which he transmitted to the Geographical Society. In this he relates a curious incident illustrative of the barbarity of the chiefs, of this district. A eunuch, named Motamid-edDowleh, getting the followers of Wali Khan, the legitimate chief of the Mamesseni, into his power, he treated them thus: "He built a lofty tower of living men; they were placed horizontally one above the other, and closely united together with mortar and cement, their heads being left exposed. Some of these unfortunate beings lived several days; and I have been informed that a negro did not die until the tenth day. Those who could eat were supplied with bread and water by the inhabitants of Shiraz, at the gate of which this tower was built. It still exists, an evidence of the utter callousness to cruelty of a Persian invested with power.”

All this travelling, and the intimate knowledge with the language and manners of the various Persian and Arab tribes, eminently fitted Dr. Layard for the great task he was now about to undertake; and we may safely doubt whether a less extended acquaintance with oriental traditions and antiquities would have supplied that spirit of scientific enthusiasm, and judicious and well-directed energy, which presided over his labours at Nimroud, or that picturesque beauty of description and accuracy of detail, which lend to his writings so much of their value and interest. We cannot describe the truly Arabian love of a roving life, unshackled by the ties or forms of civilisation, combined with the student's longing to explore the haunts of the mighty men of yore, and test the truth of twenty hundred years of tradition, better than in his own words. The opening paragraph of the first volume of his great work paints beautifully these delights and aspirations. As we read it we fancy we hear the deep breath of the sleepers around the lonely cabin-fire, or the Arab dog, like a faithful sentinel, barking his challenge through the clear air of an eastern night, as he keeps watch and ward over the flocks of the tribe. "During the autumn of 1839 and the winter of 1840," says Dr. Layard, "I had been wandering through Asia Minor and Syria, scarcely leaving untrod one spot hallowed by tradition, or unvisited one ruin consecrated by history. I was accompanied by one no less curious and enthusiastic than myself. We were both equally careless of comfort and unmindful of danger. We rode alone; our arms were our only protection; a valise behind our saddles was our wardrobe; and we tended our own horses, except when relieved from the duty by the hospitable inhabitants of a Turcoman village or an Arab tent. Thus unembarrassed by needless luxuries, and uninfluenced by the opinions or prejudices of others, we mixed amongst the people, acquired without effort their manners, and enjoyed without alloy those emotions which scenes so novel and spots so rich in varied association cannot fail to produce."

"I look back with feelings of grateful delight to those *happy days, when, free and unheeded, we left at dawn the humble cottage or cheerful tent, and lingering as we listed, unconscious of distance and of the hour, found ourselves as the sun went down under some hoary ruin tenanted by the wandering Arab, or in some crumbling village still bearing a well-known name. No experienced dragoman measured our distances, and appointed our stations. We were honoured with no conversations by pachas, nor did we seek any civilities from governors. We neither drew tears nor curses from the villagers by seizing their horses, or searching their houses for provisions; their welcome was sincere; their scanty fare was placed before us; we ate, and came, and went in peace."

"I had traversed Asia Minor and Syria, visiting their ancient seats of civilisation, and the spots which religion has made holy. I now felt an irresistible desire to penetrate to the regions beyond the Euphrates, to which history and tradition point as the birth-place of the wisdom of the west. Most travellers, after a journey through the usually frequented parts of the East, have the same longing to cross the great river, and to explore those lands which are separated on the map from the confines of Syria by a vast blank, stretching from Aleppo to the banks of the Tigris. A deep mystery hangs over Assyria, Babylonia, and Chaldæa. With these names are VOL. I.-No. IV.

linked great nations, and great cities dimly shadowed forth in history; mighty ruins in the midst of deserts, defying by their very desolation and lack of definite form the description of the traveller; the remnants of mighty races still roving over the land; the fulfilling and fulfilment of prophecies; the plains to which the Jew and Gentile alike look as the cradle of their race. After a journey in Syria the thoughts naturally. turn eastward; and without treading on the remains of Nineveh and Babylon, our pilgrimage is incomplete."

