“The churches of a country are part of its religious culture. They speak to the people. They convey ideas. They make impressions. The Catholics understand this, and are erecting, I believe, more fine churches in America in proportion to their numbers, than any other denomination among us. I confess that if I could build a church in all respects to suit my own taste, I would build it in the solemn and beautiful style of the churches of England, the Gothic style, and I would build it of enduring stone that it might gather successive generations within its holy walls, that passing centuries might shed their hallowing charms around it, that the children might worship from age to age and feel as if the spirits of their fathers are still mingled in their holy rites.”