Part 16

127: Derived from the Greek, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} [hagios], holy, and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~} [skopeo], to view. There are very good specimens at St. Clement's, Sandwich, and at St. Mary's, Gloucester. The latter has three compartments.

128: In some few churches--as at Rottingdean, Sussex--the chancel, by the deviation of its north or south wall from the line of the nave, represent the inclined head of our Lord upon the cross.

129: The German word for piscina is Wasserhaelter, _water-holder_.

130: Derived from the Italian _credenzare_, to test by tasting beforehand; which refers to an ancient custom for the governor of a feast to taste the wines before presenting them to his guests. The application of the word to this piece of Church furniture is supposed to have its origin in an attempt once made to mix poison with the eucharistic elements.

131: The rubric at the commencement of the Prayer Book concerning "the Ornaments of the Church, and of the ministers thereof," still directs a credence-table to be placed in every church.

132: In Flamborough Church, Yorkshire, a few years since, a white glove was hanging over the centre arch of the very beautiful chancel screen,--perhaps is hanging there still. Sometimes a bridal wreath was hung up with the glove.

133: When the rood screens were pulled down by the Puritans and the chancels were alienated from their proper use, it became necessary, in order to protect the immediate precinct of the altar from general intrusion, to erect around it some barrier; hence the origin of altar-rails, which were first ordered to be put up by Archbishop Laud. There are a few instances of ancient screens of considerable height immediately surrounding the altar.

134: As in Bottisham Church, Cambridge; Westwell, Kent; and most of our cathedrals.

135: Such galleries existed in the parish churches of Whitby, Yorkshire, and of Sandon, Staffordshire, a few years ago, but these have probably been since removed.

136: Rood is analogous to our common word _rod_. It is a Saxon word, and means a cross.

137: It is a question whether the order in the canons for placing the Commandments in churches was intended to be other than temporary. At the time few comparatively had Bibles or Prayer Books, so there was then a reason for the order, which no longer exists. One of many churches in which the Commandments were painted at an early date over the chancel arch, is Fordwich, Kent; the date is 1688. At Dimchurch, in Kent, there is an old painting of the Commandments over the chancel arch, and a modern one over the altar.

138: As at C.... Church, Kent.

139: "_Cancellae_ are lattice-work, by which the chancels being formerly parted from the body of the church they took their names from thence. Hence, too, the Court of _Chancery_ and the Lord _Chancellor_ borrowed their names, that court being enclosed with open-work of that kind. And so to _cancel_ a writing is to cross it out with the pen, which naturally makes something like the figure of a lattice."--Pegge's _Anonymiana_.

140: Some of our chancels, however, were originally made considerably _lower_ than the nave. When the church has been built on a slope it has sometimes followed the fall of the ground from west to east.

141: So called from the Latin word _sedes_, a seat. This position, on the south side of the altar, is in all respects the most convenient for the clergy when not officiating. To sit _facing_ the people is a most painful position for the priest, as the eyes of all the congregation naturally rest upon him; it has, too, the _appearance_ of irreverence.

142: See p. 223.

143: See p. 223.

144: This word is tautological, derived from our common word _rere_, back, and the French _dos_, back, from its position at the back of the altar. Many of these altar-screens have in recent years been restored at immense cost, as at Ely Cathedral.

145: In Braburn Church, Kent, an altar-tomb, with armorial bearings around and above it, occupies the very place of the altar itself. In the church of Prendergast, South Wales, large marble slabs with elaborate epitaphs occupy the _entire_ east end of the chancel. The most prominent of these--immediately over the altar--records that the departed "had learned by heart the whole Book of Psalms, and all the Collects of the Book of Common Prayer, with twenty-four chapters of the Old and New Testaments, before she was thirteen years old, and several more after" However praiseworthy and marvellous these accomplishments, this is surely no fitting place for proclaiming them!

146: It is probable that the prayers and the sermon were formerly read from the same lectern. The first authoritative document of which we have record in which mention is made of the _prayer desk_, is the Visitation Articles of the Bishop of Norwich (Parker), in A.D. 1569.

In the parish accounts of St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, is an item in 1577 for "colouring the Curate's desk." But prayer desks were used at a much earlier time.

147: So called from the Latin word _almarium_, a closet or locker. The almery had many uses, and is to be found in all parts of the church, but chiefly in the chancel. Sometimes it was used to hold the priest's vestments; and in conventual churches, to hold the gold and silver vessels belonging to the monastery.

