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tends, at pleasure, the complicated concerns of mankind: a power, who, alike amidst all the fluctuating fortunes of individuals or of kingdoms, still

'Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm.' Such has been the situation of things in all ages; such the recurrence of the peripetia in the grand drama of human life: and such the sentiments by which every nation has, at all times, been actuated. Hence altars have been erected, temples dedi

ber; hence the wrath of the presiding deity has been deprecated, or his benediction coveted and besought.-Can we, then, influenced by considerations like these-by rational arguments and the sanction and testimony of every nation and climate under heaven-can we do otherwise than conclude, in the words of Cicero the Roman orator,--"By the providence of God the world is ordered; all human affairs are under his guidance, and that not only as a whole, but with reference to every part.'

CATHEDRAL.

(Concluded from col. 615.)

or dishonest should in this manner, in due time, meet with the very punishments they so richly deserved, may not particularly excite our surprise, as being merely the obvious consequences of causes equally obvious and natural. But when we behold the Dauphin, who was afterwards Charles the Seventh of France, pursued with resistless impetuosity by the victorious Henry the Fifth of England-a wretched fugitive in a country he was afterwards destined to sway with so much eclat-cated, and vows profused, without numincapable of providing himself and his family with the common necessaries of life;-his father, the reigning monarch, disordered in his intellects; his mother, the flagitious and unnatural Isabelle, consulting to save herself by marrying her daughter to the young conqueror, in exclusion of the Dauphin, apparently for ever; -when we survey the nation vanquished in every part, and the victor, exulting in the mighty deeds he had achieved, advancing towards Paris with all the pomp of royalty and success; there to be crowned, unanimously, sovereign of the conquered country-when we survey these things, and learn that at this eventful OBSERVATIONS ON THE RUINS OF YORK moment the successful Henry expires abruptly in the bloom of youth and vigour, and leaves his victorious armies to save INTERNAL decorations and ornaments atthemselves, in their turn, by a disgraceful tached to useful furniture, are extraneous to, retreat:-or when, in later times, we read and frequently incongruous with, the fabric the history of the memorable armada of in which they are placed, in those portions Spain, destined for the conquest of this of sacred edifices which are appropriated country, which Philip the Second had to the celebration of divine service; they almost ruined himself and his people to are a fabric within a fabric, and may be complete, and which Sixtus the Fifth, the and are, in most cases, removed, replaced, reigning Pope, had consecrated, and be- or changed, according to the prevailing stowed his benediction upon; when we feelings or taste of those, who at the survey this mighty armament pressing on moment preside over their destinies. Havthe very shores of Great Britain with all ing been in the habit of reviewing the the insolence of conscious triumph, and venerable Cathedral Church of York perimark it defeated by a force far inferior to odically, during half a century, and always itself, and wrecked, by the most opportune with peculiar interest and delight, my tempests, on the very coasts it had a few memory recalls into existence, and dwells moments before so insolently menaced; - upon the grandeurs of its choir with pecuwhen reverses of fortune like these are liar zest. On the 20th day of November occurring around us, so abrupt and deci- last, I reviewed and lingered over these sive-the vulgar may stare and keep grandeurs with more than usual interest, silence, the man of science may pretend taking a last look, on finally parting, after to account for them, and resolve the whole returning more than once, I knew not why, into different, though capricious, combina- to look again and again upon that which my tions of natural causes and effects: but the boyish days had dwelt upon with eagertrue philosopher, the man of real reflec- ness, and my manhood had reviewed and tion, even while he acknowledges the pre-re-reviewed with delight; yet little did I sence and energy of natural causation, and contends not for any miraculous interposition, traces, nevertheless, throughout the whole, the secret direction of an invisible and superior power:-a power to whom every element submits, and who superir.

imagine that this view was to be the last, and that, within three short months, all this magnificence would be resolved into dust. On consulting my notes upon that visit, I find the following memorandum:

"Revisited the Cathedral Church at

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Observations on the Ruins of York Cathedral.

