I thought at first the missing word might be nonage, that is, youth; but this word is not a very likely one to have been found in this connection, and I think the space is too large for it; moreover though we once fancied that the letter before GE looked like A, I think now it may possibly have been N. We should be most grateful to any of our readers who can throw light upon this obscure point. The meaning of the first four lines is by no means clear. What is intended by "still to endure it would be sought"? I can only suppose that it means, it would be sought to go on living for ever, but I venture to invite communications on the subject.

The rest of the monuments in the Church must be reserved for another paper. They are modern, and comparatively uninteresting, and only make us lament still more the loss of so many beautiful ancient monuments, which a reference to Ashmole's Antiquities of Berkshire shows that our Church once possessed, and for which sepulchral urns and mural tablets are indeed a poor exchange.

To be continued.

H. P.

SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE MAGAZINE.

The Editor acknowledges with thanks the following Subscriptions towards the expenses of the Magazine. He wishes again to remind his readers that, with the double outside sheet, the cost of the Magazine is fully double the price charged for it, that is to say that the cost price of each copy is more than 2d. He hopes that by the kindness and liberality of the wealthier parishioners and friends of the Parish, he may be enabled to continue selling the Magazine at its present price. The circulation is about 270 copies a month.

We have also received a few smaller sums in addition to the regular subscriptions amounting altogether to about 10s.

BAPTISMS.

SONNING CHURCH.

July 11th, Mary Anne, daughter of George and Harriet Henwood, Sonning.

July 11th, Josiah, son of Charles and Hannah Redman, Woodley. July 11th, Frederick, son of James and Lucy Tubb, Woodley. July 19th (privately), Elizabeth, daughter of William James Legg and Jane Curteis, Sonning Eye.

MARRIAGE.

July 24th, James Herridge, of Shiplake, to Ellen Lovejoy, of Sonning.

BURIALS,

July 3rd, Harcourt Smith, Sonning, aged 66 years.

July 23rd, Elizabeth Curteis, Sonning Eye, aged 3 weeks.

Bibles, Prayer Books, and Hymn Books, may be obtained at the

8

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13th Sunday after Trinity.

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Back numbers of the Magazine can be had on application.

Church Services.

The Church Services at Sonning and All Saints' will be the same as in previous months.

CENTRAL FRANCE.

AUVERGNE. CLERMONT.

Auvergne is a mountainous district, in which Clermont and Le Puy are two of the principal towns. Leaving Bourges at ten in the morning, and journeying still towards the south, we reached Clermont at five. The situation of this city is both peculiar and beautiful. It is planted on a hill, whence you look northwards over the bright and smiling plain of the river Allier; a delightful prospect of orchards, meadows, frequent villages and woody hills in the far distance. Throughout the south of France there are many resemblances to Italy, and we began to notice them at Clermont, in two points,—first the vineyards, which are abundantly mingled with the orchards in the general view; second, the rocky heights abruptly rising here and there, crowned with a little town or village, or more often an old decayed fortress.

But while on one side Clermont looks down from its eminence on the open plain, on the other, it is itself overlooked, almost overhung, by a cluster of volcanic mountains, dark-hued, fantastically shaped. They form a curious contrast in their sullen, gloomy, desolate aspect, to the cheerful, fertile, many coloured vale of the Allier which they bound, and The highest of these volupon which they seem sternly to frown. canic mountains, about 5 miles from Clermont, is the Puy de Dome, All the volcanoes are which is more than 4,000 feet above the sea. now extinct. Clermont is built of the dull grey lava hewn out of these mountains, but for cheerfulness' sake, the private dwellings are generally whitewashed. Our hotel looked into a very large square in the centre of the town, but the streets are narrow and winding, The Cathedral is built of more like an Italian than a French town.

lava, and has therefore a sombre appearance; but in form it is light, lofty, and graceful, with a vaulted roof more than 100 feet high, and stained glass, some of the 13th century, of the highest order of excellence.

But the real interest of Clermont is derived from an event which took place there centuries ago, an event which affected the history of Europe in no common degree. A sermon was once preached in this city to a vast multitude, by which their hearts were so deeply stirred, that thousands, selling their property, and abandoning their homes, set forth on a difficult and dangerous expedition to a far distant country. They went to fight a fierce and cruel enemy; not in the mere lust of conquest or of gain, but in the strength and enthu

siasm of a religious feeling; a feeling of burning shame and indignation that the country of Palestine, and the holy places in Jerusalem, should be held by a people who disbelieved in Him who had made that country and that city sacred, and treated his followers who flocked to worship there, with cruelty and insult. A passion for making pilgrimages to holy places, had grown upon Christians from the 3rd and 4th centuries with ever increasing force, and in the 11th century it was perhaps nearly at its height. Even in these colder and less imaginative days, men visit with eager curiosity and interest, the scenes of our Saviour's birth, death and resurrection. But in mediæval times a visit to the Holy Land was much more than this. It was a religious act, an act of humble devotion, by which sin was to be expiated, and the soul to be saved. Hundreds and thousands of pilgrims flocked every year to Jerusalem. The act was so much honoured throughout Christendon, that kings facilitated their passage in many ways. The Emperor Charlemagne in the 9th century, commanded that throughout his vast dominions, the pilgrims were always to be supplied with lodging, fire and water; they were exempted from tolls; many hospitals or inns for their reception were built and endowed along the chief routes, and plans or maps, called itineraries, drawn up for their guidance. The pilgrim started amidst the prayers and blessings of his friends; if he returned safe, he was regarded as a privileged, almost a sacred person.

No wonder then when the Turks, who had taken Jerusalem, insulted and persecuted the pilgrims, who returned, if they returned at all, wounded and mutilated, with pitiable tales of the sufferings or death from ill-usage, of their brethren; no wonder that the indignation of Europe was excited. The flame was kindled into a blaze by a hermit named Peter, a native of Amiens. He had made a pilgrimage to the holy places in 1094, he had been cut to the heart, by the sight of his brethren's sufferings, and the occupation of the Holy City by cruel unbelievers. As he lay prostrate in prayer in the temple, he thought he heard a voice, as of our Lord himself, saying "rise Peter, make known the tribulations of my people; the hour is come for the delivery of my servants, for the recovery of the Holy Places." Peter obeyed the call, he hastened to Rome and declared his mission to the Pope, Urban II. Urban hailed him as a prophet, and gave him free leave to preach where he would. Peter lost no time; in his long hermit's robe, girt with a cord, and a coarse cloak over it, riding on a mule, bare-headed and bare-footed, he passed through Italy, he crossed the Alps, he entered France. And as he

went he preached in Churches, in streets, in market places. By their honour as warriors, by their faith as Christians, by their compassion as men, he called on the people to rescue their fellow Christians from cruel injuries and insults, and the holy places, from the occupation of profane unbelievers. The passions of his countrymen were stirred to their depths; multitudes followed Peter wherever he went; they picked up the hairs which fell from his mule, and preserved them as precious relics. And now it only remained for Pope Urban to put the finishing stroke to the work which Peter had begun. A council