NOTES AND QUERIES.
-i S. N 6., FED. 9. '.56,
speaking of ecclesiastical affairs about 1633,
says:
" When the Sacrament was administered in parish churches, the Communion Table was usually placed in the middle of the chancel, and the people received round it, or in their several places thereabouts : but now all Communion Tables were ordered to be fixed under the east wall of the chancel, with the ends north and south, in form of an altar ; they were to be raised two or three steps above the floor, and encompassed with rails. Archbishop Laud ordered his vicar- general to see this alteration made in all the churches and chapels of his province ; to accom- plish which, it was necessary to take down the galleries in
some churches, and to remove ancient monuments
It is almost incredible what a ferment the making: this alteration at once raised among the common people all over England. Many ministers and churchwardens were excommunicated, fined, and obliged to do penance, for neglecting the bishop's injunctions. Great numbers re- fused to come up to the rails to receive the Sacrament, for which some were fined, and others excommunicated, to the number of some hundreds, say the Committee of
the House of Commons at the archbishop's trial
Those who opposed the alterations were called Doctrinal Puritans, and the promoters of them Doctrinal Papists."
One painful minister preferred migrating to the United States to escape the sight of this popish rail in his church ; but before he started, he published the following humiliating recantation :
" Tlie Retractation of Mr. diaries Chancy, formerly Mi- nister of Ware in Hertfordshire; wherein is proved the Unlawfulnesse and Danger of Rayling in Altars and Communion Tables, written with his own hand before his going to New England, in the year 1G37. Published by his own direction for the satisfaction of all such who either are, or justly might bee offended with his scan- dalous submission, made before the High Commission Court, Feb. 11, 1G35. London; printed 1641."
At pp. 6, 7., he says :
" That a raile about the Communion Table is one of the ingredients to make up an high altar, or a popish altar, may be proved, first, by ecclesiastical history : rails about the Lord's Table, whether of wood or stone, were never commanded to be set up, but since the erecting of altars, and the idol of the Mass, and transubstantiation was adored. Secondly, it may appear by all the cathedral churches, in which only high altars have been continued since times of Keformation, all which also have been railed in, and all the communicants made to receive.kneeling at the rails, and nowhere else ; from whence now since the altar -worship hath spread (by the diligence of popish prelates), and tables have been turned into altars, the railing of them also hath been universally enjoyned in the like manner."
It may, indeed, be questioned how far those who maintain altar-rails are not showing disrespect to our glorious constitution in Church and State. A declaration of the House of Commons of Jan. 16, 1641, orders, "that the churchwardens in every parish church and chapel respectively do forth- with take away the rails" of the altar. (Collier's Eccles. Hist., vol. ii. p. 806., fol.) Let church- wardens look to it ; they are certainly guilty of disobedience to an order of the House of Com- mons, so long as they allow altar-rails to remain ;
and the House of Commons sometimes is not to
be trifled with. But whatever the law may be,
the supposition at one time that altar-rails are flat
popery, and at another time that they indicate
true blue Protestantism, sufficiently shows how
capricious is popular opinion, and how impossible
it is for any one (excepting the " Vicar of Bray ! ")
who steers by so treacherous a wind, to maintain a
consistent course.
As to MB. ACWORTU'S second Query, I believe that a numerous list could easily be made of churches which have no altar-rails. In addition to many college chapels, my memory at once re- calls such churches as St. Paul's, Brighton ; St. James's, Devonport ; and in London, St. An- drew's, Well Street ; St. Mary Magdalen's, Mun- ster Street ; St. Bartholomew's, Moor Lane, and, I believe, Christ Church, Spitalfields; but the least inquiry would extend the list very considerably. ESTO SEMPER FIDELIS.
Walton Club.
In answer to MR. ACWORTH'S Query on churches
without altar-rails, I beg to state that the church
of Eltisley, Cambridgeshire, had no altar-rails till
1832, when, at my suggestion, for the convenience
of communicants, they were placed there.
G. C. GOKUAM.
Brampford-Speke.
PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.
Photographic Gossip. We are this week compelled by pressure of other matter to devote but a very limited space to this subject.
First and foremost, we have to announce the election to the Secretaryship of The Photographic Society of the Rev. J. R. Major, of King's College. As this gentleman is not only a practical photographer, but a most courteous and thorough man of business, we think this appoint- ment promises well for the future prosperity of the society.
Works which have run through many editions may bid defiance to the notes of critics. We may therefore con- tent ourselves with announcing the appearance ofthenint h edition of Mr. Thorntlnvaite's Guide to Photography, and the fourth edition of Mr. Hennah's valuable little treatise on The Collodion Process. Mr. Hennah's portraits are so successful, that one is glad to be able to refer to his owu account of the process which he follows in their production.
to
ffiutrfetf.
Madame de Stael (2 nd S. i. 55.) The book
J. M. (2) inquires after, is one of the commonest
in French libraries and bookshops; and its autho-
ress, Madame de Staal (not Stae!), nee deLaunay,
is recorded in all the biographies. C.
Dreigh (2 nl S. i. 56.) E. C. may feel assured that he is mistaken, or lias been misled, as to the existence of an Irish dukedom in a family of this