Dr. Layard, therefore, immediately made preparations for paying a preliminary visit to Mosul; and after a hazardous journey through Kurdistan, succeeded in reaching it in safety on the 10th of April, in 1840. After a short stay in the town, he and his companion rode to inspect the mighty ruins on the east bank of the river. They made an excursion to an Arab village called Hammum Ali, around which are still the vestiges of an ancient city. Their object was to explore the mound of Kalah Sherghat, a vast ruin on the Tigris, about fifty miles below its junction with the Zab. As they stood upon an eminence outside the village the whole plain around appeared studded with mounds, one of a pyramidical form rising high above the rest, and beyond it the waters of the Zab. These mounds were just the same when Xenophon led back the ten thousand Greeks across the plains of Mesopotamia, twenty-two centuries ago, and even then they were only supposed to be the remains of an ancient city. What a stupendous interval must have elapsed since it was flourishing in its prime! Lucian, the Greek writer, lived in the first century after Christ, but he states that even in his day the very site of Nineveh was forgotten, and from that time to the present no traveller had ever attempted in right earnest to discover it, and on the desolate plain of Kalah Sherghat there were no visible remains of civilisation beyond a few pieces of broken pottery and inscribed bricks. Here was a field of labour and research that might well tempt the loftiest ambition; to make these mounds deliver up the treasures of ancient art and glory which they had concealed for three thousand years and more, and tell the world of battles, sieges, strange and eventful fortunes of which history had taken no note. But besides stimulating his zeal and curiosity, the contemplation of these remains produced in Dr. Layard's mind a deeper and more lasting impression than had ever been made by the mightiest ruins of Greece or Rome. "The scene around," says he, worthy of the ruin the traveller is contemplating; desolation meets desolation; a feeling of awe succeeds to wonder; for there is nothing to relieve the mind, to lead to hope, or to tell of what has gone by. These huge mounds of Assyria made a deeper impression on me, gave rise to more serious thought and more carnest reflection, than the temples of Balbec or the theatres of Ionia."

"is

He again examined the ruins of Nimroud when descending the Tigris on a raft, in the middle of April. He met with a great dam, also, consisting of huge square stones fastened together by cramps of iron, over which the river flows in a formidable cataract. The dams were intended to cause the river to rise into the numerous canals which intersect the country. They greatly impeded the fleets of Alexander, but even in his time their origin was unknown, and they were supposed to be the work of an ancient and extinct nation. After inspecting these remains, Dr. Layard's mind was made up, and he determined some day or other thoroughly to examine into this great mystery.

He paid another visit to Mosul in the summer of 1842, and then found that M. Botta, the French consul, had already commenced excavations in the great mound of Koyunjik, and had discovered various sculptured slabs of gypsum, and other remains of a deeply interesting character; and as his drawings and specimens were all forwarded to Europe, his scientific friends in Paris easily induced the French minister of the interior to make him a grant of the public money to enable him to carry on his labours. Dr. Layard had been introduced to Sir Stratford Canning (now Viscount Stratford), the British ambassador at Constantinople, who instantly perceived how useful his varied attainments, and intimate knowledge of the

H

eastern languages and manners, might be to the embassy. He was accordingly employed by him in several missions of an important and delicate nature in Albania, Servia, Bulgaria, and Asia Minor, which he executed to his entire satisfaction. In the meantime M. Botta continued his explorations, and as he allowed Dr. Layard to inspect his drawings as they passed through Constantinople, on the way to France, the latter brought the subject under the notice of Sir Stratford, who manifested the liveliest interest in the success of the enterprise, and signified his intention of affording Dr. Layard every possible aid in case he commenced to make any researches himself. He accordingly returned to Mosul in November, accompanied by Mr. Ross, an English merchant, and one or two servants; and taking up his abode in an Arab hut, and having hired six of the peasantry to assist him, he set to work in right earnest.

He had great difficulties to contend with in the superstitions of his Arab labourers, and the avarice, caprice, and tyranny of the pacha, Keritli Oglu, a ferocious ruffian, who was the scourge of those whom he was sent to govern. He frequently interrupted the progress of Dr. Layard's work upon one pretence or another, and it was not until he obtained a firman, or vizirial letter from the sultan, through the instrumentality of Sir Stratford Canning, that he was enabled to pursue his course unmolested. This document not only authorised the excavations, but the removal of the sculptures. He was out gazelle-hunting when he received it, and he "read by the light of a small camel-dung fire the document which secured to the British nation the records of Nineveh, and a collection of the earliest monuments of Assyrian art."

