spoiler, Henry VIII.; meanwhile the monastic bodies had begun to suffer, at the hands of the mendicant friars, precisely the same attacks on their reputation, which they had so uncharitably cast on the secular Clergy from the time of Dunstan.

The historian of ecclesiastical architecture, however, if he could forget the moral question, and the baneful effects on the spiritual Church of any oppression and wrong, might be disposed to rejoice at the victory of monachism; for it is certain that we owe our finest buildings to a system which concentrated enormous wealth in a few great fraternities, whose means, and whose requirements all tended to the erection of vast and splendid edifices. Even the villages which were robbed by them of their parson, and of a great part of their wealth, that the "high monastic tower might soar yet higher, were a little repaid by better and more costly repairs and additions to their parish Church, than it would otherwise have had.

The Church of Rochester being now finished, Gundulf went with a great procession of monks and Clergy, and with a vast concourse of people, to the sepulchre of the blessed confessor Paulinus the third Bishop of Rochester, and translated the relics to a fit place prepared for them in the new Church:

Of Gundulf's demeanour at the sacred services his biographer speaks with deep admiration, but his piety was not dependent on the outward solemnities of public worship. When mass was

ended he retired to a secret place, especially chosen as favourable to godly sorrow, for his private prayers; and such a cell he had in all his country houses, where his chamberlain was ordered to deposit his little book of devotions. And there, or anywhere, if perchance he heard any sweet sound, as of singing, or the Church bells, he would say as a sigh broke from him, "What must be the joys of heaven, where God's praise is ever sounding, when the hand or the tongue of man can call forth such exquisite melody?" Lanfranc heard the praises of this eminent servant of GOD, and was delighted that such a man should have proceeded from his monastery. He often sent for Gundulf that he might have the pleasure of his society, nor did he let him depart empty, but sometimes gave him copes, sometimes precious candlesticks, but always some ornament or other for his Church. Gifts indeed poured in from all sides. William Rufus added to the offerings made to the Church of Rochester, and especially gave the manor of Lambeth as a compensation for the injuries which the Church had sustained when Odo, Bishop of Bayeaux, was besieged in Rochester.

It is sometimes impossible to say whether the Prelates or others to whom our ecclesiastical buildings are attributed, were the founders only, or the architects also of the buildings which bear their names. This, however, is not the case with Gundulf, who was celebrated as an architect in his own day. William I. had employed him in

the erection of the white tower in London ;* and the chapel there, dedicated to S. John the Evangelist, but now used as a record office, is one of the most remarkable remains of Norman architecture. He also restored the castle and the walls of Rochester; and we subjoin the substance of an account of the way in which he became charged with the latter work, from the Textus Roffensis, attributed to Ernulf, Gundulf's contemporary, and after the seven years' episcopate of Radulf, his successor in the See of Rochester. "How King William II., at the instance of Lanfranc, granted and confirmed to the Church of S. Andrew, at Rochester, the manor of Hedenham, for the table of the monks, in consideration of which Bishop Gundulf built the whole of the stone castle of Rochester at his own charges.

"Another benefit, moreover, and not less worthy to be had in remembrance through all ages, did Bishop Gundulf of blessed memory, confer upon them, viz., the castle which is situated in the pleasantest part of the city of Rochester, which he erected in consideration of the royal confirmation to his Church of the manor of Hedenham. For Archbishop Lanfranc could not give this manor to the Church of Rochester, as he had determined to do, to furnish the table of the monks, without the king's permission; because the king's father had granted it to him only during his own life, when he was raised to the archiepiscopate. When, therefore, William II. succeeded to the throne, he demanded a fine of £100 for the renewal of the grant; which, when the Archbishop and Bishops heard they answered in great consternation, that they neither had so much money in hand, nor knew where they should get it. Now there were two noblemen, friends of both the prelates, Robert son of Haimo, and Henry Earl of Warwick, who, consulting the king's honour on the one hand, and on the other the good of the Church, proposed to the king, that as Gundulf had great science and skill in Architecture,† he should erect a stone castle in Rochester at his own charges, instead of paying a pecuniary fine. When this was told to the two prelates, they were still more amazed, and declared that they would rather that the manor was at the bottom of the sea, than that they should purchase the king's grant on such terms, as would burden the Church of S. Andrew

