that he contributed greatly to the improvements, and employed quite a staff of artists under the superintendence of Antonio Verrio, "in painting and adorning our royal castle of Windsor." But there is still more conclusive evidence of this Sovereign's attention to business in the volume of State Papers relating to our Colonies, which has just been published under the able editorship of Mr. W. Noel Sainsbury, a name wellknown on the other side of the Atlantic, where his numerous publications in this field of historical research have always met with intelligent appreciation. In his present volume, ranging from 1661 to 1668, are comprised nearly 2,000 documents, and one cannot but be struck with the large share of attention which Charles II. devoted during that period to securing the prosperity and welfare of our, at that time, youthful and infant Colonies.

One of the King's first public acts in relation to the Colonies was to appoint a Council for Foreign Plantation. This Council consisted of thirty-five members, and included Privy Councillors, members of the Legislature, and merchants, five of whom were to be a quorum for the dispatch of business. From this august body committees were chosen to inform themselves of the condition of the several Colonies, or Plantations as they were then more frequently called, and of the commissions by which they were governed, and to collect from each governor all the information necessary for the King himself to form a correct judgment upon these points. This Council held their first meeting on January 7, 1661, and by the end of the year they had met and transacted business on forty-one different days. The Colonies of New England and Virginia, Jamaica, Barbadoes, and the Caribbee Islands, all in turn came under their notice, and each Colony eventually received instructions for its future government and, as it was hoped, for its increasing prosperity.

The results of all these consultations were duly reported to Charles II., and not unfrequently, at the same time, proposals for

* "Calendar of State Papers." Colonial Series. America and West Indies, 1661-1668. Edited by W. Noel Sainsbury. Longmans.

reform and improvement were submitted to the King for his consideration or approval. If it be remembered how very much our Colonies had been left to themselves during the later years of the Interregnum, this energetic conduct on the part of the restored king was the more necessary, and these valuable State Papers conclusively show that it contributed materially, not only to the permanent welfare of those Colonies which were then in progress of settlement, but it also gave an impetus to many adventurous spirits who were desirous of founding fresh Colonies. Neither should we lose sight of the fact, that, in the numerous Charters granted by Charles II. for the settlement of new plantations during these early years of his reign, if we except the Charter for the Royal African Company, there was no stipulation or reservation of direct profit to himself; the Colony of Virginia being the only Royal Government in which a quit-rent was reserved. So that every inducement, and encouragement too, was given by the King to those, and there were many, who wished to exhibit their love of adventure in that direction.

At the time of Charles II.'s restoration, our American colonies consisted of six only of the original thirteen the original thirteen United States of America-viz., Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maryland. Five more as British Colonies begin their history during these eight years, that is between 1661 and 1668-viz., the two Carolinas, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey, whilst of the remaining two, Pennsylvania was not founded until 1682, and Georgia not until half a century later.

Bancroft, Palfrey, and other American historians have so fully and so graphically discoursed in their many-volumed writings on the stirring events which led up to the growth and full development of these the original states of their great Republic, that one would imagine there was little or nothing more to learn about them; and yet we find by careful study of the State Papers-now first arranged and calendared in consecutive and chronological order, embodying as they do historical materials worked from every available mine in the repository of our national recordsnot a few key-notes to the right consideration of many an important episode in the narration

of early American history.

So that we cannot but echo the remark of one of our most diligent writers, "What author will undertake to say that he has exhausted a subject? nay, what author need be deterred from further exertion in any matter of fact pursuit ?"

The first business of the Council for Plantations was to report unfavourably to the King upon the Government of New England (Massachusetts) as to the enacting of their laws, the administration of justice, and unequal restraint in religion, and they also objected-and this objection appears strange in these days-that the New England Colonies had increased their stock of sheep to near 100,000, "whereby they were so stored with wool that the manufacturers of England would be less necessary to them." The main charge, however, against Massachusetts was, that their mode of government was such "as if they intended to suspend their absolute obedience to the King's authority." We see this disposition on the part of Massachusetts thus early foreshadowed, and Charles II. very soon found out and attempted to remedy what his successors failed to notice, or did not take the trouble to alter. This colony, then, from its first settlement, did its utmost to throw off every kind of dependence on the Mother Country, which, as we all know, after 150 years of consistent, if pertinacious, conduct they finally accomplished.

