lowing account of the great temple of Bel or Belus at Babylon, taken from Herodotus, bears a very remarkable resemblance to that of the pyramidal structures of Mexico. "It is a square building, each side of which is the length of two furlongs. In the midst rises a tower, of the solid depth or height of one furlong, on which, resting as a base, seven other turrets are built in regular succession. The ascent is on the outside: which winding from the ground is continued to the highest tower, and in the middle of the whole structure there is a convenient resting-place." Lastly, as there can be no doubt of the Asiatic descent of the Americans, as well as the rest of the human race, we should be disposed to think that those who emigrated would carry with them some knowledge of the arts practised in their native country. We know from the Scriptures that Asia was the birthplace of man; but it has been sometimes supposed that America was peopled by wanderers, driven by adverse gales across the ocean, rather than by voluntary emigrants. In this case it is probable that they would have lost the knowledge of the arts; but we casually met with a passage of Torquemada's Indian Monarchy which forcibly struck us at the time, and appears to us conclusive of the question. It is as follows: "According to the paintings which the most curious of these Indians possessed, and which at present I have, it appears that in order to come from the former country which they forsook, to that which they now inhabit, they crossed some great river or small strait and arm of the sea, the picture of which seems to represent an island situated midway in the channel which it intersects." Now when we recollect that the two continents are divided by Behrings' Straits, which are only fifty miles across, and that the largest of the three Diomides Islands, four miles in length, lies in the centre of the channel, and when we recollect, moreover, that Torquemada wrote long before the geography of this part of the globe was known to Europeans; we can hardly hesitate in coming to the conclusion that America was peopled, partly if not entirely by emigrants from Asia, of sufficient intelligence to observe and record the particulars of their journey. HISTORICAL NOTICE OF ETON COLLEGE. | situations at Eton. His majesty afterwards made I. Ye distant spires, ye antique towers. And ye, that from the stately brow THIS splendid establishment was founded by King Henry VI. in the year 1440, by the name of "The blessed Marie of Etone beside Wyndesore." One of the charters of foundation is dated at Wyndesore on the 12th September, 1441; a second at Shene on the 21st of October, of the same year, by which a provost, ten priests or fellows, four clerks, six choristers, one master, twenty-five scholars, and twenty-five almsmen or beadsmen, were appointed; and a third on the 25th of March, 1442, by which last, the royal founder, for the sufficient maintenance of the college, and for its perpetual endowment, granted various benefactions to the provost and college. An earlier deed is also in existence, by which it appears that his majesty had purchased the advowson of the parish church of Eton, in order to make the chapel of the college parochial as well as collegiate. Waynflete provost, and by the royal recommendation and patronage, he was elevated to the see of Winchester, in which high situation he followed in the steps of his celebrated predecessor, William of Wykeham, and became the generous founder of Magdalen College, Oxford. On the final settlement of Eton College, King Henry made further additions to the numbers of the several officers, so that the whole number of persons in the college amounted to one hundred and thirty-two. When the king looked upon his foundation, (says Carlisle,) so formed, constituted, and endowed;-when he took a prospective view of its final completion, and reflected upon the benefits which promised to result from it to his kingdom, not only in his own time, but in many successive ages,-well might he, with the piety of a holy man, and the feelings of a tender parent, address heaven with frequent prayers for its preservation and endurance in its then existing state; and as the nation should increase in knowledge, wisdom, and the higher branches of civilization, that his foundation might proceed in a proportionably advanced and advancing state to the end of time. Towards the close of his life, the king seemed to have a foreboding of the troubles which should afterwards disturb the nation, and showed a warm solicitude to secure at all events the completion of his two colleges. He accordingly made a testamentary provision for that purpose, and appointed Bishop Waynflete to discharge the duties which it directed. The college having been thus appointed and endowed, On the accession of Edward IV. Eton College appeared writs were issued for collecting workmen from divers for some time to be threatened with annihilation. parts of Eton, and the first stone was laid on or about The monarch is said to have been unkindly disposed the 3rd of July, 1441. The care of the monarch for towards Waynflete and other friends of Henry VI., and the due and effectual