exhibit the real necessity which existed for the erection of a New Parochial Edifice. TO THE EDITOR. July, 1807. SIR," I was lately called upon to visit a parish church towards the North-west end of the town. It is a very small edifice, much smaller than chapels of ease generally are; I believe I may say it is the smallest place of worship attached to the Church of England, in the metropolis. Small, however, as it is, it is the only church belonging to the largest and most opulent parish in this capital, or in any part of His Majesty's dominions— a parish which, on the lowest computation, contains 70,000 souls. There is no font for baptism, no room for depositing the dead bodies on tressels, after the usual way, no aisle to contain them. They are placed in the most indecent manner on the pews. At the time I visited this scandal to our church and nation, there were no fewer than five corpses placed in the manner described; eight children, with their sponsors, &c. to be christened; and five women to be churched; all within these contracted dimensions. A common basin was set upon the communion-table for the baptisms, and the children ranged round the altar; but the godfathers and godmothers in pews, in so confused and disorderly a manner, that it was impossible for the minister to see many of them, or address and require them. to make the responses, which the Rubrick directs. Not to mention the danger of the dead and the living being thus confined together, and the peculiarly delicate situation of women immediately after child-birth; all reverence for the sacrament of baptism; all solemn and awful reflections from hearing one of the finest services ever composed, and on an occasion the most interesting to the heart that can be imagined, are entirely done away, and the mind filled with horror and disgust. A CONSTANT Reader.' 66 The following article also appeared in the British Review, May, 1813, art. 21, p. 375.—" It is indeed affecting, when we view the metropolis from a neighbouring eminence, to observe that portion of it inhabited by the greatest number of legislators, the greatest number of the wealthy and the welleducated, that part which is inhabited by those who hold the highest offices in church and state, wearing the appearance of a quarter appropriated to persons under sentence of excommunication: the city rich in ecclesiastical structures; the west end of the town presenting a tiresome length of street, with scarcely a single edifice appropriated to religion ascending from amidst the vast mass of inhabitation.” In the arrangement of the Crown land in Maryle-bone Park, the late Mr. White (architect to the Duke of Portland) had previously suggested a site for a spacious and dignified parochial edifice; the necessity of which had in 1810 appeared so urgent, that Mr. Nash, in the plan made by him, described a building of that nature; and chose as a situation, the centre of a circus to be constructed at the end of Portland Place; and the Vestry having received a communication* from the Secretary to the Trea Treasury Chambers, Aug. 23, 1811. * SIR,-I have received Mr. Perceval's directions, in consequence of the communication you had with him, this morning, to acquaint you, that it is his intention to recommend to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, to make a gift to the Parish of St. Mary-le-bone of a piece of land, in Harley Field, of sufficient extent to build a chapel of as large dimensions as may be deemed necessary for the accommodation of the Parish in that part of it. I have the honour to be, SIR, Your very faithful humble Servant, GEORGE HARRISON. To the Rev. Dr. Heslop. sury, and believing that there was an intention to confer upon them this site, together with five acres of land to surround their projected building, applied for and obtained an Act of Parliament for the diversion of the New Road; no sooner however were their efforts attended with success, but difficulties were interposed and new portions of land pointed out. An Act was however passed in the Session of 1810-11, intituled "An Act to enable the Vestrymen of the Parish of St. Mary-le-bone, in the County of Middlesex, to build a new Parish Church, and two or more Chapels; and for other purposes thereto," by which all the former acts were repealed, and new powers given to the Vestrymen and their successors (who derive their authority from an Act of the 35th of Geo. III.) to purchase lands not exceeding ten acres, for the above purposes; and in which there was a Clause," providing that no sum shall be given for any one site for the said Church or Chapels exceeding 60007. About the end of 1812, Mr. White, Jun. the District Surveyor of the Parish, presented the Vestry with a design for a double church, upon a new principle, having for its object the accommodating a large number of persons, and at the same time admitting a magnificence of exterior; which design was meant as an accompaniment to his father's plan for the improvement of Mary-le-bone Park. Shortly after the delivery of the design above mentioned, the Vestry offered premiums by public advertisement to architects, as they had done in the year 1770, for plans and elevations of a parish church but about a fortnight previous to the time of receiving such plans and elevations from the artists, they gave public notice that the designs were not to be proceeded with; it should appear, on account of the difficulties which had arisen in obtaining the ground which the Lords of the Treasury had proposed to grant them. A triangular piece of ground was, however, granted to the Parish by the Treasury, on the south side of the New Road near Nottingham Place, and the Vestry proceeded to erect a Chapel capable of containing a considerable number of persons; the foundation was laid on the 5th of July, 1813, and the fabric was proceeded with nearly to its completion. At that period, however, the work was stopped, and the Vestry came to a resolution to convert the intended chapel into a parochial church. This occasioned a considerable alteration to be made in the original design, and particularly in regard to the exterior of the building. The principal front, next the New Road, underwent a very important change, a more extended portico and a steeple were substituted for the former design (which consisted of an Ionic portico of four columns, surmounted by a group of figures and a cupola); and other alterations were made in order to give the edifice an appearance more analogous to the character of a Church. THE PARISH CHURCH. This church is one of the handsomest structures of the kind in the metropolis. It was designed by the late Thomas Hardwicke, Esq. who in this, and other of his works, has proved himself a worthy disciple of his master, Sir William Chambers. The north front, which is extremely rich and elegant, is seen from York Gate, Regent's Park, the church being situated on the south side of the New Road. This front consists of a handsome winged portico of the Roman Corinthian order, surmounted by a tower. The portico is composed of eight columns, six in the front and two in flank, raised on a flight of steps, and sustaining an entablature and pediment, the architecture after the Pantheon; within the portico are three lintelled entrances, surmounted by cornices and two 'arched windows; above the central doorway is a panel, bearing the following. inscription: This Church was erected at the Expence of the Parishioners, THE REV. ARCHDEACON HESLOP, D. D. Minister. SIR JAMES GRAHAM, Bart. GEORGE ALLEN JOHN RUSSELL Churchwardens. Sidesmen. * Above this is a long panel designed for sculpture, which has never been set up; the ceiling of the portico is panelled, each panel containing an expanded flower. The wings have no windows on their northern front, the angles are guarded by pilasters, and the flanks are enriched with two *It is to be regretted, that the appropriate bas-relief, which was proposed to represent the Entry of Our Saviour into Jerusalem, should not have been placed in this panel; as an ornament of that kind well executed, would have added much to the grandeur of this front. |