We find in these papers quite a history of the sufferings inflicted upon "the people of God called Quakers," which certainly were severe. Any one adjudged a "wandering Quaker" was stripped naked from the middle upwards, tied to a cart's tail, whipped through the town, and thence conveyed out of the Massachusetts jurisdiction. At the same time it must not be forgotten that the English Parliament had found it necessary to make "a sharp law" against the same sect in England, but then, toleration in religion was not as general as it is now.

We shall return to this subject again, and show, by the aid of these State Papers, what Charles II. did during this busy period of colonization, not only in our American Plantations, but in the West Indies and in Africa. We shall also very probably have something to say about the Buccaneers and the Slave Trade.

The Victorian Revival of Gothic Architecture.

By J. H. PARKER, C.B.

PART I.

REAL antiquary of the old school considers this revival as having done a great deal more harm than good; and from a strictly antiquarian point of view perhaps this is true; many remarkable examples of the beautiful architectural details of the Middle Ages have been entirely destroyed by ignorant architects under the false name of restoration. A modern architect, especially a young architect, too often thinks that he can improve on what the old people have done, and in this view he is often encouraged by the clergyman, who is, perhaps, more really ignorant on the subject than the architect himself, and who admires the very pretty open timber roofs which are part of what is called the Victorian style, and which are often really pretty objects, being copied from some good old example, but are as often very much out of place. I have known a very good panelled wooden ceiling of the fifteenth century to be removed in order to make room for a high pitched roof with the timbers left open and ornamented according to the modern style.

In one remarkable instance this has been done even by Gilbert Scott himself; it was very seldom that he made a mistake of this kind, yet in this instance he has evidently done so; he has endeavoured to improve upon William of Wykeham in his own work, New College Chapel, Oxford. The college relied implicitly on Scott, carried away by his great name, and allowed him to alter Wykeham's own nearly flat roof, with a panelled ceiling, into one several feet higher, with the timbers left open according to the fashion of the Victorian style. From the size and height of the chapel this cannot be seen without leaning the head back in a painful manner. Against the east wall is a series of niches for images in many tiers, which formed a reredos to the altar; these are carried up to the line of the old panelled ceiling, and have been carefully restored, but the interval between that line and the modern roof, a

space of several feet wide, is left entirely blank, and catches the eye at once, on looking from the west end, as an ugly feature, and, to those who understand the subject, it is a palpable blunder of the restorer. On the exterior Wykeham's parapet is allowed to remain; but the new roof stands up above it at both ends, and at the west end this is very plainly visible from the space between the Clarendon building and the Bodleian Library, especially from the steps in going down from the theatre towards New College.* Antiquaries must remember that Our Medieval churches are not merely museums of architectural history, but buildings erected for congregational worship, and just as well suited for that purpose now as when they were built, and that the use of a building is the first thing to be considered. I have no hesitation in saying that the restorations of the Victorian era have, on the whole, done a great deal more good than harm; in the great majority of examples we have got rid of the galleries across the windows, which were called scaffoldings when they were first erected, chiefly in the Cromwellian era and under Presbyterian influence, the object being to enable the people to hear a popular preacher, and also to enable the wealthy farmers in the village churches, or shopkeepers in the towns, each to have his own family pew, for which there was not room on the floor of the church. In many cases each family had a separate staircase from the exterior to his own box. These family boxes are now generally considered as most objectionable; not only are they extremely ugly and spoil the appearance of a church, but the unchristian principle of monopoly and exclusiveness has in many parishes driven the poor entirely out of the parish church, in which they have just as much right to have a proper place assigned to them as the richest or greatest man in the parish.

These are now commonly called sleeping boxes or donkey boxes, and ridicule is generally found the best mode of getting rid of them;

*We are assured by Sir G. Scott's son that this impeachment against his father is founded on fact. It is only fair, however, to add that he allowed his own

better judgment on this case to be over-ruled by the authorities of the College-the parties who really ought to be held responsible for the roof.-[ED. A.]

but the system has unfortunately been allowed to continue so long that, in some churches, those who have obtained possession of some portion of the soil of the church claim a prescriptive right to it, as the common law of England generally allows sixty years' possession to give a legal claim, and, in the most objectionable cases, those who think themselves the owners will put any one who tries to get rid of them to the expense of a lawsuit. We must acknowledge that the restorers have generally succeeded in getting rid of these obstructions by inducing a majority of the vestry to support the restoration.

