viribus enim et ipse, et alii 
 fratres Co-episcopi, illam, quoad vixerimus, Deo 
 juvante, tuebimur. De Imaginibus, jampridem non- 
 nihil erat controversiae. R. Majestas, non alienum 
 esse a Verbo Dei, iramo in commodum Ecclesise fore 
 putabat, si Imago Christi crucifixi, una cum Maria, 
 et Joanne, ut tales, in celebriori Ecclesise loco 
 poneretur, ubi ab omni populo facillime conspiceretur. 
 Quidam ex nobis longe aliter judicabant ; prsesertim 
 cum omnes omnis generis Imagines, in proxima 
 
 * Images, she had been taught, " were representee of virtue and good 
 example, especially the images of Christ and our Lady. It was meet 
 that they should stand in the Churches, but be none otherwise esteemed." 
 — Articles of Religion, 1536, Strype's Cranmer, vol. i. p. 61. Bishop 
 Parkhurst writes to Bullinger, in 1562, that the Crucifix and Candlesticks 
 in the Queen's Chapel were broken in pieces, but, in the following year, 
 that they were restored, " to the great grief of the godly." — The Zurich 
 Letters, pp. 122, 129. 
 
o o 
 
 22 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 nostra Visitatione, idque publica authoritate, non 
 solum sublatse, verumetiam combustse erant. — At 
 Deus, in cujus manu corda sunt Regum, pro tempes- 
 tate tranquillitatem dedit, et Ecclesiam Anglicanam 
 ab hujusmodi offendiculis liberavit : tantum manent 
 in Ecclesia nostra vestimenta ilia papistica, Capas in- 
 tellige, quas diu non duraturas speramus k ." — 
 
 A Proclamation, issued in 1559, " against breaking 
 or defacing of monuments of antiquitie is well wor- 
 thy of notice, and, if Archbishop Parker had, as Strype 
 conjectures, " a great hand in it, (being so great a 
 lover of antiquity, and so sore an enemy against the 
 spoil of the monuments of our forefathers and of the 
 Churches,") the obligations which we owe to him 
 are, indeed, manifold. It first set forth, that ancient 
 monuments of metal and stone, and Churches also, 
 were " spoiled, broken, and ruinated, to the offence 
 of all noble and gentle hearts, to the injury of the 
 public, and of private families, and to the slander of 
 such, as had charge to deface monuments of idolatry, 
 
 * Burnet's Reform., vol. iii. pt. ii. p. 383. The Queen, in her defence, 
 might have quoted a book, published by her father's authority, under 
 the immediate superintendence of Cranmer. " Therefore, although 
 Images of Christ and his Saints be the works of men's hands only ; yet 
 they be not so prohibited, but that they may be had and set up, both in 
 Churches and in other places, to the intent, that we (in beholding and look- 
 ing upon them as in certain books and signs) may call to remembrance 
 the manifold examples of virtues, which were in the Saints, whom they 
 do represent." A Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian 
 man, (Oxford, 1825,) p. 299. 
 
 O 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 23 
 
 and false famed Images in Churches and Abbeys." 
 It directed, that no Images, set up for the only re- 
 membrance of individuals to posterity, and not for any 
 religious honour, nor any Image in glass windows 1 
 should be broken or defaced, upon pain of the wrong 
 doer being committed to the next gaol. 
 
 Presentments were to be made of such as had ob- 
 tained spoils of these, and they, or their Executors, 
 were to repair the same, under pain of Excommuni- 
 cation, or, if unable to do so, open Penance was en- 
 joined. The removal of bells and lead from Churches 
 and Chapels, which had caused " a slanderous desola- 
 tion of the places of prayer," was also prohibited 
 under pain of Fine and Imprisonment m . 
 
 The feeling of the reigning Monarch being such as 
 has been described, it is impossible, but that some re- 
 verence and respect would be entertained by that large 
 portion of her subjects, who had abjured the Church 
 of Rome, for Monuments of Antiquity, so long con- 
 sidered sacred, as the Crucifix, Images, and Shrines. 
 The work of spoliation would, in numerous in- 
 stances, be committed to trembling and reluctant 
 
 1 It is to be observed, that' in the Injunctions of Edward VI. (1547) 
 where " glass windows" are directed to be destroyed, those are pointed 
 out as obnoxious, which represent " feigned miracles, idolatry, and super- 
 stition." Other windows, therefore, which represented sacred personages 
 or passages of Holy Writ, we may presume, would be spared. 
 
 m Weever's Funeral Monuments, p. 52. 
 
o -o 
 
 24 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 hands, which would execute the painful, and sacrile- 
 gious task, with forbearance, if not with aversion : at 
 all events, needless violence in operations, which, to 
 them were little less than profane, would rarely be 
 exhibited n . On this point we have a strong admis- 
 sion in a publication devoted to the interests of the 
 Church of Rome. "It is beyond even a doubt, that 
 the rural population of England were ardently attached 
 to the faith of their Fathers, and that but trifling 
 changes were made in the internal decoration of our 
 Churches, till the ascendancy of the Calvinists and 
 Fanatics under Cromwell ; and even in the present 
 day, many of these ancient and holy edifices may be 
 found tolerably perfect in their original internal ar- 
 rangement °." In the Cathedral of Durham, we are 
 told, that, at the Reformation, " little was destroyed 
 excepting the Shrines/ ' Dean Whittingham, being 
 a rigid Calvinist, " perhaps being sharpened by the 
 hope of plunder,' ' pushed matters further by de- 
 facing Monuments, yet " still in the reign of Charles L 
 
 n " The rooting out of this Priory [Christ Church, Aldgate, the first 
 that was dissolved] wrought a middle effect in people, for they were 
 neither dumb nor clamorous thereat, but grumbled out their discontent- 
 ment for a time, and then returned to their former temper. However at 
 first they were so abstemious, that, whereas the Priory, Church and 
 Steeple were proffered to whomsoever would take them down, no man 
 would undertake the offer. Whereupon Sir Thomas Audley, the Grantee, 
 was fain to be at more charges than he could make of the materials." 
 Fullers Ch. Hist., b. vi. p. 307. 
 
 Dublin Review, No. xx. p. 311. 
 
o — — o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 25 
 
 such was the splendour of Divine Worship in this 
 Cathedral, as to excite in the Puritans extreme indig- 
 nation p." 
 
 It is admitted by Milner, "that the Church of 
 England was perfectly satisfied, among other things, 
 with the form and disposition of the Cathedrals, 
 which she found ready built to her hands. These 
 venerable edifices, and, more particularly, the position 
 of the Altar, together with the respect due to it, she 
 zealously maintained against the exceptions of the 
 Puritans Notwithstanding King Edward's Letter 
 to Bishop Ridley, L'Estrange considers, that some 
 Altars were left in their former state, about which 
 i( much strife and contention arising in several places, 
 some eager to pull them down, others as earnest to 
 continue them Elizabeth ordered, that ' ' the Steps, 
 which be as yet at this day remaining in any of our 
 Cathedral, Collegiate, or Parish Churches be not 
 stirred nor altered, but be suffered to continue r ." 
 
 p History of the Cathedral of Durham, published by Soc. Antiq., 
 p. 5. 
 
 q Dissertation on the Modern Style of Altering Ancient Cathedrals, 
 (1811,) p. 21. Another accomplished Antiquary of the same Communion 
 (long to be regretted as a loss to literature, and still more by those, who 
 enjoyed his friendship), has expressed his gratitude to our Church for 
 enjoining, " that the Chancels shall remain as they have done, in times 
 past." A Letter, addressed by John Gage (Rokewood), Esq., to Francis 
 Cholmeley, Esq., on the alterations proposed in York Minster. (1831.) 
 
 r Alliance of Divine Offices, third edition, pp. 72, 73. 
 
 o 6 
 
o o 
 
 26 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 Such, then, were the proceedings, which took place 
 at the Reformation. To them, evidently, we cannot 
 with justice attribute the whole extent of mutilation, 
 and the melancholy air of desolation and baldness, 
 observable in too many of our Churches. These were 
 the fruits of a subsequent period s . The Puritans had 
 throughout alleged, that the Reformation was in many 
 respects materially defective : the time had arrived, 
 when power was unhappily placed in their own hands, 
 and they had free scope to hunt and destroy. It was 
 during the Great Rebellion, (temporibus nequissimis,) 
 when men, says South, " used to express their honour 
 to God, and their allegiance to their Prince the same 
 way, demolishing the palaces of the one and the tem- 
 ples of the other in short, when fanaticism lent 
 its fierce and pitiless spirit to the work of spoliation, 
 that its triumph was complete. 
 
 " Whate'er the Popish hands have built, 
 Our hammers shall undoe ; 
 "We'll break their pipes, and burn their copes, 
 And pull down Churches too. 
 
 s See Paget's Tales of the Village, (First Series,) chap. vii. The 
 author refers with great satisfaction to these Volumes ; profitable to 
 all ; but to the young invaluable ; conveying to them a body of useful 
 information in a most pleasing shape, and affording them the means 
 of forming a sound judgment upon points of the highest importance. 
 
 * Sermons, vol. i. p. 252. 
 
 O O 
 

 
 o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 27 
 
 " We'll exercise within the groves, 
 And teach beneath a tree, 
 We'll make a pulpit of a cask, 
 And hey then ! up go wee u ." 
 
 The Ordinances of 1643, 1644, enjoined, that all 
 Altars and tables of stone should be taken down and 
 demolished ; that all Communion-tables should be 
 removed from the East end of every Church and 
 Chancel; that all tapers, candlesticks, and basins, 
 crucifixes, crosses, images, and pictures, organs and 
 their frames or cases, should be taken away and 
 defaced ; and that no rood-lofts, or holy-water fonts, 
 should remain. 
 
 From these Directions it is obvious how many of 
 these relics of antiquity had survived the Reforma- 
 tion x . Thus, at Winchester we are told, " all crosses, 
 crucifixes, representations of Saints and Angels, copes, 
 &c, were, by virtue of the Ordinance of 1643, carried 
 out of the Cathedral and other Churches. The rail- 
 ings and Altars were also everywhere destroyed, the 
 raised Chancels levelled, and a variety of other de- 
 
 u Song by Francis Quarles. ChappeH's Coll. of English Airs, 4to. 1840. 
 
 * Mr. Bloxam confirms this statement: "The Injunctions, issued in 
 the latter part of the 16th century, for the removal of the ancient stone 
 Altars out of our Churches, were but partially carried into operation? — 
 So effectually was the Ordinance of 1643 for their demolition obeyed, 
 that they " are now of very rare occurrence, and I am not aware of any 
 Church in this country, in which the ancient high Altar still remains." 
 Transactions of the Cambridge Camden Society, pt. i. p. 9. Mr. Parker 
 informs me that one still exists in Arundel Church, Sussex. 
 
o o 
 
 28 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 predations committed, particularly in the Cathedral, 
 which is even said to have been actually turned into 
 a stable for Cromwell's cavalry, during the short time 
 that he remained in Winchester V" 
 
 At Canterbury, Exeter, Durham, Lichfield, and in 
 other cities, the Cathedrals suffered much. But the 
 Vandalism of this unhappy period has left too many 
 traces, and the history of almost every Church in the 
 land records acts of savage violence, disgraceful to 
 civilized beings. Great, indeed, must have been the 
 madness of the people, when every species of depre- 
 dation and indecency was committed in the courts of 
 the Lord's house, and all this was represented as 
 " doing the work of God." 
 
 It was no short-lived impulse, which actuated these 
 parties : years were spent in the work of destruc- 
 tion. "What occurred in the French Revolution 
 happened here ; an age of impiety ! Society itself 
 seemed dissolved : for every tie of private affection 
 and of public duty was unloosened. Even nature 
 was strangely violated. From the first opposition 
 to the decorous ceremonies of the national Church 
 by the simple Puritans, the next stage was that of 
 ridicule, and the last of obloquy. They actually 
 baptized horses in Churches at the fonts; and the 
 jest of that day was, that the Reformation was now 
 
 y Milner's Hist. Winch., vol. i. p. 412. 
 
 o 6 
 
CROMWELL'S SOLDIERS DEMOLISHING A CHURCH. 
 (Frora a Contemporary Print.) 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
o — o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 29 
 
 a thorough one in England, since our horses went to 
 Church 2 ." 
 
 If we turn to Bishop Hall's " Hard Measure," we 
 shall find what a scene of devastation was displayed 
 in his own Cathedral of Norwich. « What clattering 
 of glasses, what beating down of walls, what tearing 
 up of monuments, what wresting out of irons and 
 brass from the windows and graves, what defacing of 
 arms, what demolishing of curious stone work, that 
 had not any representation in the world, but the cost of 
 the founder, and skill of the mason, &c." (p. lxxxviii.) 
 
 The Journal of William Dowsing, (Parliamentary 
 Visitor for demolishing the superstitious pictures and 
 ornaments of Churches, &c., within the County of 
 Suffolk, in the years 1643, 1644,) presents details, 
 painful, not to the antiquary alone, but to every one, 
 who holds the House of Prayer in reverence. It fur- 
 nishes proofs of the extent, to which the decorations of 
 our Churches had been preserved up to that period, 
 and of the ferocity with which they were then swept 
 away. Take the following as instances of the abundant 
 materials, which Dowsing boastfully enumerates as 
 objects of destruction by himself and his myrmidons. 
 " At Sudbury we brake down ten mighty great angels 
 in glass ; in all eighty. At Allhallows, we brake about 
 twenty superstitious pictures, and took up thirty bra- 
 
 1 D'Israeli's " Curiosities of Literature." Second series, vol. iii. p. 335. 
 
 O O 
 
o o 
 
 30 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 zen superstitious inscriptions. At Clare, we brake 
 down one thousand pictures superstitious ; I brake 
 down two hundred; three of God the Father, and 
 three of Christ, and the Holy Lamb, and three of the 
 Holy Ghost, like a dove with wings ; and the twelve 
 Apostles were carved in wood on the top of the roof, 
 which we gave orders to take down; and twenty 
 Cherubims to be taken down ; and the sun and moon 
 in the east window, by the King's Arms, to be taken 
 down." 
 
 On the same day, (January 6, 1643,) Dowsing 
 visited four other Churches, in each of which similar 
 outrages were perpetrated. It is evident, that the 
 powers, granted to the Commissioners, were greatly 
 overstrained, and that all ornaments of Churches were 
 considered by them as " superstitious/ ' In the same 
 Journal, we find orders given for " levelling the chan- 
 cell," and " levelling the steps and considering the 
 spirit, in which those orders would be executed, we 
 can well imagine in what manner, if at all, these acts 
 of sacrilegious violence would be " amended," as was 
 sometimes subsequently enjoined. The soldiery, em- 
 ployed on these occasions, seem to have taken 
 Nebuzar-adan as their example, (2 Kings xxv. 9,) 
 who, after burning and destroying the House of the 
 Lord, took away the vessels of gold and silver, and 
 all the other treasures it contained. " What pity it 
 
o o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 31 
 
 was to see the Holy of Holies now thronged with 
 Pagans, the vails rent, the tables overturned, the 
 Altars broken down, the pillars demolished, and the 
 pavements digged up a ." Well might Bishop Hall, 
 after himself witnessing similar enormities, break 
 forth in his comments on Holy Writ, with this pathetic 
 exclamation ! 
 
 From this period we must date the whitewashed 
 walls of our Churches. Whitewashing was the 
 easiest mode of erasing whatever was offensive. 
 The practice has unhappily continued to this day. 
 Mr. Bloxam compares these ravages to those of the 
 ancient Danish invaders ; and there can be no ques- 
 tion, as he observes, that the beauty of the Cathedrals 
 and Churches was injured, under colour of the Ordi- 
 nances of 1643, 1644, to an extent hardly credible b . 
 
 The proceedings at Magdalene College shall be the 
 last of these melancholy notices: " On the 19th of 
 May, 1649, Fairfax, Cromwell, and the other Parlia- 
 mentary Commanders dined in the Hall, by invitation 
 of the President ; and, in return for this undeserved 
 hospitality, the greatest outrages were committed by 
 the soldiers. An attempt was made, by some of the 
 well-disposed members of the Society, to save the 
 most valuable specimens of painted glass by conceal- 
 
 a Contemplations, (edit. 1626,) vol. viii. p. 321. 
 b Principles of Gothic Architecture, p. 247. 
 
 O O 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 32 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 ing them ; but this provident caution served only to 
 exasperate these puritanical barbarians ; and though 
 the more recent windows seem to have escaped, the 
 rest were trampled under foot without remorse on the 
 pavement of the Cloister c ." 
 
 Independently of these acts of sweeping violence, 
 the hand of time would in many buildings produce 
 its customary effects, and, combining with accidental 
 causes, hasten decay. In some cases, when the great 
 tithes were in lay-hands, a miserable stipend only was 
 left for a Vicar with a cathedral-like structure to be 
 supported. Its roof becoming pervious to the rain, 
 and its walls weakened, the whole, or a part of the 
 fabric, would ere long be in ruins. Avarice would 
 next step in, and stone and timber be conveyed 
 away surreptitiously for private uses : wantonness, 
 again, would destroy merely for the sake of mischief. 
 " About every Conventual Church, still used for pub- 
 lic worship, which I have seen (with a single excep- 
 tion), there is an appearance of something between a 
 Cathedral and a Ruin. Damp floors, green walls, and 
 rotting beams, shelter just sufficient for owls and 
 bats, and light, augmented by broken panes, are the 
 connecting links between the high and finished repair 
 of the one, and the total abandonment of the other. 
 Where the praises of God were once chanted by a 
 
 c Ingram's Memorials of Oxford, vol. ii. p. 21. 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 33 
 
 splendid choir, a stipendiary, with £40 or £70 per 
 annum, can have little spirit to maintain the dignity 
 of a much better and purer Establishment d ." 
 
 When, on the Restoration, the deprived Clergy 
 returned to their dilapidated and forlorn Churches, 
 very many of them, not only worn down by years 
 of inquietude and distress, but impoverished by suc- 
 cessive misfortunes, what means had they to restore 
 the defiled temple to the " beauty of holiness/ ' when, 
 perhaps for years, they had been unable to allow their 
 own children the benefits of education e ? Repairs 
 alone, which were urgently required for the safety 
 of the fabric, could then be effected. These in- 
 jured men were not permitted to feel that divine joy, 
 described by Eusebius, of seeing " those places, which 
 tyrannous impiety had laid waste, adorned with far 
 more beauty in their restoration, than their founders 
 before had given them f ." We find, indeed, about this 
 period, a Clergyman bequeathing a sum to be laid out 
 in the most necessary repairs of the Church, that is, 
 " in strengthening and securing such parts, as seem 
 decaying and dangerous s." These works were often 
 entrusted to incompetent men ; the strictest economy 
 
 d Whitaker's Hist, of Whalley, third edition, p. 557. 
 e Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, passim. 
 f Hooker's Eccl. Pol., vol. ii. p. 70. 
 s White's Selborne, p. 325. edit. 1813. 
 
o— 
 
 34 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 -O 
 
 was needful, and where the ancient roof called for 
 repair, low ceilings of lath and plaster were substi- 
 tuted, and the whole, or a portion, of the original oak 
 roof, with its beams enriched by painting and carving, 
 was concealed. Other gross instances of ignorance 
 and bad taste were committed, which, by maiming the 
 fair proportions, and the general beauties of the build- 
 ing, still offend our eyes. A mass of incongruities was 
 now also introduced. Pews, or enclosed seats, which 
 had been altogether unknown in some Churches, or 
 which in others had been confined to the use of the 
 Lord of the Manor, or other influential Parishioners, 
 or visitors of rank, became general. Weever was 
 amongst the first (1631) who complained of these 
 formidable encroachments on our Churches as " cover- 
 ing many monuments/' the great objects of his notice, 
 and he fails not to remark, that they are " made high 
 and easie for Parishioners to sit or sleepe in : a 
 fashion of no long continuance and worthy of re- 
 formation.' ' 
 
 After a long interval, Warton, we find, observes, 
 that pews, " according to the modern use and idea, 
 destroy the beauty of our parochial Churches h ," but, 
 from not possessing the information, which has re- 
 cently been gathered on the subject 1 , he expresses 
 
 b History of Kiddington, p. 12. 
 
 i History of Pews, published by the Cambridge Camden Society, 1841. 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 35 
 
 himself in too sweeping terms, when he states, that 
 "they were not known till long after the Reforma- 
 tion." 
 
 It would seem, from recent inquiries, that our early 
 writers, in speaking of Pews, meant little more than 
 the rows of benches, of which vestiges still remain 
 in many places k . A few stalls were also placed in 
 Chancels, and these were sometimes actually appro- 
 priated. Fabyan, the well-known chronicler, in his 
 Will, dated 1511, directs, that, if he dies at his 
 " mansion, called Halstedys, my corps be buried atwene 
 my pewe, and the high Awter within the qwere, in the 
 Church of Theydon Garnon 1 ." 
 
 Fabyan appears to have been a considerable landed 
 proprietor in Essex, perhaps the Lord of the Manor, 
 in which he resided. This direction in his Will points 
 out the prominent place in the Church, which his 
 pewe occupied. Again, Richard Hedworthe, of Whick- 
 ham, in the county of Durham, by his Will, dated 
 1565, directs his body to be buried in Whickham 
 
 k From a Survey, made about 1795, it appeared, that in the Church 
 of Leighton, partly rebuilt and restored by George Herbert, the seats 
 and pews both in the nave, the cross aisle, and the Chancel, somewhat 
 resembled " the stalls in Cathedrals, very simple, with little or no orna- 
 ment, nearly alike, and formed of oak. It was evidently the intention of 
 Herbert, that in his Church there should be no distinction between the 
 seats of the rich and those of the poor." Walton's Lives by Zouch 
 2nd edit. p. 305. 
 
 1 Sir H. Nicolas's Test. Vetusta, vol. ii. p. 500. 
 
o o 
 
 36 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 Church, "nyghe vnto myne owen stall m ." In the 
 parish Church of Whalley, there is stated to be a pew 
 which bears the date of 1534, belonging to the Lord 
 of a Manor ; but, having been materially altered in 
 1610, what it was in its original state cannot now be 
 ascertained n . 
 
 The following is the earliest notice of Church seats, 
 that I have met with, and it is worthy of remark, that, 
 even in the thirteenth century, they appear to have 
 been the cause of strife. In a Synod of the diocese 
 of Exeter, held under its Bishop, Peter de Quivil, 
 1284, the following Regulations were made. " Item 
 audivimus, quod propter sedilia in ecclesia rixantur 
 multoties parochiani, duobus vel pluribus unum sedile 
 vendicantibus ; propter quod grave scandalum in 
 ecclesia generatur, et divinum ssepius impeditur offi- 
 cium ; statuimus, quod nullus de csetero quasi pro- 
 prium sedile in Ecclesia valeat vendicare, nobilibus 
 
 m Wills and Inventories, published by the Surtees Society, pt. i. 
 p. 272. 
 
 n When Sir John Towneley, the principal person in the parish, was 
 called to give evidence in an existing dispute, regarding the sittings, 
 he stated, " My man Shuttleworth, of Hacking, made this form, and here 
 will I sit, when I come." He then prescribed where certain families 
 should sit, (if they pleased to make other forms,) and added, " for the 
 residue the use shall be, — first come, first speed, and that will make the 
 proud wives of Whalley rise betimes to come to Church." Whitaker's 
 Hist, of Whalley, third edition, p. 249. Sir John Towneley died in 
 1539. 
 
 O O 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 37 
 
 personis et ecclesiarum patronis dimtaxat exceptis ; si 
 qui orandi causa primo ecclesiam introierit juxta pro- 
 prise voluntatis arbitrium sibi eligat orandi locum °." 
 
 The history of pews having been so recently inves- 
 tigated, it would be needless here to pursue it ; but 
 it may be observed, that, more than 300 years after 
 Bishop Quivil's decree, another Prelate was called 
 upon to interfere in a like vexata questio. From 
 a Letter, addressed in 1625, by Bishop Buckeridge, 
 to the Mayor of Rochester, and the Vicar and 
 Churchwardens of the parish of St. Nicholas, in that 
 city, it appears, that his opinion had been asked as to 
 placing certain Knights, and Ladies, and others from 
 the neighbouring parishes, "who, out of devotion 
 to the preaching of the Gospel," resorted to that 
 Church, but who could not claim seats. The Bishop, 
 
 ° Archaeologia, vol. xii. p. 103. I find that Archdeacon Goddard has 
 referred to this judgment in his Charge, delivered in 1839. His remarks 
 upon it are as follow : — " One would think, antecedently to experience, that 
 there was no place, whence worldly pretensions would be so completely 
 banished as from the House of G-od; and that, at its threshold, the spirit 
 of litigation, and the pride and vanity of life, would, for a time at least, 
 be abandoned: and yet the fact is otherwise. It is a mistake to suppose, 
 that this temper and spirit began to exhibit themselves in Churches, 
 contemporaneously only with pews : for these date only from about the 
 time of the Reformation: whereas, among other instances, as early as 
 the 15th of Edward III., in a Synod, held at Exeter, it was complained 
 of, ' quod propter sedilia in Ecclesia rixantur multoties Parochiani.' Seats 
 within and without pews have equally supplied matter for contentious 
 spirits to work upon." p. 26. See also, Hist. Pews, p. 13. 
 
o o 
 
 38 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 as we may suppose, was not desirous to adjudicate 
 on a matter of so much delicacy and importance, 
 and tells his Correspondents, that he " coulde have 
 bin content, that yo r selfes amongst yo r selfes, should 
 have disposed therein," but, sad to say, he held it fit, 
 that, when the intruders did come to the Church, 
 " they should have places answerable to their rank 
 and quality." He did not " thinke it fitt, that men 
 and women should be placed in the same seats, neither 
 that women should be allowed to sitt in the Chancell, 
 which was instituted for Clerkes. If you thinke good, 
 you may dispose of such knights in the seats in the 
 quier. And it had bin fitt (for the avoyding all con- 
 tenc'on about higher roomes in such publique as- 
 semblies) that you had reserved two of the prin- 
 cipall and highest pewes, on one side of the Church, 
 where such ladies, and others, that are straungers, 
 
 might sett. 1 forbeare further to intermeddle, not 
 
 doubtinge, but that herein you will observe decency 
 and order, accordinge to all mens' states and 
 quality p." 
 
 Pews naturally produced wainscoting against the 
 walls, which concealed sedilia, niches, and much fine 
 carved work in Chancels, and in other parts of the 
 building. Galleries and lofts, or scaffolds as they 
 were called, were raised by officious Churchwardens, 
 
 p Archseologia, vol. xii. pp. 103, 104. 
 
 o o 
 
o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 39 
 
 though frequently needless from the abundant space 
 below ; arches were blocked up, and the long perspec- 
 tives broken. Well might Bishop Montague enquire, 
 " Are the seats and pews built of an uniformitie ; 
 or do they hinder and incumber their neighbours 
 in hearing God's word and performing Divine Ser- 
 vice 1 ?" Fruitful have they been as sources of many 
 an evil thought, word, and work, — of vanity to their 
 possessors, — of envy to those, who coveted them, — 
 and of bitterness and litigation throughout a parish. 
 Isaac Walton tells us, " I knew one with a wife, that 
 nature had made peevish, and her husband's riches 
 had made purse proud ; and must, because she was 
 rich, and for no other virtue, sit in the highest pew 
 in the Church ; which being denied her, she engaged 
 her husband into a contention for it, and at last into 
 a lawsuit with a dogged neighbour, who was as rich 
 as he, and had a wife as peevish and purse proud 
 as the other, and this lawsuit begot higher opposi- 
 tions r ." Often have they precluded the humbler ranks 
 from a due participation in the Services of the Church, 
 and, as such, they have been instrumental in promot- 
 
 i See the excellent Note on this passage in the recent edition of Bishop 
 Montague's Articles of Inquiry, p. 100. 
 
 r Lives of English Laymen, by the Rev. W. H. Teale, M.A., p, 162. 
 The graphic paper on pews, in a late Number of the British Critic, is 
 sufficient to make us eschew the very name. May the day come, when 
 the close high square pew will only be known by name ! 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 40 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 ing schism and dissent by driving individuals to Meet- 
 ing-houses, where the " chief places" can be more 
 easily obtained. 
 
 Before quitting a subject, which now engages 
 much attention, let me remark, that we must 
 cordially unite in the feeling, that in the House 
 of God, as elsewhere, the poor are indeed our 
 brethren, and that we must gladly " be neighboured 
 by the coarse frieze and homely garment, when kneel- 
 ing in His sight, Who taught us to be humble by 
 washing His disciples' feet s ." But, whilst we would 
 most readily assist in clearing away vast, square, 
 parlour-like pews, and high boxes *, (in which even 
 tall persons are so far buried, as to render it difficult 
 for them to join in the prayers, or listen to the ser- 
 mon,) wherever these selfish nuisances are found ; 
 whilst, also, we would render every seat in a Church, 
 as nearly uniform in appearance, as they can be, and 
 would devote to the aged poor the seats nearest to the 
 reading-desk and pulpit ; — still we must require, that 
 
 » Alms-giving, or the Duties of the Rich, a Visitation Sermon, by the 
 Rev. Folliott Baugh, M.A. (1842.) p. 25. 
 
 4 It has been stated that there is a gain of at least 20 per cent, or one 
 fifth, by the use of benches. (See Hist, of Pews, p. 59.) This is an impor- 
 tant consideration, especially for those who contemplate the building 
 or enlarging a Church in a dense population. The lamentable loss of 
 space in Churches, unquestionably arises from the exclusive possession of 
 a large pew, by one, two, or three individuals. 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 41 
 
 the residue of the seats, or the largest portion of them, 
 should be duly appropriated amongst those of the 
 Parishioners, who are members of the Church, and 
 who would constantly use them. There must not be, 
 on each succeeding Sunday, a scramble for seats ; nor 
 must the old, the feeble, and the timid, be kept away 
 from the apprehension of a crowd, or other anticipated 
 difficulties. In placing a Congregation, as in the 
 whole Service of the Sanctuary, let the Apostolic in- 
 junction 11 be scrupulously observed. Let peace, and 
 not confusion, prevail "as in all Churches of the 
 SaintsV 
 
 To return to other obstructions in our Churches. 
 Many of the ugly wooden Altar- screens, erected 
 in the reign of Charles II., were, doubtless, so 
 placed to hide the devastation and violence, which 
 had been committed during the Rebellion upon 
 the beautiful screens of stone. In other instances, 
 rich canopies and shrine work, instead of being 
 renewed, were chipped away to receive Corinthian 
 pillars, pilasters, alcoves, frames for the Command- 
 ments, and carvings of every heterogeneous shape x . 
 Wherever wainscoting is found in Churches, it is 
 most desirable, that it should always be taken down 
 
 n 1 Cor. xiv. 40. 
 ▼ lb. xiv. 33. 
 
 x Dallaway's Discourses on Architecture, p. 187, 
 
o 
 
 ■o 
 
 42 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 in order to ascertain, whether some stone-work of 
 ornamental character is not concealed behind it. There 
 is little question, but that such would often be dis- 
 covered, and, in that case, good taste would suggest 
 the removal of the wainscoting altogether y. In Here- 
 ford Cathedral, by the recent removal of the Grecian 
 Altar- screen of oak, with its urns and painted drapery, 
 three beautiful Norman arches, on either side, with 
 the triforium, are presented, and a view has been 
 obtained, through a Norman arch of splendid work- 
 manship, into the Lady Chapel. The contrast be- 
 tween the altered state of this part of the Cathedral, 
 and its former barbarisms, is decided, "and wonder is 
 the consequence at the infatuation, which had produced 
 the exchange of sound architectural composition, for 
 
 v Let us hope, that this will be done in the noble Church of Redcliffe, 
 Bristol, should the efforts for its restoration, which are now making, be 
 even partially carried into effect. A low wainscot runs along the two 
 sides of the Chancel, concealing arches or panels, which should be laid 
 open. The Lady Chapel, east window, and Altar-screen would be dis- 
 closed, if another situation were selected for Hogarth's large picture, 
 and some " rude daubings" below it were removed. On taking down 
 some boards in the south side of the Chancel of Chatham Church, Kent, 
 in 1785, three stalls were discovered of extraordinary richness and 
 beauty, as appears by the Drawings, taken by Schnebbelie. They are 
 engraved, together with some from Tiltey Church, Essex, and Rochester 
 Cathedral, in the third vol. of " Vetusta Monumenta." " Few persons," 
 says the Artist, "saw them, and they were again hid from the eye by 
 being plastered over, which greatly damaged the upper part." In 1788 
 they were wholly destroyed! 
 
 O 
 
 -o 
 
o- 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 43 
 
 the most paltry and inappropriate incumbrance z ." To 
 the same century, which generally adopted the use of 
 high, enclosed pews, we may trace the relinquishment 
 of many Catholic practices and arrangements, and the 
 corresponding reception of others, totally opposite 
 both in character and effect. 
 
 An important change was also introduced in the pre- 
 vailing style of Sepulchral Memorials. As persons, 
 less distinguished by rank or fame than those of the 
 earlier ages, were now recorded, in this manner, 
 monuments became not only more numerous, but more 
 common-place in design and execution, and were 
 admitted into parts of a Church, which had been previ- 
 ously held sacred from such intrusion. The more rigid 
 practice of our ancestors is one amongst many others, 
 where we may shew our wisdom by imitating their 
 example. Monuments and tombs were rarely erected 
 by them, but to commemorate the most illustrious of 
 mankind, and they were at once magnificent and 
 appropriate. Were the same rule and practice now 
 observed, these erections would be so much diminished 
 in number, as, in some measure, to lessen the evils, of 
 which we complain. 
 
 ■ The speaking marbles shew 
 
 What worthies form the hallow' d mould below ; 
 
 * Statement by the Dean of Hereford of the condition of Hereford 
 Cathedral, 1842. 
 
 o 
 
o o 
 
 44 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 Proud names, who once the reins of empire held, 
 In arms who triumph' d ; or in arts excel? d : 
 Chiefs, grac'd with scars, and prodigal of blood; 
 Stern Patriots, who for sacred freedom stood ; 
 Just men, by whom impartial laws were given ; 
 And Saints, who taught, and led the way to Heaven 3 . 
 
 The history of Monuments deserves our atten- 
 tion, for "it is a history of religion, and, in the 
 Christian period, a history of the Church b ;" a his- 
 tory also, it may be added, of mankind, of their piety, 
 their superstition, their weakness. Strange it is, 
 that human vanity should be associated so closely 
 with our mortality and nothingness. Without attempt- 
 ing to do imperfectly that, which has been already 
 executed so well by Gough, Stothard, and Bloxam, 
 still more recently, and most ably in the periodical 
 work, which has just been quoted c ; a rapid sketch of 
 the most material changes, which have occurred in 
 the fashion or designs of Sepulchral Monuments in 
 this country, will constitute a fitting portion of these 
 Remarks. 
 
 a Had not Tickell, when he wrote these lines, the following passage 
 in his memory ? 
 
 " Hie manus, ob Patriam pugnando vulnera passi, 
 Quique Sacerdotes casti, dum vita manebat, 
 Quique pii Vates, et Phoebo digna locuti, 
 Inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes, 
 Quique sui memores alios fecere merendo : 
 Omnibus his nivea cinguntur tempora vitta." — iEneid, vi. 660. 
 b Quarterly Review, vol. lxx. 421. c Ibid. 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
o o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 45 
 
 The earliest form of Monument remaining in our 
 Churches, and amidst the ruins of Religious Houses, 
 is the simple lid of the stone coffin; flat, coped, or 
 ridge- shaped in the centre, placed on the same level 
 with, or a few inches above, the pavement, oftentimes 
 decorated with a cross or some sculptured ornament, 
 and with a few words surrounding the margin. " The 
 very perfection of monumental architecture," it has 
 been beautifully observed, " was attained by the ad- 
 dition of the Cross ; nothing can more eloquently ex- 
 press the quiet, unobtrusive piety of those ancient days, 
 when this was the only ornament on the tomb, when 
 to sleep near the Altar was the highest honour d ." 
 Next we have a representation of the coffin opened, 
 and the effigy of the deceased is given, lying within the 
 coffin ; either the entire body is shewn, or the head 
 only. When effigies were first introduced, they were 
 commonly placed on the ground, as those of the 
 Knights in the Temple Church, but the recumbent 
 statue was afterwards raised upon a tomb e . By 
 
 d British Critic, vol. xxxiii. p. 71. 
 
 e At Milan, in the Church cf S. Giovanni we find an equestrian 
 statue of the fourteenth century, in white marble, the size of life. 
 (Archaeol., vol. xviii. p. 191.) This may be regarded as a proof of the 
 superiority at that period of foreign Sculptors, (owing to the difficulty 
 of the attitude represented,) or of our better taste, in not introducing a 
 figure otherwise than in a posture of devotion. The monument of R. L. 
 Cecina at Volterra, (as given in Mrs. Gray's Sepulchres of Ancient 
 
 I 
 
 O O 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 46 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 degrees, when the elevated tomb was constructed for 
 an individual of high rank, the monument, surmounted 
 by a gorgeous canopy, attained all the splendour and 
 perfection, which the union of Sculpture and Architec- 
 ture could impart. We have few relics more magnifi- 
 cent or elegant than these Altar- tombs in many of 
 our Cathedrals and Churches, though alas ! they are 
 rarely found unmutilated or unspoiled, either by 
 violence or wantonness, or by injudicious attempts at 
 restoration. 
 
 These tombs strike the mind of the spectator with 
 a feeling of solemnity and awe. The supplicating 
 attitude of the ecclesiastics and warriors, who sleep 
 below, awaiting their awful summons, associates well 
 with our hope to be " numbered with the saints in 
 glory everlasting;" and as the eye glances on 
 them in the hour of prayer, thoughts are awakened 
 which ought not to be hastily dismissed. 
 
 The Knight's bones are dust, 
 
 And his good sword rust ; 
 
 His soul is with the Saints, I trust f . 
 
 Etruria, page 492,) might, had our Artists been aware of its existence, 
 have served as the prototype of many of our monuments, with recumbent 
 statues. 
 
 f Coleridge. Tasso, in describing the dead body of a Knight, as dis- 
 covered on the field of battle, has faithfully drawn the figure of one upon 
 a tomb. The passage is thus rendered by Fairfax : 
 He lay not groveling now, but as a Knight 
 
 That ever had to heavenly things desire, 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
o o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 47 
 
 Walpole says, that these tombs " admitted no grace, 
 nor required any yet how many of them actually 
 possess it, and that to a high degree ! A judge of 
 purer taste than Walpole, speaking of one of these 
 monuments, dwells with feeling on the solemn repose 
 of the principal figure as in the very act of his last 
 prayer for mercy to the Throne of Grace ; on the 
 delicacy of thought in the group of Angels bearing 
 the soul, and the tender sentiment of concern, vari- 
 ously expressed in the relations, ranged in order 
 round the basement, and carrying the thoughts not 
 only to other ages, but to other states of existence s. 
 Modern sculptors of the highest celebrity may be 
 quoted, as having evinced their admiration of this 
 style of monument, by a successful adoption of it ; 
 amongst them we may number Banks, Westmacott, 
 and Chantrey. 
 
 On comparing the Altar-tomb, which prevailed so 
 generally in this country, with foreign specimens of a 
 somewhat similar character, we must be struck with 
 the superiority of our own. A monument, of the 
 date 1359, in one of the chapels of the Campo Santo 
 
 Like him, that upward still sought to aspire, 
 His right hand closed held his weapon bright, 
 His left upon his brest was humbly laid, 
 That men might know, that while he dide he praid. 
 
 Jerusalem Delivered, Book viii. St. 33. 
 g Flaxman's Lectures, p. 42. 
 
 6 o 
 
o- 
 
 -o 
 
 48 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 at Pisa, which is described by Mr. Sydney Smirke h , 
 is supported on three brackets, and, however graceful 
 in itself, the figure has too much the appearance of 
 being placed on a shelf. Another monument also 
 of Matteo Visconti, in the Church of St. Eustorgio, 
 at Milan, mounted very high on six pillars, which 
 stand upon the backs of three lions \ is extravagant 
 and unpleasing in design. 
 
 Brasses form an important class of our monumental 
 antiquities. They were introduced about the com- 
 mencement of the thirteenth century, became general 
 about the close of the following century, and con- 
 tinued until the middle of the seventeenth, although 
 then rapidly falling into disuse k . Affixed as they 
 
 h Archseologia, vol. xxiii. p. 23. 
 1 Archaeologia, vol. xviii. p. 191. 
 
 k A Brass, one of the latest, records the name of Jeremiah Markland. 
 It was placed in Dorking Church by his friend and pupil Mr. Strode, 
 in 1776, who stated, that he preferred brass to marble from its 
 preserving an inscription more legibly. But a very modern specimen, 
 and of a more finished character, may be referred to in the Ante-Chapel 
 of Caius College, Cambridge, over its late Master, Martin Davy, D.D., 
 who died in 1 839. It is described as small, but well executed, and an 
 excellent portrait of the deceased, who is habited in his academic dress. 
 It may be a question how far the revival of Brasses should be re- 
 commended. Much of their interest depends upon their antiquity, and 
 as presenting to us authentic specimens of costume. The dresses of 
 the present day are ill adapted to the purpose, so that unless talent of 
 a high order should be employed in the design, the attempt would 
 disappoint us. Can we hope to rival the exquisite Brass of Prior 
 Nelond, in the Church of the Holy Trinity, at Cowfold, in Sussex? 
 
 o- 
 
 o 
 
O ■■ o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 49 
 
 usually were to the pavement of a Church, they did 
 not interfere with the arrangements of the building, or 
 mar its beauties ; and being also of a simple devo- 
 tional character, the few that remain will always be 
 regarded by Christian antiquaries as memorials of 
 great interest. From the strength of the material 
 itself, which was imbedded in pitch, and riveted into 
 marble or stone, our ancestors naturally considered 
 them as permanent records. 
 
 " Let fame, that all hunt after in their lives, 
 Live register' d upon our brazen tombs V 
 
 Here, we have another proof of the uncertainty of 
 all human expectations. No class of monuments 
 has been subjected to greater violence, or treated with 
 more dishonour. The prayer, that implored the 
 charity of the passer-by, instead of obtaining his for- 
 bearance, furnished him with a pretence for destruc- 
 tion ; and the pavements of many Cathedrals and 
 Churches, from which Brasses have been rent, 
 present a spectacle enough to " scald with tears" 
 other cheeks than those of Leland, Camden, and 
 Dugdale m . We are told by the last-named Writer, 
 
 Where the stone and a drawing or engraving of the lost Brass still 
 exist, an attempt might be made to restore the latter. This is con- 
 templated by my friend the Dean of Chichester, over the grave of an 
 ancestor, one of the Bishops of that See. 
 1 Love's Labour Lost, Act I. Sc. 1. 
 
 '« Thomas Warton, Humourous Epistle from Thomas Hearne to the 
 Author of the Companion to the Oxford Guide. 
 