* Stow, in his Survey of London, says, "I find in a fair register-book, containing the acts of the Bishops of Rochester, set down by Edmond de Hadenham, that William I., surnamed Conqueror, built the Tower of London; to wit, the great white and square tower there, about the year of CHRIST 1078, appointing Gundulph, then Bishop of Rochester, to be principal surveyor and overseer of that work, who was for that time lodged in the house of Edmere, a burgess of London; the very words of which mine author are these: 'Gundulphus Episcopus mandato Willielmi Regis magni præfuit operi magnæ Turris London. quo tempore hospitatus est apud quendam Edmerum burgensem London. qui dedit unum were Ecclesiæ Rofen.'"

Episcopus Gundulfus, quia in opere cæmentario plurimum sciens et efficax erat.

with a charge for ever; for if the castle should fall out of repair, the Church or the Bishop would be held responsible. The Earl of Warwick was moved to some impatience by this reply, and said, "Hitherto I have held my Lord of Canterbury to be one of the wisest of men, and even now be it far from me to call him a fool, and yet I cannot here discern the proofs of that wisdom in which he used to abound; for surely it would be no great hardship to build a castle at the expense of some £40 at the most, and when the sheriff or under-sheriff of the county, or others whom the king may appoint, have certified that the work is finished according to the contract, the king will doubtless hold the Bishop and the Church absolved for ever.' The Archbishop at length consented, and the agreement having been concluded, Gundulf finished the whole, at a cost of about £60."

The castle thus erected is one of the most remarkable Norman fortresses in the kingdom. It is described at great length by Mr. King, in his observations on ancient castles, published in the Archæologia, but I shall be contented here with the much shorter notice of it by Rickman.

"The style is Norman, and it presents a fine specimen of the modes adopted at the date of its erection, to enable a very small number within the castle successfully to resist a much greater number of besiegers; for this the access, the various successive gates, and other defences, are admirably adapted. The masonry, in the interior, is very good, particularly that of the well, which is in one of the walls, and was accessible from several floors of the castle."+

Gundulf had no taint of feudal violence in his character, though he was the architect of two royal keeps. The last hours of the good Bishop were as touching as his life had been holy and useful. As his health declined, he stript himself of his worldly goods, to enrich his brethren. But his episcopal ring remained, the sign of his dignity, and for this he sought a worthy possessor. There was a priest named Radulf, his friend, and a friend of Anselm beforetime, who came to visit him in his sickness. Holding the hand of Radulf, he slipped the ring into it; and when Radulf starting at the gift would have refused it, as not belonging to his order, Gundulf insisted on his accepting it, saying that it would be useful to him by and by. At the hour of his departure the brethren of his order were around him singing the eightieth Psalm, and as they came to the words, "Turn Thee again, Thou GOD of hosts, look down from heaven, behold and visit this vine," his spirit departed committing to GOD the charge of the vine that he had planted, i.e., the Christian Church which he had brought together.

Anselm having honoured the obsequies of Gundulf with his pre† Rickman's Gothic Architecture, p. 187, ed. 4.

* Vol. iv.

sence, anxiously turned his thoughts to the election of a worthy successor. His choice fell on Radulf, who then for the first time understood the secret meaning of the gift which he had received from Gundulf.

The merits of Gundulf passed into a proverb, and he was made in after times the rule by which others were judged. Thus of Bishop Gilbert who died 1214, Edmund de Hadenham says, "that we may include all in a word, whatever good and noble works Gundulf had laboured to perfect in his lifetime, Gilbert with equal diligence laboured to destroy." (Anglia Sacra, i. 352.) And again of John de Bradefield, who died 1283, he says, "the monks fondly hoped, before his election, that he would prove a second Gundulf, but he was changed into quite another man, and proved himself a follower of Gilbert." (ib. 352.)

