ROME, ANCIENT AND MODERN.

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about the arena, not less than 100,000 souls have sometimes been contained within these walls. At the dedication of this great structure, which lasted one hundred days, 5,000 wild beasts were exhibited and slain in bloody conflict.

One of the most attractive of the ancient edifices of Rome was the Pantheon, or Rotondo, "the pride of Rome; " that glorious combination of beauty and magnificence, which was erected by Agrippa, being 132 feet in circumference.

Many other ruins of the magnificent temples of ancient Rome are scattered throughout the city, but their remains are so scanty that it is impossible to obtain any information respecting their origin or extent.

The extensive catacombs of Rome are really wonderful. They owe their origin to the large excavations which were made by the Romans for obtaining pozzolana, an immense quantity of which they used, and exported for sand and mortar and other purposes. These subterraneous labyrinths branch out many miles in various directions. Those under the church of St. Sebastian alone are said to have been explored to the extent of above fifteen miles. Those dreary regions afforded shelter to the first Christians during the dreadful persecutions which they suffered under the emperors. They were also used as sepulchres, but all the bones which they contained have been carried off as precious relics. The chambers are all square, with arched recesses, and right-angled gaps, both in the walls and flooring, to receive coffins.

It has been said that perhaps no city in the world abounds with such numbers of churches as Rome, or with fewer handsome ones as respects their architecture. Some, however, are very splendid, and St. Peter's is the finest church in the world, excelling all others, not only in magnitude, but in beauty. It was projected by Pope Nicholas V., in the middle of the fifteenth century; it was not, however, till the pontificate of Julius II., in 1506, that the first stone of the edifice was laid, and the whole building was not finished till the year 1621, during the pontificate of Paul V. No fewer than twenty-four Popes, counting from Nicholas V., assisted in the erection of this magnificent structure. It is said to cover twenty acres, and to have cost many millions sterling. It is entirely built of Travertine stone, which looks as bright and fresh as if newly finished. The length of the building is 609 feet, and of the transept 500 feet; the height of the dome is 440 feet, the height of the nave 154, and its breadth 90 feet.

The Vatican has long been celebrated for its unrivalled splendour and magnificence. Its ceilings richly painted in fresco; its pictured pavements of ancient mosaic; its magnificent gates of bronze; its polished columns of ancient porphyry, the splendid spoils of imperial Rome; its endless accumulation of Grecian marble, Egyptian granites, and Oriental alabasters; its bewildering extent and prodigality of magnificence-but, above all, its amazing

treasures of sculpture, far surpass even the gorgeous dreams of Eastern magnificence.

The population of Rome, which in 1800 amounted to 153,004, gradually diminished till it was only 117,882 in 1813. Since that period, however, it has progressively increased, and in 1836 consisted of 153,678, exclusive of Jews, who amount to 3,700. The streets of modern Rome are narrow, crooked, badly lighted, and dirty. The best street is the Corso, so named from being used for the course or promenade of carriages at the Carnival. It is almost the only street that has the merit of being straight, and that can boast of trottoirs for foot passengers. It extends a mile in length, but is scarcely fifty feet in breadth. This, and all the other parts of the city, consist of buildings from three to five stories in height, built of stone, and plastered over. Every considerable tenement has a bust or portrait of the Virgin stuck upon one corner of it, at the second story, with a lamp in front at night, and an ornamented plaster moulding round it, into which are generally wrought some figures of angels or saints. Rome has no squares, and of the Piazzas, the Piazza del Popolo, and that in front of St. Peter's are the only two that deserve notice. Both are adorned with obelisks, statues, and fountains. The Rome of the Pope is a poor, little, meagre town compared with the magnificence and splendour of the Rome of the Cæsars.

Bemarkable Persons.

HOLY JOHN FLETCHER.

FEW men have left behind them a memory so precious as the Rev. John Fletcher. Yet this was not from the splendour of his talents, nor the extent of his learning, though he possessed enough of both to render him eminent, but it is his seraphic piety that yields the richest fragrance. In the early period of our ministry we lived and laboured amid the scenes of Fletcher's holy toils, in the parish of Madely. Sometimes we visited his tomb, and often met with those who knew him personally. How sweet the odour of his name! It was ever mentioned by the people with reverence, and his selfdenying labours with love. In memory of that sainted man, we have in our possession his walking stick, and a pair of his shoes.

This blessed man was born at Nyon, in Switzerland, near Geneva, on September 12th, 1729. His father was at one time an officer in the French service, and afterwards a colonel in the militia of his own country. John was his youngest son. He soon displayed an elevated turn of mind, accompanied with an unusual degree of vivacity. After having made proficiency in learning, he was removed, with his two brothers, to Geneva, where he was distinguished by

HOLY JOHN FLETCHER.

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superior abilities and uncommon application, excelling others and carrying away the first prizes. He allowed himself but little time, either for recreation, refreshment, or rest. After confining himself closely to his studies all the day, he would frequently consume the greater part of the night in noting down whatever had occurred in the course of his reading worthy of observation. He thus acquired that true classical taste so justly admired by his friends, which all his studied plainness could never conceal, and laid the foundation of that extensive and accurate knowledge for which he was afterwards distinguished, both in philosophical and theological researches. To these attainments he afterwards added the German and the Hebrew languages, and a more perfect acquaintance with mathematical learning.