Steamers being unable to ascend the Tigris, Dr. Layard was obliged to float the best of the sculptured slabs which he had succeeded in excavating on rafts formed of inflated skins down to Baghdad, where they were placed on board the vessels for transportation to England.

His health having suffered greatly from overwork and anxiety under so warm a climate, he now made an excursion to the Tiyari mountains, inhabited by the Chaldean or Nestorian Christians. He gives in his work some very interesting details relative to the history and mode of life of this primitive and simple people. His account of the massacre of ten thousand of their number, men, women, and children, in 1843, by the ferocious Mussulman, Beder Khan Bey, is horribly graphic. His description of a visit to the high ledge of rocks where great numbers had fled for refuge, and where, having surrendered upon promise of quarter, they were slaughtered without mercy, where the earth was covered with skulls of all ages, from the child unborn to the toothless old man, heaps of blanched bones, mingled with the long plaited tresses of women, skeletons hanging entire to the dwarfed shrubs, shreds of discoloured linen and well-worn shoes,-is written with great power, and we regret that our space does not permit us to transcribe it.

Upon his return to Mosul, he found letters from England, informing him that Sir Stratford Canning had presented the sulptures which had been already sent over to the British nation, and that the government had at last granted funds to the British Museum, for carrying on the excava

tions at Khorsabad and elsewhere. Although the grant was miserably small and inferior to that given to M. Botta by the French, Dr. Layard resolved to turn it to the best account, and by uniting in his own person the various offices of draughtsman, sculpture-packer, and overseer of the workmen, he was enabled to bring his labours to a prosperous issue, and bestow unheard of benefits on science.

Upon his return to England, though suffering from aguish fever, caught in the damp rooms which he was obliged to occupy at Nimroud, he prepared his work for the press, and for the trustees of the British Museum a volume of inscriptions in the cuneiform character. His MONUMENTS OF NINEVEH, a splendid folio, containing one hundred magnificent engravings of the Nineveh sculptures and remains, from drawings taken by himself on the spot, affords another proof, if another were wanting, of what his many-sided talent is capable of achieving. It is one of the most remarkable works of art of the present day.

The university of Oxford conferred upon him the honorary degree of D.C.L., at the Grand Commemoration in 1848. At the end of that year he returned to Constantinople as attaché to the embassy there, and in the following year resumed the excavations at Nineveh, where he remained until the summer of last year. He is now engaged in preparing for the press an account of the results of the excavations, and particularly of the discovery of the important annals of the Assyrian kings contained in the Bible.

When the Earl of Granville succeeded, under the whig administration, to the office of secretary for foreign affairs, vacated by the resignation of Lord Palmerston, one of his first acts was the appointment of Dr. Layard to the under-secretaryship. His lordship, during his short tenure of office, gave many proofs of high diplomatic talent, and by a judicious mixture of dignified firmness and conciliation, he succeeded, without sacrificing the honour of the country, in restoring amicable relations with many of those powers whom previous events had estranged from England. But in Dr. Layard's appointment he performed an act which did more to raise him in public estimation than any well planned stroke of his foreign policy. He showed that, nobleman as he was, he was not bound by the stupid aristocratic prejudices which have been so long the bane of his country, and have committed so many of England's dearest interests to the keeping of imbeciles whose only recommendation was the accident of their birth. He proved that he was willing to recognise other claims to share in the administration of public affairs, apart from that of connexion with the "great houses," and that he thought a life of patriotic devotion to science a weightier testimonial than the most thorough-going political partisanship. His lordship doubtless was about to commence a new era, and had adopted for his motto Palmam qui meruit, ferat. We have only to regret that Dr. Layard should have had so little time to reap the fruits of so enlightened a policy. He was returned last summer as the representative for Aylesbury, and all who are anxious to see the House of Commons contain a larger measure of intellect, learning, energy, and business habits than heretofore, will heartily rejoice at his success. Him who has shed so much honour on England, England should delight to reward.