construction of the building will to have looked with jealousy upon the establishments appear from the following extract from one of the letters founded by his predecessor. Soon after he attained the patent, respecting the materials to be used in them:-throne, he represented to Pope Pius II, that Eton College "Laying aparte superfluity of too curious works of was in an unfinished state, and that the building of the entayle and busie mouldings, I will that both of mi chapel was but just begun, so that it could be of little or sayde colleges be edified of the most substantial and best no use to the purposes originally intended by its foundabyding stuffe, of stone, ledd, glass, and iron, that may ation. He therefore urged it as a suitable act, to unite goodlie be had, and provided thereto; and that the walls it to the college of Windsor, which he favoured with a of the sayde college of Eton, of the outer courte, and of most partial and protecting regard. In consequence of the walls of the gardens about the precincte, be made of this, a bull was obtained from the pope in 1463, for harde stone of Kent," dissolving Eton College and uniting it according to the royal request with the college of St. George at Windsor. The king now took a thousand pounds per annum from the establishment of the late monarch, to enrich Windsor, and also plundered them of movables of great value. In the archives of Eton College is an account of the estates of which it had been unjustly deprived. In this appropriation of the college property, some symptoms of shame and justice were shown towards the members,— a few trifling pensions being assigned to the provost, fellows and other officers. While thus careful of the more essential parts, the monarch was not negligent of that which might add to the stateliness and figure of his edifice. He granted a charter for assigning arms to Eton College, which has ever since formed its unaltered heraldic distinction: he caused certain statutes to be composed with a view to their being enlarged into a complete body, as future circumstances and experience might demand: and on the feast of St. Thomas, 1443, he sent his commissioners, Thomas Beckynton, then bishop of Bath and Wells, with William, earl, and afterwards marquess and duke of Suffolk, to give personal admission to the provost, fellows, clerks, scholars, and officers, into the college. This was done with solemn religious ceremonials. About the same time, the king increased the number of scholars from twenty-five to seventy, and added an usher for the school, a clerk for the parish, and two additional choristers, reducing the number of the almsmen from twenty five to thirteen. The various statutes relating to the college were the work of several years, and the result of much deliberate consideration. In compiling them the royal founder is said to have been assisted by the ablest civilian of those times, Dr. Lyndewoode, lord privy seal, and bishop of St. David's. Henry made frequent visits to Winchester, and had many conferences with Waynflete, the schoolmaster of Winchester College. This person had held his office about eleven years, and had executed the important trust with such ability and success, that Henry, willing to give his new college every advantage at the outset, removed Waynflete, with thirty-five of his scholars, and five of the fellows, to the same honourable The provost at this time was William Westbury, an able, ardent, and effectual friend of the college. He possessed great prudence and courage; and he came forward boldly to oppose the union of Eton College with that of Windsor. The opposition made by him was in the most open, regular, and courageous manner, by a public instrument in the chapel of St. Martin le Grand, London, before a public notary and the most respectable witnesses, "men graduated and learned in the laws." There he entered his protest with uncommon intrepidity and spirit, as well as with irresistible arguments. This conduct of the zealous provost had the effect of making the king retract his steps in the affair; so that, acknowledging to the pope that he had been misinformed in the premises, he requested a dissolution of the union. The pope accordingly issued his commission to Bourchier, archbishop of Canterbury, to act in the business according to the exigences of the case. archbishop summoned the heads of the two colleges before him, when the provost pleaded with undaunted firmness for the rights of the foundations of Henry VI., and with such effect that the bull was dissolved, and King Edward, The by letters patent, dated 17th July, 1468, made certain remunerations, if they were not altogether restorations, for the violent injury which he had done to Eton College: employing at the same time conciliatory expressions of regard, and declaring his wishes for its future welfare and prosperity. "Such was the effect," says Mr. Carlisle, "of the noble and resolute stand made by Westbury in support of his college!