His early piety was equally remarkable with his early attainments. From his childhood he was impressed with a deep sense of the majesty of God, and a constant fear of offending him, and manifested great tenderness of conscience, as appears in the following instances:-One day, having offended his father, who threatened to correct him, he did not dare to come into his presence, but retired into the garden, and when he saw him coming towards him, ran away with all speed. But presently, struck with deep remorse, he said to himself, "What! do I run away from my father! Perhaps I may have a son that will run away from me." Another time, when about seven years of age, he was reproved by the nursery-maid, saying, “You are a naughty boy. Do you know that the devil is to take all naughty children ?" He was no sooner in bed than he began to reflect very deeply on her words. He thought, "I am a naughty boy, and how do I know but God will let the devil take me away this night?" He then got up, fell down on his knees before God, and prayed earnestly for a considerable time, till he felt such a sense of the Divine love as quelled every fear, and he then lay down in peace and safety. This gracious state, however, was interrupted by a relapse into a worldly spirit, and it was not until he came to England, and was brought into intercourse with the Methodists, that his piety became revived and established. In the year 1755 we find him struggling under conviction and striving most earnestly for salvation, and not long afterwards exulting in the favour of God. He now went on his way rejoicing, making the service of God his habitual delight, and laying himself out to be useful in every possible way. His self-denial was excessive, living on vegetable food, and for some time on bread and milk mixed with water. To save time, it was his custom never to go to sleep so long as he could possibly keep awake, and to have a candle burning while in bed. This imprudence had once almost cost him his life; for one night, being overcome with sleep before putting out his candle, he dreamed that his curtain, pillow, and cap were all on fire, but went out without doing him any harm. And truly it was so, for in the morning the curtain, pillow, and part of his

cap, and his hymn-book, were found burnt; but not a hair of his head was singed. A wonderful proof this, indeed, of God's care of his people, and that his angel encampeth round about them that fear him. But let no young man imitate this dangerous experiment, nor even the excessive austerities of Mr. Fletcher, for they injured his constitution, and nearly cost him his life.

Feeling it his duty to renounce the world and enter the ministry, he was ordained in the year 1757. For about three years he laboured in several places, preaching wherever he had an opportunity, sometimes in both French and English. For a short time he officiated as curate at Madely, in Shropshire; and in the year 1760 he became vicar of that parish. Here he laboured until his death, after having spent twenty-eight years in that rural village. This period was the most useful portion of his devoted life. His devotion to Christ was now carried to a higher pitch than most Christians are willing to believe attainable in the present life. He had no interest to serve, no inclination to gratify, nor any connection to maintain, but such as was entirely conformable to the nature of his union with God. Wherever he came he breathed the spirit of devotion, and wherever he was familiarly known, the purity, the fervour, the resolution, and the constancy of his love to souls were universally apparent. He daily felt and acted in conformity to the powerful obligations by which he was bound to the Captain of his salvation. His vows of inviolable affection and fidelity were solemnly renewed, as occasion offered, both in public and in private, and it was wonderful to observe, through all the vicissitudes of his Christian warfare, how perfect a harmony was maintained between his inclinations and his engagements, his habits and his profession. This venerable man's entire devotion to Jesus Christ, as a minister of the Gospel, was variously expressed, "in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report." Besides his ordinary labours as a minister, which were most earnest and indefatigable, he published many valuable works, mostly of a controversial character, in defence of pure evangelical truth against the errors of Unitarianism, Antinomianism, and Popery, yet ever pervaded by the spirit of candour, meekness, and love. His valuable works are published in seven volumes, and are still highly prized for their vigour, their irresistible argument, and the rich odour of their spiritual unction. This holy man died August 14, in the year 1790. Among his last words were these: "God is love-God is love. Shout! I want to hear you shout his praise."

In our next we purpose giving a few facts illustrative of his singular piety and devotedness to God.

AUGUSTINE, THE FIRST BISHOP OF CANTERBURY. THERE were two Augustines, and they are both called saints. One lived in the fourth century, and was bishop of the city of Hippo, in Carthage, and he was a great writer. The other was born in the sixth century, and was the prior of the Convent of St. Andrew's at Rome. This man came, with forty other monks, to convert the inhabitants of this country. The circumstances which gave rise to his mission were curious.

There was one Gregory, a monk of the same convent, who, happening one day to pass through the slave market at Rome, had his attention attracted by a crowd of slaves brought from many parts to be sold in the great mart of Italy, among whom he perceived three boys, whose fair red and white complexion, blue eyes, and flaxen hair, contrasted favourably with the tawny races by whom they were surrounded. He asked the slave-dealer whence had those beautiful children been brought. "From Britain, where all the people are of a similar complexion," was the reply. "What is their religion? He was told they were pagans. "Alas!" rejoined Gregory, with a deep sigh, more is the pity that faces so full of light and brightness should be in the hands of the prince of darkness.' "What is the name of their nation ?" He was told Angles, or English. "Well said," replied the monk; "rightly are they called Angles,' for they have the faces of angels, and they ought to be fellow-heirs of heaven!" Pursuing his inquiries, he was informed that they were Deirans," from the land of Deira (the land of wild deer), the name then given to the tract of country lying between the rivers Tyne and Humber. Well said," answered Gregory; "rightly are they called Deirans, plucked as they are from God's ire (de ira Dei), and called to the mercy of Heaven!" Once more he asked, "What is the name of the king of that country? The reply was, "Ella." "Then," said Gregory, "Allelujah! the praise of God their Creator shall be sung in those parts."

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This same Gregory afterwards became Pope, and then he selected Augustine and forty other monks as missionaries to England. Augustine and his companions landed at a place called Ebbe's Fleet, in the Isle of Thanet. The actual spot of their landing is still pointed out, and a farm-house near it still bears the name of Ebbe's Fleet. Augustine selected this spot, thinking he would be safer there than in a closer contiguity to the savage Saxons.

Ethelbert the king came to see and hear the missionary on an appointed day. The meeting took place under an ancient oak. On one side sat the Saxon chief, surrounded by his fierce pagan warriors; on the other the Italian prior, attended by his monks and white-robed choristers. Neither understood the language of the other; but Augustine had provided interpreters in France,