THOUGH We learn from Victor Hugo that the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris was begun under Charlemagne and finished under Philip II., yet the obscurity which envelopes the origin of Paris itself also extends to the construction of the cathedral in question; and it is difficult to discover, in the midst of the contradictory statements of the old French historians, what saint or king really laid its first foundation.

For instance, some historians assert that St. Denis laid the first stone of the cathedral pile, but they are not certain whether it was in the Cité, or any of the Faubourgs; neither

do they know whether the cathedral was first called NotreDame or St. Denis du Pas. There is, however, every reason to believe that St. Denis had nothing at all to do with the construction of this edifice.

Gregory of Tours tells us that when St. Denis came to Paris, the city still went, to use the words of Julian, who wrote in the third century, under the reign of Decius, "by the name of Lutetia, that it was surrounded by the Seine, and situated on a small island, which was approached on each side over wooden bridges." Now, at that time, Paris was

under the sway of the Druids; St. Denis and his neophytes could, therefore, only celebrate the sacred mysteries of their religion in lonely places, called crypts, which are supposed to have been situated on the site now occupied by the Quartier Saint Germain des Près. It is, therefore, very improbable that the Druids, on whose altars Christians were sacrificed, would have tolerated the construction of a Christian church in the very heart of the rising city.

Towards the end of the fourteenth century, for instance, Childebert made a donation, by charter, of the lands of Celle, near Montereau-Faut-Yonne, to the mother church of Paris, dedicated to Sainte Marie: this circumstance proves that the cathedral of Notre-Dame was built under the first race of French kings.

Under Philip II., Maurice de Sully had the choir of the church built on the existing foundation, in front of the new street, which then received, and has since retained, the name of Rue Notre-Dame. This street was celebrated by the poet Guillot, in the thirteenth century, in his "Dictionnaire des Rues de Paris."

The cathedral of Notre-Dame is built in the form of a Latin cross. It is a Gothic edifice, and its exterior is marked by the distinctive characteristic of the architecture of the Goths, it being surrounded with arched buttresses which begin from the bell-tower, are supported by struts from without, and counteract the effect of the thrust from within. Its length, in the clear, is 390 feet; its width, 146 feet; and its height, up to the keystone, eighty-four feet.

The façade was constructed under Philip II.; it is ninetysix feet long, and is terminated at each end by a square tower 204 feet in height. It formerly possessed a great many beauties, which will be sought for in vain at present. Before the Revolution of 1793, there was, above the three doors, a series of twenty-seven statues of the old kings of France, from Childebert to Philip II., and among them was Pepin le Bref, seated on a lion. On each side, also, of the middle portal, was a figure representing, the one, Faith, and the other, Hope. The façade was approached, too, by eleven steps, which time has destroyed by raising the surface of the surrounding earth. But it was not time that removed the statues, and defaced the middle of the fine central porch by the new and bastard ogive now seen there. No; this was not done by time, but by the architects and artists of the present day, who have likewise placed a wooden dove, carved in the style of Louis XV., side by side with the arabesques of Biscornette. But we need not be astonished at this, for it is the same men who have removed from the interior of the cathedral all the statues that were found, carved out of every kind of material and in every posture, in every niche and corner of the edifice. It is they, too, who have meddled with the altars, and ill-treated the pavement-who have replaced the magnificent coloured glass of the windows with panes of the commonest white-who have smeared the walls with an unseemly wash, and who have thus treated the wonderful art of the middle ages as typical of nought, as a thing unworthy of preservation.

But to return to our narrative. A nobleman from Chartres, of the name of Gobineau de Montluisant, had formed a complete system of symbols out of this façade, and had discovered in it the history of hermetic science.

For instance, the figure of the Almighty spreading his hands over two angels, was the Creator forming the breath of life out of chaos; and the triumph of Marcel, near the portal to the right, with the dragon beneath his feet, was the discovery of the philosopher's stone, the two elements, the fixed and volatile, being represented by the mouth and the tail of the dragon. It is impossible for these explanations to be admitted here; and, unfortunately, there exists no rational description of the curious forms seen on the middle portal.

Above the door, are three divisions of bas-reliefs. At the top is a figure of the Almighty, with two angels on each side of him; nothing can be conceived more graceful than this composition, the effect of which is truly imposing.

