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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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THE CATHEDRAL OF ORLEANS. ORLEANS is a large town, of great antiquity, in the central part of France, situated on the right bank of the river Loire. It is the capital of the department of the Loiret, and consequently the seat of a prefect, and of the departimental offices; it is also the seat of a bishopric. It stands at the foot of a small hill, and its appearance from a distance is beautiful; the country around is undulating and diversified in its character, being covered with luxuriant vegetation, and presenting the appearance of pleasure-grounds, agreeably intermixed with vineyards and fruit-trees. The town itself is built with tolerable regularity; the streets are in general straight, though narrow and inconvenient, and the architecture of the houses is chiefly of an antiquated style. Its principal attraction is the Cathedral, which is esteemed one of the finest Gothic buildings in France.

It is comparatively a modern work, having been commenced in the year 1601, and it owes its origin to the great king Henry the Fourth. That monarch was excommunicated by the pope as a heretic in professing the Protestant religion; but was afterwards absolved, when, in order to secure possession of his throne, he embraced the Catholic faith. One condition of the absolution was, that the king should establish certain religious houses in France; but Henry was allowed to exchange this obligation, for that of restoring the Cathedral of Orleans, which, since the year 1567, had remained in a very dilapidated state. In order to procure the funds necessary for the accomplishment of this object, a solemn jubilee was proclaimed, to take place in the city, and recourse was had to one of those artifices by which the church of Rome, practising on the superstitious ignorance and credulity of the age, had so frequently succeeded in replenishing an exhausted treasury. The scandalous sale of indulgences-those "wicked contrivances of Romish flatterers" as Luther called them, which had for their object "to rob men of their money, and to pervert the faith of the Gospel," -was openly exercised; and that the powerful influence of example might not be wanting, the festival was publicly attended by the king and queen.

The scheme was, as it had been on former occasions, successful; and the people flocked in numbers to Orleans, eager to purchase an imaginary pardon for their sins, upon the easy terms on which it was offered,―for ordinarily it was necessary to make a journey to Rome, to obtain an indulgence. So great indeed was the concourse of persons assembled, that the preachers were compelled to deliver their discourses in the open air; in the space of three months, the communion was administered to 500,000 individuals, and no less than 10,000 masses were celebrated in the same period. The fruits of this imposture were so considerable, that on the 18th of April, 1601, the first stone of the new cathedral was laid, the ceremony being performed by the king, in person, with great pomp. The monarch was extremely zealous on the occasion, and expressed, strongly, his determination to complete the work which his hands had thus begun; nevertheless its progress was slow, being impeded by various unforeseen obstacles. Even at this day the Cathedral is not entirely finished.

The inhabitants of Orleans, and the historians of the town, speak of their Cathedral as the most magnificent in France;-it certainly possesses very considerable attractions. Although built chiefly in the seventeenth century, the character of its architecture is, with some exceptions, that of the thirteenth and fourteenth; and the manner in which the architects have preserved, throughout almost the whole struc

ture, a perfect unity of style, and a freedom from those vicious innovations which had been introduced in their own times, is deserving of much commendation. The great western, or principal front, was begun in 1723, and is surmounted by two towers, which form its principal ornaments, and which consist of three beautiful pieces of Architecture, rising successively one above the other, and each smaller than the base on which it rests. The northern and southern sides of the building are nearly similar in their appearance; the latter is represented in our engraving, and derives much beauty from the rose window and the flying buttresses which ornament the extremity of the transept in this direction.

The interior of the Cathedral of Orleans is spacious, and has much of that character of vastness and grandeur which distinguish buildings of its kind, but there is nothing particularly remarkable, either in its architectural arrangements, or in the ornaments which decorate it. It would indeed be singular, if, while after the lapse of more than two centuries, and the expenditure of immense sums of money, the building itself remains still unfinished, its embellishment should have reached any degree of perfection. Before the Revolution it did possess some ornaments of value; but almost all of them disappeared at that period.

GooD works may exist without saving principles, ana therefore cannot contain in themselves the principles of salvation; but saving principles never did, never can exist without good works. Men often talk against faith, and make strange monsters in their imagination of those who profess to abide by the words of the apostle interpreted literally, and yet in their ordinary feelings, they themselves judge and act by a similar principle. For what is love without kind offices whenever they are possible? (and they are always possible, if not by actions, commonly so called, yet by kind words, by kind looks, and where these are out of our power, by kind thoughts and fervent prayers!) yet what noble mind would not be offended, if he were supposed to value the serviceable offices equally with the love that produced them; or if he were thought to value the love for the sake of the services, and not the services for the sake of the love?-COLERIDGE.

