efforts of the besieged were insufficient to force it back. And now the conflict waxed very hot indeed; the Varangians passed a stout lever under the upper rounds of the Ladder, and strove to wrench it up; others endeavoured to shatter it by rolling down heavy stones on it; on the other side Bithynian archers, the best in the camp, singled out the most active of the defenders, and tried every part of their helmets and cuirasses; and woe to him in whom they were found wanting! These were opposed by fresh showers of stones, boiling pitch, melted lead; while yet again others endeavoured to fire the stern of the galley, as it lay alongside of the walls. At length a lucky stone lighted with such force on one of the uprights that it crashed, and the assailants abandoned it as useless; but at the same moment two others were erected, a little on one side, in its place.

"You see how it is," said De Rushton; "they will do for us by mere numbers."

"GOD grant otherwise," cried Manuel. Then, finding that he could render no service where he was, and not forgetful of his errand, he passed onward towards the northern wall.

Here also the defenders seemed worn and harassed,— thinned in numbers, though not to any great extent, but certainly exerting themselves with less spirit. On the other hand, the mound of earth and dead bodies was perceptibly rising higher. Every man that dropped did good service by his death, as raising the bridge by which his more fortunate companions hoped to enter the city: the whole Turkish force pressing, as far as the eye could see, onwards to the walls, heaved up and down like the billows before an easterly wind; human barriers seemed almost useless against even the dead weight of such a mighty mass; it was impossible to distinguish private or officer; all that could clearly be seen was, that the great Standard of Islam floated about half a mile from the walls, that the Janissaries were not yet in action, and that the Sultan, mounted on his white horse, an iron mace in his hand, was waiting the proper moment when, with this his reserved force, to put forth the strength of his empire in one final charge.

"I hope your majesty is safe," cried Chrysolaras, in a momentary pause.

"Quite safe," replied Constantine-"but the day "— in a lower voice, "I fear is going hard with us."

"I trust not, Sire-they who can keep this multitude at bay for so long must be invincible."

"The men have done wonders," said the Emperor, more loudly; "if I could reward every man that I have seen with my own eyes, as he deserved, all the gold of Constantinople would go over and over again.—The news, Cantacuzene ?"

"If your majesty is hard pressed," replied that nobleman, "we can spare some assistance; for the attack has almost ceased at our post."

"That is well," said Constantine. more than we."

"None can need it

Having seen this seasonable help arrive to the defence of the most sorely pressed point, Chrysolaras, in obedience to Burstow's advice, went back to Phranza's house. Here he instituted the most diligent inquiry among the servants how and where Zosimus had been last seen; and one and all persisted in asserting that Maria was the most likely person to be able to afford him information, as she had certainly been in conversation with that slave no very long time before he disappeared. To the metacia of De Rushton, therefore, the young nobleman next betook himself; and after satisfy ing those whom he had left there that a gallant defence was still being made, though he did not deny that the besieged were hardly pressed, he said,-" Lady Theodora, you have, I think, a servant named Maria."

"I have," replied Theodora.

"If it please you," replied Chrysolaras, "I would fain speak with her-I will give you my reasons afterwards."

Theodora, though rather surprised, caused Maria to be summoned; and she, no less wondering than her mistress what the call might mean, was told that she must answer some questions which the Lord Manuel wished to propose to her.

"Pray," said he, "yesterday afternoon, before Zosimus

left the Lord Phranza's house, had you not some speech with him ?"

"Yes, my lord," she replied: "what an if I had ?" "That presently. Was it at the Lord Protovestiare's house, or here ?"

66

There," answered she; "my mistress had sent me to fetch some things thence of which she stood in need." "I did so," remarked Theodora.

"And what time was it ?" inquired Manuel. "It was about the eighth hour."

"Are you sure?"

"Quite sure; for before I set forth thence, the bells of S. Sophia rang for the ninth hour service."

"Did you speak with him long ?"

"Not I," returned Maria, giving her head a little scornful toss.

"How long ?"

"He only asked me why I had come there-and-and -I really cannot tell exactly what he said, my lord." "Where was this ?"

"In the vestibule."

"And when you left him, where did he go?"

"Into the garden."

"Did you see anything of the Varangian Burstow that afternoon ?"

"Yes, my lord; he was walking with Barlaam up and down the terrace in the front of the Lord Phranza's house."

"Did you notice if he went on walking there ?"

