that be killed a dragon, saved a fair virgin's life, and then did
something better than either--married her; medieval men, with a
knightly turn of mind, transmuted him into the patron of chivalry;
Edward III made him the patron of the Order of the Garter; the
Eastern and Western churches venerate him yet; Britains have turned
him into their country's tutelary saint; and many places of worship
have been dedicated to this curiously mythologic individual. We have
a church in Preston in this category; and it is of such church--St.
George's--we shall speak now.

In 1723 it was erected. Up to that time the Parish Church was the
only place of worship we had in connection with what is termed "the
Establishment;" St. George's was brought into existence as a "chapel
of ease" for it; and it is still one of the easiest, quietest, best
behaved places in the town. It was a plain brick edifice at the
beginning, but in 1843-4 the face of the church was hardened--it was
turned into stone, and it continues to have a substantial petrified
appearance. In 1848 a new chancel was built; and afterwards a dash
of Christian patriotism resulted in a new pulpit and reading desk.
The general building, which is of cruciform shape, has a subdued,
solemn, half-genteel, half-quaint look. There is neither
architectural maze nor ornamental flash in its construction. It is
plain all round, and is characterised by a simplicity of style which
could not be well reduced unless a severe plainness were adopted.
Its position is not in a very imposing locality, and the roads to it
are bad and irregular. Baines, the historian, says that St. George's
Church is situated between Fishergate and Friargate--rather a wide
definition applicable to about 500 other places ranging from
billiard rooms to foundries, from brewing yards to bedstead
warehouses in the same region. That brightest of all our historical