 O O 
 
 E 
 
o o 
 
 50 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 that, in the time of King Edward VI., and at the 
 beginning" of Queen Elizabeth's reign, "under color 
 of pulling down those images, which had been 
 superstitiously worshipped by the people, the beautiful 
 and costly portraitures of brass, fixed on several mar- 
 bles, escaping not sacrilegious hands, were torn away, 
 and for a small matter sold to copper-smiths and 
 tinkers n ." 
 
 Amongst the Brasses, which remained in 1641 in 
 the Old Cathedral of. St. Paul, there were two re- 
 markable for their superior beauty : — the one of 
 Thomas de Eure, Dean of St. Paul's, 1400, — and that 
 of John Newcourt, " Dean of the Collegiate Church 
 of Aukeland," 1485. 
 
 Particulars of the mode, in which the figures were 
 prepared, and some other details may be found in a 
 useful Article in the Glossary of Architecture, and 
 in Mr. Hartshorne's instructive " Discourse on Fune- 
 ral Monuments in Northamptonshire." Amongst the 
 most decorated and highly wrought of those, which 
 still exist , it maybe sufficient hereto invite attention 
 
 n Dugdale's Hist, of St. Paul's, edit. 1818, p. 31. 
 ° Two works, devoted to Brasses, are now in the course of publication, 
 both well deserving our notice, one by the Cambridge Camden Society, 
 and the other by Messrs. Waller. Some of the Prints in the latter 
 Work are of extraordinary beauty. In the " Hints on the Study of Ec- 
 clesiastical Antiquities," some valuable facts and instructions relating 
 to Brasses are contained. 
 
 6- o 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 51 
 
 to Bishop WyvilFs Brass (1375) in Salisbury Cathe- 
 dral : to that of a Priest, in a dress of peculiar rich- 
 ness and beauty, in Wensley Church, Yorkshire 
 (1360) : and to that of Brian Roucliff and his Lady, in 
 Cowthorpe Church, Yorkshire, (1494). Nor must 
 we omit the grand and elaborate Brass of Thomas de 
 la More (1396) in the Abbey Church of St. Alban's, 
 the thirtieth Abbot of that Monastery, and one of its 
 most munificent benefactors. The following minute 
 Directions, given by Fabyan to his Executors, in his 
 will, before referred to, with respect to his Tomb, 
 will convey some insight as to the mode of preparing 
 a memorial of this description. If buried in London, 
 the Testator wills, that, within three years after his 
 decease, his Executors " doo make in the walle, nere 
 unto my grave, a litell tumbe of freestone, upon the 
 which I will be spent liiis. ivd. att the moost, and in 
 the face of this tumbe, I will be made in too plates of 
 laten ii figurys of a man and a woman, with x men 
 children and vi women children P, and over the said 
 figurys I will be made a figure of the Fader of Heven, 
 inclosed in a Sonne ; and from the man figure I will 
 be made a rolle toward the said figure of the Fader, and 
 in hit to be graven © pater tn tdi$, and from the 
 figure of the woman another lyke rolle, whereyn to be 
 
 P As Fabyan mentions in his will only four sons and two daughters, 
 these numbers, doubtless, include the children which he had lost. 
 
52 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 graven iJlog tecum paScm bcltg : and, at the feete of 
 the said figurys, I will be graven thes ix verses 
 folowingV* &c. &c. 
 
 Every one, who has carefully examined these 
 monuments, must have been struck with the peculiar 
 force and distinctness of the style of the letter in which 
 the inscriptions are engraved. In the original agree- 
 ments for executing a Tomb, in the Beauchamp 
 Chapel, Warwick, we find the following terms em- 
 ployed. The artist is to " make, forge, and worke in 
 most finest wise, and of the finest Latten, one large 
 plate to be dressed, and to lye on the overmost stone of 
 the tombe under the image, that shall lye on the same 
 tombe ; and two narrow plates to go round about the 
 stone. In the two long plates they shall write in fine 
 manner all such Scripture of declaration, that may be 
 conteined in the plates ; all the champes about the letter 
 to be abated and hatched curiously to set out the letters," 
 all to be gilt with the finest gold r . 
 
 On the introduction of the Anglo-Italian style, the 
 tomb, with the simple effigy, gave place to piles of 
 marble and stone, as offensive to the eye of taste, as 
 the monument of Sir Cloudesley Shovel in later times, 
 on which Addison so justly animadverts s . A descrip- 
 
 q Testamenta Vetusta, Nicolas, p. 510. 
 
 r Britton's Architectural Antiquities, vol. iv. p. 12. 
 
 s Spectator, No. xxvi. 
 
O : O 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 53 
 
 tion of their more striking features will sufficiently 
 explain their deformity. It cannot be more accu- 
 rately given than in the words of Mr. Bloxam, from 
 his useful work on the Monumental Architecture and 
 Sculpture of Great Britain. " Altar-tombs with re- 
 cumbent effigies beneath circular arcades, the soffits 
 of which are richly panelled, surmounted by highly- 
 finished entablatures, which are supported at the 
 angles by columns of the different orders ; above 
 these, other arcades and entablatures of smaller 
 dimensions, supported also by columns, often arise ; 
 the whole is finished with obelisks and escutcheons, 
 surrounded with scroll work. These stately memorials 
 are composed of various coloured marbles, fancifully 
 decorated with painting, gilding, and sculpture, and 
 present a combination and infinite variety of arches, 
 columns, tablets, pyramids, obelisks, escutcheons, 
 arabesques, and scroll work V 
 
 To exemplify the unsightliness of these structures, 
 we may contrast two monuments, closely adjoining 
 each other in the Church of Stratford-upon-Avon ; 
 the one of Sir Hugh Clopton, recently restored in a 
 most skilful manner, and the overcharged and taste- 
 
 1 Page 227. " The architectural solecisms, committed in the attempt 
 to preserve the original Gothic features of the Altar-tomb, with the 
 recumbent figure and canopy, in the altered elements of Grecian or 
 Italian art," are admirably described in the Article (Quarterly Review, 
 vol. lxx. p. 437.) cited above. 
 
 O O 
 
o o 
 
 54 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 less one to the memory of George Carew, Earl of 
 Totness, who died in 1628. Let us also compare the 
 tomb of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, in his 
 own beautiful Chapel at Warwick, with that, in the 
 same Chapel, of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 
 quoted by Mr. Bloxam, as " a gorgeous specimen" 
 of the debased style. " The figures on the former 
 tomb," says Flaxman, " are so natural and graceful, 
 the architecture so rich and delicate, that they are 
 not excelled by any sculpture in Italy of the same 
 kind at this time, although Donatello and Ghiberti 
 were living u ." The latter monument, on the con- 
 trary, rather resembles a mountain of confectionary x 
 than a solemn sepulchral memorial 
 
 In almost all monuments, prior to the Reformation, 
 where the effigy is found, (with occasional ex- 
 ceptions amongst those of warriors,) the attitude is 
 
 u Lectures, p. 44. 
 
 1 This expression is not an extravagant one, as it may at first appear. 
 It was remarked in 1758 that " If the present taste continues, Rysbrach, 
 and other neglected Statuaries, who might have adorned Grecian 
 saloons, though not Grecian desserts, may come into vogue. It is known, 
 that a celebrated confectioner complained, that, after having prepared 
 a middle dish of gods and goddesses, 18 feet high, his Lord would not cause 
 the ceiling of his parlour to be demolished to facilitate their entree." 
 World, No vi.1753. 
 
 y " The pride of this Minister never appeared so conspicuous, as in 
 the legends and ornaments of his tomb. These funeral honours en- 
 gaged us in some common reflections on the folly of such expedients to 
 perpetuate human grandeur." Hurd's Dialogues, (4th Ed.) vol. i. p. 143. 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
 •0 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 55 
 
 that of prayer ; and, even amidst the deformities of a 
 later age, this attitude was for a while retained. 
 For instance, Sir Christopher Hatton's tomb, in Old 
 St. Paul's, and Sir Thomas Gorge's tomb, in Salisbury 
 Cathedral (1610); the latter of which exhibits two 
 figures in prayer, but above them we have all the in- 
 congruities, which then came into fashion, viz., pedi- 
 ments, globes, obelisks, and statues, supported by 
 twisted columns and pilasters. In the Church of 
 Willington, Bedfordshire, Sir William Gostwick, who 
 died in 1615, appears in the same becoming posture, 
 so do also the effigies on the monument of Rowland 
 Berkeley and his wife, in Spetchley Church, Worces- 
 tershire, of the date of 1611 or 1629, and the statue 
 of Accepted Frewen, Archbishop of York, as late as 
 1664. 
 
 The change, which first ensued in the posture 
 of the figure, was from prayer to meditation. Lord 
 Bruce, of Kinloss, in the Rolls Chapel (1610), leans 
 his head on his right hand, while his elbow rests upon 
 a cushion. Graphically true to the words of the In- 
 scription, "sic sedebat," is the posture of the fine 
 statue of Lord Bacon, in St. Michael's Church, 
 St. Alban's (1626), who thus sits in contemplation, 
 one hand supporting his head, and the other hang- 
 ing carelessly over the arm of the chair in which he is 
 placed. The statue of Sir Thomas Thornhurst, an 
 
 o o 
 
o- o 
 
 56 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 officer killed at the siege of the Isle of Rhee, 1627, 
 in Canterbury Cathedral, is represented as leaning on 
 his right elbow ; in the left hand he holds his shield. 
 The use of the Roman habit had, unquestionably, its 
 influence, in leading to the adoption of attitudes 
 which might be considered classical, and that of 
 devotion would necessarily be discarded. This 
 conceit, so ill adapted to Englishmen and English 
 feelings, was of course accompanied by emblems 
 equally ill-suited to both ; and if an angel or cherub 
 descended, he brought in his hands to the warrior, 
 not the crown, for which the Apostle looked, as his 
 reward for having " fought the good fight," but a 
 wreath of laurel, or an earthly coronet. 
 
 About the middle of the 17th century, some ex- 
 traordinary designs were introduced. The tomb of 
 Henry Bouchier, Earl of Bath, at Tawstock, Devon, 
 (1654), is almost unequalled in singularity and 
 absurdity. A huge sarcophagus rests on the backs 
 and shoulders of four wolves, or nondescript animals. 
 Equal in deformity is the monument of Waller, 
 in Beaconsfield Churchyard, where an obelisk, sup- 
 ported by four skulls, stands upon a tomb, and 
 the upper part of the obelisk is broken to receive 
 armorial bearings. For military men, it became 
 a fashion to display the ensigns of their profession, 
 and Sir Bevil Granville's monument, in Kilkhamp- 
 
 6 — o 
 
o o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 57 
 
 ton Church, Cornwall, is described as being orna- 
 mented " with swords and spears, murdering engines, 
 and instruments " These decorations, most inappli- 
 cable in the House of God, so far from having been 
 discountenanced in a more enlightened age, have been 
 frequently adopted by eminent sculptors of our own 
 time. About the beginning of the last century, the 
 heavy monuments, which had prevailed for a number 
 of years, occasionally yielded to something smaller 
 and lighter, but certainly not more beautiful. Slabs 
 of white marble, with Inscriptions, were placed be- 
 tween small columns or pilasters ; the architrave was 
 surmounted by weeping Cupids, urns, Roman lamps, 
 heraldic devices, and warlike ensigns — seldom, if 
 ever, do we find a religious emblem, or, if we except 
 the skull, an appropriate one 2 . The figure of Lady 
 Mary Newdigate, who died in 1710, and is buried 
 at Harefield, is placed under a splendid tester with 
 curtains, in an easy, lolling attitude, challenging ad- 
 miration for the grace and beauty which she may 
 have possessed. 
 
 z We are told, that Crewe, Bishop of Durham, erected a monument 
 . to his second wife, in Stene Chapel, in which " a very ghastly, grinning 
 alabaster skull," was introduced. This not pleasing the Bishop, the Artist 
 was requested to convert it into a soothing, instead of a painful, object. 
 After some consideration, he declared, that the only thing, into which he 
 could convert it, was a bunch of grapes ! and which it is believed, yet 
 remains. Quarterly Review, vol. xxxix. p. 398. 
 
 C 
 
o 
 
 58 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 "Princes' images on their tombs do not lie, as they 
 were wont, seeming to pray up to heaven : but with their 
 hands under their cheeks — their minds were wholly bent 
 upon the world, the self-same way they seem to turn their 
 faces a ." 
 
 A class of a distinct character may here be men- 
 tioned, where the bust only of the individual is 
 given, as in the monuments of Dean Nowell, and 
 William Aubrey (in Old St. Paul's), of Shakspeare, 
 Camden, and Speed. These rarely possess any merit 
 as works of art, though valuable, probably, from 
 bearing some resemblance to the deceased. Some- 
 times the bust is placed as if in a cupboard, with the 
 doors thrown open, or looking through a window. 
 The ornaments also are tasteless, but as these 
 memorials occupy, comparatively, little space, their 
 introduction into Churches was attended with less 
 mischief than the huge structures, which we have 
 described. The monuments of Sir H. Saville, and 
 Sir Thomas Bodley, at the east end of the beautiful 
 Chapel of Merton College, may be adduced as 
 specimens of the style of that period, which 
 Dr. Ingram properly terms " semi-barbarous/ ' The 
 former contains, in two square compartments, views 
 
 a Webster, Duchess of Main. Act IV. Sc. 2. For this appropriate 
 quotation, I am indebted to Mr. Peter Cunningham; see his Hand- 
 Book to Westminster Abbey, Introd. xx. In the same little work will 
 be found many judicious remarks on Monumental Sculpture. 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 59 
 
 of Merton and Eton Colleges, as they existed in 
 the time of Queen Elizabeth, and are, on this ac- 
 count, curious and interesting ; but we have to lament, 
 that by the erection of these two monuments in the 
 most sacred part of the building, much heedless 
 injury has been caused, and their removal to the 
 Ante- Chapel will, we trust, hereafter be effected. 
 
 Descending to later days, we approach that favour- 
 ite ornament, the pyramid, which, for a series of years, 
 was the prevailing characteristic. This appears to 
 have originated with Bernini, and, for this viola- 
 tion of taste and judgment, Flaxman has bestowed 
 upon him a well merited censure. The representa- 
 tion of a building, intended from its immense size, 
 and its solid base, to last thousands of years, indi- 
 cated by a little slab of marble, an inch thick, "to be 
 the back ground of sculpture, belonging to none of 
 the ancient classes, foisted into architecture, with 
 which it has neither connection nor harmony b ," does 
 appear to be the very climax of absurdity, were it 
 not heightened by making the pyramid rest upon four 
 round balls, or, as we have already seen, upon four 
 skulls. As a specimen of the age, let us take the 
 large, expensive, glaring monument, in Worcester 
 Cathedral, erected about 1766, to the memory of 
 Bishop Maddox. Here we have the pyramid, the 
 
 b Flaxman's Address on the death of Banks. 
 
o — o 
 
 60 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 tomb, the sarcophagus, and the u^ji, (shewing four 
 distinct modes of sepulture at the same time,) and 
 we have also the mourning widow, with an inverted 
 torch, and the Arms of the See. 
 
 Another specimen of the same period (1759), 
 shall be given in the words of a county historian. 
 " On the wall is an elegant monument of black, 
 white, and grey marble, the lower part of which re- 
 presents the front of a tomb, on which sits a weeping 
 Cupid, wiping his eyes, with an urn on his right hand, 
 and emblems of mortality on his left. Above this, 
 and supported by a neat cornice, is a white truncated 
 cone, on a back ground of black marble veined with 
 yellow TC ." Colman, in his sportive sally on Johnson's 
 Dictionary, has denned " Higgledy-Piggledy ; Con- 
 glomeration and Confusion.'' Have we not, in these 
 instances, visible and lively illustrations of the term ? 
 
 To receive the walls of stone, constituting many of 
 these monuments, — for such, from their vast dimen- 
 sions, they may be termed d , — what havoc has been 
 
 c Collinson's Somersetshire, vol. i. p. 114. 
 
 d The reader may recollect the monuments of Edward, Earl of Hert- 
 ford, in Salisbury Cathedral, of Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, in Henry 
 the Seventh's Chapel, and of Sir George Manners, and his family, in 
 Bakewell Church: rivalling each other in size and ugliness. It would 
 seem that, according to the higher rank of the party, the mass of marble 
 and masonry became the more overwhelming. Perhaps the ne plus 
 ultra of absurdity may be found in Swinbrook Church, Oxfordshire. 
 The Monuments of the Fettiplace family, erected in the reigns of 
 
 o- 
 
 o 
 
MONUMENT OF SIR JOHN AND LADY YOUNG 
 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 61 
 
 produced in our Churches by wilful and reckless muti- 
 lations ! sometimes the whole, or the greatest part of 
 a window, full of graceful tracery and painted glass, or 
 a portion of the chancel, filled with fine carved- work, 
 was destroyed or blocked up ; incisions were made 
 into columns ; capitals of the most delicate foliage, 
 decorated panelling, niches, and canopies ; all these 
 fell sacrifices, when they interfered with human 
 vanity. Several of our Churches, once models of 
 beauty and of fair proportion, have been, as it were, 
 hacked to pieces, to give space for a succession of these 
 monuments, many of which, as we have seen, rank 
 amongst the very poorest specimens of art. Of the 
 extent of this evil, even our Cathedrals present but 
 too many instances. The beautiful Lady- Chapel at 
 Wells may be especially noticed. In two cases, monu- 
 ments of surpassing ugliness, and on one of which, 
 the name of the party recorded is barely legible, 
 (a fitting requital,) have actually been obtruded into 
 the windows, the mullions of which have been broken, 
 
 Elizabeth and James II., consist of two separate series of recessed com- 
 partments, three in number, one above another, wherein the effigies of 
 three of the family are placed, and the same attitude is preserved in the 
 respective sets of figures. The shelves of a library, or the berths in a 
 cabin, might have suggested the design. How slow must have been the 
 progress in art, which, in the course of nearly a century, had not ad- 
 vanced, or rather, which had not caused a scrupulous avoidance of de- 
 fects so strikingly ludicrous ! 
 
 Q o 
 
o o 
 
 62 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 and portions of the fine old painted glass have, of 
 course, been removed. 
 
 Fanaticism itself, in its most ruthless moments, 
 could scarcely exceed the acts, which respectable 
 men perpetrated in our Churches, in the course of 
 the last century, with perfect apathy, nay, with 
 seeming self-complacency. Amongst smaller build- 
 ings, the Temple- Church might once have been 
 cited as an instance. But the better taste of these 
 days has banished all the monuments from the body 
 of the Church into the Triforium, and repaired the 
 injuries, which they had occasioned. " Their re- 
 moval, (according to a Report of the Committee, 
 appointed for restoring that beautiful edifice,) has 
 disclosed the great damage done to the walls, and 
 especially to the pillars, by their fixture. It is not 
 possible to affix them to the wall and pillars, with- 
 out anticipating, that similar damage will occur. 
 They had accumulated to such an extent, as greatly 
 to impair the beautiful effect of the building." 
 
 The misdeeds of the Iconoclasts did not give birth 
 to a greater outrage, than that, which was committed, 
 under the auspices of the Duchess of Buckingham- 
 shire, and of Pope, as her adviser, so late as the year 
 1720, in the erection of the monument to Sheffield 6 , 
 
 e It is somewhat singular, that this Nobleman is said to have obtained 
 permission to remove certain cancelli in the Abbey of Westminster, in 
 
 o 6 
 
■ MONUMENT OF 
 SHEFFIELD. DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM. 
 
c 
 
 ■o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 63 
 
 Duke of Buckinghamshire, in Henry the Seventh's 
 Chapel. Three statues, with their highly- wrought 
 niches, were destroyed, in order to receive the incon- 
 gruous medley, which is thus described ; " The por- 
 traiture of his Grace, habited like a Roman General ; 
 and at his feet that of the Duchess, weeping. On 
 the top of the basis of the column is seen in relievo, 
 Time bearing away the four deceased children of the 
 Duchess, whose effigies are represented in prohle- 
 bustos, supported by Cupids lamenting f ." The Ro- 
 man General, Time, and Cupids ! Low, indeed, must 
 the piety and the taste of an age have fallen, when 
 anachronisms and mythology were thus obtruded 
 into the holiest of buildings. Here was enough to 
 puzzle the ignorant, and to grieve the judicious. 
 Appropriate symbols are intelligible, but allegory on 
 Sepulchral Memorials is in most cases a sealed lan- 
 guage s. This group might have ornamented a pavilion 
 
 order to make room for Dryden's tomb, which was erected at his expense. 
 This tomb stands upon the spot, where Nicholas Brigham in 1555 was 
 desirous of placing a monument to the memory of Chaucer, but permis- 
 sion was then refused, the building being more vigilantly protected from 
 injury in the sixteenth, than in the eighteenth century. See Urry's Life 
 of Chaucer. 
 
 f Pope's Works, Bowles's edition, vol. x. p. 145. 
 
 g Some valuable observations on this subject will be found in the 
 Quarterly Review, vol. xxvii. p. 324. Ralph, the Architect, censured 
 the tomb of Henry VII. especially for the Artist's " stupidity in laying 
 statues on their backs in such a situation ! 1" Statues of the King 
 and Queen, he observes, " ought to have been in living attitudes, erect 
 
64 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 in her Grace's park, but it is utterly unsuited to its 
 present situation, and at what a costly sacrifice must 
 it have been admitted. To judge from corresponding 
 portions of the Chapel, where we find niches filled 
 with statues, " masses of panelling," and the richest 
 architectural ornaments, all these must have been 
 torn away for the reception of this monument. The 
 statues were of no common order. Flaxman speaks 
 of those, which are left, as " very superior in natural 
 simplicity, and grandeur of character and drapery/' 
 
 Westminster Abbey h itself, — certainly one of the 
 most beautiful Churches of which England can boast, 
 — has been converted, in appearance, into a Statuary's 
 yard, and any real improvement, in its present con- 
 dition, is confessedly hopeless. An express interdict 
 should be passed against the admission, within its 
 walls, of any more statues. It should serve as a 
 
 and bold." He considers all faults to have been avoided in the Duke 
 of Buckinghamshire's Monument. After commending all its defects, he 
 concludes, " in a word, I have yet seen no ornament, that has pleased 
 me better, and very few so well !" Critical Review of Public Build- 
 ings &c. by James Ralph, 1736, pp. 63, 64. 
 
 h In traversing its aisles and looking at the incrusted walls, how for- 
 cible and how true is Goldsmith's irony : "In Westminster Abbey, I 
 am told, I shall see justice done to deceased merit ; none, I am told, 
 are permitted to be buried there, but such, as have adorned, as well as 
 improved mankind. There no intruders, by the influence of friends or 
 fortune, presume to mix their unhallowed ashes with philosophers, 
 heroes, and poets. Nothing but true merit has a place in that awful 
 sanctuary." Works, vol. ii. p. 43. 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 65 
 
 beacon to those, who have a control over fine Eccle- 
 siastical edifices. Jealous care and superintendence 
 should be exercised in placing every monument, 
 which may hereafter be erected within their hallowed 
 precincts. "The temporary guardians of these extra- 
 ordinary structures should bear in mind, that every 
 good specimen of the Pointed style of architecture 
 forms an important link in its history, and that 
 the present generation and posterity have a national 
 claim to their preservation V 
 
 It would have been well, had the vigilance, exercised 
 by Pope Pius V., (or his successor, Gregory XIII.,) 
 been more often evinced, both here and abroad, in 
 regulating the introduction into Churches of tombs, 
 even for the illustrious dead. We are told, that 
 William, Duke of Mantua, in order to honour the 
 remains of Bernardo Tasso, caused his body to be 
 buried in the Church of St. Egidio, at Mantua, 
 " et l'ayant fait placer dans un tombeau d'un tres 
 beau marbre, il y fit graver cette noble et simple 
 inscription : 
 
 Ossa Bernardi Tassi." 
 
 Plain and inoffensive as was this monument, with 
 its inscription, it was not exempted from the Order 
 which was issued by the Pope, " de detruire dans les 
 
 i Wild's Description of Worcester Cathedral, p. 14. 
 
66 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 eglises tous les tombeaux eleves au-dessus de terre ou 
 incrustes dans les murs ; celui du Tasse etant dans le 
 premier cas, son fils Torquato fit transporter ses cendres 
 a FerrareV 
 
 But not only was great judgment exercised by our 
 ancestors, prior to the reign of Henry the Eighth, in the 
 style and form of their monuments, but likewise in the 
 choice of their situation 1 . Surely attention should 
 always be paid in adapting a monument to the charac- 
 ter of the building, which is to contain it. We ought 
 not to find, in a Cathedral, as we now do, the model 
 of a Grecian temple, a specimen of Attic taste amongst 
 massive Norman pillars and ponderous arches. Care- 
 lessness in these matters has led, in later times, to 
 the intrusion of absurd and fantastic sepulchral memo- 
 rials into several of our noblest Churches, and 
 reflects severely upon those, who ought to have 
 proved themselves more vigilant and more faithful to 
 
 k Ginguene Histoire Litteraire d'ltalie, vol. v. p. 59. 
 
 l Mr. Hunter, in his valuable communication on Eleanor of Castile, 
 (Archaeol. xxix. 188,) observes, that "the Chapel of Edward the Confes- 
 sor is one of singular beauty, and designed with great architectural inge- 
 nuity." The shrine of the Confessor occupies the centre. If the Chapel 
 were entered, as was the original intention, from the west end, there 
 would be, on the left hand, the tombs of Edward I., Henry III., and 
 Queen Eleanor; opposite, on the right, the tomb of Queen Philippa, 
 Edward III., Richard II., and his Queen. At the east end is the tomb 
 of Henry V., with its appendages ; "a more august spectacle," he adds, 
 " can hardly be conceived ; so many renowned sovereigns sleeping round 
 the shrine of an older Sovereign, the holiest of their line." 
 
CHAPEL ADJOINING LAYCOCK CHURCH. 
 
3 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 67 
 
 their sacred trust. Sculpture is " really inseparable 
 from Architecture ; why should the professors of the 
 two arts be so completely divorced in practice ? They 
 were not disjoined in the good days of Italy, and we 
 have sufficient genius in England to tempt us to wish 
 for their union m ." 
 
 If we select examples of monuments from periods 
 antecedent to the reign of Henry the Eighth, we 
 seldom find any thing incongruous ; a harmony, 
 propriety, and fitness, are discernible, which put 
 to shame the productions of more modern times. 
 Sculptors worked in subordination to the plans of the 
 Architects, and the most ingenious of the latter dis- 
 played all their talents in the suitable decoration of 
 shrines and tabernacles, applied to Mortuary Chapels 
 or Sacella. The Chapels and tombs were erected en- 
 tirely upon architectural principles n . Where the 
 Altar-tomb is insulated, and brought forward con- 
 spicuously, as those of King John, in Worcester 
 
 m Quart. Rev., vol. xxvii. p. 324. 
 
 n Callaway's Discourses on Architecture, p. 61. One prevailing evil 
 is, that the Clergyman is either not consulted at all as to the design, or 
 position, of a monument, intended to be erected in his Church, or not until 
 it be too late. The judgment and good taste of a man of education, 
 which might possibly have influenced a Family, and in some degree 
 guided a Sculptor, are neglected. If due deliberation were employed, 
 ingenuity might be exercised in adapting compartments, and panels, to 
 memorials of this kind, but vanity intervenes, and forbids the submitting 
 a favourite preconceived design to one, who might prove the fittest adviser, 
 
68 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 Cathedral, and of Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of War- 
 wick, in the choir of St. Mary's Church, Warwick, 
 no part of the walls is obscured ; and by the in- 
 troduction of so beautiful and appropriate a feature, 
 the general effect of the building itself is greatly 
 heightened, specially when viewed in perspective. 
 
 With the introduction of the debased Italian style, 
 taste in Monumental Sculpture, and judgment in the 
 choice of situation, were almost, if not altogether, 
 banished. Let the chantries in Winchester Cathe- 
 dral, the monuments of Edward the Second at 
 Gloucester, and of the Black Prince at Canterbury, 
 the exquisite Percy monument in Beverley Minster, 
 the Kirkham monument in Paignton Church, Devon- 
 shire, and the splendid series of tombs in Tewksbury 
 Church, (a fitting receptacle for them,) be compared 
 with even the best of the degraded specimens — alas ! 
 a most prolific class which were produced throughout 
 nearly two centuries, dating from the middle of the 
 sixteenth p. On each side of the Lady-Chapel, at 
 
 Engraved in Lysons' Magna Brit. This monument has been shame- 
 fully mutilated. 
 
 p I am not forgetful of the splendid specimens of genius, which 
 during the latter part of this period were produced by the chisels of 
 Roubiliac, and a few other Artists. To whatever censures the Works of 
 the former may be open, (and I have heard severe ones from a Master 
 in the art,) the mind, which could conceive, and the hand, which could 
 execute, the statue of Newton, and the figures of Bishop Hough and Lady 
 Elizabeth Nightingale, will always by me be regarded with reverence. 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 69 
 
 Exeter, for example, we view the exquisite Altar- 
 tombs of Bishops Bronscombe and Stafford, and at 
 the same moment, what have been styled the " fair," 
 but are, in fact, the frightful tombs of Judge Dod- 
 deridge, and his wife, of the reign of James the First. 
 Again, whilst standing in the south aisle of the 
 choir of Winchester Cathedral, the spectator may 
 contrast, at one glance, the Altar-tomb of De Vaux, 
 the chantry of Fox, and the clumsy statue of Sir 
 John Clobery (the friend of General Monk), encum- 
 bered with all kinds of warlike trophies. A long 
 interval elapsed between the erection of the first and 
 last of these monuments ; but what a retrograde 
 movement will be observed in the arts both of design 
 and sculpture ! 
 
 It has been already urged, that a suitable design 
 for a monument, and next, a proper site for it, as 
 regards the sacred building destined to receive it, 
 claim our best consideration^. Amongst the works 
 of modern times we shall find, that there has been 
 a grievous departure from the better practice of 
 former ages, and that feelings of reverence and 
 humility have been alike forgotten. In the south 
 aisle of Henry the Seventh's Chapel, Horace Wal- 
 
 i Have not the wishes of the Artist in securing the best light, and the 
 most ample space for the due exhibition of his labours, been too often 
 the primary objects of attention? 
 
o 
 
 70 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 pole, placed, in 1754, a statue to the memory of 
 his mother. It was executed at Rome by Valory, and 
 was taken from the Livia, or Pudicitia, in the Villa 
 Mattei. Spence, in his Polymetis, (page 55), speaks 
 of the original statue, as that of the Empress Sabina, 
 "dressed and ornamented exactly like the Juno 
 Matrona." Such compliments were not unfrequently 
 paid to the Roman Empresses, on the reverses of 
 their medals, and occasionally in their statues : 
 surely this filial memorial was more fitted for the 
 gallery of Strawberry Hill than for the aisle of a 
 Chapel r . 
 
 No statue was ever more disadvantageous^ placed 
 than that of Watt, by Chantrey, in the Chapel of St. 
 Paul, in Westminster Abbey. From its colossal size 
 and the limited dimensions of the Chapel, it is almost 
 overpowering, and it is impossible that the spectator 
 can properly mark its beauties, especially the simpli- 
 city and repose of this fine composition. It also forms 
 the strongest contrast to the objects by which it is 
 surrounded, the recumbent and kneeling figures, the 
 tattered banners, and other relics of antiquity. 
 
 » Walpole's taste in Monuments was not elevated above that of his age, 
 low as that may be placed. While he censures Kent for his monuments 
 of Shakspeare and Sir Isaac Newton, he speaks of " a genteel tomb" in 
 a country Church, " with a Cupid and pretty urn in the Roman style." 
 (Letter to Bentley, 1753, vol. i. p. 305.) 
 
 C O 
 
o- 
 
 o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 71 
 
 Ev'n in an ornament its pla:e remark, 
 Nor in an Hermitage set Dr. Clarke s . 
 
 But there are graver objections to its admission here. 
 Watt, with his compasses and paper in his hands, 
 is sedulously engaged in giving birth to one of those 
 conceptions, which, in its effects, has added so largely 
 to the resources of the empire, and most justly secured 
 to himself both fame and wealth. This statue, therefore, 
 emblematical of science and genius, by which the com- 
 forts and enjoyments of human life have been greatly 
 increased, was especially fitted for the Exchange, or 
 some other public edifice, in one of our chief com- 
 mercial towns. It should not have been placed in a 
 temple, where one of the most important lessons taught 
 is, " love not the world, nor the things of the world." 
 With regret I allude to another monument from the 
 same chisel ; that to the memory of Northcote, in 
 Exeter Cathedral. " Under the chilling influences of 
 the age, he is merely represented with his pallet ; he 
 gives no sign of his true calling. And the figure, 
 which is sitting, is placed in a position, singularly out 
 of keeping with all that is around it, particularly with 
 the majestic tombs of Bishops Bronscombe and 
 Stafford, (of which we have spoken before), to which 
 it is contiguous. What a strange contradiction it is, 
 
 s Moral Essays, Ep. iv. 77. 
 
 O 
 
 •o 
 
o o 
 
 72 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 that we, who are perpetually railing at the 'dark 
 ages,' should exhibit ourselves as deficient in those 
 very qualities, which indicate spiritual illumination, 
 reverence, and humility V 
 
 With these monuments, considered merely in the 
 light of appendages to Churches, I would, as a fa- 
 vourable contrast, remind my readers of the one in 
 Chichester Cathedral, to the memory of Collins, 
 from the hand of Flaxman. The gifted poet reclines 
 with his left arm on a table, seeking consolation from 
 the Volume, where in life he had found it : 
 
 Sought in one book his troubled mind to rest, 
 And rightly deemed the Book of God the best. 
 
 I may also allude to another modern monument. In 
 the Church of St. Thomas, at Exeter, there has lately 
 been placed an Altar-tomb, with a recumbent female 
 figure, the hands joined in prayer, perfectly beautiful 
 both in design and execution. It is of a simple and 
 devotional character, heightened by all the grace, 
 which refined art, warmed by the tenderness of a 
 father's love, could breathe into the work. No one, 
 who gazes upon it, can but feel, or wish to feel, the 
 truth of those few, yet consolatory words, which form 
 the touching Inscription — " I believe in the Com- 
 munion of Saints. " Amidst the host of unmeaning 
 
 * British Magazine, April, 1842. 
 
 O O 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 73 
 
 monuments that every year produces, we may fear- 
 lessly point to this, as to a bright exception, which 
 in elegance, still more in its religious spirit, furnishes 
 an exquisite model for the Artist's imitation, and may 
 induce him to recur more frequently to the purer 
 examples of Ecclesiastical antiquity. 
 
 It is not the object of these pages to suggest the 
 banishment of sepulchral monuments, altogether, from 
 our Churches, deeply reverencing, as we must, the 
 antiquity of the custom, and the feelings of love and 
 respect for the dead, " as the last work of charity we 
 can perform for them u ," which, in most instances, 
 prompt their erection, and also believing, that they 
 have often been the means of producing a salutary 
 impression upon the living. " The sensations of 
 pious cheerfulness, which attend the celebration of 
 Sunday,'' says Wordsworth, " are profitably chastised 
 by the sight of the graves of kindred and friends, 
 gathered together in that general home, towards 
 which the thoughtful, yet happy, spectators them- 
 selves are journeying." The descendant of a noble 
 house, who, in his family mausoleum, " sees his steel- 
 clad sires and mothers mild," reposing on their marble 
 tombs, and the peasant, who saunters among the 
 mouldering heaps of the forefathers of his hamlet, 
 
 Lord Coke. 
 
 O- 
 
 -O 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 74 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 are alike susceptible of that mournful pleasure, which 
 arises from the contemplation of " these relics of 
 veneration ; " and are alive to the sentiments, so 
 beautifully expressed by Gray, in a stanza, which 
 ought never to have been expunged from his 
 Elegy : — 
 
 " Hark ! how the sacred calm, that hreathes around, 
 Bids every fierce tumultuous passion cease ; 
 In still small accents whisp'ring from the ground 
 A grateful earnest of eternal peace." 
 
 A simple stone, to mark the spot, where the loved 
 ashes of our relations and friends repose, and inscribed 
 with their names, a date, and a text of Scripture, is a 
 record of affection, and reverence, and hope : it has 
 received the sanction of ages; finds " an echo in 
 every bosom," and is consonant with all the best 
 feelings of the heart : — who would desire that such 
 tributes should be abandoned ? 
 
 Tombs of various periods, and of styles characteristic 
 of those periods, (provided they do not offend in point 
 of taste,) collected in, and around, a place of worship, 
 must promote the feeling, which some of them, at 
 least, were intended to excite. The lesson on mor- 
 tality is most striking, when we see the earthly 
 pomps of age after age, in the outward fashion of each 
 separate time, all gathered within the same precinct ; 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
 •0 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 75 
 
 the dead, small and great, of all generations, waiting 
 alike the Resurrection. 
 
 Victorious men of earth, no more 
 Proclaim how wide your empires are ; 
 Though you bind in every shore, 
 And your triumphs reach as far 
 
 As night or day, 
 Yet you, proud monarchs, must obey, 
 And mingle with forgotten ashes, when 
 Death calls ye to the crowd of common men x . 
 
 But, it cannot be denied, that commonplace monu- 
 ments and tablets have been, and still continue to 
 be, most needlessly multiplied, and that this excess 
 might be wisely restrained. On the walls of many 
 Churches, instead of contributing to the beauty of the 
 fabric, they are little better than unsightly excres- 
 cences. Not only has every vacant place been seized 
 upon, but portions of the original structure have been, 
 and are, shamefully mutilated to receive them. A long 
 catalogue of enormities might be given, as instances 
 of gross carelessness, and depraved taste. For ex- 
 ample : Mr. Rickman, speaking of the ancient Altar- 
 screen at Beverley, " unrivalled in its description of 
 work," states, " that some remarkably fine and in- 
 tricate tracery has been cut away, to put in some poor 
 modern monumental tablets V The beautiful Altar - 
 
 * Shirley, — Cupid and Death. Works, vol. vi., p. 355. 
 
 y On the Styles of Architecture in England, fourth edition, p. 268. 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
o o 
 
 76 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 screen in the Lady- Chapel of York Minster, and the 
 screens, in various other Cathedrals and Churches, 
 have equally suffered. 
 
 In the majority of cases, why is not the simple 
 gravestone allowed to suffice ? Perhaps the very in- 
 dividual, whose name is to be engraved on an ex- 
 pensive tomb, was so averse to notoriety, that the 
 distinctive excellence of his character consisted in 
 those retiring qualities, which never sought to travel 
 out of the domestic circle. 
 
 " It is my will, (Bishop Sanderson directs,) that 
 no costly monument be erected for my memory, but 
 only a fair flat marble stone to be laid over me. — And 
 I do very much desire my will may be carefully ob- 
 served herein, hoping it may become exemplary to 
 some or other : at least, however, testifying at my 
 death — what I have so often earnestly professed in 
 my lifetime — my utter dislike of the vast expenses 
 laid out in funeral solemnities, with very little benefit 
 to any ; which, if bestowed in pious and charitable 
 works, might redound to the public or private benefit 
 of many persons 2 . " Dr. Wells requested "to have 
 no stone set up to his memory," but he did leave a 
 monument in his parish, for he rebuilt the Parsonage 
 at his own cost. Mr. Newman, in his well-timed 
 
 7 Extract from Bishop Sanderson's Will. — Walton's Lives. 
 
 O ! O 
 
o 
 
 -o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 77 
 
 republication of a work a by this learned Divine, justly 
 observes, that "it is always a satisfaction to have 
 evidence, that an author is writing under the practical 
 influence of his own principles.' ' Sir Henry Wotton 
 directed his executors to " lay over his grave a marble 
 stone, plain and not costly — considering, that time 
 moulders even marble to dust, for monuments them- 
 selves must die." Of Sir Matthew Hale it is said, 
 that " his tombstone was like himself, decent and 
 plain, with a bare and humble inscription." 
 
 Again ; how frequently does it happen, that on an 
 expensive marble tablet, all that is mentioned, is no- 
 thing more than what the parish-register could tell us. 
 " Most inscriptions record nothing else of the buried 
 person, but that he was born upon one day, and died 
 upon another ; the whole history of his life being com- 
 prehended in those two circumstances, that are com- 
 mon to all mankind. I could not but look upon these 
 registers of existence, whether of brass or marble, as 
 a kind of satire upon the departed persons ; who had 
 left no other memorial of them, but that they were 
 born, and that they died b ." 
 
 Collins, in his exquisite lines on the death of Colonel 
 
 a The Rich Man's Duty to contribute liberally to the building, &c. of 
 Churches. Advertisement. 
 b Spectator, No. 26. 
 
 O O 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 78 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 Ross, gives to that brave soldier a grave covered with 
 turf, and tells us, that 
 
 Aerial hands shall build his tomb, 
 "With shadowy trophies crown' d. 
 
 But men "of meaner mould, Life's common clods c ," 
 are not to be thus easily satisfied. By their own 
 testamentary directions, or by the mistaken kindness 
 of surviving friends, tombs of a costly and substantial 
 character are prepared for numbers, whose claims to 
 sepulchral honours could not well be classed with those 
 of the hero of Fontenoy. The poet's lamentation d 
 applies not to them, for, after a vast expense, and 
 waste of talent and labour, the "polish'd marble," 
 in the shape of a statue or bust, is placed upon its 
 pedestal. 
 
 It is difficult, in many cases, to connect the me- 
 morial with the person, to whose honour it was raised. 
 Instead of a statue or bust, forming, as it ought to do, 
 the main feature in the design, the space is occupied 
 by allegorical figures, or by emblems, or by both. The 
 hero himself, as Milner justly remarks 6 , is lost in the 
 motley group, and the application of the whole to the 
 distinctive qualities of the dead of either sex, often 
 
 c Shee's Rhymes on Art. 
 
 «i " What, though no weeping loves thy ashes grace, 
 
 Nor polish'd marble emulate thy face." — Pope. 
 e Milner's Hist. Winch., vol. ii. p. 101. 
 
o o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 79 
 
 requires an interpreter. As one instance, let us take 
 Sir Eyre Coote's monument in Westminster Abbey. 
 " The basement is composed of a large square- shaped 
 sarcophagus, within the pediment of which is an 
 elephant, thus introduced to mark the scene of action ; 
 above the sarcophagus, in the central part, is raised a 
 commemorative trophy, consisting of a palm-tree 
 entwined by a branch of laurel, with ensigns behind, 
 and in front, a Roman vest and helmet, inclosing the 
 club of Hercules, with a bow, shield, and quiver of 
 arrows. On the right is the statue of Victory, sus- 
 pending a medallion of the deceased from the palm- 
 tree ; and on the left is a very fine sitting figure of a 
 Mahratta captive, naked, mournfully reposing his 
 brow on his right hand ; his left arm is placed over 
 an inverted cornucopia, the rich contents of which 
 are pouring into a British shieldV In this com- 
 position the captive, which is beautifully executed, 
 is far more prominent than Sir Eyre Coote himself, 
 of whom, in this vast structure, there is only a 
 medalhon. Lady Miller's monument in Bath Abbey 
 Church is another instance of this great fault. Two 
 full-length female figures, the principal features of 
 the monument, first strike the eye, and the spectator 
 would suppose, that it was raised to the memory of 
 
 f Neale's Westminster Abbey, vol. ii. p, 212. 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
80 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 two sisters, or that daughters or sisters were mourn- 
 ing over the ashes of a deceased relative. These 
 figures, are however, merely allegorical, and the resem- 
 blance of Lady Miller herself is comprised in a small 
 medallion, placed upon the shaft of a column, over 
 which the two figures are reclining. We cannot be sur- 
 prised, that such things are, when ready-made monu- 
 ments, like the tombs among the Egyptians of old, 
 may now be purchased ; of which we are told " a suf- 
 ficient number being always kept ready, the purchase 
 was made ' at the shortest notice/ nothing being re- 
 quisite but the insertion of the deceased's name, and a 
 few statements respecting his family and profession s." 
 A monument ought to be a book, open for the perusal 
 of the multitude. Unless it declare its meaning fully, 
 plainly, and sensibly, the object, for which it was 
 raised, has failed. In walking through St. Paul's 
 and Westminster Abbey, how forcibly are we re- 
 minded, that this self-evident principle has been 
 unheeded 11 . 
 
