It is worth noticing that in the list given in Collinson's Somersetshire, of the Chapter as it stood in his time, the Dignitaries and Prebendaries are all put in their proper order, with the words "Canon Residentiary" added to those who happened to be so. It is now the fashion to print the Residentiaries first in larger type, and the other Canons after them in smaller type. Such are the straws which show the way of the wind, and thus does oligarchy grow in all times and places.
[191] The actual rights of the non-residentiary Canons, both at Wells and elsewhere, is a question of law, to be settled by a legal examination of various local statutes and general Acts of Parliament. The result would probably not be exactly the same in every church. But it is certain that, if our capitular bodies are to be of any use at all, they must be restored to their old broad basis. A body of forty or fifty clergymen, the pick of the diocese, partly resident at the cathedral, partly elsewhere, might be trusted to do many things which an oligarchy of four or five cannot be trusted to do. In the New Foundations the object would be gained by giving votes in Chapter to the Honorary Canons.
[192] It would hardly be believed, except that the same havoc has been wrought in some other churches, that in an English cathedral church, in the year 1869, four stoves of incredible ugliness were set up, with chimneys driven through the vaulted roof! For the better display of one of them, part of Bishop Beckington's canopy, already moved from its place, was cut away; but, on the coming into residence of a Canon of better taste, it was put back. If the church wanted warming, the object might surely have been gained in some other way. In Bristol Cathedral there are stoves which are no disfigurement whatever.
[193] They would, however, have a precedent in the famous scene between Archbishops Richard and Roger in the time of Henry the Second, which I will describe in the words of Godwin, p. 51. "At the time appointed the Legate came and tooke his place, and the Archbishop of Canterbury sate him downe next unto the Legate upon the right hand. After this in came Roger Archbishop of Yorke and would needes have displaced Canterbury to sit above him: that when the other would not suffer, he sate him downe in his lap. The other Bishops present, amased at this strange behavior of the Archbishop of Yorke, cried out all upon him; the Archbishop of Canterburies men by violence drew the other out of his ill chosen place, threw him downe, tare his robes almost from his backe, trode upon him, beate him, and used him so despitefully, as the Legate, whether for shame or for doubt what might happen to him selfe in such a tumult, got him out and went his way."
On the tomb of the doer of this havoc is written, with an unconscious sarcasm, "Multum ei debet ecclesia Wellensis." The words seem happily borrowed from Lucan's address to Nero:
"Multum Roma tamen debet civilibus armis,
Quod tibi res acta est."
Dean Jenkyns, however, did not employ fire; the stoves were reserved for the next æra.
[194] There is much in the details of the work at Llandaff which is fairly open to censure, but the principle of arrangement is thoroughly good throughout, and the general effect is admirable.
[195] It is proposed to "restore," as it is called, the west front at a cost of many thousand pounds, while there are no signs of any movement towards getting rid of the crying abuses in the inside of the church. I believe there is no fear of the wanton destruction of any of the ancient work, or of any such absurdities as putting up new statues. Still it seems to me to be a strange putting of the cart before the horse to spend such a sum, or indeed to spend a single farthing, on purely ornamental work, while the arrangements of the inside are such that the church does not properly fulfil its first duty as a place of worship. When the nave of Wells Cathedral is again applied to its proper use, it will be time enough to think of canopies and carved work on the outside. And I am by no means clear that purely ornamental work of this kind ought to be restored at all. Anything that is really needed for the safety of the fabric should be done with all boldness, and all really essential features should be made good. If the western towers were likely to fall, it would be a matter of duty to support or to rebuild them, as the case might call for. And as the doors and windows are essential parts of the building, I should without scruple restore their decayed bases, mouldings, and other portions. But as to the purely ornamental work, the statues and their canopies, it seems to me that their value comes wholly from their being genuine parts of the original work, and that any modern repair is out of place. I should take every means to preserve them and keep them in their places; but, if they fall or crumble away, I should not replace them. I therefore greatly regret, on every ground, to see a work undertaken which can hardly fail to have the effect of putting off the real restoration of the church of Wells for many a day.