Crucifixion and the Conversion of S. Longinus, and a second letter O, the Nailing to the Cross. In apparently a different hand and style, the letter S with Mary and the Holy Child, introduces the Lauds of the Blessed Virgin-Ave regina, misericordia, vita, dulcedo et spes mea. "Dulcedo dulcedinis fructus benedictus Lotus labe animus est et demon victus." Then come the Joys of Mary, beginning with the letter V. enclosing the Virgin and Child, with an angel in red alb, offering a flower. And then a hymn: "Ave mundi spes Maria Ave mitis, ave pia, Ave plena gratia, Ave Virgo, Mater Christi, que sola meruisti Esse Mater sine viro, Et lætari more miro, Angelorum imperatrix, Peccatorum consolatrix," &c. Then follow the Seven Joys of Mary, as recited by S. Thomas of Canterbury, together with the Litany of S. Bernard to Mary. At this point the Psalter commences. At the first Psalm the letter B contains a representation of King David kneeling before an altar, and playing upon the harp. At the Psalm Dominus illuminatio mea, in the letter D, is David praying on the ground, with the Eternal FATHER revealing Himself to him in heaven. At the Psalm In custodiam, David is represented as an old man leaning on a staff, with Almighty GoD appearing. At the Psalm Quid gloriaris, David is seated upon a throne addressing a fool in a particoloured dress. At the Psalm Dixit Dominus a fool is straddling over a stick. At the Psalm Salvum me fac Deus David is swimming upon his back in the sea crowned, God Almighty appearing above and blessing him. At the Psalm Exultate Deo he is represented playing upon bells with a stick, the bells being suspended round a hoop. At the Psalm Cantate Domino canticum novum, there is a most remarkably beautiful illumination representing seven priests in surplices and copes, chanting before a long stall-like desk. At the Psalm Domine exaudi, David is sorrowing, pointing with his left hand to himself, while the ALMIGHTY appears. At the Psalm Beati immaculati, he sees a vision of Moses with the two tables of the law. And the Psalter ends at page 218. Then follow the Canticles, Te Deum, Benedicite, Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis, and Quicunque Vult, after which stands the Litany of the Saints. Between the names of S. Clement and S. Sixtus the name of S. Thomas of Canterbury is erased. The following amongst others are invocated :-SS. Kenelme, Swithen, Chad, Oswald, Cuthbert, Petronilla, Frides wide, Walburgis, Etheldreda, Cuthberga, Sexburga, Mlburga, and Osyth. Then, after the Lesser Litany, are special commemorations, as fol lows: For those in trouble, for fair weather, for those journeying or sick, and in time of war. Then comes the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commencing at page 237,"Secundum usum et consuetudinem Sarum." The letter D, at page 237, represents the Annunciation; the same letter, at page 239, the Visitation. At page 243, the Collect of S. Thomas the Martyr is erased. The letter D, at page 248, Ad primam, is cut out altogether, one of the few losses in the book. Ad tertiam, page 249, is represented the Angels appearing to the Shepherds. Ad Sextam the Three Magi. Ad Nonam the Presentation in the Temple. Ad Vesperas the Slaughter of the Innocents, while the initial letter Ad Completorium, is gone. Then follow, at page 256, the Seven Penitential Psalms, the letter D containing a representation of the General Judgment. Our Blessed SAVIOUR is seated on a rainbow, with His foot on the earth. On either side angels, painted blue, are blowing trumpets, while below the graves are opening, Hell being represented as the mouth of a fiery dragon. After this comes the Office for the Dead, with the representation of a funeral service. The bier stands before an altar vested in purple, where at one end is a lectern, where three Priests—one in a purple, and two in blue copes-are chanting. On one side there are five hooded mourners in black, while on either side stand four large wax tapers. At page 263, Incipiunt commendationes animarum. In the letter D is represented the souls of the righteous taken up by two angels in a sheet to God, surrounded by winged cherubims. After this comes a Prayer, and the Psalter of S. Jerome, that saint being represented writing in the letter V. At page 273, there is a prayer cut out, while on the same page occurs a representation of the Entombment. At page 276, stands a Rhythmical Hymn on the Passion of our Blessed SAVIOUR, and Te Deum. Then follows, page 285, a commendation of one's guardian angel for Vespers, a Prayer for Holy Week, and the Litany of the Passion with Devotions for the same. Thus the book ends. I should conclude, from the general character of the work, that the MS. was executed about the year 1420. The coat of arms already