greatly affected the progress of art in his day. He presented a number of actual views of the ugliest buildings in different parts of the kingdom, and on the same sheet he showed by drawings the correct forms which these edifices might have displayed. He did this with gables, doors, windows,

ST. FRANCIS BAPTIST CHURCH, MOBILE, ALABAMA. buttresses, and other members; he took a hideous looking entrance end of a chapel, with utterly tasteless decorations, and he showed by a picture what it might have been. He gave an angular view of a building which was supposed to have a specially ornamented front, while the side was bald, poor and outré in appearance, and by a "Contrast" he showed what front and flank might have been without any additional expense. In this manner his works became influential all over the country in cultivating the taste of the rising generation of builders, and at the present time there are very few leading professional men who would be guilty of mingling the members of different periods in the same edifice.

Where these matters are not understood they will not be appreciated; and many will no doubt contend that in churches about to be built, it is quite proper to block up windows by floors and stairs carried across them, and to put windows and buttresses of all kinds into the same building,

because these things have been done from year to year in churches that are already built. It would be well if builders of such edifices would call their works by a proper name, for the time has fully come when there should be a recognition of the "hybrid" style.

It is easy to know when the study of architecture is only in an elemental state in any city, by the odd freaks and senseless things that artists attempt to introduce into their productions. For instance, any person who has ever seen an old fortified castle, or even the picture of one, must have an idea of the use of a machicolation. It was a parapet or gallery projecting from the upper part of the wall of a fortified house, castle or fort, supported by corbels or brackets, and perforated by openings in the lower part, through which destructive missiles might be cast down on an assailing force below. Consider then the thoughtlessness of an architect who would attempt to put such a structure on the top of a tower of a church, a house of peace, erected to promote gentleness and brotherly love. A fortification is one thing and should have all its parts, but a church is another thing and all its parts should be consistent with its churchly character. Suppose further that from the angles of a church tower thus "ornamented" small circular turrets should be projected, supplied with narrow windows to enable the defenders to watch the enemy without or below, and over all, a grand angular lofty object, in place of an ordinary spire, should arise, to what style or period in architecture should such an edifice be assigned; and why should money be thus wasted in disfiguring a building?

An illustration in this paper will show the bearing of this criticism. The body of the church is an Italian style and the tower at an angle of the building is really an Italian Campanile; and yet on the top of this tower, the architect has placed a heavy machicolation, while above it there are

ARCH STREET M. E. CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA.

angular turrets, and the dumpy covering is neither an Italian member nor yet a Gothic spire. Such a costly top-heavy finish to an Italian Campanile, sadly disfigures what would otherwise be a pleasing and really characteristic example of an Italian church. It may be expected, however, that errors of this kind will not appear in new churches which the rising generation of architects may be called on to provide in our growing towns and cities; and it is well for the country that in our large cities at the present time, the subject of style in architecture is receiving so great attention, for an absurdity or an extravaganza in a church in a city, is sure to be copied in a town in the interior, and downward the influence goes until village churches are similarly enriched and ornamented.

It must not be overlooked, however, that while in our country many of the early churches have displayed all the strange quaint features of primitive buildings, and others, where style had been attempted, are, like the buildings of the same period in Great Britain, very open to criticism, still in many respects our American edifices, so far as convenience, accommodation and utility are concerned are immensely in advance of ordinary places of worship in Britain that date during the reigns of the Georges. In lecture-rooms, schoolrooms, and the various apartments which are necessary for the work of an active church, the provisions of our congregations are on a wise and

liberal scale, and it is only of late years that in Great Britain our American arrangements have been copied and their advantages fully recognized. In villages and rural parishes in Britain an edifice for preaching and a small addition as a Vestry or a Session Room were made to suffice; but now, the influence of the United States is recognized in the form of the pew, the size of the pulpit, in Committee and Sunday-school rooms, and the other appendages that members of churches feel to be requisite for the comfortable and effectual prosecution of real church work.

As to churches for the future, it may be recognized as a settled fact that the days of Cathedrals are over. At least in all Protestant Communions, the mass of the people will wisely demand that their places of worship shall be so constructed, that the congregation can as one body be so near to the officiating clergyman as to enable them intelligently to hearken to instruction, and unitedly to engage in the worship of God. Vast naves and long drawn aisles for processions and spectacles, choirs enclosed with screens in which the clergy may perform a service while the people occupy the transepts and the nave, are all out of date. They belong to another age, and they are no longer wanted. In the audience rooms of churches

tial, and no features of any style whatever should be admitted that may mar the acoustic qualities of the edifice, or place a large part of the congregation behind obstructions that prevent the worshippers from seeing and hearing.

Now all these essentials may be secured, while a strict adherence to style is observed. It is only a matter of secondary importance as to the peculiar style that may in a particular case be adopted. Let it ever be kept in remembrance, however, that beauty does not mean lavish adornment and extravagant outlay; for on the other hand, many church edifices that are quite free from ornament are effective

and striking, their great beauty arising from the harmony of their parts and the general outline of their plan. Whatever style may be adopt ed, keep to it, and avoid all mixtures. Avoid the common error of drawing a pretty picture for "a front" or "an exterior," irrespective of the internal necessi ties, and then offending by having the inside a series of ugly blunders. Should the size and requirements of a congregation render the due regard must be paid to the capacities of the construction of a gallery in the church needful, ordinary human voice. Thorough ventilation, then let the plan both outside and inside be combined with freedom from draughts are essen-honest and consistent. It is an egregious mistake

to think, as many do, that Gothic buildings do not admit two ranges of windows, one range above another. Any one who has ever looked at Salisbury, or Ely, or Peterborough, knows to the contrary; and

among

the illustra

tions of this paper,

there are two good examples which enforce this principle. Where galleries are required let the openings for light above and below be real windows of a distinct form and character. Much has yet to be learned in church building, but it is a gratifying fact that during the last twenty years the progress of education has already beautified most of our cities with ecclesiastical edifices that are goodly monuments of the artists who designed and of the liberality of those whose munificence erected them.

It should ever be borne in mind that all designs in church architecture should combine symmetry of proportion with the greatest possible utility of the space occupied. This utilizing of room, while furnishing at the same time the necessary embellishments to inspire a feeling of awe and solemnity, is one of the surest tests of the artist's skill. The interior of buildings consecrated to the worship of God, while agreeing with the general exterior, should so blend

the majestic with grace of form, style and color of finish, as to awaken in mind and heart of the worshipper thoughts and emotions of a serene and exalted character.

ST. ANN'S CHURCH (EPISCOPAL), BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

Want of taste in ecclesiastical structures is a serious impediment to lofty conceptions of the Great Architect, as it tends to distract the feelings, as discord in music mars the equanimity of the listener. The effect of the objects contemplated is, therefore, a subject of primary importance.

THE AMAZONS OF MEXICO.

(FROM THE PEn of a Toltee Historian.) TRANSLATED BY ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH.

CHAPTER II.