148: Gen. viii. 20; xii 7; xxxv. 1.

149: Exod. xxvii. 1.

150: The Council of Epaone in France (A.D. 509) ordered that none but _altars of stone_ should be _consecrated with chrism_. The custom of consecrating the altar with chrism is supposed to symbolize the anointing of our Lord's Body for the burial.--See _The Stone Altar_, by Rev. J. Blackburn, p. 46.

151: Rev. vi. 9-11.

152: "A type both of the womb and of the tomb."--_The Stone Altar_, p. 41.

153: 1 Cor. x. 4.

154: See "Prayer for the Church Militant."

155: Queen Elizabeth's _Advertisements_, A.D. 1564, require "that the Parish provide a decent TABLE, _standing on a frame_, for the Communion Table." Hence it appears that by the word _table_ at the era of the English Reformation, the _slab_ only was meant.--Parker's _Glossary_.

156: Matt xxvii. 66.

157: "The seal of the altar--that is, the little stone by which the sepulchre or cavity in which the relics be deposited, is closed or sealed."--_Durandus_, p. 128.

158: As at St. Mary's Hospital, Ripon. These ancient stone altars may always be known by the _five crosses_ on the table, emblematic of the five wounds of Jesus. Not infrequently, alas! this slab is to be found as part of the church flooring. The altar table of Norwich Cathedral is (or was lately) to be seen in the floor of the nave.

159: "Have you a Communion Table with a handsome carpet or covering of silk stuff, or such like?"--_Visitation Articles_, Bishop Bridges, 1634.

"Have you a carpet of silk, satin, damask, or some more than ordinary stuff to cover the Table with at all times?"--_Visitation Articles_, Bishop Montague, 1639.

160: The pall is an archiepiscopal vestment, forming at the back a figure like the letter Y, as seen on the armorial bearings of our archbishops.

161: "All Deans, Archdeacons, Parsons, Vicars, and other Ecclesiastical persons shall suffer from henceforth no torches nor candles, tapers, or images of wax to be set before any image or picture. But only two lights upon the high altar (the only altar now retained in our Church) before the Sacrament, which, for the signification that Christ is the true Light of the World, they shall suffer to remain still."--_Injunctions of King Edward VI._

"And here it is to be noted, that such ornaments of the Church and of the ministers thereof, at all times of their ministration, shall be retained and be in use, as were in this Church of England by the authority of Parliament in the second year of the reign of _King Edward the Sixth_."--_Rubric before morning Prayer._

162: Durandus, who wrote about A.D. 1290, says, "At the horns of the altar _two_ candlesticks are placed to signify the joy of Jews and Gentiles at the Nativity of Christ."

In the Sassetti Chapel at Florence is a beautiful fresco painting, by Ghirlandaio (A.D. 1485), representing the death of St. Francis. The painting, which has been copied by the Arundel Society, has all the character of a really historical work, and is particularly interesting as representing an altar with the _two_ candlesticks upon it.

163: Ps. cviii, 1.

164: 2 Chron. v. 11-14.

165: Organs appear to have been used at a very early period, and some have thought that allusions to them are to be found in the Psalms of David; but till the commencement of the last century they were probably used in very few country churches. In cathedrals the organ was sometimes placed in the clerestory; its position over the choir screen is in every respect most objectionable.

166: _Vestry_, so called because it is the place where the vestments of the priests and their assistants are kept. It is also called the _sacristy_, because the _sacred_ vessels and other furniture for use at the altar are kept there. The keeper of the vestry is properly called the _sacristan_. This word has now degenerated to _sexton_.

167: Some of the subterranean and other small chambers in churches, supposed to be chantries or mortuary chapels, have probably been used as vestries. The following is extracted from Neal and Webb's edition of _Durandus_:--"On eache side of this chancelle peradventure (for so fitteth it beste) should stand a turret; as it were for two ears, and in these the belles to be hanged, to calle the people to service, by daie and by night. Undre one of these turrets is there commonly a vaulte, whose doore openeth into the quiere, and in this are laid up the hallowed vesselles, and ornamentes, and other utensils of the churche. We call it a vestrie."--_Fardle of Facions_. Printed 1555.