 Some monuments are improperly termed Memo- 
 rials : — what names, what acts, what events, do they 
 commemorate ? In many Churches we pass by a 
 long series of tablets, frequently falling from the 
 wall, or covered with dust and dirt, inscribed with 
 
 5 Wilkinson's Manners of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. v. p. 392. 
 h Quarterly Review, vol. xxvii. p. 325. 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 81 
 
 names of so little importance, — so totally destitute 
 of interest, — that we should naturally ask, why they 
 appeared there, had not "Wisdom answered by antici- 
 pation, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Prior, 
 though he had written " Solomon on the Vanity of 
 the World," yet, by his will, set apart £500 for a 
 monument in Westminster Abbey, or, as he properly 
 terms it, for " the last piece of human vanity." The 
 works and the tomb of " one Prior," as Burnet spoke 
 of him, are, perhaps, in these days, equally neglected, 
 although, amongst the former, there are lines, which 
 well deserve remembrance; still it is by them, and 
 not by the joint performance of Gibbs and Rys- 
 brach*, that Prior has a chance of descending to 
 posterity. 
 
 Your very fear of death shall make ye try 
 To catch the shade of immortality ; 
 
 A fancy' d kind of being to retrieve, 
 And in a book, or from a building live. 
 False hope ! vain labour ! let some ages fly : 
 The dome shall moulder, and the volume die k . 
 
 Whilst the obscure man can never be raised to dis- 
 tinction by his tomb, however sumptuous it may be, or 
 however beautiful his epitaph, for that may be recol- 
 
 i See p. 90. 
 
 k Solomon, B. III. vol. ii. p. 67. [edit. 1779.] 
 
82 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 lected, when his name is forgotten 1 ; so those, who 
 have deserved celebrity, need no record of this 
 description. What could be more absurd than to 
 decorate the private Chapel at Blenheim with a mag- 
 nificent monument to the memory of John, Duke of 
 Marlborough ; when every stone of the Palace, and 
 every acre around it, declare his fame ? Si monumentum 
 requiris, circumspice, surely applies in this case. 
 Equally unnecessary was it, that, in the Chapel of 
 Charter House, " the masterpiece of Protestant Eng- 
 lish Charity/ ' according to Fuller, there should have 
 been a profuse expenditure upon an elaborate monu- 
 ment, executed by Nicholas Stone, in honour of 
 Sutton, the Founder 111 . 
 
 A few years ago, the Abbey Church of Bath con- 
 tained, it is said, at least four hundred and fifty monu- 
 ments, from the colossal figure to the most diminutive 
 slab : 
 
 " mural tablets, every size, 
 
 That woe could wish, or vanity devise n ." 
 
 i Michael Angelo gave to one of the least worthy of the Medici family 
 a splendid tomb, and Ariosto celebrated his memory in some of his most 
 beautiful verses. " Like the Egyptians," adds Roscoe, "who embalm a 
 putrid carcase with the richest odours, the artist and the poet too often 
 lavish their divine incense on the most undeserving of mankind." — Life 
 of Lorenzo de Medici, vol. ii. p. 400. 
 
 m Stone's statement of the charges for this tomb deserve notice ; they 
 will be found in Knight's London, vol. ii. p. 129. 
 
 " Crabbe, The Borough, Letter II. 
 
NORTH TRANSEPT, 
 BATH ABBEY CHDRCH 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 06 
 
 If any one could have the patience to go through 
 
 them, how small would be the proportion of those, 
 
 who merit posthumous notice ! From such undis- 
 
 tinguishing accumulations of sepulchral trifling, taste, 
 
 and, we may add, both piety and good feeling, revolt. 
 
 On the other hand, was it necessary to inscribe, on 
 
 petty and perishable tablets, the names of Melmoth, 
 
 Anstey, and Malthus ? 
 
 Genius, like Egypt's monarchs, timely wise, 
 Constructs his own memorial ere he dies ; 
 Leaves his best image in his works enshrin'd, 
 And makes a mausoleum of mankind °. 
 
 Eustace, when speaking of the Medicean Chapel in 
 the Church of St. Lorenzo at Florence, describes the 
 unfinished state of this mausoleum, which "was in- 
 tended to surpass every sepulchral building in the 
 world." But alas ! before this superb monument, 
 (or, as Henry Matthews terms it in his Diary, " this 
 splendid piece of nonsense,'') was finished, the Medi- 
 cean line failed ! The precious materials remained in 
 store, and the dome, which was to have been in- 
 crusted with mosaics, (at first with lapis lazuli,) pre- 
 sents nothing to the eye but its inanimate form. 
 Eustace indeed conjectures, that, " stripped of its 
 rich decorations, it may be abandoned to oblivion, 
 
 Shee's Rhymes on Art, p. 155. 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 84 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 until, undermined by time, it shall one day bury 
 under its ruins the remains, which it was commissioned 
 to preserve as a sacred deposit enshrined in pomp and 
 magnificence p." 
 
 Has it never occurred to individuals, that the me- 
 morials thus raised, and on which so much money 
 and labour have been expended, may, in the course of 
 time, even if they have not decayed, give place to 
 usurpers ? In many of our Churches the effigy of 
 ancient days has been mutilated, and thrown aside 
 to accommodate some modern piece of sculpture, 
 totally unworthy to occupy its place. In the Church 
 of Doncaster the statue of Eleanor, Countess of West- 
 moreland, mentioned by Leland, is no longer to be 
 
 p Classical Tour, vol. iii. p. 351. Lord Byron's reflections on visiting 
 this Chapel, shall be given in his own words. " I also went to the Medici 
 Chapel : fine frippery in great slabs of various expensive stones ; to 
 commemorate fifty rotten and forgotten carcases. It is unfinished; and 
 will remain so. The Church of Santa Croce contains much illustrious 
 nothing. The tombs of Machiavelli, Michael Angelo, Galileo Galilei, 
 and Alfieri, make it the Westminster Abbey of Italy. I do not admire 
 any of these tombs beyond their contents. That of Alfieri is heavy ; 
 and all of them seem to me overloaded. What is necessary but a bust 
 and name, and perhaps a date? The last for the unchronological, of 
 whom I am one : but all your allegory and eulogy is infernal, and 
 worse than the long wigs of English numskulls upon Roman bodies in 
 the Statuary of the reigns of Charles the Second, William, and Anne." 
 Works, vol. iv. p. 12. Eustace, speaking of Michael Angelo's tomb in 
 this Church, says " it is graced with many figures ; perhaps the name 
 alone would have been its best decoration." Classical Tour, vol. iii. 
 p. 354. 
 
 o- 
 
 ■o 
 
o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 85 
 
 found ; and the tomb of the Founders of St. Catharine's 
 Chantry, has made room for some tasteless tablets of 
 their late descendants <i. 
 
 On the once splendid tombs of many of our noblest 
 Houses, the effigies, like the bones beneath them, are 
 crumbling to dust. They read this useful lesson to 
 the proud, that " in vain do individuals hope for im- 
 mortality, or any patent from oblivion in preserva- 
 tives below the moon ; that there is nothing strictly 
 immortal but immortality ; that the sufficiency of 
 Christian immortality frustrates all earthly glory, 
 and the quality of either state after death makes a 
 folly of posthumous memory r ." 
 
 When we look upon such fond relics as these, we 
 must be persuaded of another solemn truth ; " how 
 little fitted they are to satisfy the cravings of the im- 
 mortal spirit, now doubly conscious of the vanity of 
 earth, and looking around for somewhat, on which to 
 stay the ' thoughts, which wander through eternity! ' " 
 And how poor the consolation to the surviving 
 friends, "when bereft of those, whose earthly pil- 
 grimage was cheered with the anticipation, and who 
 now possess the full fruition, of heavenly glory! Their 
 joy is not blighted, but matured. They are trans- 
 
 * Hunter's South Yorkshire, vol. i. p. 40. 
 
 * Sir Thomas Browne's Works, vol. iii. p. 494. 
 
 O O 
 
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 86 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 planted to an immortal soil, and their golden fruits 
 ripen in a purer region s ." 
 
 If a monument is to be viewed solely as an abiding 
 tribute of affection, and such, it is fair to presume, is 
 its direct object, there are frequent instances, where, 
 although it has involved an extravagant outlay, it 
 has, in effect, been useless for such a purpose, and 
 must be considered as a sacrifice of expense well 
 intended, but altogether misapplied. The object, 
 however distinguished or valued in his own family, 
 and in his immediate neighbourhood, by his exem- 
 plary life and character, may have died, remote from 
 his residence, a stranger in a strange land 1 , and 
 within the walls, where he is buried, he may never 
 have entered to join in prayer, never, in fact, until 
 his body was carried to the tomb. Now, where 
 no sentiments of love, respect, or attachment, which 
 arise from intimacy, can exist ; where no acts of 
 charity and usefulness can be remembered, which 
 would be associated with his tomb ; in such a case 
 that memorial is utterly valueless : it neither engages 
 the attention of the inhabitants of the place, nor, 
 unless its merit be of a high order as a work of 
 
 s Preface to Family Prayers, by the late William Wilberforce, Esq., 
 p. 22. 
 
 1 Exodus ii. 22. 
 
 o- — O 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 87 
 
 art, attracts even the observation of an accidental 
 visitor. 
 
 Besides, as we have seen, within no long period of 
 time, these melancholy records themselves, if they do 
 not altogether disappear, from injury, become as 
 much neglected and forgotten, as do the names of 
 those, recorded upon them. — Their memorial is 
 perished with them n . 
 
 Where will you have your virtuous name safe laid — 
 In gorgeous tombs, in sacred cells secure ? 
 Do you not see those prostrate heaps betray'd 
 Your fathers' bones, and could not keep them sure ? 
 And will you trust deceitful stones fair laid, 
 And think they will be to your honour truer 1 
 No, no ; unsparing Time will proudly send 
 A warrant unto Wrath, that with one frown 
 Will all these mock'ries of vain-glory rend, 
 And make them (as before) ungrac'd, unknown; 
 Poor idle honours, that can ill defend 
 Your memories, that cannot keep their own x . 
 
 ' 4 Our fathers find their graves in our short 
 memories, and sadly tell us, how we may be buried 
 in our survivors'. — Gravestones tell truth scarce forty 
 years. — To be content, that times to come should 
 only know, there was such a man, not caring, whether 
 they knew more of him, was a frigid ambition y." 
 
 Though we daily act in opposition to our convic- 
 
 n Psalm ix. 6. x Sir T. Browne, Works, vol. hi. p. 491. 
 
 y S. Daniel. 
 
88 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 tions, no one can question the truth of these remarks. 
 From the days of Juvenal to those of Crabbe 2 , we are 
 taught the same lesson, but our own Jeremy Taylor 
 shall, in his matchless phrase, close our extracts. 
 
 " We see huge buildings fall by their own weight. 
 — Princes die like the meanest of their servants ; and 
 every thing finds a grave and a tomb ; and the very 
 tomb itself dies by the bigness of its pompousness and 
 luxury a ." 
 
 If, from the comparatively humble station, which 
 an individual may have occupied, or from his unevent- 
 ful life, no useful instruction can be conveyed by 
 the inscription on his tomb, why should not an 
 expenditure, which savours somewhat of vanity 
 in his surviving friends, receive another and a 
 higher direction ? Might not the cost be made in- 
 strumental to a better and a holier end? Might it 
 not be devoted to the service and glory of God, and 
 to the benefit of those, who worship in His House ? 
 For more than a century, mural monuments with 
 
 * " Quando quidem data sunt ipsis quoque fata sepulcris." 
 
 Sat. x. 1. 146. 
 
 " Wonder not, mortal, at thy quick decay — 
 See ! men of marble piecemeal waste away ; 
 When whose the image we no longer read, 
 But monuments themselves memorials need." 
 
 Crabbe, The Borough, Letter II. 
 * Funeral Sermon on the death of the Countess of Carbery. Works, 
 vol. vi. p. 454. 
 
o- 
 
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 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 89 
 
 cherubs, sculls, lamps, and twisted columns, with little 
 variety, were permitted to deform our Churches. In 
 later days, we have had the Urn and the Sarcophagus, 
 —strange ornaments in a Christian Temple b ! or a 
 figure, veiled with drapery, sitting under a willow, 
 bending over a tomb, or a boy leaning upon an in- 
 
 Monument in Wells Cathedral. 
 
 verted torch ! These designs have become wearisome 
 
 b In going through Gibbs's Designs of Buildings and Ornaments, (fol. 
 1728,) we are struck with the limited fancy of the artist, as he gives us 
 no less than " sixteen designs for monuments, consisting only of sarco- 
 
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 90 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 and uninteresting from repetition, and, unless thev 
 proceed from the chisel of a master, cannot but be 
 wholly disregarded. It should be the endeavour, 
 therefore, of us all, wherever our influence may 
 extend, to restrain the passion for erecting monu- 
 ments. If raised at all, let them be confined exclu- 
 sively to those, who, from their distinguished talents, 
 and their useful lives, merit posthumous honours ; 
 and when they are erected, due attention, as it has 
 been before observed, should always be paid to their 
 proper disposal in our Churches, and also to their 
 adaptation to the character of the building, which is 
 to contain them. But far more strongly may it be 
 urged, that, instead of incurring this idle expenditure, 
 memorials should be chosen, which, from being really 
 subservient to pious and Christian uses, might be 
 stamped with a dignified, and more imperishable 
 character. 
 
 In suggesting another class of memorials for the 
 dead, as substitutes for a large proportion of those un- 
 important and unedifying ones, which have been 
 
 phaguses or monumental urns in the ancient taste." Describing Prior's 
 monument in Westminster Abbey, designed by himself, he says, " The 
 figures representing the muse Clio on one side, and History on the other, 
 with the boys a top! are very well performed by Mr. Rysbrach, an excel- 
 lent sculptor." Yet it was upon^this monument a poet wrote 
 Each artist here perpetuates his name, . 
 And shares with Prior an immortal fame. 
 
 O O 
 
o 
 
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 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 91 
 
 pointed out, the object should be to associate the 
 names and the virtues of the dead with something 
 more durable, important, and beneficial than all, that 
 Sculpture and Epitaphs alone can afford. 
 
 On the death of the head of a family of rank or 
 wealth, the more pressing wants, both spiritual and 
 temporal, of a neighbourhood, should be consulted, 
 and a Parish Church, a District Church or Chapel, 
 a School, Alms Houses or a Hospital, should be 
 erected, enlarged, or endowed, as circumstances 
 might require. If no such building or additions 
 to an existing building, or endowment, be needed, 
 then let enquiries of the following kind be made. 
 Does the Body, or an Aisle, of the Church of the 
 parish, its Chancel, Porch, Roof, Tower, or Spire, 
 call for restoration ? In what state are the Altar and 
 its Screen, and the Font c ? In many of our Churches 
 
 c A correspondent in the Church Intelligencer (No. 63) who, in 1842, 
 visited upwards of fifty Churches between London and Lancashire, found 
 the fonts generally in a miserable state. In six Churches only was the 
 font itself actually used. There were substitutes of all kinds, in one case 
 a tea-cup. The font, represented at page 92, was used, as I am in- 
 formed, for a while as a substitute for a tub to catch rain-water, but has 
 been now properly replaced within the walls of the Parish Church of 
 Youlgrave, Derbyshire. The small basin, attached to the pedestal, is 
 of very rare occurrence ; can a second example be shewn ? It may have 
 served either as a stoup for holy water, as the font itself would be con- 
 veniently placed near the entrance-door, or, as Mr. Jewitt suggests, it 
 may have been employed for affusion in the rite of Baptism. 
 
 O O 
 
o- 
 
 -o 
 
 92 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 Font in Youlgrave, Derbyshire 
 
 the Altar- screens have either perished, or the original 
 work is hidden or defaced, as we have seen, by clumsy 
 wainscoting, or by paintings, " where sprawl the 
 saints" of artists, less skilful than Verrio or Laguerre ; 
 — let the original work be carefully restored. In 
 others of our Churches, the Altars themselves and the 
 Fonts will be found in a state of filth and decay, dis- 
 graceful to us as members of Christ's Church, pro- 
 fessing to hold in reverence the Sacraments, which 
 He has ordained, but wholly regardless of the places, 
 set apart for their celebration. On this point, we 
 should " cry aloud, and spare not." 
 
 o 
 
 -o 
 
o- 
 
 ■0 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 93 
 
 The furniture of our Altars is often such, as would 
 be rejected from the humblest room in the humblest 
 dwelling. Is there any exaggeration in saying, that, 
 in these days, a man, possessed of countless wealth, 
 presents himself at the Communion-Table of his 
 parish Church, where, surrounded by mildewed walls, 
 (the rails, perhaps, the very Table itself, from rottenness, 
 falling to decay,) he kneels upon damp straw, as if the 
 partaking of the Holy Eucharist were an act of pen- 
 ance, rather than one of holy joy. He there offers 
 unto God himself, his soul, and body ; he joins in 
 praises to the Lamb, who is worthy to receive Glory 
 and Honour; and then returns, from this unwhole- 
 some and unseemly building, to a Palace, filled with 
 every object, that can gratify the senses ; where the 
 value of one picture on his walls, or of one piece of plate 
 upon his table, would render the House of God fitting 
 for its sacred uses d ? — Ought these things to be ? 
 Should it not occur to the rich Communicant, that, 
 while he dwelleth in an house of cedar, the ark of God 
 dwelleth within curtains e ? "Were it not strange, if 
 
 d Of the existing state of many of the Churches in the Diocese of St. 
 David's, the present Bishop of that See gives the following melancholy 
 picture ; too justly applicable, I fear, to many sacred edifices in other 
 parts of the kingdom; some of them "sinking into irreparable decay; 
 many more in such a state, as to repel any one, who was not willing to 
 make a sacrifice of personal comfort, if not of health, to devotion." — 
 Charge to the Clergy of St. David's, 1842, 2nd edit. p. 6. 
 
 « 2 Sam. vii. 2. 
 
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 94 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 God should have made such store of glorious creatures 
 on earth, and leave them all to be consumed in secular 
 vanity, allowing none but the baser sort to be em- 
 ployed in His own service ? To set forth the majesty 
 of Kings, His vicegerents in this world, the most 
 gorgeous and rare treasures, which the world hath, 
 are procured. We think, belike, that He will accept 
 what the meanest of them would disdain f ." 
 
 The advowson, perhaps, of the living may be the 
 property of the person in question, or he may be the 
 lay-impropriator of the tithes of the parish. " If lay- 
 impropriators would but consider by what fraudulent 
 means these tithes were originally taken from the 
 Church ; if they would but remember, for how many 
 centuries this property has been devoted to sacred 
 purposes ; if they would but allow their minds to 
 dwell upon the repulsive and startling effect, which is 
 produced by the fact, that, w T here God once had all, 
 He now has so little, and they so much ; I cannot but 
 think, that what may not be required by justice, would 
 be supplied by piety, and that the offerings of a free- 
 will devotion would, in a far more noble and effectual 
 manner, do that, which legislative enactment might 
 perhaps do, but perhaps could not do, without com- 
 mitting injustice g ." 
 
 f Hooker's Eccles. Pol., book v. chap. 15. [4.] 
 
 s Speech of James R. Hope, B.C.L., in the House of Lords, on behalf 
 
 O O 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 95 
 
 When Robert Boyle " understood what a share he 
 had in impropriations, he ordered very large gifts to 
 be made to the incumbents in those parishes, and to 
 the widows of such, as had died, before he had re- 
 
 supply those, who served at the Altar, out of that, 
 which was once devoted to it h ." 
 
 " Let us reverence the spirit of self-sacrifice of the 
 dark ages, as we contumeliously term them, and see 
 with what a noble ardour, the men of those days 
 
 of the Deans and Chapters, against the Ecclesiastical Duties and Re- 
 venues' Bill, p. 35. Wilberforce's Essay on the Parochial System, p. 122. 
 Burnet, in his memorial to the Princess Sophia in 1703, states, as one 
 consequence of the dissolution of monasteries, that the great tithes being 
 diverted, " the poor curate, who says the prayers, hath scarcely bread to 
 eat, a miserable case!" Further, that Queen Mary and Archbishop 
 Tillotson were upon councils to have raised a fund to buy in the advow- 
 sons and impropriations so diverted, and to have "endowed the parochial 
 Churches with them again — God send it one day in your Highness's 
 power." p. 79. In 1663 the excellent mother of the heavenly-minded 
 Nicholas Ferrar " came to a resolution to restore the glebe lands and 
 tithes to the Church of Little Gidding, which some fourscore years before 
 had been taken away." Let us give a brief extract from the prayer, 
 which accompanied this pious gift. " Be graciously pleased, Lord, to 
 receive to the use of Thy Church this small portion of that large estate, 
 which Thou hast bestowed upon her, the unworthiest of Thy servants. 
 Lord redeem Thy right, whereof Thou hast been too long disseized by 
 the world, both in the possessions, and in the person, of Thy hand-maid." 
 The Bishop commended her free-will offering to God, and confirmed it 
 to the Church, which was to be thus endowed. — Wordsworth's Eccles. 
 Biog., vol. v. p. 159. 
 
 h Burnet's Lives (Bishop Jebb's edition), p. 348. 
 
 solved on this charity 
 
 So plentifully did he 
 
 o 
 
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 96 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 devoted all — money, time, thought, hope, life itself — 
 to raising for God and man, shrines, as worthy of God, 
 as human hands could raise, and fit and able to lift 
 man's thought and hope beyond earth, and lead it on 
 heavenward. They did not sit down to sum up the 
 exact cost of glorifying God ; they did not calculate 
 exactly, how many the holy roof would cover ; they 
 knew with their hearts, if their tongues never uttered, 
 the truth, that 
 
 High Heaven disdains the lore 
 Of nicely calculated less or more. 
 
 And, in the spirit of that higher philosophy, they gave 
 all they could, knowing, that they gave not in vain. 
 And vain it has not been. No ! as year by year the 
 pealing anthem has fallen on the charmed ear ; and 
 nave and choir and aisle have unfolded their awful 
 perspective to the astonished eye 1 ; if a human, as 
 well as a heavenly register could have been kept, to 
 
 i " Such trembling joy the soul oe'r-awes 
 As nearer to Thy shrine she draws : — 
 And now before the choir we pause. 
 
 The door is clos'd — but soft and deep 
 Around the awful arches sweep 
 Such airs as soothe a hermit's sleep. 
 
 From each carv'd nook and fretted bend 
 Cornice and gallery seem to send 
 Tones that with seraph hymns might blend." 
 
 Christian Year. Trinity Sunday. 
 
 O 
 
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AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 97 
 
 tell what transports of love, of devotion, of heartfelt 
 penitence, of rapture, and of tears, the holy walls have 
 witnessed, and sent up in memorial on high ; the 
 lowest of all the low, the Utilitarian himself, if he 
 believed, that there is another world beyond the grave, 
 would be constrained to allow, that the riches lavished 
 on the Abbey and the Cathedral were spent wisely 
 and well k ." 
 
 This noble passage could not be curtailed. Let 
 it have the more influence, as the pure spirit and 
 powerful mind, that dictated it, now speak from the 
 grave. It is under the same elevated feelings, that a 
 living writer, before referred to, has well and beau- 
 tifully observed to the same effect. " We build 
 Churches by calculation, as a matter of necessity ; 
 but of old, Church building was a delight, a luxury, 
 a passion. — Then men of wealth would build some 
 glorious fane from foundation to turret, and those, 
 whose means were less abundant, would furnish a 
 pillar, a transept, or a choir : each man felt a paternal 
 interest in his work ; while he lived, he delighted to 
 visit it, and watch its progress ; when he died, his 
 mortal remains were laid beneath the roof, which he 
 
 k The Duty of Maintaining the Truth ; a Sermon, preached before the 
 University of Cambridge, May 18th, 1834. By H. J. Rose, B.D. See 
 Hooker's Eccles. Pol., bk. v. chap. 11. 
 
 O j 
 
o 
 
 -c 
 
 98 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 had raised, in hope of His coming whose promise had 
 called forth his bounty l ," 
 
 Instances of this practice still remain in the Church 
 of St. Mary, Beverley. " The corbels on the pillars, 
 which support the north side of the nave, are angels 
 with scrolls in their hands, charged with inscriptions, 
 which are repeated at the back of the columns/' re- 
 cording the donors of pillars. The Minstrels left 
 behind them a testimony of their public spirit. They 
 built one of the columns on the north side of the 
 Church, and placed a group of figures with musical 
 instruments on its capital with this inscription : — 
 
 l Wilberforce on the Parochial System, p. 99. Dugdale, in his 
 Monasticon, has given an agreement for building < a new Body of the 
 Collegiate Church of Fotheringay, joining to the Quire,' which affords 
 much interesting and valuable information as to the proceedings, adopted 
 at that period, (13th of Henry VI.) in undertaking a work of this kind. 
 Two Commissaries, "a SqUier and a Clerke," are named, to act on 
 behalf of "the High and Mighty Prince, the Duke of Yorke, on the one 
 part, and Wm. Horwood, Freemason, on the other." The work to be 
 executed is minutely described, and the munificent aid, which is to be 
 given by the Duke, is thus particularized: "And of all the werke my 
 Lord of Yorke shall fynde the carriage and stuffe — viz. Stone, Lyme, 
 Sonde, Ropes, Boltes, Ladderis, Tymbre, Scaffolds, Gynnes, and all 
 manner of stuffe, that longeth to the said werke. And the builder shall 
 haf of my said Lord CCC7 sterlinges." Vol. iii. pt. ii.p. 162. edit. 1673. 
 This curious contract has been recently printed by the Oxford Archi- 
 tectural Society, and illustrated by engravings, taken from the build- 
 ing itself, explanatory of the architectural terms employed in the con- 
 tract. 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
o- 
 
 -o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 99 
 
 The same species of liberality is evidenced on other 
 pillars : 
 
 dftroslag antt f)is togfe matte tfym to pillars anti a ^alfc n \ 
 In the Church of Berry Pomeroy, Devon, like 
 instances will be found, owing to the judicious super- 
 intendance of the present Vicar, (the Rev. E. Brown,) 
 who has relieved the pillars, the porch, and a beautiful 
 
 m Oliver's Hist, of Beverley, pp. 167. 178. 351. 
 
 o 
 
 •o 
 
o — 
 
 100 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 ■o 
 
 Altar-tomb, from the coats of whitewash, with which 
 they were severally incrusted. The same degree of 
 attention, in other Churches, would, doubtless, occa- 
 sionally be followed with the same result, and bring 
 forth similar records of individual liberality. 
 
 Mr. Fellows, in his recent Travels in Asia Minor, 
 met with several examples of individuals who had con- 
 tributed to the erection of portions of a building. He 
 describes a fine Temple of the Corinthian order 
 at Labranda, " with twelve fluted columns, and four 
 not fluted, but apparently prepared for this ornamental 
 finish." These twelve pillars present the great 
 peculiarity of having a panel or tablet not let in, but 
 left uncut, projecting above the fluting : on each 
 tablet is an inscription, shewing the Temple to have 
 been a votive structure. 
 
 " Menecrates, son of Menecrates, the chief physician 
 of the city, gave, whilst Stephanephoros, this column 
 with the base and capital; his daughter Tryphcena, 
 herself also a Stephanephoros and Gymnasiarchos, 
 superintending the work." 
 
 " Leo the son of Leo, whilst Stephanephoros, gave 
 the column with the base and capital, according to his 
 promise." 
 
 This custom may again be traced upon some of the 
 columns of the Temple of Venus at Aphrodisias, in 
 Caria, where we read, 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 101 
 
 " Eumachus Diogenes Philocsesar, the son of Athe- 
 nagoras, the son of Athenagoras, the son of Eumachus: 
 and Ammias Olympias, the adopted daughter of Dio- 
 nysias, but by birth that of Adrastus, the Son of Molon; 
 give this column to the Goddess Aphrodite and to the 
 people/' Several other inscriptions occur, recording 
 the presentation of other portions of public buildings, 
 the frieze, architrave n , &c. &c. 
 
 The symmetry of a column must necessarily be 
 " much disturbed," as Mr. Fellows states is the case, 
 by the introduction of tablets of this description ; but, 
 if the precedent were adopted by ourselves, inscrip- 
 tions, whether as records of private liberality, or as 
 posthumous memorials, might be so placed around the 
 base of a column, that the eye could not be offended 
 by them. 
 
 To revert to our own country, — one reason, why 
 our Churches have so long remained in their sad and 
 disgraceful condition, is the habitual neglect, to which 
 they are subjected. When the accustomed services of 
 the Lord's day are terminated, the door is closed, 
 perhaps, until the ensuing Sunday. A casual visitor 
 may ask to inspect it, or a funeral, a baptism, or a 
 marriage may occur, so as to break the week's repose. 
 The building otherwise is left to the influence of the 
 
 n The author is indebted to Mr. Murray of Albemarle-street for this 
 interesting communication. 
 
102 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 weather, and to the rooks or bats, which may have 
 chosen it for their abode. The revival, which is 
 taking place in the celebration of Divine Service, 
 twice, or more frequently, in the week, and on the 
 Fasts and Festivals of the Church, will, in some 
 degree, cause the courts of the Lord's House to be 
 more constantly visited : but it appears strange, that 
 access to them should not at all times be rendered 
 easy. There are seasons, when the thankful, the 
 penitent, and the mourner, might be well disposed to 
 quit for a while the turmoil of active life, and the con- 
 verse of their fellow-men, to breathe the language of 
 prayer and of thanksgiving in tranquillity, and in a 
 place, immediately dedicated to the Almighty. 
 
 'Tis well, true hearts should for a time retire 
 To holy ground, in quiet to aspire 
 
 Towards promis'd regions of serener grace. 
 
 Then, to the world return °. 
 Nay ; in the busiest marts of commerce, why should 
 not the doors of the city Church be open, and afford 
 to the Merchant- Adventurer (as he was of old, and 
 properly called) the means of invoking God's favour 
 on some hazardous enterprize, involving the risk of 
 his worldly goods, and the personal danger of all 
 engaged in it, and who " occupy their business in 
 great waters ?" 
 
 c Christian Year. Ninth Sunday after Trinity. 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 103 
 
 The very silence, which prevails, and the various 
 solemn objects, presented to the eye in our Churches, 
 harmonize well with the feelings of every thoughtful 
 mind, and attune it to devotion. This, we may 
 believe, was the accustomed solace, which Milton 
 desired, 
 
 " What a venerable and fearful place is a Church, 
 in and around which the dead are deposited ! Truly 
 it is chiefly sacred, as being the spot, where God has 
 for ages manifested Himself to His servants ; but add 
 to this the thought, that it is the actual resting-place 
 of those very servants through successive times who 
 still live unto Him p." 
 
 Whilst we borrow so many of the habits and cus- 
 toms, prevailing on the continent, why do we not adopt 
 the edifying practice of opening, with the same wide 
 and liberal comprehension, the doors of our Churches ? 
 why is not the humblest with us, as with the Romanists 
 abroad, to have free access, at all convenient seasons, 
 into the Sanctuary ? Under the regulations of our 
 
 p Newman's Sermons, vol. i. p. 322. Can I forbear adding another 
 exquisite passage from the pen of the same gifted writer — that holy 
 and humble man of heart — " What pious and composed thoughts should 
 be ours, when we enter Churches. God, indeed, is every where, and 
 His Angels go to and fro ; yet can they be more worthily employed in 
 their condescending care of man, than where good men sleep?" Ibid. 
 
 May my due feet never fail 
 
 To walk the studious cloister pale. 
 
 p. 323. 
 
 c 
 
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 104 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 purer and more simple form of worship, religion 
 would not suffer by its greater familiarity with 
 the ordinary business of life ^. Decked-out images 
 would not be found, before which prayers would 
 be offered — nor would processions, accompanied by 
 noisy children and offensive banners, march around 
 them ; but to have the opportunity of frequenting our 
 Churches must be beneficial, " where the privacy of 
 the closet would be combined with that solemnity, 
 which attaches itself to the House of God r ." Hooker, 
 during the Ember weeks and Fast days, took the key 
 of the Church door, and retired thither for many 
 hours s . This custom might be well suited to a mind 
 like Hooker's, but the occasional practice, which is 
 here recommended, is adapted " to all sorts and con- 
 ditions of men/ 5 especially for the comfort of those, 
 who are " desolate or oppressed, or who are afflicted 
 in mind, or estate." 
 
 Be mine, in hours of fear 
 
 Or grovelling thought, to seek a refuge here ; 
 
 Where bubbles burst, and folly's dancing foam 
 
 Melts if it cross the threshold 
 
 i See the admirable passage from Bishop Butler, quoted by the 
 Bishop of London in his recent charge, (1842,) p. 38. 
 
 r Hughes's Travels in the South of France, p. 137. 
 
 8 Walton's Life of Hooker. Zouch's edit., p. 239. 
 
 1 Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Sonnets, pt. iii. xxxv. The Cathedral 
 in Calcutta, as its Bishop and munificent Founder informs us, " is to be 
 always open for the private devotion of the faithful." Report of the 
 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1842. p. lxviii. 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
O Q 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 105 
 
 But to return : — Surely by the rebuilding and 
 restoration of the old waste places u of our Zion, we 
 should render far more honour to the dead, than by 
 a continuance of our present practice. And let it be 
 remembered, that in all the works, which have been 
 recommended, short inscriptions may be carefully 
 inscribed on the panels, so generally found in our 
 Cathedrals and Churches, or in other suitable places, 
 to record the occasion, when they were raised and 
 perfected. Names of individuals also, might thus 
 be commemorated x , and a relation or friend be 
 identified with the building, which holds his ashes. 
 Should the Font and the Altar call for restoration, 
 there are many touching associations, which point 
 them out as most fitting memorials. At the one the 
 deceased may have been baptized, and been made 
 an inheritor of that Kingdom, in which it may be 
 humbly hoped his spirit rests in peace ; and at that 
 Altar he may, during the largest portion of his life, 
 have meekly knelt, and " received with trembling joy 
 the signs and seals of God's Heavenly promises 
 
 u Isaiah., lviii. 12. 
 
 * Brass for this purpose has been recommended as preferable, [Eccle- 
 siologist, vol. i. p. 43.], but, when affected by damp, metal becomes 
 black or corroded, and the lettering, consequently, is rendered barely 
 legible. If frequently cleaned, also, the letters would soon be obliterated 
 by friction. 
 
 y H. J. Rose, B.D. Sermon preached at Ipswich, before the Clergy 
 Society of Suffolk, 1833. p. 3. 
 
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 106 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 As an instance of the kind of restoration here ad- 
 vocated, the remains of the Abbey- Church of Pershore 
 in Worcestershire shall be selected. 
 
 Here columns heap'd on prostrate columns, torn 
 From their firm base, increase the mouldring mass, 
 Far as the eye can pierce, appear the spoils 
 Of sunk magnificence z . 
 
 The choir and south transept of this fine structure 
 remain, the former is a beautiful specimen of Early 
 English Architecture, and is now used as the Parish 
 Church. The comparatively modern screen, of rude 
 workmanship, and of the worst taste, blocks up the 
 entrance into that part which formed the Lady- Chapel, 
 the north and south sides of which are standing, 
 though in a dilapidated state. If the east end and 
 the roof of this chapel were restored, and the present 
 screen thrown down, a small chancel of exquisite 
 workmanship would be formed, which would present 
 a semi- hexagonal termination of the Church, at once 
 graceful and striking. Will not some liberal person 
 in the neighbourhood be found to raise up this taber- 
 nacle that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof ; 
 and raise up his ruins, and build it as in the days of 
 old*? 
 
 The reader may recall to his recollection the fact, 
 that, on the lamented death of the Princess Charlotte 
 
 * Thomas Warton. a Amos ix. 11, 
 
 O 6 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 107 
 
 of Wales, a subscription, amounting to many thousand 
 pounds, was devoted to the erection of a monument in 
 St. George's Chapel, Windsor. Upon the style and 
 execution of that monument, no comment is here 
 offered. The subject was one of such deep and 
 general interest, that rare, indeed, must have been 
 the talents, which would have fully satisfied public 
 expectation. Had this large expenditure been de- 
 voted to building a Church either at Windsor or at 
 Claremont, what might not Architecture and Sculp- 
 ture, combined on such an occasion, have effected, 
 and how great would have been the public benefit b ! 
 
 If the works, here recommended for adoption, ap- 
 pear to be such, as can only be accomplished by a 
 large outlay of money, and can, therefore, be effected 
 solely by persons of fortune, various modes might 
 be devised, by which the same objects could be at- 
 tained by individuals of moderate means. 
 
 b The Cenotaph committee, at one time, announced such to have been 
 their intention, [Gent.'s Mag., May 1818, p. 463.] Why was it abandoned ? 
 The promoters of the Oxford Memorial of Cranmer, Ridley, and 
 Latimer, state, that " it was not intended, that this Monument should 
 merely commemorate their holy lives or their heroic deaths : if these 
 alone had been the subjects, it appeared to many, that too much honour 
 would have been paid to the creature, and too little to the Crea-tor. — It 
 was urged, that the structure should be a Church, as well as a 
 Monument, an edifice to the glory of God as a place of Worship, and an 
 edifice gratefully commemorative of His Servants," &c. Gent.'s Mag. 
 1840, p. 379. 
 
o o 
 
 108 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 In the first place, — instead of a paltry design being 
 at once completed, and an inferior Church erected 
 from limited funds, might we not resort to the old 
 custom of building by degrees ? A plan for a spacious 
 Church might be laid down, but a portion of it, 
 merely, — a chancel or a transept, — might, in the first 
 instance, be perfected ; or the interior of a Church 
 might be finished, while the ornaments of the ex- 
 ternal walls, the tower, or spire, might be left to the 
 exertions and munificence of others in future years. 
 In all these undertakings, there might be a principle 
 of expansion, which would admit of being conve- 
 niently applied, both to the size and enrichments 
 of a building . 
 
 A signal example of this laudable practice has re- 
 cently been furnished by the liberal Founder of a 
 Church in the district of Eastover, Bridgwater, who 
 thus expressed himself in relation to the proposed 
 
 c The Church-building Society has recently recommended this course 
 of proceeding to be adopted in future. " If the funds do not suffice 
 to complete satisfactorily a design, otherwise eligible ; or if the cir- 
 cumstances of the neighbourhood render it probable, that, at no great 
 distance of time, the building may be enlarged ; it is better to leave a 
 part of the original design, as, for example, side aisles or transepts, to a 
 future period, than to attempt the completion of the whole design at once 
 in an inferior manner. In such a case, the temporary walls and 
 fillings up of arches should be so built, as clearly to shew, that they are 
 temporary, and that the building is incomplete, but, at the same time, 
 not without due regard to ecclesiastical propriety. " 
 
 C O 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 109 
 
 fabric. " The proposal, which I now make, is to build 
 the Church, as far as may be, according to the 
 drawing, which is now laid before the meeting. As 
 accurately as it is possible to calculate, it will cost 
 about £3,000 to complete the Church, exclusive of the 
 spire. It is my wish to go thus far at once, leaving the 
 spire to be completed at some future time, when, from 
 my own resources, or by the assistance of my friends, 
 the necessary funds can be found. It was on this plan, 
 that the great Cathedrals were almost all erected ; 
 one Bishop generally completed one portion of the 
 building, leaving the whole to be finished by future 
 generations : so that frequently two, three, or even 
 four, centuries elapsed between the commencement 
 and the completion of the work d ." 
 
 The incompleteness of a pile, constantly presented 
 to the eyes of the pious, and the lovers of ecclesiastical 
 architecture, would stimulate gifts and legacies, which 
 could never be better applied e . 
 
 d This good work is now, (1843) happily advancing, under the direc- 
 tion of its munificent and zealous Founder, the Rev. J. M. Capes, 
 late of Balliol College, Oxford. The internal dimensions of this Church 
 are as follow :— Nave, 84ft. hy 32ft. 6in.; Chancel, 32ft., by 17ft. 6in. ; 
 height of Nave, 54ft., of Chancel, 42. These portions of the building 
 are covered in. Tower 85ft. high. The Vestry is octagonal, communi- 
 cating by a low passage with the North side of the Chancel. The cost 
 will not be less than ^6,000, without the Spire, the height of which is 
 contemplated at about 80ft. 
 
 e The great Bell-tower of the Abbey Church of St. Edmundsbury 
 
 O 
 
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110 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 Secondly; to meet the ability of persons of still 
 humbler means, a fund might be created in each 
 parish, to which sums might be contributed for the 
 repairs and embellishment of the Church, or of specific 
 portions of it, or for the more effective performance of 
 the Services. 
 
 The names of the deceased persons and their con- 
 tributions should be recorded, in the most simple and 
 unobtrusive manner, and to them might be annexed 
 the dates of their birth and death. By this method 
 both small sums would be collected, and names would 
 be registered in a far more lasting manner than on 
 scattered and mutilated stones. The preservation of 
 the names and dates in some durable form would be 
 very desirable, as undecaying evidence, and a family, 
 or an executor, therefore, could not scruple to expend 
 a few pounds with this view, as part of the funeral 
 expenses. The perishable boards, with the names of 
 benefactors, formerly employed, but now rapidly dis- 
 appearing, should give way to suitable slabs of marble 
 or stone, inserted for the purpose in the very walls 
 themselves, where they might be seen by all, but 
 would not disfigure the building. To provide for 
 
 was commenced about 1436. From the year 1441 to 1500, legacies were 
 given towards this building : so carefully and painfully did our an- 
 cestors proceed in their vast and beautiful works. In 1461 an indivi- 
 dual (doubtless a benefactor) desires to be buried " in magno ostio novi 
 campanilisP Archaeol., vol. xxiii. p. 333. 
 
o o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. Ill 
 
 some of these objects, there might be a further re- 
 laxation of the Statute of Mortmain ; which, indeed, 
 is needed, not simply for the benefit of the Church, 
 or, as they may still be termed by some, for " super- 
 stitious uses," but for other designs of a public na- 
 ture, to the success of which this law has proved a 
 serious impediment. 
 
