THE ENGLISH CATHEDRAL OF THE NINETEENTH. CENTURY.*
TRIS book is a dissertation, partly from an architectural, partly from an ecclesiastical and social point of view, on the subject of the extension of the Episcopate as a means' of religious influence over the people of England. The work has grown out of a lecture delivered before the Cambridge Architectural Society, in which the material and testhetic parts of the question were principally dwelt upon. In remodelliag and enlarging his remarks, Mr. Hope has gone more fully into both sides of the topic, which he seems to have considered and worked out with great care and elaboration. It is so constantly forgotten at the present day that a cathedral is not only a building, but an in- stitution, that the fulness of treatment which Mr. Hope allots to the latter view of the subject has the effect of novelty. The special value of his work is, however, the equal place which he gives to both points. As he justly remarks, the subject of cathedral extension has been taken up before, but either by architectural amateurs with com- paratively weak ecclesiastical sympathies, or by ecclesiastical and social reformers whose architectural knowledge was not sufficient to show whether their ideas could be carried out. As an architectural amateur of the first class, and as an ardent. Churchman, Mr. Hope's views must command attention from both of these parties. He does not address himself exclusively to either, but to all who feel interested in making up their minds whether More cathedrals are really wanted, and if so, how they had best be provided. In considering the question, he desires every word of his title to be taken in its literal sense;. he means a cathedral, as opposed to a parish church both in dimensions and organization, English as opposed to foreign, and of the niae- teenth century, as opposed to one of the seventeenth, like St. Paul's, or of any earlier date, like our Gothic cathedrals. The practical want towards the supply of which his views are di- rected, is that which confessedly exists for some means of evan- gelizing our town populations, and bringing into one focus the scattered beams of religious light and charitable warmth which are now directed through so many isolated channels upon the mass of crime and ignorance which every great city presents. Existing means, however good in theory, have broken down in practice. The paro- chial system, an extension of which is, of course, the first remedy that suggests itself, has been found insufficient, because it does not allow of enough co-operation, or of the right man being as often in the right, place as he might be if "detailed d" to his work by diocesan management. The working of Sir Robert Peel's Act has "not proved an unmixed blessing," having given birth to a number of in- debted districts with half-starved ministers, unsuccessfully competing with the attractions of dissent, and tending, by the position they are forced to put up with, to lower the status of the body to which they belong. On the other hand, the existing dioceses are too large • The Steglith Cathedral of the Nineteenth Cetstury. By A. J. B. Bereelerdlitipe, M.A., D.C.L. WithIllustrations. tiurrky.
for the bishop to exercise a proper supervision over the whole of his clergy, too extensive for him to co-operate more than distantly with such a staff as is necessary for the contemplated work. The Eccle- siastical Commissioners of 1852 recommended the carving of new sees out of many of the existing ones, but shrank from advising the creation of more, where they are most wanted, in our large manufac- turing towns. In these Mr. Hope thinks that instead of erecting three or four small churches, each with a single ill-endowed clergy- man, it would have been much better to have one large cathedral, with a staff of many more clergy and constant opportunities of worship at all hours. There can of course be no question that such a scheme as is here sketched out is far more imposing than that which the Church of England at present enjoys. Every one who has reflected on the
nature of the Romanist communion must have felt the strong attrac- tion which is presented by what may be called the freemasonry of its
organization. Wherever a Roman Catholic goes, if he finds the slightest vestige of his church, he knows that he will find it in a perfect state, just as the chemist knows that certain substances, if crystallized at all, will always assume a certain definite form, with a
certain number of angles. It is thus to him a sort of spiritual "con- sulate" to which he may look for advice and assistance, just as the travelling Englishman runs, when in any difficulty, to the functionary representing, his Queen. It is this quality which gives it so strong a hold over the practical part of the mind, as well as over the imagina- tion. The Church of England, on the contrary, does not seem necessarily to take upon itself this collegiate character ; its clergy often seem unsupported and lonely, and want the prestige of a more ostensibly hierarchical system. The kind of moral aid they require and which Mr. Hope desiderates for them, is like that which they actually obtain in the universities, where any effort made by the clergy of the parochial churches in the town is capable of being backed up by a strong and influential body. No mere