168: Early examples of these chests for containing the parish records may be found in most old churches. Frequently they are of very rude design, and the box is formed of a single block of wood strongly bound with iron hoops. Sometimes, however, they are richly carved, as in the churches of Clymping, Sussex; Luton, Bedfordshire; and Faversham, Kent. The proper place for the parish chest is the vestry, but it is not unfrequently to be found in some other part of the church. We often meet with several large chests of common deal in various parts of the church containing useless papers and other rubbish. The sooner these are swept away the better.

169: See pages 85 and 86 for a description of some of these vestments.

170: It is _always lawful_, and almost always desirable, to hold "vestry" meetings in some hall or room in the parish, and _not in the church vestry_.

171: Eph. ii. 20.

172: Pugin's _True Principles of Architecture_.

173: _Durandus._

174: 1 Pet. ii. 5.

175: Col. iii. 14.

176: John x. 9.

177: Jer. xxii. 18.

178: Most persons know--at least from engravings--the famous "Apprentice Column" in Roslin Chapel. That was perhaps the first church pillar that ever was wreathed with flowers, and those stone flowers are as fresh and beautiful now as when they were carved five hundred years ago.

179: This old custom of copying in stone or marble the surrounding objects of nature has been imitated on the capitals of pillars in the church of St. Mary, Devon, which has recently been so beautifully restored in memory of the late Bishop of Exeter.

180: Acts xiv. 13. Virgil, _AEneid_, i. 417; ii. 249.

181: 1 Cor. xv. 42.

182: Isa. lx. 13.

183: Mark xiv. 4.

184: This word, formerly spelt _clear story_, plainly expresses its own meaning--a clear or separate story or flight of windows. They are placed between the roof and the nave arches of a church.

185: The word corbel, French _corbeille_, means literally a large flat basket. It is curious to note how the word obtains its present use in architecture. After the destruction of the city of Caryae in Arcadia by the Greeks, Praxiteles, and other Athenian artists, employed female figures, instead of columns, in architecture, to commemorate the disgrace of the Caryatides, or women of Caryae (see Dr. Smith's Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiquities, _Caryatis_). These figures were always represented with corbels or baskets on their heads. The basket, being thus placed between the head of the figure and the roof, was that which _immediately_ supported the roof. Hence those projecting pieces of stone or wood which support the roofs of our churches, as well as other buildings, have received the name of corbels. _Caryatides_ may be seen on the north and south sides of New St. Pancras Church, London--a church which externally possesses all the appearances of a heathen temple, and few of a Christian church.

186: Although the carved roofs of this period cannot compare in point of elegance and beauty with those of an earlier date, yet, for the abundance of rich and elaborate detail in wood-carving (oak and walnut), no period equalled this. The bench-ends, screens, rood-screens, tombs of wood at this time were exquisitely beautiful. The roofs, however, were too flat, and externally they were concealed altogether by parapets.

187: In some chancels the idea of the keel of a ship is fully carried out, the walls widening as they ascend.

188: The flat roofs well suited the heathen worship of ancient Greece and Rome, where the object of worship was shut up within the walls of the temple itself. It is far different with us, who worship a Deity who, though specially present there, is "not _confined_ to temples made with hands."

189: Wordsworth.

190: See the _Builder_, Jan. 29, 1865, "The Roof and the Spire."

191: So called from the _triple form_ of the arches it most commonly has.

192: See Parker's _Glossary_, "Triforium;" and Hook's _Church Dictionary_.

193: It is probable that all Norman towers originally had low-pointed roofs covered with tiles (as at Sompting, Essex); tower roofs of this period with gable-ends are also sometimes to be found.

194: Chiefly in Norfolk and Suffolk. Of these the round towers of Little Saxham and Brixham are perhaps the most interesting.

195: There are several instances, however, in England of bell-towers standing detached from the church, as the beautiful tower at Evesham, Worcestershire, and the curious belfry at Brookland in Kent.

196: Evidences of these priests' chambers exist throughout England: there are instances at Challock, Sheldwich, and Brook in Kent. In the last mentioned are the remains of an altar, with a portion of the original rude painting above it still remaining.

197: Bells are said to have been introduced into the Christian Church by Paulinus; Bishop of Nola, at the end of the fourth century. The first peal of bells in England was put up in Croyland Abbey, about A.D. 870.

198: "When they heard the bell of the chapel of Isabella sounding through the forests as it rung for mass, and beheld the Spaniards hastening to wards the chapel, they imagined that it _talked_."--Irving's _Life of Columbus_, ch. iv.

