[158-*] It is much to be regretted that of late years many ancient fonts have been cast out of our churches, and earthenware and pewter basins substituted in their stead for the administration of the holy sacrament of baptism: a practice not authorized by the Anglican church, but rather condemned; for in the canons set forth by authority, A. D. 1571, it is provided that “Curabunt (Œditui) ut in singulis ecclesiis sit sacer fons, _non pelvis_, in quo baptismus ministretur, isque ut decenter et munde conservetur.” And in the canons of 1603, after alluding to the foregoing constitution, and observing that it was too much neglected in many places, it is appointed “That there shall be a font of stone in every church and chapel where baptism is to be ministered; the same to be set in the _ancient usual places_.” In the orders and directions given by Bishop Wren, A. D. 1636, to be observed in his diocese of Norwich, we find it enjoined, “That the font at baptism be filled with clear water, and no dishes, pails, or basins be used in it or instead of it.” [160-*] The 28th decree of a foreign council, that of Wirtzburgh, held A. D. 1278, prohibits the fortifying of churches in order to make use of them as castles. [164-*] Anglice sermocinari solebat (Abbas Samson) populo, sed secundum Linguam Norfolchie ... unde et pulpitum jussit fieri in ecclesia et ad utilitatem audiencium et ad decorem ecclesie.--Cronica Jocelini de Brakelonda, sub anno 1187. [167-*] Cottonian MS. Titus D. xxvii. 10th sæc. [167-†] “Crux que erat super magnum altare, et Mariola, et Johannes, quas imagines Stigandus archiepiscopus magno pondere auri et argenti ornaverat, et sancto Ædmundo dederat.”--Cronica Jocelini de Brakelonda, p. 4. [168-*] “Supra pulpitum trabes erat, per tranversum ecclesiæ posita, quæ crucem grandem et duo cherubin et imagines Sanctæ _Mariæ_ et Sancti _Johannis_ apostoli sustentabat.”--Gervasius de Combustione, &c. [169-*] “Superest exponere, quod manus illa e nubibus erumpens indicet: Quæ procul dubio omnipotentis Dei dexteram designat.”--Ciampini Vetera Monimenta, vol. ii. pp. 22, 81. [171-*] “In elevatione atque utriusque squilla pulsatur.”--Durandi Rationale, lib. iv. [171-†] In Yeovil Church Accounts, A. D. 1457, is an item, “_In una cordul empt p le salsyngbelle ijd_.”--Collectanea Topographica, vol. iii. p. 130. [172-*] It is now in the possession of William Staunton, esq., of Longbridge House, near Warwick. [173-*] Durandus, in his description of a church, makes no mention of screen-work, but observes, “Notandum est quod triplex genus _veli_ suspenditur in ecclesia videlicet quod sacra operit, quod sanctuarium a clero dividit, _et quod clerum a populo secernit_;” evidently alluding in the latter to the curtain extended across the chancel arch. [174-*] “Item tunc stent in sedibus suis versa facie ad altare donec ad _misericordias_ vel super _formulas_ prout tempus postulat inclinent.”--Monasticon, 1st ed. vol. i. p. 951.