I do not look upon the preservation of a quaint figure or a curious moulding as a matter of higher importance than the admission of hundreds of my fellow Christians within the walls of their church; but it is truly grievous to see the proportions of a beautiful edifice needlessly defaced; or the character stamped on it by artists, who worked upon rules nearly as unerring as those of instinct, swept away by persons who know such rules only as are dictated by their own caprice and fancy, or at best suggested by a very limited course of observation. How many a noble church, that for ages has preserved its beauty in spite of accident, violence, or decay, seems to writhe and struggle under the fantastic additions and incongruous ornaments of what its original designer has omitted, or correct what he has planned." And after viewing the mischiefs which have been inflicted on the matchless piles at Windsor, Salisbury, Lichfield, and too many others, we feelingly exclaim with the author, "far better were the incongruous additions of the last century, the Grecian porticoes and Italian balustrades, which, after all, seldom destroyed the proportions of the building, than those insidious deformities which, assuming the lineaments of true art, belie, in the eyes of the world, its very spirit and character." The arrangement of the bells, noticed whether in the form of the fanatic destroyer, or the affected improver, has never fallen, should turn to the less vast and strikingly beautiful edifices of his own country, and pass on them so eloquent a compliment as the following: "The country that can shew such an entire work as the Cathedral of Salisbury; such a group of spires as that of Lichfield; such towers as those belonging to York, Gloucester, Canterbury, Lincoln; such a composition as the octagonal centre of Ely; that can enumerate, in its churches of a second rank, the steeples of Newark, Grantham, Lowth, Coventry, and the towers of Doncaster, Wrexham, Boston, Cirencester, Taunton and these not patterns of numberless others: and that presents a series of village and parish churches, the most venerable and beautiful of any which districts of similar extent, wherever they may be taken, can exhibit, must not be pronounced to occupy a low station among those countries which have contributed their share to the advancement of Gothic architecture." P. 82. The defects in the construction of new churches are not more to be deprecated than the evils which have fallen upon old ones, whenever they have been subjected to the destructive propensities of modern architects. "Alas for the building which falls into the hands of an ignorant or presumptuous restorer! I do not speak under the in I do not look upon the preservation of a quaint figure or a curious moulding as a matter of higher importance than the admission of hundreds of my fellow Christians within the walls of their church; but it is truly grievous to see the proportions of a beautiful edifice needlessly defaced; or the character stamped on it by artists, who worked upon rules nearly as unerring as those of instinct, swept away by persons who know such rules only as are dictated by their own caprice and fancy, or at best suggested by a very limited course of observation. How many a noble church, that for ages has preserved its beauty in spite of accident, violence, or decay, seems to writhe and struggle under the fantastic additions and incongruous ornaments of what its original designer has omitted, or correct what he has planned." And after viewing the mischiefs which have been inflicted on the matchless piles at Windsor, Salisbury, Lichfield, and too many others, we feelingly exclaim with the author, "far better were the incongruous additions of the last century, the Grecian porticoes and Italian balustrades, which, after all, seldom destroyed the proportions of the building, than those insidious deformities which, assuming the lineaments of true art, belie, in the eyes of the world, its very spirit and character." The arrangement of the bells, noticed ingenuity with which the old architects met any difficulty which might arise, and it might even afford a hint to the builder of a new church who might, in some instances, find the bellropes to be an inconvenience. "At East Bergholt, in Suffolk, where the western tower has never been carried up to a greater height than the side aisles, a wooden frame, standing in the churchyard, contains the bells, the floor for the ringers being placed above, instead of in its usual place below them; the peal is a fine one, and is heard at a considerable distance." A considerable portion of the second volume is dedicated to a series of short of churches in the South of France, on the Rhine, and in Italy; to the tourist this portion of the work will be highly valuable. It will lead him to many a church, interesting for its architecture and antiquity which, but for such a guide as this, he would unavoidably overlook. The value of this part of the work is sufficiently obvious to render any recommendation of ours superfluous; for even the tourist in England requires the aid of others' experience to lead him to the discovery of many of the most beautiful examples remaining in this country, a fact which the perusal of Charles Stothard's Memoirs will sufficiently INTERIOR OF ST. MARGARET AT CLIFFE, NEAR DOVER. value of a companion like this to the Englishman in a foreign land, who, if he trusted alone to his personal observation, would, of necessity, visit many edifices which would ill repay him for the time consumed in reaching them, and at the same time he would return home to learn the variety of interesting objects which he had overlooked in his journey. The embellishments are profusely scattered over the pages of the work, and are principally from sketches by the author. In making the selection his object has been to give ideas of the entire building, its form and effect, rather than to descend to minute particulars. We are favoured by the author with the loan of four of the wood-cuts, which will not only shew the style of the engravings, but will exhibit interiors remarkable for their beauty and useful as displaying the The first is the interior of the church of Ainay, at Lyons. Part of this, the author states, is to be considered as early as the time of Charlemagne. The four large pillars, with the Corinthian capitals, have been taken from an ancient temple: they sustain a square lantern above the choir. The high antiquity of this structure is unquestionable. The apse of the Cathedral of Auxerre, is a fine specimen of Early Gothic, and has much the character of our English churches. As an example of highly decorated Gothic, and of a structure as remarkable for its ornament as its great altitude and magnificent proportions, Milan Cathedral is pre-eminent. The engraving represents the choir, and shews also one of the best specimens of Italian Gothic. Our last example is the interior of a |