"Yes," replied the Vicar; "and the remedies for the evil are in both cases nearly the same. Great inconvenience often arises from the exclusive character of the parclose. I would have the solid part of this made lower, and the upper part more light and open."
"Pardon me, my friend, but I am ignorant as to what you mean by the word parclose."
"I refer now to the screen which encloses the chancel on the north and south sides; but I believe the word may apply to any screen in the church. By means of these screens, however, the persons in the transepts are needlessly excluded from a view of the altar."
"Yes; but the change in them which you suggest would not fully meet the difficulty, even if a squint or hagioscope should also be provided."
"I see that," said the Vicar; "and for that reason I would, as a rule, only have those portions of the transepts nearest the chancel fitted with permanent seats. On special occasions chairs could be placed in the back parts; or, perhaps, the whole of the transepts might be given up to the children of the parochial schools, the elder children, who could best understand the nature of the services, being placed in the front."
"A very proper arrangement, indeed, I should think, for all of them would be able at least to hear, and they would be conveniently placed for assisting in the musical parts of the service. It has often struck me as the refinement of cruelty to place these children in the remote damp corners of country churches, where too often they are to be found; or, worse still, in the topmost galleries of city churches, where the air they breathe is heated and impure. In both cases there is a manifest unconcern as well for the temporal as for the spiritual welfare of these little ones of Christ's flock."
"To whatever use, however, they may be applied, or even if they are entirely unappropriated, so far as regards affording accommodation for the congregation, I would, by all means, wherever practicable, retain the transeptal arrangement of our churches, not only as being the most ornamental form of structure, but as preserving in the entire building the distinct form of the Cross; and as symbolizing in the gathering together of each congregation of Christ's Church—which is His Body, that Body itself. Thus the nave represents the body, the transepts the outstretched arms, and the chancel—being the most excellent part of the church—the head[128] of our Lord. Some perhaps might think it fanciful, but to me there is something very solemn and beautiful in the idea, not only of the church's whole fabric assuming these symbolic forms, but also of the united prayers and praises of the congregation making, as it were, in their very sound the sign of the Cross."
"I think so too. And to my mind it has always seemed that the grand symbolism which looks through, as it were, the whole fabric of the church, and the whole congregation therein assembled, was formerly much marred in our churches, when there were many altars, dedicated to many saints, instead of the one altar, which we now only retain, dedicated to the one Head of the Christian Church."
"Yes; and your remark, of course, applies specially to the transepts about which we were speaking, since even in our country churches every transept had its separate altar, the piscina attached to which is still to be found in almost every old church."
"I suppose," said Mr. Acres, "that beautiful Gothic niche in our south transept which you recently restored is a piscina?"