cathedral organization could perhaps give so much power as is enjoyed by the clergy of Oxford and Cambridge, but it might bring its members into easier communication with the noble and wealthy than is at present the case, and, by a definite and ascertained system, prevent the waste of much valuable effort. On the other hand, however useful it might be to have all the clergy of one large town members of one staff, and mutually co-operating, we cannot feel sanguine as to the success of the architectural portion of the scheme. The grand cathedral, "with opportunities for worship at all hours," is no doubt a noble idea; but would people come to it from any great distance ? Would it not be found, after all, that district churches were required as much as ever; or, if not furnished, would not the population be drawn off to any one who would bring a place of worship closer to their doors ? The only way to follow the point out to a practical issue would be for Mr. Hope to plan out an organization of the wished-for kind, in all its details, for some large town, at present insufficiently provided with spiritual accommodation. Let him say where he would build the large church; how many people it should hold; what it would probably cost to build and endow; how many clergymen he thinks he would want; and how he would propose to allot their functions as regards the outlying parts of the district. We should then be able to estimate more clearly the probabilities of success, as to which the book at present, though, as we have said, it is carefully considered, is yet too vague to be a certain guide.
The social and ecclesiastical portion of the subject is considered in the first of Mr. Hope's eight chapters. After going through the considerations which pertain to the fabric, and which of course de- pend in great measure on actual wants, he returns, towards the close of the volume, to the topics with which he set out, and considers the accessory buildings, and practical means of usefulness for which the cathedral may be made to furnish the opportunity. Under this head he mentions the chapter-house for clerical meetings, the cathedral library for the theological college, the town grammar school, the training school for instructors, together with penitentiaries, alms- houses, and refuges, mechanics' institutes and lending libraries, friendly societies, dispensaries, and the like. Such institutions, he truly observes, will exist in any case, but it rests with the Church (does it ?) whether they shall be taken up into her system or allowed to remain indifferent, if not hostile, to her. If so assimilated, the work can best be done "by means of some compact and well-adjusted ma- chinery, with some conspicuous central motive power ;" and as the institution to which rational and methodical endeavours to chris- tianize large populations must give rise, will be a cathedral in fact, it may as well be so in name. The odium to which former supineness and rapacity on the part of such bodies have given rise, though of course an impediment to be allowed for, would easily be wiped out by a few examples of real devotion and unselfishness on the part of the modern congregated clergy. Another important element in the influence of such bodies would be their cultivation of the choir, which, as Mr. Hope justly points out, is the one part of the cathe- dral system which has always remained popular, and which the ever- growing taste for music in England is not likely to throw out of date. Briefly, we may say that the idea of church organization which Mr. Hope has attempted to develop is similar to that military one of which we have heard mach of late years. The general with his nu- merous and scientifically trained staff of officers, fit for every kind of duty, and ready for all emergencies, is paralleled by the bishop, with his body of clergy—some for preaching, others for parochial ministra- tion, others for missionary work in the diocese, others for teaching, others for management of affairs, and partially secular duties, and with his Cathedral Close, in which are gathered together all the buildings which can be wanted for such work—the chapter-house,
the schools, the clerical residences, and the charitable institutions over which he presides. We have first drawn attention to Mr. Hope's views on the question of Church organization, because these seem to us practically the most important. The larger portion of the book, however, and that which, from its aesthetic character, will be the most attractive to many readers, is that devoted to the considerations connected with the fabric and plan of the buildings. The style recommended, it is scarcely necessary to say, is Gothic, and this of the " Decorated" type as a starting point, though the author has no wish to restrict himself, with antiquarian precision, to any particular variety. His system on all these points is eclectic, and the spirit by which he is guided is similar to that which pervades Mr. Gilbert Scott's Essay on Secular and Domestic Architecture. • It is one of common sense, which one is glad to see becoming more and more common on such matters, in quarters where some years ago a narrow spirit of mere architectural pedantry would have reigned triumphant. Mr. Hope's principle is the only sound one : in construction, to plan a building adapted for the purpose