given may afford some clue either to the scribe or the original owner. Perhaps some of your readers may be able to render information upon this point. There can be little doubt, I imagine, that the book was not originally used in the ancient Scottish Church, but that it was brought to Aberdeen, after Burnet's decease, who, as the fly-leaf declares, left it as a legacy to Marischal College. Possibly it may have come from Salisbury, and if so, from its size and character, very probably belonged to the Cathedral there. It is now carefully preserved, with other rare and curious MSS., which the University here possesses. Apologizing for the length of my letter, I remain, dear sir, Yours most faithfully, Fountain Hall, near Aberdeen, July 13, 1861. FREDERICK GEORGE LEE. 235 MEMORIAL CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. OUR last number contained, copied from Mr. Beresford Hope's English Cathedral, the plan of this church by Mr. Burges, in the reduced form which the committee had adopted for its construction, as well as that by Mr. Street, of his proposed church on an unreduced scale as tendered in the competition, a difference which we omitted to note. The whole question of the church has since been reconsidered by the Building committee, which has been reinforced by the addition of Mr. Fergusson and Mr. J. G. Talbot in place of Professor Willis, whose retirement we note with regret, and the plan has been modified by the substitution for the most western bay of the nave of an architectural open narthex, similar to that of S. Germain l'Auxerrois. This change will not diminish the ground area of the church, while, of course, it will reduce its internal length, not disadvantageously as far as the comparative height of the building is concerned. There will still be room enough we fear for any probable congregation, and the accommodation of ample external shade will be given to the native attendants who may be as requisite for the service of the worshippers as they would be undesirable loungers inside the building. The details of the whole design have been reconsidered and modified in a rather more northern spirit than those which were originally adopted. In one respect the altered design is notably improved. Previous to the late revision the upper story consisted of what could best be described by the inconsistent termblank clerestory. Now it is modified into a very ingenious combination of clerestory and triforium, the inner plane of the wall to the church forming a triforial gallery, while enough of the upper portion of the outer plane is to be glazed for admitting light and air, but not heat into the building. The eastern ambulatory, the most characteristic feature of Mr. Burges's design, is still retained. ECCLESIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. A COMMITTEE Meeting was held at Arklow House, on Thursday, June 13, 1861. Present: A. J. B. Beresford Hope, Esq., President, in the chair; E. Akroyd, Esq., J. D. Chambers, Esq., F, H. Dickinson, Esq., the Rev. S. S. Greatheed, the Rev. T. Helmore, the Rev. H. L, Jenner, the Rev. J. M. Neale, T. Gambier Parry, Esq., the Rev. J. H. Sperling, R. E. E. Warburton, Esq., and the Rev. B. Webb. Letters were received from Sir Francis Scott, Bart., W. W. E. Wynne, Esq., M.P., the Rev. George Ainslie, the Abbé Xavier de Montault, Sir S. R. Glynne, Bart., W. Butterfield, Esq., J, Clarke, Esq., R. J. Johnson, Esq., E. S. Grindle, Esq., the Rev. T. Hill, and the Rev. D. Morgan. J. Pritchard, Esq., of Cardiff, was elected an ordinary member. It was agreed to exchange the Ecclesiologist regularly with the Repertoire Archéologique d'Anjou, and with the French journal called La Paroisse. A letter having been read from Miss Agnes Blencowe, respecting the expediency of some good embroidery being prepared for the International Exhibition of 1862, it was agreed that she should be requested to work, by the aid of the Ladies' Ecclesiastical Embroidery Society, a frontal for S. Paul's cathedral, to be designed by Mr. Bodley. The cost was guaranteed by the committee; and a special subscription for this purpose was begun by some of the gentlemen present. The President, Mr. Dickinson, Mr. Warburton and the Rev. B. Webb were appointed a sub-committee for arranging the matter with the Dean of S. Paul's. It was also agreed to authorise the secretary to make application, on behalf of the Society, for a space 25 feet square in the International Exhibition of 1862, on the understanding that the President undertook that all the space not wanted by the Ecclesiological Society should be made use of by the Architectural Museum. It was suggested that the frontal worked by Miss Blencowe for Ely cathedral should be exhibited. The annual report of the Society was then read and