my salvation' and 'all my desire,' when I can see nothing else grow" (Cecil).

"Earthly riches are full of poverty. In the true riches' Job abounded, naked as he was, when he had a heart rich to Godward; and poured out praises like the costliest gems to his Lord, when he had lost all he had. Lose, that thou be not lost: give, that thou mayest gain: sow, that thou mayest reap" (St. Augustine).

Prayer.-O Lord, heavenly Father, who hast taught us that our life consists not in the abundance of the things which perish with the using, give me grace, I humbly beseech thee, to forsake all covetous desires and inordinate love of riches, lest my heart be entangled in the cares of this world, and I fall into temptation and a snare, and into foolish and hurtful lusts. Give me a heart earnestly bent to have my treasure in heaven, and to lay up in store for myself a good foundation against the time to come, that I may be rich unto eternal life. If it be meet for me, give me neither poverty nor riches; but, having food and raiment, let me be therewith content, knowing that thou, O Lord, wilt never leave me nor forsake me, if I trust in thee by faith in the Lord Jesus, and, like the fowls of the air, depend, day by day, upon thy fatherly care, who providest for them that seek thee. O Lord, I acknowledge thee only to be the author and giver of all good things. Thou openest thine hand, and fillest all things living with plenteousness. Vouchsafe unto me the aid of thy Holy Spirit, that I may follow the ensample of my Master and alone Saviour, Jesus Christ. Like him, may I have compassion on the poor and needy of thy household: make me rich in good works, ready to distribute and willing to communicate.

I confess, O Lord, that without thee I am poor, and blind, and naked. Hide not thy face from me, for I flee unto thee for help. Do thou, who suppliest all my wants, make me tender-hearted and pitiful: may I never shut up my bowels of compassion from an afflicted brother, nor turn away my face in the day of thy visitation and his adversity. And, when thou inclinest my heart to open my hand to the poor, may I give cheerfully, not grudgingly, nor of necessity; neither let me put away from me the present opportunity, lest thou shouldest deny it on the morrow. O Lord, teach me to distribute with simplicity, and to do no work for the praise of men, but all things as from thee and to thee. Let me not be highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in thee, the living God, who givest us all things richly to enjoy.

Anoint me, heavenly Father, with the sanctifying grace of thy Holy Spirit, that I may place my affiance no where but in thee. Defend me, lest I make gold my hope, and fine gold my confidence; for how shall my good works and almsdeeds deliver me in the day of wrath? O Lord Jesus Christ, thou must save, and thou alone.

Now unto the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who, alone hath immortality, dwelling in light which no can approach unto-whom no man hath seen or can see-to thee, Lord God almighty, be honour and power everlasting. Amen. S. H.

man

Poetry.

THE LEAGUERED CHURCH.

BY THE REV. W. M'ILVAINE. (For the Church of England Magazine.)

"The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our refuge." Ps. xlvi. 11.

THEY rage around thy worn, time-hallowed walls, Poor church! they rage, and thou art sadly still, Silent thy towers; and e'en thine ancient halls, Which erst the hum of crowds did constant fill, Seem desert now, at the reviler's will.

And yet thou hast withstood the fiercest shock Of storm and howling hurricane, until Destruction seemed thy sons' strong cries to mock, And thou hadst all but sunk to thy foundation-rock. But thou survivest still that rock is he

Whose word through endless ages shall endure.

What then though storm and tempest wild may be,

Amidst the din he stedfast is and sure, And thou from such assailants all secure ;

Yea, and though million foes should hem thee round,

Nor leaguer's threat nor wily traitor's lure

Shall reach thee with Jehovah's promise crown'd, Thrice vain shall hell itself and all its rage be found. "Tis well, for o'er thy topmost turret there

Thy bannered cross still proudly floats on high, Though traitor hands would lower it. Who dare

Mar that blest standard? Thou hast sons would die,

And, dying, all thy foes' worst rage defy,
Far sooner than the token of his love

Who bled for them or sully or deny.

Thus ever may they firm and fearless prove, And yonder glorious flag stream high thy walls above.

