have a small garden, but it is not cultivated, and there is nothing like a parapet-wall in any direction to prevent your falling over. The place wears an aspect of poverty and neglect; its best days have gone by; for here, as everywhere else, the spirit of asceticism is on the wane.

"The church has a porch before the door, vápent, supported by marble columns, the interior wall of which, on each side of the door, is painted with representations of the Last Judgment, and the tortures of the condemned, with a liberal allowance of flames and devils. These pictures of the torments of the wicked are always placed outside the body of the church, as typical of the unhappy state of those who are out of its pale: they are never seen within. The interior of this curious old church, which is dedicated to All Saints, has depicted on its walls, on all sides, portraits of a great many holy personages, in the stiff, conventional, early style. It has four columns within which support the dome; and the altar or holy table, ayia Tрarea, is separated from the nave by a wooden screen, called the iconostasis, on which are paintings of the Blessed Virgin, the Redeemer, and many saints. These pictures are kissed by all who enter the church. The iconostasis has three doors in it; one in the centre, before the holy table, and one on each side. The centre one is only a half-door, like an old English buttery hatch, the upper part being screened with a curtain of rich stuff, which, except on certain occasions, is drawn aside, so as to afford a view of the book of the Gospels, in a rich binding, lying upon the holy table beyond. A Greek church has no sacristy; the vestures are usually kept in presses in this space behind the iconostasis, where none but the priests and the deacon, or servant who trims the lamps, are allowed to enter, and they pass in and out by the side doors. The centre door is only used in the celebration of the holy mass. This part of the church is the sanctuary, and is called, in Romaic, ayo Bŋμo, or Onuo. It is typical of the holy of holies of the Temple, and the veil is represented by the curtain which divides it from the rest of the church. Everything is symbolical in the Eastern Church; and these symbols have been in use from the very earliest ages of Christianity. The four columns which support the dome represent the four Evangelists; and the dome itself is the symbol of heaven, to which access has been given to mankind by the glad tidings of the Gospels which they wrote. Part of the mosaic with which the whole interior of the dome was formerly covered, in the cathedral of S. Sofia, at Constantinople, is to be seen in the four angles below the dome, where the winged figures of the four Evangelists still remain. Luckily for the Greek Church their sacred buildings are not under the authority of lay churchwardens— grocers in towns, and farmers in villages-who feel it their duty to whitewash over everything which is old and venerable, and curious, and to oppose the Clergyman in order to show their independence.

and

"The Greek church, debased as it is by ignorance and superstition, has still the merit of carefully preserving and restoring all the memorials of its earlier and purer ages. If the fresco painting of a saint is rubbed out or damaged in the lapse of time, it is scrupulously repainted, exactly as it was before, even to the colour of the robe, the aspect of the countenance, the minutest accessories of the composition. It is this systematic respect for everything which is old and venerable, which renders the interior of the ancient Eastern churches so peculiarly interesting. They are the unchanged monuments of primæval days. The Christians who suffered under the persecution of Dioclesian may have knelt before the very altar which we now see, and which was then exactly the same as we now behold it, without any additions or subtractions either in its form or use."-(pp. 286-289.)

Some other churches in this remarkable group of convents were visited by Mr. Curzon, but are not otherwise described than by their general resemblance to the church at S. Barlaam's.

The libraries of nearly all the monasteries of Mount Athos were ransacked, and some valuable MSS. procured by fair means or foul; but we find no detailed notices of their churches. We are reminded, however, in this part of the book, of a subject on which Mr. Curzon has incidentally thrown much new light, and on which we should have been glad to dwell more fully than our space permits. But although our review is running to an unreasonable length, we must add some illustrations of ecclesiastical art, ancient and modern, in various departments; and first we select his account of the Abyssinian paintings and illuminations of the Church books in their library before described.

"Some of these manuscripts are adorned with the quaintest and grimmest illuminations conceivable. The colours are composed of various ochres. In general, the outlines of the figures are drawn first with the pen. The paint brush is made by chewing the end of a reed till it is reduced to filaments, and then nibbling it into a proper form: the paint brushes of the ancient Egyptians were made in the same way, and excellent brooms for common purposes are made at Cairo, by beating the thick end of a palm-branch till the fibres are separated from the pith, the part above, which is not beaten, becoming the handle of the broom. The Abyssinian having nibbled and chewed his reed till he thinks it will do, proceeds to fill up the spaces between the inked outlines with his colours. The Blessed Virgin is usually dressed in blue; the complexion of the figures is a brownish red, and those in my possession have a curious cast of the eyes, which gives them a very cunning look. S. John, in a MS. which I have now before me, is represented with woolly hair, and has two marks or gashes on each side of his face, in accordance with the Abyssinian or Galla custom of cutting through the skin of the face, breast, and arms, so as to leave an indelible mark. This is done in youth, and is said to preserve the patient from several diseases. The colours are mixed up with the yolk of an egg, and the numerous mistakes and slips of the brush are corrected by a wipe from a wet finger or thumb, which is generally kept ready in the artist's mouth during the operation; and it is lucky if he does not give it a bite in the agony of composition, when with an unsteady hand the eye of some famous saint is smeared all over the nose by an unfortunate swerve of the nibbled reed.”—(pp. 100, 101.)