 At the risk of being charged with tedious repetition, 
 let it be most distinctly understood, that it is not 
 sought to banish monuments, altogether, from our 
 Churches, bat strongly to recommend, that, in the 
 first place, a wise caution should be exercised regard- 
 ing the individuals to be commemorated. Let the 
 monuments cover, in the words of Sir W. Raleigh, 
 " the buried dust of living fame." The greatest care 
 must likewise be employed in the disposal of every 
 monument, so that the fabric be honoured rather than 
 the memorial. Above all, it is earnestly suggested, 
 that, before money is expended on any such memo- 
 rials, the existing state and wants of the district, or 
 of the Church itself, which is intended to receive it, 
 should be thoroughly considered. 
 
 Should it be urged, that these plans, if generally 
 pursued, would lead to a neglect of Sculpture, and 
 that we should transfer the commemoration of the 
 dead from Sculpture to Architecture, a little re- 
 flection will satisfy us, that, on the contrary, the 
 
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o— o 
 
 112 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 art of Sculpture would be materially benefited. The 
 accomplished artist, instead of being doomed to 
 tasks, for the most part, of an insipid, and unin- 
 teresting character, and not calling for any high 
 exercise of his genius, would be left to devote him- 
 self to works, more congenial to his taste and feel- 
 ings. Let statues, and busts, and relievos be multi- 
 plied, but let their destination be changed. Let the 
 statues and busts of literary men be placed in those 
 Institutions, with which they have been connected. 
 Let those of Lawyers be placed in Courts of Jus- 
 tice, or in the Halls of the Inns of Court ; those of 
 medical men in the Colleges, where their lectures 
 were delivered, or in the Hospitals, which they 
 have benefited by the exercise of their talents and 
 philanthropy ; and those of eminent ecclesiastics in 
 their College- Libraries or Halls. Let provision be 
 made in the Houses of Parliament that are now 
 rising, for the judicious introduction of statues within 
 their walls. How much more advantageously might 
 those of Lord Chatham and of Pitt, of Fox, Horner, 
 and Canning, have appeared in such a building, than 
 crowded, almost buried, as they are, in the adjoin- 
 ing Abbey of Westminster. Of such men, monu- 
 ments are not required on the particular spots, 
 where their ashes rest — these form the most pre- 
 cious deposit. 
 
 o o 
 
o 
 
 ■o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 113 
 
 " In Santa Croce's holy precincts lie 
 Ashes, which make it holier, dust which is 
 Even in itself an immortality f ." 
 
 Shakespeare's gravestone, with its quaint lines, would 
 have drawn the same number of pilgrims to Stratford, 
 if no mural monument to his memory had existed ; 
 and when we approach the gravestone, in Poet's 
 Corner, simply inscribed with the name of Samuel 
 Johnson, it awakens far keener emotions than the con- 
 templation of his colossal statue in St. Paul's. But 
 we must recollect, that Sculpture is essentially com- 
 bined with the plans here proposed, and its accompani- 
 ments. The Church, the Porch, the Altar-Screen, and 
 the Font, may all be decorated, — lavishly decorated, — 
 if desired, with appropriate Sculpture. All these Ec- 
 clesiastical appendages would admit of its introduction 
 with perfect propriety and the best effect. Grinlin 
 Gibbons's Font in St. James's Church, Westminster, 
 and the alto-relievos by Sir Richard Westmacott on 
 the Screen of the Chapel of New College, are in- 
 stances in point. 
 
 There remains another description of Memorial for 
 recording departed excellence, which, while it serves 
 as a tribute of affection, is also highly conducive to 
 the due solemnity and splendour of the House of 
 
 t Childe Harold, c. iv. 54. 
 
 O— O 
 
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 I 
 
 114 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 God. I mean the " storied window." — No Eccle- 
 siastical ornament can be proposed, that is superior 
 to it, or more strictly appropriate, — whether as reve- 
 rential in feeling, or pure in taste. — An ancient 
 building, by thus re-assuming one of its earliest and 
 most striking features, acquires increased sublimity 
 and beauty, and a modern one, by the introduction of 
 good stained glass, is immediately invested with a 
 devotional character. I am of course supposing that 
 all, which is meretricious, whether in the colours or 
 design, and which could offend a correct eye, is 
 scrupulously avoided. 
 
 Frail as this material confessedly is, men in former 
 ages, have relied upon it for the perpetuation of 
 their memories and pious deeds ; and cases may 
 be cited, where glass has been faithful to its trust 
 through periods of four, five, and, perhaps, six cen- 
 turies s. 
 
 The stained glass in the aisles of the Choir of 
 Canterbury Cathedral, probably the most ancient in 
 this kingdom, appears to be of the early part of the 
 twelfth century : " the extent of it is yet considerable, 
 and its effect extremely beautiful 11 ." In the Chancel 
 of Chetwode Church, Buckinghamshire, Lysons 
 
 g Hunter's South Yorkshire, vol. i. p. 40. 
 h Glossary of Architecture, pt. i. p. 239. 
 
 O 
 
 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 115 
 
 speaks of glass, which is undoubtedly of the date 
 of 1244*. The oldest specimens of glass in Merton 
 College Chapel may be ascribed to the year 1283, 
 and fragments of the same pattern and design were 
 discovered in the Chancel of Garsington Church, 
 Oxfordshire, probably built in the reign of Edward 
 the First k . It is to the rude hands of the barbarian 
 and fanatic, therefore, and not to the influence of time 
 and weather, that we may trace the destruction of 
 this most fitting ornament of our Churches. To 
 judge from these yet lingering specimens of an- 
 tiquity, we may consider it wiser, occasionally, to 
 commemorate our departed friends on this fragile 
 substance, rather than on those, seemingly, more 
 durable ones, brass or marble. 
 
 Pope, when describing with admirable humour, a 
 large country seat, which he then inhabited, states, 
 that in the Hall is " one vast arched window, beauti- 
 fully darkened with divers scutcheons of painted glass : 
 one shining pane, in particular, bears date 1286, which 
 alone preserves the memory of a Knight, whose iron 
 armour is long since perished with rust, and whose 
 alabaster nose is mouldered from his monument. The 
 face of Dame Eleanor, in another piece, owes more to 
 that single pane than to all the glasses she ever con- 
 
 i Magna Brit., vol. i. p. 488. k Memorials of Oxford, pt. i. 
 
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 11G REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 suited in her life. After this, who can say, that glass 
 is frail 1 ?" 
 
 But while we seek to adorn Churches, and to do 
 honour to the dead, we must never omit, previously, to 
 examine the condition of the building itself, which we 
 are desirous of improving. If we pay no attention to 
 those decays, which threaten, perhaps, the stability 
 of the fabric, we may indulge our taste, but we shall 
 neglect our duty. We, in a manner, put a piece of 
 new cloth upon an old garment, and cause existing 
 defects to become still more palpable. The restoration 
 of a single buttress, to support a tottering wall, or the 
 renewal of decaying timbers, in the roof, although 
 not calculated to make the same impression on the 
 spectator as painted windows, may prove, in the end, 
 the best and most enduring memorial of a departed 
 friend. We make our tribute of affection really sub- 
 servient to a pious purpose, that of preserving, per- 
 haps, for generations to come, the House of Prayer. 
 It may be hoped, that both objects may be effected, 
 and that the intended donor of a window may feel it 
 incumbent on him first to render the Church itself, 
 which is to contain it, fitted for its reception, and 
 when that is done, but not before, add the memorial- 
 window, as a suitable ornament. 
 
 1 Pope's Works, Letter to the Duke of Buckinghamshire, (without 
 date.) Warburton's Edit., vol. vii. p. 346. 
 
 0' 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
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 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 117 
 
 It may, however, be argued, that the whole tenor of 
 these suggestions, instead of leading us to be "mindful 
 of the honoured dead," is to promote the improve- 
 ment of our Churches : it may be asked and urged 
 in reply; What is the important object, for which 
 Churches are erected ? Are they built to dignify dust 
 and ashes, or to the glory and honour of Almighty 
 God, and as means for the salvation of His people ? 
 Too long, alas ! have they been receptacles for human 
 vanity; — too long have the beauty and order of the 
 Services of the Church been marred by the poverty 
 and meanness of the buildings, in which they are 
 solemnized. 
 
 "The Church," says an eloquent Father, " is a 
 place of angels, a place of archangels, a palace of God. 
 If thou believest not, look to this Table, call to mind 
 for Whose sake it is set, and why ; consider Who it 
 is, that is coming forth here ; tremble with awe even 
 before the time. For so, when one sees the throne 
 only of a king, in heart he rises up, expecting the 
 king's coming forth. And do thou accordingly thrill 
 with awe even before that thrilling moment : raise up 
 thyself, and, before thou seest the veils drawn aside, 
 and the choir of angels marching forth, ascend thou 
 to the very Heaven m ." 
 
 m St. Chrysostom, on 1 Corinthians, xiv. 33. Horn, xxxvi. 
 
 O O 
 
118 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 It is fully admitted, that pure and holy thoughts 
 may arise, and fervent prayers may he uttered alike 
 under roofs of thatch as in vaulted aisles. So long 
 however as man is influenced hy external objects, 
 will it be denied, that devotion would be heightened, 
 nay oftentimes be produced, if more reverent atten- 
 tion were paid to holy places and holy things ? 
 " Manifest it is, that the very majesty and holiness 
 of the place, where God is worshipped, hath in 
 regard of its, great virtue, force, and efficacy, for 
 that it serveth as a sensible help to stir up de- 
 votion, and in that respect, no doubt, better eth, even 
 our holiest and best actions in this kind. As, there- 
 fore, we every where exhort all men to worship God, 
 even so, for performance of this Service by the 
 people of God assembled, we think not any place so 
 good as the Church, neither any exhortation so fit as 
 that of David, ' O worship the Lord in the beauty of 
 Holiness V " " The mind of man, even in spirituals/' 
 says South , " acts with a corporeal dependence, and 
 so is helped or hindered in its operations, according to 
 the different quality of external objects, that incur into 
 the senses. And, perhaps, sometimes the sight of the 
 Altar, and those decent preparations for the work of 
 devotion, may compose and recover the wandering 
 
 n Hooker's Eccl. Polity, book v. chap. xvi. [2.] 
 ° Sermons, (sixth edition,) vol. i. p. 283. 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 119 
 
 mind, much more effectually than a Sermon. For 
 these things in a manner preach to the eye, when the 
 ear is dull, and will not hear ; and the eye dictates 
 to the imagination, and that at last moves the affec- 
 tions." 
 
 Bishop Jebb, who truly found the paths of religion 
 paths of pleasantness and peace, considers, that, in 
 the erection of a Church, we should avoid all osten- 
 tatious ornament and show, on the one hand, and that, 
 on the other, we should shun all sordid and unseemly 
 negligence. It should be answerable to the Service 
 of our Church, " which, above any other service in the 
 world, is at once cheerful, simple, and majestic." He 
 then adds a remark, which every Parent ought to bear 
 in mind. " They, to whom the worship of God is 
 made pleasant in their childhood, will not, probably, 
 forsake that worship, or feel it irksome in their ma- 
 turer years ; and, on this principle, one of the wisest 
 writers and best men of the former age (Fleury) has 
 left it as his fixed opinion, that young persons should, 
 if possible, be introduced to public worship, for the 
 first time, in a beautiful Church p." 
 
 Sir Samuel Romilly describes the French Chapel, 
 which he frequented, when young, as " a large, un- 
 couth room ; presenting to the view only irregular, 
 
 p Bp. Jebb's Practical Theology, vol. ii. p. 93. 
 
 O 
 
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120 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 unpainted pews, and dusty, plastered walls/' The 
 manner, in which the Service was performed, was 
 equally unattractive ; " Nothing/' he adds, " was ever 
 worse calculated to inspire the mind of a child with 
 respect for religion, than such a kind of religious 
 worship <i." . . . Might not Romilly's constitutional 
 melancholy have been largely increased by the gene- 
 ral gloom of Calvinistic worship, so little adapted to 
 a mind elegant and imaginative r ? " We cannot by 
 our gifts profit the Almighty, but we may honour 
 Him, and profit ourselves ; for, while man is man, 
 religion, like man, must have a body and a soul ; it 
 must be external as well as internal ; and the two 
 parts in both cases, will ever have a mutual influence 
 upon each other. The senses and the imagination 
 must have a considerable share in public worship ; and 
 devotion will accordingly be depressed, or heightened, 
 by the mean, sordid, and dispiriting, or the fair, splen- 
 
 i Life, vol. i. p. 15. 
 
 r Well has it been observed in the excellent "Elementary Remarks 
 on Church Architecture," by the Rev. John Medley, M.A., that "where 
 the Houses, dedicated to God, are either so mean as to excite contempt, 
 or so ill-arranged, that all that profound self abasement, which man 
 ought to feel towards his Maker, is swallowed up in taking care for his 
 own comfort, and making himself his own idol, it is plain, that bad taste 
 is only another name for irreverence, and forgetfulness of what is due 
 to God, and to the place, where He is worshipped. So that it may be 
 admitted on Scriptural principles, that incorrect taste in religious edifices 
 implies incorrect moral perception ; an error not, indeed, always wilful ( 
 but which, nevertheless, requires to be amended." p. 9. 
 
o o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 121 
 
 did, and cheerful appearance of the objects around 
 us s ." We have recent experience, that the reverence 
 for sacred things, exhibited by the Members of the 
 Cambridge Camden Society, in forwarding some re- 
 storations in Churches, has communicated itself to 
 the inhabitants of the places, where these Churches 
 are situated, "to many of whom it seemed to be 
 the first occasion of such reverential reflection V 
 Surely it will not be denied, that the hearts of these 
 persons may thus be seriously touched, and that the 
 good seed may henceforth be sown in ground, better 
 prepared to receive it. 
 
 The solemn services of the Sanctuary, " the pealing 
 Anthem and the pausing Choir," have solaced, and 
 gilded, the closing days of many an aged worshipper, 
 over whose grave the choral harmony may be wafted, 
 when his body lies in the Temple, which he daily 
 frequented. The author remembers with feelings of 
 gratitude, that, from his tenth to his fifteenth year, he 
 had almost daily opportunities of treading the aisles 
 of a Cathedral ; and to this circumstance he, in a 
 great measure, attributes many of those tastes and 
 pursuits, which have " cheered and softened life." 
 
 We ask for no superstitious homage to creatures of 
 wood and stone ; but let us bear in mind, that, whilst 
 
 » Bishop Home's Works, vol. v. p. 378. 
 1 The President's First Address, 1840. 
 
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 122 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 God is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth, yet 
 in temples made with hands, those temples should be 
 constructed, so far as the agency of man is con- 
 cerned, in the beauty of holiness ; and should be 
 guarded, and preserved with religious care. " It 
 ought not amongst Christians to admit of dispute, 
 that when we enter a Church, every thing should make 
 us feel that we are in the House of God, that the 
 building is His, that every thing belonging to it is 
 His, and, as such, is to be regarded with reverence 
 and awe. All that savours of the world, all that may 
 remind us of human vanity, and mere secular distinc- 
 tion, must be kept out of sight. — The very form and 
 arrangement of the building, its walls covered, as of 
 old, with Scripture sentences, its windows and 
 minutest decorations, should speak to us as pilgrims 
 journeying onwards to a better country, and looking 
 for the city which hath foundations, ' whose builder and 
 Maker is GodV " Be it remembered, that the gracious 
 promise of the Almighty to dwell amongst His children, 
 and not to forsake His people*, was made at that 
 particular time, when Solomon had completed the 
 most magnificent of edifices, for the decoration of 
 which was employed a workman, skilful to grave any 
 
 " " A Few Thoughts on the Interior Arrangement of Churches," by 
 the Dean of Exeter, p. 31. 
 * 1 Kings, vi. 13. 
 
 o— — 6 
 
o- 
 
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 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 123 
 
 manner of graving^ ; for which great stones, — costly 
 stones — were brought for the foundation; and pure gold 
 and precious stones for beauty — and all, that art could 
 give, was bestowed upon that most holy house z . And, 
 lastly, was it' not on the dedication of the second 
 Temple, that the Almighty promised, In this place 
 will I give peace a ? The Almighty, we know, is not 
 to be mocked by empty ceremonies, by lifeless 
 services, by prayers uttered by the lips alone. No 
 undue stress is here sought to be laid upon acts, which 
 might lead formalism to be substituted for the living 
 spirit of true devotion. 
 
 No decoration is here recommended, which could 
 expose either the Founder, or Restorer, of our 
 Churches, to the charge of reviving superstitious 
 ornaments, and thereby of " casting stumbling- 
 blocks in the path, which truly leads to the Sanc- 
 tuary V We are told, that, when the excellent 
 George Herbert undertook the rebuilding of his 
 Church at Leighton, he made it so much " his 
 whole business, that he became restless, till he saw it 
 finished," and that for " decency and beauty," it 
 exceeded all others. It is decency and beauty, such 
 as Herbert would have approved — such as our own 
 pure and Apostolic Church sanctions, and nothing 
 
 y 2 Chron. ii. 14. z 1 Kings, v. 17 ; 2 Chron. iii. 6. 
 
 a Haggai, ii. 9. b Quart. Rev., vol. lxvi. p. 354. 
 
 6 o 
 
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 124 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 more — which should be universally adopted in our 
 Ecclesiastical buildings. 
 
 Whatever superstitious notions may have actuated 
 some men in the building and endowment of Churches 
 and religious houses, it has been the praise of others, 
 during successive ages, to raise these piles with the 
 noblest views, and with the single object of advanc- 
 ing the glory of God, and the welfare of mankind. 
 Often they preceded the existing wants of the people, 
 and Wykeham, in adding so largely to the Cathedral 
 of Winchester, and in founding his two Colleges, 
 indulged in 
 
 That best, that Godlike luxury, 
 
 Of blessing thousands, thousands yet unborn, 
 
 Through late posterity c . 
 
 The gigantic manufactories of our days are also built 
 to receive thousands of human beings within their 
 walls : not, however, with the view of furthering their 
 comfort and happiness, their present or eternal 
 interests, but solely and exclusively to increase the 
 wealth of their proprietors. In too many of these 
 buildings, the abodes of vice and disease, of sin and 
 sorrow, " Society is disorganized, and set against 
 itself. The extremes of wealth and poverty confront 
 each other in hideous opposition. There is neither, 
 
 Thomson's Autumn, 909. 
 
 -O 
 
o 
 
 -o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 
 
 125 
 
 on the one hand, kindly protection, nor grateful de- 
 pendance on the other. Blind ignorance, animal in- 
 dulgence, squalid misery ; childhood reft of its natu- 
 ral cheerfulness, and chained down to the labours of 
 the mill ; manhood restless, discontented, vicious ; 
 premature old age. Religion itself, where it exists, 
 too often distorted from the pure law of Christ, and 
 made to assume whatever form the ignorance, pas- 
 sion, or caprice of men may devise ; here rushing 
 into every excess of enthusiastic madness ; there 
 fading away into the denial of every doctrine of re- 
 vealed truth d ." Should it not enter into the hearts of 
 the owners of these " vast idol-temples of our manu- 
 
 d Sermon by the Bishop of Salisbury on Church Extension, 1841. — A 
 noble author has expressed himself in like terms, in a work, from 
 which the statesman may learn wisdom, and the high-toned morality 
 of which must be profitable to all. — " The frightful abuses of the factory- 
 system have raised up gaunt poverty, side by side, with overgrown 
 wealth — a race of men, bound to their superiors by no other tie than 
 wages and hire — with no mutual and hereditary feelings of kindness. 
 Behold, in the pale and blear-eyed mechanic, in the feverish and 
 stunted factory-child, the descendants of the hardy and joyous English 
 yeomen! — Ready to sell their skill to the highest bidder, they are 
 transferred, without care and reflection, from master to master, and 
 from mill to mill. To their ever-growing numbers the religious 
 provision of the Church has proved utterly inadequate, and in some 
 cases their want of spiritual food has been supplied by the rankest 
 poison. God forbid, that this description should apply to all ! But 
 does it not apply to more than a few ? And is such a state of things 
 free from grievous misery? Is it free from appalling danger?" History 
 of England, by Lord Mahon, vol. ii. p. 37. 
 
 O 
 
 •o 
 
o 
 
 ■o 
 
 126 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 facturing greatness," to make friends of the mam- 
 mon of unrighteousness ? to be mindful, that what- 
 ever of spiritual guidance can leaven the mass, — what- 
 ever of Christian love and watchfulness can diminish 
 the guilt and wretchedness, which reign within them, 
 — should be provided; — that Churches e and Schools 
 should be their invariable accompaniments ; — and that 
 the knowledge of divine truths, by authorized teachers, 
 should be sedulously inculcated on the minds of the 
 rising generation f ? This imperative duty, on the part 
 9 of the master, has alas ! been grossly neglected, and 
 amidst the triumphs of war, and in an exclusive de- 
 votion to the arts of peace, the voice of warning, and 
 
 e Though I never yet saw a gallery in any Church or Chapel appro- 
 priated to children, employed in manufactories, I have seen a grave in 
 a Church-yard, lettered, stating, that it was provided for the parish 
 apprentices sent into that district from the London Workhouses ; thus 
 pointing out the spot, where some of these poor children — how far hap- 
 pier in their deaths than many of their surviving companions ! — might 
 rest in peace. Let us hope, that an improved state of things may have 
 already arisen in some of the manufacturing districts, owing to in- 
 . creased Church accommodation, and this chiefly by the well-directed 
 liberality of individuals. 
 
 f When an acre of ground is covered with buildings, when one huge 
 manufactory is added to another, " how little would be diminished from 
 the annual returns of the business, or added to the annual expense of 
 the establishment, if j^IOO or ^200, were devoted to a clergyman to 
 watch over the eternal interests of those, on whom the proprietor's 
 temporal interests depend. — The intellectual machine, which is to 
 endure for ever, has been treated, too often, as if it were to perish with 
 the materia] things, on which it is employed ! " Bishop of Chester's 
 Charge, 1841, Appendix, p. 76. 
 
 •o 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 127 
 
 the performance of a solemn obligation, have been, 
 until very late days, unheeded. Let us awake to 
 the conviction, that " the greatest plague-spot of the 
 nation, is in those very things, which constitute, with 
 many, its sole grandeur and its greatness." From 
 these congregated and neglected masses it is, that 
 destruction to our social state may arise : let us, there- 
 fore, by timely and zealous exertions, endeavour to 
 guard against the fulfilment of the gloomy prophecy 
 of Scotland's illustrious and far-sighted poet ; who, 
 in speaking of "the stern sullen artificers," whom 
 he had then lately met, " rendered outrageous by 
 distress," observes, " God's justice is requiting, and 
 will yet further requite, those, who have blown up 
 this country into a state of unsubstantial opulence, at 
 the expense of the health and morals of the lower 
 classes s." 
 
 To return to Wykeham, and to men like Wykeham. 
 They expended their wealth on structures, not built 
 for the reception of those, — who, by the sweat of their 
 brows, and the exertion of their sinews and muscles, 
 are to give back all, nay, far more than is received at 
 their employers' hands, — but for mankind. They con- 
 sidered themselves as stewards, as humble dispensers 
 of the large bounty, bestowed upon them by the 
 
 s Scott's Life by Lockhart, vol. vi. p. 392. 
 
128 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 Almighty, and they looked for their recompense, 
 where they will assuredly receive it, — so far as their 
 work was done with a single eye to the glory of God 
 and the good of man, — at the Resurrection of the just. 
 
 A portion of these Remarks was originally sub- 
 mitted to the Oxford Society for Promoting the 
 Study of Gothic Architecture, as a body of gentle- 
 men, who wisely judge that it is highly important 
 "to provide for the cultivation of correct architec- 
 tural taste." Others, it is hoped, will now be found, 
 who will be not less cordially disposed to second any 
 effort for calling into existence works, which shall be 
 witnesses " to future days, that the spirit of piety and 
 charity, which animated our forefathers, is not alto- 
 gether extinct amongst their children 11 ." The fruits 
 of this exalted spirit we are now happily witnessing, 
 both at home and abroad, to an extent, which may 
 well excite our wonder, and ought to fill our hearts 
 with deepest thankfulness. May those words of 
 gracious approval, which the Almighty has vouchsafed 
 for our encouragement, be addressed to many, very 
 many individuals, of this and future generations ! " It 
 was in thine heart to build an House for My name ; it is 
 well, that it ivas in thine heart 1 ." In Calcutta, her 
 
 h Twenty-second Report of the Incorporated Society for enlarging and 
 building Churches and Chapels, 1840. 
 * 1 Kings, viii. 18. 2 Chron. vi. 8. 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 129 
 
 pious and liberal Bishop has founded a Cathedral, to 
 which in life he has largely contributed, and at his 
 death he leaves his Church joint-heir with his own 
 blood k . By the munificence of her Majesty the 
 Queen Dowager, a splendid Church, which will form 
 a suitable Cathedral in Malta, is on the eve of con- 
 secration, at Valetta. And let that beautiful monu- 
 ment of piety, the Church of Theale in Berkshire, 
 built and endowed by Mrs. Sheppard, at an un- 
 sparing expense ; and the noble gift of ten thousand 
 pounds, in one sum, by a female descendant of the 
 poet, Byrom, for the building and endowment of 
 a Church at Manchester, not be forgotten. Such 
 proofs of female bounty might easily be enlarged, 
 for "many daughters have done virtuously and, 
 if childless themselves, the children of others shall 
 hereafter rise, and call them blessed. One of the 
 highest earthly rewards, which each of these ex- 
 cellent persons could receive, would, doubtless, be to 
 witness her own good deed imitated — rivalled — nay, 
 surpassed — by the rich and mighty of the land. 
 With gladness would she say, As for me, in the up- 
 rightness of mine heart, I have willingly offered all these 
 things : and now have I seen with joy Thy people offer 
 willingly unto Thee l s 
 
 k Speech of J. R. Hope, B.C.L., ut supra, 75. 
 1 1 Chron. xxix. 17. 
 
 O ■ O 
 
 K 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 130 
 
 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 She too is blest, whose outward eye 
 
 The graceful lines of art may trace, 
 While her free spirit, soaring high, 
 
 Discerns the glorious from the base ; 
 Till out of dust her magic raise 
 A home for prayer and love, and full harmonious praise. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Yet from Thy glory in the skies 
 
 Our earthly gold Thou dost not scorn, 
 For love delights to bring her best, 
 And where Love is, that offering evermore is blest m . 
 
 Whilst recording these individual acts of piety, let 
 us speak, with the admiring reverence which they 
 deserve, of the efforts, made, during late years, by 
 the zealous and distinguished Prelate, who presides 
 over the See of London, to provide an additional 
 number of Churches for the countless multitudes, — 
 " the hungry sheep," — who, in that vast city, 
 
 But swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw, 
 Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread n . 
 
 By the aid of the Metropolitan Churches' Fund, 
 between forty and fifty Churches have already been 
 erected. In another most important Diocese, that of 
 Chester, within twelve years, no less than one hundred 
 and seventy additional Churches have opened their 
 doors to receive a people, of whom the greater part 
 
 ■ Christian Year. Third Sunday after Epiphany. 
 a Lycidas, 125. 
 
 •look up, and are not fed, 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
 G 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 131 
 
 were before practically excluded from the benefits, 
 which the Church confers. Accommodation has thus 
 been afforded in the Counties of Lancashire and 
 Cheshire to 124,084 persons °. 
 
 To these eminent examples of Episcopal zeal, 
 watchfulness, and activity, let us not lose the satisfac- 
 tion of adding the seasonable and kindred exertions 
 of an estimable Layman p, to perfect the system of 
 the Church, in the populous and needy parish of 
 Bethnal Green, by erecting within its limits ten 
 additional Churches, with Schools, and Parsonage- 
 Houses attached to each. Much is it to be lamented, 
 that, in the Metropolis and in our largest towns, the 
 religious destitution is so appalling, and the call for 
 Churches is so urgent, that buildings, of " shrunk 
 dimensions, and all but chary meanness V' too often 
 from absolute necessity, supply the place of Christian 
 Temples, such as our forefathers dedicated to the 
 service of the Almighty, — Temples, capacious, lofty, 
 durable, nay faultless. In saying this, let me stand 
 exempted from the censure, however mildly conveyed, 
 which has lately been passed 1 " upon those, who 
 " depreciate modern Churches, as devoid of taste and 
 
 Bishop of Chester's Charge, 1841, Appendix. 
 p William Cotton, Esq., of Leytonstone. 
 
 1 Archdeacon Burney's Charge, 1841, p. 38. 
 r Bishop of Chester's Charge, 1841, p. 53. 
 
132 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 Ecclesiastical propriety, sometimes in a tone, adds the 
 Right Reverend writer, which makes it difficult to 
 believe, that there is any sympathy with the object." 
 The tenor of these observations, and the main object of 
 this publication will, I trust, shield me from any such 
 suspicion, but, when we look at some of the flimsy 
 Churches, which, to use the common phrase, are 
 frequently " run up ;" where the carpenter, and not 
 the mason, is the chief workman, may we not ask, 
 what will be the condition of these buildings in the 
 space of half a century, should they endure even for 
 that brief period ? A perpetual outlay can alone pre- 
 serve their existence, and which would not be required, 
 had durability, not cheapness and expedition, been 
 consulted in the first instance s . 
 
 * As an example, I may mention the Chapel, built in 1791, at the ex- 
 pense of Carr, a Yorkshire Architect of no mean fame, at his native place, 
 Horbury, in that County, at an expense of ^8,000. Ere thirty years had 
 elapsed, the Tower, though cramped with many iron bars, threatened to 
 fall, and there was an alarming declension in one part of the body of the 
 building, proving " that there is something radically vicious in modern 
 Masonry." In the interior, were hollow cylindrical columns, of perish- 
 able deal. A century hence the author asks, " where will be the Monu- 
 ment, which an Architect of the eighteenth century has erected to the 
 perpetuity of his name?" Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete, p. 296. — Of 
 such buildings future poets will not be able to say, what has been 
 beautifully expressed of the works of our forefathers, — 
 
 Still points the tower, and pleads the bell, 
 
 The solemn arches breathe in stone, 
 
 Window and wall have lips to tell 
 
 The mighty faith of days unknown ; — 
 
o ^ . o 
 
 AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 133 
 
 The events, recorded by the prophet Haggai, who 
 appears to have been raised up by God to exhort 
 Zerubbabel to resume the work of the Temple, are so 
 strikingly impressive in relation to that building, and 
 apply so strongly to the present subject, that the 
 Author, in adverting to them, trusts, he will not 
 be regarded as straying out of his province. The 
 direct interference by the Almighty must be at once 
 to us both a warning and an incentive. At the 
 very time, when that House lay waste, and the Jews 
 alleged, that the time was not yet come for prosecut- 
 ing the work, when selfish luxury was not neglected, 
 and they applied themselves to the erection of their 
 own ceiled and costly houses, famine and drought, in 
 chastisement, overspread the land. So long as the work 
 should be neglected, a continuance of these scourges, 
 be it observed, is threatened ; Therefore, the Heaven 
 over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed 
 from her fruit t . But, when the voice of the Lord is 
 obeyed, what a contrast presents itself ! — how consola- 
 tory was the message, sent by the Prophet, Now I will 
 not be unto the residue of this people, as in the former days, 
 
 Yea ! flood, and breeze, and battle-shock, 
 Shall beat upon this Church in vain, 
 She stands the daughter of a rock, — 
 The changeless God's eternal fane ! — 
 
 Church Poetry, 1843, p. 104. 
 
 * Haggai, i. 10. 
 
 O O 
 
134 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 saith the Lord of Hosts. For the seed shall be pros- 
 perous, the vine shall give her fruity and the ground shall 
 give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew, 
 and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess 
 all these things u . If desirous, that violence shall no 
 more he heard in our land, nor wasting nor destruction 
 within our borders x , surely we have the strongest en- 
 couragement from this memorable record of sacred 
 history, which is given for our instruction, to open 
 to the poor and needy, who seek water, the rivers of 
 spiritual truth in high places, and fountains in the 
 midst of valleys Our Sion, the city of our solemnities, 
 may then, we humbly hope, be regarded with favour 
 by the Most High ; and our eyes, and those of our 
 children, may see our Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a 
 tabernacle that shall not be taken down, not one of the 
 stakes thereof removed, nor any of the cords broken z . 
 
 We live in eventful days, at a crisis, mighty for 
 evil or for good ; and, by promoting sound religion 
 and useful learning, and thus directing the public 
 mind, the Church will, assuredly, prove the most 
 powerful agent, and her children must confess their 
 own deep responsibility, as instruments in the hands 
 of the Almighty. 
 
 " By the good providence of God, the office, the 
 
 10 Zach. viii. 11, 12. 
 y Isaiah, xli. 1 7, 18. 
 
 " Isaiah, lx. 18. 
 2 Isaiah, xxxiii. 20. 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. 135 
 
 character, and the teaching of the Church, are be- 
 coming better known, and more appreciated. That 
 nothing in earth or in hell, will prevail against her, 
 He has fully promised, and, though she is warmly 
 opposed in her struggle to regain the adherence of 
 her members to her own divinely taught views of 
 doctrine and practice, the number is daily, and almost 
 miraculously, increasing of those, who are on her 
 sideV — It is the Church, which must wrestle with 
 lawless minds ; which must bring vast masses under 
 subjection to the influence of religion, law and order; 
 which must strengthen those loosened bands, that 
 ought to bind our several classes into one ; and which 
 must thus act as the providential agent in re -adjusting 
 society 13 . 
 
 Let us join in the ardent wish expressed by a Chris- 
 tian Statesman of our own times, who, in putting this 
 solemn question — "to the conscience of each man, 
 who is called to act in public trusts, ' whether it be, 
 or be not, the manifest ordinance of Almighty God, 
 that Governments should have active duties towards 
 religion ; Christian governments towards the Chris- 
 tian Church ? ' " — has himself given this reply. " I ar- 
 dently desire the full and effective action of the State 
 for the promotion of Religion ; and yet more ardently, 
 
 a Liturgia Domestica, by A. H. Dyke Acland, Esq., p. vii. 
 b See Ecclesiastical Gazette, Nov. 1842, p. 102. 
 
o- 
 
 o 
 
 136 REMARKS ON ENGLISH CHURCHES, 
 
 that general and free coincidence of my fellow- citizens 
 in the principles of Catholic unity, through which alone, 
 as I believe, the former object is attainable c ." 
 
 I cannot better close my observations on this most 
 important subject, than with the following remarks 
 from the pen of a highly- valued friend, which will be 
 admired as much for their beauty, as for their piety 
 and wisdom. "No mere legislative enactment even 
 of the most unexceptionable character, can avail for 
 the support, or even for the preservation, of the 
 Church, unless, aided by her Divine Head, she be true 
 to herself — unless, strong in His protection, she will 
 arouse herself to strenuous exertion. And this leads 
 me, next, to a very pleasing field of observation. 
 That she has so aroused herself — that an amended 
 spirit has been awakened within her, — few, I think, 
 will be disposed to deny. And if it be true, that this 
 effect could hardly have been looked for in times of 
 calmness and stagnation; if it were necessary, that 
 the waters should have been troubled, before the heal- 
 ing virtue could be imparted to them ; — if this be so, 
 we readily confess, that it may be good for her, that 
 she has been in adversity. It may have been merci- 
 fully ordained, that she should be buffeted with the 
 rude shocks of hostility, that she might be excited to 
 
 c " The State in its relations with the Church," by the Right Honour- 
 able W. E. Gladstone, (Fourth Edition,) vol. ii. p. 403—405. 
 
AND ON SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. lo/ 
 
 vigilance and activity ;— that much external support, 
 on which she was wont to lean, should be withdrawn ; 
 —that she might be taught to know her own in- 
 trinsic strength ;— that she should be driven to appeal 
 from adverse, or coldly- attached, rulers to her own 
 children, that she might learn the firmness of their 
 fidelity, and the warmth of their love toward her ; — 
 in a word, that she should be convinced by experience, 
 that her best protector is Almighty God, and that it 
 is her truest wisdom to put her whole trust and con- 
 fidence in His mercy d ." 
 
 d A Charge, delivered to the Clergy of his Peculiar Jurisdiction, by 
 the Very Reverend the Dean of Chichester, (1839,) p. 12. 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 c- 
 
 -o 
 
LET NOT LOVE NOR GRIEF BELIEVE 
 
 THAT WE ASSENT WHO NEITHER LOVED NOR GRIEVE 
 
 TO ALL THAT PRAISE, WHICH ON THE TOMB IS READ, 
 TO ALL, THAT PASSION DICTATES FOR THE DEAD; 
 BUT MORE INDIGNANT WE THE TOMB DERIDE, 
 WHOSE BOLD INSCRIPTION FLATTERY SELLS TO PRIDE. 
 
 CRABBE'S BOROUGH, LETTER ii. 
 
1EpttapI)g. 
 I. 
 
 this avarice of praise in times to come, 
 those long inscriptions crowded on the tomb. 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 sepulchral lies our holy walls to grace. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 Epitaphs are so closely connected with the main sub- 
 ject of these pages, that some remarks upon them can 
 scarcely he deemed irrelevant. 
 
 Those of early date were little varied, either in language 
 or in sentiment. Though often tinged with superstition, 
 they were striking and solemn, and flowed naturally from 
 the faith then professed. They expressed also deep hu- 
 mility, a feeling, that posterity would have done well to 
 cherish. Even whilst the simple Priez pour sa alme of 
 the twelfth century, and the Orate pro anima of the 
 fourteenth, commonly prevailed, epitaphs occasionally ap- 
 peared, which, by bringing forward some holy text — or 
 enforcing some important truth — conveyed an impressive 
 
o o 
 
 142 EPITAPHS. 
 
 lesson to the by-stander. — " There was nothing trifling or 
 ludicrous, nothing, that did not tend to the noblest end, 
 the propagation of piety, and the increase of devotion*." 
 For example, 
 
 But Eiju sc5m actu meu noli me jutfuare. 
 £§ui benturus es j'ufricare nibos et mortuos. 
 
 &u IBne trona nobis requiem sempiterrmm. 
 
 Eiju filt Bet blot miserere mei. 
 
 1509. 
 
 JBelicta Subentutts mea>, et ignorantias meas ne memtnens, 
 5Bomine» 
 
 &u qui transierts, bitteas, sta, perlege, plora ; 
 CBs quoti eram, et eris quott sum, pro me, precor, ora. 
 
 In contrasting these brief but solemn inscriptions, with 
 those, which derive their merit from their classical elegance, 
 can we deny, that the former, like the hymns of the Primi- 
 tive Church, harmonize best with the " gloomy dignity of 
 a Gothic pile, and remind us instantly of the worship, to 
 which it is dedicated 5 ." We still read these solemn sup- 
 plications for pardon, as voices from the grave, and are 
 admonished by them, that we are but dust. 
 
 A marked change occurred in the composition of 
 
 * Johnson's Essay on Epitaphs, Works, vol. v. p. 264. 
 t> Scott's Life of Dryden, Prose Works, vol. i. p. 293. See also Scott's 
 Life, by Lockhart, vol. iii. p. 25. 
 
 O O 
 
EPITAPHS. 
 
 143 
 
 epitaphs, as well as in the designs of monuments them- 
 selves, in the reign of Henry VIII. C They now bore a 
 worldly or adulatory character, and all, that was origi- 
 nally devotional in them, ceased. The one, composed 
 by Sir Thomas More for himself, in 1532, and inscribed 
 on his Tomb in Chelsea Church, may be adduced as 
 one of the earliest instances of this change of style. 
 It is a concise piece of biography— comprising some 
 notice of his Family, and of the Offices, held by his 
 father and himself, and is closed by twelve Latin verses ; 
 poetry, about this period, being adopted as a favourite 
 portion of an epitaph d . Sir Christopher Hatton's epitaph, 
 in Old St. Paul's (1591), is of like character— giving his 
 descent and his Offices, with nattering Latin and English 
 verses. Such also was that on Sir Francis Walsingham's 
 Tomb (1590), where we have somewhat of an angry re- 
 monstrance with our last enemy ; and a victory over death, 
 and the grave, is sought to be achieved, not through the 
 only source, pointed out by the Apostle, but by the agency 
 of the Sculptor and the Poet. 
 
 • " I can't help thinking," Pope observes to Allen, " that the zeal of 
 the first Reformers was ill-placed, in removing pictures (that is to say, 
 examples) out of churches; and yet suffering epitaphs (that is to say, 
 flatteries and false history) to be the burthen of church walls, and the 
 shame, as well as derision, of all honest men." Works, vol. ix. p. 311. 
 Pope, though he has laboured to immortalize others by his epitaphs, 
 exhibited a most humble spirit as regarded himself, directing by his 
 Will, that, on the monuments of his parents, after the words Jilius fecit 
 — these only should be added, — et sibi — Qui obiit, fyc. 
 
 d Eustace, speaking of the vaults under the church of St. Genevieve, 
 at Paris, states, that the inscriptions, on each sarcophagus, relate merely 
 the name, the dignity, the age of the deceased, but no religious feeling 
 is expressed on the tombs. On the door of each cell are the cyphers X P, 
 and the letters AH. "It would be more consoling," adds the Writer, 
 " to see this signet of immortality marked on every sarcophagus. Its 
 absence seems tcf imply, that when he died, he made no sign." Letter 
 from Paris, 1815, p. 36. 
 
144 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 " SHALL HONOUR, FAME, AND TITLES OF RENOWN, 
 IN CLODS OF CLAY BE THUS ENCLOSED STILL? 
 ***** 
 LAUNCH FORTH, YE MUSES, INTO STREAMS OF PRAISE, 
 SING AND SOUND FORTH PRAISEWORTHY HARMONY." 
 
 Whatever of admonition was to be learned from this 
 production, was comprised in the closing line ; 
 
 DISCE QUOD ES QUID ERIS MEMOR ESTO QUOD MORIERIS. 
 
 Lord Savile's epitaph at B alley, in Yorkshire, some 
 years later (1630), is a fourth example of this class. — The 
 family connections, and honours of the dead are set forth 
 in prose, followed by twelve lines of English verse. — These, 
 after comparing his Lordship to " great Pompey," are thus 
 closed. 
 
 "here rest, thou haist been glorious in thy dayes, 
 there can no more of caesar's praise e ." 
 
 Few epitaphs, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, were 
 expressed in such laconic terms, as that on the tomb of 
 Dr. Caius, in the Chapel of Caius College, Cambridge. 
 
 FUI CAIUS VIVIT POST FUNERA VIRTUS — 
 
 1573. 
 
 iETAT. 37. 
 
 Or, 
 
 QUALIS ERAT EXTREMA DIES INDICABIT. 
 
 Or one in English, 
 Here lyeth the body of Nicholas Radclyffe, whose constant 
 religious lief, together with his Godly end, God grant, that they 
 make others to embrace true piety. Amen. 1599. 
 
 MIHI . VITA . CHRISTUS. 
 e Loidis and Elmete, p. 235. 
 
o 
 
 ■o 
 
 EPITAPHS. 145 
 
 The epitaphs of the Peers and Gentry of England, 
 during the seventeenth, and part of the following century, 
 besides lauding the virtues of the individual, in the most 
 fulsome language, presented a large portion of genealogical 
 information. This must, doubtless, have been found very 
 serviceable, as good legal evidence ; but was not the Col- 
 lege of Arms a more suitable repository for it, than the 
 walls of a Church ? A roll of parchment would, in most 
 cases, have been found a more durable record of descents, 
 than a marble chronicle, — so liable to be destroyed — or 
 defaced — or rendered illegible — by time and neglect. 
 