The second division represents a demon, dragging after him,

with a chain, the links of which are of an oblong form, a crowd of men and women, who are, probably, the personification of different crimes and vices. The features of this demon are truly satanical in their formation and expression, while his body and legs are those of a lion. Below, in the third division, is a number of saints, male and female, with features devoid of expression.

In the voussure or coving, to the right, are six bas-reliefs, which appear to be intended to celebrate the triumph of Hell. The imagination of the artist who sculptured the scenes on them must have indeed been in a most disordered state. The eye sees nothing but hideous demons, and more hideous reptiles, flames of fire, and slaughtered children, priests, kings, and queens, all huddled together; faces expressive of the most atrocious pain, or vilely distorted with laughter, and a few calm countenances with figures undergoing torture in ridiculous or obscene postures. Long after the visitor has gazed on these bas-reliefs in the parvis of Notre-Dame, he is still pursued by the recollection of curious instruments of torture,-of demoniacal-looking forks, and of bodies all deformed and tightly interlaced one with the other.

In the porch of the door on the southern side are a few bas-reliefs representing subjects that relate to the martyrdom of St. Denis; and in the porch of the door on the northern side is a zodiac, the signs of which are borrowed from the Grecian zodiac; figures representing agricultural subjects are placed by the side of these signs; but the twelfth, which represents the Virgin Mary, is placed on a column by itself over the middle of the door; the only peculiarity worthy of notice about this sculpture is, that Ceres, who forms, with her child, the twelfth sign of the Grecian zodiac, is replaced by the Virgin Mary, holding the infant Jesus in her arms.

The doors of the two side porches are covered with iron ornaments of the form of twisted scrolls, which are somewhat delicately executed. Above the niches which formerly contained the statues of the kings of France, is the large rose window of the nave. This window and the two others in the towers are surmounted by a peristyle composed of thirty-four very slender pillars, formed out of a single piece, and crowned with a balustrade.

The interior of the cathedral is divided into one large and four small naves, a choir, and an apsis. It formerly possessed forty-five chapels, but their number has been gradually reduced to thirty-two. The divisions are marked by 120 thick pillars which support the ogive vaulting. Around the nave and choir, are galleries supported by 108 small pillars formed out of one piece.

The choir, which is 115 feet long, and fifty-five wide, is ornamented with oak stalls, on which bas-reliefs, representing subjects taken from Scripture, are beautifully sculptured. They are surmounted by eight large pictures, not one of which, however, is the work of a good master. The choir is thus almost entirely shut out from view. Most of the pillars are round, and are terminated by capitals, from each of which spring forth into the nave and choir three slender columns, also terminated by three capitals, whence the nervures of the vaulting proceed. In the aisles, the nervures of the vaulting, which is not very lofty there, spring from the capitals of the large pillars. These capitals are ornamented with acanthuses, in imitation of Corinthian capitals. There are also in the aisles eight other large round pillars, which have their bases and capitals surrounded by five or six small slender columns detached from the large pillars, of whose capitals they allow portions only to be seen. This disposition is productive of a most graceful effect.

Throughout the whole of the cathedral of Notre-Dame there are but six large pillars that shoot forth into a sheaf of small columns from the ground to the roof, two being at the entrance to the choir, and two at each end of the nave. It is principally owing to the absence of such pillars that the roofing appears so low. There are also very few of those grotesque figures, which decorate the vaulting and replace the capitals, ornamented with acanthuses in the Lombard style of architecture. Around the exterior wall of the choir are

seen bas-reliefs, representing various subjects taken from the New Testament, and sculptured with all the want of knowledge, in all the grotesque postures, and all the confusion, which belonged to the times of primitive art. These sculptures were executed by Jean Ravy, the mason to the cathedral, and by his nephew, Jean Bouteiller, who finished them in 1353.

Before the Revolution, the towers of Notre-Dame were furnished with a complete set of bells, and there were also eight little ones in the steeple that surmounted the window, but they were reduced in number after the Revolution; and an architect amputated the charming little belfry, and replaced it with something that looked like the top of a porridge-pot. The great bell, which was cast in 1683, weighs 82,000 pounds, and the clapper 973 pounds.