What low, sweet sound steals o'er the stilly air? "Tis not of clashing arms or mail-clad men:

It

tells of heaven-that slowly rising prayer ;

In gentle murmurs swelling yet again, Louder and still more loud and deep, as when The distant wave breaks on the midnight shore. Church of our fathers! thou art safe. Not ten, But thousand righteous sons are thine: no more We'll fear thy fall, but trust our God as heretofore.

Belfast.

"WHAT OF THE NIGHT?"

(ISA. XXI. 11.)

(For the Church of England Magazine.)

O, WERE there not another hope,

A brightening beam from fairer skies, The flickering soul to cheer, to prop, When erring mortal dies:

O, were it not a glorious Sun,
To shed on us his healing rays,
Stooped from his sphere celestial down,
His atmosphere of praise,

Where as an age a day appears,
And as a day a thousand years:
O, were it not that ever glides,

So deep, so dread, so calm, so clear,
A stream of love, whose living tides

The Gentile or the Jew may share;
With angel-spirits on its strand,
To greet us to their happy land:

O, were it not, on Jewry's plains,

On heavenward flight, the Man of Woes,
To claim the guerdon of his pains,
The conqueror of death arose ;
And bids he not the laden breast
A holy calm, a heavenly rest:
Then surely were it death to tear
Our lingering looks from earth away;
To bid adieu to all we were,

Without a hope, without a stay;
Without a star to lend its light,
A sunless day, a moonless night.
But O, there is another hope,

A brightening beam from fairer skies,
The panting soul to cheer, to prop,
When erring mortal dies.

Strichen.

Miscellaneous.

A. F. M.

LIGHTS IN THE EAST.-" That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world" (Philippians ii. 15). This metaphor has an allusion to the buildings which we call "lighthouses," the most illustrious of which was raised in the island of Pharos, when Ptolemy Philadelphus built that celebrated tower, on which a bright flame was always kept burning in the night, that mariners might perfectly see their way, and be in no danger of suffering shipwreck. Some of these lighthouses were constructed in the form of figures. The colussus at Rhodes held in one hand a flame which enlightened the whole port. These lights were also sometimes moveable, and were used to direct the marches of the caravans in the night. Pitts thus describes them:-They are somewhat like iron stoves, into which they put short dry wood, which some of the camels are loaded with. Every cotter has one of these poles belonging to it, some of which have ten, some twelve, of these lights on their tops; and they are likewise of different figures, one perhaps oval, another triangular, or like an N or M., &c.; so that every one knows by them his respective cotter. They are carried in the front, and set up where the caravan is to pitch, before that comes up, at some distance from one another. The meaning of the passage from these representations is obvious: "Ye shine as elevated lights in the dark world about you," that ye may direct those that sail on this dangerous sea, and secure them from suffering shipwreck, or guide those who travel through this desert in their way to the city of rest. Thus understood, the allusion is beautiful; for the doctrine and holy lives of the faithful must in those early ages have had a great influence

on unbelievers, to direct them into the safe harbour of the gospel.

PHYSICAL CONDITION OF CHILDREN.- Much attention ought to be paid by teachers to the physical condition of the children. Not only is it important because the seeds of many diseases spring up from early neglect; but the state of the moral feelings and intellectual powers are closely connected with the well-being of the bodily frame. The limbs and muscles are to be strengthened by exercises, which should be so varied that all the muscles may be brought into play and acquire vigour. It is the custom in infant schools to introduce marching and various evolutions, such as clapping hands, stamping the feet, &c. The advantages of these exercises are two-fold. First, as prompt and full obedience can be more easily obtained to a physical than to a moral act, it is the best plan that can be adopted for producing order and promoting discipline. Secondly, it is essential to the health of little children that they should not remain long in one position. God does not bestow upon them a propensity to continual restlessness but with a view to their good; and this should be our guide in the manner of treating it. Whilst, however, any infant school would be fundamentally defective in which such exercises were omitted, it should be recollected for what object they are introduced. In some schools they are carried to such an excess that, instead of being an occasional relief when the spirits flag or the body is weary, they become the cause of continual excitement and bustle, and the school-room is, in fact, little better than a play-ground. This is an error into which teachers are apt to fall, who do not know how to employ the minds of their pupils, and are incompetent to carry on effectually the work they have undertaken.

