sentations do much evil in the world, especially to the poor, who learn principally through their outward senses, having no time for reading, not much for reflection. It teaches them to dread Death, which they will one day be called to face; they shrink from it with horror, and turn stedfastly away from that day for which they should prepare, that day to which they should grow daily more and more accustomed, lest they should be summoned, and be found without oil in their lamps, and cling tenaciously to present life howsoever dreary. For them, especially, I would picture Death as a beautiful youth, infinite repose upon his brow, crushing down fear, ruin, decay, deformity, and sin, all mortal things, under his feet-placing the crown of immortality on those who crowd around him with his right hand; and with his left, opening the gate to life eternal. I would pray God, that they who gazed upon my picture, might feel faith and hope revive, when faith and hope had ebbed to their very lowest, when perchance they had been drowned in the slough of despair; that they might feel "There is no Death, what seems so is transition," that they should hear those words of Jesus, "He who believeth on me, though he were dead yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth on me, shall NEVER DIE."

CULTIVATION OF THE SENSES.-How our hearts bound to the spirited strains of martial music! how we thrill to the shout of the multitude! and how many a David has charmed away evil spirits by the melody of beautiful sounds! Neither is it a passing emotion of little moment in our lives we receive from the senses, for they are our perpetual body-guards, surrounding us unceasingly; and these constantly-repeated impressions become powerful agents in life; they refine or beautify our souls, they ennoble or degrade them, according to the beautiful or mean objects which surround us. A dirty, slovenly dress will exert an evil moral influence upon the child; it will aid in destroying its self-respect; it will incline it to habits which correspond with such a garment.

RAFFAELLO, the son of Giovanni Sanzio, a painter of the Umbrian school, was born on Good Friday 1483, and died on Good Friday 1520. He lost his mother early, and his father married again, but was himself removed by death when his son was yet very young. When only 12 years old, Raffaello was placed under the care of Vanucci Perugino, a renowned painter at Perugia, whose school was at that time the chief nursery of Italian artistic genius; and here he remained till his twentieth year. The master ere long availed himself of the help of his gifted scholar, in the execution of his works, and the grace and refinement which dis

tinguish the later productions of Vanucci are chiefly owing to the skilful touches of the young pupil.

The first independent works of Raffaello, which can be identified with certainty are the two sides of a church flag, and an altar piece, both of which are entirely in Perugino's style. These are, however, youthful productions, and completely thrown into the shade by later works. The distinctive characteristic of the style of Raffaello is excessive beauty of form, the expression of utmost purity of soul. His later works especially, when he had thrown off the mannerism of Perugino's school, display an unequalled taste and delicacy. In 1504 he visited Florence, where he studied with equal interest and success, and acquired that mastery of design in which he himself was conscious he had hitherto been defective. We may trace in his Florentine pictures his growing triumph over every disadvantage, till at length we find him forcibly combining graceful and correct drawing with the refined sentiment, the exquisite type of beauty and the devout romantic mysticism, which he had brought with him from the school of Umbria. His picture of St. Catherine, in the National Gallery, is a striking example of his power of imparting intense interest to a single figure. The painting is on wood about two feet high. The saint is represented standing erect, her left arm resting upon the instrument of torture, a broken wheel, while her uplifted eye hails the ray of celestial brightness which streams down upon her from heaven.

When Raffaello was in his 25th year, he was invited to the court of Pope Julius II, to decorate the palace of the Vatican. The papal power was at its height, combining an extensive territory and a command of warlike resources, with an unlimited spiritual power over Christendom. It was to glorify this power, and to represent Rome as the centre of spiritual culture, that these paintings were undertaken; and they display a depth of learning and research to be accounted for only by supposing, that the young artist availed himself of the aid of some of the learned men who at this time adorned the Papal court. These paintings cover the walls and ceiling of three apartments and a grand saloon,

the subjects being "The dispute of the Sacrament,"— "The School of Athens "-"Parnassus"-and "Jurisprudence." These works mark the commencement of the highest period of the painter's career.

In 1514, Leo X. becoming pope, employed the artist to paint a series of designs for the tapestries intended to adorn the Sistine chapel. These "cartoons" are some of his, most important productions, combining great dignity and grandeur of form with power and depth of thought-while particular attention seems to be given to the material employed, and many decorations are skilfully introduced that would have a beautiful effect in tapestry. Seven of these cartoons are at Hampton Court; they were in two series, the first series, viz., "the miraculous draught of fishes"-"the delivery of the keys "-"the healing of the lame man" "the death of Ananias"-relating to the history of Peter; while the second series, viz., "the stoning of Stephen," "the conversion of Saul"-"the punishment of Elymas"-"Paul at Lystra" and "Paul at Athens" and "at Philippi"-are connected with the Apostle Paul. There is also in the Vatican another set of designs for tapestry by the same artist, representing twelve scenes from the life of Christ.

Space prevents an enumeration of the pictures of Raffaello's later period, in all of which there is a pervading character of grand ideal beauty; keeping sufficiently within the bounds of truth and nature to excite the warmest sympathies of a spectator, yet idealizing, by the force of poetic art, his genius rose powerfully and successfully to the loftiest height of sacred subjects. He was also great in portraits; of one which he painted of Julius II, Michael Angelo said, the Pope's attendants could not look at it without a thrill of something akin to terror.

The crowning production of the painter's genius was left unfinished at his death. It is a picture of the transfiguration, on which he worked incessantly. The figure of the Saviour floats in a luminous atmosphere, with uplifted eyes and outstretched arms, bespeaking holiest contemplation, and is so sublime as almost to suggest the idea of a more than mortal pencil. The

the waves did not pay any attention, they came on and on, just the same as if he had not spoken, and they washed at last quite over his feet, so that he was obliged to move away lest he should have been drowned."

"And why did Canute do this, can you tell us love?" inquired Mr. Morton.

"To show," said Emma softly, "that he could not do everything, and that only One has power to say to the sea-thus far shalt thou go and no farther.' I used often to think of that when I saw how wonderful the sea is."

I like that story of Canute," said Robert, " for it looks as if he really were a religious man; which one could not have told, you know, from his only founding monasteries; for I don't like monks at all, nor nuns either; what business have they to go shutting themselves in that selfish way?" up

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They thought that by living apart from the world, they should be saved from many temptations to do wrong, and should have, besides, more time to spend in prayer and meditation on religious subjects. The rules of many of the religious monasteries were very strict, the monks were obliged to go barefoot, to sleep upon hard boards, to live upon coarse and scanty food, and were hardly even allowed to smile or to speak to one another. It was frequently the custom, too, for monks and nuns, and religious men and women who were not monks and nuns, to make their lives as uncomfortable as possible, by wearing sackcloth, or carrying ropes and heavy weights fastened round their bodies; or eating nothing but bread and water. Those who inflicted these sufferings upon themselves were thought to be great saints, and were often canonised after their death."

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'But, papa, how could men and women bear to make themselves so miserable?"

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They thought, no doubt, that by despising the comforts and pleasures of this life, they should be better able to fix their thoughts upon the life to come; and as they acted from good intentions, we ought to respect rather than to blame them. Yet, when we look around us and see in what a beautiful world our Creator has