men, crowned with all her antiquity, arrayed in all her universality: she had arisen in her majesty and in her might, she had put on her brightest glories to honour the memorable and historic act of a man who bears a memorable and historic name.

The concourse of high personages, numbering much of the rank and beauty of England, was well led by the ambassador of the Emperor of Austria. Many highly respected clergymen of the English Church, and various members of other dissents, watched with profound attention a spectacle of which it were difficult to say, in these days of the revival of ancient piety-in these days of the fast decline of heresy, whether the splendour of the significant and typical ceremonies, the beauty of the building -Pugin's masterpiece-the concourse of personages, illustrious for rank or character, or both-the great and impressive eloquence of the preachers, or the presage of future ecclesiastical triumphs in the same scene-were more indicative of the life, the strength, the immortality, the unchangeable hope, the inspired faith, the more than maternal charity, as well as the prevailing and unconquerable destinies of the Roman Catholic Religion.

Before we describe the scene, we will here give the reader a plate of the interior of the chancel, which, however, though a more adequate representation of what it purports to convey, than are the plates hitherto published of what they would indicate, gives by no means a complete idea of the inside of the church, of which the walls are now, not in the chancel alone, but in every part, decorated most richly, decorated beyond the original intention, as well as beyond all the conceptions of the liveliest imagination. The roof is like a starry firmament, and might be, as it were, the floor of Heaven:

"Not Babylon

Nor great Alcairo such magnificence
Equalled in all their glories.

And pilastres round

Are set, and ornate pillars overlaid

With golden architrave."

Let imagination lend its hand to colour this plate of a mere portion of the edifice; let the sanctuary be illumined, let the windows shed their tinted radiance; let the scene be prolonged;

let the whole church stand before the mind's eye, in all its solemn animation, in the fulness of its religious glory.

We will now give Mr. Pugin's own description of the church. Those who from distaste for, or ignorance of, architectural terms, may be inclined to pass over the technical language of the celebrated architect, must endeavour to make imagination supply their want of more precise information. It is from the version

of the Morning Post that we reproduce Mr. Pugin's description, as well as some concomitant passages.

"On the 1st of September," says this Protestant, but liberal and highly-considered journal, "the splendid new Catholic chapel (?) built and endowed in the market town of Cheadle, Staffordshire, was opened; and Mass, for the first time, sung within its walls with extraordinary pomp and solemnity. As the church exceeds in magnificence all the other churches now possessed by the Catholic body in England, and as the occasion gathered together nearly the whole Catholic hierarchy of England, with an unusual assemblage of the inferior clergy, we are induced to notice the solemnity at somewhat greater length than the ceremony itself, now becoming so common in England, would otherwise warrant.

"The town of Cheadle is in the northern part of the county of Stafford, and within five miles of Alton Towers, the princely seat of the Earl of Shrewsbury, the munificent founder of this chapel. It stands nearly at the foot of the sloping hill on which the town is built; but as Cheadle is approached on all sides from high grounds, the tall spire of the church may be seen from a considerable distance, and in every direction. It is from the design of Mr. Pugin, and is the most superb building for ecclesiastical purposes that has been erected for many a day in England,-carrying the mind back to the munificence of the founders, and the genius of the architects, of the middle ages, rather than resembling any work of modern times. It may not be amiss here to subjoin a detailed account of its proportions, with which we have been favoured by the eminent architect.

"The church of St. Giles, at Cheadle, has been erected at the sole cost of the Earl of Shrewsbury, from the designs of Mr. Welby Pugin, and has occupied nearly six years in erection. It consists of a western tower, surmounted by a lofty spire; a nave of five compartments, with north and south aisles and porches; a Lady chapel; a chapel of the Blessed Sacrament; a chancel, with sacristies and organ-loft on the north. The style is that which prevailed during the reigns of the Edwards, commonly called decorated; and no labour or expense has been spared to render it, as far as possible, a perfect revival of the art of that glorious period.

"The western entrance is in the tower; it consists of a deeplymoulded doorway, enriched with lions' heads, and oak branches, in the hollows; the label is square, resting on two shafts, and forming large spandrils, filled with foliage and Talbot shields. The doors are of English oak, strongly braced, and hung with hinges fashioned after the form of rampant lions, nearly covering the whole door; these are gilt, and the face of the doors painted red, and bordered with iron gilt engrailling, being the armorial bearings of the family. In the lower part of the tower buttresses are two canopied niches, containing stone images of St. Peter and St. Paul. Above the first stringcourse, on the south-west angle of the tower, two niches are formed out of the buttresses; in the southern one is an image of St. Giles; and in the

other, an effigy of the Earl of Shrewsbury, kneeling with a model of the church, as founder, with his patron, St. John the Baptist, standing behind him. Under St. Giles is a corbel, with a hind, surrounded by foliage, in accordance with the legend of that saint; and the other corbel is sculptured with the Shrewsbury arms, supported by two talbots. Immediately over the west door is a single window of three lights, with foliage work in the jambs and arch. Over this are the windows of the ringing chamber, which is ascended by a spiral staircase, forming an external turret on the south side. The belfry windows are eight in number, and the spaces between the mullions filled with perforated lead work, securely fastened to the stone-work by iron cramps.