York, was peculiarly struck with the hoary magnificence of the choir, venerable with age, and associated with my earliest recollections; this mass of grandeur, congregated in the midst of an immense and truly sublime structure, equally venerable with itself, is not in perfect keeping with the edifice in which it is placed; however, it is a grand mass of ornament, hoary with antiquity, and what, as an old acquaintance, I delight to review, and which I dwell upon with sensations of awe, approaching the sublime: yet it is like a jewel in a setting ungenial with itself; it shines, but shines alone; no reflected rays return to greet its lustre, no genial beams mingle with its radiance; cold is the casket, it gives no note of the gem within. The immense, is the character of this fabric, and its dignity arises out of its vastness and simplicity; complication in the fabric has no place; it is in the choir, and in the choir alone, where the florid bears sway, and its sway assumes more of the feature of usurpation than of legitimacy in its countenance."

On the 13th day of May, I stood upon the same spot, from whence, in the preceding November, I had surveyed and admired the grandeurs of this choir; but they were no more, and in their place an immense void presented itself, naked and bare, and fraught with ruin; but the outlines of the choir, with such parts of the fabric as the removal of these ornaments had rendered visible, in all their pristine dignity presented themselves to the eye; and I was as greatly awed by the imposing ruins and dignified simplicity of this vast edifice, seen for the first time in its immensity, as I previously was by the grandeurs of its choir. It was a moment for feeling, and I felt for the loss the public had sustained; but as it was a moment for feeling recollection, so also was it a moment for contemplation, and I could not but confirm the notes of incongruity I had long made: they rushed upon me with tenfold conviction, when no longer isolated in the midst of this immense structure, amidst the ornaments of the choir, which barred the view in every direction, save towards the grand east window, I beheld the real character of the fabric itself without a veil between.

I conceive, in the reconstruction of the cathedral throne, the stalls, the pulpit, the desks, the pews, the organ loft, and the tabernacle-work in general, a design ought to be adopted which is in perfect harmony with the whole fabric. Much as the venerable antiquity of the former ornaments endeared them to those who were long in

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the habit of contemplating their hoary grandeurs, it cannot be expected that the same veneration awaits a revivification of every thing incongruous which belonged to them. To a chaste and genial re-edification of these ornaments, no doubt, the man of taste will come with an ardour similar to that which induced him to venerate the antiquity of those which are now become dust, but a new edition, uncorrected, will, instead of praise, meet unqualified censure. The florid has no place in the edifice itself, and to give it local habitation in the choir alone, will be to mar rather than re-edify this venerable and interesting monument of antiquity.

The mass of ornaments which formerly occupied the choir, and are now become dust, we have reason to believe were added to the Cathedral Church some time after the fabric itself was finished, and in this addition the taste of the time seems to have been consulted rather than the fitness of this internal decoration with the external structure. The whole mass, however, has now become a total ruin, no part whatever having escaped the sweeping conflagration, which, in the short period of the fraction of a day, destroyed utterly all that science and labour had, by years of plodding and toil, brought to perfection: the time is, therefore, come when the errors of that age may be effectually corrected, without the least inconvenience to the parties concerned; because, as all is destroyed, the whole mass, both as to design and execution, must in toto be erected anew. To borrow a design from perspective views and fragment prints, and eke this design out from memory, may, and in all probability will, embody all the errors of the first, with a portion of its beauties add more errors, and rear, in the place of the departed members, yet more incongruity than existed in the original, at which, when finished, 'many of the ancient men, who have seen the first, will weep and say, In comparison of the first it is as nothing.' Why not consult the style of the edifice itself, and, instead of the florid and fanciful order, which has now passed away, adopt a design founded upon the chasest principles, drawn from the structure itself, without the least deviation, and thus form a consistent whole?

Every man who has attended divine service in a Cathedral Church, must be aware, that there are certain parts thereof, in which a mode is adopted peculiar to that service; to a stranger, therefore, this peculiarity is a novelty, to which he resorts, as well to satisfy his curiosity, as to i

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I humbly conceive, without stepping out of my own line, and setting up for a divine, that the present is the moment when, for the interest of the church of Jesus Christ, which I believe to be one with the church of England, the dignitaries of that church might condescend, with every propriety, to the people, and endear them, by stronger ties than earth can furnish, to themselves and the church, in which they minister in the name of Him who created and redeemed all mankind.

