Alfred Gatty.
Ecclesfield, June 28. 1850.
I can only give from recollection a statement of a tradition, that when Jesus Christ died he turned his head towards the south; and so, ever since, the south side of a church has the pre-eminence. There generally is the bishop's throne, and the south aisle of ancient basilicas was appropriated to men. Simple observation shows that the supposed sanctity extends to the churchyard,—for there the tombstones lie thickest.
I find that my source of information for the tradition was Cockerell's last lecture on Architecture, Athenæum for 1843, p. 187. col. 3.
A.J.H.
"Men are but Children," &c.—R.G. (Vol. ii., p. 22.) will find the line about which he inquires in Dryden's All for Love; or, The World well Lost, Act iv. Sc. 1.
Dolabella (loq.):
"Men are but children of a larger growth,
Our appetites as apt to change as theirs,
And full as craving too, and full as vain."