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the Witches

I'm for the air

Upon the corner of the moon

age and aspect of the Moon. Their most august by way of preparation for the incantation, says to ceremony of cutting the mistleto from the oak was always performed on the sixth day of the Moon. In medicine also, they were great proficients, and possessed, in fact, great store of knowledge in all sciences; so much so, that Pliny speaks of them as practising magic, and being so great proficients therein, as to equal the Persian and Chaldæan Magi, so that one would even think, he says, that the Druids had taught it them.

The number three was said to be a favourite number with them, and that part of their religious worship consisted in a solemn adoration, or three silent bowings.

The Romans, on their invasion, endeavoured to exterminate the Druids, but it does not appear that they induced the natives to adopt their own system of polytheism. The seeds of their ancient religion still continued implanted in their minds, and opened a ready access to the doctrines of Christianity, which are said to have made more progress in this country and Gaul (from the time of the first preaching of the Gospel) than in any other.

Of this old patriarchal religion, the only remains, in substance, to be found at present, are the stone temples, of which few, if any, are in so perfect a state as the one here represented. The groves have long since fallen beneath the axe, and most of the stone temples have been spoiled for the value of the materials in making fences or roads, or mending habitations; the mallet of the geologist now comes in to aid the destruction, as was witnessed when the sketch of this plate was taken; so that, in a few years more, this temple, like the rest, may disappear.

Of the forms and ceremonies of the religion no traces are to be found, except in the representation of scenes of magic, in which we invariably see the magic circle, the witch in a robe, with a wand in her hand, and various other allusions to druidical ceremonies. Who can think of the subject without calling to mind the scene in Macbeth, where Hecate,

There hangs a vaporous drop profound,
I'll catch it, ere it come to ground;
And that, distill'd by magic slights,
Shall raise such artificial sprights,
As, by the strength of their illusion,
Shall draw him on to his confusion.
Part of the ingredients of the caldron were
Slips of yew

Slivered in the moon's eclipse

and there are other passages alluding to their ceremonials.

"Time rolls his ceaseless course," bearing on his wings the lessons of Divine Truth to the different regions of the earth. How many forms of religion have already been cast into the shade by them? And the period will doubtless arrive when the Temple of Jagganatha, now an object of veneration to millions, will, with his ceremonies, become the subject of some legendary tale, or like the Druid's temple, a mere theme for the antiquary.

[Compiled from various Authors.]

WHEN we see the year in his prime and pride, decked with beautiful blossoms, and all goodly varieties of flowers, cheered with the music of birds, and stated in a sweet and moderate temper of heat and cold, how glad we are that we have made so good an exchange for a hard and chilling winter; and how ready we could be to wish that this But herein (were our desires satisfied) we should wish to pleasure and happy season might last all the year long. our own disadvantage; for if the spring were not followed with an intention of summer heat, those fruits, whose hopes we see in the bud and flower, would never come to any perfection, and even that succeeding fervour, if it should continue long, would be no less prejudicial to the relaxation of that vigorous heat in Autumn, as the sap health and life of all creatures; and if there were not a returns back into the root, we could never look to see but one year's fruit.-BISHOP HALL.

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LONDON: Published by JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND; and sold by all Booksellers,

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UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

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CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST CHURCH OXFORD.

THE CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST-CHURCH,

OXFORD.

KING Henry the Eighth, on dissolving the monasteries in this country, determined to apply a portion of the funds arising from them to the erection and endowment of some new collegiate churches and bishoprics. Thus he added six episcopal sees to the old number, five of which are retained;-Bristol, Chester, Gloucester, Oxford, and Peterborough, (the two latter having been taken out of Lincoln;) but the sixth, the bishopric of Westminster, after continuing ten years, was abolished in the reign of Edward the Sixth. It is a curious fact, that five other dioceses were contemplated by Henry; viz., Bodmin, Colchester, Dunstable, Shrewsbury, and Southwell; neither of which, owing to the king finding other ways for his money, was ever matured according to the plan devised. In 1546, he removed the see of Oxford from the ancient abbey-church of Osney, where it had been established for five years, to the church of St. Frideswide, from that time called Christ

