Classical Theology.—Xl.

rich or selfish hypocrite to the poor . "What he said he meant , and what he meant he practised ; and to his last gasp he solemnly believed , avowed , and relied on what he taught . Christians may look upon the restored structure of the Church ( whose founder was by his birth a Jew and the saving health unto all nations ) embodying all

denomi-, nations of reformed Christians , as having on its one angle the Greek Church , and on its other the Roman Church , forming , as it were of itself , three angles , ivhich , for the sake of our fellow men , we ivould name prudential conduet , good will towards man , solemn honour unto God .

Stray Thoughts On The Origin And Progress Of The Fine Arts.

STRAY THOUGHTS ON THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE FINE ARTS .

BY DIAGOBAS . PABT XIII . { Continued from p . 62 . ) When Constantine , in A . D . 32 S , founded the city of Constantinoplehe decorated and adorned it with all the

, treasures that could be removed from Rome to his new capital ; and at a subsequent period , when the successor of Constantine removed from the city every valuable specimen of art , he loaded several ships therewith , which were driven by a storm upon the coast of Sicily ; the commander was killed , and the Saracens , at that time in

possession of the country , carried their spoils to Alexandria .- The Saracenic , or Moorish architecture , is a striking illustration of the influence of religion upon architecture . The peculiar religion of Mohammed was diffused from the Indus to the Nile by wandering hordes of predatory Arabs , who enforced at the point of

the sword the doctrines of the Koran . The Roman power having vanished , and the Eastern countries being enfeebled by luxury or mismanagement , they fell easily under the dominion of the arch-impostor and his successor . In a few years , Syria , Persia , ancl Egypt were subdued and converted to Mohammedanism . More than 4000 Christian churches were destroyed , and rude shrines called mascliiads , afterwards most / v . es , were erected in their stead . As the faith or religion of Mohammed became more

general , ancl more securely settled , its folloivers acquired a taste for learning and the social arts , accompanied , by a love of luxury and splendour . The lore of Greece was translated into the Arabic , and schools were founded for the study of science , and . particularly mathematics , in which , as is well known , ' tlie Arabians greatly excelled . The earlier sty le of the Arabian or Saracenic architecture

lias some resemblance to that which prevailed in the " . Byzantine Empire ; but , as they advanced in science , they constructed edifices peculiar to themselves . They disdained to borrow their ideas from the nations they had conquered , but preferred to compose , from the study of the Egyptian , Greek , and Roman edifices , that style

which is still to be seen wherever Mohammed is acknov . '; ledged as the prophet of God . Saracenic architecture i singularly fantastic and light , yet graceful and even elegant . The columns are slender and variously formed , ancl generally employed to support low arcades ; the shafts are short and thin , plain or ornamental , with lines

in spiral or perpendicular grooves . The Arabians are celebrated for their arches , which are of three sorts , viz ., tbe crescent ,, or horse-shoe arch , the round arch , and the cusped arch . The crescent is , peculiar to Mohammedan architecture . The crescent is the symbol of the Mohammedan faith , as the cross is of the Christian ; and it is said to have been first used by Muayia in his new capital

of Damascus . It was also named the sacred arch , and formed the usual entrance of mosques : this arch is the really distinctive feature of the Saracenic style . The round arch was simply an imitation of that of the Romans , and the citsped arch was formed by segments of circles meeting in a point at the vertex . As the religion of Mohammed peremptorily forbade the representation of animals *

, the ornaments of the Arabians consisted of coloured tiles and mosaics , with which they adorned , in a fantastic yet tasteful manner , their apartments . Other ornaments consisted of texts of the Koran , inlaid in the form of mosaics , sometimes adorned with precious stones . Erom the general appearance of the Moorish edifices has arisen

the term arabescpuc , or moresqtte , applicable to all ornaments of a fantastic character . The species of ornament called fret-tvork is also prevalent in Arabian architecture . It is said to have had its origin with the Persians , as a screen to admit air and light , and yet exclude the direct rays of the sun . Corbelling has been referred to the

same style ; but its origin is doubtful . Corbels are projections from a wall intended for the support of any object . The Arabians used them most in their castles to support a projecting parapet , in the floor of which were perpendicular holes , called machicolations ( war-sieves ) , whence the besieged could , under cover , dart missiles ,

and pour down melted pitch and other destructive materials on the besiegers who should attempt to scale the walls . The Arabian style is amply and well displayed in the numerous mosques , tombs , and mausoleums of the Mohammedan religion , the most prominent features of which are the towering domes and encircling minarets . The minarets are light circular turrets , rising to a considerable height above the other parts of the building ,

and are furnished with projecting galleries , ivhere the muezzins call the faithful to prayer . During the middle ages , when intercourse between nations and states was uncertain and difficult , when the piu'suits of commerce and the arts of civilized , life were torpid or undeveloped , when improvements were diffidently and slowly introducedand carelessly receivedit is worthy of note that

, , architecture became more widely diffused at the same time that it presented a striking uniformity of feature . To account for this remarkable fact , we must bear in mind that at this period , when the lay portion of the community was engaged in warfare and devastation , the only places of safety where industry and ingenuity miht

g be exercised and employed were the churches and convents . Hence the study of architecture was chiefly confined to the members of religious communities , and the skill and taste of the architect had scarcely any other object than the erection and decoration of sacred edifices ; and we may trace in the intercourse kept up between

the different monasteries , and in the journeys performed by the monks in thc concerns of their various orders , the means by which a knowledge of architecture and its variations might be transmitted from one country to another . Another and more universally prevailing cause for the similarity of buildings at that period was

the awakening of Lombardy , and the neighbouring states of Italy , to trade and commerce , and the formation amongst their citizens of companies and corporations , or guilds , possessed of the exclusive privilege of exercising their peculiar trades or professions . Not onl y mere mechanical employments , but those of a more intellectual nature were confined and restricted by these guilds , and were only to be entered on by a hard and severe apprenticeship .