 " to what straits old Time reduces 
 
 Frail man, when paper — even a rag like this — 
 Survives himself, his Tomb, and all that's his f ." 
 
 From one inscription of this class the following pedi- 
 gree might be deduced, all the individuals, and their 
 relationship to the deceased, being specified. 
 
 GREAT GRANDFATHER 
 
 I 
 
 GRANDFATHER 
 
 I 
 
 FATHER 
 
 I 
 
 THE DECEASED AND WIFE 
 
 2= 3 4 
 
 FOUR SONS OF THE DECEASED 
 GRANDSON AND WIFE 
 
 I 
 
 GREAT GRANDSON 
 
 f Lord Byron. 
 
 s Ormerod's History of Cheshire, vol. iii. p. 236. 
 
 -o 
 
o o 
 
 146 EPITAPHS. 
 
 The memorial upon John Lord Lumley, who died in 
 1609, in the Church of Cheam, is a striking example of 
 this class. Those, who raised it, considered it due to his 
 Lordship, and his ancestors, to set forth in the epitaph 
 — " Primogenitorum illius Familiae Successiones seriatim, 
 [deduci] ac in Tabula sculpi, atque describi, curamntV 
 Amidst " the boast of heraldry," — for the inscription 
 is surrounded by twenty shields of arms, — we have the 
 genealogy of the Lumley family, traced from Liulph, who 
 lived in the reign of Edward the Confessor, down to the 
 children of the deceased peer. Surely memorials, like 
 these, fall under the eloquent censure, which has been 
 passed, by the Master of the Temple, upon those monu- 
 ments, which lately " encumbered the holy walls" of the 
 Temple Church, but which, as already stated at page 62, 
 have been removed. " They spoke of their favour with man 
 not with the Lord ; of the renown, the riches, the honours, 
 the high station, the hereditary dignities, which became 
 their temporal, not their everlasting recompense. Such is 
 the stuff of which our Christian epitaphs are, alas, too 
 often composed. — Such records may indeed gratify what is 
 called a natural, but what is certainly an earthly feeling 
 of pride in the descendants of great and honourable men. 
 — Such records, therefore, if they have any fitting place of 
 exhibition, undoubtedly have no right to seek, or to find it, 
 in the Church. In the House of Prayer our spiritual, not 
 our carnal generation, is the thought in which we are to 
 glory, and we should learn to value our relation to a 
 heavenly, not an earthly Lord 1 ." 
 
 h Sandford's Genealogical History, p. 422. 
 
 • Sermon, preached at the re-opening of the Temple Church, Nov. 20, 
 1842, by the Rev. C. Benson, A.M., p. 27. 
 
 o o 
 
o 
 
 ■o 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 147 
 
 On the Monument of Dr. Breary, Canon of York, 1735, 
 and which may probably still be found in York Minster, 
 we have literally nothing hut a pedigree, from an early 
 date. The subject of the Monument appears only as one 
 link in the chain. 
 
 The genealogical epitaph continued to be a favourite 
 model, so late as the commencement of the last century ; 
 and the one on Dryden, in Tickmarsh Church, Northamp- 
 tonshire, is a fair specimen of this class. It takes but slight 
 notice of the man, who, by his writings, has immortalized 
 his family, but fails not to chronicle a race of forgotten 
 individuals, who boast his honoured name. 
 
 We come next to the exclusively laudatory epitaph, 
 where the perfections of the deceased are elaborately de- 
 tailed in every possible form, and where the powers of 
 hyperbole can " no further go." — Almost every Church in 
 the land, alas ! will supply specimens, where " unmeaning 
 honours" have been " dealt to every name." — In the fol- 
 lowing examples we may smile at the quaintness of 
 diction, but the sensitive delicacy of our own days has 
 not prevented our exhibiting the same gross adulation, — 
 the same want of Christian humility, — although the com- 
 pliments are veiled in more refined language. 
 
 EPITAPH ON SIR JOHN NEWDIGATE, 1610. 
 
 Harefield Church, Middlesex. 
 
 HERE WISDOME'S JEWEL, KNIGHTHOOD'S FLOWER 
 CROPT OF IN TIME, AND YOUTHFULL HOWER ; 
 RELIGION, MEEKNESS, FAITHFULL LOVE, 
 WHICH ANY HART MIGHT TRULY MOOVE ; 
 THESE EVER LIVED IN THIS KNIGHT'S BREAST, 
 DEAD IN HIS DEATH WITH HIM DOTH REST ; 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
148 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 SO THAT THE MARBLE SELFE DOTH WEEPE, 
 TO THINK ON THAT, WHICH IT DOTH KEEP ; 
 WEEP, THEN, WHO'ERE THIS STONE DOTH SEE, 
 UNLESS MORE HARD THAN STONE THOU BEE. 
 
 The two first of the following epitaphs were written, it 
 is supposed, by Francis Quaiies, the brother of the lady 
 whom the first of them commemorates. 
 
 EPITAPH ON MARTHA, WIFE OF SIR COPE D'OYLY, 1618. 
 
 Hambleden Church, Buckinghamshire. 
 
 would'st thou, (reader) draw to life 
 
 the perfect copy of a wife, 
 
 read on, and then redeem from shame, 
 
 that lost, that honourable name. 
 
 this dust was once in spirit a jael, 
 
 rebecca in grace, in heart an abigail, 
 
 in works a dorcas, to the church a hannah, 
 
 and to her spouse, susanna : 
 
 prudently simple, providently warie, 
 
 to the world a martha, and to heaven a marie k . 
 
 t There is an epitaph upon Dame Selby in Ightham Church, Kent, 
 which claims for its subject this same kind of "eclectic excellence" as 
 Lady D'Oyly's ; 
 
 " IN HEART A LYDIA, IN TONGUE A HANNAH, 
 " IN ZEAL A RUTH, IN WEDLOCK A SUSANNA." 
 
 British Critic, vol. xxxiii. p. 95. 
 There is so great a similarity between the two epitaphs, that one of the 
 poets must have been guilty of plagiarism. The date not being stated 
 on Dame Selby's, I cannot determine to which of the eulogists the palm 
 is to be given. A comparison of the virtues of the deceased with those of 
 Scripture characters, is also found on the monument of Sir Charles 
 Ceesar, at Bennington, Herts. 
 
 Nathaniel, I David, I Jonathan, I Uzzita, I Josephus, 
 
 SlMPLICITATE, I TORO, | PECTORE, | PROLE, | ThORO. 
 
 Lodge's Life of Sir Julius Caesar, p. 52. 
 
 o 
 
-o 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 149 
 
 ON SIR COPE D'OYLY, 1633. 
 
 ASK NOT WHO IS BURIED HERE, 
 
 GO ASK THE COMMONS, ASK THE SHIRE, 
 
 GO ASK THE CHURCH, THEY'LL TELL THEE WHO, 
 
 AS WELL AS BLUBBER'D EYES CAN DO ; 
 
 GO ASK THE HERALDS, ASK THE POOR, 
 
 THINE EARS SHALL HEAR ENOUGH TO ASK NO MORE ; 
 
 THEN IF THINE EYE BEDEW THIS SACRED URN, 
 
 EACH DROP A PEARL WILL TURN 
 
 TO ADORN HIS TOMB, OR IF THOU CANST NOT VENT, 
 THOU BRING'ST MORE MARBLE TO HIS MONUMENT. 
 
 In the Church of Shipston-on-Stour, Worcestershire. 
 HERE LIES ENTOMB'D MORE MEN THAN GREECE ADMIR'D, 
 MORE THAN PYTHAGORAS' TRANSIENT SOUL INSPIR'D, 
 MANY IN ONE, A MAN ACCUMULATE, 
 
 GENTLEMAN, ARTIST, SCHOLAR, CHURCH, WORLD, STATE, 
 SOE WISE, SOE JUST, THAT SPOT HIM NOE MAN COULD, 
 PITTY THAT I WITH MY WEAKE PRAYSES SHOULD. 
 GOE, THEN, GREAT SPIRIT, OBEY THY SUDDAINE CALL, 
 WILD FRUITS HANG LONG, THE BEST UNTIMELY FALL. 
 
 One other specimen of the seventeenth century shall 
 be given, to shew, that, however extravagantly individuals 
 might be praised by poets, the language of prose writers 
 could well nigh outstrip them. The following is but an 
 extract — 
 
 TO THE SACKED MEMOEY OF THE LATE TBANSCENDENTLY 
 VIETUOUS LADY, NOW GLOEIOUS SAINT, THE EIGHT HONOUR- 
 ABLE ELIZABETH, COUNTESS OF BEIDGWATEE. 
 
 " She was a lady, in whom all the accomplishments, both of 
 body and mind, did concur, to make her the glory of the present, 
 
 WILLIAM HYCKES, 1662. 
 
c o 
 
 150 EPITAPHS. 
 
 and example of future ages : her beauty was so unparalleled 
 that it is as much beyond the art of the most elegant pen, as it 
 surpassed the skill of several the most exquisite pensils 
 
 (that attempted it) to describe, and not to disparage it : 
 
 The rich at her table daily tasted her hospitality ; the poor at 
 her gate her charity ; her devotion most exemplary, if not in- 
 imitable In a word, she was so superlatively good, that 
 
 language is too narrow to express her deserved character ; her 
 death was as religious as her life was virtuous. On the four- 
 teenth day of June, in the year of our Lord 1663, of her own 
 age 37, she exchanged her earthly coronet for an heavenly 
 crown K" 
 
 Must we not cordially agree with the sentiments, lately 
 expressed on this subject, that, when recumbent figures 
 were exchanged for " ladies in ruffles, leaning on their 
 elbows, staring us in the face— the religion of Monuments 
 began to be less considered. The Cross was forgotten — 
 self was commended ; lengthy epitaphs, proverbially false 
 and incredible, appeared ; men's virtues, not Christ's merits, 
 what they have done, not what they need, or have left 
 undone, — make up a pompous record, seldom read, and 
 never believed" 1 ." Many epitaphs of this class shew little 
 mercy towards the marble cutter ; so extravagant are they, 
 that the closing words of the epitaph upon Mary Digby, 
 written by Kettlewell, — one who should have set ns a 
 better example — "more can scarce be said" — might well 
 be added to them all. 
 
 Sir Julius Caesar's inscription in St. Helen's, Bishops- 
 gate, is objectionable from its attempt to familiarize the 
 awfulness of death with the language of a legal instru- 
 
 1 Collins's Peerage, (edit. 1756,) vol. i. pt. ii. p. 817. 
 m British Critic, vol. xxxiii. p. 74. 
 
 o 6 
 
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 EPITAPHS. 151 
 
 ment, but this was not a solitary instance. In York 
 Minster we have the following epitaph upon a Master in 
 Chancery, and Commissary of the Prerogative Court, who 
 died in 1625. 
 
 HIC TESTATORUM JUDEX IN JUDICE CHRISTO, 
 
 TESTATORE NOVI FOEDERIS OCCUBUIT, 
 HMC LEGATA DEDIT : DOMINO SE, GAUDIA CCELO, 
 
 ORBI GESTA, SUIS PARTA, CADAVER HUMO : 
 EN FORMAM, AT MELIUS SCULPTAM, DAT PECTUS, AMICI ; 
 
 CERNERE FACTA TAMEN SI PETIS, ASTRA PETE. 
 
 The great political events, which occurred in the reigns 
 of Charles I. and James II., became prominent subjects 
 of notice in contemporary epitaphs. The devotion and 
 loyalty, which marked the adherents of the former 
 Monarch, naturally claimed respect from their admiring 
 posterity, and a strenuous resistance to Popery and to 
 arbitrary power, is the chief ground for encomium in the 
 epitaphs of men, who signalized themselves at the Revolu- 
 tion of 1688. These, however, were not topics suited to 
 the tomb, and we are the more offended, by the record of 
 them, when the individual happens to have been a Clergy- 
 man. I would instance the epitaphs on Archbishops Sterne 
 and Dolben in York Minster, and on Bishop Burnet, in 
 St. James's Church, Clerkenwell. But can we feel sur- 
 prised ? Three Clergymen, who afterwards rose to be Pre- 
 lates, — Compton, Mews, and Lake — had actually served in 
 arms, during the stirring times of their early manhood, 
 and high promotion in the Church was conferred not 
 always on persons of piety and talents, but on men of 
 moderate abilities, who had claims on the gratitude of 
 their Sovereign — claims, which should have been other- 
 wise rewarded. Epitaphs of these periods, though very 
 
 o o 
 
o o 
 
 152 EPITAPHS. 
 
 diffuse, frequently amounted to little more than an enu- 
 meration of Preferments, and comprised "a certain 
 grovelling mixture of spiritual and secular affairs — 
 heaven and houses" — how little of the former! — "graces 
 and titles — in a word, God and Mammon 11 ." 
 
 Archbishop Dolben's epitaph is a fair specimen of this 
 style. We have a sketch of his life from his cradle to his 
 grave, but with little allusion to his sacred and important 
 duties. It may, indeed, be observed of a man of far 
 greater celebrity, Tillotson, that the only quality, which he 
 possessed, that was deemed, by his friends, worthy of being 
 recorded, was Concionator celeberrimus. The epitaph on 
 his predecessor, Archbishop Sancroft, on the other hand, 
 is marked by all the humility of earlier days . That on 
 his friend, Kobert Nelson, by Bishop Smalridge, though 
 needlessly lengthened, breathes a religious spirit through- 
 out. " This lengthiness possibly arose from religion 
 being viewed more in its human, than in its divine 
 relations p ." Yet honest Fuller gave some excellent ad- 
 vice on the subject, and had it been followed, much 
 that is censurable in epitaphs would have been avoided. 
 " The shortest, plainest, and truest epitaphs are best. 
 I say ' the shortest,' for, when a passenger sees a chronicle, 
 written on a tomb, he takes it on trust some great man 
 lies there buried, without taking pains to examine, who he 
 is. I say also 'the plainest,' for, except the sense lie 
 above ground, few will trouble themselves to dig for it." 
 
 In some instances the object of an epitaph seems to 
 have been entirely misconceived, by converting what 
 
 n British Critic, p. 91. 
 
 D'Oyly's Life of Archbishop Sancroft, vol. ii. p. 66. 
 p British Critic, p. 91. 
 
 O O 
 
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 EPITAPHS. 153 
 
 should be a simple record of the dead, and an admonition 
 to the living, into a character, fitted only as a preface to 
 an author's works — or, as Fuller calls it, " a chronicle." — 
 We can but smile, when we are told, of the " fair 
 monument," erected to the memory of Hammond — what 
 man ever less required such memorial? — that "the marble 
 would receive no more in charge" — the remainder, there- 
 fore, of the eulogy, consisting of not less than sixty-two 
 lines, is given by his biographer as a supplement to the 
 epitaph. 
 
 The epitaph on the Duke of Buckinghamshire's monu- 
 ment (see p. 62.) was a joint-production. The earlier part 
 was, probably, written by Atterbury, but Pope was consulted 
 upon it, as he tells us he had represented to the Duchess, 
 that an inscription " in the ancient way, plain, pompous, 
 yet modest, will be the most uncommon, and, therefore, the 
 most distinguishing manner of doing it V For the closing 
 and objectionable part of it, the Duke himself is answer- 
 able, as in his Will he says, " Since something is usually 
 written on Monuments, I direct, that the following lines 
 shall be put on mine, viz. in one place, 
 
 PRO REGE S^PE, PRO REPUBLICA SEMPER. 
 
 and in another place, 
 
 DUBIUS, SED NON IMPROBUS, VIXI ; 
 INCERTUS MORIOR, [SED INTURBATUS ;] NON PERTURBATUS ; 
 HUMANUM EST NESCIRE ET ERRARE. 
 [CHRISTUM ADVENEROR] DEO C0NFID0 
 OMNIPOTENT I BENEVOLENT I SSIMO. 
 ENS ENTIUM MISERERE MEI. 
 
 If Atterbury insisted on the omission of the words 
 
 i Works, vol. viii. p. 122. 
 
 O o 
 
154 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 Christum adveneror, as being derogatory to the Divinity 
 of Christ, how came he to permit other parts of it to 
 remain ? Had high rank, in those days, sufficient power to 
 stifle any further objections to the admission of this bold 
 avowal of scepticism within sacred walls r ? Well might 
 Bishop Gibson now complain, that " profaneness and 
 impiety are grown bold and open s ." The epitaphs on 
 many eminent Divines, during the greater portion of the 
 seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, are remarkable for 
 their diffusiveness, especially those by the well-known 
 Dr. Freind, and, though occasionally partaking of a reli- 
 gious character, are generally far too secular and lauda- 
 tory, involving the talents and virtues of the deceased in 
 a maze of classical panegyric. 
 
 For unmixed secularity it will not be easy to eclipse the 
 following specimen : 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF YOUNGEST SON OF ~ 
 
 OF BY HIS FIRST WIFE DAUGHTER OF . 
 
 HE DIED A BACHELOR, 1718. HE WAS ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE OFFICE OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS, 
 
 AND IN THE REIGN OF OUR LATE MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN 
 
 HE WAS SWORN CLERK IN ORDINARY OF , WHICH 
 
 EMPLOYMENT, THOUGH HE WAITED MANY YEARS FOR, (sk) 
 AS CLERK IN EXTRAORDINARY, HE EXECUTED BUT FEW, 
 BEFORE HE OBTAINED LEAVE TO RESIGN IT TO HIS NEPHEW 
 
 * Atterbury's Works, vol. iii. p. 344. Prior, in his Epigram, seems to 
 consider, that a stronger epithet than dubius might have been properly- 
 applied to this nobleman : 
 
 " 4 I have no hopes,' the Duke he says, and dies. 
 " The Duke he stands an infidel confest," &c. 
 8 It was about this period, that Wesley and his associates passed 
 through " a ridiculing crowd to receive the Holy Communion at 
 St. Mary's." (Southey's Wesley, vol. i. p. 53.) — We have fallen on 
 better days. 
 
o 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 155 
 
 ; AND IN THE WHOLE COURSE OF HIS LIFE, HE WAS 
 
 NOT LESS MINDFUL OF ANY OF HIS RELATIONS, WHEN IT WAS 
 IN HIS POWER TO SERVE THEM. 
 
 And this is all ! 
 
 The following is a portion of a pompous epitaph on a 
 respectable country gentleman a century ago. 
 
 HE FIXED HIS RESIDENCE AT PREFERRING THE 
 
 TRANQUILLITY OF RETIREMENT TO THE GRANDEUR OF A 
 COURT. THERE, BY A GENEROUS, AFFABLE HOSPITALITY, HE 
 CIRCULATED HIS FORTUNE THROUGH ITS PROPER CHANNEL, 
 DIFFUSED CHEERFULNESS AMONGST HIS FRIENDS AND NEIGH- 
 BOURS, AND QUICKENED THE INDUSTRY OF HIS TENANTS 
 AND DEPENDANTS. FOND OF AGRICULTURE AND ALL THE 
 RURAL ARTS, HE NOT ONLY IMPROVED AND BEAUTIFIED 
 HIS OWN ESTATE, BUT HIS ADMIRABLE SKILL MANIFESTLY 
 OPERATED TO THE GENERAL EMOLUMENT OF THIS COUNTY. 
 MANUFACTURES AND MANUFACTURERS WERE THE IMMEDIATE 
 OBJECTS OF HIS ATTENTION AND REGARD. 
 
 IN THE TENDER CHARACTERS OF THE HUSBAND AND THE 
 FATHER, HE DISCOVERED THE PUREST CONJUGAL LOVE, THE 
 TRUEST PATERNAL INDULGENCE AND CARE, &C. &C. 
 
 Why all this parade about one, who, whilst surrounded 
 by every earthly comfort, appears simply to have dis- 
 charged his duty " in that state of life, to which it had 
 pleased God to call him?" May we not, as Englishmen, 
 
 The character of his lady is thus pourtrayed : 
 
 SHE WAS ENDUED WITH THAT EQUAL DISPOSITION OF 
 MIND, WHICH ALWAYS CREATES ITS OWN HAPPINESS; WITH 
 THAT OPEN AND FLOWING BENEVOLENCE, WHICH ALWAYS 
 
 " Trust we have within our realm 
 Five hundred good as he." 
 
 o- 
 
 o 
 
o o 
 
 156 EPITAPHS. 
 
 PROMOTES THE HAPPINESS OF OTHERS : HER PERSON WAS 
 AMIABLE AND ENGAGING, HER MANNERS SOFT AND GENTLE, 
 HER BEHAVIOUR DELICATE AND GRACEFUL, HER CONVERSA- 
 TION LIVELY AND INSTRUCTING. EVEN HER AMUSEMENTS 
 DISTINGUISHED HER A WOMAN OF SENSE, HAVING NOT ONLY 
 INNOCENCE, BUT MERIT, TO RECOMMEND THEM, &C. &C. 
 
 " When we hear only of a good man, we have no notion 
 of his character, distinct from that of a thousand others ; 
 his example can have no effect upon our conduct, as we 
 have nothing remarkable or eminent to propose to our 
 imitation V 
 
 Again, " Domestic virtue, as it is exerted without great 
 occasions, or conspicuous consequences, in an even unnoted 
 tenor, requires the genius of Pope to display it in such a 
 manner, as may attract regard, and enforce reverence u ." 
 
 Not satisfied with praising the attainments of the de- 
 ceased, and enumerating the distinguished offices, which 
 he had filled, the graces of his person were sometimes 
 eulogised. Dr. Watts commemorated a brother-Noncon- 
 formist (Mather) in an epitaph of not less than one hun- 
 dred and eleven lines ; and where so much was to be said, 
 we cannot be surprised, that " the tallness of his stature" 
 was included amongst the good qualities of the deceased. 
 
 CORPORE FUIT PROCERO, FORMA PLACIDE VERENDA. 
 
 Watts had, however, precedents for this practice amongst 
 members of the Church. Of Archbishop Sterne we are 
 told 
 
 ORIS DIGNITAS, OCULORUM VIGOR AURIUMQUE, ANIMI 
 PRESENTIA. 
 
 * Johnson's Essay on Epitaphs, p. 264. 
 " Johnson's Remarks on Mrs. Corbet's Epitaph, by Pope. 
 
 O O 
 
o 
 
 •o 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 157 
 
 Bentley says of Stillingfleet, 
 
 ORIS STATURiEQUE DIGNITATE. 
 
 Henry Finch, Dean of York, is celebrated, 
 
 VULTU, MAJESTAS, ET DECOR, ET ALACRITAS, 
 SAN.E MENTIS INDICIA EFFULGEBANT. 
 
 Amongst the surpassing merits of a little hoy, who died at 
 the age of six years and three months, we are told, 
 
 QUI NONDUM SEXENNIS AULICUS AUDIEBAT, ET CERTE 
 VIDEBATUR. POST EXACTUM BIENNIUM ALIQUOTIES VISITS 
 LACHRYMARE, VIX UNQUAM AUDITUS OBSTREPERE. 
 
 The epitaphs by Pope, — the celebrated one on Sir James 
 Macdonald by Lord Lyttelton ; Sir Edward Seymours in the 
 Church of Maiden Bradley ; that on Daniel Pulteney in the 
 Cloisters of Westminster Abbey ; and those by Burke on 
 Sir George Saville, and Mr. Dowdeswell x ; are all open to 
 the censure, which a distinguished writer has lately passed 
 
 * Burke's own remarks on this last composition will not be here mis- 
 placed. " It is with great concern and some shame I now tell you, that I 
 have not accomplished the task of duty and piety, which you sent me. 
 You will easily believe me, however, when I find it extremely difficult to 
 please myself. To make a neat, short epitaph would, perhaps, not be 
 difficult ; but then a few words will not answer my sense of Mr. 
 Dowdeswell's merits, and everything short is apt to be general, and as 
 well fitted for one great public man as another. My wish would be to 
 characterize him in particular ; as I knew, felt, loved, and honoured 
 him. I have drawn something of this kind, recapitulating the great 
 public acts, which he moved and promoted. It is more out of the 
 common way ; but it is long, and, unless the tablet is divided into two 
 columns, will hardly be crowded in." 
 
 This epitaph, which is given in Prior's Life of Burke, has been 
 characterized as the finest, perhaps, in the English language. Mr. Burke, 
 in speaking of it, some time after it was written, says — " It has, indeed, 
 the merit of being drawn, as the painters call it, con amore, and, unlike 
 monumental inscriptions, is so perfectly true, that every word of it may 
 be deposed to upon oath." 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
 158 EPITAPHS. 
 
 upon too many tributes to departed worth. " It is ex- 
 tremely painful to see, in almost every Church, records of 
 social respectability, of domestic affection, of professional 
 talent, of scientific acquirement, of martial valour, — in one 
 instance, which has met my eye, even of distinction in 
 freemasonry, — without any accompanying notice of the 
 Christian hopes of the deceased, and of that character, by 
 virtue of which alone their human qualities can justly 
 claim either permanence or praise. What respect has the 
 stern sceptre of death for these earthly shows ? What title 
 have they to be commemorated amidst the solemnities of 
 the Christian temple, unless they be under the seal of 
 
 Christ ? How sad that we should now recoil from 
 
 the use of our free privileges, and speak, as is so often the 
 case, of the dead in Christ, as though immortality was not 
 yet brought to light J ! " 
 
 But, on the other hand, have we not cause to complain, 
 that, in too many instances, they breathe the language of 
 assurance, rather than that of hope P forgetting, that the 
 Church ventures only thus to express herself even of the 
 most excellent of the earth. For instance, one lady is 
 described as 
 
 IMMORTALITATE DIGNA, ET DEO MATURA AD CCELESTEM 
 AULAM TRANSIIT. 
 
 Another as the 
 
 MOTHER OF FOURTEEN CHILDREN, SIX SONS AND EIGHT 
 DAUGHTERS, WHEREOF TWO, A SON AND A DAUGHTER, WENT 
 BEFORE HER TO HEAVEN. 
 
 y Gladstone's " Church Principles," p. 462. 
 
 5 C 
 
o 
 
 •o 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 159 
 
 A third lady is described as 
 
 VIRTUOUS, CHASTE, LOVING, AND THE BEST OF WIVES, 
 
 IN WHOM NO PASSION WAS IRREGULAR, BUT HER INORDINATE 
 
 SORROW FOR THE BEST OF HUSBANDS. 
 WHOSE SOULS BY LOVE, HAD SUCH A UNION MADE, 
 THAT DEATH DID BOTH THEIR LIVES IN ONE INVADE; 
 SHE, WHEN SHE FOUND HER BETTER HALF WAS GONE, 
 HER DEAREST LORD TO HEAV'N WITHOUT HER FLOWN, 
 HER BRIGHTEST SUN BEING SET, WITH MOURNFUL EYES, 
 THROUGH GRIEF, LIKE RAIN, DISSOLVES IN TEARS, AND DYES. 
 TO HIM SHE'S GONE, TO HER ETERNAL REST, 
 WITH HIM TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF THE BLEST. 
 
 But what was thus expressed in verse, at the end of the 
 seventeenth century, was distinctly pourtrayed in marble 
 in the eighteenth, in one of the vast monumental piles in 
 Westminster Abbey, designed by Sir William Chambers, 
 and erected in 1771, which is thus described: " It is of a 
 pyramidical form, and consists of a basement of three steps, 
 supporting a square-shaped sarcophagus, with branches of 
 oak and entwining ivy at the sides ; upon which is the 
 statue of the wife, as rising from the tomb, assisted by a 
 descending Angel. The latter, with his left hand, points 
 upwards to the realms of bliss, where the husband appears 
 seated in glory, with a vacant chair for his lady ; to re- 
 ceive whom, there is another ministering Angel, bearing a 
 wreath of immortality and a palm branch z ." 
 
 The example of the Wesleys would unquestionably have 
 a prevailing force on their sect, and produce a host of 
 imitators. On his mother's tomb-stone, in Bunhill Fields, 
 Charles Wesley inscribed the following lines : — 
 
 z Neale's Westminster Abbey, vol. ii. p. 196. 
 
 •o 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 160 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 SHE KNEW AND FELT HER SINS FORGIVEN, 
 AND FOUND THE EARNEST OF HER HEAVEN. 
 MEET FOR THE FELLOWSHIP ABOVE, 
 
 SHE HEARD THE CALL, "ARISE MY LOVE," 
 &C. &C. 
 
 The following specimen of rampant presumption shall 
 close this class of epitaphs : 
 
 IS THIS HIS DEATH-BED ? NO ! IT IS HIS SHRINE. 
 BEHOLD HIM RISING TO AN ANGEL; 
 
 ENTERING THE HARBOUR, LIKE A GALLANT, STATELY VESSEL! 
 HE HOISTS HIS FLAG OF HOPE, 
 
 THROUGH THE MERITS OF OUR BLESSED REDEEMER, 
 RIDING BEFORE A STATELY GALE OF ATONEMENT, 
 TILL HE MAKES, WITH ALL THE SAIL OF AN ASSURED FAITH, 
 THE HAPPY PORT OF A JOYFUL RESURRECTION a . 
 
 " Audaciores sane sunt interdum homines, quam aut 
 decet, aut per religionem licet, dum cceli gaudia haud 
 dubia rnortuis tribuunt, et pro spe humili ac solatio 
 triumphum canunt b ." 
 
 How seldom is the perfection of an epitaph realized, 
 which should be considered "the epitome of a sermon, 
 teaching the most useful truths in the most compre- 
 hensive form." Of the various classes, into which they 
 are divisible, is not the complimentary the most com- 
 mon, where " the dead are more indebted for their praise 
 to invention than to merit c ? " Goldsmith happily observes, 
 
 a Ormerod's Cheshire, vol. i. p. 247. Two other epitaphs upon mem- 
 bers of the same family are given, but this extract is perhaps enough, 
 and more than enough of that style, which, Mr. Ormerod properly terms, 
 " tumid and vulgar." 
 
 b Bishop of Llandaff 's Prselectio, xxvii. p. 355. 
 
 c Olla Podrida, No. 39. To this last class the satire of Fielding is 
 justly applicable. The selfish and unamiable Captain Blifil is eulogized 
 
 O 
 
 -o 
 
•o 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 161 
 
 " it may be justly said, ' all men are equal in the dust ;' 
 for they all appear equally remarkable for being the most 
 sincere Christians, the most benevolent neighbours, and 
 the honestest men of their time. To go through a 
 cemetery, one would be apt to wonder, how mankind 
 could have so basely degenerated from such excellent 
 ancestors d ." Take the following as examples of our own 
 days : — 
 
 PIOUS, BENEVOLENT, AMIABLE, HUMBLE : — BUT FORBEAR ! 
 THE REMEMBRANCE OF HER MANIFOLD VIRTUES, TOGETHER 
 WITH THE HEIGHT, TO WHICH SHE CARRIED THEM, ARE 
 ENGRAVEN ON THE HEARTS OF ALL, WHO KNEW HER; WHILE 
 OTHERS WOULD SUSPEND BELIEF e . 
 
 IF ALL THE SOCIAL AND CONJUGAL VIRTUES, ADORNED 
 WITH A TRULY CHRISTIAN LIFE, COULD HAVE RESCUED HER 
 FROM THE GRAVE ; THOU WOULDEST NOT HAVE SEEN HERE 
 INSCRIBED THE IMPERFECT DESCRIPTION OF THIS EXCELLENT 
 
 DEPARTED 
 
 on his monument, as having faithfully discharged all the charities of life. 
 This Fielding describes to be an epitaph " in the true style,'' and to 
 have been written " by a man of as great genius as integrity; one, 
 who perfectly well knew the captain ! " It seems to be the genius of 
 epitaph -writing to say much of a person when dead, of whom nothing 
 was said, or perhaps could be said, when living. We have one of thirty 
 lines upon Thomas Radcliffe, the son of Sir George Radcliffe, the friend 
 of the Earl of Strafford. He is described " variis artibus et scientiis 
 ornatus" and as possessing every virtue ; but all, that is known of him 
 is an incidental notice in his father's Letters, and a letter of four lines 
 of his own. Life and Correspondence of Sir G. Radcliffe, p. 296. 
 d Works, vol. ii. p. 43. 
 
 e In an adjoining Church we have a Brass of the year 1427 — over the 
 head of the figure is a small scroll, inscribed Miserere mei Deus. When 
 we contrast these two inscriptions, the addresses of the Pharisee and the 
 Publican must occur to us. 
 
 WOMAN. 
 
 NEAR THIS MARBLE REST THE REMAINS OF 
 
 RELICT OF 
 
 AND CO-HEIRESS OF 
 
 WHO 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 M 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 162 EPITAPHS. 
 
 IF THE DUTIFUL CHILD — AFFECTIONATE WIFE TENDER 
 
 MOTHER AND THE SINCERE FRIEND, TOGETHER WITH AN 
 
 UNFEIGNED CHARITY, CONSTITUTE THE TRUE CHRISTIAN, 
 HER SON AND DAUGHTER ARE HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO SAY 
 THIS WAS HER TRUE CHARACTER — TO ADD MORE MIGHT 
 APPEAR OSTENTATIOUS, TO SAY LESS UNBECOMING. 
 
 The name of the individual, to whom, in the following 
 epitaph, so many excellences are ascribed, is hidden : we 
 have initials only. The monument, which is repre- 
 sented below, and the inscription, are worthy of each 
 other ; the former being of almost unrivalled ugliness. 
 
D 
 
 O 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 163 
 
 IN MEMORY OF C. M. 
 ONE OP THE MOST VALUABLE WOMEN, 
 THAT EVER LIVED ; 
 WHOSE PRINCIPAL HAPPINESS CONSISTED, 
 (ALTHOUGH SHE WAS OF SOME rank) 
 IN A REAL AND UNBOUNDED 
 AFFECTION AND TENDERNESS 
 FOR HER HUSBAND AND CHILDREN. 
 THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED, 
 FROM THE SORROW OF THEIR HEARTS, 
 AND THEIR LOVE AND RESPECT FOR HER, 
 WITHOUT THE VANITY OR WEAKNESS 
 OF PROCLAIMING HER VIRTUES, 
 OR THEIR OWN MISFORTUNE 
 
 IN SO INESTIMABLE A LOSS 
 
 LET OTHERS THEREFORE CELEBRATE 
 THE NAME, FAMILY AND CONDITION 
 OF SO AMIABLE AND RARE A CHARACTER. 
 SHE DIED 1ST JANY. 1765. 
 
 One man is celebrated for his " elegance of manners 
 and happy talents for conversation, which secured the 
 hearts of numerous friends." A Clergyman's monument 
 bears testimony, not to his piety and usefulness, but to 
 " his extensive and elegant learning — united to a general 
 knowledge of the world — his pleasing manner of con- 
 versing made his company much solicited." A lawyer is 
 simply commemorated as " the unflinching advocate of 
 Legal Reform ;" and another person for the eminent services, 
 which he had rendered to the Whig Club f . We find a lady 
 
 f The very misdeeds of some persons have, by the obtuseness of 
 surviving relations, been deemed worthy of record. A man is celebrated 
 at Glastonbury, as having been " in possession of the ancient Abbey in 
 this town upwards of sixty years." Instead of being a faithful guardian 
 
 C 
 
 •0 
 
o 
 
 164 EPITAPHS. 
 
 described " as purity and innocence itself." This com- 
 prehensive character does not suffice, and not less than 
 seventy additional lines of eulogy are added. But enough 
 of these turgid and ultra -laudatory compositions, which 
 offend alike against piety, simplicity, and truth. Can we 
 say of them any thing more just, than what was said in 
 days of yore ? 
 
 One half will never be believed, 
 The other never read. 
 
 It seems to be a mistake in a monumental inscription to 
 enter minutely into the character of an individual. If 
 he has discharged public duties, his character becomes 
 matter of history, and the sepulchral memoir is unneces- 
 sary. Johnson well observes, that to set it forth detracts 
 from the hero or philosopher, presuming, that his works or 
 achievements are in danger of being forgotten. " Next 
 in dignity to the bare name is a short character, simple 
 and unadorned, without exaggeration, superlatives, or 
 rhetoric : such would be the epitaph, 
 
 ISAACUS NEWTONUS, NATURE LEGIBUS INVESTIGATES, 
 HIC QUIESCIT 
 
 Sheridan's inscription on Nelson in Guildhall is an 
 instance, where this sound advice has been neglected ; it 
 is most needlessly diffuse. On the other hand, when an 
 obscure individual has creditably rilled a private station, 
 his worth will assuredly be appreciated within his own 
 narrow circle, but the world cares little about those traits 
 
 of that " noblest of human temples," as the Ecclesiologist styles it, 
 he permitted the north side of the Abbey Church to be carried off for 
 the repair of the highways. 
 
 g Essay on Epitaphs. — p. 261. 
 
 O O 
 
o o 
 
 EPITAPHS. 165 
 
 of benevolence, which rendered him beloved in life, and 
 lamented in death, by his surviving relations and friends : 
 — where is the necessity for specially recording them ? 
 
 In almost every case there is a befitting pathos and elo- 
 quence in the brief unadorned inscription. " ' Filio unico 
 et charissimo parentes infelicissimi,' tells a tale of domestic 
 distress, which individual experience will, in general, fill 
 up with bitter fidelity! In such cases, to imitate the 
 Romans in brevity awakes a sympathy, which the utmost 
 babbling of loquacious sorrow never can V This brevity 
 is most striking, when the language of grief is accom- 
 panied by some words of consolation, admonition, or warn- 
 ing; and from what treasury, so rich and inexhaustible 
 as that of Holy Scripture, can these be derived ? 
 
 There has been some discussion as to the proper lan- 
 guage of an epitaph. Johnson maintained the propriety 
 of using the Latin language, as the " universal and per- 
 manent one," and sturdily rejected the application, pre- 
 ferred to him by many of the Literary Club, that the 
 epitaph on Goldsmith should be in English, on the ground, 
 " that the memory of so eminent an English writer ought 
 
 h Quarterly Review, vol. xxxix. p. 310. For the following examples, 
 obligingly copied for me, with several others, I am indebted to the 
 Rev. James Wood, M.A., of Bath. 
 
 PAULA . CLARISSIMA . FEMINA . FAMULA . CHRISTI . 
 VIXIT . ANNOS . XXIV . MENSES . DUOS . 
 RECESSIT . IN . PACE . XVI . KAL . FEBRUARIAS . ERA . DLXXXII. 
 
 M . VINCIO . P . F . 
 POST . MORTEM . MUNICIPES . SUI, 
 iERE . COLLATO, 
 PIETATIS . CAUSA, POSUERUNT . 
 
 C . ENNIiE . P . RUBRIUS . CELER . UXORI . CAR . PIENTISSIMiE . 
 CUM . QUA . VIX . ANN . XXXXIII . M . VIII . SINE . QUERELA . B . M . P . 
 OPTIME . VALEAS . QUI . LEGIS . 
 
 6 = o 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 166 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 to be perpetuated in the language of his works. Such 
 also was the opinion of Goldsmith himself 1 ." 
 
 The able editor of the last edition of Boswell's Life of 
 Johnson opposes this dictum, and maintains, that, though 
 Latin may be fitted for inscriptions on triumphal arches 
 or pillars, where it is addressed to the world at large, still, 
 that a Latin epitaph in an English Church is absurd. 
 The reason for using Latin at all is to convey, to foreigners 
 or posterity, the meaning, which a vernacular language 
 might fail to do ; but it would be strange, indeed, to secure 
 this object, without any care for the information of those, 
 who not only form the majority in number, but may be 
 supposed to feel the deepest interest k . On this point a 
 distinction may be drawn, both as to the person com- 
 memorated, and the spot, where the inscription is placed 1 . 
 
 i When Sir James Mackintosh was requested by several distinguished 
 friends to compose an Epitaph for Mr. Fox's monument, it was stated 
 to be the unanimous resolution, that it should be in English — that the 
 national language had been preferred for various reasons. Life of 
 Mackintosh, vol. ii. p. 376. 
 
 Upon his wife's monument Sir James was doubtful, whether the 
 inscription should be in Latin or English. " English," he observes to 
 Dr. Parr, " seems more unostentatious and more suitable to her sex, but 
 Latin is better adapted to inscription." Parr states in his reply, " that 
 an inscription, worthy of your character, most adapted to your feelings, 
 and most satisfactory to your ultimate judgment, calls for the use of 
 the Latin language ;" but Parr should have remembered, that the tablet 
 was to be affixed in the Church of St. Clement Danes, and, if the in- 
 scription was intended to benefit the wives of the shopkeepers in the 
 Strand, his " best form of epitaphs," the Latin, should, in this instance 
 at least, have been relinquished. 
 
 k Quarterly Review, vol. xxxii. p. 297. 
 
 1 There is an awkward practice of uniting Latin and English in the 
 same inscription — commencing, for instance, Memoriae Sacrum, and end- 
 ing with Obiit Mtat. Sua?, the intervening matter being English. Johnson, 
 when speaking of Pope's epitaph on Craggs, which is open to this re- 
 mark, observes — " If either language be preferable to the other, let that 
 only be used ; for no reason can be given why part of the information 
 should be given in one tongue, and part in another, on a tomb, more 
 than in any other place, or any other occasion." [Life of Pope.] Pope 
 
 o- 
 
a 
 
 o 
 
 EPITAPHS. 167 
 
 No one would deny, that, on the grave of the Head, or 
 Fellow, of a College, buried in his own College-Chapel, a 
 Latin epitaph is fitting and appropriate ; such, for in- 
 stance, has been the general practice in the Cathedral of 
 Christ Church, Oxford, where an English epitaph but 
 rarely occurs. From the sixteenth century to the present 
 time, the " universal" language has, with few exceptions, 
 been there adopted. On the other hand, in the Church of 
 Felpham, Sussex, chosen by a once distinguished Head 
 of that House, as his peaceful resting place, the name of 
 Cyril Jackson is followed by a text, in English, breathing 
 reverence and humility, by which the " rustic moralist," 
 and the scholar may alike profit. 
 
 Who would place any other than an English epitaph on 
 the tomb of an English country-gentleman, buried amongst 
 his warm-hearted tenantry ; or, if an excellent female's 
 example is to be profitable to other wives and mothers, 
 are her virtues to be shrouded in a dead language ? The 
 graves of Shakespeare, Howard, Nelson, Scott, and Wil- 
 berforce, will, perhaps, be visited by a larger number of 
 foreigners than those of other Englishmen, and, if Johnson 
 be right, their epitaphs should have been in Latin. Would 
 it not, however, have been a subject of regret, had they been 
 written in a language, which was not intelligible to the 
 very humblest of their own countrymen ? It may also be 
 remarked, that Johnson did not always maintain his pre- 
 ference for the use of Latin in an epitaph, for the one 
 upon Mrs. Bell, in Watford Church, Hertfordshire, is in 
 
 fell into the same error in the intended inscription for Sir Isaac Newton, 
 but which, as it savours somewhat of profaneness by being a play upon 
 Scripture, and could only offend the reader, was happily not transferred 
 to marble. 
 