Church Cathedral; Dr. R. King, abbot of Osney, becoming the first bishop of Oxford. Antiquaries have been eloquent in the praise of the abbey-church of Osney, which was about half a mile from Oxford, assuring us that in extent and beauty, "it was not only the envy of other religious houses in England, but also beyond the seas."

war.

ancient altar-tombs, and the shrine of Frideswide, an
elaborate and magnificent tomb, consisting of three
tiers of tabernacle work, the upper tier of which is
richly ornamented with canopied niches. Many of
the windows were destroyed during the parliamentary
Among the monuments are those of Lady Eli-
zabeth Montacute; of Robert Burton, author of the
Anatomy of Melancholy; of several members of the
university, and of other eminent persons who died at
Oxford, while Charles the First held his court at
Christ-Church; also a very fine statue of Dr. Cyril
Jackson, by our eminent living sculptor Chantrey.
Part of the cloisters remain. The chapter-house is
a beautiful specimen of the early English style.
The following is, we believe, a correct statement of
the dimensions of this cathedral.

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It would not be right in our short account of the building, to pass by without notice "the bonny ChristChurch bells," which, ten in number, hang in the tower of the Cathedral, and which were brought thither from Osney Abbey. Nor must we omit to mention "the Mighty Tom," the largest bell in England, which was also brought from Osney to this church, and has formed the subject of more than one classical copy of verses. On hearing its well-known sound, the students of the University take it as a signal to retire within their respective colleges. Willis says "Bishop John Fell, who built the noble tower in front of the stately gate of Christ-Church, removed thither, out of the campanile or bell-tower in the cathedral, the great bell called Tom; which Thomas, now called Great Tom of Christ-Church, had this inscription anciently on it:—

In Thomæ laude

Resono BIM BOм sine fraude."

Which monkish couplet of bad latin may be thus

In praise of Thomas, I repeat

As the venerable structure represented in the plate was originally the church of St. Frideswide, on the site of whose monastery the noble and distinguished college of Christ-Church (first founded by Cardinal Wolsey,) also stands, we cannot forbear giving the legendary history of this lady. Frideswide, anciently honoured as the patroness of Oxford, was the daughter of Didanus, a petty prince in those parts, who had founded an abbey. Algar, Earl of Leicester, fell deeply in love with the maiden, and coveted her for his wife, though she was a nun, and had been set apart as sacred from the world. Meeting with a" done into English ;". refusal, he wickedly resolved to carry her off by force; but the virgin, as it is said, miraculously warned of his design, withdrew privately in a boat, to a place ten miles from Oxford, called Benton, where she lay concealed with two of her ladies, in a forsaken hut covered with ivy. Algar in the mean time, following up his purpose, threatened to destroy the town of Oxford, if the inhabitants did not inform him where Frideswide was hidden; till at length, being struck with blindness near the north gate, for his bold impiety, he acknowledged the hand of Providence, implored and obtained the virgin's prayers, was restored to sight, and, going home, ceased to trouble her more. "From which time," as the legend declares, “for divers ages, none of our kings durst enter Oxford, lest they should have met with a like disaster!" She died in 739.

Christ-Church Cathedral is supposed to have been built about the year 1200. It has much of the Norman style, with a tower in the centre, surmounted by a spire of early English architecture. The exterior is greatly hidden by the college-buildings with which it is surrounded; being on the east of the grand square of Christ-Church. The interior contains many interesting objects of attention. The arches of the nave, part of which have been demolished, are in a double series. The choir, which was wainscoted with oak in the time of Charles the First, is very handsome;

the roof, a fine piece of stonework, put up by Wolsey, being richly groined and adorned with pendants. The pulpit is antique, and curiously carved. On the north of the choir are chapels of a later period than the rest of the building. In the Dean's chapel are some

My DONG! DING! DONG! without deceit. "Dr. Tresham, a papist, is said to have baptized this bell by the name of Mary, when it was removed from Osney to Christ-Church, where he was canon, for the joy of Queen Mary's reign." The excellent Dr. Fell had it recast in 1680, by Christopher Hodson of London, with additional metal *.