But this art seems to be exhibited, in its most debased state, in the Coptic manuscripts. Among the few manuscript liturgies in the convent of the Pulley, "one of them, a folio, was ornamented with a large illumination, intended to represent the Virgin and the infant SAVIOUR; it is almost the only specimen of Coptic art that I ever met with in a book, and its style and execution are so poor, that, perhaps, it is fortunate that they should be so rare.' —(p. 112.)

In one of the papers on the churches of Palestine, allusion was made to the exquisite wood carving in the Greek churches, designed and executed, for the most part, by Greek carpenters from the islands of the Egæan. At the monastery of S. Stephen, in the Meteora, Mr. Curzon found similar carving by a Russian artist.

"The paintings in it are not so numerous as at S. Barlaam, but the iconostasis, or screen before the altar, is most beautifully carved, something in the style of Grinling Gibbons: the pictures upon it being surrounded with frames of light open work, consisting of foliage, birds, and flowers in alto relievo, cut out of a light-coloured wood in the most delicate manner. I was told

that the whole of this beautiful work had been executed in Russia, and put up here during the reign of Ali Pasha.”—(p. 293.)

We much regret that the irreverent tone of his descriptions of the Greek paintings, prevents us from transferring to our pages his account of many such works of art, particularly in the monasteries of Mount Athos, where the interior of the walls of the porches are covered with paintings of Saints, and also of the Last Judgment." We cannot think that Mr. Curzon showed either good taste or good feeling in smiling at these representations, however grotesque, knowing, as he did, that they are regarded with feelings of religious awe by the monks, who were naturally scandalised by his levity, as we are by his profane criticism. If the consideration due to their feelings was not enough to repress his ill-timed merriment, one would have hoped that the subject, however handled, joined with the remarkable fact recorded in a note, might have done so.

"Ridiculous as these pictorial representations of the Last Judgment appear to us, one of them was the cause of a whole nation's embracing Christianity. Bogoris, king of Bulgaria, having written to Constantinople for a painter to decorate the walls of his palace, a monk named Methodius was sent to him-all knowledge of the arts in those days being confined to the Clergy. The king desired Methodius to paint on a certain wall the most terrible picture that he could imagine; and, by the advice of the king's sister, who had embraced Christianity some years before whilst in captivity at Constantinople, the monastic artist produced so fearful a representation of the torments of the condemned in the next world, that it had the effect of converting Bogoris to the Christian faith. In consequence of this event, the Patriarch of Constantinople despatched a Bishop to Bulgaria, who baptized the king by the name of Michael, in the year 865. Before long his loyal subjects, following the example of their sovereign, were converted also; and Christianity, from that period, became the religion of the land."—(p. 364.)

A really careful account of the religious paintings of the Meteora and Mount Athos, would serve admirably to illustrate that very curious work, by the monk Dionysius, which was reviewed in a former volume, entitled, Ερμηνεία τῆς ζωγραφικής. Our readers will remember that this was shown in manuscript to M. Didron, in the monastery of Sphigmenou, on Mount Athos, and that the translation of it, by M. Paul Durand, his fellow traveller, edited by himself in 1845, is one of the most important modern contributions to the history of Christian art. The editorial notes with which it is enriched, contain, indeed, the fullest notices yet published of the religious paintings of the Greeks, particularly of those which are found in the Holy Mountain; but nothing approaching to a complete history of the subject.

We conclude with some notices of Church plate and jewellery, in which Mount Athos appears to be very rich. Great labour and cost were expended on the reliquaries and in the decoration of the holy ikons. Thus, at S. Laura-(pp. 365—367.)

"The interior of the principal church in this monastery is interesting from the number of early Greek pictures which it contains, and which are hung on the walls of the apsis behind the altar. They are almost all in silver frames, and are painted on wood; most of them are small, being not more than one

or two feet square; the back-ground of all of them is gilt; and in many of them this back-ground is formed of plates of silver or gold. One small painting is ascribed to S. Luke, and several have the frames set with jewels, and are of great antiquity. In front of the altar, and suspended from the two columns nearest to the ikovóoraσis-the screen which, like the veil of the temple, conceals the holy of holies from the gaze of the profane—are two pictures larger than the rest: the one represents our SAVIOUR, the other the Blessed Virgin. Except the faces, they are entirely covered over with plates of silver-gilt; and the whole of both pictures, as well as their frames, is richly ornamented with a kind of coarse golden filigree, set with large turquoises, agates, and cornelians. These very curious productions of early art were presented to the monastery by the Emperor Andronicus Paleologus, whose portrait, with that of his empress, is represented on the silver frame.

