An Englishman needs not controversial writings to lead him to the faith of his fathers ; it is written on the wall, on the window, on the pavement, by the highway. Let him but look on the tombs of those who occupy the most honourable position in the history of his country, the devout, the noble, the valiant, and the wise, and he will behold them with clasped hands invoking the saints of Holy Church, whilst the legend round the slabs begs the prayers of the passers-by for their souls' repose. At Canterbury he beholds the pallium, emblem of the jurisdiction conferred by St. Gregory on the blessed Austen, first primate of this land; at York, the keys of Peter, with triple crowns, are carved on buttress, parapet, and wall. Scarcely one village church or crumbling ruin that does not bear some badge of ancient faith and glory. Now the crosses on the walls tell of anointings with holy chrism and solemn dedication, the sculptured font, of sacraments seven, and regeneration in the laver of grace : the legend on the bell inspires veneration for these consecrated heralds of the Church; the chalice and host over priestly tomb teaches of altar and sacrifice; the iron-clasped ambry, sculptured in the wall, bears record of holy Eucharist reserved for ghostly food, the stoups in porch, and Galilee of hallowed water, and purification before prayer; while window, niche, spandril, and tower set forth, by pious effigies, that glorious company of angels, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and confessors, who, glorified in heaven, watch over and intercede for the faithful upon earth.

The Cross that emblem of a Christian's hopes still surmounts spire and gable; in flaming red it waves from the masts of our navy, over the towers of the sovereign's palace, and is blazoned on London's shield.

The order of St. George, our patron saint, founded by King Edward of famous memory, is yet the highest honour that can be conferred by sovereigns on the subject; and his chapel is glorious, and his feast kept solemnly. Our cities, towns, and localities, the rocky islands which surround our shores, are yet designated by the names of those saints of old through whose lives, martyrdoms, or benefactions, they have become famous.

The various seasons of the year are distinguished by the masses of these holy tides. Scarcely is there one noble house or family whose honourable bearings are not identical with those blazoned on ancient church or window, or chantry tomb, which are so many witnesses of the pious deeds and faith of their noble ancestry. Nay, more, our sovereign is solemnly crowned before the shrine of the saintly Edward, exhorted to follow in the footsteps of that pious king, and anointed with oil poured from the same spoon that was held by Canterbury's prelates eight centuries ago.

In short, Catholicism is so interwoven with every thing sacred, honourable, or glorious in England, that three centuries of puritanism, indifference, and infidelity, have not been able effectually to separate it. It clings to this land, and developes itself from time to time, as the better feelings of a naturally honourable man who had been betrayed into sin. What ! an Englishman and a protestant ! Oh, worse than parricide, to sever those holy ties that bind him to the past, to deprive himself of that sweet communion of soul with those holy men, now blessed spirits with God, who brought this island from pagan obscurity to the brightness of Christian light, who covered its once dreary face with the noblest monuments of piety and skill, who gave those lands which yet educate our youth, support the learned, and from whom we received all we have yet left that is glorious, even to our political govern- ment and privileges.

Can a man of soul look on the cross-crowned spire, and listen to the chime of distant bells, or stand beneath the lofty vault of cathedral  choir, or gaze on long and lessening aisles, or kneel by ancient tomb, and yet protest against aught but that monstrous and unnatural system that has mutilated their beauty and marred their fair design ? Surely not. And truly such feelings of reverence for long-despised excellence has been awakened among so many of our learned and devout country- men, that we may begin to hope, indeed, that our redemption draws nigh. We have already lived to hear the name of Canterbury's blessed martyr pronounced with accents of veneration; a hundred pens, most ably wielded, are writing in defence of ancient piety and practice; a thousand voices are raised against the abominations of modern innovation. Eng- land is, indeed, awakening to a sense of her ancient dignity; she begins to appreciate the just merits of the past, and to work eagerly for the future. The last few years must, or ought to, have worked a great change in the feelings of English Catholics towards the Anglican church- men; and it is evident that, if it be God's will that departed glories are to be restored, it will be effected rather by rebuilding the ruined walls of Zion than by demolishing the poor remains that are left The tide of popular innovation that so lately threatened us with common destruction seems providentially stayed. God forbid we should endeavour to obtain a transept in a scramble with dissenters, but rather prove ourselves to possess the feelings of the true mother in Solomon's judgment, and freely give up all, than see what we hold so dear divided; and by perfecting ourselves, and carrying out true Catholic principles in charity, devotion, and zeal, hasten forward that union to which, in the words of an eccle- siastical periodical, we may even begin to look forward, and which is rather to be obtained through the sacrifice of the altar and midnight supplication, than by the clamours of an election platform or the tumult of popular commotion.

laus Deo!