AMONGST great numbers of men accounted rich, but few really are so. I take him to be the only rich man, that For there is no determinate sum of money, nor quantity lives upon what he has, owes nothing, and is contented. of estate, that can denote a man rich; since no man is truly rich that has not so much as perfectly satiates his desire of having more. For the desire of more is want, and want is poverty.-HowE.

In a late number of the Saturday Magazine”, a description was given of the Papyrus Plant, (Cyperus Papyrus.) It is probable that Bishop Jeremy Taylor drew his illustration from this plant in the following very remarkable passage.

"The canes of Egypt, when they newly arise from their bed of mud and slime of Nilus, start up into an equal and continued length, and are interrupted but with few knots, intervals; but when they are grown to their full length, and are strong and beauteous, with great distances and they lessen into the point of a pyramid, and multiply their knots and joints, interrupting the fineness and smoothness of its body; so are the steps and declensions of him that does not grow in grace. At first, when he springs up from his impurity by the waters of baptism and repentance, he grows straight and strong, and suffers but few interruptions of piety; and his constant courses of religion are but rarely intermitted, till they ascend up to a full age, or towards the ends of their life; then they are weak, and their devotions often intermitted, and they seek excuses, and love God and religion less and less; till their old age, instead of a crown of their virtue and perseverance, ends in levity and unprofitable courses; light and useless as it and abuse it, but no man can make it useful."the tufted feathers upon the cane, every wind can play with -Sermon xiv. § 3. D. I. E.

* See the Saturday Magazine, Vol. IV., p. 208.

GREAT NUMBERS.

No. I. NUMBERS DESCRIPTIVE OF MAGNITUDE.

IN mental operations, few things are more difficult, or more imperfectly performed, than that of estimating great numbers. We are accustomed to speak and to read of thousands and millions of miles, of years, of inhabitants, and of pounds sterling, without possessing any definite idea of the relative degrees of vastness which these numbers are intended to prefigure, as respects extension, duration, population, or value.

To assist our conceptions as to the magnitude of the earth; of its attendant, the moon; of the sun; and of the planets, which, like ourselves, revolve round the sun; to enable us to form some notion of the distance the moon is from the earth; that of the

respective planets from the earth and the sun; and of

the sun from the nearest star; it seems desirable that we employ some simple and familiar mode of computation, in addition to that of abstract quantities; and that the process we select, should impressively convey to the mind an accurate perception of greatness, without fatiguing and bewildering it by frequent

repetition.

In surveying the world on which we dwell, we are, very properly, affected by its extent and its grandeur. It is, when viewed in relation to the beings who inhabit it, extensive, as respects its dimensions, and magnificent, as respects its structure. But when we contrast it with other worlds, some of which may be considered our near neighbours, our own beautiful globe sinks into comparative insignificance; and though we know it is not the least, we have abundant attestations that it is very far removed from the greatest, of the Creator's works.

The only means we possess, for ascertaining the dimensions of the earth, is by measuring off, in succession, certain distinct portions of its surface, and then computing the extent of the whole by a comparison of these separate parts. This has been done with such astonishing accuracy that Sir J. W. Herschel assures us, he considers it extremely improbable that, in the estimated diameter * of the

earth, an error exists to the extent of five miles.

The figure of the earth is spherical. It is not a true sphere, inasmuch that its equatorial diameter is somewhat greater than its polar. The difference, however, is so trifling, that in a model made to represent the earth in its just proportions, supposing it to be sixteen inches in diameter,

C

D

in the direction denoted in

the annexed figure from A to B; the diameter in the other direction, from C to D, would require to be only th (one twentieth) of an inch less; a variation from a true sphere, that neither the hand nor the eye could detect. The greatest diameter of the earth is estimated as equal to 7925 (seven thousand nine hundred and twenty-five), and its least, to 7899 (seven thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine) English miles, the difference being 26 miles. A mile is equal to 8 furlongs, each furlong being equal to 220 yards, each yard equal to 3 feet, and each foot equal to 12 inches. An English statute mile comprises, there

From two Greek words, dia, through, and metron, a measure. It implies a right line; that is, a straight line passing through the centre of a circle or other curved figure, dividing it into two equal parts. As applied to a solid, it denotes the distance from the exterior surface on one side, to the exterior surface on the other side, by a straight line passing through the centre.

fore, 8 furlongs, or 1760 (one thousand seven hundred and sixty) yards, or 5280 (five thousand two hundred and eighty) feet, or 63,360 (sixty-three thousand three hundred and sixty) inches.