The office of the church bell in summoning the people to prayer and holy worship was regarded in olden times with such respect that the bell was very solemnly set apart by a special religious service for this sacred use.

In the churchwarden's accounts of St. Lawrence, Reading, is the following curious entry:--

"1449. It payed for halowing of the bell named Harry, vj_s_. viij_d_., and over that, Sir William Symys, Richard Cleck, and Maistres Smyth, being Godfaders and Godmoder at the consecraycyon of the same bell, and beryng all oth' costs to the suffrygan."

199: Kirke White.

200: In the last century it was a favourite custom with village bellringers to set forth their rules in verse. They were generally painted on a board and fixed in the belfry. In all cases the rhyme appears to be the production of native talent. The rules are themselves unexceptionable. The following are examples:--

In the belfry, Charlwood,--

"Ye men of action, strength, and skill, Observe these rules which I do will: First,--Let none presume to swear, Nor e'er profane the house of Prayer. Next,--He that doth a bell o'erthrow A groat shall forfeit where'er he go; And if he do refuse to pay, Be scorn'd, and simply go his way, Like one who will for ever wrangle As touching of a rope to jangle."

In the belfry, Bredgar,--

"My friendly ringers, I do declare You must pay one penny each oath you do swear. To turn a bell over It is the same fare; To ring with your hats on you must not dare. "MDCCLI."

In the belfry, All Saints', Hastings,--

"This is a belfry that is free For all those that civil be; And if you please to chime or ring, It is a very pleasant thing. There is no music play'd or sung Like unto bells when they're well rung; Then ring your bells well if you can; Silence is best for every man. But if you ring in spur or hat Sixpence you pay, be sure of that; And if a bell you overthrow Pray pay a groat before you go. "1756."

201: In the preface to the Prayer Book the curate is directed to "cause a bell to be tolled" for morning and evening prayer; but Durandus says that this ringing of the bell was itself once part of the minister's own duty.

202: At Cairnwent, in Wales, the parish clerk "used often to knock a bit or two from one of the bells when any one wanted a bit of metal." In a neighbouring church two bells were taken down and sold to pay for the _ceiling of the roof_. Many church bells in England have, alas! met with as sad a fate. The same parsimony which has sacrificed the bells has, in many cases, not spared the belfry. It seems hardly credible--but it is true--that some years ago, at St. Bride's, Monmouthshire, there being no ladder in the village long enough to reach the top of the tower, _the tower was lowered to meet the length of the ladder_.

203: The following are a few examples taken from village church bells in Wales. At Nevern,--

"I to the church the living call, And to the grav do summon al.--1763."

At Llandyssil,--

"Come at my call, Serve God, all.--1777." "Fear God, honour the king.--1777."

At Llangattock,--

"Be peaceful and good neighbours."

204: Such as:--on six bells at Northfield Church,--

1st. "We now are six, tho' once but five," 2nd. "But against our casting some did strive;" 3rd. "But when a day for meeting they did fix," 4th. "There appear'd but nine against twenty-six:" 5th. "Thomas Kettle and William Jervis did contrive" 6th. "To make us six that were but five."

At Tamworth,--

"Be it known to all that doth me see, That Newcombe, of Leicester, made mee.--1607."

At Nevern,--

'Thomas Rudall Cast us all.--1763.'

205: Durandus, "Of Bells."

206: Ps. xcii. 13.

207: 2 Cor. v. 1.

208: Heb. ix. 23.

209: Eph. ii. 20-22.

210: Isa. xxviii. 16. 1 Pet. ii. 6.

211: Ps. cxviii. 22. Matt. xxi. 42.

212: Eph. ii. 21.

213: 1 Pet. ii. 5.

214: 2 Cor. vi. 16.

215: S. James ii. 17.

216: Col. iii. 14.

217: Ezek. xiii. 10.

218: Ps. cxxvii. 1.

219: Rom. ii. 7.

220: Rev. iv. 8; v. 13.

221: In the parish registry of Dymock, in Gloucestershire, is the following entry:--"Buried: John Murrel, aged 89 years. Thomas Bannister, aged 13 years." To which is appended the following note: "John Murrel and Thomas Bannister died nearly at the same moment, though the latter was in apparent good health. He had always attended upon Murrel, who was much given to prayer, and being by his bed at the time, Murrel, in his last struggle, extended his hand to him, when both instantly expired."