It is not incumbent on all men to raise vast and splendid churches; but it is incumbent on all men to render the buildings they raise for religious purposes more vast and beautiful than those in which they dwell. This is all I contend for; but this is a feeling nearly, if not altogether, extinct. Churches are now built without the least regard to tradition, to mystical reasons, or even common propriety. A room full of seats at the least possible cost is the present idea of a church; and if any ornament is indulged in, it is a mere screen to catch the eye of the passer- by, which is a most contemptible deception to hide the meanness of the real building. How often do we see a front gable carried up to a respect- able pitch, and we might naturally infer that this is the termination, both as regards height and form, of the actual roof; but on turning the corner we soon perceive that it is a mere wall cramped to hold it in its position, and that it conceals a very meeting-house, with a flat roof and low thin walls, perforated by mean apertures, and without a single feature or detail to carry out the appearance it assumed towards the street. Now the severity of Christian architecture is opposed to all deception. We should never make a building erected to God appear better than it really is by artificial means. These are showy worldly expedients, adapted only for those who live by splendid deception, such as theatricals, mountebanks, quacks, and the like. Nothing can be more execrable than making a church appear rich and beautiful in the eyes of men, but full of trick and falsehood, which cannot escape the all-searching eye of God, to whom churches should be built, and not to man.

Even under the Mosaic dispensation, the Holy of Holies, entered only by the high priest was overlaid with gold; and how much more ought the interiors of our tabernacles to be lined with precious material, which are ten times more holy and deserving of it than the figurative tabernacle of the old law ! — and yet in these times all that does not catch the eye is neglected. A rich looking antipendium often conceals rough materials, a depository for candle ends, and an accumulation of dirt, which are allowed to remain simply because they are out of sight. All plaster, cast-iron, and composition ornaments, painted like stone or oak, are mere impositions, and, although very suitable to a tea-garden, are utterly unworthy of a sacred edifice. “Omne secundum ordinem et honeste fiat.” Let every man build to God according to his means, but not practise showy deceptions; better is it to do a little substantially and consistently with truth, than to produce a great but fictitious efiect. Hence the rubble wall and oaken rafter of antiquity yet impress the mind with feehngs of reverent awe, which never could be .produced by the cement and plaster imitations of elaborate tracery and florid designs which in these times are stuck about mimic churches in.disgusting profusion.

It is likewise essential to ecclesiastical propriety that the ornaments introduced about churches should be appropriate and significant, and not consist of Pagan emblems and attribute; for buildings professedly erected for Christian worship. If the admirers of classic decoration were con- sistent, on the very principles which induced the ancients to set up their divinities, they should now employ other and more appropriate ornaments; as all those found in the temples and other buildings of the Pagans were in strict accordance with their mythology and customs : they never introduced any emblem without a mystical signification being attached to it. Now, great as may be their enormities, I think it would be unjust to charge the advocates of revived Pagan decoration with an actual belief in the mythology of which they are such jealous admirers; hence they are guilty of the greater inconsistency, as the original heathens proceeded from conviction. They would not have placed urns on the tombs, had they not practised burning instead of burying the dead; of which former custom the urn was a fitting emblem, as being the depository for the ashes. Neither would they have decorated the friezes with the heads of sheep and oxen, had they not sacrificed those animals to their supposed gods, or placed inverted torches on the mausoleums, had they beheved in the glories of the Resurrection. But what have we, as Christians, to do with all those things illustrative only of former error ? Is our wisdom set forth by the owl of Minerva, or our strength by the club of Hercules ? What have we (who have been redeemed by the sacrifice of our Lord himself) to do with the carcasses of bulls and goats ? And how can we (who surround the biers of our departed brethren with blazing tapers, denoting our hope and faith in the glorious light of the Resurrection,) carve the inverted torch of Pagan despair on the very tomb to which we conduct their remains with such sparkling light? Let us away with such gross inconsistencies, and restore the Christian ideas of our Catholic ancestors, for they alone are proper for our imitation. But not only are the Modern Tomb in the miYedPftgmst^e. dctails of modcm churchcs borTOwcd from Pagan instead of Christian antiquity, but the very plan and arrangement of the buildings themselves are now fashioned after a heathen temple; for which unsightly and inappropriate form modem churchmen and architects have abandoned those which are not only illustrative of the great mysteries of the Christian faith, but whose use has been sanctioned by the custom of more than twelve centuries.

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