in the service; the grandeurs of these struc- | chancel, from the pews of the choir to the tures have also their attractions, and not a rails of the communion table, duly ornafew are drawn by these to join in the ser- mented, would invite the weary traveller vices celebrated therein; and the preaching to a momentary rest, and speak directly to of the dignitaries of a Cathedral Church his heart. draws to its services strangers of all denominations; but for these, where is the accommodation in the choir? During my repeated visits to York, I have attended divine service in the choir generally, perhaps in the whole a hundred times; but as I invariably sojourned at an inn, and the inn I frequented had not a pew in the choir, during all my attendances upon the cathedral services in York, I never was entitled to a sitting in any one of the pews. Whether it arose out of a forbidding man. ner in the congregation and attendants there, or from my utter neglect, in never trying the silver key which I always carried in my pocket, I will not venture to pronounce; but one thing is certain, I never once was invited, and of course I never sat down in any one of its pews. Occasionally, from mere weariness, I have squatted down upon some of the forms which, in the open area between the pews and the altar, were occupied by soldiers and others, but in general I stood during the whole service; and if I could obtain the situation, stood against the side of the last pew on the north-east end of the choir, which, rather from instinct than choice, might be deemed my favourite situation.

From numbers of respectable travellers, I have heard loud complaints upon the privation, and have witnessed too often to name, the chagrin and disappointment under which they writhed, on retiring from divine service in that choir. I would humbly ask, would it not be a work, light as the labours of love, in the reconstruction of the choir to mingle hospitality to the stranger with provision for the resident, by erecting a few extra pews, wherein the wayfaring man may sit at ease, and enjoy the service of the sanctuary? In the open space or chancel, between the pews and the communion table, if a semicircular range of pews were erected, with a floor elevated to the height of the floor of the altar eastward, and descending westward to the level of the pews in the choir, I conceive a beautiful termination of the choir eastward would be the result, and one which would correspond much better with the elevated pews in the organ-loft to the west, than the naked area which heretofore seemed to leave the choir unfinished. But if this be thought too much, a single row of pews, ranging with the bases of the piers, east and west, on each side of the

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While the only door to the emoluments, honours, and power of the state was through this church, multitudes, fraught with other views than those allied to piety and devotion, flocked to its ordinances, and thronged its courts; but now the emoluments, honours, and power of the state are open to every creed, and men are left to the choice of that creed which is most genial to their own views of things, every man, unbiased by interest or ambition, will become a member of that church, which accords in its doctrines and practice with his own.

What a task have these concessions of the state rolled upon the clergy of the Church of England! While the liturgy of this Protestant church is one of the most pious and sublime compositions the pen of man has yet produced, and correctly accords with the experience of the saints in all ages, it is, on this very account, exceedingly obnoxious to sinners, and of course unpopular with mankind in general. The carnal mind is enmity against God, and therefore at enmity with every thing that is like God; but this liturgy accords with the bible, and the bible is a transcript of the attributes of Deity; the same mind, therefore, which rejects God, rejects His word, and rejects this pious liturgy also.

There is a church, however, whose doctrines and practice accord with the carnal mind; this church was heretofore in the back ground, but the emoluments, honours, and power of the state are now open to it, in common with all others; to the Roman Catholic church, therefore, the carnally minded will flock in crowds; interest and ambition cease to keep them away, and there are the physicians, who, with opiates, can lull to rest, if they cannot heal a wounded conscience, while it continues in sin.

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Either the Protestant clergy must now labour amidst their flocks, bring them individually to Christ, and become to them the ministers of salvation from sin, the spiritual fathers of their flocks, or the multitude will be scattered, and leave that church desolate. Conciliatory and endearing measures, evincing that the mind which was also in Christ Jesus, is in the ministers of the established church, that mind which led the holy reformers of our nation to compose the excellent and pious liturgy now in use therein, would lead up the sinner to the blood of atonement, and open his eyes to the fooleries of a church, which in vain worships Christ, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, and out of sinners would arrange a congregation of saints, devoted to, and worshipping the living God, into a building, fitly framed together, growing unto a holy temple in the Lord; and would convert the church of England into a habitation of God through the Spirit, without which it will fall into ruin.

SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF BHURTPORE.

The following letter from an officer to his sister, giving an account of these events, we copy from the Sydney Gazette.

Camp, on the march from Bhurtpore to Meerut, March 1, 1826.

