I have been also forcibly struck with some remarks of Mr. Villers, in his very sensible and learned Prize Essay, on the influences of Luther's Reformation. The magnitude of his subject seemed to appall him; and, on the outset, he inquires, 'Is not that great event, which I consider as a cause itself, the simple result of many other events that have preceded it?—and must I not on this account, refer to them, and not to it, which has only been an intermediate agent?" "To the eye of the mind,' continues he, 'every event traced upwards, becomes a simple effect; every effect, traced downwards, becomes in its turn a cause. To mount up to a first cause subsisting by itself, is a demand on our intellectual nature which searches for an absolute principle, on which its speculations must terminate.' And he concludes with the following beautiful illustration. A man entirely unacquainted with the nature of a river, arriving on the banks of one, and observing it here to flow in an extensive plain, there confined in a narrow channel, in another place foaming by the agitation of a cataract,—such a man would regard the first turning of the stream, where it lies concealed from his eye, as the origin of the river-but should he ascend, the cataract would produce a similar illusion; and having reached the source at last, he would then consider the mountain from which it issues, as the primary cause of the river: he would soon however reflect, that the bowels of the mountain must shortly be exhausted by so constant a stream-he would then observe

the accumulation of clouds, and the rains, without which the drained mountain would yield no water-thus would the clouds become the primary cause! but those, again, are brought by the winds which sweep the great seas—and, still further, by the sun it is that they are raised from the sea! Whence, then, comes this power in the sun?"

But, enough has been said in this note, to unfold my meaning, which briefly is, that whilst the ultimate cause, of almost any thing, is as much beyond the reach of the intellectual eye, as is the beginning of a circle, (the total disregard of which has generated many of the crudities of vain and ponderous learning)-yet, that contentment, in most cases, with the mere proximate cause, would fall far short of the legitimate limits of philosophical inquiry, and would generally end in meagre sciolism:-the juste milieu, therefore, in this, as in all other things, should be carefully observed by writers, be they metaphysicians, physicians, historians, poets, or what

not.

XVII.

CHAPTER V.

CATHEDRALIZING. - XVIII. AN OLLA-PODRIDA. - XIX. DREAMING.-XX. THOUGHTS ON A PLAY OR TWO.XXI. THE ADVANTAGES OF IMPUDENCE.

NOTE XVII.-CATHEDRALIZING.

ONE of the occupations of a traveller in England, but especially on the Continent, may, not unappropriately be called cathedralizing, for the which I conceived no little passion, having been led to explore (at least under the genus church) perhaps, an hundred on the favoured island, and, possibly, ten times as many on the, continent! These temples raised to the God of christians, be they basilika, cathedral, church, or chapel, are often full of the visible chronicles of many centuries: they shadow forth the progress, mutations, decline, and revival of architecture-the growth and variations of the fine arts-the piety, follies, and superstitions of hierarchs, of monarchs, and of people the rise, progress, and fall of religions, and of sects the vandal outrages, and destructions of opposing bigots-the devastations of war, the reparations of peace-the memorials of family affection, pride, or arrogance in the perpetuation of the names of the great, the good, and the

wicked-the trophies of patriotism, or of a country's gratitude, preserved in connection with the warrior's mausoleum, or his more humble slab— the exquisite, or faulty taste of sculptors, painters, poets-and, in fine, these temples, perhaps better than any other species of building, are the faithful guardians, and permanent repositories of many of the notabilia in a nation's history.

I am, then, not ashamed of the many hours of many days, devoted to this pursuit, nor of the particularity manifested, even in this brief note, respecting one of these magnificent christian temples.

The descriptions and reflections of a tourist, charming as they sometimes are, have now become so trite and cur-cheap,, that they pall upon the appetite; and the very name of tour, or of tourist, is fast approaching the fate of things that are common, or mawkishly odious! Now,

'As every fool describes in these bright days,

His wonderous journey to some foreign court,'

I have long since resolved never to indite a book, nay, not even a chapter, of travels! And yet, no reason do I see why I should not indulge in a little harmless note in my diary, for my own amusement, and edification withal; for it is most pleasant to recall such things to one's memory— so that one may there resort at will, no one to chubb him for the trite, erroneous, or silly things he may have recorded, nor for the fashion in which they may be clothed-but never, oh never, should he permit one of them to meet the public eye!

for then, no plea of a private nature would avail as an excuse, nor could he haughtily say, in regard to the fashion thereof, 'C'est ma façon de parler, and a further reason I scorn to give,' as well might be said when such notes are suffered to meet only his own eye, or that of some special friend.*

The PHILOSOPHY OF TRAVEL Would be, indeed, a beautiful subject; but it has never yet been attempted, and, perhaps, never will be, as much from the want of an author, as, possibly, of sufficiently numerous readers were it written! The great work of the Abbe Barthélemy is scarce an exception to my remark-and yet that was the labour of thirty years, the production of an accomplished general scholar, orientalist, antiquarian, and industrious traveller; but it treats of matters and things he had never seen, it being the imaginary travels of the younger Anacharsis in Greece: whereas I allude to the philosophy of modern travel into various countries-not the result of extensive reading merely, but also of actual observation, and of deep research among the interesting and recherché things, as far as they are extant,

*The reader now perceives that the closing part of the author's resolution, like some lovers' vows, vanished into thin air, when he decided to give the public a peep into his note-book. As the matters were when first written, so do they now appear, with such occasional additions and variations only, as might impart to them something of a more popular form. But he fears he must still crave pardon even for this small note of travels, and for any others that appear in this little volume, so far forth as they may be clearly referred to the head of travels, which he very generally endeavoured to avoid.