—an example ever to be holden in view by his successors, should they be called upon to defend or maintain the rights which have been handed down to them unimpaired." The collegiate edifice of Eton consists of two quadrangles. The first occupies a considerable space, and presents a venerable appearance, with a central statue of the founder in bronze, the grateful gift, among others, of Dr. Godolphin, who was elected fellow in 1674, and afterwards elevated to the dignity of provost. This square or as it is usually called, the school yard, is inclosed by the chapel, schools, dormitories, masters' chambers, and the eastern line of buildings, which with the exception of the porter's apartments, the registrar's office, &c., belong entirely to the provost's lodge; appertaining to which is a tower in the centre, the gateway of which forms the principal entrance to the cloisters. The lesser quadrangle consists of the cloisters, containing the residences of the fellows, part of the provest's lodge, and the library, beneath part of which is a flight of steps forming the ascent to the hall; another flight of steps to the south leads to the kitchens, brewhouse, bakehouse, &c. The present upper school was begun in 1689, and erected at the expense of more than £2200, which sum was almost wholly contributed by private benefactions. It forms the western face of the larger quadrangle, and is supported on that side by an arcade with double Doric columns, the whole structure presenting an elevation worthy of Sir Christopher Wren who designed it. The school-room is spacious and of fine proportions, but fitted up in a plain manner with wainscot, having a handsome elevated seat for the head master at the north end, and four others for the assistants, with forms for the scholars. At the south end is a stair-case ascending to both the chapel and the school. At the other end is the school library, and a spacious room called the lobby, communicating with the chambers of the upper master, for whose attendants there are adjoining rooms below, with a school for writing, arithmetic and algebra. The lower school is in the building on the north side of this quadrangle, and beneath a part of the principal dormitory, or long chamber, as it is called. It is a room of considerable length, but not of proportionate height, with a range of ancient oak arches on either side, and the seats of the scholars behind them. There is a tradition that it was in former times the splendid college stable; but Mr. Carlisle thinks the better account to be that Sir Henry Wotton fitted it up with pillars on which might be painted pictures of Greek and Roman authors, for the instruction of the boys. A lower dormitory, with chambers for the under master, complete this part of the college. The library is an apartment of large dimensions, elegantly fitted up, and furnished with a very extensive and valuable collection of books. It also contains some valuable drawings and oriental manuscripts. The hall, where the scholars upon the foundation take their meals, is on the south side of the cloister. This refectory is of large dimensions and almost destitute of ornament. Just before, and at the time of the annual election, two large pieces of tapestry are hung at the upper end: they represent our Saviour disputing with the doctors in the Temple, and the offering of the wise men. Beyond the cloisters are the college gardens to the east, and the playing fields to the north, (anciently called "Playing Laesc,") containing a large open space for active recreation, "with shady walks, whose academic scenery is heightened by the Thames, which flows beside them, and the brow of Windsor, with its splendid castle rising in the more distant prospect." Say, Father Thames, for thou hast seen The paths of pleasure trace; The captive linnet which enthral? To chase the rolling circle's speed,' Or urge the flying ball? The field situate to the east of the playing fields and divided from them by a stream of water over which there is a bridge, is separated by rows of horse chesnut trees, and distinguished by the name of the upper and lower shooting fields, probably on account of the obsolete exercise of arrow shooting. The former field is appropriated to the cricket matches of the "upper club," which includes the best players. LINES WRITTEN ON THE SEA-SHORE DURING A FOG. Is the misty shroud that veils yon steep, No half-defined horizon greets To mark the line where ocean meets, But sea and sky commixed appear And murmuring through the gloom, Sounding with measured boom. Streams down in radiance pale. And through the heavy, vaporous shroud, And now a little vessel glides And now towards the curling sea. So in this world of care and grief, Is man's career, quick. transient, brief, We know not whence he comes, nor where, He lingers for a moment here,- I looked again--and all was dim, Cleaves the blue waves with gallant prow, And pierce the veil of mystery With beams of love divine!-J. L. ELLERTON, 669-2 ON THE FIGURES OF ANIMALS AT THE FEET OF EFFIGIES ON TOMBS. THE DRAGON.