Classical Theology. —V.

convey but a slender idea of the splendour with which his priests delighted to invest his worship . His statue was seated on a throne of ivory and gold , under a richly adorned canopy of Tyrian purp le and azure , festooned , wreathed , and arched with drapery and flowers . Golden sandals adorned his feet , and from his shoulders hung an embroidered cloak

ornamented with gems ancl various flowers ancl figures of animals . * His sceptre was made of cypress as an emblem of the eternity of his empire , because that tree is said to be free from decay . Because an eagle mainly assisted him when ho was homeless , and also portended his reign , and brought him his thunderbolts in his wars with the giants

( therefrom receiving the hypallage of " Jupiter ' s armour bearer" ) , - ! they placed at the top of his sceptre an eagle with outspread wings . In his rig ht hand he brandished his fulgor or thunder against the conquered Titans at his feet . Of course , according to the diversity of his names , and of the le among whom he was worshippedhe assumed a figure

peop , of diverse import and appearance . Thus , with the Lacedaemonians , he was represented without ears : the Cretans , however—we presume having some other idea about acoustics , or for the better chance of their prayers being heard by auricles of stone—bestowed upon him an additional pair , or four ears . The Greeks called him Sojnjp , the Saviour , for

no more reason than because they thought he delivered them from the Medes . Upon many of the coins of Diocletianus , he stands , as in the manner we have just described , with his thunderbolt in the dexter hand , and a spear in the sinister ( with the inscription Conservator ?) . In others , instead of his brandished thunder , he holds out a little image , in token of victory , with this inscription , Jovi Conservators Orbis . ( To be continued . )

Basilica Anglicana

BASILICA ANGLICANA

Oi \ E of the . first Christian churches erected in this island after thc visit of St . Augustine , was built on the eminence above Ludgate , about the year 010 , by Ethelbert King of Kent , the first ofthe Saxon princes who accepted Christianity . This edifice does not appear to have attracted any great attention at the time ; however , we may inform our reader if he have not already anticipated the fact , that it was

dedicated to St . Paul , and was the prototype of our present metropolitan cathedral . This church would seem to have lasted about seventy years , and was then rebuilt by St . Ei'kenwold , the bishop of the diocese , upon a somewhat more durable plan , for wc read of its being accidentally burnt down in the year 961 nearly three hundred years afterwards .

, We have no information as to its dimensions , form or design , but some idea may be formed of these particulars from the circumstance that it was completely rebuilt within a year . Again we read of it being burnt down in 1087 , but this time it was to be succeeded by a much more imposing and lasting edifice .

Before proceeding to trace the history of the cathedral church of St . Paul we may here pause to note one or two particulars of interest . It will be remembered that in one of our preceding papers we alluded to the common practice of all ancient nations of building their churches in the midst of burial places . We attempted to show that this disposition was in tlie very nature of things as arising in the mysterious

* Dionysius tho Second , tyrant of Sicily , robbed the statue of the j'od of its magnificent cloak and replaced it with a woollen one , licentiously remarking , " that would lie more conveniently useful to him in all seasons , since in winter it would be much warmer , and in summer much lighter . " Most of our readers will recollect that this prince ivas banished , and in his exile turned schoolmaster . Witty as the tyrant was himself , wo doubt if he ever excelled the wit of the old woman who prayed for his life within his hearing . "What mean youancient

, womanT" " 0 king ! " replied the crone , " when I wished for the death of other tyrants , there still came a worse , and I felt <\ fear that it might be so again if you were gone . " ¦ f li Jorh Artmyrr" Nv- ? . . jfiy- 5 ,

co-relation of the human and divine nature ~ sacrifice and commemoration being themselves correlative—so that when the church did not go to the graveyard , the graveyard unerringly grew around the church . The most important of these particulars then , is the circumstance that from the earliest times "the eminence above Ludgate" would appear

to have been used as a burial ground . Amongst the earliest of the traditions of St . Paul ' s is that on its site was raised by the Eomans a magnificent temple to Diana , to which was attached a convent of vestals , richly endowed . This assertion is , however , by no means well established . Upon the excavation of the foundations of the present buildinghowever

, , a great number of Roman funereal vases , lachrymatories , and other sepulchral articles , were found at a considerable distance below the surface ; and side by side , immediately above these , rows of skeletons—the pins of ivory and box wood with which the ancient Britons were accustomed to fasten

the grave clothes of their dead , alone remaining , while above these again were rows of stone coffins , in which were encased the bodies of our Saxon ancestors . Now , without accepting any fanciful inferences that may be formed from these facts , one thing would seem pretty well indicated—namely , that the elevated and central position of this site , pointed it out

to successive generations , alike of natives and conquerors , as most appropriate for religious and public purposes . We have seen how the Normans overspread the land with churches and castles . Mauritius , Bishop of London , the builder and founder of more than a score of religious edifices , contemplated , as we have already mentioned , a cathedral that

should surpass anything then found in Christendom , to be raised entirely out of the revenues of his diocese . His successor determined that the pious work should not fall through for want of a superintendent and patron . This prelate , therefore , designed the structure that was subsequently raised , but upon a scale of extent and splendour that was ultimately found impracticable , for which he provided out of his own fortune . Por twenty years the building advanced , when the prelate , dying , was succeeded by De Beimels , who

presided over tlie work also for twenty years , and also devoted to it the whole of the revenues of his see . Again , however , disaster fell upon the undertaking , and the nearly completed building , after forty years expenditure of labour and hoarded treasure , was all but burned to the ground . Nor was there , even now , any abatement of zeal . On a plan still

more extensive the works were recommenced . Pour successive bishops exhausted their revenues and their genius upon the undertaking . The result was a composition variable in point of style , ancl so far wanting the unity and simplicity which constitute intrinsic beauty in architecture as in every other art , but still an edifice which challenged the whole of

tlie Christian world . Pilgrims came from all parts of the world to behold it . The whole length of the building was six hundred and ninety feet , ancl the breadth one hundred and thirty feet ; a tower and spire shot up from the centre to the amazing height of five hundred and twenty feet ; that is to say , it was one hundred and fiftfeet longertwenty feet

y , wider , and one hundred and sixt y feet hig her than the present building . In 131 o it received some further additions under tlie direction of Edward II ., having thus outstood the reigns of nine successive kings before it was finished .

But there was a spot in front of the building which became in a very short time invested with historical importance . This was St . Paul ' s Cross , an open air pulpit , which became necessary during the repairs of the church . Tlie original use to which it was put was the delivery of sermons in the forenoon of Sunday . Clergymen used to come from all parts to preach before tlie lorcl mayor and court of aldermenwho in

, addition to other benefactions ordered , in 1 G 07 , " that every one that should preach there should , at his pleasure , be freely entertained for five days' space with sweet and convenient Judging , " 'fe t , lv ? « tiyvuig tiiiief ! Qf the v ^ fiiviiiatiow . TvWl ' -