A tower can scarcely be said to be perfect without a spire, and in churches in which the earlier styles are adopted, this fee tere should never he omitted ; in the Perpendicular it is not of so great consequence, though even then desirable. Spires meet not always be earried up to a great height, although the leflier the better, nor need they be invariably of stone, those made of shingles are very beautiful objects in rural districts, :old those covered with lead or slates :i•e not to be despised ; in some counties we find both tower and spire constructed of weather-boarding. in passing, we cannot help noticing, that in want' of our modern churches, the towers have not sufficient breadth, which gives them an appearance or poverty and meagreness. We suggest, whether it would not be better, where towers are deemed necessary, to lay the fetm dation of a more substantial structure, and to leave it incom plete until the requisite funds are provided. Our old church-builders always went to work on this principle, which accounts tb• the single aisle, and many other irregularities, as, for instance, difference of style in the different portions of a church. This plan might be carried out with advantage in the present day. not only in the larger parts of the struc ture. but also in the finishing or details, &c. The plan of the tower is generally square or rectangular, supported at its atigics by tnassive buttresses. which add greatly to its apTc:1r :ince; not unfrequentl• a turret, containing a staircase, is edded at one angle. which affords a picturesque irregularity, • especially if it he carried up above the main building ; this • is particularly the case in the later styles.
Another addition which will be required. is the sacristy or vestry : its position shied.] on chancel. with which it should COMmunicate by a (heir : it slemld never be of large dimensions or imposing design. This is the Holy part of a church where a chimney is allow:1111e.
Up to this point we have made scarcely any mention of cruciform churches, not be•ause we do not think this a heantiful Burro, but rather because it is ill adapted to present eiremnstances. Sault a plan is doubtless the most expressive of any for a Christian church, but it is not the most economical : it dues not economize space. It is true the cre-s arms may he used for the accommodation of wershippers. but not with. feu great inconvenience; per-ons pla•ed there will be. as it were. with the rest of the congregation, they must look a dill'erent way, and not only so. but must he hid from the 'altar and the greater portion of the performance of the ser vices ; in fact, transepts were not intended for this purpose, as is evident by there being seldom found any seats in this posi ion. and even when such are seen. they are mostly subsequent additions. Besides all this, the cress form is more expensive in construction. When funds arc ample, transepts may be added, but not otherwise.
Of apertures.—These consists of doors and windows, and to both of them one remark will apply : do not make them too large; for with respect to the tbrmer, it may be said that they are seldom made an important feature in English architecture, not even in our cathedrals; and as regards the latter, small windows are advantageoes on many accounts, not only are they more unassuming than larger ones, but they answer the present times—when stained glass through out the building is scarcely to be looked for—by admitting less light, and it' stained glass is to be inserted, they require but a small quantity. A great mistake, in our opinion, is very generally made in the present day, in allowing too great an area fur lighting :1 church, either by making the windows too limner( els, or too large ; a glare of light is not desirable in a church, it interferes with people's devotion ; we want a solldutel tone, that " dim religious light" which was admitted of old through the stained windows, and this is to be procured rather by diminishing than increasing the area admitting light. With reference to the position of doors. there should be one small one fer the priest in the south side of the chancel, another at the porch, and a third, generally speaking, opposite the last ; iu transeptal churches, there may be one at the west end, and another on the west side of one of the transepts.
We have previously hinted. that it is net at all necessary that the corresponding parts of the building should be in every respect uniffirm : the same remark holds equally true as to detail, as it does in respect of the male features of construction ; the windows and other al lertures need not be placed at exactly the same distances apart, nor is it necessary that the windows on both sides of the church should in every particular correspond; a buttress should not he placed be tween every two windows, or at every corner of the building, merely for the sake of appearance, nor indeed should they he employed at all, unless requisite. The governing prin ciple in such matters, should be to use nothing more than is wanted. and place things just where they are required ; if this rule were attended to, it would save a vast deal of unnecessary trouble, and produce in the end a far more satisfactory. because more natural, appearance. " I low do we see." says a writer fer the Eeclesielogleal Society, "a simple village church, consisting of low and rough stone walls, surmounted, and almest overwhelmed, by an immense roof, and with some two or three plain windows, between as many bald irregular buttresses on each side; or having a short massive tower placed at one angle, or in some seemiugly accidental position, which neverth••less every one to be as picturesque, and beautiful, and chnrch-like an edilice as the most critical eye could wish to behold ! while a modern design. with all its would-be eleganeies of trim regular buttresses, parapet. and pinnacles would cost twice the money, and will net look like a church after all. Here perhaps Late half of the money is laid out first in pro curing, and then in smoothing and squaring great masses of stone, or in working some extravagant and incongruous ernantent; whereas the small and rude hainmer-dressed ashlar or rubble work ix the ancient Model has a tar better apllear ance, and allows a larger expenditure where it is most wanted, in the arrangements of the interior.• This leads us to remark, that the interior should be the main object of consideration, and should never he sacrificed to make way for a showy exterior, although this is too fre quently the case with modern churches; it was far different with our ancestors. Of the interior, the chancel is that part on which the architect's best attention should be given. interiors of our old churches, as we have previously stated, were enriched in the most splendid manner, all the finest productions or art were lavished upon them. the sculptor and painter vied with each other in their decorati at—and w hy should it not be so now ? Surely paintings in fresco would be preferable to yellow ochre and whitewash. nor do we see any moral objection to pictorial representations iu our churches, there can be no fear of people worshipping pictures nowa days. the greater fear is lbr the want. not the excess, of reverence ; they are the hooks of the unlearned, and serve not only to instruct the ignorant in matters whi•h they would not otherwise know, but also bring before the attention of the more learned, things of which otherwise they might be forgetful. lint it' objections still be urged against the employ ment of the painter's highest branch of art, surely there can be no exception bnnight against such decoration as we have described as occurring at Luton Church. The employment of texts of Scripture delineated nn the walls, is sanctioned by the order of the ehnrch, when she enjoins in her eighty sedoul canon—" That the ten commandments be set up on the east end of every church and chapel, where the people may best see and read the same : and other chosen sentences written upon the walls of the said churches and chapels, in places convenient." Passages of Scripture well selected and appropriately arranged, would firm at the same time, a very useful and beautiful appendage to the walls of our churches; though, as we think, scarcely equal to the more pictorial illustration advocated above. We should be glad to see the interior of our places of worship relieved from the coldness which ever hangs about hare walls; let at least some coloured decorations be introduced into the ehaned, if nowhere else.