The real diameter of the earth approximates so nearly to 8000 (eight thousand) miles, that it is generally so described for the sake of round numbers. As our object is not so much to convey accurate information on subjects connected with astronomy, on the present occasion, as it is to give a general idea of the dimensions of the earth, and of the bodies that are known to us as its companions in the Solar System, we shall adopt the popular mode of computation; assume the diameter of the earth as equal to 8000 miles, and employ that diameter as a standard measure in comparing the earth with other worlds. hours per day, but resting on the Sabbath-day, he If a man were to walk 4 miles per hour, and 12 would be six lunar months (28 days each), 3 weeks, coach, travelling at an average rate of 10 miles per and nearly 5 days, walking 8000 miles. A stagehour, both day and night, and, as is too commonly the practice, Sundays and other days alike, would accomplish that distance in 1 month 5 days and 8

hours. A steam-carriage on a rail-way, similar to those employed between Liverpool and Manchester, moving at an average rate of 25 miles per hour, day and night, Sundays and other days, would perform the distance in 13 days and 6 hours.

The diameter of the earth is only one of its dimensions. The extent of its exterior surface, is what chiefly concerns its inhabitants, since it is there that they carry on the greatest number of their daily avocations. The circumference † of the earth at the equator, is estimated at 24,899 (twenty-four thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine) or, in round numbers, 25,000 (twenty-five thousand) miles. To travel this distance would occupy a man, walking at the rate already mentioned, 20 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days. A ship, supposing she could take a direct course, and average 8 miles per hour, would accomplish the distance in 4 months, 2 weeks, 4 days, and days, and 4 hours; and a steam-carriage in 1 month, 1 week, 6 days, and 16 hours.

5 hours; a stage-coach in 3 months, 2 weeks, 6

The moon, being our nearest neighbour and con stant companion in the regions of space, next claims the earth. Its diameter is rather more than one our attention. The moon is very inferior in size to fourth that of the earth; namely, 2160 (two thou earth to be a solid sphere, (and there is every reason sand one hundred and sixty) miles. Supposing the to conclude that it is,) if the materials of which it is composed were separated into 49 equal parts, each part would be equal to the bulk of the moon. walk 2160 miles, would occupy a man 1 month, 3 weeks, and 3 days.

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The circumference of a circle is rather more than 3 times its diameter. The circumference of the moon is about 6785 (six thousand seven hundred and eighty-five) miles, a distance that would be run by a steam-carriage in 11 days and 7 hours.

Venus is nearer

Next in order among the superior planets, as respects dimensions, is Mercury, whose diameter is estimated at 3140 (three thousand one hundred and forty) miles. Mercury is larger than the moon, but the size of the earth than either of the other planets, considerably less than the earth. its diameter being about 7800 (seven thousand eight hundred) miles. Mars has a diameter rather more + From two Latin words, circum, round, and fero, to carry. It signifies the exterior line that bounds a circular body.

As 1 is to 3.1416, so is the diameter of a circle to its circumference.

than half that of the earth; namely, 4100 (four thousand one hundred) miles.

Revolving between Mars and Jupiter are four celestial bodies, commonly called planets; but which are supposed to be the separated fragments of what was once a larger planet. The names of these bodies, which have all been discovered since the commencement of the present century, are Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta. They are so extremely diminutive, when compared with the other planetary bodies, that they seem only as specks in the creation; the largest being 160 and the smallest about 80 miles in diameter. They are not visible to the unassisted

eye.

