THE new Parish Church has progressed slowly towards completion; and it is
hoped by its promoters that it may be opened by the first week in May.
The builders, however, have a slight misgiving on this point, and suspect
that Whitsuntide will be here before it is ready to receive a
congregation. On either supposition the time is near; and it is
remarkable that our own “opening,” or publication of the “Church Index”
in the parish, is exceedingly opportune, as it regards the consecration
of the new edifice. Our readers will be able now to consult our pictures
and letterpress of the Church, at the same time that they see the
original. We must, however, remind them that the pictorial illustration
is more complete than the building will be for some time to come. The
beautiful tower and spire which give such effect to the exterior in the
picture, will not attract the admiring gaze of the beholder for a year or
two. We hope, however, it may be sooner than some imagine; for we
confess it is painful to us to see a fine edifice like this waiting a
long time for its headpiece and chief ornament. The project for
obtaining stained windows has not hitherto fully succeeded so far as the
public are concerned; but one window in the north aisle has, we are
informed, been arranged for privately, by a lady as a family memorial, at
a cost of not less than 300_l._ or 400_l._ It is considered by some that
the Church is already sufficiently Mediæval and ornamental, and that
without any addition, it will offer as it now stands too strong a
temptation to the Ritualists to covet the prize for themselves. But
during the present Vicar’s life, it may be deemed safe from the effects
of any conceivable machinations of this kind; and it must be hoped that
after that the strength of Evangelical sentiment will be such in the
town, as to prevent its perversion from its original type of ceremony and
doctrine. For our own part, we hope, at least, yet to see the east
window filled with stained glass of good Ecclesiastical design; nor need
this detract one _iota_ from the strength of that true Evangelical spirit
which we trust, from the day of the opening, will be for ever enshrined
in this _temple_. We opine, however, that the extra cost is the main
cause of hesitation on this head. And at this we are not surprised; for
the outlay on the Church as a whole has been large, and any considerable
extra expenditure would have to be provided for chiefly by those who have
already done so nobly. It is well not to strain matters too far; and if
the building of the tower and the stained windows were both left to the
rising generation to accomplish hereafter, that which has already
attained maturity in Kensington need not be ashamed of its own work. {81}