Diameter of the Bell.
From the crown to the rim
Thickness of striking-place
Weight.

Weight of Clapper.

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respective weights, see Saturday Magazine, Vol. I., p. 21.
For an account of the different bells in Europe, and of their

M.

THE LOVE OF TRUTH is a most important habit to cultivate, and it claims an alliance with the heart as well as the

head. It must be grounded on a virtuous disposition, for always to remember that our reasoning faculties were not no vicious person can be a lover of truth. We ought given us to exercise them as mere whim or fancy might dictate, but to be the active instruments of guiding us to truth, and promoting our happiness as rational and immortal creatures. To enter into verbal or written disputations for the mere sake of argument, is a pernicious practice. It will, if continued for any length of time, make a person, altogether insensible to truth, and will unhinge the whole fabric of his mind. Unless, therefore, a love of truth occupies a conspicuous station among our mental excellencies, we shall make no progress in real disorderly assemblage of contradictory systems and opinions: knowledge. Our mind will present an unseemly and it will be without order, symmetry, or grace, and the clouds of prejudice will hang over the chaotic mass, just admitting as much light through the hazy medium, as to make the scattered fragments of truth darkly visible.-BLAKEY.

ON THE MORAL AND PHYSICAL CONDITION design in the operation of that first cause to which it

OF MAN. II.

Ir is not in respect to his physical nature alone, that man is so highly elevated in nature. In respect to his moral and religious nature also, man enjoys a high privilege in the converse which it is permitted him to hold with the Most High in his works.

not so.

However a knowledge of the truths of Natural Science may offer to him the means of augmenting his temporal welfare, did the study thereof produce an influence pernicious to him, in regard to that welfare which is eternal, who would not wish that it should for ever be to him as a sealed book? But it is The principles of physical science, if rightly viewed, point directly to some of the great and most important truths of REVELATION; above all, they lead directly to an assured knowledge of the existence and attributes of God. "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by those things which are made, even his eternal power and GODHEAD*." There is a perpetual chain of cause and effect visible through all Nature. Wherever man directs his investigation, he finds causes which are but the effects of others, and these of others in a perpetual chain. Is it wonderful, that he should look for a first cause, to which this infinity of effects stands in the same relation that he does to such as are the consequences of his own actions.

Although his search for that first cause among the beings whose existence is made known to him through the medium of sensation, be in vain, yet, ascending through the chain of causes, he has a distinct consciousness that he is approximating to the first cause. The number of facts which he perceives to stand in the relation of causes to the rest, continually diminishes as he proceeds, until at length, he arrives at certain of them, beyond which his senses refuse to carry him; and these seem to him to stand next in order to the first cause. They may be classed under the heads of TIME, SPACE, MATTER, and FORCE.

In considering the relations of Time, Space, Matter, and Force, one of the first things that strikes us, is the uniformity of those relations. Such that the same cause shall, under the same circumstances, always produce the same effect. This uniformity constitutes a LAW; and each particular relation of cause and effect, thus uniform, is a LAW OF NATURE. With regard to such actions as are the immediate subjects of man's own will, every one perceives that he has the power of modifying and varying them, together with the sequence of cause and effect growing out of each, in every conceivable degree; and that he has also the power of adjusting his effort as first cause, so as to produce a certain remote effect, and neither more nor less than that effect. This adaptation of the primary cause (and with it of all the intermediate causes,) to the remote effect, he calls DESIGN. It is this power of design, or contrivance, which distinguishes the relation of cause and effect, in living and intelligent beings, from that which exists in the operation of inanimate agents and unintelligent beings. Wherever we trace this relation of cause and effect, coupled with design, we may conclude the existence and operation of an intelligent being.

Now this design is MANIFEST throughout Nature. Every blade of grass, every bud, every leaf, every blossom that the wind strews around us, every one of those organized and living beings by which we are surrounded, each of these, in its order, proclaims

* Romans i. 20.

owes its being; and thus it proclaims the existence of a living and intelligent Creator.