The largest planet in our system, is Jupiter. The diameter of this magnificent body is nearly 11 times that of the earth. It is estimated at 87,000 (eightyseven thousand) miles. For a man to walk that distance, would occupy very nearly 7 years; a steamcarriage would accomplish it in 5 months and 5 days. Saturn has a diameter equal to 10 times that of the earth, or about 80,000 (eighty thousand miles.) Next beyond Saturn, is Uranus, the most remote of the planets known to the inhabitants of our world. Its diameter is about 35,000 (thirty-five thousand) miles, rather more than 4 times that of the earth. The bulk of Uranus is equal to 80 such bodies as the earth.

The most transcendently beautiful of all the mighty orbs with which we are associated, is the Sun, the centre of motion, and the source of light, to the whole planetary system. In contemplating an object in its dimensions so stupendous, in its aspect so splendid, the mind is lost in wonder. The real diameter of the sun is estimated at 882,000 (eight hundred and eighty-two thousand) miles, exceeding, in this respect, the earth, in the proportion of 111 In bulk, the sun is equal to 1,384,472 (one million, three hundred and eighty-four thousand, four hundred and seventy-two) such bodies as the earth.

to 1.

To travel a distance equal to the diameter of the sun, would occupy a man, supposing him to proceed at the rate we have before mentioned, 58 years, 11 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days. A steam-carriage would be 4 years and 2 weeks performing the same distance. Proceeding uninterruptedly at the same rate, namely, 25 miles per hour, it would occupy 12 years, 8 months, 3 weeks, 5 days, and 2 hours, for a steam-carriage to run a distance equal to the circumference of the sun, which is about 2,770,891 (two millions, seven hundred and seventy thousand, eight hundred and ninety-one) miles!

Here we lay down the pen. We have treated only of the magnitude of the bodies known to us, as composing what is termed, by its relation to the sun, the Solar System. We have said nothing of the respective distance of the planets from the sun, from each other, and from the earth; nor have we given any account of the velocity with which they move in their several orbits. These subjects will engage our attention in a future paper. Meanwhile, we shall do well to remember, with emotions of gratitude and humility, that the Almighty Being who has created, and who governs innumerable worlds, is concerned in sustaining the brief existence of the insect that floats unseen by us in the sunbeam. Amidst such evidences of infinite power, and such displays of unchanging beneficence, we need entertain no fears that we shall be overlooked or forgotten. Let our chief concern be, that whilst we are the objects of the providential care of our Heavenly Father, we may show, by our faith and good works, that we are also the partakers of His special grace. R. R.

THE NATURALIST'S AUTUMNAL WALK. THE little excursions of the naturalist, from habit and from acquirement, become a scene of constant observation and remark. The insect that crawls, the note of the bird, the plant that flowers, or the vernal green leaf that peeps out, engages his attention, is recognised as an intimate, or noted from some novelty that it presents in sound or aspect. Every season has its peculiar product, and is pleasing or admirable, from causes that variously affect our different temperaments or dispositions; but there are accompaniments in an autumnal morning's woodland walk, that call for all our notice and admiration the peculiar feeling of the air, and the solemn grandeur of the scene around us, dispose the mind to contemplation and remark; there is a silence in which we hear every thing, a beauty that will be observed. The stump of an old oak is a very landscape, with rugged alpine steeps bursting through forests of verdant mosses, with some pale, denuded, branchless lichen, like a scathed oak, creeping up the sides, or crowning the summit. Rambling with unfettered grace, the tendrils of the briony (tamus communis) festoon with its brilliant berries, green, yellow, red, the slender sprigs of the hazel, or the thorn; it ornaments their plainness, and receives a support its own feebleness denies. The agaric, with all its hues, its shades, its elegant variety of forms, expands its cone sprinkled with the freshness of the morning; a transient fair, a child of decay, that “ sprang up in a night, and will perish in a night." The squirrel, agile with life and timidity, gamboling round the root of an ancient beech, its base overgrown with the dewberry (rubus casius), blue with unsullied fruit, impeded in his frolic sports, half angry, darts up the silvery bole again, to peep and wonder at the strange intruder on his haunts. The jay springs up, and screaming, tells of danger to her brood, the noisy tribe repeat the call, are hushed, and leave us; the loud laugh of the woodpecker, joyous and vacant; the hammering of the nuthatch (sitta europaa), cleaving its prize in the chink of some dry bough; the humble-bee, torpid on the disc of the purple thistle, just lifts a limb to pray forbearance of injury, to ask for peace, and bid us