MY DEAR SISTER,

My last letter left me on the point of making a long journey by post to Meerut, a distance of 1,000 miles. Every preparation being made, I took my departure from Calcutta, and arrived at my destination without accident, on the morning of the 9th of November; the trip is usually made in twelve days, but I stopped at intermediate stations, which rendered the journey less fatiguing. Only conceive yourself shut up in a box, and carried on men's shonlders from London to Edinburgh and back again, and you contemplate posting in India; fortunately the sedan-chair-like motion has the effect of shrouding the senses in sleep, which is a great blessing in travelling over an uninteresting and horrible country. Appetite is totally abolished-a very fortunate circumstance, as nothing in the shape of eating is procurable-a few biscuits, and a little tea, will sustain nature many days.

On my arrival at Meerut, I found war was the order of the day, and preparations making for the attack of Bhurtpore, a fortress of great size and strength, and which resisted Lord Lake's efforts in 1805. On the 12th (three days after joining my troop

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of horse artillery,) we started for Muttra, where the army was assembling, and reached that place on the 4th of December; a larger or a finer army never took thefi eld before in Hindoostan 30,000 men, and 160 pieces of cannon. On the 8th we marched, and came in sight of Bhurtpore at eight o'clock on the morning of the 10th. I shall proceed with the principal occurrences of the siege, in the form of a journal.

On the 10th, arrived in sight of Bhurtpore in the morning about eight o'clockthe cavalry and horse artillery entered the jungle which surrounds the fort, and drew a heavy fire by getting too close to the works-a few men and horses killed and wounded.

From the 10th to the 23rd, employed in reconnoitering, investing the place, and preparing materials for the siege.—On the 24th a gun battery of eight 18-pounders, and 12 eight-inch mortars, opened on the fort; I commanded the mortar battery, and fired the first shot: kept up a heavy fire during the day and night; our distance from the fort about 700 yards. In the night, approaches were commenced, to form the second parallel, and on the night of the 20th a ten-gun battery was erected within 350 yards, to knock off the defences.-The 27th 28th, and 29th, employed in completing our approaches and batteries under the fire of those already finished: I commanded the ten-gun battery on the 29th: the enemy kept up a constant and heavy fire.-By the evening of the 4th of January all our batteries were completed, and on the 5th at day-break, 80 pieces of heavy ordnance commenced the work of death and destruction; this day I commanded the centre mortar battery; the fire from both sides was tremendous.-6th. This day I commanded the grand breaching battery of 16 guns, and fired upwards of 3,000 shot: all the batteries kept up a constant fire: our engineers had succeeded in establishing their saps on the crest of the ditch, and commenced the operation of mining; the ditch in this part was free from water.-7th. This day I returned to the centre mortar battery, where I remained night and day, until the whole affair was over on the 19th.

8th, 9th, and 10th. Kept up a constant fire on the fort and town-two mines were sprung, but with little effect: the gun breaches nearly practicable, our loss in killed and wounded considerable.-11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th. Still hammering away at the walls of the fort, which are very thick and strong; waiting for two grand mines under the points of assault.-16th. The large mine on the left was sprung this

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Dissertation on Sublimity.

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tories. The whole of the works have been destroyed, and this far-famed fortress is humbled to the dust. We remained in possession until the 6th, sending our parties to the other forts in the Bhurtpore state, five in all, which surrendered without firing a shot. On the 8th, the army marched in progress to Alwar; we reached the frontier on the 10th, and halted. After much ne gociation, the Rajah accepted our terms The fortress of Alwar is situated on a range of high rocky hills, and built of stone, but not capable of making any great resistance Having thus brought the campaign to a happy conclusion, the army broke up on the 21st of February, and we are now on and a our march back to our respective stations, Bulwant Sing, the young Ra-aur la nuevas asok a bee snuolo Hoid: jah, delivering up every thing unconditionally. Doorjan Sal the usurper, who was the cause of the war, had taken himself off with his family and jewels; however, he was taken by a party of the eighth cavalry, and is All the

DISSERTATION ON SUBLIMITY 800 SUBLIMITY is a term applicable to external objects, and also to discourse or writing, and nearly synonymous with grandeur; or any distinction between them, arises from sublimity's expressing granhighest degree. The precise impression occasioned by the view of great and sublime objects, is more easily conceived. than described. It produces a sort of internal elevation and expansion, raising the mind much above its ordinary state, and filling ing it with a degree of wonder and astonishment, not easily expressed no The emotion is delightful, but serious; accom

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