approved, with additions; and the report of the sub-committee for music was also approved. Mr. White met the committee, and exhibited his designs for the restoration of Newland church, Gloucestershire; for the restoration of Torrington church, Devonshire; for the restoration of Beaminster church, Dorsetshire; for the restoration of Stockleigh Pomeroy church, Devonshire; for the restoration of the sanctuary of Modbury church, Devonshire; for a porch for South Benfleet church, Essex; for a new chancel to Little Wolston church, Bucks; for the restoration of the rectory-house at Dartington, Devonshire; for schools at Oving, Bucks, and Chacewater, Cornwall; and for new parsonage-houses at Stanhoe, Norfolk; Elsted, Surrey, and Milcombe, Oxfordshire. Mr. Bodley met the committee, and exhibited his designs for the new church of S. Martin-on-the-Hill, Scarborough; and for a new mission-church, at Delhi. The proposed frontal for S. Paul's cathedral was also discussed. Mr. W. M. Fawcett, B.A., of Jesus college, Cambridge, met the committee, and exhibited the architectural plans, drawn by himself from the sketches and measurements of the Rev. W. F. Witts, which are to illustrate the forthcoming work by the Rev. George Williams on Georgian and Armenian Ecclesiology. Mr. Slater met the committee, and exhibited his designs for the new font just finished for Lichfield cathedral; for an altar-table (to be offered to Chichester cathedral); for the restoration of Stapleford church, Wiltshire; and for new schools at Etchingham, Sussex. The committee also examined Mr. Clarke's designs for some almshouses at Boddington; and a perspective view of the interior of his new church, designed for Point de Galle, Ceylon. They also examined Mr. Norton's designs for new churches at Chelwood, Somersetshire, and Roydon, Norfolk; for a chapel of ease at Buckfastleigh, Devonshire; for the restoration of Aller church, Somersetshire, and Kilton church, Somersetshire; for new schools at Disserth, Radnorshire, and at Wonham Lodge, Surrey; and for new parsonages at Magor, Monmouthshire, and Sherfield-on-Loddon, Hampshire. They also examined his drawings for a new altar at S. John's, Paddington, and a perspective view of a proposed new church at Bedminster, near Bristol. The Rev. J. M. Neale announced his intention of visiting the east of France, and requested the help of the committee in any expenses to which he might be put by his search for unedited sequences. The Committee then adjourned for the Anniversary Meeting. The Twenty-second Anniversary Meeting1 of the Society was held on Thursday evening, June 13, in the gallery of the Architectural Union Company, 9, Conduit Street, Regent Street, when there was a very numerous attendance, including ladies. Amongst those gentlemen present were Mr. Beresford Hope, President (who occupied the chair), Sir Charles Anderson, Bart., the Rev. Sir Henry W. Baker, Bart., the Hon. and Very Rev. the Dean of York, Mr. G. Gilbert Scott, R.A., Mr. G. E. Street, Mr. J. G. Talbot, Mr. J. H. Parker, Mr. W. C. Luard, Mr. F. S. Gosling, Mr. M. H. Jenner, Mr. J. Masters, Mr. T. Gambier Parry, Mr. J. F. France, Mr. Robert Smith, Mr. Robert Kerr, Mr. W. Slater, Mr. J. P. St. Aubyn, Mr. John Ruskin, Mr. Joseph Clarke, Mr. B. Ferrey, Mr. E. Akroyd, Mr. W. M. Fawcett, Mr. W. White, Mr. C. C. Nelson, Mr. R. J. Johnson, Mr. J. P. Seddon, Mr. G. F. Bodley, Mr. S. S. Teulon, Mr. R. P. Pullan, Mr. N. Lavers, Mr. R. E. E. Warburton, the Revs. J. Sharp, J. H. Sperling, T. Helmore, S. S. Greatheed, W. D. Morrice, B. Webb, H. L. Jenner, H. J. Matthew, J. M. Neale, Mr. Waterton, Mr. Hugh Parnell, Mr. J. L. Pearson, &c. The President, in opening the business of the meeting, remarked that the present was the twenty-second anniversary of the Ecclesiological Society, which began at Cambridge as the Camden Society, and had ultimately assumed a metropolitan character. He did not suppose any one required to be told what was the peculiar character of the Ecclesiological Society. It existed for the cultivation of art in its sacred relations to religion; but, at the same time, it pursued art for its own sake, as well as in its relations to that which hallowed all art. The work which had been done within the last twenty years required not to be told to them, but they might fairly consider what share their society had had to do with that work; and he believed that in the artistic history of the nineteenth century the Ecclesiological Society would not be forgotten. They had held their anniversary meetings in several places in London. They had held them in two schoolrooms, 1 We are indebted for this report of our anniversary to our excellent contemporaries the Builder and Building News. It is compiled, with some corrections, from those two journals. |