"The floor of this church, and of the one which stands in the centre of the other court, is paved with rich coloured marbles. . . . . Some of these pieces of plate are well worthy the attention of antiquarians, being probably the most ancient specimens of art in goldsmith's work now extant; and as they have remained in the several monasteries ever since the piety of their donors first sent them there, their authenticity cannot be questioned; besides which, many of them are extremely magnificent and beautiful.

"The most valuable reliquary of S. Laura is a kind of triptic, about eighteen inches high, of pure gold, a present from the Emperor Nicephorus, the founder of the abbey. The front represents a pair of folding doors, each set with a double row of diamonds (the most ancient specimens of this stone that I have seen), emeralds, pearls, and rubies as large as sixpences. When the doors are opened, a large piece of the holy cross, splendidly set with jewels, is displayed in the centre; and the insides of the two doors, and the whole surface of the reliquary, are covered with engraved figures of the saints stuck full of precious stones. This beautiful shrine is of Byzantine workmanship, and, in its way, is a superb work of art."

In the monastery of Caracalla-(p. 380,)

"On the altar there were two very remarkable crosses, each of them about six or eight inches long, of carved wood, set in gold and jewels of very early and beautiful workmanship; one of them in particular, which was presented to the church by the Emperor John Zimisces, was a most curious specimen of ancient jewellery."

At Sphigmenou-(p. 402,)

Among the relics of the saints is a beautiful ancient cross of gold, set with diamonds. Diamonds are of very rare occurrence in ancient pieces of jewellery; it is indeed doubtful whether they were known to the ancients, adamantine being an epithet applied to the hardness of steel, and I have never seen a diamond in any work of art of the Roman or classical era. Besides the diamonds, the cross has on the upper end, and on the extremities of the two arms, three very fine and large emeralds, each fastened on with three gold nails: it is a fine specimen of early jewellery, and of no small intrinsic value."

At S. Dionysius-(pp. 418-420,)

"I was taken, as a pilgrim, to the church, and we stood in the middle of the floor before the ikovóσraois, whilst the monks brought out an old-fashioned low wooden table, upon which they placed the relics of the saints, which they presumed we came to adore. Of these some were very interesting specimens of intricate workmanship, and superb and precious materials. One was a patera, of a kind of china or paste, made, as I imagine, of a multitude of turquoises ground

down together, for it was too large to be of one single turquoise; there is one of the same kind, but of far inferior workmanship, in the treasury of S. Marc. This marvellous dish is carved in very high relief with minute figures or little statues of the saints, with inscriptions in very early Greek. It is set in pure gold, richly worked, and was a gift from the Empress or imperial Princess Pulcheria. Then there was an invaluable shrine for the head of S. John the Baptist, whose bones and another of his heads are in the cathedral at Genoa. S. John Lateran also boasts a head of S. John, but that may have belonged to S. John the Evangelist. This shrine was the gift of Neagulus, Waywode or Hospodar of Wallachia: it is about two feet long and two feet high, and is in the shape of a Byzantine church; the material is silver-gilt, but the admirable and singular style of the workmanship gives it a value far surpassing its intrinsic worth. The roof is covered with five domes of gold; on each side it has sixteen recesses, in which are portraits of the saints in niello, and at each end there are eight others. All the windows are enriched in open-work tracery, of a strange sort of Gothic pattern, unlike anything in Europe. It is altogether a wonderful and precious monument of ancient art, the production of an almost unknown country, rich, quaint, and original in its design and execution, and is indeed one of the most curious objects on Mount Athos; although the patera of the Princess Pulcheria might probably be considered of greater value."

And here we must take leave of Mr. Curzon, with the expression of deep regret that a sense of duty has compelled us to deal more harshly than we could wish with a travelling companion so amiable and so agreeable, who has really afforded us much gratification and instruction. But we cannot allow ourselves to be so dazzled, by his sparkling humour and the brilliancy of his style, as to lose sight of the evil tendency of much of his conduct and writing.

ARRANGEMENT OF THE CHOIR OF ELY CATHEDRAL. To the Editor of the Ecclesiologist.

SIR,-The best thanks of ecclesiologists, and of churchmen in general, are due to Mr. Scott for his unswerving endeavours to avert such a rearrangement of the eastern limb of Ely Cathedral as should include the retention of the altar in its present position—the extreme east; and the thanks of your readers are in especial due to him for having kindly stepped forward to remove their anxiety as to his own determinate views upon this subject. There can be no doubt, that ancient precedent, as demonstrated by Ely and most other cathedral churches of England, propriety of ritual observance, and æsthetical beauty, would alike be violated by maintaining the altar in the situation just named. Feeling this most strongly, I would withhold comment upon Mr. Scott's plan, were there any danger of weakening his hands by proposing a deviation from it; but such danger can hardly arise from suggesting a modification, which fully recognizes the general principles he advocates.

I would therefore, Sir, with yourself and with Mr. Scott, plead most earnestly on the grounds of superior fitness for the dignified and reverential celebration of Divine worship, and for the convenenice of