In the next age there appears to have arisen, in many quarters, a revived zeal for the adornment of God's house, but unfortunately accompanied by a most perverted taste for the introduction of Grecian ornaments into our old Gothic buildings. Instances of this may be seen in the reredos behind the altars of St. Chad's and St. Michael's; the latter of which was considered such a wonder of art, that I am told the holyday folks at Greenhill, used to visit it as one of the most interesting sights in the neighbourhood. In accordance with this style are the Pagan monuments and equally Pagan inscriptions which deface many of our churches. Indeed the study of monumental remains, presents, on a small scale, the same series of changes, which are observable in the architecture of our churches. First, you have the simple Cross graven on the stone; then a short inscription, "Jesu mercy;" or "Orate pro anima." Then we find the mailed effigy of the warrior and his dame beside him—lying with their hands clasped in attitude of prayer—as if waiting the final resurrection. In the time of Elizabeth and James instead of the calm, motionless form of the recumbent effigy—you will find a lady in ruffs turning herself round and staring you in the face, with her head resting on her arms; and still later, the figure of the deceased shall be standing upright, or sitting in all his glory—and the monument embellished, with Time and his scythe, Fame and her trumpet, or Hercules with his club. A stranger entering St. Paul's might well inquire whether it were dedicated to a Christian or a Pagan deity; and similar instances of bad taste, though on a smaller scale, may be seen in many of our parish churches.[1]
In concluding our historical researches in the parish church we must not forget the more recent objects which characterise—I would I could say, the past generation,—indicative of modern luxury and exclusiveness, in the shape of drawing-room cielings and enormous Pews, filled with carpets and cushions and sometimes private stoves, by which the best parts of the church are monopolized by the richer classes, while the poor are pushed aside into holes and corners, or stuck up in some inconvenient and unsightly gallery.
All these things, or at least, a great many of them, you may see not unfrequently in our parish church. And what a wide and wonderful field of observation and inquiry does it present; whether to the antiquary, the historian, or the philosopher. Let us take, first, the fairest view. What an evidence and emblem does it afford of the indestructibility of<references>
- ↑ There is an excellent article on Monuments in the British Critic of January, 1843.