O 
 
 168 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 English. He departed likewise from another rule, which 
 he has laid down. An address to the passer-by, he re- 
 garded as an injudicious veneration for antiquity, in- 
 troduced at the revival of letters, but, in the epitaph on 
 Mr. Thrale, we find this form of address, nor can it be 
 denied, but that it has been adopted with judgment. 
 
 ABI, VIATOR, 
 ET, VICIBUS RERUM HUMANARUM PERSPECTIS, 
 JETERNITATEM COGITA. 
 
 A good collection of epitaphs to serve as models, for 
 imitation, not to be closely copied, is much wanted. 
 
 Without attempting to make any general selection, the 
 few following specimens are given, as being, it is con- 
 sidered, at least free from those defects and redundances, 
 which it has been one object in these pages to expose. 
 They all hold out a lesson of pious instruction, and 
 as "they set virtue in the strongest light, they appear 
 best adapted to exalt the reader's ideas, and rouse his 
 emulation m ." 
 
 LET THOSE, WHO MOURN IN PROPORTION, AS THEY ONCE 
 REVERED AND LOVED HER : 
 LET THOSE, WHOSE DISTRESSES 
 HAVE BEEN RELIEVED BY HER BENEVOLENCE, 
 OR SOOTHED BY HER GENTLENESS, 
 PAY THE BEST TRIBUTE TO HER MEMORY, BY ALLOWING 
 HER MILD EXAMPLE AN INFLUENCE ON THEIR 
 HEARTS AND LIVES. 
 
 m Johnson's Essay on Epitaphs, Works, vol. v. p. 260. 
 
 " She died in her first child-birth, of twins born dead, aged 31. 
 
 SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 n 
 
 O 
 
 -O 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 169 
 
 LET THOSE SOMETIMES LOOK AT THIS MEMORIAL, 
 AND CONTEMPLATE THE BENEFIT TO BE DERIVED FROM 
 A LIVING RECOLLECTION OF HER PIETY AND CHARITY, 
 IN THE SEASON OF PROSPERITY AND EASE, 
 AND OF HER MEEKNESS AND RESIGNATION, 
 WHEN THE ALMIGHTY CHANGED THE MANNER OF HER TRIAL, 
 AND STRETCHED HER ON THE BED 
 OF SUFFERING, PAIN, AND DEATH. 
 
 WHOE'ER, LIKE ME, WITH TREMBLING ANGUISH BRINGS 
 HIS HEART'S WHOLE TREASURE TO THESE HEALING SPRINGS ; 
 WHOE'ER, LIKE ME, TO SOOTHE DISEASE AND PAIN, 
 THESE HEALING SPRINGS HAS VISITED IN VAIN ; 
 condemn'd LIKE ME, TO HEAR THE FAINT REPLY, 
 TO MARK THE FADING CHEEK, THE SINKING EYE, 
 FROM THE CHILL BROW TO WIPE THE DAMPS OF DEATH, 
 AND WATCH IN DUMB DESPAIR THE SHORT'NING BREATH ; 
 IF CHANCE DIRECT HIM TO THIS ARTLESS LINE, 
 
 LET THE SAD MOURNER KNOW HIS PANGS WERE MINE. 
 
 ORDAIN'D TO LOSE THE PARTNER OF MY BREAST, 
 WHOSE VIRTUE WARM'D ME, AND WHOSE BEAUTY BLEST; 
 FRAM'D EVERY TIE, THAT BINDS THE SOUL TO PROVE 
 HER DUTY FRIENDSHIP, AND HER FRIENDSHIP LOVE, 
 
 BUT YET REMEM'BRING, THAT THE PARTING SIGH 
 
 APPOINTS THE JUST TO SLUMBER, NOT TO DIE ; 
 THE STARTING TEAR I CHECK'D — I KISS'D THE ROD, 
 AND NOT TO EARTH RESIGN'D HER — BUT TO GOD. 
 
 In the church-yard of the Parish Church of Buriton was 
 placed the following epitaph on the learned commentator 
 on the Prophets, and the father of Bishop Lowth : 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 170 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 NEAR THE OUTSIDE OF THIS WALL 
 LYETH THE BODY OF MR. WILLIAM LOWTH, 
 LATE RECTOR OF THIS CHURCH: 
 WHO DIED MAY 17TH, 1732. 
 AND BEING DEAD STILL DESIRES TO SPEAK 
 TO HIS BELOVED PARISHIONERS, 
 AND EARNESTLY TO EXHORT THEM 
 CONSTANTLY TO ATTEND UPON THE WORSHIP OF GOD, 
 FREQUENTLY TO RECEIVE THE HOLY SACRAMENT, 
 AND DILIGENTLY TO OBSERVE THE GOOD INSTRUCTIONS, 
 GIVEN IN THIS PLACE: 
 TO BREED UP THEIR CHILDREN IN THE FEAR OF GOD, 
 AND TO FOLLOW PEACE WITH ALL MEN, 
 AND HOLINESS, 
 WITHOUT WHICH NO MAN SHALL SEE THE LORD. 
 
 Another epitaph, of recent date, on a clergyman, furnishes 
 a good example of brevity, simplicity, and piety. 
 
 SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THE REVD. JOHN ROGERS, 
 LATE VICAR OF THIS PARISH, WHO, AFTER A LONG LIFE OF 
 MINISTERIAL USEFULNESS, PATIENTLY WAITED THE COMING 
 OF HIS LORD, AND DIED IN PEACE, XXV MARCH, 1836. 
 
 " The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect 
 of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." — Isaiah 
 xxxii. 17. 
 
 In the Chapel of the Hospital of St. Elizabeth at 
 Louvain : 
 
 GOD GIVE US ALL A HAPPY MEETING 
 
 AT THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 
 
 O 
 
 ■o 
 
EPITAPHS. 
 
 171 
 
 MARIA SULPERIA, 
 RARO ADMODUM EXEMPLO, 
 CHRISTIANS OFFICIA PIETATIS AMPLEXA 
 XL ANNORUM JUGE MINISTERIUM 
 NOSOCOMIO HUIC SPONTE DEDIT : 
 CONSILIUM AUT SOLATIUM OMNIBUS, 
 PAUPERTATE DIVES, 
 CONTEMPTU LjETA, 
 NON HOMINES, SED DEUM, 
 SEQUI VOLUIT. 
 
 SIC NON MINUS STATE, QUAM VIRTUTE, 
 VENERANDA, 
 CUM VIXISSET ANNOS LXXV. 
 EX UMBRA RERUM AD LUCEM EMIGRAVIT, 
 5. KAL. MART. 
 M. D. C. 
 
 In the Church of the Hospital of Incurables at Paris : 
 d. o. M. 
 
 JOHANNI PETRO CAMUS 
 BELLICENSI EPISCOPO, 
 VIRO 
 
 INGENIO, MEMORIA, ELOQUENTIA, 
 SCRIPTIS INNUMERIS, 
 PIETATE VITS, 
 INNOCENTIA, CHARITATE, 
 ADMIRABILI ; 
 QUI SIBI PAUPER, 
 PAUPERIBUS DIVES, 
 INTER PAUPERES VIVERE, MORI, ET HUMARI, 
 VOLUIT. 
 
 Bishop of Bellay, and the friend of St. Francis de Sales. 
 
o 
 
 172 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 HUJUS NOSOCOMII ADMINISTRATORES 
 POSUERE. 
 VIXIT ANNIS LXVIII. 
 OB. A. S. R. 
 MDCLII p . 
 
 p For these two last epitaphs I am indebted to my friend the Rev. 
 Francis Kilvert, M.A. 
 
o 
 
 •o 
 
 The following judicious remarks on Sepulchral Memo- 
 rials are extracted from Gwynn's " London and West- 
 minster Improved," 4to. 1766. This work, which is 
 adorned by one of Johnson's noble Dedications, well 
 merits attention, both from its sensible suggestions for the 
 greater ornament of the Metropolis, and for the amend- 
 ment of its existing defects. His recommendations have 
 indeed been partially adopted, and some of the most 
 important improvements, that have been effected in our 
 time, may be found sketched out in these pages. Gwynn, 
 as Mr. DTsraeli justly observes, had " the prophetic eye 
 of taste," and it is to be regretted, that his contempo- 
 raries were unmindful of his sound observations on the 
 subject of monuments. Had they been duly considered 
 at that period, how much mischief would have been 
 avoided ! 
 
 The Author, speaking of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, 
 observes, " the inside of this Chapel is extremely fine, and 
 the greatest attention should be given, in order that it 
 

 
 174 MONUMENTS. 
 
 may not be deformed: the common absurd practice of 
 placing trophies against the columns, and of erecting 
 monuments up and down this elegant pile, is an exe- 
 crable custom, unless it was done with more propriety ; 
 indeed this is an abuse too frequently intruded into all 
 places of public worship, and must be entirely owing to 
 the want of taste in those, who have the management of 
 Church affairs, and permit such things to be carried into 
 execution. If the design of a Church is good for any- 
 thing, it is sure to be ruined by this practice, which never 
 fails of destroying its regularity ; whenever a monument 
 is proposed to be erected, the utmost care should be taken, 
 that the design should suit the place a , and by that means 
 serve as an ornament to the whole. There is but one 
 instance, where any attention seems to have been paid to 
 this kind of decorum, and this is to be seen in the two 
 monuments, erected to the memory of Sir Isaac Newton, 
 and General Stanhope, in Westminster Abbey : these 
 are happily placed, and make a fine finish upon the 
 screen in that Cathedral, which would otherwise have 
 
 a Too large a proportion of the monuments, erected in Gwynn's time, 
 were open to this censure of being unsuited to the place, and the cata- 
 logue has been fearfully increased. A monument, erected in Westmin- 
 ster Abbey, about 1752, could not have escaped the censure of so in- 
 telligent a critic. It is thus described : " The monument of Admiral 
 Sir Peter Warren occupies a considerable space. It exhibits a noble 
 figure of Hercules, distinguished by his lion's skin and club, placing 
 a bust of the deceased on an elevated pedestal ; near which is a 
 beautiful statue of Navigation, with a withered olive branch, seated on a 
 cornucopia, and regarding the bust with a mixed look of veneration and 
 melancholy. In the background are an anchor and a cannon, with a 
 large flag. The grandeur of idea displayed in the conception of this 
 monument has been seldom exceeded — the broad chest, huge limbs, and 
 swelling muscles of Hercules, exhibit all the energy, attached to his 
 character. It may be presumed, that the bust is a correct likeness, as 
 the face displays evident marks of the small-pox." Neale's History 
 of Westminster Abbey, vol. ii. p. 205. 
 
 •o 
 
o — o 
 
 MONUMENTS. 175 
 
 made a miserable appearance b . The custom of erecting 
 monuments in Churches, at all, is an absurdity, but the 
 practice of deforming Churches, merely because people 
 can afford to pay a large tax upon vanity, is intolerable ; 
 and if the real worth of some, who figure it in holy places, 
 was strictly enquired into, many a heap of beautiful 
 marble, and exquisite art, would be unanimously thrust 
 out of them as public nuisances. Public memorials of 
 truly great and deserving persons, ought undoubtedly to 
 be erected, and as the love of fame is an universal 
 passion, every incitement for promoting it should be 
 encouraged and attended to. With this view, therefore, 
 public mausoleums should be erected to honour public 
 virtue and learning ; in these the great and good should 
 alone find places, and as a subordination ought to be 
 observed in this kind of edifices, it might not be improper 
 to erect one for the sole use of such, as had no other 
 pretence for perpetuating their memories, than that they 
 existed a certain number of years, and died worth a 
 certain sum of money. This last proposition is the more 
 to be attended to, as the exclusion of this kind of people 
 would be of infinite prejudice to a great number of inge- 
 nious artists, who, without such assistance, would have 
 little or nothing to do ; and it certainly would be no very 
 great burden to the public, if they were to be at the sole 
 expense of erecting such testimonies of regard for the 
 memories of those, who really merited places in the prin- 
 cipal mausoleums. It may be said, that the mausoleum 
 of wealth and vanity must either greatly exceed the 
 
 t> This was the screen, which existed prior to the one, that was 
 erected either by, or under the direction of Mr. Keene, Surveyor of the 
 works in 1775. The latter has happily been supplanted by Mr. Blore's 
 beautiful and appropriate screen, which now adorns the Abbey. 
 
 O 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 176 MONUMENTS. 
 
 others in magnitude, or else be better filled ; the truth of 
 this observation would certainly be verified ; but let it be 
 considered, that what was denied in numbers, would be 
 amply recompensed in value, and that the contemplation 
 of the tomb of one truly great or valuable man would 
 yield abundantly more solid satisfaction, than the pomp 
 and glare of a vast number of monuments, erected to the 
 memories of a multitude of insignificant people." (pp. 
 112,113.) 
 
 Dr. Milner's bitter remarks on the monument and 
 writings of Bishop Hoadley c are not the less bitter, be- 
 cause they are in some measure true. In his description of 
 Winchester Cathedral he states, that "the column, against 
 which the Bishop's monument is placed, has been cut 
 away to a considerable depth, in order to make place for 
 it, evidently to the weakening of the whole fabric. Thus 
 it may be said with truth of Dr. Hoadley, that, both 
 living and dying, he undermined the Church, of which 
 he was a Prelate." Let us hope, that the Cathedral of 
 Winchester has suffered as little real injury from this act 
 of violence, as the Church of Christ from the dissemina- 
 tion, by this " ill-starred parent, of so many mischievous 
 notions d ." Milner also pointedly censures, and with per- 
 fect justice, the little care, which is shewn, that a monu- 
 ment should harmonize with the spot, where it is placed. 
 " The general fault of all mural monuments is, that, how- 
 ever beautiful in themselves, being universally of Grecian 
 Architecture 6 , they cannot possibly assimilate with the 
 
 c Hist, of Winchester, vol. ii. p. 33. 
 d Gladstone's Church Principles, p. 457. 
 
 e A change has taken place in this respect, as designs in the Pointed 
 style are now occasionally adopted. 
 
 o O 
 
MONUMENTS. 
 
 177 
 
 general style of the venerable fabric, in which they are 
 placed : and, on the contrary, they necessarily cover some 
 of its appropriate and essential ornaments. This is indeed 
 common to almost all modern monuments in Gothic Ca- 
 thedrals. They are so placed, as to occasion the destruc- 
 tion or loss of infinitely more of the ancient ornamental 
 work, than there is any occasion for : it being the present 
 practice to carry up a large pier of plain stone from the 
 ground, in order to support the smallest tablet, which 
 might equally well have been fixed against the wall, and 
 even to cover the whole intercolumniation with a screen 
 or wall of Portland stone ; just as if the ric]^ and beauti- 
 ful mullions and arches of the original architecture were 
 defects, which ought as much as possible to be concealed 
 from view! 
 
 " It is not intended to censure the practice of erecting 
 monuments in ancient Churches to the memory of dis- 
 tinguished personages : but any man, moderately skilled 
 in the Pointed or Gothic Architecture, would shew how 
 a monument of any dimensions whatsoever, from a simple 
 shield to a gorgeous mausoleum, might be so constructed, 
 as not to disfigure, but rather to decorate, an ancient 
 Cathedral f ." 
 
 He next inveighs against the custom of crowding to- 
 gether so many colossal figures of allegorical personages. 
 " This taste," he observes, " cannot be right, unless that of 
 Athens and Rome was wrong." 
 
 Another member of the Romish Church, Dr. Wiseman, 
 has passed the following caustic observations on the monu- 
 ments in St. Paul's. In a supposed visit to that Cathe- 
 
 f Hist, of Winchester, vol. ii. p. 99. 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 MONUMENTS. 
 
 dral, in company with a heathen, this writer says, that he 
 would bid his companion "look among the tombs and 
 costly monuments, which surround him, for some intima- 
 tion of what god is here worshipped, and what virtues 
 taught. There he sees emblems, indeed, in sufficient 
 number, — not the cross, or the dove, or the olive-branch, 
 as on the ancient tomb, but the drum and the trumpet, 
 the boarding-pike and the cannon. Who are they, whose 
 attitudes and actions are deemed the fit ornaments for 
 this religious temple? men rushing forward with sword 
 in hand, to animate their followers to the breach, or fall- 
 ing down, while boarding the enemy's deck ; heroes, if 
 you choose, benefactors to their country, but surely not 
 the illustrators of religion. Of one, it is said, that he 
 died as a Eoman would certainly have wished him, after 
 having grappled with his enemy's ship, and rendered the 
 destruction of one or both secure ; the epitaph of another 
 is expressed in the words of his Commander's despatch ; 
 that of a third, in the vote of the House of Commons : 
 not a word of a single Christian virtue, of a thought for 
 God, of a hope of Heaven ; not a hint, that one professed, 
 or believed in, any religion. And would not the heathen 
 rejoice to have found a temple, where the courage of 
 the three hundred Fabii, or the self-devotion of the 
 Decii, or the virtues of the Scipios, were so plainly 
 taught, and held up to the practical admiration and imi- 
 tation of men ? 
 
 "And how would his delight increase, on more closely 
 inspecting the emblems, under which these virtues, or 
 their circumstances, are expressed. Sea and river gods, 
 with their oozy crowns, and out-pouring vases; the Ganges, 
 with his fish and calabash ; the Thames, with the genii of 
 
o 
 
 MONUMENTS. 179 
 
 his confluent streams ; and the Nile, with his idol the 
 sphynx : Victory, winged and girt up as of old, placing 
 earthly laurel on the brows of the falling ; Fame, with its 
 ancient trumpet, blasting forth their worldly merits ; Clio, 
 the offspring of Apollo, recording their history ; and, be- 
 sides these, new creations of gods and goddesses, Rebellion 
 and Fraud, Valour and Sensibility ; Britannia, the very 
 copy of his own worshipped Roma ; and some of these, 
 too, with an unseemly lack of drapery, more becoming an 
 ancient than a modern temple. This assemblage of 
 ancient deities s , as the only symbols to instruct his 
 eye, would assuredly go far to confirm him, either 
 that his ancient religion, its emblems, and its mora- 
 lity, had never been supplanted, or had lately been 
 restored V 
 
 Mr. Britton has, in many of his publications, (especially 
 in his remarks on the interior of Winchester Cathedral,) 
 inveighed against the shameful treatment, to which Ca- 
 thedrals and other Churches have been exposed by the 
 introduction of monuments within their walls. This 
 writer, having been engaged, during the chief part of 
 the last half century, in illustrating their peculiarities 
 and beauties, in a series of volumes, which have ren- 
 dered valuable aid both to the artist and lover of Ar- 
 chitectural Antiquities, is well fitted to speak upon the 
 subject. 
 
 A late Derbyshire tourist, Mr. Khodes, observes, that 
 
 s In a sepulchral memorial, Johnson remarks that, " all allusions to 
 the heathen mythology are absurd ; the designs and decorations ought 
 to be formed with regard to the solemnity of the place : all ornaments 
 owe their beauty to their propriety." Essay on Epitaphs, "Works, vol. v. 
 pp. 262, 263. 
 
 h Letters to John Poynder, Esq., 1836. p. 24. 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 180 
 
 MONUMENTS. 
 
 the Church at Ashboum has been " strangely defaced 
 and cut away, in order that some unmeaning monu- 
 mental tablets might be more conveniently put against 
 the walls. It is a pity," adds the tourist, "that the 
 Churchwardens, who allowed such a mutilation to 
 take place, were not made to do penance for such an 
 instance of bad taste." Happily this reproach no 
 longer applies to this fine Church. Amongst the many 
 restorations, which have there taken place, under the 
 direction of the Architect, Mr. Cottingham, he has judi- 
 ciously removed these tablets to places, more suited for 
 their reception. One large monument of the age of 
 James I., which interfered with a beautiful lancet win- 
 dow, has been placed against a blank wall, and partly 
 sunk into the ground, without any portion of it being 
 hidden. This example might be followed with success in 
 other places. 
 
 The plan, adopted in Lichfield Cathedral, by the 
 direction of the late excellent Dean, Dr. Woodhouse, 
 is well deserving of praise. Tablets and small monu- 
 ments are inserted within the architectural panels on 
 the walls. The pilasters and mouldings thus remain un- 
 broken, and these features of the building are properly 
 preserved \ 
 
 The Plate in the following page is taken from a print 
 in Dugdale's " History of Old St. Paul's :" these arcades, 
 or series of arches, are of very frequent occurrence in 
 
 1 In several Churches in Oxford ; viz. St. Mary's, St. Peter *s, St. 
 Giles's, and St. Michael's, the monuments have been removed from the 
 pillars, and in some of them windows have been re-opened. The late 
 Dean Cholmondeley was among the first of those in authority, who, in 
 his Cathedral at Chester, set the good example of placing monuments in 
 appropriate situations. 
 
 C 
 
 o 
 
O ; O 
 
 MONUMENTS. 181 
 
 existing Cathedrals, and in some of our larger Churches. 
 If monuments are to be introduced at all, to place them 
 within such panels or arcades seems to be the least objec- 
 tionable course. 
 
 In the next Plate we see the mischief, which has been 
 occasioned in the north transept of Worcester Cathedral, 
 by carelessly affixing a tablet to the wall, without any 
 regard to the architecture of the building, and thus, 
 as we have just noticed, what has been preserved at 
 Lichfield has, in this instance, been sacrificed, by wilful 
 mutilation. 
 
 o o 
 
182 MONUMENTS. 
 
 Worcester Cathedral. 
 
 We may here advert to the very serious injury, which 
 has resulted to many of our Churches from the Interments 
 within their walls. This practice should he altogether 
 discontinued, except in those cases, where vaults or cata- 
 combs have been constructed coeval with the Church. In 
 some of our older Churches, the foundations and piers 
 have been undermined and shaken, by sinking graves and 
 vaults too near them ; let the Church of the Holy Sepul- 
 chre, at Cambridge, operate as a warning k . Even gun- 
 
 k At St. Mary's, Nottingham, it has been ascertained, that graves 
 had been sunk four feet below the lowest stones of the foundation of the 
 tower, to obtain room for which the angles of the stone-work had been 
 cut off. One ancient family-vault was found, for which two feet of the 
 original foundation had actually been cut away, directly under the 
 quoin of the tower. The Architect considers, that the tower must have 
 fallen, but for the uniformity, with which the masonry, in its four piers, 
 has sunk. Ecclesiologist, vol. ii. p. 97. It is in this parish, that a 
 majority of 784 persons have refused a rate for the necessary repairs, 
 to ensure the support of the building. 
 
G O 
 
 INTERMENTS IN CHURCHES. 183 
 
 powder has, in one instance, (as I learn from a Eight 
 Keverend Prelate,) heen employed for the purpose of 
 blasting a rocky bed. The pavement and the seats are 
 frequently displaced and injured, or left in a neglected 
 condition after a burial ; but, what is still more im- 
 portant, the living, by this practice, are brought far too 
 closely into contact with the dead. 
 
 Those, who are desirous to learn the period when 
 the custom of burying in Churches was first introduced, 
 may refer to Bingham, who has treated the subject, as 
 usual, in his own full and satisfactory manner. It is 
 curious to trace the gradual inroad, made into the House 
 of God as a place of sepulture. Burials were originally 
 prohibited even in cities 1 — Churches were afterwards built 
 on the graves of the martyrs, or their relics were trans- 
 lated to existing Churches. In the next place, it became 
 a custom to bury the highest in rank in the Porch, and 
 outer buildings of the Church ; and persons of inferior 
 quality were subsequently admitted to the same distinc- 
 tion. The threshold of the Church itself would soon be 
 crossed, and distinguished Ecclesiastics and Laymen be 
 buried within the walls of Churches, Though laws were 
 passed against the usage, so many exceptions were made, 
 " that it was no hard matter for any one, who had ambi- 
 tion, or superstition enough, to think that he should be 
 much benefited in his death, by being buried in the 
 Church, to obtain this privilege 1 "." " It was not an un- 
 
 1 It is stated of Cuthbert, the eleventh Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 who died in 758, " Hujus Pontificis precibus indultum a Pap&, ut in 
 coemiteriis liceret mortuos sepelire in Civitatibus sitis, cum an tea mos 
 esset, cadavera extra pomeria tumulanda deferre." — Godwin de Praesul., 
 p. 45. 
 
 m Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church, Bk. xxiii. ch. i. 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
o- 
 
 184 INTERMENTS IN CHURCHES. 
 
 natural weakness to think that some advantage might he 
 derived from lying in holy places, and amongst holy 
 persons : and this superstition was fomented with the 
 greatest industry and art. The monks of Glastonbury 
 spread a notion, that it was almost impossible any person 
 should be damned, whose body lay in their cemetery 11 ." 
 
 Bingham proceeds to add, that, since the Reformation* 
 many had wished to see the practice rectified, and the 
 ancient custom revived "to have public burying-places 
 in the free and open fields, without the gates of cities. 
 In close places the air cannot but be affected. There 
 is no good done by it to the dead, and the living are in 
 manifest danger by it, especially in the time of contagious 
 distempers, when infected bodies are promiscuously buried 
 in Churches, wherein men daily meet, and assemble to- 
 gether ." Lightfoot tells us, that "burying-places were 
 distant two thousand cubits from the Levitical cities, 
 from all other cities a great space p." Latimer, alluding 
 to the burial of the son of the widow of Nain, without 
 that city, observes, " here you may note, by the way, that 
 these citizens had their burying-places without the city, ; 
 
 n Burke's Abridgment of English History, Works, vol. x. p. 271. It 
 is to be regretted that this interesting work is a fragment only. Though 
 written in early life, and wanting the last touches of the Author's pen, 
 it displays throughout the characteristic features of his capacious mind. 
 It should be extracted from the body of his writings, and published 
 in a convenient form, in order that young persons may benefit by its 
 perusal. 
 
 In going through Sir Harris Nicolas's Testamenta Vetusta, (consisting 
 of wills, from the reign of Henry II. to the accession of Elizabeth,) 
 directions are almost invariably given by the several testators, that 
 their bodies shall be interred icithin Churches and Chapels. The spots 
 selected were generally in the Chancel, " before, or near, the Altar : " 
 "before the Cross :" "before the Rood :" or "before certain Images.'' 
 
 Bingham, ut supra. 
 
 p Works, vol. x. p. 25. 
 
 O 6 
 
O 
 
 INTERMENTS IN CHURCHES. 185 
 
 which is no doubt a laudable thing. And I do marvel, 
 that London, being so rich a city, hath not a burial-place 
 without. — I think, verily, that many a man taketh his 
 death in Paul's Church-yard : and this I speak of experi- 
 ence, for I myself, when I have been there in some morn- 
 ings to hear the sermons, have felt such an ill-favoured 
 unwholesome savour, that I was the worst for it a great 
 while after 4." These remarks are well worthy of atten- 
 tion at this moment. If we regard the immense increase 
 in the population of the metropolis, since the commence- 
 ment of the present century, how inconsiderable, it must 
 be admitted, has been the provision, made in that interval 
 for the interment of the dead. 
 
 In the summary of the weekly tables of the mortality 
 in the metropolis for 1842, it appears, that a population 
 of 1,875,493 is spread over an area of 70 square miles, 
 and that the total number of deaths in that one year 
 amounted to 45,272. 
 
 We may enquire with Smollet, " whether the area of a 
 Church should not be kept sacred from pollution, causing 
 us to breathe a gross stagnated air, surcharged with damps 
 from vaults and tombs ?" Let us remember how many wise 
 and good men have solemnly protested against this prac- 
 tice, and expressly directed, that their own remains should 
 be interred in a Chmch-y ard. They objected to the 
 House of God being devoted to any other purpose than 
 that of " a house of prayer ;" agreeing with Bishop Hall, 
 that God's House was not " a meet repository for the dead 
 bodies of the greatest Saints," — and with Bishop Thomas, 
 
 i Sermon, 3rd Sunday in Advent, 1552. The nncoffined remains of 
 those, who died of the plague, must often have led to a revival of that 
 dreadful pestilence. 
 
186 INTERMENTS IN CHURCHES. 
 
 of Worcester, and Sir Matthew Hale, " that the Church 
 is for the living, not for the dead." They were mindful 
 of the health of those, who survived them, and indulged, 
 perhaps, the Poet's wish, that many an "evening sun" 
 should 
 
 " Shine sweetly on their graves." 
 
 o 
 
©j)iircl) = 2arti &xo$$t$. 
 
 The erection, or even the restoration, of a Church-yard 
 Cross has not been recommended amongst other substitutes 
 for Monuments. The symbol of our faith should never be 
 exposed to the remotest chance of rude violence, or dis- 
 honour ; and experience has unhappily shewn that to 
 these it is liable at the present day. "When will men 
 discriminate between Popery — an invention of modern 
 times, which shrinks from the test of real antiquity — and 
 the primitive Church, which was indeed full of the visible 
 signs of invisible things, in order the better to appeal to 
 thoughtless men ; and delighted to present the Cross on 
 all occasions to their eyes, that their hearts might be 
 turned to Him, who died on it a ?" 
 
 The late Dr. Adam Clarke, who will not be suspected 
 of any great leaning towards Romanism, when he was 
 passing through the Church-yard of Swords, near Dublin, 
 tells us, that he was struck with the appearance of graves, 
 ornamented with Crosses and garlands as tokens of affec- 
 tionate regard. "A frozen-hearted formalist may con- 
 demn this, and call it superstition : true religion and pure 
 affection would give it a far different name. — I felt, and 
 
 a Quarterly Review, vol. lxiv. p. 333. 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
a 
 
 ■ v 
 
 i i 
 
 188 CHURCH -YARD CROSSES. 
 
 could have wept with the disconsolate parents and sur- 
 vivors, and kissed the Crosses, by which the meritorious 
 death of our most blessed Saviour was thus held out to 
 public view as the only foundation of the survivors' hope, 
 that death, the last enemy, should be finally destroyed ; 
 and that those hearts, knit together here in pure and 
 honest love, should be reunited in eternity, where bonds 
 can no more be broken, and death can never enter b ." 
 
 In the Church-yard of Tor Mohun, Devonshire, a 
 monument, placed by a Clergyman to the memory of 
 his Daughter, consists of a small and simple Cross of 
 pure white marble, placed upon a black marble pedes- 
 tal ; " thus," says the Guide Book of the place, " re- 
 storing to a cemetery of the Church of England the 
 sacred symbol of our faith, which we seem to have re- 
 signed entirely to the members of the Eomish Commu- 
 nion." 
 
 Dr. Grant tells us, in his travels amongst the Nestorian 
 Christians, that he was guided by one of the Bishops, to 
 a plain stone Cross, which lay upon the Altar, supposing, 
 that he would manifest his devotional feelings, after their 
 own custom, by pressing it to his lips. " There is some- 
 thing," he adds, " very affecting in this simple outward 
 expression, as practised by the Nestorians, who mingle 
 with it none of the image-worship, or the other corrupt 
 observances of the Koman Catholic Church. May it 
 not be, that the abuse of such symbols, by the votaries of 
 the Roman See, has carried us Protestants to the other 
 extreme, when we utterly condemn the simple memento of 
 the Cross ?" 
 
 b Life, second edition, 1841. p. 283. c Vol. i. p. 52. 
 
 O 
 
 
 
CHURCH -YARD CROSSES. 1 8S 
 
 Crosses were erected in market-places, not only to pay 
 homage there, as elsewhere, to the Kedeemer, but to in- 
 spire men with a sense of morality and piety amidst the 
 ordinary transactions of life d . Why then are they not 
 permitted in consecrated ground, where the passer by, as 
 he approaches the Church, might have holy thoughts 
 awakened in his mind of the solemn service, on which he 
 is about to enter ? 
 
 Yet will we 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 through centuries unborn e . 
 
 The poet observes that " the Lutherans have retained the 
 Cross within their Churches : it is to be regretted, that we 
 have not done the same." 
 
 Can there be a question, — even amongst those who are 
 most opposed to the representation of this sacred emblem, — 
 whether a simple cross, or a memorial like the one below 7 , 
 is best adapted to a place of sepulture? — which best 
 answers the inquiry, " Can these bones live f ? " 
 
 d Milner's Hist, of Winchester, vol. ii. p. 194. 
 
 e Wordsworth's Eccles. Sonnets, pt. iii. 30. "When men, in these 
 days, declaim against, not the erection of a Crucifix, but even the orna- 
 ment of a Cross, as proofs of a spirit, hostile to that of our Reformers, 
 and of an inclination to Popery, they speak in utter ignorance of His- 
 tory. All these things may be wrong, and let them so be proved, but 
 against them the authority of our Reformers cannot be quoted — no — nor 
 even that of the Lutheran Reformers." — Hook's Visitation Sermon, p. 
 128. 
 
 f Ezekiel, xxxvii. 3. 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 190 
 
 CHURCH-YARD CROSSES. 
 
 Assuredly the Cross is the fittest emblem for a Christian's 
 grave : — " perfectly appropriate, full of solemnity, full of 
 consolation?." When the idle objections, which are urged 
 against its introduction, are refuted — as they may be 
 most satisfactorily — and when the Cross shall be more 
 frequently seen upon our monuments, or in our Church- 
 yards, the acts of violence and dishonour, to which allusion 
 has been made, will no longer be witnessed. 
 
 This tomb is in the Church-yard at Melrose. The 
 sculptor had contemplated with little feeling — if he had 
 ever regarded at all — "the imagery" of " St. David's 
 ruin'd pile." 
 
 g See Mr. Paget's beautiful remarks on the Cross, in his tract upon 
 Tombstones, p. 22. 
 
anti lEn&ofomentg for @\)\ixti)t$. 
 
 The mother-country may profit by the example of her 
 offspring. Mr. Caswall, in his work on " America and 
 the American Church," tells us, that at Hartford, in 
 Connecticut, a Church of wood has been sold and re- 
 moved, and that a splendid Episcopal Church of stone has 
 been erected in its stead, at an expense of not less than 
 twenty thousand pounds. " The interior," he adds, 44 is in 
 perfect keeping with the exterior; all is rich and solid, 
 without any superfluous or trifling decorations. In one of 
 the windows is a striking painting of the Ascension a ." 
 
 This writer speaks also of New York as a fountain of 
 benevolence, and that 44 many of the wealthiest merchants 
 habitually devote a tenth part of their incomes, and some- 
 times much more, to religious purposes b ." So soon as this 
 good rule is followed— -and it is one, which the best of 
 men have both practised and recommended— when we are 
 no longer satisfied with doling out, upon occasions, when 
 Charity Sermons are preached, or Subscription lists are 
 circulated, neither more nor less than the accustomed 
 sovereign ; we may hope to see Churches like those of 
 Newark, Grantham, Louth, and Boston, once more rising 
 in our land. — 44 Let every individual of the Church of 
 
 a P. 146. 
 
 b P. 156. 
 
192 
 
 CHURCH BUILDING 
 
 England seriously consider for himself, and answer the 
 deliberate enquiry, in privacy to his own conscience, what 
 he has hitherto done, and what he is now doing, in fulfil- 
 ment of the sacred obligation of providing for the fit sup- 
 port of her ministers, and for the edifices, requisite to 
 enable them to preach the Gospel efficiently to the 
 people c ." 
 
 Great objects, again, we know, are oftentimes at- 
 tained by the accumulation and concentration of small 
 things. Of coral rocks, whose bases are submarine con- 
 tinents, whose summits constitute islands, how diminutive 
 are the founders and architects! and why should not 
 magnificent buildings be raised by the continual aid of 
 contributions, periodically paid by those of limited means ? 
 Why should not subscriptions to Church-building funds 
 form a regular item in the expenditure of every Christian 
 family, as would undoubtedly be the case, if Offertory 
 collections were regularly made for this and other pious 
 and charitable uses ? 
 
 We see the wonders, which were wrought by so slight 
 a contribution as the half-shekel by every Jew, of man's 
 estate, as an offering unto the Lord*. We see also the 
 readiness, which the people shewed in bringing voluntary 
 offerings for the work of the Tabernacle. " The children 
 of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every 
 man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring 
 for all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded 
 to be made by the hand of Moses e ." And what was the 
 glorious result ? " The people bring much more than 
 
 c Letter addressed to the Bishop of Lichfield, by T. Gisborne, M.A., 
 1840, p. 48. 
 
 d Exodus, xxx. 14. * Exodus, xxxv. 29. 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 AND ENDOWMENTS FOR CHURCHES. 
 
 193 
 
 enough for the service of the work, which the Lord com- 
 manded to make. So the people were restrained from 
 bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the 
 work to make it, and too much f ." 
 
 Surely every Christian should remember the nobler 
 purposes of his own Temple, and consecrate to God some 
 portion of his substance. Would any expenditure be more 
 productive in a national point of view; would any be 
 more blessed, or conduce more to the peace and happiness 
 of the individual ? 
 
 The present state of our national finances might alone 
 stifle any application at this moment, for a Grant by Par- 
 liament towards Church- extension ; but the duty of the 
 state — a Christian state — to provide for the spiritual in- 
 struction of its subjects, remains — one, that will remain 
 as a national obligation, and so long as it is neglected, a 
 heavy responsibility rests upon the country at large.— 
 Should it be contended, that, if a Parliamentary Grant 
 were made, the liberality of individuals in building, or 
 largely contributing to build, Churches would cease, so 
 that a check would be given to the revival of such praise- 
 worthy munificence, and that what was gained, on the one 
 hand, would be lost on the other, we should bear in mind, 
 that our modern Churches are often most insufficiently 
 endoived, and towards that important object the aid of the 
 Government would be most effectual. 
 
 If the State would endow, or partially endow, the 
 Churches, which may be raised at the expense of indivi- 
 duals, a signal encouragement would be given to private 
 liberality in building Churches, and better provision would 
 
 f Exodus, xxxvi. 5, 6, 7. 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 194 
 
 CHURCH BUILDING 
 
 be secured for the future maintenance of the Clergy 
 themselves. 
 
 It is well known, that many modern Churches have 
 been so slenderly endowed, that they pass too rapidly from 
 one Incumbent to another, to afford a fair occasion for the 
 Clergyman to acquire his legitimate influence during his 
 brief incumbency ; — and unless some national provision 
 be made for many of the Churches erected in the great 
 manufacturing towns, and in mining, or thinly inhabited 
 rural districts, where no affluent proprietors may reside, 
 they may shortly become useless from the inability of 
 holding out even a decent maintenance for those Cler- 
 gymen, who are to officiate in them g . 
 
 " It is comparatively easy," says Alison, " under the 
 influence of temporary excitement or philanthropic feel- 
 ing," — may we not attribute the act as springing from a 
 much higher motive ? — " to build Churches ; to maintain 
 their Minister in decent competence from voluntary 
 sources, is a very different matter." 
 
 According to a general summary of religious Denomi- 
 nations in America, made in 1835, the number of Churches 
 was 15,477, but there were only 12,130 Ministers 11 . 
 
 The exertions of the excellent representative for the 
 University of Oxford, Sir E. H. Inglis, in the cause of 
 
 g There is happily still living, one, who justly merits the title of Bene- 
 factor of his Country, who has not postponed the distribution of his 
 wealth, until those days, when he can " have no pleasure" in it ; but 
 who has already widely, and, with a most liberal hand, diffused it. 
 Whilst mindful of the various bodily wants of his fellow-creatures, Dr. 
 Warneford has also especially regarded the Endowment of Churches, 
 particularly those in the Diocese wherein he lives, and the Clergy of 
 the present and future ages will have abundant cause of thankfulness, 
 to a brother, who has shewn himself at once so munificent and so 
 judicious. 
 
 h Alison's History of Europe, vol. x. p. 608. 
 
 O 
 
 
 
-O 
 
 AND ENDOWMENTS FOR CHURCHES. 195 
 
 Church-extension, will long be remembered with the 
 warmest respect and gratitude by every friend of the 
 Church. His able speech, in the Session of 1840, on ! 
 moving an Address to the Crown for providing further, 
 and full, means of religious worship and instruction in 
 the Established Church, for the people, comprises a mass 
 of valuable information, which may be profitably consulted 
 by statesmen both of the present and future times. 
 
 Melancholy is the contrast between the frigid reception 
 of that Motion and the conduct of our forefathers, when 
 a proposition of a similar kind was submitted to them. 
 Swift, in his Examiner 1 , remarks, that " the Parliament 
 takes the necessities of the Church into consideration, 
 receives the proposals of the Clergy, met in Convocation, 
 and, amidst all the exigencies of a long expensive war, and 
 under the pressure of heavy debts, finds a supply for erect- 
 ing fifty edifices for the service of God. And it appears 
 by the Address of the Commons to her Majesty upon 
 this occasion, wherein they evinced a true spirit of re- 
 ligion, that applying the money granted to accomplish 
 so excellent a design, would, in their opinion, be the 
 most effectual way of carrying on the war ; that it would, — 
 to use their own words, — be a means of drawing down 
 blessings on her Majesty's undertakings, as it adds to the 
 number of those places, where the prayers of her devout 
 and faithful Subjects will be daily offered up to God, for 
 the prosperity of her Government at home, and the suc- 
 cess of her arms abroad : — 
 
 " Since the Eestoration, the increase of trade, the fre- 
 quency of Parliaments, the desire of living in the Me- 
 tropolis, together with that genius for building, which j 
 
 i No. 42, 24th May, 1711. 
 
o 
 
 196 "CHURCH BUILDING 
 
 began after the Fire, and hath ever since continued, have 
 prodigiously enlarged this town on all sides, where it was 
 capable of increase ; and those tracts of land, built into 
 streets, have generally continued of the same parish they 
 belonged to, while they lay in fields ; so that the care of 
 above thirty thousand souls hath been sometimes com- 
 mitted to one Minister, whose Church would hardly con- 
 tain the twentieth part of his flock. — Some few of those 
 parishes have been since divided ; in others were erected 
 Chapels of ease, where a preacher is maintained by general 
 contribution. 
 
 " Such poor shifts and expedients, to the infinite shame 
 and scandal of so vast and flourishing a city, have been 
 thought sufficient for the service of God and religion, as 
 if they were circumstances wholly indifferent. 
 
 " This defect, among other consequences of it, hath 
 made schism a sort of necessary evil ; there being at least 
 three hundred thousand inhabitants in this town, whom 
 the Churches would not be able to contain, if the people 
 were ever so well disposed. — I believe there are few ex- 
 amples, in any Christian country, of so great a neglect of 
 religion." 
 
 The following picture might have been drawn by Isaac 
 Walton himself : — A merchant devotes the first-fruits of his 
 labours to the poor. At the close of his days his sole 
 anxiety is to partake of the Holy Communion at the Altar, 
 which he had raised, and then, like Simeon, to " depart in 
 peace." May we witness similar instances of piety, and 
 singleness of heart, amongst the same class of persons, so 
 that our " Traffickers" may be truly " the honourable of 
 the earth." 
 
 " 1634 Humphrey Booth, being, by God's blessing on 
 
o 
 
 AND ENDOWMENTS FOR CHURCHES. 197 
 
 his trading, made rich, gave to the poore of Salford, the 
 first lands, that he bought, to the value of £20 per annum, 
 and payd it duely all his lifetime. He, being in greate 
 weaknesse, earnestly desired, that he might live to see the 
 Chappell, [built and endowed chiefly at his own expense] 
 finished, which he did, but, immediately after the solemn 
 dedication of it by the Bishop of Chester, he more appa- 
 rently weakened. Then he earnestly begged, that he might 
 partake of the Lord's Supper there, and he would not wish 
 to live longer. It pleased God to revive him in such a 
 measure, as that he was able to go to the Chappell con- 
 stantly, till he was partaker of the Supper, which could 
 not be of some months after the Consecration, in the 
 Chappell, and was never able to goe forth after, nor scarce 
 to get home k ." 
 
