SECTION XIX.

OF MINOR ALTARS AND SIDE CHAPELS.

I HAVE already said that all but very small churches should be provided with second altars. These may either stand in a chapel capable of accommodating the worshippers at them, or they may be so placed that the worshippers may occupy a portion of the body of the church. Of these the former is as a rule the better, but sometimes the other will be found convenient, particularly when rearranging an old building, in which the chancel has no aisles. In such a case the altar may be placed at the east end of one of the nave aisles, the worshippers making use of the pews in the neighbourhood. An altar so placed has, however, the objection of being liable to become too conspicuous, and to enter into a kind of competition with the high altar. It will also sometimes be convenient for both altars to be used at the same time, and all who have witnessed it—as may not unfrequently be done in continental churches-know how distracting it is to worshippers at one altar to have a service going on within their sight at another. It is, therefore, desirable that, where it can conveniently be managed, the minor altar should be so placed as not to be visible from the body of the church.

An altar standing in a chapel should bear exactly the

same relation to its chapel as the high altar does to the whole church; that is, it must be the centre both of the design and the arrangement, saving only that nothing must be done to the injury of the supremacy of the high altar. Where the position of the chapel is such as not to form part of the main plan, its altar and surrounding ornaments may be, developed to any desired extent in the same manner as in the chancel; but where, as will often be the case, part of the chapel is intended to be used also by worshippers at the high altar, the second altar should not be too conspicuously treated. In the latter case, the furniture of the people's portion of the chapel should not be heavy or fixed, but easily movable, so that it may be arranged with regard to either altar, according as may be required.

The internal arrangement of a chapel is a comparatively simple matter, because it is intended to be used. for celebrations alone, and, as a rule, only for those when there is no sermon, and when the priest is attended by a clerk only, there being no gospeller, epistoler, or choir. It may, therefore, be considered as divided into two parts, the place of the people and the place of the altar, corresponding to the nave and sanctuary of the church. The first of these divisions may, as I have said, also form part of the main plan; the sanctuary should never do so, and should always be enclosed by a close rail with gates, if the whole chapel be not completely screened.

As the services performed in the chapel contain neither sermons nor long lessons, we need not fill it with pews for the congregation to sit in. Some few people

require seats, and for these I would provide benches against the walls on the north, south, and west, with low desks, something after the manner of a chancel with a single row of choir seats. The majority of the worshippers need only kneeling accommodation, which may be supplied in the area of the chapel, in the form of either kneeling chairs or simple stools. Sometimes, in continental churches, one sees long boards laid on the floor, with stools fixed to them, one behind another at equal intervals. I think these might, with advantage, be introduced amongst us. They are inexpensive, easy to move and to stow away when not wanted, they do not shift about and make a noise when in use, and, what is not an unimportant matter, they can easily be cleaned.

The sanctuary of a side chapel will in most respects be similar to that of a small chancel, except that it will be shorter-seven or eight feet from the front of the altar to the rail is often enough. Sedilia are not required. The altar may be as little as five feet long, and may or may not be provided with a reredos. There should not be many steps, for there is no need that the altar should be visible from a distance; generally, one at the rail and one within it will be enough. I think that, whether required as a fence or not, the altar-rail should always be provided in side chapels, for in them communions will be commonly made, and it will be most required as a support; and it is not an inconvenient obstruction as it often is at the high altar, for there is here no necessity for passing in and out from the sanctuary during the service.

In large churches, where the chapel is remote from the sacristy, it would be well to provide it with a special vestry. This need but be very small, and may be in any position in or near the chapel where room can be spared for it.

SECTION XX.

OF CONFESSIONALS.

THAT confessionals were not provided in churches built twenty years ago, is not to be wondered at, nor even that now they should not be found everywhere; but that, with scarcely an exception, they should be omitted in buildings, where from the very first it is known they will be wanted, and that the clergy should be driven to improvise them for themselves, is discreditable to the architectural profession. It may be said that prejudice on the part of the architects has prevented them from providing their churches with confessionals, but, if one may judge by what we see they do put there, we can scarcely believe this to be always the case. Moreover, it is not an architect's business to dispute points in church doctrine or discipline, but, having ascertained the requirements of his clients, to provide suitable accommodation for them. That confessionals are now wanted in many churches cannot be denied, I therefore hold that I should be to blame, if I did not include them in the present discussion. Indeed, I cannot help thinking that the true explanation of their omission by modern architects, is to be found in the fact that we have no medieval examples.I

1 Or, at least, if we have, they are so doubtful as to have served no