M. Vogue's Restoration Of The Basilica Of Constantine.

Avhat must have been the splendour of this still more beautiful structure , which was the first Christian church ever erected in Jerusalem . The Empress Helena first visited Jerusalem in the year of our Lord 326 , aud the basilica was commenced in the same year , aud was completed and dedicated

nine years after . It stood in all its glory for 280 years , until at last it Avas completely destroyed by the Persian monarch Chosroes II ., Avho had laid siege to Jerusalem , and took it in the year 614 . The Avifo of the conqueror was the sister of Maurice , emporor of Constantinopleand she still professed the

, Christian religion amongst the Pagan Persiaus ; although powerless to save the noble edifice of Constantine , she yet obtained leave for the Christians under Modestus , the superior of the Convent of Theodosia , to rebuild the church ; and accordingly , in the space of fifteen years , four small churches were

erected ou the same site , which Avere again replaced by the buildings of Constantine Monomachus , aud these latter Avere rebuilt by the Crusaders in the form of a single church , the greater part of which is to be found but little modified in the present history . Such is the history of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre from the time of Coustantine down to the present day . —Builder .

Scragginess.

SCRAGGINESS .

Mr . Banting ' s attack ou corpulence ought , after its first success , to have been followed by another on scragginess , and we have always wondered why it Avas not . More people , we imagine , wish to be fatter than wish they could diminish their fat . It is true the desire is more closely confined to women , men

being tolerant of leanness in themselves , apt to believe , indeed , in spite of scores of examples , that want of flesh increases the appearance of intellect . Pallor and thinness are , in fact , nearly as much cultivated among certain classes as Avhite hands and general listlessness , aud mainl y for . the same reason—that

they show that their possessor has neither necessity no inclination to do anything useful , that he is a hothouse plant , and not au ear of grain . The preference among men for sallowness over colour , sharp lines over roundness , attenuation over muscular development , is one of the oddest results of a civilisation Avhich does not profess to be ascetic . It

is passing away , Ave believe , under the influence of a healthier mode of life , but ten years ago robust health Avas considered obtrusive , strength decidedly low , and a high colour the first mark of au utter plebeian , and the influence of those ideas linger iu drawing-rooms still . Womenhoweverhave never fallen into them for

, , themselves , have always by instinct preferred soft outlines and changing colour , have been ashamed of the obtrusiveness of their bones , aud have tried hard to keep their faces from falling in . A charge of leanness is nearly the worst a Avoman cau bring against herself , aud the hi ghest art of the milliner is exerted

to soften off the harsh hues which iu men are admired , to give the fulness and roundness of contour male coquettes so carefully avoid . The true princi ples of beauty are the same in both cases , but civilisation has not in Avomen corrupted natural taste , and no woman Avas ever proud of sunk

cheeks or hollow eyes , or bony arms , or a figure without inflexions . The difference of feeling has even affected the language , and the word " seragginess" as a contemptuous epithet is as much confined to women as the word "buxom" is , and is at least as much dreaded by them as an accusation of corpulence is by men . It is held to indicate ageand Avhile men care

, nothing about their ages , Avomen very justifiably do care , being well aAvare that the other sex , Avith their habitual tendency to the evil , prefer the hcautede ( liable , the spell of youth and freshness , to almost any other . There must be hundreds of thousands in this country , Avhere the climate softens nothing and dress

is specially adapted to make leanness ridiculous , who would endure any course of diet , abstain from any indulgence , to put a little more flesh on their bones , yet no Dr . Harvey or philanthropic undertaker step 3 forward on their behalf . Brillat SavariuAvho taught Mr . Banting so much

, on the art of reducing flesh , gives only a page or two to that of increasing it , and , though his theories are sound , he misses Avhat physicians believe to be the great panacea . Fattening , too , would seem from analogy to be easier Avork than reducing fat . All domestic animals in health can be fattened , and there

is not a farmer in the country who does not think that he understands to perfection the great art of producing flesh . Skilled breeders will fatten a bullock , or a pig , or a sheep to a pouud , but they would only laugh if told that they could also fatteu their daughters . Yet the only difference in favour of the beast is that it is not bothered with a mind , cannot worry itself about papa ' s displeasure , or dear Charles ' s inattention , or the blunder it has made in selecting " ruching" a

little too bright . By the Avay , cattle must have some theory for good taste in colour , or they would not he so vehemently irritated with the sight of red , and it Avould be a curious experiment to find out Avhat that theory is . Have they by nature that love for sobered brightness , that dislike to all things " so very conspicuous "

, Avhich cultivation gives to most human beings , or are particular colours signs to them , as they are to the Pope , of a hostile bravado ? The mind , no doubt , is a nuisance Avhich physicians find it hard to deal with ; hut still all scraggy girls are not scraggy because they have gotas Lord Westbury says" Avhat they are

, , pleased to call minds , " and the very large remainder ought to be just as amenable to the influence of good feelings as lambs , or cattle , or turkeys . Of course there are Avomen AVIIO cannot be fattened , even Avhen their minds are at rest , just as there are others Avho under the fiercest load of anxiety still accumulate

fat . The majority , however , if not ill , or consumptive , or preternaturally active , or feverishly eager about affairs , must be capable , like all other domestic animals , of being fed into decent embonpoint . The only question is as to the regimen which will accomplish the end , Avithout too much annoyance or distuhance

of the domestic economy , or risk of producing habitual and excessive laziness . Brillat SaA'arin ' s rules are clear , and in their Avay sound , and we quote them as summarised iu a littlo book just published b y Mr . L . P . Simpson : — " General rule : Eat a quantity of fresh bread—the same day ' s baking—and do not throw away the crumb . Before ei ght a . m ., Avhen in bed , take a basin of soup ( pottage au pain or mix pales ) , not too much , or , if