 Let me not quit this branch of my subject, without re- 
 cording the two following instances of liberality and zeal 
 in Church-building, by men in humble stations of life. 
 
 " Mr. John West, a native of the village of Gawcott, 
 a hamlet of the parish of Buckingham, born, and brought 
 up, in very humble life, and living, to the end of his days, 
 in a style, little superior to that of a country labourer, had 
 realized, chiefly by dealing in thread lace, — the manu- 
 facture of the country, — a fortune of several thousand 
 pounds. — He looked, with feelings of compassion and deep 
 concern, upon the irreligious state of his native village, 
 containing nearly five hundred inhabitants, without any 
 place of worship among them, and situate a mile and a 
 half from their parish Church. He, in consequence, 
 formed the generous purpose of supplying, entirely from 
 
 k Hollinworth's MS. History of Manchester, preserved in the 
 Chetham Library. 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
 198 CHURCH BUILDING 
 
 his own funds, the deficiency, which he deplored. Nor 
 did he content himself, as many have done, with making 
 the requisite provision by Will, for the posthumous exe- 
 cution of his design ; he resolved immediately to give up 
 during his lifetime £4000 or £5000 for the purpose of 
 building, and endowing, a Chapel at Gawcott. Accord- 
 ingly the Chapel was promptly raised, and consecrated, 
 May, 1806. The Founder lived to see, and rejoice in, the 
 happy effects of his pious benevolence, in the improved 
 state of the village and neighbourhood till September, 
 1814, when he died in the 78th year of his age 1 ." 
 
 The second of these gratifying instances has been re- 
 lated by the present Bishop of Salisbury, connected with 
 the building of the Church at Whitchurch Canonicorum, 
 in Wiltshire. A Farmer, of the name of James, felt 
 deeply the privation, under which he, and his neighbours, 
 laboured in their separation from the House of God, and 
 the " means of grace," provided therein. — His heart was 
 stirred within him, and he came to the Bishop at Salis- 
 bury, bringing with him a map of the parish, and of the 
 neighbouring district, drawn by himself, and with it a 
 subscription-list, amounting to £400, raised by his almost 
 unaided efforts. To this sum he had himself contributed 
 fifty pounds, and said, that he would draw stone and at 
 once commence the building, if the Bishop would only 
 promise to consecrate it on its completion. At length all 
 obstacles were overcome, but in the mysterious Providence 
 of the Almighty, it was not permitted to its zealous pro- 
 jector to see the labour of his own hands, — to rejoice in 
 
 1 For this interesting extract from the Life of the Rev. Thomas Scott, 
 (page 254,) I am indebted to my friend, William Gregson, Esq. 
 
O- 
 
 -o 
 
 AND ENDOWMENTS FOR CHURCHES. 199 
 
 his work. — He died a short time before the consecration 
 of that " House of God," which he had so long, and so 
 earnestly, desired to behold. But were his efforts, there- 
 fore, thrown away ? No, rather was his work finished, and 
 he was taken to his reward ; and if he was not allowed to 
 worship in the courts of God's tabernacle on earth, may 
 we not humbly trust, that he joined in purer worship, and 
 in more joyful songs, in the blessed company of the Saints, 
 who rest in the Lord m ? 
 
 Abridged from the Newspapers. 
 
c 
 
 ■O 
 
 Repair ant) Improvement of ©fmrcDeg* 
 
 When consulting Testamentary Documents, from the 
 12th, to the 16th centuries, we may see that the existing 
 state of the Churches engaged the attention of the noble 
 and affluent, amongst our ancestors, as well as of those in 
 the humbler ranks of life 
 
 a Domestic luxury had, however, the same absorbing influence upon 
 some laymen, centuries ago, which it has had upon their descendants 
 in succeeding generations. These men did not escape the lash of 
 Chaucer. — " His aulter is broke, and low lithe in point to gone to ye 
 yearth, but his horse must been easie, and hie to beare him ouer great 
 waters. His chalice poore, but he hath rich cups. No towayle but a 
 sheete, there God shall been handeled : and on his meat borde there 
 shall been borde clothes and towelles many paire. At masse serueth 
 but a clergion : five squiers in hall. Poore chauncell, open holes in 
 every side; beddes of silke with tapites going all about his chambre. 
 Poore masse booke and leude chapelayne, and broken surplice with 
 many an hole ; good houndes and many, to hunt after harte and hare, 
 to feede in their feestes." (Testament of Love. Edit. 1602.) William 
 of Wykeham in his Injunctions to his Clergy, thus speaks : — " Vobis 
 firmiter injungendo mandamus, quatenus vasa, corporalia, pallas, et 
 vestimenta, ac cetera ecclesice ornamenta munda, nitida, et honesta 
 decetero conserventur — nimis enim videtur absurdum in sacris sordis 
 negligere, quae dedecent in profanis." (Visitatio Notabilis de Seleburne, 
 1387. White's Hist. Selborne, 4to. 1813, p. 448.) 
 
 " In sundry Churches and Chappells there is such negligence, and lacke 
 of convenient reverence used towardes the comelye keeping, and order 
 of the said Churches, and especially of the upper parte, called the Chan- 
 cels, that it breedeth no small offence and slaunder, to see and consider, 
 on the one part, the curiositie and costes bestowed by all sortes of men upon 
 there private Houses, and the other part, the uncleane or negligent order ; or 
 
 O 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF CHURCHES. 
 
 201 
 
 In our dread of u superstitious uses," provision, by Will, 
 for the building or restoration of Churches, has been well 
 nigh forgotten. We hear occasionally of noble gifts to 
 Hospitals, and other public charities, and also to reli- 
 gious societies, but should not liberality be extended, 
 and provision be made for these " Hospitals for sin," which 
 the circumstances of the times imperatively demand ? 
 
 The few following extracts will shew us, how much our 
 ancient Ecclesiastical Fabrics have been indebted to the 
 pious feeling, which actuated our ancestors, in the disposal 
 of their property. 
 
 1253. Richard, Bishop of Chichester, bequeathed to the build- 
 ing of the Cathedral Church, £40. b 
 
 1404. Walter Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham, amongst other gifts 
 of a like kind, bequeaths to the Church of Durham 
 one golden Chalice. To the fabric of the Church of 
 Durham, 100 Marks. Towards the work of his new 
 Dormitory, in the Priory of Durham, 100 Marks. 
 To the fabric of the Steeple of the Church of Howden, 
 £40. c 
 
 1456. Reginald Atte Pette, of Stockbury, bequeaths towards 
 the making of a new beam in the Church of Stock- 
 bury, 13s. 4d. : towards a new bell, called trebyll, 
 6s. 8d. : towards the work of the new isle in the afore- 
 said Church, IV. Marks, and towards the making of 
 a new window there, 20s. d 
 
 spare keeping of the house of prayei generally leavynge the place of 
 
 prayers desolate of all cleanlyness, and of meet ornaments for such a 
 place whereby it might be known a place provided for Divine Service." 
 Queen Elizabeth's Letter to Archbishop Parker, 22nd Jan. 1560. Card- 
 well's Doc. Annals, vol. i. p. 261. 
 
 b Nicolas's Testamenta Vetusta, p. 761. 
 
 c Britton's Arch. Antiq., vol. iv. p. 129. 
 
 d Nicolas's Test. Vet., p. 286. 
 
 o- 
 
 O 
 
O- 
 
 o 
 
 202 
 
 PROVISION FOR THE REPAIR 
 
 1474. Walter, Lord Montjoy, ordains that the Parish Church, 
 and Chancel of our Lady at Aylewaston, in the 
 County of Derby, be made up, and finished com- 
 pletely, out of his proper goods, and that a third bell, 
 called a tenor, be bought for the said Church e . 
 
 1485. Thomas Ricards, alias Fermour, of Whitney, Oxford- 
 shire, gives to the building of the Aisle of St. Mary 
 Magdalen, in the Church of Whitney, called Carse- 
 well Aisle, £20. f 
 
 1488. John Fane, of Tunbridge, Esq., gave to the structure of 
 the Rood Loft in the Church of Tunbridge, V. Marks, 
 on condition that the Churchwardens build it within 
 two years. — Bequests are also made to nine other 
 Churches in Kent, "in all which Parishes I have 
 lands?." 
 
 1490. Sir John Fogge, Knt, bequeaths his jewels and orna- 
 
 ments to the Church of Ashetisforde, for the honour 
 and worship of God K 
 
 1491. Margaret Lady Moyle, bequeaths " to the fabrick of the 
 
 steeple of Charyng, 40s"." * 
 
 1495. William Benet, of Canterbury, bequeaths iiiis. ivd. of 
 quit-rent to his Feoffees, the Parson, and Wardens of 
 St. Andrew's, " to sustain and keep up the clock of 
 the said Church for evermore k ." 
 
 1506. John Wilcocks, of Chipping Wycombe, " wills, that his 
 Executors pay the charge of new glazing the window 
 in our Lady's Chapel," — "also that his Executors 
 buy a Marble Stone to lay on his grave, with the 
 picture of his 2 wives of vii. foot in length 1 ." 
 
 1508. Benett Webbys, of St. Mary, Sandwich, bequeaths " To 
 the finishing of the reparation of the Church-yard 
 
 e Nicolas's Test. Vet., p. 334. f Ibid., p. 378. 
 
 g Ibid., p. 392. 
 k Ibid., p. 425. 
 
 h Ibid., p. 400. 
 1 Ibid., p. 475. 
 
 Ibid., p. 402. 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
AND IMPROVEMENT OF CHURCHES. 203 
 
 walls of St. Mary, which he had begun, as much 
 money, as will finish it by the discretion of his Exe- 
 cutors. — To the Reparation of the Bells of St. Cle- 
 ments, vis. viud." m 
 1521. Sir Thomas Wyndham, Knt., mentions his purpose " to 
 adowrne and vawghte a Chapell, in the City of Nor- 
 wich," — and directs his " body to be buried in the mydst 
 of the same Chapell, without dampnable pomp, or 
 superfluities 11 ." 
 
 1523. Henry, Lord Marney, directs, that, with the profits of 
 
 his lands, the Chapel, which he had begun adjoining 
 to the Chancel of Leyr Marney Church, should " be 
 new made, with a substantial roof of timber, covered 
 with lead, and the windows glazed with imagery ac- 
 cordingly," — also that a new Alms-house be made for 
 5 poor men, with one common Kitchen, and that they 
 shall have yearly 20 loads of wood in their yard, &c. 
 each of them xd. every week, and, against the feast 
 of St. Michael, one gown of russet frise, ready made °. 
 
 1524. Thomas, Lord la Warre, bequeaths, "to the Mother 
 
 Church of Chichester, 20s. — to the Church of Broad- 
 water his mantle of blue velvet of the Garter, and his 
 gown of crimson velvet belonging thereto, to make 
 two Altar cloths ; to the Church of Boxgrave his gown 
 of tawney velvet p.' 1 
 
 1525. Sir Ralph Egerton orders his Executors to finish the 
 
 Chapel of Bunbury, Co. Chester, to be covered with 
 lead, ceiled, and drawn with knotts, gilded, and the 
 pains (panels) painted ; and to provide all manner of 
 ornaments, as one Chalice gilt, another double gilt, 
 three suits of Vestments, one coarse for workedays, 
 another for Sundays, and lowe Holidays, the third, a 
 
 m Nicolas's Test. Vet., p. 492. 
 o Ibid., p. 609. 
 
 B Ibid., p. 581. 
 p Ibid., p. 605. 
 
o 
 
 204 PROVISION FOR THE REPAIR 
 
 good suit for solemn and high festival days, — which 
 Chapel he orders to have paved with square asheler, 
 or other tyle, or stone, as his Executors think con- 
 venient % 
 
 1527. John Rooper, of St. John's Hospital, Canterbury, wills, 
 that a large Altar window be made in the said Hos- 
 pital, "to he glazed within 2 years after his decease, 
 with such imagery or pictures, as he should show to 
 his Executors r ." 
 
 1534. William Lord Montjoy, mentions that Henry Kehle, 
 " whose daughter he married, and who was a special 
 Benefactor to the building of Aldermary Church in 
 London, (to the value of j£2000, and above,) lieth in 
 the same Church, and no stone over him." He wills, 
 " that a stone be provided V 
 
 1542. William Earl of Southampton, K. G., "wills, that his 
 Executors build a new Chapel, adjoining to the Church 
 of Midherst, and that they build a Tomb therein for 
 Mabyll his Wife, and himself, for the building whereof 
 he bequeaths D. Marks 1 ." 
 
 1558. " William Bell, Prest, bequithes vnto Middleton Church 
 thre Bells of an hundrethe weght, which I desyre 
 my lord of Lyncoln, and doctor Watson of the col- 
 ledge of duresme, at my costs and charges to hange in 
 rTrame the said Bells at the Churche, and for the 
 hanginge of the said Belles, and for the said fFrame, I 
 have prepared xx. tres there, and all the tymber, that 
 remanithe ouer and besides the makynge of the said 
 fFrame. I bequithe to the said P'ishe Churche to 
 builde in the said Churche one He, and to make 
 Stalles in the said Churche of the cost and charges of 
 the said P'ishe u ." 
 i Collins's Peerage, vol. i. P. 2. p. 805. 
 
 * Nicolas's Test. Vet., p. 629. s Ibid., p. 671. 1 Ibid., p. 707. 
 >» Wills and Inventories published by the Surtees Society, p. 171. 
 
 G O 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 AND IMPROVEMENT OF CHURCHES. 
 
 205 
 
 The following inscription remains in the Church of St. 
 Lawrence, at Evesham. 
 
 MARGRET HAY LATE OF THIS PARISH OF ST. LARENS DESED 
 HEARE HATH PRESENTED AND GIVEN THIS COMMUNION TABLE, 
 AS HER WIDDOWES MITE, DESIRING ALL GOOD CHRISTIANES TO 
 IMETATE THIS HER GODLY DEVOCION AND LOVE TOWARDES 
 THE CHURCH BOTH IN LIFE AND DETH. 1610. 
 
 It is a pleasure to state that the " godly devotion" of 
 this poor widow has been " imitated," and that this beau- 
 tiful Church has been recently restored in a most credit- 
 able manner, under the direction of Mr. Harvey Eginton, 
 of Worcester. 
 
 o- 
 
 o 
 
" To honour God with our worldly goods, not only by using them 
 without offence, but by alienating from ourselves some reasonable 
 portion thereof, and by offering up the same to Him, as a sign, that we 
 gladly confess His sole and sovereign dominion over all, is a duty, 
 which all men are bound unto, and a part of that very worship of God, 
 which the law of God and nature itself requireth. — Unless by a kind of 
 continual tribute we did acknowledge God's dominion, it may be doubted, 
 that , in short time men would learn to forget whose tenants they 
 are. Hooker's Eccles. Polity, Book v. chap. 79. 
 
 With the view of providing Funds for the erection of 
 Churches, and other objects of kindred importance, the 
 Author cannot but indulge the hope, that, under the 
 sanction of Episcopal authority, the practice of making 
 collections at the Offertory may be generally revived. 
 This hope is much strengthened, by seeing how much has 
 lately been done, both by precept and example, in restoring 
 the beneficial usage a . In some Churches it has already 
 
 a The Bishop of London recommended a general collection at the 
 Offertory, throughout his diocese, on Palm Sunday, 1842, in aid of the 
 Colonial Bishoprics' Fund, and the receipts on that occasion exceeded 
 j£8000. " This success," his Lordship remarks, "will no doubt operate 
 as an encouragement to the clergy, to adopt, more generally still, * 
 the mode of proceeding, which I recommended, when collections are 
 to be made for Church purposes." Charge of the Bishop of London, 
 1842, p. 63. "Four years and a half I have partially, and one year 
 and a half entirely, observed the rule of the Church. My satisfaction 
 is only exceeded by the painful recollections, that I should for so long 
 have neglected this part of my duty." The result has been, that ^TOO 
 was thus collected in one year, instead of about ^20 per annum, "many 
 
o 
 
 n 
 
 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 207 
 
 been introduced, and its more extensive adoption must 
 necessarily be gradual. In all cases, mucli will depend 
 upon local habits, the character of the population, and 
 such other incidental circumstances, as will be duly weighed 
 by the Heads of the Church, and the resident Clergymen. 
 It is a mode of collection which is alike simple and effective 
 in its operation, and is based both on Scripture and on the 
 Eubric. " Upon the first day of the week," says St. Paul, 
 " let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath 
 prospered him b . " " In the Churches of Gaul and England, 
 and elsewhere, the people long continued to offer during 
 the Liturgy ; and memorials of the custom remain to this 
 day, in most parts of the West c ." 
 
 In the Liturgy of Edward VI., 1549, it is directed, that, 
 " whiles the Clerks do sing the Offertory, so many, as are 
 disposed, shall offer to the poor men's box, every one, 
 
 of the poor contributing considerably more than their proportion." 
 Letter, addressed by the Rev. Charles Miller, M. A., to George Palmer, 
 Esq., M. P., 1842. p. 13. The Rev. Richard Seymour, in his judicious 
 and convincing letter to the Bishop of Worcester, has given us the 
 results of his own experience, in his small agricultural parishes in the 
 county of Worcester. The inhabitants are only four hundred in number. 
 The collections in one year were <^35. 9s. 6d. ; one moiety was given to 
 sick and aged parishioners, two thirds of the other moiety to the Society 
 for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the remaining one third to the 
 Diocesan Church Building Society. In the parish of Leigh, Essex, the 
 population of which consists of about a thousand souls, chiefly employed 
 in fishing, the result in 1841 had been, that from the Offertory and 
 alms boxes, a sum of ^142 had been received by the Rector, the Rev. 
 Robert Eden. This gentleman has just issued a pamphlet, entitled, 
 "Why not try the Weekly Offertory?" which can be satisfactorily 
 replied to only in the affirmative. The excellent Sermon by the Rev. W. 
 Palin, B.A., with its Appendix, forms another of those useful pub- 
 lications on this most important subject which have proceeded from 
 clergymen resident in Essex. May their valuable suggestions have 
 their due influence both in that and other counties ! Mr. Gresley's 
 Sermon on the Offertory well deserves perusal. I would point especially 
 to the concluding note, 
 b 1 Cor. xvi. 2. 
 
 c Palmer's Origines Liturgicce, vol. ii. p. 69. 
 
 o 
 
208 
 
 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 according to his ability and charitable mind. And, at the 
 offering days appointed d , every man and woman shall pay 
 to the Curate the due and accustomed offerings." Then 
 it proceeds, "so many, as shall be partakers of the Holy 
 Communion, shall tarry still in the quire, &c. All other, 
 that mind not to receive the said Holy Communion, shall 
 depart out of the quire, except the Ministers and Clerks." 
 
 The Rubric directs, that " Upon the Sundays and other 
 holy days, if there be no Communion, there shall be said 
 all, that is appointed at the Communion, until the end of 
 the prayer, For the Whole State of Christ's Church, to- 
 gether with one or more of the Collects, concluding with 
 The Blessing." Here, it may be observed, that up to this 
 portion of the Service, there is no intimation of the separa- 
 tion of the entire congregation e . Whilst the sentences are 
 reading, "the alms for the poor and other devotions of 
 the people shall be received," and the Rubric proceeds, as 
 a distinct and separate instruction, to give such directions, 
 as are necessary, "tvhen there is a Communion." It seems 
 clear, therefore, that, whether there be a Communion or 
 not, still a collection is contemplated from the entire con- 
 
 <i Nichols mentions, that there were four offering days in the year, but 
 he specifies only the three Festivals, Christmas-Day, St. John Baptist, 
 and St. Michael. Nichols on the Common Prayer, Supp. 42. Was 
 the Festival of the Epiphany the fourth ? 
 
 e " Neither of these things, the sentences or prayer, are ever un- 
 suitable. The first day of the week is recommended in Scripture for 
 purposes of charity, as well as set apart for making supplications," &c. 
 See Archbishop Seeker's Sermons, vol. vi. p. 279. " It ought not, 
 surely, to be cause of offence, but rather of gladness, if the alms of the 
 congregation are gathered, during the reading of those sentences of 
 God's Word, which declare the duty, the measure, and the rewards of 
 charity : nor ought it to be deemed in any sense superstitious, if those 
 offerings, expressly given for the glory of God, are solemnly and de- 
 voutly dedicated to Him, with a united and fervent prayer of interces- 
 sion ' For the whole State of Christ's Church Militant here in earth.' " — 
 Bishop of London's Pastoral Letter, 1843. 
 
ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 209 
 
 gregation. The appointed sentences, with the rubrical 
 directions which follow them, are intended for general ob- 
 servance, and are not to be restricted, as is the common 
 practice, to those occasions, on which the Sacrament of 
 the Lord's Supper is administered, nor then confined to 
 those, who actually communicate. " The Church," says 
 Nelson, "invites us to give alms every Lord's Day, ivhether 
 there be a communion or no ; it would be well, indeed, if a 
 means could be found out to revive these weekly collections, 
 that such oblations might accompany all our solemn 
 services upon the Lord's Day f ." 
 
 u Why should we cast away that most necessary sacri- 
 fice of alms ? The Church hath very fitly assigned it this 
 place, as preambulatory to the prayers ensuing, it being 
 properly styled by St. Chrysostom, the wing of prayer 
 
 Can we doubt, that, compared with all modern plans 
 for raising charitable contributions, the Offertory is the 
 most " excellent way" ? It is that, which harmonizes best 
 with our duty as Christians — with the language of Scrip- 
 ture — with the injunctions of the Church, and with the 
 desires and wants of a devout and humble spirit. The 
 Bishop of New Jersey, in a Pastoral Letter, has shewn 
 very forcibly the many advantages, which this plan com- 
 bines : — its frequency ; its constancy ; its simplicity ; its 
 moderation ; its inexpensiveness ; its sobriety. 
 
 f Nelson's Christian Sacrifice, p. 81. 
 
 ? L'Estrange, Alliance of Divine Offices, p. 178. third edition, 
 1699. A correspondent of the Church Intelligencer, March 16, 1842, 
 says, " I have had some experience in what are commonly called 
 Charity Sermons, and I am compelled to come to this conclusion, that 
 collections do not depend altogether upon the goodness of a sermon, 
 but are very much affected by its length! I fear, that there are few 
 Churches, where more than two-thirds of the congregation give one 
 farthing" — might we not rather say one-third? 
 
J 
 
 210 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 No sound Churchman would wish to lessen the weight, 
 which properly attaches to sermons, when delivered for 
 our instruction and admonition. But, must we not feel, 
 with Bishop Jebb, more and more disposed to " cling to 
 the department most congenial with the providential 
 function of our Church — the department of edification, 
 rather than of excitement 11 ?" In quietness and in confidence 
 must be our strength. (Isa. xxx. 15.) How desirable is it, 
 that a Clergyman, instead of stimulating his congregation, 
 upon one or more Sundays in the year, to the discharge of 
 one of the most important Christian obligations, should, 
 by calm and steady perseverance, impress upon them the 
 real grounds, on which true charity rests. Clear statements 
 of the objects and operations of the several Societies, con- 
 nected with the Church, to which the Offertory collections 
 would be devoted, might, when required, be given by him, 
 and thus, having sown the good seed, he might, by God's 
 grace, reap plenteously. No charitable institution can 
 ever calculate with any certainty upon its annual income, 
 if it depend chiefly upon occasional sermons : it is liable 
 to be fettered in its designs by an unexpected failure in 
 its resources ; the rainy day — the absence of particular 
 individuals — and numberless other causes — each and all 
 of these tend to this result, and the charity is perhaps 
 left in debt, until a more favourable train of events shall 
 occur. The Church " need not be hurried and excited, 
 as if all were to be done in a moment, and by impulses ; 
 but should be patient, and sober, and persevering to the 
 end 1 ," 
 
 h Bishop Jebb's Correspondence with Knox, vol. ii. p. 195. 
 « Letter to the Bishops of Exeter and Salisbury, by A. H. Dyke 
 Acland, Esq. Appendix, p. 36. 
 
 O 'J 
 
Q- 
 
 .0 
 
 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 211 
 
 Let us return, then, to the practice pursued in pure and 
 ancient days, when the Church was for ever gathering the 
 bounty of her sons. " She then lifted not up her voice 
 in the streets; she made no appeal from the highways 
 and thoroughfares of traffic ; nay, she collected not her 
 offerings at the door of God's House, lest the gate 
 of the Temple should be thought to shew too much like a 
 resort for the tables of money-changing. She spoke to 
 the hearts of her people from the holiest spot in her 
 domain, even from the place, where the eye of faith may 
 behold the ever-present Saviour, with unseen bands of 
 ministering spirits attendant upon Him, to whom every 
 knee must bow, of things in Heaven and things on earth. 
 And the gifts, thus offered, she instantly hallowed, by 
 humbly and gratefully presenting them to the Author of 
 all Good ; with a prayer, that He would graciously vouch- 
 safe, at her hands, to receive back His own. And thus 
 were the free-will offerings of the faithful converted into 
 sacrifices of thanksgiving, with which, as an Apostle has 
 declared to us, the Father of all mercies is well pleased. 
 Even so, then, let it be k ." 
 
 In some Churches it is not thought expedient to receive 
 contributions from non-communicants, but why should 
 the young, who cannot participate at the Holy Table, be 
 prevented from giving their alms ? This exclusion must 
 at one time have been regarded as a serious disgrace ; 
 for " it was one punishment," says Bishop Wilson, " in 
 the Primitive Church, not to admit certain sinners to 
 the Offertory, who yet might join in other parts of the 
 service. The Church, saith St. Chrysostom, receives not 
 
 k Sermon by the Rev. Charles Webb Le Bas, M.A., preached in 
 Harlow Church, May 28, 1839. 
 
212 
 
 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 offerings from the injurious. This went in those days for 
 a very great punishment 1 ." 
 
 The following calculations, though not founded wholly 
 on experience, may not be useless. 
 
 If one hundred and fifty persons were to contribute 
 each one penny every Sunday during the year, a sum of 
 £32. 10s. would be raised in a Church, where as many 
 shillings are not collected by Sermons in the same period. 
 If, again, amongst a congregation of a thousand persons, 
 five hundred were, on each Sunday, to give the value of 
 the half shekel, about fifteen pence, a sum, which, under 
 the Mosaic dispensation, was enjoined to be given, as an 
 offering to the Lord, by every Jew, that was twenty years 
 old and upwards, — the two pennies, be it remembered, 
 given by the good Samaritan" 1 — a sum of £31. 5s. would 
 be collected every Sunday, and a gross sum of £1625. per 
 annum. Take next, as an example, a Church, in a city or 
 town, with a congregation of about seven hundred persons, * 
 of mixed classes of society, — deducting one third part for 
 children, and the very poorest of the congregation, say 
 232 — there would be left 468 as donors. 
 
 Weekly Sum. 
 
 Annual Amount. 
 £. s. d. 
 
 100 do. 
 
 100 do. 
 
 50 do. 
 
 141 do. 
 
 75 Contributors at 
 
 s. d. 
 
 2 6 . 
 
 1 . 
 
 6 . 
 
 4 . 
 
 1 . 
 
 . . 487 10 
 
 . . 260 
 
 . . 130 
 
 . . 43 6 8 
 
 . . 31 1 
 
 468 
 
 £ 
 
 951 17 8 
 
 i Maxims of Piety, Bp. Wilson's Works, vol. iv. ed. 1776, p. 248. 
 "i See Lightfoot's Works, vol. vii. p. 128. 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 213 
 
 As a further illustration of this practice, we will take an 
 existing City Church, with a congregation of 1000 persons 
 in less affluent circumstances, generally, than those com- 
 prised in the above statement. In this Church there was 
 collected, during the year 1841, on the several occasions, 
 when the Holy Communion was administered, 
 
 £. s. d. 
 
 The sum of 85 3 7 
 
 And when eight charity-sermons were preached 145 16 7 
 
 £231 2 
 
 Supposing weekly Offertory collections to be made in this 
 Church from two-thirds of the congregation, according to 
 something like the following scale, the result would be as 
 follows : 
 
 Weekly Sum. Annual Amount. 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 £. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 222 Contributors at . . 
 
 . 10. . 
 
 . . 577 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 222 do 
 
 .06.. 
 
 . . 288 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 222 do 
 
 1.. 
 
 . . 48 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 913 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 Sums actually received in 
 
 one year . . 
 
 . . 231 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 , £682 
 
 17 
 
 10 
 
 These minute calculations may seem derogatory to so 
 high a subject as Christian charity. Nay, indeed, it 
 has been alleged, that the frequent practice of referring 
 to the amount which may be collected is a desertion of 
 the principle. But mere general statements can never be 
 secure against doubt or denial, and these specifications 
 will enable a Clergyman to form some idea, what may be 
 
 6 — o 
 
o o 
 
 214 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 done in his own Church, in raising annually from his con- 
 gregation, the largest sums, in the most effectual and least 
 onerous manner. The sums themselves cannot hut he 
 regarded as moderate, and might he modified and varied 
 in many particulars. If the contributors of the larger 
 sums were fewer in number, those of less amount might, 
 on the other hand, be more numerous ; still a sum of 
 from £900 to £1000, might, from such a congregation, 
 as the one, to which allusion was first made, be annually 
 collected. Occasional absence and deficiencies would be 
 supplied, doubtless, by more liberal contributions at the 
 great Festivals. Many would feel, that extraordinary 
 mercies demanded a larger measure of bounty ; " Give 
 unto the Most High, as He hath enriched thee." (Eccles. 
 xxxv. 10.) But, if we take the first collection, as above, 
 
 at £950 
 
 and deduct one fourth as Sacramental alms, 
 to be appropriated, as such alms have been 
 usually distributed, 237 10 
 
 a surplus will remain of £727 10 
 
 This surplus might be divided into equal proportions. 
 Let one half be applied in aid of the Parochial Schools, 
 Hospitals and Dispensaries, and to other local objects, for 
 which sermons have usually been preached ; and the 
 other moiety might be paid over to the Societies for 
 Church building, and the Propagation of the Gospel, both 
 at home and abroad, or to other recognised Church of 
 England Societies, in such proportions and manner, as the 
 wants of these Societies might, from time to time, demand. 
 
 In disposing of the Offertory collections, it will not be 
 
O- 
 
 o 
 
 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 215 
 
 maintained, either that they are to he hestowed exclusively 
 upon the poor, or that they must he expended within the 
 limits of the parish. The rubric says expressly, that they 
 " shall be disposed of to such pious and charitable uses, 
 as the Minister and Churchwardens shall think fit n ." So 
 far, then, are the poor from possessing an exclusive claim to 
 them, that a very limited number, we may remark, of the 
 twenty Offertory sentences, can be considered as solely 
 applicable to the relief of the poor. A distinction is clearly 
 to be made between " alms for the poor, and the other 
 devotions of the people," and to that distinction the sen- 
 tences unquestionably point. 
 
 It is impossible to allege, that this plan would either 
 fetter private liberality, or press unduly upon the finances 
 of any family, or individual, however limited might be 
 their income, as the respective sums are spread over the 
 whole year. " Observe," says St. Chrysostom, " how the 
 Apostle avoids being burdensome; he said not ' so much,' 
 or 4 so much,' but whatsoever ye may have been prospered 
 in, whether much or little, signifying, that the supply is of 
 God. And not only so, but also by his not enjoining 
 them to deposit all at once, he makes his counsel easy : 
 since the gathering, by little and little, hinders all percep- 
 tion of the burden and the cost °." 
 
 It is not. too sanguine an expectation, to believe, that 
 
 B Bishop Patrick says, that he, " having very often great Com- 
 munions, and sometimes large offerings, called the churchwardens to 
 consider, how the same should he disposed of. They desired it might 
 he laid out for the relief of the poor, who, I told them, had already had 
 their share, on those Sundays, when the offerings were made, and that 
 they were not intended to lessen their rates for the poor, which would 
 be to give to the rich, and not the needy." The money was otherwise 
 applied, and l * settled on the curate, who should read prayers, morning 
 and evening, for ever." Life of Bishop Patrick, p. 88. 
 
 Library of the Fathers, Homilies on Corinthians, part ii. p. 607. 
 
 6 O 
 
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 216 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 these contributions would augment rather than dimmish, 
 as they would be considered by an individual, in the calcu- 
 lation of his annual income and expenditure, at the com- 
 mencement of each year. This forethought would lead 
 him to regard the giving of alms in the Church, as an 
 integral part of the Christian service, and not an occasional 
 proceeding. He would make a proper reserve, not only 
 for these collections, but also for such casual and un- 
 expected demands of charity, as must always occur in the 
 course of a year. His gifts would not then be restricted 
 to mere accidental claims upon his bounty, which he 
 would gladly answer, if his means permitted ; but which, 
 by falling upon him at once, and without due preparation, 
 may be almost, if not altogether, neglected. " Dedicate and 
 lay apart," — said one, who practised what he taught, — " a 
 proportion of your gains, or your income, when it is certain, 
 for alms-deeds, which will make the work easy and de- 
 lightful, and you, moreover, ready to embrace any oppor- 
 tunity, that offers for doing good, because you are before- 
 hand provided with the means p." 
 
 If the plan, here recommended, be viewed as visionary, 
 or, if it be argued, that it is not worth the experiment, be- 
 cause — as it may be assumed — it could not answer ; that, if 
 put into practice, its success would be partial, and the con- 
 tributions trifling — the author would answer in the words 
 of our revered Metropolitan, " the practice of giving will 
 create habits of bounty*." Communicants, it is well known, 
 
 p Nelson's Letter to George Hanger, Esq., § xiii. 
 
 i Charge of His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1840. " The 
 objections, which some persons have made to the Offertory, from 
 want of consideration, or from the fancied novelty of the practice, will 
 be overcome by proper explanation, and by the persevering use of an 
 ancient and laudable custom." Bishop of London's Pastoral Letter, 
 1843. 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 217 
 
 always increase by a more frequent administration of the 
 Eucharist. " We believe, that we have only to ask largely, 
 and we shall receive largely. Small alms are the conse- 
 quence, not of individual poverty, but of active charity 
 and self-denial, not enforced r ." Thus the universal duty 
 of Christian charity, on its true foundation, — by too many 
 scarcely understood, and very little practised, as a habit, — 
 would, undoubtedly, by the adoption of this custom, be 
 both taught and encouraged s . 
 
 One of our greatest Divines, Hammond, evinced, by his 
 own practice, the efficacy of these collections. " In the 
 Offertory, we are told, his instruction and example so 
 far prevailed, that there was thenceforth little need of 
 ever making any poor-rate in his parish. Nay, it is 
 reported, that, in a short time, a stock was raised to be 
 always ready for putting out children apprentices. And, 
 after that, there yet remained a surplus, for the assistance 
 of the neighbouring parishes V 
 
 Let us seriously ask ourselves, whether our charitable 
 gifts, or, by far too large a portion of them, at least, 
 
 r Paget's St. Antholin's, p. 128. 
 
 « Mr. Palmer's Pamphlet on " Church Extension without Parlia- 
 mentary Grants" contemplates a provision, in aid of that object, by the 
 means here pointed out, in conjunction with others. As that Pamphlet 
 has, doubtless, been universally read, the following passages only will 
 be extracted in confirmation of the preceding remarks. 
 
 " Considering the great amount of wealth in this country, and I must 
 add, the charitable and liberal disposition of a large portion of our con- 
 gregations, I cannot think there would be any difficulty in introducing 
 the practice, with so holy and religious an object in view. 
 
 " It is possible, that some little time might be requisite to instruct our 
 congregations in their duties in reference to this subject, but it is one, 
 which is so deeply connected with religious considerations, that, if the 
 Clergy were obliged to bring it continually before the consciences of 
 their hearers, it is morally impossible, that there could be any failure." 
 (pages 18, 19.) 
 
 t Fell's Life of Hammond, 1662, pp. 13. 24. 
 
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 218 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 announced as they now are to the world through Reports 
 and Newspapers, are given in accordance with our Blessed 
 Lord's commands ? — rather do we not act in direct oppo- 
 sition to His words, by thus doing our alms before men, 
 to be seen of them P Are we not admonished to take heed, 
 or beware, of converting a duty which He has prescribed, 
 into an act of ostentation: lest, like the hypocrite, we 
 are careful, how we " appear unto men, and not unto our 
 Father, Who seeth in secret"? No other reward can we, 
 in justice, expect, than that which has been our chief in- 
 centive — the vain applause of the multitude. To desire to 
 be paid for the good we do, by the praise of men, is to 
 lose all". 
 
 The Offertory provides well against this abuse of charity, 
 and its revival, after a season, could not but be acceptable 
 to all classes. The rich man, when sought to become a 
 donor or subscriber to a charity, instead of being " ready 
 to give, glad to distribute," and regulating his gift by a 
 sense of duty alone, frequently asks what his neighbours, 
 circumstanced like himself, have done ? He does not give 
 what he knows that he ought to give, and what he might, 
 probably, desire to give, but shelters himself under the 
 wretched plea, that he cannot, with propriety, exceed the 
 contributions of particular individuals. How gladly, we 
 may suppose, would a man, thus situated, bestow his 
 alms silently and unnoticed * ! 
 
 Again, as the custom would affect those in humble life. 
 While subscription-lists prevent many a poor man from 
 
 u See Valpy's Greek Testament, note on St. Matt. chap. vi. ver. 1, 2. 
 x Mr. A. D. Acland states, that he is fully convinced — speaking from 
 experience — "four persons, out of five, look through the lists to seek for 
 the average, if not for the minimum, given by their equals in fortune." — 
 Letter ut supra, p. 21. 
 
 C ( 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 219 
 
 ranging himself with his richer neighbour, and thus 
 placing his " mite/' in striking contrast with the " abund- 
 ance" of the other — a feeling, which, though it ought 
 to be rooted out of our hearts, will, alas ! from human 
 frailty, too often lurk there— would not such a one hail 
 the means, thus afforded him, of casting into the treasury 
 his scanty offering, known only to Him, who measures 
 the gift, not by its amount, but by the motive of the 
 giver* ? 
 
 By the appointment of the Almighty, a wider sphere of 
 action has of late years been opened to the English Church, 
 than at any former period, and we, her children, if we would 
 evince our faith in her Head, — our reverence towards our 
 Spiritual Mother, — and our charity towards our brethren, 
 — are now called upon " to shew before the messengers of 
 the Churches, and before the Churches themselves, the 
 proof of our love 2 ." 
 
 What are the great objects, which now seek her aid? 
 The cause of National Education is chiefly — and long 
 
 y Let me strengthen these remarks by a reference to the Bishop of 
 Salisbury's Charge, delivered to the candidates for Holy Orders, in Lent, 
 1843, with which I have been favoured, since these pages were in type. 
 '* The recurrence of the Ember Seasons would seem to offer a very fit 
 occasion for inviting the contributions of the Church to objects in imme- 
 diate connection with the work of the ministry." The Bishop proceeds 
 to recommend the Society for the Employment of Additional Curates, and 
 that for the Propagation of the Gospel, to the particular notice of his 
 Clergy; and adds, " In my own diocese, it would be my wish, that such 
 collections should be made at the time of divine service, during the 
 reading of the sentences in the Offertory. Our ordinary subscription- 
 lists, for purposes of this kind, too little succeed in gathering in the con- 
 tributions of the middle and lower classes, in combination with those of 
 their more wealthy brethren ; whereas, humanly speaking, the success which 
 may be expected to attend any course, will be much in proportion to the 
 extent, in which it interests the feelings, not of the rich only, but of the 
 whole body of the Church, and draws its resources from all the members, 
 according ' as God hath prospered ' each." — pp. 10, 11, Note. 
 
 z 2 Cor. viii. 23, 24. 
 
 o 
 
220 
 
 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 may it so remain — committed to her charge. She would, 
 that "all her children should be taught of the Lord*," 
 knowing, that it is solely, by religious training, that the 
 " peace" of her children, both in time and eternity, can 
 be secured. 
 
 For the daily increasing numbers of the young, schools 
 must be erected, and masters must themselves be trained. 
 That her sons and daughters, both in youth and in raa- 
 turer years, may " hold fast the form of sound words," 
 the Church scatters liberally the Bible and her admirable 
 Liturgy throughout the land, together with such other 
 books, as are well calculated " for promoting Christian 
 Knowledge." 
 
 The Church Militant here on earth can never " rest 
 from her labours." She must strive to bestow on the whole 
 of our vast population, every blessing and privilege, which 
 spiritually belong to those, who are now within her Com- 
 munion. Loudly, therefore, she calls for additional Churches 
 and Ministers, and the extension of her Parochial System, 
 so that the morning and evening sacrifice of praise and 
 thanksgiving may be offered, — that Christ's Holy Word 
 may be publicly read and taught, — and His Holy Sacra- 
 ments duly administered to all her people. 
 
 Nor must we forget that the labourer is worthy of his 
 hire ; " they, who wait at the Altar," we are told, " are 
 partakers with the Altar b ." For the Minister, during his 
 life, fit provision must be made, and the widows and 
 orphans of such men must not be forgotten. Let the Clergy 
 be encouraged in life, and comforted in death, by knowing, 
 that their most precious legacy has been left, not only in 
 
 Isa. liv. 13. 
 
 o- 
 
 1 Cor. ix. 13. 
 
 -O 
 
o- 
 
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 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 221 
 
 the hands of a merciful God, but to the sympathy of a 
 grateful country c . 
 
 But further. The Gospel of Christ, we are assured, — 
 shall be disseminated amongst the countless millions of the 
 Heathen; and the Church if she be true to her "heavenly 
 calling" must send forth her Bishops, her Ministers, and 
 her Catechists to " the multitude of the isles d ," and 
 to other remotest " corners of the earth," where the 
 dominion of England bears sway. " The Parish, which 
 makes no contribution to the missions of the Church, is 
 rebuked by its own prayers 6 ." The Apostolical Episco- 
 pate should be coextensive with her empire, that other 
 lands may be kindled by her light, and she herself be en- 
 abled to walk, hereafter, in more unclouded brightness. 
 
 Now for the accomplishment of all these glorious ends 
 — in any degree proportioned to their magnitude and im- 
 portance — occasional and irregular efforts will never suffice. 
 The contributions, now made, are too often given by men 
 as matter of form and custom, or as chance directs ; — " on 
 no fixed principle, by no relative measure, in no definite 
 proportion to the means, intrusted to their stewardship f 
 and are consequently found to be lamentably defective. 
 If the Church be the source, whence the blessings of 
 education, and of sound religious teaching — both at home 
 and abroad — shall flow, "the wells must be digged deeper, 
 and the channels laid out with a more even and measured 
 distribution s." There must be the oblations of the " whole 
 
 c Dean Rennell's Sermon, preached before the Sons of the Clergy, 1796. 
 Sermons, p. 136. 
 d Psalm, xcvii. 1. 
 
 e Archdeacon Manning's Charge, 1842. p. 31. 
 f Ibid., p. 29. 
 s Ibid., p. 24. 
 
 o— o 
 
o 
 
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 222 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 
 
 Body." The Laity — to a man — must, according to their 
 greater means, endeavour to rival the Clergy in the uni- 
 versality and abundance of their alms. By the exhortation 
 of her Ministers — by acting on herself, in all her parishes, 
 throughout all her dioceses, the Church must invite all 
 her members — high and low — rich and poor — "young men 
 and maidens — old men and children" — Sunday by Sunday 
 — on Fast and Festival — to shew forth their faith by their 
 works — to unite their alms with their prayers ; — " each, 
 according to his ability," to consecrate a portion of his 
 substance to the good of his fellow-creatures, and the 
 glory of their common Lord and Saviour. 
 