Turning again from the contemplation of the works of God in the universe, to the consideration of his own powers, man perceives that not only can he render those powers available for the production of certain remote effects, but, further, that he can render those other external powers, over whose action he has no control, available to the same end. Not in any way modifying those powers, for that is impossible, the mode or law of their action being by the will of the great First Cause, but applying them. Thus, he can avail himself of the gravitating force, or weight, of a stone, to produce either pressure or impact; the action of the stone is the same, but in the one case, the impulses of gravitation which it continually receives, are as continually destroyed, whilst in the other, their accumulated energy is destroyed altogether. Nay, further, he has power to bring about the action of these natural causes upon one another. He can bring, for instance, matter under the action of force, and he can subject both to the influence of time and space. He can, further, induce the operation of these combinations in every possible degree upon one another.

Now, looking into the natural world, he perceives that there must have taken place in it some such operation as that of which he thus finds himself capable. All that now exists, might have existed as it does now; there might have been every atom of matter, every particle of force, and the same space occupied through the same time, and these subject to the same laws; and yet, had not these been brought under the operation or influence of one another, there would have remained a state of things, the disorder of which it is beyond the power, or even the province, of imagination to conceive. The whole would have remained without form and void, replete with the elements of disorder, and the subject of perpetual change.

Here, then, we trace again, evidence of the operation of a First Cause, bringing together what we have termed second causes, and thus applying their combined action according to the laws which He has himself first imposed upon them, according to a method of operation to which man finds something similar, but inconceivably inferior in degree, in his own power.

There is yet another proof of the existence of the Deity, drawn from strictly scientific considerations, and founded indeed in the very principles of science.

Not only, do the planets revolve round the sun, but about certain axes within themselves, producing thereby the alternations of day and night; and these axes are inclined at certain angles to the planes of their revolution, thereby bringing about the variety of the seasons. Now to effect all this, as we find it effected, the one original impulse must have been made with a certain force, in a certain direction, and at a certain point, on the surface of each planet. Here, then is design. And when we consider that the whole of animated nature is contrived with a view to the alternations of light and heat,-the green leaf, the bud, the blossom, and the fruit, in vegetables; the clothing, the internal organization, and the principle of life, in animals-do we hesitate to admit that design to be the emanation of infinite wisdom?

If I wished to ascend or descend a hill, or pass from one portion of it to another, with the least possible muscular exertion or expense of force, a slight consideration would show me that the precise path to

be pursued, would be dependent on the form and inclination of the different parts of the hill, upon the nature of my own muscular energies, and upon other data, of which I could scarcely by any possibility acquire a knowledge, and on which, when known, my intellectual powers would be quite insufficient to enable me to found a conclusion. Under these circumstances, the chances are infinitely greater, that I should select the wrong than the right path. Now, if I were to project a stone up the hill, or obliquely across it, or suffer it to roll down it, whatever obstacles opposed its motion, whether they arose from friction, resistance, or any other cause, constant or casual, still would the stone, when left to itself, ever pursue that path in which there was the least possible expenditure of its efforts; and if its path were fixed, then would its efforts be the least possible in that path. This extraordinary principle is called that of least action; its existence and universal prevalence, admit of complete mathematical demonstration.

Every particle of dust blown about in the air, every particle of that air itself, has its motions subjected to it. Every ray of light that passes from one medium into another, deflects from its rectilinear course, that it may choose for itself the path of least possible action, and for a similar reason, in passing through the atmosphere, it bends itself in a particular curve down to the eye. The mighty planets too, that make their circuits ever within those realms of space, which we call our system; the comets, whose path is beyond it; all these are alike made to move so as best to economize the forces developed in their

progress.