-From a Monument in the Temple Church, London. FEW persons can have visited our fine old cathedrals with a view to study therein the monuments of departed greatness, without being struck with the figures of animals, sometimes of an incongruous description, which are placed at the feet of effigies on tombs. The origin of the custom of thus adorning the solemn resting-place of the dead is a curious and interesting matter of inquiry. The lion is very frequently employed for this purpose, as in the tomb of Lord Montacute in Salisbury Cathedral, in those of Maurice Berkely and Robert Fitzharding in Bristol Cathedral, in that of Lord Ros in the Temple Church, and very many others. Mr. Hearne explains the lion as employed in this way to be emblematical of the vigilance, industry, and courage the deceased. But Gough has a more interesting theory when he derives the custom of placing lions and other destructive animals beneath the feet of effigies, from the words of the ninety-first Psalm, verse 13, "Thou shalt } tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet." This indeed appears to be highly probable, since we find that a serpent or dragon sometimes occurs on the tombs of the Knights Templars, who, as a religious body, are likely to have employed a scriptural allusion rather than any drawn from the scenes and circumstances in which they had been placed. of Though the custom may have thus originated, it appears soon after, and very generally since the Reformation, to have become a mere token or badge of the family to whom the deceased belonged. Thus in the monument of Sir Robert du Bois, in St. Anne's chapel at Fersfield, Norfolk, the feet of the knight are supported by a buck couchant, which is the crest of Bois. This knight died in 1311. At the feet of Thomas Cecil, earl of Exeter, in Westminster Abbey, 1621, are the lions which form his family crest. In the monument of John Lord Tiptoft, earl of Worcester, in the south aisle of Ely Cathedral, while the feet of the earl are supported by a lion, those of his lady rest on two rabbits, which might perhaps have formed the crest of her family. In the same way we may probably account for the animal which supports the feet of Bishop March, at Wells. This bishop, who died in 1302, has a monument in the south wall of the south cross at Wells. Under a flat Gothic canopy of three niches against the wall are angels, and a priest or monk standing. In the wall over his head projects a large face with beard and whiskers, and curled hair. Over his feet, another face beardless. At his feet a bear. Another account says, "at his feet lies a cropt long-tailed dog." The vergers call him the French bishop; historians do not say of what country he was. He was treasurer to Edward I., and is charged with having advised the king to take some of the wealth of convents and churches in order to carry on his wars. At his death the king and lords solicited the pope in vain for his canonization, which was refused. In some cases the animals chosen for the purpose alluded to, seem to have been employed with reference to the name of the deceased, for two hares are placed at the feet of Bishop Harewell, in Wells Cathedral; and also at the feet of a knight of the same name at Pershore. One of the figures in the Temple Church has two human heads beneath his feet, perhaps alluding to the infidels slain in the Crusades. It is, however, difficult to account for the strange devices frequently employed. Under the right foot of a knight, in Ryther Church, York, is a collared dog, under the left foot an old bearded head. Between the feet of Thomas de Inglethorpe, bishop of Rochester, 1291, is a demon's head pierced by his crosier. Might not this be in allusion to the promise, "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly?" (Rev. xvi. 20.) Archbishop Grey's monument, in York Minster, is less easily explained. Two human figures are writhing beneath his feet as if in agony, while a dragon bites the point of his crosier. The specimens of this kind in foreign churches are equally strange. The figure of Raymond Ragnier, lord of Ouchy, 1421, in the church of the Celestines at Marcoussy, has a muzzled dog under the feet. A man in the choir of the church at Nanteuil stands on a naked child. At the feet of a knight in Ardenne Abbey, in Normandy, are two basilisks; and an abbess at Port Royal des Champs has two fish. The Countess of Vendome, 1305, in the Mathurines at Paris, has at her feet an ass couchant; the wife of Herve de Neanville in the Carthusian church there, two lambs. A doublebodied griffin or sphinx is employed for the same purpose on the tomb of the Abbess de St. Saviour at Evreux, and on several others. In the cathedral church of Mans, Charles of Anjou, earl of Maine, has only a helmet at his feet. In the monument in Westminster Abbey of John Lord Russel, who died in 1584, there is at his feet the small figure of his infant son Francis, who died in the same year. At the feet of John Perient, in Digswell Church, Herts, 1415, Salmon describes a creature like a cat, and under his wife's feet one like a rat, and adds, "What the meaning is of choosing such things I could frequently arbitrary, and with relation to their arms*." never arrive at. They are sometimes their crest, but the dukes of Brabant, restored by the Archduke Albert, The lion of bronze gilt, large as life, on the tomb of is the arms of the duke, which he also holds in a shield, in the church of St. Michael and St. Jude, in Brussels. |