Christian Morals.

CHRISTIAN MORALS .

Under the abov-e title , a quaint old writer , Sir _ T . Browne , has handed down a little book , in the openingpage of which he addresses his reader thus -. — " Consider whereabout thou art in Cebes his table , or that old p hilosophical j ; w < M , ' of the life of man : whether thou art yet in the road of uncertainties : Avhether thou hast yet

entered the narrow gate , got up the hill and asperous way which leadeth unto the house of sanity ; or taken that purifying potion from the hands of sincere erudition , which may send thee clear and pure aAvay unto a virtuous and happy life . " Now manydoubtlesswould like to know something

, , more about " Cebes his table , " or the piaax which is its Greek name , than the passage above tells them ; so for their sake , and also because Ave think it will be time well-spent , Ave purpose giving some account of this handy-book of morals , of this board and its tracery . Its author is said to luvre written three ivories , but

this is the only one extant ; so perhaps it was his best , or was thought to be so , by those indefatigable copyists , to ivliose pen , inic , and paper , or parchment , labours we are indebted for the preservation of all that remains to us of ancient literature . NOAV Thebans , and Cebes was a Theban , were not generally very bright ; indeed their

dulness was proverbial ; nevertheless there were exceptions to this , as Avell as every other rule , and our author , after long acquaintance with him , wo are inclined to think , was one . He noAvhere betrays that he was born in the thick air of tlie Boeotians ; and his book possesses the merit of great oriinalitycombined with much

g , clearness of thought , and Attic purity and simplicity of style . Like the works of his Socratie fellow-pupil Plato , it is in the form of a catechetical dialogue , aud begins with a preamble setting forth the circumstances

that gai r e rise to it , A . number of youths are out for a stroll in the grounds of a temple , and meet an old man there , nito offers to explain a picture , that hangs against the Avail , and which they are unable to make out the subject of . The youths g ladly accept his offer , and agree to give him all the attention he desires . He tells them it is a philosophical and moral

allegory of human life ; and he points out two mythological beings in the foreground of the picture . One of them is identical to some extent with conscience , and shows each man Avliat path in life he ought to take ; but this is a lesson that feiv of them remember . The other is Deceit , and she gives Error and Ignorance to each to

drink , a draught that makes them prone to err . These tivo personages are at the entrance of the Outer Court , for there are three courts—outer , middle , and innerpeopled by as many different kinds of men . In the Outer Court are those , who , disregarding Consciencefollow wholly base and sensual leasureand

, p , grovel madly after wealth . Fortune is their presiding deity , and right AA ^ ell is she described . Shakspere almost seems to have copied the description , in Jfcnri j V ., 3-0 , where he speaks of her , as " Giddy Fortune , —that goddess blind , that stands upontherolling , restless stone , " and makes Fluellen moralize in this sort" Fortune is

, painted plind , ivith a muffler before her eyes , to signify to you that Fortune is plind : and she is painted also with a wheel , to signify to you , which is the moral of it , that she is turning , and inconstant , and mutability , and variation : and her foot , look you , is fixed upon a spherical stonewhich rollsand rollsand rolls . "

, , , _ These grovellers meet Avith their deserts from Retribution and Despair . Theold man noiv comes to the Middle Court , and tells his audience that it is the haunt of mathematicians ,

Christian Morals.

philosophers , and literary men , ivho pursue in it Head Culture , storing the memory , and ivorking the brain , and haiing , as peculiar objects of their research , the hidden mysteries of nature and science . The education they OAVU is a false , unreal one , at best imperfect , having no necessary , or natural tendency to make men good and

true , and the pursuit of it is not incompatible ivith the pursuit of vice . The old man ' s words on the point are well worth quoting , and remembering ; " Nothing , " he says , '" ' prevents one from being acquainted with literature , aud understanding every science , and being still a drunkard and incontinent , miserly , unjust , a traitor , and a fool . "

The Inner Court is next described : its gateway its narrow , and the path to it not much frequented ; but True Education dwells there , with Persuasion and Truth . She is plain iu her neatness , and stands on a square firm-set stone . To all who come—and more come to her from the outer than the middle court—she gives

a potion , that dispels Error and Ignorance , and rids them of Vice . She then speeds them on their way to Science , Virtue , and Happiness ; and nothing can any more hurt them . Such in its main outlines is the " Table ; " and it unfolds to us a beautiful system of moralit yveiled in

, allegory , and illustrated by symbols ; and it concludes with remarking that , though the gifts of Fortune , and of Head Culture , are to be highly prized , for their usefulness , yet they are not man ' s chief good ; for that , in fact , Wisdom is the oDly real good , and theivant of it the onl y real evil .

Architecture And Archæloogy.

ARCHITECTURE AND ARCH ? LOOGY .

ROUND CHURCHES . ( Concluded from page 303 . ) Symbolically , the round church has its significance ; imitativcly , its associations ; and , aesthetically , its beauty ; but its circular form is not fitted—never was fitted—for devotional and congregational purposes .

There is one case only in which it is ivell suited for Liturgical use , viz ., for the administration of the sacrament of baptism . To this the round form was early devoted : to this it should have been confined . For a ceremony admitting many spectators , directed to ono central object , no form could be more beautiful or more convenient ; but it is not suited for the Holy Communion , nor for prayer , nor for

preaching . Your oivn experience in St . Sepulchre ' s , and its present anomalous arrangement , prove this : it was a bold thing , therefore , for a lecturer in this town , not long ago , with such an example close at hand , to advocate the round form for English churches . There arc fashionable wateringplaces where tho experiment has been tried , and . octagon chapels were once becoming popular in London , but even , as mere preaching-houses their form is inconvenient , and still less is it adapted io the Liturgical services of the Church of England .

It is Avell , therefore , that you propose to give up the round for congregational purposes , and place the worshippers in the rectangular portion eastward , reserving the round as a most noble vestibule , and most appropriate and serviceable baptistry , in the centre of which a font , worthy of the position , may , I hope , soon be placed as a memorial to tho late Marquis of Northampton , who took so much interest in

the church built by the first Norman earl , of the same title . When the contemplated extension of the church is completed , and the present cumbrous fittings of the round swept away , I can conceive no interior more picturesque and unique than that which St . Sepulchre ' s will furnish to a spectator standing under the Avcstcrn tower , ivhicli will then constitute an outer porch . I feel sure that there will not

be one contributor to its enlargement and restoration who ivill not feel that , ivhatcver he may have given , it will have been more than repaid him even by the architectural effect produced .