Page:Church Seats and Kneeling Boards.djvu/10

Rh rug should have ceased to exist, in connection with fixed seats, with our square and other pews.

It is of the first importance that people should learn to abhor anything which is so awkward, perishable, and dirty as a hassock. They must not, however, forget, as some do, that the human body is so constituted that kneeling on the floor for any length of time is not the alternative. Such kneeling strains the joint between the foot and the leg at the point B B in the accompanying drawing. It is not a natural posture for that joint. To most people there would be the further objection that the floor must be dirty. The knee should be lifted about five inches above the floor in kneeling. This allows the foot to remain at a comfortable angle with the leg, and at rest. There is no doubt about this.

A level kneeling-board, five inches off the floor, and three and a half inches wide, is the best and most practical provision for kneeling in connection with fixed seats, and it is of fixed seats that I am writing. This board must always be a fixture, and, if kept at a distance of eleven inches from the top-rail of the seat, as shown and figured in the accompanying drawing, it allows the body of a person when kneeling to lean forwards at a convenient and restful angle, and to rest his arms on the capping of the seat-back in front of him. The capping should for this purpose be flattened as shown in the half full-sized section at, or it will cut the arms. The height of the capping of the seat-back should not be more than fourteen inches above the seat, or the shoulders of the person kneeling and resting his arms upon it will be forced upwards, and will not be at rest.

The height of a seat-back which will meet the case of a person when thus kneeling, is the most suitable and convenient height for him when sitting. It leaves the bones of the shoulders at liberty to move freely above it, as they ought to be able to move, and it supports the spine. There is no need for a sloping back when the shoulders are thus free. Overmuch effort, as it seems to me, has been often made to produce a too easy and lounging seat for Church use. Sitting has been too much first considered, and then kneeling. Lounging is not a seemly and reverent