a number of guards and soldiers surrounding her. There was the virgin dressed in her black garment, but shewing a joyful countenance. Her look was a mixture of modesty and firmness; she stood undaunted. I admired the expression of her soul, more than the exquisite colours of the picture. The executioners are seen coming to their work of cruelty; whilst one soldier pulls her head back, another, with a mallet, bruises her mouth; so that her tender face, her hair, and her clothes, were covered with blood. You would say you saw the blood actually flowing from her lips, and would be moved to tears, at the sight of the picture. You then saw, in another part, the chaste virgin alone, seated, raising both her hands to heaven, and invoking her God, her helper in her combat. Whilst she is in prayer, that sign, which Christians are accustomed to adore, and to represent in colours, appears above her head, the symbol, I think, of her ardent desire of suffering. You then see fire set to the pile, which soon rises to a scorching blaze. You see the virgin placed in the midst of the flame; her hands are raised towards heaven, the cheerfulness of her countenance bespeaks the exultation of her soul, going to the joys of eternal life.” In S. Euphemiam. N. Auct. Combefis. T. 1. p. 207.
St. Nilus, G. C.-He gives the following instructions concerning the figures and representations that should be exhibited in a Christian Church.-" In the chancel of the most sacred Temple, towards the east let there be one, and only one, cross. For by one saving cross, all mankind was delivered from slavery; and from one cross, hope beamed on sinners in every nation of the earth. Let the sacred temple be filled with pictures, well executed by the most celebrated artists, representing the most remarkable events of the Old and New Testaments; that the unlettered, and those who are incapable of reading the divine Scrip-