66

No, my lord; they both went into the house."

"That will do, Maria." And the servant left the

room.

Theodora, who did not know, as Manuel did, that Barlaam and Burstow had discussed their plan while walking in the garden, could not conceive the purpose of these questions. Nor did Manuel explain himself, but merely observing that he should wish to see again how the conflict went on, he set forth to the harbour wall, for the purpose, if possible, of expressing his fears to De Rushton.

A glimpse of the truth had flashed into his mind. It

appeared that Zosimus had been in Phranza's garden, much about the same time, and probably at the very same time, that Burstow and the house steward had been discussing the question where the Lady De Rushton was to be concealed: immediately after this, Zosimus, without any expressed reasons, deserts to the Turkish camp: he makes his escape from the city by an absolutely false pretext he is next seen in communication with Leontius, the very man of all others who would gladly receive or purchase any information as to the Lady Theodora. To what suspicions did all this give rise! And then, coupling the facts he knew with the warning which Theodora had received on the preceding night, and to which Chrysolaras had always been disposed to attach more credit than Sir Edward, he became seriously alarmed; and, as we have said, set forth hastily in search of his friend. It was now nearly mid-day.

CHAPTERS ON CHURCH ARCHITECTURE.

No. VII.

It is to Rome that we must look for the origin of the Renaissance style. There and in the North of Italy it appears to have been in full developement for upwards of a century before it reached our own shores. To the style itself, no praise can be given, beyond being in some instances highly picturesque. It is simply an application of the detail of ancient pagan architecture to the grander features of the Christian pointed styles. Hence we find the classic orders of architecture strangely mixed with gothic vaulting, windows, and other features.

The solemn grandeur which yet lingered about the larger churches of this bastard age, may therefore be mainly attributed to the instincts of proportion, and the vital force of the Christian element, which could not be at once extinguished. The Renaissance was essentially a

worldly style; with few exceptions, its chief works were civilian and domestic. So much was this the case in England, that we cannot point to a complete ecclesiastical specimen of it in our own country, while it is most abundant in the mansions of our nobility, and in the monumental remains of that age.1 The same principle, though not to so marked an extent, holds equally true of the European continent.

The earliest ecclesiastical works of this style are probably those of Brunelleschi, at Florence; they consist of the dome and central portion of the Cathedral, c. 1420, and the churches of S. Lawrence and of the Holy Ghost, both in that city. In Spain we find some exceedingly rich examples, but the style is here known under the name of Plataresque. Amongst them may be mentioned the dome of the Cathedral of Burgos, 1567, the great church at San Sebastian, S. Juan de la Penitencia, Toledo, 1511, and the Hospital of Santa Cruz, Toledo, built between 1504 and 1512. In Germany and the Netherlands, S. Jaques, Liège, and the chapel of the Holy Blood, Bruges, exhibit a free admixture of the style. It is in France, however, that we find the best examples, and amongst them we would notice first, the most remarkable church of S. Eustache, Paris, 1532, one of the most religious interiors of the metropolis: Bron Cathedral, Burgundy, from 1511 to 1531: the very elaborate west

1 Amongst our English mansions in this style may be mentioned, Wollaton; Longford Castle, 1612; Audley End, 1616; Holland House, 1607; Knowle, 1570; Burleigh, 1577; Longleat, 1579; Westwood, 1590. In France, the chateaux of Gaillon, 1510; Pau, 1517; Varengeville, 1525; Chateaudun, 1530; Chenonceaux, Chambord, 1523; Anet, 1564; considerable portions of the Chateaux of Blois, Fontainbleau, Ecouen, Bourgtherold at Rouen, 1520, Nantouillet, 1527. The town halls of Arras, S. Quintin, Dijon, Paris, 1549, the house of Agnes Sorel, at Orleans. In Germany the best examples are the Belvidere, on the Hradschin at Prague, 1560; Heidelburg Castle, built between 1558 and 1607, the Martinsburg, Mayence, and the town halls of Antwerp, 1564; Cologne, 1570; Augsburg 1600, and Nuremburg, 1610. In Spain the examples are, if possible, more ornate and magnificent: amongst many, we may mention the Chateau at Madrid, 1541; the Alcazar, Toledo, 1548; town hall and Caza Zaporta, Zaragossa, 1551, and 1560; town hall, Seville, 1559, and the Palace of Charles V., at Granada.