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and has always a space left around it for the accommodationof the priest, sponsors, &c.; for the former there is sometimesa kneeling-stone on the west side. Fonts in a perfect stateare provided with covers, generally of wood, some flat, andothers of a pyramidal form more or less enriched. We herespeak of fonts as they were in former times, not as they arenow found in old churches, for the original ones are some-times not only moved from their ancient positions, but eventaken out of the church, and altogether discarded.

On proceeding further into the church, the next object whichprobably strikes our eye is the chancel, and at its extremitythe altar, with its appendages, hut as this has been describedin its proper place, we shall not stop to re-consider it here;and besides this, in fixing our attention on the more strikingportion of the edifice, we have overlooked the pulpit. Fewpulpits are to be met with of an earlier date than the fifteenthcentury, the oldest which remain are of stone, built up withthe fabric, from which circumstance we may infer that theyare coeval with the entire structure; there is a beautiful spe-cimen at Beaulieu, Hants , which is attached to the wall, andentered by a staircase partly cut out of its thickness; anotherspecimen is to be found in the church of the Holy Trinity,Coventry, which -is attached to one of the piers of the build-ing. The later pulpits are of oak, usually of an octagonalform, having the sides panelled and enriched with carving,and the whole sometimes surmounted with a richly-groinedcanopy projecting over the head of the preacher. The posi-tion of the pulpit was probably always at the north-east orsouth-east end of the nave, near the arch which separates thenave and chancel.

We have now to consider the form and arrangement of thepews. There are few churches which have not sufferedseverely by the removal of their ancient seats, and the sub-stitution of close boxes, with high backs; the old seats werelow, with very low backs, so as not to destroy or shut outa full view of the church. The backs and seats of such lowbenches were fitted at either end into a standard, whichserved at the same time as a support and finish, being fre-quently carved in panels, and sometimes finished at the topwith a poppy-head, or knop of foliage ; at other times theywere quite plain, with only a simple moulding, or even chamferat the top: between every two benches was an open spaceleft for ingress and egress to and from the seats, which werenever closed with doors. These benches were all arrangednorth and south, so that the congregation might face the east,having an avenue between them in the centre of the nave,and another leading into it from the entrance, which, in three-aisled churches, must have been carried right across thechurch, to give access to another avenue leading to the seatsin either aisle. These formed the only seats in the churchfor the laity; it is scarcely necessary to add, that galleriesnever formed a part of the original arrangement.

Of the internal decoration .—There is one method of deco-ration so universally applied in our ancient churches, that wecannot pass it over unnoticed; it consists in the applicationof colour; the roof, the floor, the walls, the furniture andornaments, and, not to omit the principal feature, the win-dows, nay, even the very books, were all enriched with gild-ing and colour. In paving, the use ol encaustic tiles of variouscolours and patterns was most common, but besides these, thefloors were not unfrequently covered with mosaic; work, asinstanced at the Prior’s Chapel, Ely, where in the chancelimmediately in front of the altar was represented “ the tempt-ation” in this method, the other parts of the floor beingadorned with ordinary patterns. Frequent specimens of paint-ing on the roof have been lately brought to light, a very usualmethod of decorating which is by a powdering of gilt stars on

an azure ground. Few restorations take place without s o^additional testimony to the employment of fresco paintu'c^which have been previously concealed by successive t; oatI ”°iof plaster and whitewash. Mr. Poole, speaking of the wtedecoration of churches, says—“ Besides the immense vaI ^ ^of Scriptural and other subjects which are found sculpture^the walls and roofs of our Gothic churches, we havesometimes fresco paintings, covering great portions 01 iwalls. These paintings have, for the most part, been coV , re;with the successive coats of whitewash and yellow e cwith which the churchwardens have literally daubed _j finterior as well as the exterior of churches; as if t0 , geyes, whiteness and yellowness were the only two elem ^of beauty. Accident has discovered several of them, ^more are being discovered every day. The most remiir pj 0 ]ywith which I am acquainted is in the church of the

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Trinity, Coventry; the subject is one which cannotprofitably suggested to Christians, —the last judgment, ^it is treated in a manner by no means deficient in eX P reS ° cC i-At Preston, in Sussex, is another fresco, discovered alsodentally; one of the subjects is the murder of •*- 1it Becket; the story is minutely and well told,subject is the archangel Michael weighing the soul of a ~ . nS ttian, which appears in one side of a pair of scales, a n jjythe devil, in the form of a boar’s head, in the opposite scale- ^the intervention of a female saint, most probably the b °Virgin, who stands by, the soul is manifestly the weig*, 1 c0 9“ In the late remains of Rotheram church, several jii,were discovered, especially a large one over the nave ^of our blessed Lord and the twelve apostles, with other ^and angels in act of adoration. The figures were #rfldestroyed in the process of laying them bare; and tlie y ?”

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now covered over again. Might they not have been nThis question we shall leave for future consideration;while, we may remark, that many specimens of fresco^^tbeen discovered since the above was written, and no t ;oUfresh discoveries will be made as the process of resgoes on in our ancient churches. nri^'

Another old method of decorating the walls, the app r °Pness of which cannot be questioned, is by covering t" p 0 o 16texts of Scripture, on which our previous author,remarks as follows :—“ The most simple occupant c riot» re9 ’of churches is a series of passages from the Sacred te rr

or of moral sentences of tried wisdom and approP 11 ’ ei eIjt ‘dency. The introduction of the inscriptions is vety t"'°Bingham gives us several instances, and, among ot 1 th®distichs written over the doors of the church, on e joutside, exhorting men to enter the church wit* 1and peaceable heart:—

‘ Pax tibi sit quicunque Dei penetralia ChristiPectore pacitico candidus ingrederis;’ ^

and the other within, requiring those who g° oU ^church to leave at least their heart behind them*

‘ Quisquis ab sede Dei perfectis ordine votisEgrederis, remea corpora, eorde mane ’ ^ gffip

“ St. Ambrose tells us of an appropriate passageture, written on the walls of that part of the cb u1 '^ ^so fiwas allotted to the virgins. And besides these m°*| eand texts of Scripture, records of the dedication ofwere sometimes inscribed on the walls ; such was tby the altar of Sancta Sophia, by Justinian . pa ss9 Cs

“ To convey some notion how appropriately sue ^

may be selected and arranged, and how impress:their general effect, we will adduce the who! ^

inscriptions from a small chapel at Luton, in x ’ e jyj a i-qb'’ ((1)This chapel, which is now the property of the r ei»Bute, was built by one of the Napier family) in