"Mai

PROTESTANT SOCIETY AT PARIS.-The society established in Paris by count Agenor de Gasparin, about eighteen months ago, under the title of "The Society for Promoting the general Interests of Protestantism in France," has succeeded in accomplishing the subsequent objects. Two additional protestant communities have been founded, one at Perpignan, and the other at F, next the borders of Prussia: all obstacles to the spiritual ministrations of protestant clergymen in prisons and houses of correction have been removed, and free access is now afforded them to their incarcerated brethren: a house, called a son d'Etudes," has been opened in the French capital, where young men engaged in academical and scientific studies may find a Christian home open to receive them, and of which several have already taken advantage; and, lastly, landed property has been purchased at St. Foy, in the department of the Dordogne, which is intended for the training and reformation of thirty or forty convicted offenders of the protestant faith. The rev. Mr. Martin has undertaken the superintendence of this establishment, and the French government have granted an allowance of 21. 4s. (80 francs) for the outfit of criminals received into it, as well as a daily allowance of 7 d. (80 centimes) for their maintenance.-S.

London: Published for the Proprietors by EDWARDS and HUGHES, 12, Ave-Maria Lane, St. Paul's; J. BURNS, 17, Portman Street; and to be procured, by order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country.

PRINTED BY

JOSEPH ROGERSON, 24 NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON.

THE CATHEDRAL OF MILAN. "NOTWITHSTANDING all that I had heard and read of the magnificence of the duomo or cathedral of Milan," says Miss Taylor, from whose work on Italy this account of that magnificent building is taken, "I was unprepared for the surprise I felt as we entered the piazza and stood before this extraordinary edifice. The first impression is wonder at the ingenuity of man in raising so vast and intricate a structure. As the eye wanders quickly over it, the senses are bewildered by an infinity of tapering spires and slender pinnacles: you gaze longer, and innumerable statues start from every part, and the mind is lost amidst the superfluity of ornament. We have seen it in the soft calm light of a summer evening, its defects softened by distance or lost in the twilight: the elegant form of the centre tower, and its surrounding pinnacles-so graceful, so aerial-seeming to pierce the deep blue sky,

VOL XVII.

gave an air of light and almost fantastic beauty to the edifice.

"The history of the erection of this cathedral is singular, and accounts for much that is grotesque in its architecture. The foundations were laid as early as the year 1386, in compliance with the desire of Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti, who determined to raise a church in honour of the virgin, which should surpass all others in grandeur of design and beauty of execution. At the jubilee of 1390, Galeazzo obtained an edict from Boniface the eighth, authorizing all the inhabitants of the Milanese territory to celebrate that festival in their own city, instead of at Rome. The large sums of money thus brought to the ecclesiastical coffers were applied to the building of the church, which had already made considerable progress under the munificent patronage of Visconti. From that period architects have been employed on the duomo until the present day, their number amounting to 183, amongst whom we find the

BB

mano.

"The effect of the interior from the great western door is very fine: its simplicity of architecture contrasts strikingly with the elaborate ornaments of the exterior. The vast and lofty nave stretches out before you in unbroken grandeur; and the repose which the quiet solemnity of its dim aisles afforded, as we entered them from the glare and heat of the noon-day, was truly delicious, and prepared our minds to receive the most favourable impressions from examining the interior of the building. The form is a Latin cross the arches which span the aisles spring from light and slender columns; and the whole church has an air of sombre and tranquil beauty which is rarely found in those of Italy.

"We descended to a subterranean chapel beneath the altar, which contains the tomb of San' Carlo Borromeo: it is lighted from the aisle above, and its decorations are splendid. These riches seem, indeed, ill to accord with the memory of one whose life was devoted to acts of mercy and benevolence, and whose days were spent in self-denial and humiliation. The chapel is octangular, and ornamented in the richest manner: the panels are of gold damask, and every other part is solid silver: bassi-relievi surround the chapel, representing the principal events in the life of san' Carlo; and it is worthy of remark that the workmanship of all these was executed gratuitously by the Milanese goldsmiths, in testimony of their deep veneration for the memory of the saint. The silver sarcophagus, forming the altar, contains a tomb of rock-crystal, in which is deposited the body. It is little injured by time, and lies as it was first interred, in the archiepiscopal robes, which are covered with precious stones. We did not see it, as the tomb is opened only once a year, when the body is visible for twelve days. Mass is performed five times every day in this small chapel*.

