endured in this country, had not the faculty of taste, and the perception of the seemly or unseemly, been as dead as the spirit of devotion … But of the general tone of the services in the Church of England at that time I do not hesitate to say, it was such as when carefully considered would have shocked not only an earnest Christian of whatever communion, but any sincere believer in God." Mr. Hore gives us some interesting detail as to how the services were conducted just before the Oxford Movement. [1]"What was the state of the Parish Churches?" he asked. "They stood, beautiful in their pristine architecture, but rendered paragons of ugliness by modern barbarism, or, as it was termed, modern improvement; the high roof cut down; the windows robbed of their stained glass, and even their tracery; the pillars cut away to make room for some hideous monument; the frescoes buried beneath a dozen coats of whitewash; naves, aisles, and even choirs choked up with hideous pews, prominent amongst them standing that of the Squire, with its stove and easy chair and drawn curtains, the owner, perhaps himself a dissenter, sending his servants to occupy it and keep out intruders; the pulpit, with its red cushions, towering towards the ceiling, and often overhanging the altar; the reading desk, with the head of the curate scarcely visible above the books; the square box for the nasal-toned clerk; a basin, the miserable substitute for a font; the meanly-dressed altar, the common receptacle of the hats and cloaks of the congregation; a common glass bottle containing the wine for the Holy Communion, with some square pieces of bread placed on the Holy Table by the clerk before the service; the unused
- ↑ Ibid, pp. 235, 236.
