Stones of the Temple Part 25

In the Sa.s.setti 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 a.s.sistants 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 _s.e.xton_.

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, Suss.e.x; Luton, Bedfords.h.i.+re; 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 s.h.i.+p is fully carried out, the walls widening as they ascend.

188: The flat roofs well suited the heathen wors.h.i.+p of ancient Greece and Rome, where the object of wors.h.i.+p was shut up within the walls of the temple itself. It is far different with us, who wors.h.i.+p 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, Ess.e.x); 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, Worcesters.h.i.+re, 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 ma.s.s, 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 wors.h.i.+p 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 G.o.dfaders and G.o.dmoder 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.