"The bells are supported by a strongly-braced oak framing, rising from the floor of the ringing chamber, where it springs from a stone projection in the wall, carried out by corbel work, visible from the interior of the church. The bells have the following inscriptions, cast in ancient capitals::

Laudate eum in excelsis.

"1. † Laudate Dominum de cœlis.
"2. Sancte Francisce, ora pro nobis.
"3. † Sancte Codda, ora pro nobis.
"4. † Ave Maria, gratia plena.

"5. † Sancte Egidie, ora pro nobis.

"6. Tu es Petrus, et super hanc Petram edificabo ecclesiam

meam.

This fine peal was cast by Messrs. Mears, of Whitechapel, London, and is the second executed in this country for the solemnities of Catholic worship since the revival of religion.

"At the spring of the belfry windows, the internal angles of the tower are gathered into an octagon, by segmental arches; and the juncture of the spire and tower is strongly secured by an iron tie, cased in copper. The four emblems of the Evangelists are sculptured on four small gablets, resting on the stone weatherings at the angles of the spire; above these are four richly-canopied niches, running up into crocketed work and pinnacles, containing images of the four Latin doctors, seated on thrones of the natural size, carved in stone.

"The eight crocketed ribs, which gradually diminish in size and projection as they approach the apex, spring from eight talbots at the base of the spire, and terminate in as many gablets, with bosses to receive them.

"There are four double-light windows at the base of the spire, terminated by crocketed gables and crosses; four immediately above the angle pinnacles, and four smaller ones near the upper part of the spire. The whole is terminated by a cross, composed of iron and copper, partly gilt, and surmounted by a cock, and secured to the spire, passing down the centre of the stone-work, about twenty feet, and fastened to four bars of iron, bolted to an iron collar, going entirely round the interior of the spire. The whole height, including the cross, is about 200 feet from the level of the churchyard.

"The southern porch is vaulted with intersecting stone ribs, spring

ing from six engaged shafts, and enriched with foliage and heraldic bosses. The external roof is composed entirely of stone. The horizontal joints are all weathered, and the vertical ones covered with ribs, terminated by gablets above the stringcourse. The label of the external arch is crocketed, and terminates in a corbel, supporting an image of our blessed Lady, with our Lord, under a rich canopy, with angels holding thuribles, in quatrefoils, on either side.

"The floor is paved with encaustic tiles, of various devices, with this inscription:-'We will go into the house of the Lord with gladness.' On each side of the inner doorway are holy water stoups, in niches.

"The northern porch is similar in proportions, but plainer in design. The internal vault, as well as the roof, are of stone, but ribbed and arched instead of groined. The niche over the external arch contains an image of our Lord giving benediction, and the floor is laid with encaustic tiles.

"The eastern end of the chancel is supported by two angle buttresses, with niches, containing images of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist. In the apex of the gable, over the great window, is another niche, with an image of our blessed Lady, with our Lord. The gable is terminated by a stone floriated cross, and immediately below the syl of the east window are three angels, in quatrefoils, bearing sacred emblems. The eastern gable of the nave rises considerably above the chancel, and supports a belfry, containing the Sanctus bell. This belfry is composed of four pinnacles, with intermediate gables, and a centre termination. The words, 'Sanctus,† Sanctus,† Sanctus,†' are cast around the bell, which, as its name implies, is rung to give notice of the commencement of the canon.

"The chapel of the Blessed Sacrament extends eastward from the end of the south aisle, being groined with stone. The external buttresses are more massive; and the one which is placed at the end of the aisle wall contains a niche, with an image of the resurrection of our Lord.

"On the north side of the chancel are the sacristies and organ-loft, ascended by a spiral staircase in a turret, weathered with stone, and terminated by a lion.

"The roofs, which are very high pitched, are all covered with strong lead, secured by rolls at short intervals; the ridges are surmounted by cresting, partly gilt. This cresting, which was anciently found on all the roofs of ecclesiastical and important buildings, not only produces a rich and beautiful effect, but is actually useful in confining the lead, and securing it from violent storms of wind.

"The tower is open to the nave, as high as the floor of the ringing chamber, by a large arch, splayed off with massive mouldings, and several feet in depth.

"The floor of the tower is laid with tiles charged with the bearings of Talbot and Comyn, intersected by borders. A wrought iron screen runs across the lower part of the great arch, dividing off the tower entrance; but it is provided with large gates, that can be opened at pleasure.