called basilica, from the fact of the king dispensing justice there in person, the name being derived from two Greek words signifying a royal håll. These basilicæ were the first temples of Christianity, and the buildings afterwards erected by Constantine, expressly for the use of the Church, were copied after them, gradually changing some features of the plan, the better to adapt them to the service, until, in the Gothic cathedral, with its nave, transepts, and choir, we see the basilica plan perfected for the new use to which it was appropriated.

In all these early churches the main body of the building is preceded by a vestibule, generally the whole width of the front; this was called the narthex. Here, during the ceremony, the penitents and the catechumens waited in prayer, until the period of their initiation allowed them admittance into the body of the church among the faithful. In the narthex, in the earliest period, were placed fountains for ablution, which, by later ordinances, were changed into the stoaps for the holy water, and placed in the body of the building. The marriage ceremony in the early churches was performed in the narthex.

Baptismal Font.-In the churches of the middle ages the baptismal font was an object of peculiar veneration, and upon its design and preservation the greatest care was bestowed, so much so that fonts of the period of Norman design are still extant, in excellent condition. The earliest style of fonts was usually a basin of square form, supported on legs or small pillars, large enough to immerse the infant; but following the changes of Gothic design their form was altered and they became more. and more ornamented, till in the Perpendicu lar style, they assumed the greatest richness of design and splendor of ornament. In this period they were invariably of an octangular shape and had a pyramidal cover of wood, splendidly carved and richly gilt, corresponding in design to the font itself. By an early canon of the Church they were required to be of stone. The appropriate place for the font is at the west end, on the right side, near the entrance of the build. ing; its location here being emblematic of

the entrance into the Church through baptism. It will be seen that this location is observed in the plan. The font is of Italian marble, richly carved, and is to be surmounted by a carved cover of elaborate design, gilt, and suspended from the ceiling in such a manner as to be raised when required.

The nave and aisles.-These constitute the body of the church, the central division between the columns being the nave, a word derived from the Latin navis, a ship, a figure often used with reference to the Church. The aisles are the spaces between the columns and the wall, derived from the French aisle, signifying wing. The term middle aisle, which we often hear used, is therefore an improper one, and side aisle is tautology. In the basilicæ first used for worship there were galleries on the sides and front end, approached by entrances entirely separate from the nave and aisles, and these were occupied by the women. At a later period the males and females all assembled below, the men on the north or Gospel side of the church, and the women on the south or epistle side, the galleries being no longer introduced. A large portion of the upper part of the nave was separated from the rest of the floor by a screen for the sanctuary.

The windows are to be filled with stained glass of rich color, but plain pattern, now being prepared in New York. Under each window marked on the plan will be a highly ornamented confessional. In each column will be a canopied niche filled with a statue, and over the side altars, and back of the high altar, similar niches of larger size will contain appropriate figures. The nave and aisle passages are to be paved with incrusted tiles, so that the whole coup d'œil of the church on entering it will be of a rich and imposing character, both in color and design, in the former of which so many churches are deficient.

and shaped into flowers called poppyheads. The backs were low, and there were no doors to shut up the seat. Some of these seats are still found in the country churches of England, and are of great beauty. In one of them the Creed is carved in a string course on the back, and on the ends there is a representation of the crucifixion, of the Virgin Mary, and other mysteries, with the donors of the seats represented kneeling at prayer, with a scroll and a Scripture text. The introduction of doors, converting the seat into a pew or box, did not take place until after the Reformation; and, as a matter of taste alone, independent of other considerations, it is gratifying to see the efforts now making abroad to return to the simplicity and beauty of the original Gothic seats. In this church the seats are to be made with low backs and carved ends, like those of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

The Chancel.-The floor of the chancel is elevated three steps above that of the nave, from which it is separated by a railing. This is to be formed of small pillars supporting a continued top-rail, both of Italian marble; the rail made very wide on top to serve for a communion table. The spaces between the pillars will be filled by rich cast iron open panelling, bronzed. The floor of the chancel will be paved with different colored marbles, disposed in figures.

The plan of this sanctuary is precisely that of the Constantinal churches, being semicircular in its form. This was the tribunal part of the basilica, and the semidome with which it was covered, called the apsis, gave its name to the whole of this part.