"Leaving the church, we began the ascent to the roof, and were soon lost in the labyrinth of ornaments. Spires, statues, flying buttresses, pinnacles of gothic fretwork, seemed piled about in rich confusion; and Forsyth's description of this cathedral recurred to my mind. It has been,' he says, 'wonderfully contrived to bury millions of money in ornaments that are never to be seen. Whole quarries of marble have been manufactured here into statues, relievos, niches, and notches; and high sculpture has been squandered on objects which vanish individually in the mass. Were two or three thousand of those statues removed, the rest would regain their due importance, and the fabric itself become more important.' Goethe makes a similar remark, which, although true perhaps in its application to this church, I cannot feel to be a just criticism on gothic architecture in general. All the northern church decorators,' he

6

"The statue of St. Charles Borromeo is one of the strang

est sights in Italy. On a hill above Arona, a very picturesque little place near the Borromean Isles, is the statue of St. Charles Borromeo, sixty-six feet high, on a pedestal of above thirty; so that the whole is about one hundred feet English in height. As I walked along the road below, the pedestal was quite lost;

tion of minute details. Few understood how to give to these small forms any mutual relation; and thus rose such monstrous buildings as the cathedral at Milan, where man has transplanted a marble mountain, at an immense cost, and forced it into the meanest forms. Even daily they torment the poor stones, to continue a work which can never be perfected, since the inventionless folly that planned it had also the power to give to the design an almost limitless execution."

"The day was intensely hot: the sun's rays reflected from the leads; and the white marble which surrounded us on every side made us glad to quit the roof and retreat to the cool shelter of the aisles.

"Besides the cathedral, the churches of Sant' Ambrogio and Sant' Allessandro are peculiarly worthy of attention. The latter belonged to a Benedictine monastery, which possessed immense wealth; and contains a profusion of rich and costly materials, ill-assorted, and arranged with no kind of taste: the high altar is literally studded with gems. The ciborio, or receptacle for the host, is of lapis-lazuli, supported on slender columns; and in the centre of the door is a splendid blood-stone. From this magnificent display of wealth we were conducted to a small chapel, the walls of which are lined with human skulls and bones: a miraculous madonna forms the altarpiece, with an immense cross of skulls on each side. Many people were kneeling on the pavement, absorbed in prayer, in the presence of these signs of mortal frailty and decay. It was a scene well fitted to fill the imaginative mind with a sense of self-abasement and repentance*.

"The church of St. Ambrose is one of the most ancient temples of Christian worship: it contains the bones of its patron saint, one of the four doctors of the church, who died in the fourth century. The large marble pulpit from which the saint used to preach is carefully preserved in the principal aisle, and a huge brazen serpent, standing erect on a column of porphyry, is shown as that which Moses held up in the desert before the afflicted Israelites. The Milanese believe that this serpent will hiss when the end of the world shall come. You enter the building by one of those spacious porches or vestibules peculiar to Christian churches of the early ages, which have a venerable and imposing aspect, and seem, as Valery beautifully observes, intended to separate the sanctuary from the tumult of the cities.' In a former letter I told you of the courageous refusal given by St. Ambrose† to the emperor Theodosius to enter this church, and how the indignant saint closed the gates on the imperial supplicant These gates have been destroyed; but the porch which was the scene of this daring assertion of ecclesiastical power remains. The church itself contains, among many curious and ancient relics of early Christian art, a monument surrounded by bassirelievi of the fourth or fifth century. There is an air of antiquity about this church which forbids all question as to the beauty of its architecture, all doubt of the legends attached to its history. Within its aisles you cannot be incredulous, and

only to his middle, and holding up his fingers in the act of blessing the people, had a very singular effect. The statue is made partly of cast bronze, and partly of plates of copper on timber framing; and the execution is very good. The views from it are exceedingly fine" (Wood's Letters).

* With a sense of superstition and creature-confidence, we should rather say.-ED.

For an account of St. Ambrose, &c., see Church of England Magazine, ciii. 284; civ. 316.