Architecture And Archæology.

is sufficiently convincing . Tho coiling has been a reproach to the corporation-for years / and a disfigurement to au other-Avise fine hall , full of interesting associations . We have ourselves often urged this before . The look Avith Avhich a foreign architect , who had been taken to the dinner on ' 'the 9 th , " regarded it when his eyes had travelled up , if photographed , Avould have made a forcible illustration for

these remarks . The City architect did , Ave believe , once make a design for new-roofing the Guildhall ; but he Avould doubtless now feel himself in a position to go farther than he did then . Knowledge of Gothic ai'chitecture has made such rapid ; strides during the last feAV years , that nothing but a thorough Avork would satisfthe exigencies of the times .

y The great and Avealthy corporation of London , in whose hands the responsibility of carrying out the alteration rests , must have the work compietely and beautifully done , as Mr . Bmmmg knoAVS so Avell how to do it , and . so as to leave a noble memorial to the admiration of future generations . If , further , the Hall Avere properly decorated , one result would be the saving of a large sum of money now annually

spent on the temporary adornment of it . A comparison of the present incongruous ceiling in the Guildhall , with the roof of that of Westminster , will saA'e a Avorld of argument and controvers }' . There is a second Ai-ork in the City that needs doing —• the removal of the ponderous iron railing around St . Paul's Churchyard . ; and although this restsAve with the

, suppose , Dean and Chapter , the corporation could of course greatly aid in bringing it about . When Ave first urged this , some years ago , in the interest of the public and of the fame of Wren , our contempories of the press repeated our views far and wide , and the desirability of the removal Avas loudly expressed . But nothing was done . We need not , however ,

be discouraged . Nothing was done when Ave first called for the removal of the railings which Avere around and disfigured our public statues ; yet at this time the chief of them have been freed from the disfigurement . The gain that Would result to the public in respect of traffic and . power of circulation , if the railing around St . Paul ' s were removed , Avould be immense , and Avas the original ground

of our argument . Beyond this , hoAvever , if the area Avere levelled and paA'ed to Avithin a feAV feet of the cathedraf , the beauty and grandeur that would be added to the edifice can scarcely be OA'erstated . A light and appropriate railing , placed at a short distance from the building itself , AA'ould not -interfere _ Avith the vieAV of the architecture , and AA-ould preserve it from any accidental injury . If there be one

any Avho doubts the charming effect that would be producednot content with continental illustrations—let him note the open area in front of the Eoyal Exchange . Moreover , let him take the trouble to get inside the inclosure of St . Paul ' s Churchyard , go to the farthest possible spot from the cathedral , pface his back against the railing , and then look up at the grand ilesurelhe Avould exclaim that he had

p ; y never seen St . Paul ' s till then . From Ai'ithin and without this huge grille , the cathedral is an entirel y different structure ; —in the one case , dwafted , disfigured , distant , and defaced ; in the other , noble , grand , devotional , and eleA'ating . No man of taste can entertain a doubt as to the propriety of removing this iron mask , if he haA'e taken those means of forming his judgmentand Ave strongl all Avho haA-e

; y urge any poAver to aid in bringing about during the present mayoralty AA'hat Avould so greatly improve this city . Eightly treated , a nobler space , and a grander temple to God's honour piled , could not be found in the whole world . Let our children be able to say these two great improvements Avere effected AA'hen Cnbitt Avas mayor . —Builder .

ON THE ARRANGEMENT OF CHUECHES . Paper read by Mr . Blomfield , M . A ., at the last meeting of the Architectural Association . When I first offered to read a paper " On tho Arrangement of Churches" I not that it Avould be

, was aware so immediatel y preceded by one on the same subject at the iioyal Institute . The admirable and learned paper by Mr . ¦ Mackenzie Walcott , to which I allude , should bo read by all AA no Avere not fortunate enough to hear it . It so completely

exhausts one branch of the subject that it is fortunate-1 had not proposed to myself to folloiv the same line . Our object being chiefly discussion , I felt that suggestive remarks , rather than a collection of facts , would be more likely to tend to this result . In order , too , to meet tho wish generally expressed at thc commencement of the session , " That our papers should bo short and conversational , " I have

endca-A-oured to bo as concise as possible , and thus to leaA'e time for subsequent conversation on tho subject , and to afford an opportunity for the interchange of original thought and suggestion . My object , then , in the short time before us will be to take a practical , common-sense view of this deeply-interesting questionboth Avith reference to the ritual of the Church of

, England as it UOAV exists , as also to the peculiar exigencies aud requirements of our OAVU times , and tho means at our command for meeting them in the most natural and straightforward , and , therefore , in the best manner . In following out this plan , time AA'ould fail me ( oA'en if . the task had not been rendered superfluous by Mr . Walcott ' s paper ) to enter into any detailed description of medieval or earlier church

arrangements , or eA'en to allude to them , except so far as I find it necessary to do so in illustration or support of my views . If my remarks , therefore , fail to take the interesting line of archiBological research Avhich might have been expected , it is not that I at all under-rate the high importance of this line of study in all its branches , but that I take it for granted everyone who aspires to the honour of being a

church architect habitually pays especial attention to it ; and Ave are , therefore , at liberty this evening to deA'oto ourselves to the present and future , rather than to the past . Thus , afso , I have avoided a very interesting branch of the subject Avhich Avas open to me , viz ., the symbolism of church arrangements , not because I slight the study of it , but because I think it involves questions scarcely practical enough

for our evening ' s discussion , and because I think that a system of mystic symbolism ( beyond that Avhich explains itself at once by familiar use or as distinctly scriptural ) , Avhen it is merely based on human fancy and ingenuity , is , in this age , as much a toy and dead letter as the science of heraldry is amongst the sciences . What I propose to consider , then , is—¦

First , the influence . Avhich our ritual , as it at present exists , ought to have on the architectural features and ehai'acter of our churches ; in Avhat manner it ought , in other Avords , to make itself felt in the building , and Avhether Ave are in the habit of paying sufficient attention to this point . Secondly , the customs , Avants , and requirements of modern

congregations as compared to those in former ages of the church . Whether those customs , wants , and requirements are to be ignored and slighted , or Avhether they ought to be met ; and , if so , Avhether AVO ought boldly to acknoivledge the means we employ and make the most of them , or to conceal them and , as far as Ave can , apparently dispense AA'ith them altogether , because thoy do not fall iiiAvith preconceived notions as to Avhat is " ecclesiastical . " It Avill be observed

that I ] ilace first the question of the influence our ritual ought to exercise on church architecture , because , if that can be determined , Ave may ,. I suppose , safely say that AA'hat has nothing to do with our ritual , is not absolutely necessary to give duo expression to a church , or , in other Avords , is not intrinsically ecclesiastical . The first reformed English liturgy Avas produced in

1549 , and Avas folloAved in 1552 by a second , Avhich is neasly identical Avith our present Book of Common Prayer . Since that time it has undergone several authorised examinations , and some few changes of importance have been made in consequence , but in all essential points it continues tho same . Thus it will bo seen that precisely at the time of thc great change in our church

services the knoAvlcdgc and practice of the true principles of architecture had passed through their last phase and died out , so that the only object of the Reformers naturally was to obliterate as far as possible all traces of the Romish rites aud ceremonies in their churches , Avithout any thought of Avhat might be preserved or adapted as expressive of tho neiv liturgy . Since that time church building has gone through many curious changes , and remained for a long