This history of Gundulf might afford occasion to many profitable reflections. We shall only add, however, that refreshing as it is to read of holiness and devotion in any age, we find in the record of the times to which we have now gone back, so much violence against which holiness had to struggle, so many errors with which devotion was endangered and was tainted, that we may well be thankful for our own happier lot-thankful, but not self-complacent, unless the fruits are proportionate to the milder showers, more refreshing dews, and warmer and more constant suns, under the influence of which we dwell.

G. A. P.

A FEW EXTRACTS ON DECORATION OF CHURCHES.

ADDRESSED TO THE RICH.

Ir is strange that we shall bestow such great expenses to make our own houses convenient and delectable, that we may entertain ourselves with complacency and appetite; and yet think that religion is not worth the ornament, nor our fancies fit to be carried into the choice and prosecution of religious actions, with sweetness, entertainments, and fair propositions. If we say that GoD is not the better for a rich house, or a costly service, we may also remember that neither are we the better for rich clothes; and the sheep will keep us as modest, as warm, and as clean as the silk worm; and a gold chain, or a caskenet of pearl, does no more contribute to our happiness than it does to the service of religion. For if we reply, that they help to the esteem and reputation of our persons, and the distinction of them from the vulgar, from the servants of the lot of Issachar, and add reverence and veneration to us; how great a shame is it, if we study by great expenses to get reputation

P

and accidental advantages to ourselves, and not by the same means to purchase reverence and esteem to religion! since we see that religion, amongst persons of ordinary understandings, receives as much external and accidental advantages, by the accession of exterior ornaments and accommodation, as we ourselves can by rich clothes, and garments of wealth, ceremony, and distinction. And as in princes' courts the reverence to princes is quickened and increased by an outward state and glory, so also it is in the service of GOD.-Bishop Jeremy Taylor.

* *

Let us take a man, who, possessed of vast wealth, sought less to expend it in stately mansions, in costly furniture, in splendid equipage, in a numerous retinue, all designed for his own personal enjoyment, than in adorning the house set apart for holy things, and for worship of GOD. * The paramount feeling appears to have been a desire of rendering due honour to GoD. In the place of that sentiment, let me set before you a picture that too often meets our eye in the present times. Here is a man richly endowed with the gifts of fortune, the inhabitant of a mansion resplendent with every device that luxury can demand, or skill and taste execute, beautiful in its hangings, its carpets, its pictures, its statues, its gilding, its plate; and from this sumptuous abode he thinks it no shame to issue forth, to pay his homage to God in a hovel incapable of holding the worshippers that require admittance, with a naked floor, with walls green with damp, with dark and broken windows, with old and dilapidated seats. From his library, where the treasures of profane literature are emblazoned with rich bindings, and with all the splendours of the typographical art, he turns to hear the Word of GOD read from a book, coarse, soiled, and torn; and he kneels to receive the holy elements at an altar with ragged and mouldy hangings, and from a paten and chalice which, if used for ordinary purposes, would be regarded with contempt by some of the humblest of the householders on his estate. Yet, it may be, this same man plumes himself all the while on his liberality in encouraging industry and skill; that is, in spending his fortune in a manner by which his vanity and luxury are pampered, but by which no act of self-sacrifice is practised. Or he fancies himself elevated into a higher region of intellect, because he discourages any outlay of his property, from which no visible profit, no palpable return, nothing to be estimated by an arithmetical calculation, can be obtained. Shame on such sordid, low-principled, unrighteous views! Shame on an age which can regard such sentiments without reprobation; and which, in the pride of utilitarian philosophy, can look down with contempt upon the uncalculating zeal, love, and piety of earlier times, because, forsooth, they were less advanced in the arts of luxury and selfindulgence, forgetful that, instead of reprimanding the poor woman who made what an adept in political economy might call a