Unfortunately the new system was begun too soon, before either the architects or their employers knew how to set about it. The movement began in Oxford and Cambridge in 1837-8, chiefly among the undergraduates. Which of these Universities had the start is considered rather doubtful; the first meeting at which the Oxford Society was formed was in the summer of 1837, which was some months before the Cambridge Society; but the latter was more active and zealous and made more noise in the world. The Oxford Society had a much larger number of senior members; the Venerable Dr. Routh was its president for the first few years, and nearly all the heads of colleges were vice-presidents. These senior members naturally were more cautious in their proceedings; they all saw that the movement was calculated to do much good if properly regulated, but the Oxford Society tried in vain "to put the drag on" its Cambridge rival. The undergraduates of both Universities naturally vied with each other, but the committee of each was the acting body, and in Oxford half of the committee were Masters of Arts, whereas in Cambridge they were all undergraduatestheir venerable President, Archdeacon Thorp, was as zealous and almost as youthful in his ideas as the undergraduates themselves. When these young men left the University, and went to their respective homes, a large proportion of them took Holy Orders, and had parish churches under their control. Others were leading laymen in their respective neighbourhoods, and formed the numerous provincial Archæological Societies, which have done much good and have kept alive a proper spirit, both for the love of architec

These volunteer visitations of each church from time to time are much more attended to than the Archdeacon's visits, which are commonly looked upon as a mere matter of form, whereas the volunteers include generally the principal people in the county, and their visit is quite an event in the parish. At the same time these excursions are exceed ingly useful to the antiquary. Everything is thrown open on such an occasion, and those who have some experience assist and instruct the beginners. They also have the opportunity of seeing what churches are in need of restoration, and, where they have been restored, whether this has been well, or ill, done. This keeps the whole county alive, and is a great check upon the architects, as there are always some well-informed persons in each party of visitors.

To return to the beginning of the movement. People are very apt to overlook at the present time the great difficulties with which the work had to contend. Those with whom it originated, though very zealous and active, generally were extremely ignorant of all practical details of such work. The clergy themselves had to learn how what they wanted to have done could be done; not only the architects and the builders, but their workmen, had to be taught that even the construction of the walls during the Georgian era was as bad as bad could be. Every sort of trick was practised by the workman habitually as part of his trade; they had no idea of honest substantial walls, such as were used in the Middle Ages, and had entirely a new lesson to learn. Great credit is due to the late Mr. Blore for educating a school of workmen; he was the first to see the necessity for this and to carry it out, and this example compelled other builders to follow it. At first the men could not understand it, but after a time they took a pleasure in doing really good honest work, and gloried in it. It took several years to have a sufficient school of workmen properly instructed. The architects had almost as much to learn as the builders and their workmen.

The publication of the popular manuals of Mr. Matthew H. Bloxam and myself, and especially Orlando Jewitt's beautiful wood

"Glossary of Architecture," which had an enormous circulation, led the way to the formation of these local societies. The clergy especially admired so much the beautiful details shown in those woodcuts, that they wanted to have their churches restored and these examples copied. This general demand for architects who understood Gothic architecture soon led to a supply; though it took some years for the architects really to become acquainted with the subject. The works of the Pugins, both father and son-the former by his excellent engravings of the principal buildings of Normandy, and the latter by his contrasts, which both amused and instructed a large number of persons-greatly helped on the work. The beautiful engravings in Britton's "Cathedrals," and in his "Architectural Antiquities," had paved the way for it, but the letterpress of these shows the extraordinary ignorance of the subject which prevailed at that period, although generally written by the clergy or others supposed to be well informed by Britton and his publishers. No one can read them at the present time without being astonished at the extreme ignorance that they show. It would be invidious to mention the names of architects who came forward at this time to supply the deficiency. Mr. Blore has been mentioned as one of the earliest. He had been previously known rather as an artist than an architect; his admirable drawings and engravings of monuments have never been equalled. As an architect, as I have said, he was the first to perceive the necessity of educating a school of workmen. In this he was afterwards cordially followed by Gilbert Scott, whose Architectural Museum near Westminster Abbey was, and still is, of great use to the workman. For some years there was a rivalry between Scott and Pugin; but Pugin was too eccentric to have any permanent hold on the public, and his joining the 'Roman Church naturally separated him from the Anglican clergy; but he built the gateway of Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1844, three years after Scott had built the Martyrs' Memorial, which was the first work that brought him into notice, as he states in his "Recollections."

