closure, was erected, within which, for many centuries, the rites of holy baptism was celebrated. It was reckoned among the exedræ, or places adjoining the church,* the idea being that no person, not having been "illuminated," should be allowed to enter within the threshold of the house of God.+ Baptisteries were, however, gradually dispensed with, especially in English parochial church architecture, and it was considered sufficiently symbolical of the mysterious truth, that by baptism persons are admitted into membership with Christ's church, to place the font near the west entrance, or south porch. The inconsistency of placing it midway up the centre of the church, or what is still worse, near the communion-table, has been too often exposed to need repetition. The new canopied font at St. Philip's church is intended to be placed near the western entrance, in accordance with ancient ecclesiastical practice. Its form is octagonal, as being by far the most graceful that could be chosen, besides being (according to the mode of spiritualizing numbers in the early church) symbolical of the new birth in baptism.‡ The upper part will be lined with white marble, and amply hollowed out for immersion of infants if necessary; the office of public baptism distinctly shewing that this would be most in accordance with the wishes of the church, since the general rubric is for immersion, the permitted exception for aspersion or sprinkling. Provision will be made, by a water drain in the centre, to carry off the water when used. The general character of the design is distinctly shewn in the engraving. We need, therefore, only add, that round the hollow, in the series of mouldings, immediately above the shaft of the font, the verse from Gal. iii. 27, "As many of you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ," will be written in illuminated church text-red, blue, and gold. The floreated canopy with which it is intended to surmount the font, will be composed of carved oak picked out in gold; it is, as will be seen, in the elaborate style of the later English Gothic, and rises to a height of about six feet above the font itself. The figure introduced at the top is intended for St. Philip the Apostle, in whose honour the church is dedicated, holding an unfashioned cross. This has been preferred to the Dove, as symbolical of the Holy Ghost descending upon the recipients of holy baptism, for reasons which have been subjoined in a note.§ Ornamental canopies, beautiful as they are as appendages to fonts, *Bingham's Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 403. † Baptisteries were called φωτιστήρια. "that the seven The Rev. G. A. Poole, in his Lectures on Churches, says days of creation of the natural world would be symbolized by the number 7, and the new creation by Christ Jesus by the number 8, in allusion to the 8th day, on which he rose from the dead." He adds, that S. Ambrose, fourteen centuries ago, assigned this reason for the octagonal form of the font. § We confess an inability to see any reverence in the representation of the third Person in the mysterious Trinity under the form of a dove; it strikes us as equally unfortunate with the attempts to embody in material form any idea of the Father, God Almighty; and then, again, we agree with those learned annotators upon scripture who think that the evangelist's description is to be applied not to the figure or form in which the Holy Ghost was manifested, but rather to the manner of the descent or hovering over the body of our Saviour. were once uearly universal; though few now, alas! remain. Many were removed at the Reformation; but the work of spoliation in its perfection was reserved for the notorious parliamentary visitor, W. Dowsing, and his pious (!) coadjutors, who gave orders wherever they went that these beautiful covers should be destroyed. But a better day is again dawning; few would now look upon a cover to a font as a relic of medieval superstition; while many who think it one of the most graceful ornaments that can be introduced into our churches will be glad to see a restoration of it effected in the metropolis, St. Philip's being, as far as we are aware, the only church in London in which it is proposed to make this distinct addition to the font. In former times these ornamental covers had a double use. 1st. It was the custom in the early church to keep them locked down upon the fonts during the whole penitential season of Lent, preparatory to the high solemnity of Easter, which was one of the reasons for a general baptism,† a practice which Dr. Minshull was anxious to see restored in the church of England.+ 2nd. They were also kept locked to prevent the growth of a superstitious usage, which at one period very generally prevailed-viz., that of taking away the water in which a child or other person had been baptized, and by either drinking it, or using it as an external ablution, persons confidently expected immediate recovery from disease.§ It is said that the Emperor Constantine resorted to this remedy for the cure of his leprosy.|| PLATE 11.-PRAYING OR READING DESK. Bingham, in his Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 407, says that the ambo, in the primitive churches, was what we now call the reading desk, and was intended for the use of the clergy who ministered in the first service or matins. The sermon, however, it should be here observed, was not preached from this place. It was spoken of as a wonder for St. Chrysostom to deliver his discourses from it for the sake of being better heard; and it is well known that the ancient bishops and clergy used to preach their sermons from the rising steps of the altar. In modern churches, reading desks have been the occasion of much deformity and ugliness; they have been raised frequently to a level with the pulpit, which is an absurdity, now that they are used for prayer as well as exhortation, and have been provided with bookboards facing the west, as though the minister were preaching to his flock, not praying for them in their name, at the throne of grace. * Among the most beautiful of those which exist to this day may be mentioned those in the churches of Ewelme, in Oxfordshire, Elsing, in Norfolk, and St. Dunstan's, in Canterbury. See Skelton's Oxford, Archæologia, vol, x., and Carter's Ancient Architecture. † Archæo. vol. x. p. 422. See his "Penitential Discipline of the Primitive Church." Archæo. vol. x. p. 422. Rev G. A. Poole, Lectures on Churches. Bingham, Antiq. vol. 2. The locking down the covers upon the fonts, for this reason, seems to shew that it was the practice to retain water always in the fonts, changing it only as necessity required. The circumstance is worthy of notice, as the subject has lately attracted some attention. The adoption of such a practice would certainly seem to give greater significance to the use of canopied covers as appendages to fonts. : |