PUQIN
559
PUGIN
youngest, Peter Paul (d. 1904). Both received from
the pope the decoration of the Order of St. Sylvester.
After his second marriage he took up his residence at
Sahsburj', and in 183-1 embraced the Catholic Faith,
his wife following his example in 1839. Of his con-
version he tells us that the study of ancient eccle-
siastical architecture was the primarj' cause of the
change in his sentiments, by inducing him to pursue
a course of study, terminating in complete conversion.
He never swerved in his fidelity to the Church, not^
withstanding the bitter trials he experienced. He
found that he had exchanged the noble EngUsh cathe-
drals with their service of chant for Moorfielda chapel
with its maimed rites.
In 1835 he bought a small plot of ground at Laver- stoek, near Sahsbury, on which he built for himself a quaint fifteenth-century house, St. Marie's Grange. In 1837 he made the acquaintance of the authorities of St. Mary's College, Oscott, where his fame as a writer had preceded him. He found there men in sympathy with his ideas about art and rehgion. The president. Rev. Henry Weedall, was so impressed by him, that he accepted his ser\ices for the completion of the new chapel and for the decorations of the new college, which was opened in 1838. He designed the apse with its effective groinings, the stained glass of the chancel windows, the decorated ceiling, the stone pulpit, and the splendid Gothic vestments. • He con- structed the reredos of old wood-car\ings brought from the Continent, he placed the Limoges enamels on the front of the super-altar, he provided the scven- teenth-centurj' confessional, altar rails, and stalls, the carved pulpit (from St. Gertrude's, Louvain), the finest in England, as well as the ambries and chests of the sacristy (see "The Oscotian", July, 1905). He built both lodges and added the turret called " Pugin's night-cap" to the tower. Above all he inspired supe- riors and students with an ardent enthusiasm for his ideals in Gothic art, liturgj-, and the sacred chant. Tradition points out the room in which on Saturday afternoons he used to instruct the workmen from Hardman's, Birmingham, in the spirit and technic of their craft. The president appointed him professor of ecclesiastical antiquities (1838-44). Widje at the "Old College" he gave his lectures in what is now the orphans' dining-room, and at the new college in a room which still bears the inscription " Architectura". This association with one of the leading Catholic colleges in England afforded him valuable opportu- nities for the advancement of his \iews. During this period he did much of his best work in wTiting, teaching, and structural design. Although at different times he had visited France and the Netherlands either alone, or in the company of his father or the Earl of Shrewsbun,', he did not visit the great cities of Italy until 1847. The ecclesiastical buildings of Rome sorely disappointed him; but he had his com- pensation in the gift from Pius IX of a splendid gold medal as a token of approval, which gratified Pugin more than any other event in his life. His second wife having died iii 1844, he married in 1848 Jane, daughter of Thomas Knill of Tj-ptree Hall, Herefordshire, by whom he had two children. In the meantime he had removed from Laverstock, and after a temporary' resi- dence at Cheyne Walk, Chelsea (1841), he took up his residence at Ramsgate, living first with his aunt, Miss Selina Welby, who made him her heir, and then in the house called St. Augustine's Grange, which, together with a church, he had built for himself. Of these he said that they were the only buildings in which his designs had not been curtailed by financial conditions.
Under a presentiment of approaching de^ith, of which he had an unusual fear, he went into retreat in 1851 and prepared himself by prayer and self-denial for the end. \t the close of the year his mind became affected and early in 1852 he was placed in the asylum
commonly called Bedlam, in St. George's Fields,
Lambeth. At the urgent request of his wife and in
opposition to the wishes of the rest of his friends, he
was removed from the asylum, first to the Grove,
Hammersmith, where after sLx weeks' care his con-
dition had improved to such an extent that it was
possible for him to return to Ramsgate; but two
days after he reached home he had a fatal apoplectic
seizure.
Pugin was somewhat below the middle stature and rather thick-set, with long dark hair and grey eyes that seemed to take in everjihing. He usually wore a sailor's jacket, loose pilot trousers, a low-crowned hat, a black silk handkerchief thrown negligently round his neck, and shapeless footwear carelessly tied. His form and attire suggested the seaman rather than a man of art. A voluble talker both at work and at table, he possessed a fund of anecdote and a great power of dramatic presentation; and when in good health overflowed with energy and good humour. And if sometimes his language was vigorous or per- sonal, he was generous and never vindictive. Inured to industn,' from childhood, as a man he would work from sunrise to midnight with extraordinarj* ease and rapidity. His short thick hands, his stumpy tapering fingers, with the aid of a short piece of pencil, a pair of compasses and a carpenter's rule, performed their deUcate work even under such unfavourable circum- stances as sailing in his lugger off the South Coast. Most of his architectural work he entrusted to an enthusiastic builder whom he had known as a working- man at Beverley. He trained the workmen he em- ployed, and was in turn idolized by them. In his home at Ramsgate he lived with the regularity and abste- miousness of a monk, and the intellectual eagerness of a student. His benevolence made him everj'where the father of the poor.
His hfe was a battle for truth and fitness in architec- ture. He fought for the Christian inspiration of medievalism as against the cold paganism of the classic style. The \ictory ultimately fell to his side. The Englishman of to-day can with difficulty realize the condition of bad taste and ignorance which pre- vailed in matters of art at the commencement of the nineteenth century. "When Welby Pugin began his labours", says Ferrey, " there was not a single building of modern date, either public or private, which was not a reproach and a disgrace to the countrj'." And although not alone, still more than any other man Pugin worked for a restoration. He revealed the principles of the medieval builder and the enlightened skill of their craftsmen. Others have since applied his principles. The occasional exag- geration or narrowness of his views has been corrected or avoided; and it remains true that the restoration of our ancient churches, as well as the varied beauty of many of our new structures, is due to the ability and unconquerable energy of Pugin. He was the man for his time. Gothic art was being studied, and many were turning their thoughts to the Church out of which it had sprung. Still, prejudice had to be broken down and ignorance removed; but the spirit of Pugin triumphed in the end.
Buildings. — The following may be set down as tj-pical and fairly complete: Cathedrals: — Birming- ham; Northampton (older portion); Nottingham; Southwark; Killamey; Enniscorthy; Salford (de- signed only). Parish Churches: — Diocese of Birming- ham: Alton, Brewood, Cheadle, Dudley. Kenilworth, Rugby, Solihull, Stoke-upon-Trent. I'ttoxeter. Dio- cese of Liverpool: in Liverpool, St. Marie's (some years ago removed stone by stone to its present site), St. Oswald's, Bishop-Eton "(chapel now forming north aisle), St. Marie's, Southport (now north aisle). Dio- cese of Northampton: Cambridge (former chapel), Great Marlow; Ljmn (former church). Diocese of Nottingham: Derby; Shepshed; WTiitwick. Diocese
