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cushions or carpets, to the missionary, or some other good cause?" But they never think of this kind of benevolence or economy in regard to any other building but a church.

The precious ointment might have been sold, and the proceeds given to the poor; and yet it turned out that the disciple who complained of the "waste" cared no more for the poor than his fellow-disciples. John xii, 6. So the gold of the temple might have been sold, and the proceeds devoted to other good uses, and yet God approved of its use in his house, and accepted the offering at the hands of Solomon. So we believe God is better pleased with a good and tasteful church, when the people can afford to build it, than he is with a poor, and cheap, and inferior structure.

COMPLETENESS.

THIS is a matter of special moment in the erection of a Methodist Church. We should provide for all our peculiarities; and a church that has no accommodations for the weekly prayer-meetings and classmeetings, the Bible-class and Sundayschool, can hardly be said to be a complete church. It is important, therefore, in adopting a plan for a church, to consider the number of classes to be accommodated, the size of the Sabbath-school, &c., and arrange the church accordingly.

The great practical difficulty in our church-building is to provide a lectureroom and class-room, besides the main audience-room. To secure these, various plans are adopted :

1. Where the land is valuable, and it is difficult to secure room for a lecture-room separate from the church, one may be provided by a basement under the main audience-room. This is an economical plan, as no extra land is required, and one roof covers the whole. Besides, it affords ample space for class-rooms, lecture-room, &c., and the main audienceroom is easily entered and emptied; but a low basement is liable to be damp, and, as a general rule, should be avoided. The only way to have them dry, and light, and airy, is to build an area-wall, some five or six feet from the church-wall, to keep all dirt away from the latter, and allow a free circulation of light and air all around. There should then be a well-drained cellar of three or four feet under the lower floor, with free ventilation through it, by

means of grated openings in the areas. In this way a depressed basement may be made nearly as dry as if it was entirely above the surface. But even then they should never be depressed over two-thirds of the depth; and, in fact, should never be built " except in cases of extreme necessity."

2. The next best plan, where there is barely room for the church, is to build a basement above ground, and enter the main audience-room by flights of stairs inside. This secures dry and light classrooms, lecture-room, &c., wholly above ground; but it requires the audience to go up and down stairs constantly, which is a burden to aged and infirm persons. And in case of sudden alarm, and a rush for the stairways, churches built in this way might prove exceedingly inconvenient, if not absolutely dangerous. Still, many fine churches have been built upon this plan. and have given good satisfaction.

3. A third plan is to build a lectureroom across the end of the church in the rear; in some instances as part of the one building, with the same roof extending over the whole, and in other cases with a separate roof running at right angles with the main roof. The Market-street church, Newark, N. J., is a specimen of the former style; and the Broad-street church in the same city is a sample of the latter. This plan requires a long lot, however, and on that account is not always practicable; but whenever it can be adopted, it is doubtless the best of all plans for providing class-rooms, &c.

4. A fourth plan is to erect a small lecture-room, or "chapel," as they are sometimes called, separate from the main church; in fact, a small and a large church

two instead of one. It may require but little more ground than the plan last described, but it will cost more by being built alone than if placed at the end of the main building, or built as a part of it. On this account, and perhaps for other reasons, this plan is but seldom adopted.

The most popular plan, I think, in the eastern cities at least, is to build a basement above ground, under the main audience-room; though many of our best churches are now built with a lectureroom at the end, in the rear of the main audience floor. One of the finest churches in Hartford, Connecticut, (Dr. Murdock's,) is built in this way. The old "Vestry

street" congregation (now Seventh Avenue and Fourteenth-street, New-York) built their "chapel" first, and are now building their church edifice upon a separate lot adjoining. Trinity Church, NewYork, has a depressed basement, with an open area outside the walls for light and air, and a well-ventilated cellar under the lower floor. Christ's Church, Pittsburgh, has a fine basement wholly above ground.

DURABILITY.

THIS is another important consideration in the erection of a church. We build not for ourselves merely, but in many cases for generations to come; and though we may often be obliged to build of wood, or not at all, may it not also be true that many churches are built of wood that ought to be built of something more durable.

from the necessities of the case as a temporary expedient."

This is very strong language, and will doubtless sound rather "high church" to many of our readers; and yet, allowing a broad margin for the " temporary expedients" that are the necessary result of our rapid growth and itinerant economy, it is doubtless a correct view of the subject, and as applicable to Methodist churches as to any others. We believe that Methodism is indeed but "Christianity in earnest ;" and as Christianity is to spread and prevail till time shall end, so we believe that Christ will find thousands of Methodist churches on earth when he comes to change the living and raise the dead. Why, then, should we not build of the most durable materials, seeing that these churches will be wanted long after we are dead, and perhaps for centuries and ages to come?

