Throughout most of the eighteenth century, a good many of the fellows resident in Cambridge held livings in the vicinity. They were accustomed to ride out on Sunday to their cures, hold services, [100] ]and return home to a comfortable supper the same evening, but in general neglected their parishes during the rest of the week. Thus if a parishioner died, the funeral was deferred till the following Sunday; and if a marriage-service was to be held in the village, it had to wait for a free Sunday. In these circumstances the bride and bridegroom often settled the matter by coming into Cambridge for the ceremony, and during the first half of this century our chapel was constantly borrowed for such marriage services; after the Marriage Act of 26 George II, cap. 33, this use of it became illegal unless a special license were obtained. Since that Act, it has been used only once for such a purpose, namely, for the marriage of Miss Butler on 18 December 1901.
Coming to the nineteenth century, we have numerous notes about the chapel and the services. At the beginning of this period the author of Alma Mater (J. M. F. Wright, who commenced residence in 1817) gives an unfavourable account of the services, saying that they were gabbled through as fast as possible amid a great deal of talking. The first part of this statement may be correct, but as to the second probably conversation was rare, and such as took place, though not condemned by public opinion, was subdued and was held only in recesses, one of which was known as iniquity corner. In fact, [101] ]we may take it that the vast majority of the undergraduates acted as gentlemen though they attended chapel reluctantly and merely as a matter of discipline. Attendance was required at seven o’clock in the morning, not a convenient hour, albeit considerably later than that usual in Tudor times.
In 1831 the fabric was again thoroughly repaired, the roof redecorated, certain stalls elevated, desks at the east end constructed, and a new scheme of lighting by candelabra introduced. A few years later, in 1838, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Undergraduates concerned themselves with marking the attendance of fellows in chapel. That incident I have described elsewhere.
In 1867–75 the building was again thoroughly overhauled, the south side faced with stone, a porch, a new vestry, and a choir-room built, the organ screen moved a few feet westward, the walls and roof painted, gilding used freely on the panelling, the windows filled with stained glass, backed benches and kneeling stools introduced for undergraduates, and the building lighted with gas. During part of the time occupied by this restoration, the College used St Michael’s church as its chapel.
According to the scheme of decoration, adopted on the advice of Lightfoot and Westcott, if we proceed eastwards up the chapel we are supposed to note, in order, the frescoes on the walls (which [102] ]represent old testament heroes and teachers) and paintings on the roof (which illustrate the Benedicite), leading up through Jewish history to the birth of Christ, and then, returning westward, to have suggested to us, by the successive windows, the historical development of Christianity and the growth of learning particularly in the University and College. A man might worship many years in the chapel before he discovered this design.
The panels in the sacrarium are replaced by intarsia work in which all the woods used are of their natural colours. The sixteenth-century silver cross on the communion table came from Spain. The wrought-iron gas standards here and through the chapel are also worthy of note; fortunately they were allowed to remain when the electric light was introduced. All this, as well as the scheme of decoration of the antechapel, is described in guide-books with more or less accuracy.
Probably the services were never rendered more effectively than in the years following this restoration. Attendance on Sunday evening was required unless absentees could urge conscientious or other good reasons for exemption, but a large proportion of those who might have obtained exemption did, in fact, take part in the Sunday services. More benches were placed in the chapel than are there now, and the building, with every seat occupied and [103] ]everyone (save a few privileged visitors) in a surplice, presented a most impressive scene. Electric light was introduced in 1893, and has added much to the comfort of congregations in winter evenings.
In former days members of the Society who died in College were not infrequently buried in the chapel—a shocking thing to permit in a building in constant use, though sanctioned by the custom of many centuries. There are a good many tombstones scattered over the floor, and copies of all the inscriptions have been published. I wonder how many members of the Society know that among those here buried is one woman, bearing the strange Christian name of Elismar. The last interment in the chapel took place in October 1886, and further burials are now forbidden unless sanctioned by the Home Office.
The building has always been used for various secular purposes, such as elections to scholarships and fellowships; the admission of scholars, fellows, and officers; the affixing of the College seal to documents, and the delivery of declamations by students. Within recent years lectures in the antechapel and an oration in the chapel have been delivered. I believe the view that a church or chapel is intended only for the performance of religious services is modern and unwarranted by history: at any rate our records give no authority for it.
[22] On the site acquired for the College were situated the buildings of King’s Hall, Michael-House, Physwick’s Hostel, and some private hostels or boarding houses. Members of private hostels used their parish churches. All the students in Physwick’s Hostel were members of Gonville Hall, and used the chapel of that Hall. The members of Michael-House used St Michael’s church: this House had been founded in 1324 by Hervey de Stanton for a master and six fellows, who if not priests at the time of admission, had to take orders within one year; and later two more fellows, three chaplains, and four bible clerks were added to the foundation, which was intended for secular clergy studying in the University. The church of St Michael was appropriated to it, and rebuilt by its founder for use as its chapel. The fellows had in their House an oratory, and in March 1393, the bishop of Ely granted them leave to build a chapel, but their history and convenience alike made them wish to continue to use St Michael’s church as their regular chapel.