Page:Suggestions on the Arrangement and Characteristics of Parish Churches.djvu/14

14 mediæval artists, realized much of their practice; they have not aimed at the mere imitation of the forms of mediæval art, but have recovered its spirit. And as where the spirit is the body quickens, so many of the works of these men are worthy of the best days of Christian art, and give us hope that it will yet live again.

This society is ambitious to co-operate in that great work, though, of necessity, it must be in an humble way; and if it be not permitted to us to hope for the splendours of religious art, which the material prosperity of other countries warrants and demands, at least we may strive for propriety, order, and good taste in all that belongs to the externals of religious worship.

Since our establishment we have been frequently asked our views on the proper arrangement and true character of Churches; and our President and the Council being of opinion that the present is a suitable occasion for the expression of their opinions, have requested me to draw up this paper.

I must premise that Churches are divisable [sic] into several classes, each possessing its own peculiar characteristics—as Cathedral, Conventual, Collegiate, and Parochial Churches. True art does not admit of the confusion of any one of those classes with another. It is obvious that the latter are, and must always be, the most numerous, and that correct notions about them are, consequently, of greater importance. I have, therefore, on the present occasion, confined myself to “Suggestions on the Arrangement and Character of Parish Churches.”

The first point to be kept in view, in arranging a Church, is to comply with the requirements for celebrating the Holy Sacrifice, and other sacred rites administered a