 The Church thus made the appointed channel of the 
 charity of Christians, will aid the necessities of the poor 
 and needy at home, and enlarge Christ's kingdom on 
 earth. If the work be carried on in faith, judiciously, 
 patiently, continuously, the Church will find herself en- 
 riched with resources inexhaustible. 
 
 The noble objects, which have been here enumerated, 
 will no longer be coldly regarded, but the very poorest man 
 amongst us will experience all the comforts of Church- 
 membership ; he will gratefully feel, that he has himself 
 been a fellow-worker with the rich and the great h . His aid 
 may indeed have been small, still " he has done what he 
 could 1 ," and he knows, that the mite, if offered in a 
 Christian spirit, will in no wise lose its reward. May not 
 the Offertory be compared to the Treasury, for receiving 
 the gifts of the worshippers in the Temple; over-against 
 
 h " Such an act of general oblation is eminently calculated to remind 
 every separate congregation, and every individual worshipper, that they 
 are all members of one spiritual body, of which Jesus Christ is the Head." 
 (Eph. iv. 16.) — Bishop of London's Pastoral Letter. 1843. 
 
 1 St. Mark, xiv. 8. 
 
O- 
 
 o 
 
 ALMS-GIVING IN CHURCHES. 223 
 
 which, while on earth, our Blessed Lord sat, and there 
 read the hearts of the givers ! May we not hope, that as 
 He has graciously promised to be in the midst of His 
 followers, He will accept and approve the thank-offering- 
 laid upon His Altar ! And may every contributor receive 
 the cheering assurance vouchsafed to Cornelius, " Thy 
 prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial 
 before God k ." 
 
 k Acts, x. 4. 
 
C o 
 
 Sepulchral fflttwxt&h. 
 
 The subjoined statements are given as cases, in which 
 posthumous honours have been paid to individuals, and due 
 regard has, at the same time, been shewn towards the spi- 
 ritual and temporal wants of the living. By connecting 
 the names of the dead with works of piety, or with useful 
 institutions, — the objects of which may, in life, have been 
 especially cherished by them — surviving friends may be 
 assured, that they are most effectually reverencing the 
 memories of those whom they lament, and causing them 
 to be " had in everlasting remembrance." 
 
 We may not be prepared to say with Mason, that 
 
 Beauty scorns to dwell, 
 Where use is exiPd. 
 
 But, surely it must be admitted, that those have done both 
 wisely and well, who have sought to give glory to God, 
 and to shew their good-will to men, by memorials like 
 those, which we are about to enumerate, when we com- 
 pare them with the Pyramids and Cupids of past times, or 
 with the heathen trash of Urns, Sarcophagi, inverted 
 torches, et id genus omne, of later days. 
 
 o 
 
o 9 
 
 SUBSTITUTES FOR SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 225 
 
 Kidlington Hospital. 
 Close to the Church at Kidlington, in the county of 
 Oxford, is a small Hospital, or Alms-house, containing six 
 rooms. Upon a tablet at the north end is the following 
 inscription — 
 
 " To GOD, AND THE POOR OF KIDLINGTON, AND TO THE 
 PIOUS MEMORY OF THE VIRTUOUS LADY, ANN MORTON, 
 AND HER DECEASED CHILDREN, SIR WILLIAM MORTON, 
 KNIGHT, LATE ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S JUSTICES OF THE COURT 
 OF COMMON PLEAS, DEDICATED THIS FOUNDATION, ANNO 
 DOMINI 1671." 
 
 I am indebted to Evelyn Philip Shirley, Esq. M.P., for 
 directing my attention to this Memorial, in the erection 
 of which a husband and father has left us a good ex- 
 ample, of one of the best methods of perpetuating the 
 memories of those, who, in life, were most dear to us. 
 
 My readers will join with me in, likewise, thanking the 
 Keverend the Hector of Exeter College, and Vicar of 
 Kidlington, for the following touching extract from the 
 Founder's will : — 
 
 " Whereas I have built and erected an Hospital at Kid- 
 lington, in the county of Oxford, for the habitation, and 
 maintenance, of three poor men, and three poor women, 
 that are impotent and decrepid, who are to be single per- 
 sons, and whose labour and work is done. And in remem- 
 brance of the piety and virtues of my dearly beloved wife, 
 and my dear and dutiful children, John Morton, George, 
 William, Ann, and Magdalen Morton, deceased, which I 
 had by her, I will, and appoint, that the said building, or 
 Alms-house, shall be called, and known e, by the name of 
 ' the Lady Ann Morton's Alms-house' for ever. And 
 
 o c 
 
 Q 
 
o 
 
 ■o 
 
 226 SUBSTITUTES FOR SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 
 
 that the poor people, that shall be placed, and put in, by 
 me in my lifetime, and for ever hereafter, shall be called 
 the Lady Ann Morton's Almsfolke, and shall be stiled, 
 and incorporated, by that name." 
 
 Church of Over Seal, or Seile, Leicestershire. 
 
 Jn the Church, lately built at Over Seal, a modest 
 Tablet records the name, and good deeds, of an aged lady, 
 who gave the Site of, and a Donation to, that building, of 
 which she laid the first stone. 
 
 It further states, that "the Communion plate, stone 
 Table, and velvet covering, were offerings from the rela- 
 tions of the deceased, to record her zeal for the glory of 
 God, and the honour of His House." These Offerings, as 
 I am informed by the Kev. J. Morewood Gresley, were in 
 lieu of a monument, for which £200 had been reserved. 
 
 The late Bishop Otter. 
 " Impressed with a deep sense of the benefits, conferred 
 upon the Diocese of Chichester, by the pastoral labours of 
 their late lamented Bishop, a large body of the Clergy 
 and other persons, who had been attending his funeral, 
 assembled with a view of testifying their feelings in such 
 a manner, as might do honour to his memory, and pre- 
 serve the recollection of his name, — of his services to the 
 Church, — and of the singular affection and respect, which 
 he had gained from all classes during the four years of his 
 Episcopate." 
 
 It was deemed, that the best mode of shewing regard 
 for the late Bishop, and that the Monument, which he 
 himself would have prized the most, would be such a 
 memorial, as should also tend to promote and perpetuate 
 
o o 
 
 SUBSTITUTES FOR SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 227 
 
 some one Institution, the establishment, or revival, of 
 which had distinguished his brief but active Episcopate. 
 
 " Among these there was not much room to hesitate. 
 The interest, which the Bishop had always taken in the 
 cause of Education, and the conviction, that the very sal- 
 vation of England depends mainly, under Divine Pro- 
 vidence, on the improvement of education, and that the 
 only way of bringing about such an improvement is to 
 raise the character and qualifications of schoolmasters, 
 concurred in pointing out, that the erection of a building 
 for the Training School at Chichester, to be called 6 Bishop 
 Otter's School,' would be the fittest memorial. A sum of 
 at least two thousand pounds was named, as that required 
 to carry the purpose into effect in a manner worthy of the 
 Diocese, and of him whom it is proposed to honour a." 
 
 The Venerable Archdeacon Hutchins, of Van Diemens 
 Land. 
 
 In distant lands the same good spirit and judgment 
 have prevailed. — On the sudden death of this excellent 
 man, who, it is said, was constantly engaged in promoting 
 every good work, it was resolved, " that, as the most be- 
 coming and expressive token of the respect, entertained 
 for him, a School should be founded to be named after 
 him b ." 
 
 The late Duke of Gordon. 
 " The Duchess of Gordon, in 1839, caused a magnifi- 
 cent building to be commenced at Huntly as a School for 
 
 " Extracted from the Circular, signed by the Earl of Chichester, as 
 acting Chairman of the Committee. 
 
 b Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel for 1842, 
 p. xlix. 
 
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 c 
 
o ■ 
 
 228 SUBSTITUTES FOR SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 
 
 the education of the children of the poor in that neigh- 
 bourhood, to perpetuate the memory of the late lamented 
 Duke, her husband. The building, which is on an ex- 
 tensive scale, when finished, will not have cost less than 
 £3,000." 
 
 Testimonial in memory of the late Venerable 
 Archdeacon Cambridge. 
 
 " An Address was put forth, on his death, by a Com- 
 mittee, expressive of the reverence and affection, in which 
 the character of this excellent man was universally held 
 by all, who knew him, and proposing a subscription for a 
 monument in the new District Church on Twickenham- 
 common, towards the erection of which he gave the most 
 efficient assistance. 
 
 " Subsequently, the suggestion of numerous friends 
 has been adopted by the Committee, that the form of 
 testimonial should be changed, and that, instead of the 
 proposed monument, a National School, to be called 
 4 Archdeacon Cambridge's School,' should be erected, 
 adjoining the new Church, for the poor of the district, as 
 being more in accordance with the simplicity of character, 
 and well-known wishes of him, whose memory it is the 
 object to honour." 
 
 Memorial to the late Edward Cludde, Esq., of 
 Orleton, Salop, April 1841. 
 
 On the death of this kind landlord, and excellent man, 
 it appeared to be the general feeling, that two Alms- 
 houses, to be built at the entrance of the village of 
 Wrockwardine, and endowed for the support of two 
 aged widows, would form the most suitable memorial 
 
SUBSTITUTES FOR SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 229 
 
 of one, so compassionately mindful of the poor and 
 friendless. 
 
 The following inscription is intended to be placed on 
 the front of the Alms-houses : — 
 
 (i THESE ALMSHOUSES, ERECTED IN THE YEAR OF OUR 
 LORD, 1841, AND ENDOWED FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF TWO 
 POOR WOMEN IN THEIR DECLINING YEARS, ARE DEDICATED 
 TO THE MEMORY OF EDWARD CLUDDE, ESQ., LATE OF ORLETON, 
 IN THIS PARISH, BY HIS TENANTS AND NEIGHBOURS, IN 
 TESTIMONY OF THEIR RESPECT FOR A MAN, WHO WAS AN 
 EMINENT EXAMPLE OF PURE AND UNDEFILED RELIGION, 
 VISITING THE FATHERLESS AND WIDOWS IN THEIR AFFLIC- 
 TION, AND KEEPING HIMSELF UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD." 
 
 St. Johns Church, Harlow, Essex. 
 It was the wish of the near relations of the late Eev. 
 Charles Sanderson Miller, formerly of St. John's College, 
 Oxford, and Vicar of Harlow, to erect a Monument to his 
 memory, which would connect his name with an under- 
 taking, calculated to promote the spiritual welfare of that 
 parish, which was so dear to him, and which for so many 
 years enjoyed the benefit of his services, as a faithful 
 Minister of Christ. — The foundation-stone of a new Church 
 was considered, as the most fitting memorial, and it was 
 thus inscribed. 
 
 "THIS STONE, WHICH WAS LAID BY JOHN, MARQUESS OF 
 BUTE AND EARL OF DUMFRIES, MAY 28, 1839, IS SACRED TO 
 THE MEMORY OF THE REV. CHARLES SANDERSON MILLER, M.A., 
 LATE CURATE AND VICAR OF THIS PARISH, AND FORMERLY OF 
 ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD. — HE DIED APRIL 21sT. 1837, 
 IN THE 75TH YEAR OF HIS AGE, AND WAS BURIED IN A VAULT 
 UNDER THE VESTRY, ATTACHED TO ST. HUGH'S CHURCH IN 
 THIS PARISH." 
 
o 
 
 230 SUBSTITUTES FOR SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 
 
 This Church, dedicated to St. John Baptist, — the whole 
 of which is free and unappropriated, — was consecrated on 
 the 20th April, 1841, at which period the living had been 
 in the possession of the family of Miller more than half a 
 century. The present worthy representative of that name, 
 and Vicar of Harlow, has thus endeavoured to make full 
 provision for the spiritual wants of his parishioners, there 
 being now two Churches and one Chapel in a parish, con- 
 taining a population of 2000 persons c . 
 
 Church of Crawford St. John, Northamptonshire. 
 A South Aisle has very lately been added to this Church 
 by the present Patron of the living, and Hector of the 
 parish d , as a memorial of two of his children, who died 
 young. 
 
 St. Stephens Church, Walcot. 
 A handsome Font, with an appropriate canopy, designed 
 by Edward Blore, Esq., as a memorial of Francis Ford 
 Pinder, Esq., late of the city of Bath, is about to be erected 
 in this Church by his children. 
 
 The following may be given as examples of another 
 class of Memorials, alluded to at page 113. 
 
 Memorial Windows. 
 The very Rev. the Dean of Chichester was amongst the 
 very earliest to adopt the suggestion, thrown out in the 
 first edition of this work, by placing in his Cathedral 
 
 c See introduction to a Sermon, by the Rev. C. W. Le Bas, M.A., 
 preached in Harlow Church, May 28, 1839, before referred to. 
 * The Rev. Sir George S. Robinson, Bart., M.A. 
 
SUBSTITUTES FOR SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 231 
 
 Church, a Window of stained glass, executed by Mr. 
 Wailes, of Newcastle on Tyne, of which the accompany- 
 ing Plate is a representation. The Window terminates 
 the east end of the South Aisle, and contains six separate 
 groups of figures, representing the acts of mercy, de- 
 scribed in the 35th and 36th verses of the 25th chapter of 
 St. Matthew's Gospel, and scrolls with mottos. 
 
 The Inscription at the bottom of the window is as 
 follows. 
 
 " In memortam J¥tari& ®$anftler, pte, fatuficae, 1841." 
 
 The following is a List of Memorial- Windows, which 
 have been either already executed by the same Artist, 
 Mr. Wailes, or are in the course of preparation, by him, 
 for the several Churches, named in the first column. 
 
 Where Erected. 
 
 Chichester Cathe- 
 dral. 
 
 Chichester 
 dral. 
 
 Chichester 
 dral. 
 
 Cathe- 
 
 Cathe- 
 
 Studland Church, 
 Dorset. 
 
 New Church at 
 Ware, Herts. 
 
 St. Peter's Church, 
 Newcastle on 
 Tyne. 
 
 To whose Memory. 
 
 Four Brothers, the late 
 Messrs. Humphreys. 
 
 The late Sir Thomas 
 Miller, Bart. 
 
 The Right Rev. P. N. 
 Shuttleworth, D.D., 
 late Bishop of Chi- 
 chester. 
 
 The late wife of the 
 Rev. C. M. Turner. 
 
 Jefferies Spranger, 
 Esq. 
 
 The Rev. John Dodd, 
 late Vicar of New- 
 castle. 
 
 The principal Subjects. 
 
 Incidents in the life 
 of S. Peter. 
 
 Incidents in the life of 
 S. John Baptist. 
 
 Figures of our Lord, 
 S. Paul, S. John 
 Baptist, and S. John 
 the Evangelist. 
 
 In the Centre Window, 
 the emblem of the 
 Trinity, the Cross, 
 and Inscription ; in 
 the side Windows, 
 figures of SS. Peter 
 and Paul. 
 
 The Baptism, and As- 
 cension of our Lord. 
 
 Figures of our Lord, 
 SS. Peter and An- 
 drew e . 
 
 e Beneath the centre Figure, the late Vicar is represented at a Litany Desk. 
 
o- 
 
 232 SUBSTITUTES FOR SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 
 
 Where Erected. 
 
 St. Andrew's 
 Newcastle 
 Tyne. 
 
 Ch. 
 on 
 
 St. Peter's Church 
 Saffron Hill,Lon 
 don. 
 
 Swaffham Church, 
 Norfolk. 
 
 St. James's Church, 
 Bethnal Green, 
 London. 
 
 Long Newton Ch., 
 Durham. 
 
 Lyme Regis Ch., 
 Dorset. 
 
 Lyme Regis Ch., 
 Dorset. 
 
 Newburn Church, 
 Northumberland. 
 
 St. Michael's Ch.. 
 Sunderland. 
 
 To whose Memory. 
 
 An infant Child of 
 Mr. Wailes. 
 
 1. The Daughter of J. J. 
 Allen, Esq. 
 
 The Wife of Lt. Col. 
 Allix. 
 
 A Brother and Sister, 
 munificent Contri- 
 butors to the Beth- 
 nal Green Churches' 
 Fund. 
 
 The Right Rev. Wil- 
 liam Van Mildert, 
 D. D., late Bishop 
 of Durham. 
 
 Mrs. Mary Welch. 
 
 Wm. Webb Bennett. 
 Esq. 
 
 John Reed, Esq. 
 
 J. Lotherington, Esq. 
 
 The principal Subjects . 
 
 Birth and Ascension 
 of our Lord, and the 
 Blessing of little 
 Children. 
 
 Figures of our Lord 
 and S. Peter. 
 
 Our Lord blessing lit- 
 tle Children, and 
 other events in His 
 life. 
 
 The 12 Apostles, and 
 12 subjects selected 
 from the life of our 
 Lord. 
 
 Figures of our Lord 
 and S. Peter. 
 
 Figures of our Lord 
 and Moses. 
 
 The Resurrection. 
 
 Altar- Window. 
 The Crucifixion, En- 
 tombment, Resur- 
 rection, and Ascen- 
 sion of our Lord. 
 
 Figures of SS. Peter 
 and P aul. 
 
 Wyke Regis Church, Dorsetshire. 
 
 " In the course of the year 1841, a Sepulchral Monu- 
 ment was on the point of being erected by a gentleman, 
 to the memory of a deceased relative ; when it was sug- 
 gested by his Hector, that some painted glass might serve 
 all the purpose of a memorial, and at the same time be a 
 considerable ornament to the Church. A beautiful Altar- 
 window, executed by Mr. Willement, has just been com- 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
ied Glut Works, Newrastle-upmi-'l yne. 
 
 MONUMENTS Ij WI b: D OW^ 
 CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL, 
 
MONUMENTAL WINDOW 
 CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL, 
 
o o 
 
 SUBSTITUTES FOR SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 233 
 
 pleted ; and it is likely to be followed by another for the 
 same Church, and by the same able hands, under precisely 
 similar circumstances f ." 
 
 1 Gent.'s Mag., January, 1842, p. 72. 
 
o- 
 
 -o 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Dunham Whitaker, L.L.D., F.S.A., 
 Vicar of Whalley. 
 
 Whilst referring, so frequently, to the works of 
 Whitaker, the Author cannot but express his feelings of 
 admiration and respect towards one of the most original 
 thinkers, one of the most sagacious antiquaries, and one 
 of the most powerful and elegant writers of his day. To 
 strong common sense Dr. Whitaker added sound scholar- 
 ship — every topic was touched by him with consummate 
 talent — no one could detect a fallacy more quickly, or 
 expose it with more keenness and ability. 
 
 His style is singularly happy, uniting force with ele- 
 gance. By a few well-selected words he presented to the 
 mind a finished picture ; and, whatever might be the 
 subject of the work, he wisely rendered it subservient to 
 the great interests of religion and morality. 
 
 True it is, that different faculties are given to different 
 men. In Dr. Whitaker the " painful accuracy," essential 
 to a topographer, was occasionally wanting, and, when 
 occupied in throwing light upon subjects, which would 
 have baffled inferior men, it would have been well, had a 
 faithful coadjutor, though of humbler powers, assisted 
 him in his topographical works, which, whilst stamped 
 with genius and learning, are not always implicitly to be 
 followed in their minuter details. 
 
 In a local history the reader expects to find what- 
 
 o- 
 
 -o 
 
o o 
 
 REV. DR. WHITAKER. 235 
 
 ever relates both to the past and to the existing state of a 
 locality, be the subject, one of general interest or other- 
 wise : but Whitaker too often selected such subjects only, 
 as interested himself. He deemed, that he was best em- 
 ployed, or at least more to his own satisfaction, "in work- 
 ing the mines of ages, hitherto unexplored, — in separating 
 the genuine ore from baser adhesions, — running it, for 
 the first time, into a compact and tangible mass, and im- 
 pressing upon it the stamp of modern currency 3 ." 
 
 Those of his writings where his learning, acuteness, 
 judgment, and orthodoxy, are best displayed, are his 
 Articles in the Quarterly Review, and these ought the 
 rather to be mentioned, as in after times the Authorship 
 may be forgotten, or be ascribed to another. Amongst 
 these the Eeview of Hurd's edition of Warburton's Works 
 claims in every respect the foremost rank. Vol. vii. 
 p. 383. In the Review of Belsham's Life of Lindsey, 
 vol. viii. p. 422, there is a short sketch of Priestley, which, 
 in point of style, is characterized by all the weight and 
 compression of Johnson himself, but without being tinc- 
 tured by any thing like mannerism. To these may be 
 added the Reviews of Lingard's Antiquities of the Saxon 
 Church, vol. viii. p. 92, and one on Milner's History of 
 Winchester. Vol. iii. p. 347. 
 
 In common with every person of cultivated and well- 
 disciplined mind, Dr. Whitaker entertained a deep reve- 
 rence for all, that is really excellent in antiquity. This 
 feeling must always exist, wherever real learning and 
 habits of laborious thought, accompanied by an humble 
 spirit, prevail. 
 
 a Preface to the first Edition of the History of Craven, omitted in the 
 subsequent ones. 
 
 O 
 
236 
 
 REV. DR. WHITAKER. 
 
 Bishop Hall says, " Sometimes I put myself to school 
 to one of those ancients, whom the Church hath honoured 
 with the name of Fathers, whose volumes I confess not to 
 open, without a secret reverence of their holiness and 
 gravity." Such was the feeling of Dr. Whitaker. On one 
 occasion, when speaking of certain eminent Theologians, 
 he regrets, " that he is, as it were, eating the fruit of an 
 expiring species ;" and, under the melancholy impression 
 of what literature and the Church had lost, "he had 
 almost said ' Senescit Ecclesia' " 
 
 Another point in his character was the strength of his 
 prejudices — The word is used advisedly, and in that sense 
 in which he himself would have employed it — he speaks 
 of " virtuous prejudices" — and censures " the modern 
 prejudice against prejudices" — the latter including such 
 wise systems and rules in education, as had the sanction 
 of time and experience. Scarcely a page of his Writings 
 can be read without our marking his dread of schism and 
 dissent — his abhorrence of large manufactories — and of 
 the licentiousness, miscalled the freedom of the press. — 
 He had no idea of levelling the understandings of men, 
 but considered, that the great mass of mankind should be 
 brought up in the school of authority, and in habits of 
 submission b . 
 
 b Southey, speaking of the infidelity of some, and the shallow philo- 
 sophy of others in the reign of Charles II., observes, that " The schools 
 of dissent soon became schools of unbelief : this disposition is the natural 
 consequence of those systems, which call upon every man to form his 
 own judgment upon points of faith, without respect to the authority of 
 other ages, or of wiser minds, without reference to his own ignorance 
 or his own incapacity ; which leave humility out of the essentials of the 
 Christian character, and when they pretend to erect their superstructure 
 of rational belief, build upon the shifting sands of vanity and self-con- 
 ceit." Life of Wesley, vol. i. p. 329. Truly "the mouth of the righteous 
 speaketh wisdom." How just are the sentiments, and how impressive 
 
o- 
 
 -o 
 
 REV. DR. WHITAKER. 
 
 237 
 
 "'Caeteram turbam,' said Augustine, speaking of the 
 common people, for whom he had as much charity, as 
 those, who would exalt them into judges of controversy, 
 4 non intelligendi vivacitas, sed credendi simplicitas tutis- 
 simam fecit.' — This is the language of the fourth century, 
 and of a better temper than the assuming and arrogant 
 humour, which is miscalled the spirit of Protestantism in 
 the nineteenth, — 4 Sit anima mea cum Augustino c ! ' " 
 
 These and other strong opinions he avows honestly, 
 without disguise, without timidity. 
 
 Some may say, that Dr. Whitaker was born some 
 generations too late, that he was more fitted for the age 
 of his great ancestor a , than for the nineteenth century ; 
 but, we should be thankful, that master-minds like his, 
 occasionally appear, which, not contented with the narrow- 
 ness of modern information and modern views, delight in 
 the wisdom of past times, and, in some measure, restore to 
 us what is neglected and forgotten. 
 
 Dr. Whitaker died Jan. 15, 1822. Seldom has the 
 Church had to lament the loss of a son more devoted to 
 her cause, or one more competent to defend her in the 
 
 is the warning thus given us by one, whose pen alas ! is now laid aside, 
 but, as Bishop Heber observed of him, thirty years ago, "few authors 
 of the present age have written so much, and still fewer, of any age, have 
 written so well." — 1842 — Since this note was written, " Life's fitful 
 fever" has ended, and Southey has entered into his rest; — that rest, we 
 trust, which " remaineth to the people of God." 
 
 " My hopes are with the dead ; anon 
 My place with them will be, 
 And with them I shall travel on 
 
 Through all futurity; 
 Yet leaving here a name, I trust, 
 That will not perish in the dust." 
 
 Lines written by Southey in his Library, 
 c Sermon preached at Salesbury, 1807, p. 17. 
 
 d William Whitaker, D.D., Regius Professor of Divinity in the Uni- 
 versity of Cambridge, died 1595. 
 
 O 
 
 -O 
 
238 REV. DR. WHITAKER. 
 
 hour of peril. A monument has very recently been raised 
 to his memory, on the North side of the Chancel of the 
 Church of Whalley. It is a recumbent effigy of the 
 deceased, resting on an Altar-tomb of Caen stone. The 
 likeness is said to be an excellent one. The Epitaph, at 
 once faithful and elegant, is written by a distinguished 
 native of the County, where Dr. Whitaker's family had 
 for ages resided — Edward Cardwell, D.D., Principal of 
 St. Alban's Hall, and Camden Professor of Ancient His- 
 tory in the University of Oxford. 
 
Aldgate, Priory of Christ Church, Sir Thomas Audley's pro- 
 ceedings respecting it, 24. 
 
 Allegory on monuments a sealed language, 63. 
 
 Altar, the position of, 25 : Queen Elizabeth orders the steps 
 to remain, ib. : disgraceful state of many, 93 : a fitting 
 memorial, 105. 
 
 Altar-screens at Beverley, 75: York, 76: of wood, 41. 
 
 Altars, stone, injunctions respecting, 27. 
 
 Aphrodisias in Caria, temple of Venus at, 100. 
 
 America, number of Churches in, compared with that of the 
 Clergy, 194. 
 
 Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Church of, 180. 
 
 Bath Abbey Church, monuments in, 82 ; Illustrations, xvi. 
 
 Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick, tombs in, 52, 54. 
 
 Bell-metal exported at the Dissolution, 10. 
 
 Bells and lead, removal of, from Churches, 23. 
 
 Benefactions, &c. in what manner they might be recorded, 110. 
 
 Berry Pomeroy Church, pillars contributed by individuals, 99. 
 
 Bethnal Green, parish of, additional Churches in, 131. 
 
 Beverley ^Minster, its Altar-screen, 75 : pillars contributed by 
 individuals, and by the Minstrel Is, 88. 
 
 Bingham, his remarks on interments in Churches, 183. 
 
 Bishops' sees, proposed addition to their number at the dissolu- 
 tion of monasteries, 11 (n.) 
 
 Blenheim, monument of John Duke of Marlborough, 82. 
 
 Booth, Humphrey, his gifts to the poor and the Church, 196. 
 
 6- 
 
c — 
 
 240 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Brasses, antiquity of, 48 : remarks on, 49 : destruction of, 
 
 50: several of great beauty, 51. 
 Bridgwater, new Church at, 108. 
 
 Bristol Cathedral, two monuments in, noticed, Illust., xiv. xv. 
 Britton's, Mr., remarks on monuments in Churches, 179. 
 Buckeridge, Bishop, his Letter respecting seats in St. Nicholas' 
 
 Church, Rochester, 37. 
 Buckinghamshire, Duke of, his monument in Westminster 
 
 Abbey, 62: inscription on, 153. 
 Byrom, John, M. A., munificence of one of his descendants, 129. 
 Cambridge, Archdeacon, School erected as a memorial of, 228. 
 Cathedrals, their grandeur, 2 : roofs, 7 : their cost a wise 
 
 expenditure, 97. 
 Charter- House, monument of the founder, 82. 
 Chaucer, his monument, 63 : his remarks on domestic luxury, 
 
 200. 
 
 Chester, Bishop of, on the duty of owners of large manufac- 
 tories, 126; on modern Churches, 131. 
 
 , Diocese of, Church extension in, 130. 
 
 Chichester Cathedral, memorial windows in, 230. 
 
 , Dean of, his judicious observations quoted, 136. 
 
 Churches, village, their beauty, 2, 8 : neglect of, deplored, 3 : 
 state of many, ib. : of 13th or 14th centuries, their dura- 
 bility, 6 : labour expended on, 7, 8 : state of, at the Re^ 
 formation, 9, 13, 24: Conventual, condition of, 32: state of 
 at the Restoration, 33 : obstructions in, by pews, &c, 34, 
 41 : often subjected to habitual neglect, 101 : should be kept 
 open, 102: building by degrees recommended, 108: for 
 what purpose erected, 117, 118, 121: provision for repair 
 • of, anciently made by will, 201. 
 
 Church-building in the reign of Queen Anne, 195. 
 
 Church-extension, and endowments for Churches, 191. 
 
 Clergy, deprived, poverty of, 33. 
 
 Cludde, Mr., Alms-houses erected as a memorial of, 228. 
 
 o o 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 241 
 
 Cold Ashton Church, pulpit in, Illustrations, xii. 
 Colyton Church, monument in, Illustrations, xi. 
 Conventual Churches, state of many, 32. 
 
 Cotton, William, Esq., his exertions to promote Church- 
 
 Crewe, Bishop, his wife's monument, 57. 
 
 Croce Santa, Church of, monuments in, 84. 
 
 Crosses, Church-yard, 187: market, 189. 
 
 Cuthbert, St., Wells, Chancel in, Illustrations, xiii. 
 
 Dissolution of monasteries, 9 : portions of their revenues might 
 have been better appropriated, 11. 
 
 Doncaster Church, monuments formerly existing in, 84. 
 
 Dowsing, William, extracts from his Journal, 29. 
 
 Durham Cathedral, proceedings in, at the Reformation, 24. 
 
 Edmundsbury, St., Bell-tower of Abbey Church, 109. 
 
 Edward the Confessor, his Chapel in Westminster Abbey, 66. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, circumstances under which she ascended the 
 throne, 17 : her marked qualities, 17, 19 : affected a middle 
 way, 20 : retained images for a while, ib. 
 
 Endowments for new Churches required, 193. 
 
 Epitaphs, remarks on, 77 : those of early date, 141 : after the 
 accession of Henry the Eighth, 143 : specimens given, ib. : 
 genealogical, 145 : laudatory, 147: secular, 151 — 154: pre- 
 sumptuous, 158 : language best adapted to, 165. 
 
 Evesham, St. Lawrence's Church at, 205. 
 
 Exeter Cathedral, monuments in, 69 — 71. 
 
 Fabyan, the Chronicler, his " pewe" at Theydon Garnon, 35 : 
 his tomb, 51. 
 
 Flaxman, John, R. A., his remarks upon the Altar- tomb, 47 : on 
 the statues in Henry the Seventh's Chapel, 64 : his monu- 
 ment of Collins, 72. 
 
 Fonts, the disgraceful state of many, 92 : at Youlgrave, Derby- 
 shire, ib. : a fitting memorial, 105 : in St. James's Church, 
 Westminster, 113. 
 
 extension in Bethnal Green, 131. 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 R 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 242 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Fotheringay Collegiate Church, agreement for building, 98 (n.) 
 Glass, painted in Hawkhurst Church, 4 (n.) See Windows. 
 Glastonbury, Well in the Chapel of St. Joseph, 7. 
 Gordon, Duke of, school erected as a memorial of, 227. 
 Gwynn, J., his remarks on monuments, 174. 
 Hale, Sir Matthew, his tomb- stone, 77. 
 
 Hall, Bishop, his description of proceedings in the Cathedral 
 
 of Norwich, 29. 
 Harlow, Essex, St. John Baptist's Church, 229. 
 Hedworthe, Richard, his stall in Whickham Church, 36. 
 Hereford Cathedral, recent restorations in, 42. 
 Horbury, Yorkshire, Chapel built by Carr, 132. 
 Hutchins, Archdeacon, School erected as a memorial of, 227. 
 Images and image- worship attacked by the Reformers, 14: 
 
 Queen Elizabeth's feeling respecting them, 21 (n.) 
 Inglis, Sir R. H., his speech on Church-extension, 194. 
 Interments in Churches injurious, 182. 
 
 James, Mr., his exertions in building a Church at Whitchurch 
 Canonicorum, 198. 
 
 Johnson, Dr., his grave-stone and statue, 113 : his remarks on 
 epitaphs, 142, 156, 164, 168. 
 
 Jones, Inigo, the Portico of Old St. Paul's, 5 : Screen at Win- 
 chester, ib. 
 
 Kidlington, Oxfordshire, Lady Ann Morton's Alms-house, 225. 
 Killerton, Chapel of the Holy Evangelists, Service books in, 
 
 Illustrations, xvi. 
 Labranda, temple at, 100. 
 
 Lacock Church, Wilts, Chapel in, Illustrations, xv. 
 Langley, Batty, his execrable style, 5. 
 
 Latimer on interments in cities, 185 : stated to have preached 
 
 at Cold Ashton, Illustrations, xii. 
 Lay impropriators, 94: conduct of Robert Boyle, 95: Mrs. 
 
 Ferrar, ib. 
 Libraries, monastic, destruction of, 12. 
 
 o- 
 
 •o 
 
O- 
 
 o 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 243 
 
 Magdalene College, proceedings at, in the Great Rebellion, 31. 
 Malta, Church at Valetta, erected by Queen Adelaide, 129. 
 Malvern Priory, Latimer's petition in favour of, 12. 
 Mantua, William, Duke of, tomb of Bernardo Tasso, 60. 
 Manufactories, vast, evils resulting from, 125. 
 Martyrs' Memorial at Oxford, 107. 
 Medicean Chapel, Florence, state of, 83, 84. 
 Medici, tomb by M. Angelo, of one of the, 82. 
 Metropolitan Churches' fund, Churches already built by 
 it, 130. 
 
 Milner's, Dr., remarks on the conduct of the Puritans, 27 : 
 general remarks on monuments, 176. 
 
 Monastic buildings, destroyed at the Dissolution, 10 : estates, 
 appropriation of, 11: libraries, 1 2. 
 
 Monuments, practice of our ancestors in the erection of, 43 : 
 ancient, 45 : with recumbent figures, ib. : of the Anglo- 
 Italian style, 52 : of Sir C. Shovel, ib. : Sir Hugh Clopton, 53 : 
 George Carew, Earl of Totness, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of 
 "Warwick, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 54 : Sir C. Hat- 
 ton, Sir Thomas Gorges, Sir William Gostwick, Rowland 
 Berkeley, Archbishop Frewen, Lord Bruce of Kinloss, Lord 
 Bacon, Sir Thomas Thornhurst, 55 : Henry Bouchier, Earl 
 of Bath, Waller, Sir Bevil Granville, 56 : Lady Newdi- 
 gate, 57 : Dean Nowell, Aubrey, Shakspeare, Camden, Speed, 
 Sir H. Saville, Sir Thomas Bodley, 58 : Bishop Maddox, 59 : 
 Edward, Earl of Hertford, Sir George Manners, Villiers, 
 Duke of Buckingham, Two monuments of the Fettiplace 
 family, 60 : vast dimensions of several, ib. : Churches in- 
 jured by, 61 — 75: Sheffield, Duke of Buckinghamshire, 62: 
 Bernardo Tasso, 65 : antecedent to reign of Hen. VIII., 66 : 
 style and situation of, should be consulted, ib. : King 
 John, 67 : Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, King 
 Edward II., Edward the Black Prince, Kirkham monu- 
 ment at Paignton, Percy monument at Beverley, monu- 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 244 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ments in Tewksbury Church, 68 : Bishops Bronscombe 
 and Stafford, Judge Dodderidge and wife, De Vaux, and Sir 
 J. Clobery, 69 : Lady Walpole, ib. : Watt, 70 : Northcote, 
 71 : Collins, 72: Mrs. Medley, ib. : not to be banished alto- 
 gether, 73, 74 : Sir Eyre Coote, Lady Miller, 79 : Prior, 81 : 
 Duke of Marlborough, 82 : Thomas Sutton, ib. : disappear 
 from injury, 87: are neglected, ib. : of the Princess Charlotte 
 of Wales, 107 : cautions respecting, 111 : Sir Isaac Newton, 
 General Stanhope, 174: Bishop Hoadley, 176: substitutes 
 recommended for them, 91, 224. 
 Mortuary Chapels, 9. 
 
 Offertory collections, based on Scripture and the Rubric, 207 : 
 revival of, recommended, ib. : preferable to the present 
 system of Charity Sermons, &c. 210 : practice of Bishop 
 Patrick, 215: of Hammond, 217: likely to be acceptable 
 both to the . rich and poor, ib. : recommended by living 
 prelates, 208, 219. 
 
 Ordinances of 1643-4, what they enjoined, proceedings under 
 them, 27. 
 
 Otter, Bp., school erected as a memorial of, 226. 
 Painted windows, recommended as memorials of the dead. 
 (See Windows.) 
 
 Parker, Archbishop, his proceedings regarding Churches, 16 : 
 care for their preservation, 22. 
 
 Paul's, St., Cathedral of, Dr. Wiseman's remarks on the 
 monuments in, 177. 
 
 , Old, its west front, 5 : Brasses in, 50. 
 
 Pershore, Abbey Church of, restoration of, recommended, 106. 
 
 Pews, often disfigure Churches, 4 : Weever's censure of, 34: 
 Warton's remarks on, ib. : when introduced, ib. : earliest 
 notion of Church seats, 36 : Bishop Quivil's decree, ib. : 
 Bishop Buckeridge's letter, 37 : in Churches, 38 : Bishop 
 Montague's inquiries respecting, ib. : sources of bitterness 
 and litigation, 39 : general remarks on, 40. 
 
 o- 
 
 o 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 245 
 
 Pillars of Churches, contributed by individuals, 98, 99. 
 
 Pisa, Chapel of Campo Santa, monument in, 47. 
 
 Proclamation 1559 against destruction of monuments, 22. 
 [This is also given in Fuller's Church Hist., B. ix. p. 66, 
 and by Dr. Cardwell in his Documentary Annals, vol. i. 
 p. 257.] 
 
 Pulpits, ancient, 5 : at Cold Ashton Church, Gloucester- 
 shire, Illustrations, xii. 
 
 Puritans, their proceedings regarding Churches, 26 — 36. 
 
 Pyramid, the, a prevailing ornament in monuments, intro- 
 duced by Bernini, 59. 
 
 Rebellion, Great, mutilation of Churches during, 26, 28, 29. 
 
 Redcliff Church, proposed restoration of, 42. 
 
 Reformation, condition of Churches at, 9 : the most important 
 changes then made in Churches, 13. 
 
 Reformers, conduct of, 9 : their wisdom, 18. 
 
 Rhodes, Mr., remarks on Ashbourne Church, 179. 
 
 Rokewode, John Gage, Esq., his remarks on Chancels, 25. 
 
 Rome, Church of, (see Images) members of, frequented the 
 English service, 18 : institutions and practices of, 19. 
 
 Romilly, Sir Samuel, his remarks on the Chapel he fre- 
 quented, 119. 
 
 Rose, H. J., B. D., his tribute to the builders of Cathe- 
 drals, 95. 
 
 Roubiliac, his works alluded to, 68. 
 
 Sanderson, Bishop, directions as to his grave-stone, 76. 
 
 Sandys', Archbishop, letter to Peter Martyr, 21. 
 
 Sculpture and Architecture united, 67 : how the art of sculp- 
 ture might be benefited, 112. 
 
 Seale, Over, or Seile Church, Leicestershire, 226. 
 
 Shakespeare, his grave-stone, 113. 
 
 Smollett, T., censures interments in Churches, 185. 
 
 Southey, his services as a writer, 237 : his death, ib. 
 
 Spire of Salisbury Cathedral, (n.) 2. 
 
 o 
 
 •o 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 246 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Stalls and seats. (See Pews.) 
 
 Statues to be placed elsewhere than in Churches, 112. 
 
 Substitutes for monuments suggested, 91, 224. 
 
 Swift, Dean, his remarks on the erection of fifty Churches in 
 
 the reign of Queen Anne, 195. 
 Tabernacle, large amount of voluntary offerings, 192. 
 Tasso Bernardo, his tomb, 65. 
 
 Temple, the, the building of, serves both as a warning and an 
 encouragement, 133. 
 
 Temple Church, removal of monuments from the walls, 62: 
 epitaphs in, 146. 
 
 Tewkesbury, Monastery of, proceedings at the Dissolution, 10 : 
 monuments in the Abbey Church of, 68. 
 
 Theale, Church erected at, by Mrs. Sheppard, 129. 
 
 Valetta, Church at, erected at expense of the Queen Dow- 
 ager, 129. 
 
 Wailes, Mr., memorial windows, executed by, 231. 
 
 Wainscoting in Churches, its removal recommended, 41. 
 
 Walpole, Horace, his remarks on ancient monuments, 47. 
 
 Warneford, S. Wilson, D.D., his munificence in the endow- 
 ment of Churches, 194. 
 
 Watt, James, his monument in Westminster Abbey, 70. 
 
 Wells, Dr., directions as to his grave, 76 : rebuilt the Parsonage 
 at his own cost, ib. 
 
 Wells Cathedral, Lady Chapel, monuments in, 61. 
 
 West, Mr. John, builds a Church at his own expense at Gaw- 
 cott, Bucks, 197. 
 
 Westmacott, Sir Richard, 46 : sculpture in New College 
 Chapel, 113. 
 
 Westminster Abbey, its beauty, present state of, 64. 
 Whitaker, Rev. T. D., L.L.D., notice of, 234 : his works, 235. 
 Wills, extracts from, bequests for repairs of Churches, 201. 
 Winchester Cathedral, Inigo Jones's screen, 5 : proceedings 
 in, under ordinance of 1643, 27 : Chantries in, 68. 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
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 INDEX. 247 
 
 Windows, painted, images in, 23 : suggested, if discretion 
 be exercised, as sepulchral memorials, 113: antiquity of 
 several, 114, 115 : in Chichester Cathedral and other 
 places, 230. 
 
 Wiseman, Rev. Dr., his remarks on the monuments in 
 St. Paul's, 177. 
 
 Wotton, Sir Henry, directions as to his grave-stone, 77. 
 
 Wykeham, William of, his munificence, 124 : to what di- 
 rected, ib. : injunctions to his Clergy, 200. 
 
 Wyke Regis Church, memorial window in, 232. 
 
 Oxford : printed by I. Shrimpton. 
 
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