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Leave him, leave him to repose. The cinquefoil, or the vetch, with one lingering bloom yet appears, and we note it from its loneliness. Spreading on the light foliage of the fern, dry and mature, the spider has fixed her toils, and motionless in the midst, watches her expected prey, every thread and mesh beaded with dew, trembling with the zephyr's breath. Then falls the sere and yellow leaf," parting from its spray without a breeze tinkling in the boughs, and rustling scarce audibly along, rests at our feet, and tells us that we part too. All these are distinctive symbols of the season, marked in the silence and sobriety of the hour; and form, perhaps, a deeper impression on the mind, than any afforded by the verdant promises, the vivacities of spring, or the gay, profuse luxuriance of summer. -Journal of a Naturalist.

THE attention which a beneficent Providence has shown to the well-being of its creatures, is beautifully illustrated by the following fact. When a bird sits on its perch at roost, the action of doing so, from the peculiar formation of the muscles of the legs and thighs, draws the claws of the feet together, so that they hold tightly to the perch as long as the comfort and security of the bird would be endangered the bird is in a sitting posture. But for this circumstance, by every gale of wind while it reposed.-Gleanings in Natural History.

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No. IX. THE BATTLES OF THE PYRENEES. WHEN the news reached England of the battle that had been fought at Vittoria, and of the complete rout which the French had suffered on that occasion, it caused unbounded joy and exultation. The thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted to the British general and his troops; and addresses of congratulation were poured in to the throne from various public bodies. The same feeling prevailed in Spain. By a decree of the cortes, the Marquess of Wellington was created Duke of Vittoria; and a grant of the lordship of Sota de Romano, in the kingdom of Granada, was annexed to the title.

of St. Sebastian's and Pamplona, which were both well garrisoned; and it became necessary to make preparations for reducing these, their last, strong-holds. Lord Wellington determined to besiege St. Sebastian's, because its proximity to the sea would allow the means of attack to be more readily obtained; and it was accordingly invested by 10,000 men under Sir Thomas Graham. Pamplona was closely blockaded by a corps of Spaniards; and intrenchments were thrown up on every side of it, to prevent the escape of the garrison, and to cut them off from all supplies.

*"

These events could not fail deeply to fix the attention of Napoleon, and severely to wound his pride. Yet this victory was not more brilliant in its He saw the object for which he had so long conachievement than it was important in its results; for tended, on the point of being wrested from his it was quickly followed by the retreat of the French grasp; and he felt that the most powerful efforts from Spain. We mentioned in our preceding paper were necessary, even to protect the "sacred terrihow precipitate was the flight of Joseph, and how tory itself from invasion. His measures were narrow his escape from capture; his panic-stricken taken at once, and they were regulated according to troops fled with equal rapidity, and they were purthe emergency. Fresh levies were directed upon the sued as hotly. They took the road leading to Pam-Pyrenees, to recruit the exhausted ranks of his plona, and on reaching that fortress, hastened to seek shelter within its walls; but they found the gates closed. Nevertheless, so strong was their alarm, and such their anxiety to place themselves beyond the reach of their pursuers, that they actually endeavoured to force their way over the ramparts, and were only induced to desist, on being opposed by a serious fire of cannon and musketry.

Their stay was, however, but short. Having strengthened the garrison, Joseph resumed his flight; and then taking the main body of his army with him into France, he left the remainder in the valley of El Bastan, the possession of which was desirable, both on account of the fertility of its soil, and the strong positions which it afforded. Lord Wellington immediately took effective measures for dislodging this force; the enemy were forced to abandon every successive post which they occupied, and at length to retire into France.

broken army; and that the general might be equal to the occasion, Marshal Soult, who had quitted Spain in the spring, and followed Napoleon to Germany, was hastily sent back to the scene of operations, as the "Lieutenant of the Emperor."

This appointment restored, in a certain degree, the confidence of the French army, for the reputation of Marshal Soult stood high. The marshal joined his command on the 13th of July, and began his preparations with energy and activity. The army was re-organized, its several corps were again provided with their necessary equipments, and great exertions were used to increase the efficiency of the cavalry and artillery. A proclamation was issued, admitting the dispositions and arrangements of the British general to have been prompt, skilful, and consecutive, and the valour and steadi

Buonaparte had boastingly given this name to France, implying that that country alone, in the whole continent, was free from the

The French still, however, retained the fortresses calamities of war.

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