Since the archbishop's palace has been pulled down, there has been nothing to hide, or to detract from, the exterior magnificence of Notre-Dame on either the eastern, the north-eastern, or the south-eastern side. There are few Gothic monuments in all Europe so admirably or so openly situated.

The cathedral of Notre-Dame will always inspire the visitor with more wonder and admiration than will the majestic colonnades of the Louvre, of the Bourse, of the Panthéon, or of the Madeleine.

The historical occurrences associated with the cathedral of Notre-Dame are too numerous to be mentioned here. We cannot, however, pass unnoticed the coronation of Napoleon I., recalled to mind by the recent ceremony, in which the nephew of the once purple-clad exile played so prominent a part. Eight-and-thirty years ago, the imperial robes were for ever torn from the shoulders of Napoleon I., to be restored, in direct contradiction to the calculations of human foresight, to his nephew, and thus to lend their prestige to the marriage of Napoleon III.

The solemnity of the coronation of their majesties the Emperor Napoleon I., and the Empress Josephine, was celebrated on the second of December, 1804, in the cathedral of Notre-Dame.

Before proceeding to Notre-Dame, the emperor was clothed in the imperial ornaments at the archiepiscopal palace; and, on arriving at the porch of the cathedral, he was received by the French cardinals, the archbishops, and bishops, preceded by the master of the ceremonies and his assistants. Next, advanced the empress, in the imperial mantle, but without the ring and crown, which had preceded her. Both their imperial majesties were here presented with holy water by the cardinal archbishop of Paris. Their majesties then advanced under a canopy borne by canons, and seated themselves in the sanc-. tuary, on chairs prepared for them, the empress being on the right hand of the emperor.

When their majesties entered the choir, the pope, descended from his throne, went up to the altar, and commenced the "Veni Creator." While this hymn was being sung, the emperor and empress knelt down in prayer, and when they arose, the arch-chancellor of the empire approached the emperor and presented him with the Hand of Justice. The arch-treasurer then received the sceptre, the grand elector took off the crown, and the grand chamberlain took off the collar. Then the mantle was taken off, and the emperor drew his sword, and gave it to the constable.

After the usual ceremony of anointing and the profession of faith, their majesties were conducted by the holy father to the grand throne raised at the end of the church. Then the pope recited a prayer, kissed the emperor on the cheek, and, turning towards the assistant, said, with a loud voice, "Vivat Imperator in æternum!" (May the Emperor live for ever!) and the assistants replied, Vivent l'Empereur et l'Impératrice!" (Long live the Emperor and the Empress!")

When mass was over, the grand almoner gave the book of Gospels to the emperor, who, remaining seated, and placing his hand upon it, pronounced the oath. The chief herald of arms then cried out in a loud voice, "The most glorious and most

august emperor of the French is crowned, and enthroned: long live the emperor!" On which, all present exclaimed, "Long live the emperor and the empress!" and a discharge of artillery announced the coronation and enthronement of their majesties.

The pope then began the "Te Deum." The secretary of state drew up the procès verbal of the emperor's taking the oath, and it was signed by all the dignitaries present. Then the arch-chancellor presented it to the emperor and the princes.

After this last formality, the emperor and the empress descended from the throne, and were conducted back, under a canopy, to the archiepiscopal palace. And thus terminated the coronation of Napoleon I., emperor of the French.

On Sunday, the 30th of January, 1853, Napoleon III. was married at Notre-Dame, to Mademoiselle Montijo, Countess de Téba, a lady of Spanish origin, and who was educated, with her sister, the present Countess of Alba, in England, at a school at Bristol.

On this occasion, both the exterior and interior of the cathedral presented the most magnificent appearance.

Before the façade, a large Gothic portico was erected, communicating with the middle portal. This portico, which was surmounted all round with a beautiful fronton, was decorated in bright colours with all sorts of ornaments and tracery, in keeping with the architectural style of the cathedral, and befitting the ceremony that took place in it.

The upper angles of the fronton, both at the sides and in front, were ornamented with the letters N. E, surmounted with an imperial crown, and surrounded with garlands of flowers, mixed with trefoil, fleurs-de-lis, golden eagles, and the imperial initials. Enormous pillars supported the façade of the portico, and were ornamented with niches containing statues of saints, in the style of the middle ages. The sides were painted in imitation of green drapery, studded with golden bees.

