interesting chapter on "The Early History of Canterbury Cathedral;" to convey some little longer account of him, who, (from necessity as regards the limits of the book,) was little more than hinted at, in the aforesaid chapter.

F. C. H.

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. S. PAUL wrote a Second Epistle to the Thessalonians when he heard from the messenger who had conveyed the first, how that had been received by the church to whom it was addressed. Some expressions used by the apostle relative to the day of judgment, which the Thessalonians had understood, from his first letter, to be near at hand, induced S. Paul to write to them again very shortly after, to explain to them, that he had not intended that they should regard the coming of the day of the Lord as an event which was so certainly and quickly approaching, that, it would take place, as they had supposed, in the time of many then alive.

IN THE expectation of the speedy dissolution of the world, and their final judgment, the Thessalonians had begun to neglect all secular affairs, in order to prepare themselves for such an alarming and eventful period; and this misunderstanding S. Paul seeks to remove, by explaining, that although he was an apostle, and gifted as such, yet that he could not foretell the time of Christ's coming, and that his only object in mentioning the subject, was to exhort them to be prepared for that day, by walking orderly, and with quietness, in the fulfilment of their daily duties, and not to be "weary in well doing."

WE FIND, then, that the principal design S. Paul had in this epistle was to remove the error respecting the near approach of the day of judgment, which the Thessalonians held; and to use the stronger arguments, the apostle shews that the

last day was still distant, from certain prophecies being yet unfulfilled, and from the fact, that before that event happened, an awful apostacy would prevail. What this apostacy was, commentators are not agreed; but the most general opinion is, that it had reference to the corruptions of the church of Rome; and that the prophecy had the same meaning as that in Dan. viii., and afterwards also alluded to by S. John in the Revelations. This epistle contains earnest exhortations to the Christians at Thessalonica, to "hold fast" the faith they professed; and the apostle, while desiring them to seek from above, strength and guidance under all difficulties and persecutions, recommends himself to their prayers, and concludes with his usual benediction.

M.

DIARY OF A JOURNEY THROUGH KENT, WITH MY FRIEND, A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER.

39

(Continued from page 250.)

TO THOSE who are in-dwellers of towns, but have in childhood
revelled in such scenes, having spent that portion of their
days in the country, who have been apprenticed to a trade,
and "pent up
in some crowded lane in the city, where no
buttercups are seen to grow, no butterfly to wing its noiseless
flight, how delightful is such a scene as this. Canst thou
never remember when the butterfly was pursuing his rapturous
flight, thou wert tempted with cap in hand, in the eagerness
of youth, to take him prisoner, but at length compelled to
give up the chace, and recline upon some moss-covered bank
to regain breath, while the golden winged "child of the
sun," mocked thee as it mingled with its rays-

"Child of the sun! pursue thy rapturous flight,
Mingling with her thou lovest in field of light!
And where the flowers of Paradise unfold,
Quaft fragrant nectar from their cups of gold,

Then shall thy wings, rich as the evening sky,
Expand and shut with silent extacy,

Yet wert thou once a worm, a thing that crept

On the bare earth, then wrought a web and slept ;
And such is man; soon from his cell of clay,

To burst a seraph in the blaze of day."

HOW CLOSELY is this allied to the hey-day of our youth, full of hopes and pleasures, at length

.

"To burst a seraph in the blaze of light."

Never did I encounter such a change, as when I left the "Sewers that annoy the air,"

in company with Mr. Mabbott, an old stager on the road, in my first commercial journey from London to Dover; I exclaimed in the words of my motto, "An agreeable companion on the road is as good as a coach."

As we passed over Blackheath, I thought how many persons are there who pass by Trinity church Greenwich, to Blackheath Hill, who are unconscious that, but a few yards from them, there is a most curious and very extraordinary large vaulted cavern, hewn out of the solid rock, one hundred feet below the surface of the earth, accidentally discovered in the year 1780. I related to my companion that my attention was arrested to this spot by the reading a small hand bill one afternoon when passing that way, in company with two friends, a lady and a gentleman, towards the heath and the park, the citizens delight, when he can steal an hour from his "pent up" avocation, to breathe a little free unadulterated air; and as a lady's curiosity, like a lady's tongue, is only to be stayed by yielding to its dictates, we followed the direction of the hand bill to

"THE CAVern.

Re-opened for public inspection, situate at the back of Trinity church, Blackheath Hill, Greenwich, Kent, and within five minutes walk of the railway terminus, charge sixpence."

THE ENTRANCE is marked by a kind of grotto hood, in the midst of a few aged trees. At the back is a row of small houses, out of one of which, a lad about fourteen years of age, invited us, not in the usual manner of showmen, to "walk up," but to "walk down;" we looked down about thirty steps cut out of the rock; on one side was a hand-rail; as regarded myself, it was "enough." I fancied I could read the same feeling in the countenance of my male friend; but the lady was a little more courageous and curious, saying, if we were afraid she would descend first. We assured her we were not afraid. Oh, dear no, we were only thinking of her safety : I believe something of this kind oozed from my friend who was in a dreadful perspiration, and who in his heart thought while looking down the dark throat of the cave, it brought before his "mind's eye" what he had read in his school days about Pandemonium in the classics. I question much, too, whether the dog, Cerberus, did not float across his mind at the moment, as I observed him slyly looking about him.

THE LAD was now upon the steps ready to conduct us, with a lighted candle in his hand; I followed him, the lady followed me, and our courageous friend behind, and ready to run back at a moment's notice.

THE INTERNAL structure is spacious, and far surpassing conception. Upon reaching the bottom, the space or room, is large enough to hold 500 persons, and quite dry; to the left, there are the remains of a strong built brick wall, and looking as if it had once been used as a fireplace,but I saw no outlet or chimney for the smoke. Beyond this, there is another large space, where the water was dripping from the roof, the lad told us led to another entrance now unused; he had now lighted several candles which were dotted about upon the rugged sides of the cave, something after the manner of the lamps at Vauxhall, here and there at short distances. Upon turning to the right, there were two pillars, which served both

as a support to the roof, and as an ornament, to what had the appearance of a "hole in the wall;" we followed the lad, through this crevice, which turned out to be an alley at least ten yards in length; we found some difficulty here in breathing, and so narrow was it, that one only could pass in; we therefore had only the one light, and although a good big candle in the open daylight, it was a miserable rushlighty thing in the alley 100 feet below the earth; this brought us to another space that would hold at least 1000 persons.

IT MAY be worthy of remark, that the Saxons, on their entrance into Kent, upwards of 1000 years ago, excavated several of these immense caverns, and during the discords, horrid murders, and sanguinary conflicts with the native Britons, for nearly 400 years, they found in these underground recesses safe receptacles for their persons and their plunder.

TRADITION LIKEWISE informs us that these caves were the teinporary habitations of part of Jack Cade's undisciplined rebels in the reign of Henry IV. A.D. 1400; since then occupied by a a banditti, called "Levellers" during Oliver Cromwell's protectorship; and lastly, by a noted band of highwaymen, who were for many years the terror of the Dovor Road.

AT THF further extremity of this large space is a well of soft, pure, and clear water; over which is placed a pump, one of the tinyest pumps you ever saw, you could almost fancy that the lad and the pump had been made to match; on the top of the well was a mug, which had once been white, but the mineral qualities of the spring, had given it the appearance of having had an attack of the cholera; we had less difficulty in passing out, as the lighted candles shewed the way before us; the lad followed behind, and amused himself by putting out the candles to keep them in readiness for the next visitors.

WE WERE now out of hearing of the cockney's Chime, the