much in different cases with equally satisfactory results.1 But I will mention a few points which should be attended to. The pews should be comfortable to sit in, but should not be as lounges some aim at making them. They must be convenient to kneel in, to obtain which the backs should be low, not more than two feet eight inches from the floor to the top; and unless the seats be very widely spaced, the book-board should not be on the top rail. The framing of the backs should be without panels below the seats, so as to avoid dark places, where dirt is unseen, and consequently allowed to accumulate. The floor on which the seats stand must be flush with the pavement, so that the whole congregation, whether on benches or on chairs, may be on the same level. Lastly, if there be kneeling-boards, they should be horizontal, and very slightly raised from the floor. Some modern boards seem made for the express purpose of preventing people from kneeling. I think small stools are better than continuous boards. Hassocks gather dirt, and should not be used.

I myself think it is better not to have special seats for children, but to provide special services suited to their understanding, during which they will have the pews to themselves, and at other times to let them sit amongst the adults. If, however, it is necessary to provide for them separately, they should be so placed, that whilst fairly able to join in the service, they may be as much as

1 Of late years many architects have shown a great liking for fantasticallyshaped pew-ends. Now that which is fantastical can scarcely be dignified, and therefore ought not to be admitted into church design.

possible cut off from the view of the rest of the congregation. A chancel aisle will generally be the best place for them; the south rather than the north, which, as we shall see further on, is usually the place for the organ; and the south aisle is best commanded by the pulpit, standing, as it ordinarily does, by the north-east respond of the nave. A small door should be provided, through which the children may be quietly brought in and out, without clattering along the whole length of the church.

Galleries are now so generally rejected, that it may be thought superfluous to allude to them; but before leaving this section of the subject, I think we ought to consider whether galleries, which very much increase the nominal accommodation, may not under certain circumstances be used with advantage. The argument from their unsightliness is of no value; it might be used against their introduction into an existing building, but there is no more real difficulty in designing a new church with galleries than one without them. They are of two sorts-side galleries, and end or west galleries. Their floors must be made to rise, otherwise all people, except those in the front, would be entirely cut off from the church. It follows that in the side galleries the pews must face north and south. Now it will be easily seen that people so placed in the fairly take part in the worship which is going on in the chancel. Nor are they better off as an audience, unless the pulpit be either raised to their level, in which case it would be cut off from the floor space below them, or be placed in the centre, which would interfere with the

aisles of the nave cannot

principal uses of the church. Side galleries are then practically useless. Esthetically they altogether contradict the altarward tendency of the church.

A west gallery is not open to these objections,' for people in it can conveniently both join in the worship and hear the preacher. It may therefore, under certain circumstances, be allowed. But I think only for some special purpose-say for the accommodation of the inmates of an hospital, of a sisterhood, or even sometimes of schools. If it be used by the congregation indiscriminately, it would soon become either "aristocratic," or the "pauper" part of the church, and so bring about one of those divisions which I have just now been objecting to. On the whole, I think that western galleries should be but exceptionally used in parish churches. In convents, colleges, and private chapels, they may often be convenient for the accommodation of visitors or servants.

1 Many fifteenth-century churches had western galleries in their towers but whether they had any use besides that of ringing-floors is doubtful.

SECTION IV.

OF THE FONT.

NEXT after the altar, the most important object in the church is the font. Pews, screens, organ, pulpit, and all other furniture may be done without, but an altar and a font are essential, and their treatment should be such as to render this pre-eminence manifest. In the old services part of the office of baptism was performed outside the church; it was therefore convenient that the font at which the service was concluded should be near the door. Now, however, the whole service takes place at the font, and in presence of the congregation, so that it is not necessary to place it near the door, but where it can be pretty well seen from most parts of the church. To place it to the east in front of the congregation is objectionable, for whilst almost every other object and arrangement in the church is simply subsidiary to the altar, the æsthetic interest of the font centres in itself; consequently, to place it and the altar near together, would produce an antagonism which would detract from the dignity of both. To avoid this, let the font be placed at the west end of the nave, where it may be developed to any desired extent, without danger

of interfering with the altar. The exact position must depend on the plan of the church. If there is a west door, the font should be on one side, and sufficiently advanced from the wall to allow a passage behind it. If there is no west door, it may be in the middle, and against the wall. This is certainly the best position which can be chosen; for thus, the altar and the font occupying the central positions, one at the east and the other at the west, stand out distinctly as the principal objects in the church, and tell to all beholders of the two great sacraments "generally necessary to salvation." No inconvenience can arise from the font being behind the pews, for the congregation never require to kneel or to sit facing it.

Fonts should be large and of good material; but on these points the modern practice is as a rule good. They should be raised above the floor level by one or two steps at the least. And in churches likely to be crowded, I think it would be well for them to stand on slightly elevated platforms sufficiently large to accommodate the sponsors, and all others directly taking part in the ceremony. Such a platform, sufficiently protected by a low parapet or railing, would prevent the font from being used as a hat-stand, as it often now is, and at the same time add to its architectural importance.

In arranging the steps of the font, care should be taken so to widen the top one at the west side, as to prevent all danger of the priest's falling. I have recently seen a custom introduced, where many were being baptized at one time, for the baptism to be performed simultaneously