In the Gothic churches, as we intend to show in some succeeding articles, this part of the ancient church underwent great changes, so great, indeed, as to lose all resemblance to the primitive arrangement.

In the middle of the chancel will stand the high altar, raised on three steps, agreeably to the rubric, above the sanctuary floor. During the first four or five centuries of the Christian era altars were generally of wood. Constantine, however, is said to have made seven altars of silver in the church called by his name, and that of St. John Lateran,

weighing two hundred and sixty pounds. Wooden altars were forbidden by St. Sylvester I, the only one retained being that in St. John Lateran, still existing, on account of St. Peter's having used it. The earliest altars of stone were in the form of a sarcophagus, in which were enclosed the relics of the patron saint of the church. Above the altar table four columns supported a canopy, decorated with richly embroidered curtains, forming a ciborium. From the conversion of Constantine up to the Reformation altars were made gradually more and more splendid, till, in the finest period of the Gothic, they were magnificent beyond description. They glowed with costly marbles, precious metals, and the richest stuffs, and often glittered with gems.

At the extremity of each aisle a side altar is to be placed against the wall, and over each, as well as in the back wall of the chancel, there is to be a large rose window, filled with richly stained glass.

The pulpit will be attached to the angle pillar on the epistle side of the altar, raised high above the sanctuary floor, and reached by steps from the sacristy. It is to be octangular in form, and richly carved, with niches for the Virgin Mary and the Evangelists. Two pulpits were placed within the enclosure of the sanctuary in the early churches, one for the reading of the Scriptures, on the north, hence called the Gospel side, and the other for the Epistles, on the other or Epistle side; the former of which was flanked by a small marble pillar for the paschal candle.

The sanctuary will be lighted by two windows, filled with richly stained glass, on each side of the altar, and an oratory for prayer, and a large sacristy, part of which only is shown on the plan, will be attached to it.

The ceiling of the nave, aisles, and chancel will be formed in groined vaultings, with transverse, diagonal, lierne, and ridge ribs, as shown by the dotted lines on the plan. The framings for them are now all prepared for the plasterer, and we are not aware of any church yet executed in this country that has a ceiling so elaborately ribbed as this will be. Those who have

not seen the vaulted ceilings of the Gothic cathedrals abroad, can have but the faintest idea of the effect of this glorious feature in Gothic design. Carved in stone, and suspended in the air, apparently by a miracle, these ceilings create an awe that fills the heart with an overpowering reverence. Even those whose religious creed has prejudiced them against any impression to be derived from art, connected with the services of the Catholic religion, have borne witness of the feeling of veneration which has come over them on entering one of these cathedrals, and looking up to its wonderful ceiling. The ceiling of a modern church is generally about thirty to thirtyfive feet high from the floor; fancy, then, a stone vault, resting on mere points, as the capitals of the pillars seem to be, suspended at the height of one hundred and fifty feet from the floor; a church in which, with the exception of the statue and the pedestal on which it stands, you might place the Washington monument in this city, without its looking any larger too, in comparison with the surrounding extent, than a large size Nott's stove in a modern session room.

The Organ Loft is to be more than usually spacious in this church, being sixty feet wide by thirty feet deep. The organ will be so placed as to allow a space of nearly twenty feet between it and the gallery front, which is a great desideratum too frequently neglected in the plan of this portion of a church. The choir part of the organ will be attached to the front of the gallery, and the organist's table of keys. placed between this and the grand organ, the movement being in the floor under his feet, so that he looks at once towards the sanctuary, to watch the process of the service, and can direct the movement of the choir around him with much greater facility than if his back were turned, as is usually the case. The organ loft is reached by

the staircase from the vestibule on the left. The organ, which will be one of the largest size, is now being made by M. Schwab at Cincinnati.

