I should be glad to know, what offence it would give
to tender consciences, if the house of God was made more
comfortable, or less dangerous to the health of valetudinarians;
and whether it would not be an encouragement to piety, as well as
the salvation of many lives, if the place of worship was well
floored, wainscotted, warmed, and ventilated, and its area kept
sacred from the pollution of the dead. The practice of burying in
churches was the effect of ignorant superstition, influenced by
knavish priests, who pretended that the devil could have no power
over the defunct if he was interred in holy ground; and this
indeed, is the only reason that can be given for consecrating all
cemeteries, even at this day.
The external appearance of an old cathedral cannot be but
displeasing to the eye of every man, who has any idea of
propriety or proportion, even though he may be ignorant of
architecture as a science; and the long slender spire puts one in
mind of a criminal impaled with a sharp stake rising up through
his shoulder -- These towers, or steeples, were likewise borrowed
from the Mahometans; who, having no bells, used such minarets for
the purpose of calling the people to prayers -- They may be of
further use, however, for making observations and signals; but I
would vote for their being distinct from the body of the church,
because they serve only to make the pile more barbarous, or
Saracenical.
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