Now, those forces which are not developed by living beings, are planted in the substances in which they reside, by the hand of God, and subjected to the laws which he from the beginning imposed upon them. It has pleased the Almighty then that the works of his hands should every-where be wrought in accordance with that principle of least effort, which he has also implanted as a principle of our nature in us, and which, thus impelled, we ever develop more or less, in our own feeble efforts. The difference lies only in this, that in Him this principle acts controlled by infinite wisdom, and therefore, its operation is perfect; with us, it manifests itself under the guidance of a limited knowledge and most erring judgment, and its developement partakes of their imperfections. In the adjustment of his efforts, so as to produce the required effect with the least posible expense of force-it has been shown then, again, that (according to a great truth of revelation) man is created in the image of God, and that he retains the resemblance. The principle of force lodged in each particle of matter, has been believed to be but a direct emanation of the Deity, there acting continually, and at every moment. The scrupulous economy of force, the wonderful store (if the expression may be used) which Nature sets by it, points to that conclusion.

Man was created in the image of God. And it has been shown, that, in the possession of a power, almost absolute, over the material existences around him; and, in the exercise of an intellect whose resources no effort would seem to exhaust; and, in the manner in which he exercises that power and that intellect; he may yet be said to retain traces of that original from which he first sprung, and that image wherein he was first created.

Do not these reflections at once suggest the contrast of his moral condition? What does this description of his majestic bearing in creation, the extent of his physical powers, the resources of his intellect, and his resemblance, in respect to his

physical nature, to the God who made him, so forcibly present to the mind as the degradation of his moral nature, and its fall from that perfect image in which we may reasonably conclude that it too, as well as his physical nature, was first created.

[Abridged from MOSELEY's Mechanics applied to the Arts.]

HINDOO RIDDLES.

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THE Hindoos (especially their females) take great delight in riddles, apologues, and fables. By this method they convey pleasure, instruction, or reproof: see them in their marriage feasts, or in their evenings at home," how pleasantly they pass their time in thus puzzling each other, and calling forth the talents of the young. The story of Sinthā-manni and Vera-maran is a striking instance of the importance which they attach to riddles.

The king, called Veerasoora-toora-tan, and his nobles went out with their chariots, horsemen, footmen, and elephants, to hunt the savage beasts of the desert. After some time the king complained of thirst, when the prime-minister took him to a deep well, and whilst his majesty was looking down, his faithless minister pushed him in; he then returned to the capital, published the death of the sovereign, and proclaimed himself king. The queen of the deceased monarch immediately went to a distant country, and procured a living by selling fire-wood. Not long after her residence there, some officers, on a hunting excursion, saw her, and told their sovereign of a majestic woman they had seen selling fire-wood. The king sent for her, became enamoured with her, and determined to make her his wife; but she, on pretence of going out a little, departed to another country. After travelling some days she came in sight of the cottage of a despised pariah, and, on going near to it, he came out, and, seeing her noble mien, bowed to the earth. She said "I am a seller of fire-wood, and beg you will allow me to live near to you." The pariah replied," Madam, you must be of another rank; you look like a queen. I will build your majesty a cottage, and supply your wants." She had not been long there before she brought forth a son to the late Veerasoora-toora-tan, to whom she gave the name of Vera-maran. The infant was anointed with oil, and rubbed with holy ashes. The pariah went forth, and blew the victorious chank, put up the triumphant flag, purchased anklets, a waist-chain, bracelets, armlets, and neck-rings, for the infant prince. So great was his joy, that he made gifts in money, robes, and cows to the brahmins, and offerings to the gods.

He

In course of years, the youth became exceedingly beautiful and accomplished. In the battle or the chase he was always the hero of the field. having heard of the fascinating princess Sinthāmanni, determined to try to get her for his wife, but was told she would not give her hand to any one who could not explain all her riddles, and those who failed were to forfeit their lives. His soul was fixed on the attempt; and, notwithstanding many princes had fallen a sacrifice to the talented princess, and in despite of the entreaties of his friends, he took his departure for the palace of Sinthä-manni. When he came in sight of the city, he was perfectly astonished with its splendour. Now he thought of all he had heard of the nine hundred and ninety-nine gates; of the ponds and streams of perfumed waters; of the groves; of the fair deity of the palace, with her attendants, the astronomers, the heralds, the bearers of incense, the beautiful footmen, the nobles, the musicians; he thought on her banners of gold, her

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