required, and then to make the handsomest elevation of which it will admit ; in matters of decoration, to borrow from each style whatever it affords which is suitable to our climate and purpose, without aiming at the mere reproduction of a single definite type. From Italian architecture Mr. Hope, as may be expected, takes poly- chromatic decoration; from the Edwardian style in England, he would adopt its geometrical grace ; from Ely and Florence, he would borrow something in the nature of a dome ; but these are merely as examples, and he would not think of prescribing any particular mode of eclecticism any more than of adopting a single style. What may do for a Lancashire cathedral may not suit one in Derbyshire, and each ecclesiastical body will produce the best general effect by fol- lowing its own devices. The question of plan is more important, and with a view to deter- mine it, the author considers at length the claims of the basilica, the earliest form of a Christian church, to be the model of his revival. We cannot detail his reasons, but they seem to us quite sufficient to show that its reproduction would be entirely unsuitable to the feel- ings of the present day and to the services of our Church. After a very interesting survey of the various edifices which on the scale, if not with the name, of cathedrals, have been built of late years either in England or the colonies, the plans of the mediaeval churches are discussed and a preference given to these in their essential features. Mr. Hope proposes to preserve the choir as a place set apart for the clergy and the singers; to appropriate the nave to the congregation, as it is now being appropriated in many of our cathedrals; to adopt, for the sake of better effect, the apsidal termination to the choir, with the " chevet," or aisle, which usually surrounds it in continental churches, for the purposes of communication, and for the reception of cenotaphs, but without the numerous chapels which are usually found clustered round it. He would also, if we understand him rightly, keep the transepts of his cathedral shorter than was formerly the case, and place the organ, not where it interrupts the view through the nave, but on one side, or in a recess of the choir. He would make the nave as broad as the necessities of construction will allow, and retain the space formerly appropriated to the triforium either for the sake of a gallery (though he does not seem quite to know what to do with it), or with a view to facing it with a wall for the recep- tion of paintings or other mural decoration. One very good sugges- tion he makes, which shows that the pedantry of Gothic architecture has no place in his mind :
" There is an expedient, of which the possibility has occurred to me, but which I approach with some diffidence, as I promised at the outset not to stray into the labyrinth of future metallic Gothic. Still I may be pardoned for the passing re- mark that it has often struck me that there might be one very feasible and very legitimate application of iron to church construction, namely, as the material of vaulting ribs. If it were so applied, the filling could be of the thinnest and yet the most richly ornamental porcelain or terracotta, while the weight of the vault itself would be so essentially diminished that it could be erected of even a very wide span without requiring, or only requiring to a moderate degree, the sup of flying buttresses. The fillings, I need hardly indicate, would receive decoration either of enamelling or of impressed work in the manufacturer's work- shop. In such a groining the bosses would be only ornamental, not constructive, and, if adopted at all, ought to be fictile, not metallic."
We have indicated the chief conclusions of Mr. Hope's work, but must refer to his pages those who are interested in the question for the arguments by which they are supported. Mach of his discussion is, of course, rather technical, but there is nothing which cannot be understood by most readers who have even a smattering of architec- tural knowledge. His views on all that is connected with the fabric seem as sound as might be expected, and if we demur to any part of those which he has expressed on the questions of system, it is not be- cause we disapprove of them, but because we see little chance of their realization, at all events for the present. We cannot conceal from ourselves that the feeling with which the Church of England is regarded in many quarters is not one of friendship, and that though the causes which once made it unpopular do not now exist, a suffi- cient counterbalance to them has not yet been attained to outweigh the attractions of its rivals. Should the Establishment show a defi- nite prospect of regaining its former position of supremacy, no work is likely to be more useful than that of Mr. Hope. We do not mean that if his suggestions could be at once carried out they would not contribute most strongly towards her attainment of that position, but these are precisely the kind of steps which it is most difficult to get people to take, and the criticism with which the Times greeted the letter in which he gave the outlines of his views must still, we fear, be held as expressing the rough belief of the .popular mind on the subject of the Episcopate and its uses. We wish it were otherwise.
eir
Previous page
