the middle of the velvet.' If, however, the reader
cannot altogether admire the picture thus summoned before his eyes, he
will at all events agree with the words that follow: 'But the greatest
ornament is a choir well filled with devout communicants[915].' The
painted 'crimson curtains' at the east end of Battersea Church, 'trimmed
with amber, and held up by gold cord with heavy gold tassels,'[916] may
serve as another representative example of the kind of 'altar-piece'
which commended itself to eighteenth-century Churchmen.

Nothing, it might be imagined, could be more inoffensive than the use of
the sacred monogram. But there were some at the beginning of the period,
both Dissenters and Puritan Churchmen, who looked very suspiciously at
it. They ranked it, together with bowing at the name of Jesus and
turning eastward at the Creed, among Romish proclivities. 'What mean,'
Barnes had said towards the close of the previous century, 'these rich
altar-cloths, with the Jesuits' cypher embossed upon them?'[917] So also
that worthy man, Ralph Thoresby, had expressed himself 'troubled' to see
at Durham, among other 'superstitions' 'richly embroidered I.H.S. upon
the high altar.'[918]

In Charles the First's time the Ritualistic party in the Church of
England used sometimes to place upon the altars of their churches
crucifixes and an array of candlesticks.[919] After the Restoration the
former were never replaced. The two candles, however, interpreted as
symbolical of the divine and human nature of the Lord, were by no means
unfrequent in the churches of the last century, especially during its
earlier years. Mr. Beresford Hope speaks of an old picture in his
possession, of Westminster Abbey, referred to the beginning of the
eighteenth century, in which candles are represented burning upon the
altar.[920] This, at all events, was most unusual. Bishop Hoadly,
writing against the Ritualistic practices of some congregations, speaks
of 'the over-altars and the never-lighted candles upon them.'[921] In
Durham Cathedral, which by traditional custom retained throughout the
century a higher Ritual in some respects than was to be found elsewhere,
the 'tapers' of which Thoresby speaks[922] were probably more than two
in number.

The credence, or side table, upon which the sacramental elements are
placed previously to being offered, in accordance with the rubric, upon
the Lord's Table, had been objected to by many Puritan Churchmen.
Pr