As I happen to be acquainted with the

whole history of the Martyrs' Memorial, this shows me how everything is overruled by a Higher Power. It was by what would be called "the merest accident" that Scott was the successful competitor for that work. This memorial was proposed originally by the Puritan party, as an indirect mode of protesting against the opinions of Dr. Pusey. To the astonishment of the promoters of it, one of the first persons to subscribe to it was Dr. Pusey himself, who said he was as ready as any one to acknowledge the benefit that the English Church had derived from her liberation from "the thraldom of Rome," which was greatly produced by these martyrs. But the matter had then gone too far to be stopped; and the subscriptions were so large that a good deal more money was obtained than was required for this Memorial Cross, and the committee were obliged to rebuild the north aisle of St. Mary Magdalen Church, which forms the background to the cross, and call it "the Martyrs' aisle." The committee consisted of some of the best-informed

persons in Oxford. The leading member was Mr. Vaughan Thomas, who was one of the best antiquaries of the old school; and he, with the consent of the other members of the committee, drew up "instructions for the architects," who were to copy as closely as possible the Eleanor Cross at Waltham, but to make it considerably higher, as, from the position of this Memorial at the end of a long avenue of trees, this was thought necessary. These instructions were so carefully drawn up, that any architect who really attended to them must produce exactly the same design. This was actually the case. The designs of Mr. Derick,* who resided in Oxford, and of Gilbert Scott, were identical. Each accused the other of having copied his design; there is every reason to believe that neither had seen the design of the other, but both had faithfully followed their instructions. The consequence was, the committee might have tossed up between them which should have the job. One of the most active members of the committee was Dr. Macbride,

* I happen to have Mr. Derick's drawing, which he gave me some time afterwards. Any one might suppose that it was made from the Memorial Cross as it stands. It was really made and shown to me before the question was decided who was to be the architect.

well known to be a leader of the Puritan school in Oxford at that time; and he openly rejoiced in being able to employ for this purpose "the grandson of the great commentator on the Bible." It was largely to this circumstance that Scott owed the appointment, for none of the committee then knew anything of him as an architect. He states himself that this was the first work that brought him into public notice. From that time he rose rapidly in public estimation, until during the last ten years of his life he became so extremely popular, that his name seemed to have a magic influence in drawing money wherever it was wanted. This was remarkably shown in the restoration of Wells Cathedral. The Dean and Chapter had an excellent architect, who had studied the building thoroughly for many years and knew exactly what was wanted. But the Chapter were not rich enough to carry it out themselves, and appealed for help to the county gentlemen. The name of their architect, however, was not known to them, and the necessary funds were not forthcoming, until Gilbert Scott was called in, and then the magic of his name immediately attracted the money, although all that he had to do was to confirm in every particular what his friend Ferrey had proposed and prepared to do. But Scott liberally gave him half the commission, which he was not obliged to do, as it was certainly his own name which had attracted the money.

Before the death of Scott, he shows us in his biography that he had the care of nineteen cathedrals on his hands, besides many scores of parish churches and gentlemen's houses. It is only just to say that although, like other architects when he began forty years ago, he really knew very little of Gothic architecture, he was always willing to learn, and not only willing, but always was learning. He was an excellent artist, and sketched with great rapidity, and wherever he went he took sketches of all that he saw that interested him, just as we see that Wilars de Honecourt in the thirteenth century had done, which is shown by his sketch-book, preserved and published with excellent notes by Professor Willis, to whose excellent lectures given to the Archæological Institute Scott always acknowledged his obligation.