Oriflammes floated from the summits of the towers, at each corner of which was an eagle with outspread golden wings, and between the towers was a colossal statue of our Saviour.

Painted statues of Charlemagne, of St. Louis, of Louis XIV., and of Napoleon I., were placed in the embrasures of the ogive windows of the two towers, and the niches separated from each other by small pillars above the portal were decorated with statues of the kings of France painted on a grey ground, and exactly imitating sculptured stone.

The interior of the cathedral was decorated with the utmost splendour. On each side of the chief nave, the pillars were covered from their bases to their capitals with crimson velvet, bordered with gold. On each side, also, was an estrade, that was continued to the back of each of the side naves.

From the railings of the balustrade of the galleries hung curtains of crimson velvet, bordered with ermine, while from the windows hung green curtains, studded with golden bees, and ornamented with the imperial initials. Garlands of evergreens and flowers stretched from window to window, and lustres were suspended from each ogive of the gallery, the pillars of which were covered with blue hangings ornamented with golden bees.

The aspect of the choir was magnificent, the spaces between the windows being covered with hangings of cloth of gold, while an innumerable quantity of lustres were suspended from the roof over the middle of the sanctuary.

The high altar was removed to the front of the choir, and was overhung by a splendid canopy, which was united to the side columns by an elegant Gothic gallery.

A platform, overhung by a canopy, decorated with eagles, and surmounted by an imperial crown, was raised before the altar, and on it stood two fall-stools and the throne.

The marriage was solemnised with all the expected pomp, and the "Te Deum" sung which had before celebrated the triumph of Austerlitz, and the ill-fated union of Marie Louise with the conqueror of Europe. Who shall say who will be the chief actors in the next marriage or coronation which this old church shall witness?

"Here is a poet! whose unmuddled strains
Show that he held all Helicon in's brains.
What here is writ, is sterling; every line
Was well allowed of by the Muses nine.
When for the stage a drama he did lay,
Tragic or comic, he still bore away
The sock or buskin; clearer notes than his
No swan e'er sung upon our Thamesis,
For lyric sweetness, in an ode or sonnet,

To BEN the best of wits might vail their bonnet.
His genius justly, in an entheat rage,
Oft lashed the dull-sworn factors for the stage:
For Alchymy, though 't make a glorious gloss,
Compared with gold, is bullion and base dross."-

HODGSON.

BENJAMIN, or, as he himself usually shortened his name, Ben Jonson, "made his first entry on the stage of this vain world,"

lost his estate. Subsequently, in Elizabeth's reign, he entered into holy orders, and became "a grave minister of the gospel." His preferment, however, must have been scanty, as his widow was obliged to marry a master bricklayer in somewhat less than two years after his death. Such were the early facts of Ben's family history.

When the future poet became of sufficient age, he was sent to a private school near St. Martin's-in-the-Fields; and there he acquired a respectable acquaintance with the rudiments of general knowledge. From this school he would probably have been taken to follow his step-father's business, had not a friend, whose name is not mentioned, sent him, at his own expense, to Westminster-school, where the great Camden was then second master. This celebrated man was not slow in discovering, nor negligent in cultivating, the extraordinary talents of his pupils. How long he remained under his care is not known; but the poet, who had a warm

says one of his early biograpners, "about a month after his father's death, within the city of Westminster." This happened in the early part of 1574, while the "good queen Bess" was upon the throne. His grandfather, who was a man of some family and fortune, originally settled in Annandale, in Scotland, from which place he removed to Carlisle, and was sub. sequently taken into the service of Henry VIII. His father, who was probably about the court, suffered a long imprisonment under queen Mary, for his religious opinions, and finally

17

and affectionate heart, ever after cherished the deepest gratitude for the kindness of his old master, whom he thus addresses in one of his epigrams :

"Camden, most reverend head, to whom I owe All that I am in arts, and all I know." And, again, in the dedication of his Every Man in his Humour, he tells "his most learned and honoured friend" that he "is not one of those who can suffer the benefits conferred upon