The Spire. This is the most striking and characteristic feature of the Gothic style; every part of its details tended to this con

summation every line seems struggling heavenward, and in the spire the whole vegetative effort of the architecture is concentrated and pushed upwards to its efflorescence. Every Gothic church, therefore, should be provided with this essential mark of its destination. If funds are not sufficient to allow its erection at once, let the foundation for one be laid and carried up to the roof, trusting to future effort for its completion. The splendid cathedrals were built in this way. One general plan was adopted; the nave was first built by one bishop, another added the transepts, another the choir, another the towers, till the whole stood forth in all its intended completeness and glory, a theme for ages to admire and wonder at. The tower of this church when completed will be two hundred feet from the ground to the top of the cross. Its elaborate design is intended to suit it to the perpendicular style in which the rest of the church is compared. It is of the tabernacle kind; one section rising out of the other like the joints of a telescope. The church standing on high ground, nearly as high as the cathedral, this when finished will be a conspicuous object from all the approaches to the city. The general dimensions of this church are as follows:

Length from street to street,. 150 feet.
Breadth, including buttresses, 68 "
Height of ceiling of nave,
Height of ceiling of aisles,
Width of nave,
Height of spire, .

50"

40"

28"

200"

In giving an account of this church, we have attempted to interest the reader not in it as one of the specimens of the Gothic style now in progress in this country, but in the subject of Christian architecture. With the formation of the Christian Church commenced the disintegration of heathen architecture, out of the separate elements of which new combinations had to be formed. The temples of the old faith were not suited to the worship of the new; the priest no longer entered alone into the Episthodomos, to offer up the sacrifice, while the people stood without waiting the announcement of the omen; the people must now assemble under one roof to receive instruction, and to

I would not live alway.

the many voluntary practices of devotion recommended by the Catholic Church, the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the most engaging. Sanctioned by the practice of the pious for centuries, and suited to persons in every state of life, it is eminently popular wherever fully understood. Combining the plainest and most excellent vocal prayers, with the exercise of the mind in meditation, on the leading mysteries of the birth, life, death, and glorious resurrection of our divine Saviour; and on the part his blessed mother bore in corresponding to her sublime vocation, it is suited to the capacity of the illiterate servant of God,-whose sentiments of humility and of confidence in the merits of the Redeemer, accompany every petition of the Lord's Prayer, and every expression of the Angelical Salutation,—as well as to the learned theologian, who, absorbed in the contemplation of the wonderful mysteries of religion, finds motives of love and gratitude, as his heart dilates in adoration of the omnipotence, mercy, and infinite love of God, displayed in the plan of man's redemption. The prayers of the Rosary are so arranged that they can be performed without a formal withdrawal from the ordinary pursuits of life, and are therefore well adapted to general use.

Although the custom of repeating the Lord's Prayer and Angelical Salutation many times, especially by the illiterate, who were unable to recite the Psalter,-existed at a much earlier age, it was not until the twelfth century, that the arrangement of the prayers and meditations of the Rosary now in use was adopted.

"St.

The learned Alban Butler says, Dominic, during his apostolic labors in Languedoc, instituted the celebrated devotion of the Rosary consisting of the recital of fifteen Our Fathers, and a hundred and fifty Hail Marys, in honor of the fifteen principal

VOL. II.-No. 5.

mysteries of the life and sufferings of our blessed Saviour, and of his holy mother.

“The divine and most excellent prayer which our Redeemer, who promises to grant all that we request in his name, has drawn up as the form of our supplication, contains the petitions of all those things we are to ask or hope for of God, and comprises the exercise of all the sublime virtues by which we pay to him the rational homage of our affections. In the Angelical Salutation are comprised our praises and thanks to God for the great mysteries of our redemption, the source of all our good; and these praises are expressed in words of which the Holy Ghost himself was the author, which, though addressed to the Blessed Virgin, contain much more the praises of her divine Son, whom we acknowledge the cause of all hers and our happiness.

"The earnest intercession of this mother of God and of mercy, is also implored in our behalf, both at present and for the tremendous moment of our departure hence; and to move hers and her divine Son's compassion, we acknowledge our own deep sense of our miseries, which we display before the eyes of heaven under the extensive and most impressive humbling title of sinners.

"These prayers are so disposed in the Rosary as to comprise an abstract of the history of our blessed Redeemer's holy life and sufferings, the great object of the continual devotion and meditation of Christians; for each mystery whereof we praise God, and through it ask for graces and blessings for ourselves and others. The ignorance of many, and the blasphemies of others among the Albigenses, with regard to these most sacred mysteries, moved the zealous and apostolic servant of God to teach the people to honor them by an easy method equally adapted to persons of the weakest understanding, and to those that are most

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