These remarks apply mainly to large and fine churches, and yet the subject is one that ought not to be overlooked in the erection of any church. Brick or stone should always be preferred to wood, where they can as well be employed; and even where rough stone is used it is far preferable to wood. Pile up the solid masonry of some sort, and time will generally demonstrate the wisdom of your choice. If it is obliged to be of rough stone, very well; let it stand; it will not take fire, will need no painting, and will last for ages. "Let it stand in its native roughness, in keeping with the unsmoothed hills and valleys around, and as abiding as they. Let it stand; afraid of no visitations of the elements, however rude or protracted, but rather gathering new grace and tints of beauty, alike from sunshine and storm, as years and centuries roll by, and the free winds peal their vary

"A Church," says an eloquent writer, "is not a body whose life is limited to threescore years and ten; and its home, its place of worship, should not be calculated for occupancy only during one or two human generations. It should carry in itself some idea of the durability and permanence of the body by which it is to be occupied. The Church of Christ is expected to live while the world lasts. The local church, the church pertaining to any village or town, it is presumed, will exist as long as the trees grow upon the village hill-sides, or the rocks abide in their primeval beds. God will be worshiped there, it is hoped, while there is a saint to praise him, or a sinner to be reached and saved by the Gospel. The structure, therefore, in which the Church has her visible home and office, the place where she lifts up her penitent soul in prayer, or sounds her lofty psalmodies, or preaches the word of life, ought not to be a structure of which the winds of heaven may make havoc, or which a chance sparking anthems around it. Let it stand; the may kindle with consuming fire. It ought, if possible, to be permanent and enduring as the wants of man. Having a purpose for all time, its walls should be of the very stony foundations of the earth itself. * * Nothing less enduring is really appropriate for the walls of the house of God; nothing less enduring is in keeping with the enduring purpose of such a structure, or fit to be rendered unto Him who is from everlasting to everlasting; and the erection of anything less substantial for a house of worship is to be tolerated only

same church, while the dwellings beside it change and give place to new ones, and generation after generation of their inhabitants are borne through its solemn aisles to burial. Let it stand, one permanent structure, if possible, amid the shifting, changeful sceneries of surrounding life, an emblem of the eternal—a visible link of connection between earth and heaven."

From these preliminary observations we shall now pass abruptly to the consideration of individual churches.

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GRACE CHURCH, BUFFALO. THIS beautiful church edifice was dedicated on Sabbath morning, June 3, 1855, by BISHOP SIMPSON. It is one hundred feet long, including tower, by sixty-six feet eight inches wide, including buttresses. It stands upon a lot eighty-six and a half feet by one hundred, which cost $3,735. J. H. SELKIRK, Architect; H. RUMRILL, Builder. It was commenced under the administration of Rev. A. D.

WILBUR, and completed

under that of his succes- H

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E. E. Portable Furnaces.

F. Stairway from First Story.
G. Ventilating and Smoke Flues.
H. Areas outside Basement Walls.
1. Stairs leading to Basement.
K. A Spacious Hall.

This plan secures a lecture-room and eight large class-rooms, with good light and ventilation. But the lecture-room looks rather small, and in time may be found too small even for the Sabbathschool. And there seems to be no room especially provided and arranged for the infant class, nor yet for the Bible class. In most city churches, each of these requires a separate room larger than either of the class-rooms shown on the plan. This defect, if it be one, might be remedied by throwing three of the classrooms into two, one for a class and Bible class-room, and the other for the infant

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class. There would then be five good class-rooms still left, and the Bible and infant classes provided for.

Still, the present plan is not without its advantages, and knowing how difficult it is to provide for all our specialties in an area of sixty-five by one hundred feet, we are free to say that not one church basement in twenty has a better arrangement than this. The areas on the sides keep the walls dry, and allow space for light and air; and if ventilated and well drained under the lower floor, the rooms will never be damp or unhealthy. Every al

ternate seat in the basement has a revolv

ing back, for Sabbath-school purposes. The wood-work is painted white, and the iron columns bronze-green.

MAIN AUDIENCE-ROOM.

THE walls of the building above the water tables are of red brick, faced with roll bricks, with cut stone offsets to buttresses. It has iron sills and string course, and corbel course around the tower, with iron hood-molds to front windows, resting upon

iron corbels.

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The corbel-course under | under the vestibule in the tower, (see Plan of Basement,) and by a portable furnace in the hall between the class-rooms. The latter is used for warming the class-rooms. The lecture-room is warmed by two upright stoves, one on each side of the hall door leading to the class-rooms. The re

the main cornice, which shows so beautifully in the engraving, and gives the building a neat and finished appearance, is formed altogether of bricks. It is therefore not very expensive, while at the same time it is tasteful and ornamental.

by a small portable furnace under the vestibule, near the large furnace. Its location is shown on the right of the furnace D, in the plan of the basement.

The interior of the building is all finish-hearsal-room, over the vestibule, is warmed ed with pine and grained light oak, except the altar-rail and baluster, which are cherry. The doors are all light oak. The gallery is supported by ten iron columns, with enriched composition capitals. The walls are plastered three coats, sand finish, and blocked off; and the ceiling three coats, plaster finish.

The form of the ceiling is three sides of an octagon, with ribs resting on corbels on the wall, and pendants at the intersections. The room is admirably adapted to speaking, without ringing or echo.

The accompanying plan of the audience-room sufficiently exhibits all the prominent features of its arrangement. The spacious vestibule is entered at the sides of the tower. From the vestibule

VENTILATION.

THERE are six ventilating registers, each
fourteen by twenty inches, in the main
audience-room three near the ceiling,
and three near the floor. The lower ones
are opened for the ingress of cold air when
warming the room-and the upper ones for
the egress
of hot and vitiated air whenever
necessary. A portion of each side-win-
dow is hung upon pivots, to admit of its
being opened at discretion. Few churches
have better provision for ventilation.

The tower is of brick to the bell-section,

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