It is probable that from the most remote times there have been methods of different kinds, and instruments of various forms and principles used to keep some kind of an account of time. Indeed the variation of lengths and different positions of the shadows cast by vertical objects (a phenomenon that was open to the observation of all) must have caused the morning, noon, and evening to have been readily distinguished. The "gnomon," which subsequent improvements converted into a "solaria" or sun-dial, was doubtless one of the first instruments employed in the measurement of time; the exact date of its invention is not clearly known, but it was evidently at a very remote period. The dial of Achaz, mentioned by Isaias, must have existed about 713 years before the birth of Christ; and it is a curious example of the scanty communication which then existed between the various nations of the earth that this instrument was unknown to the Greeks until about 80 years afterwards. The first sun-dial employed at Rome was placed near the Temple Quirinus by Papirius Cursor, the Roman general, 293 B. C.; prior to that period it appears that they had no mode of calculating the intermediate points of time which occurred in the calendar but what was furnished by the sun's rising and setting. Soon after this the sun-dial became so great a favorite with the Romans that they offered large sums of money for instruments of this description. But it will be apparent to all that the sun-dial would be useless to distinguish the hours at night and in cloudy weather. Accordingly we find that the "Clepsydra," or waterclock, was employed at a very early period; and Vitruvius states that it

was much improved by Ctesibius of Alexandria. It was probably a mere float with a rod fixed upon it like a mast, and placed in a vessel with a hole in the bottom; as the water ran out the float descended, and figures marked on the rod, at proper intervals, showed the number of hours elapsed. It is evident, however, that these water-clocks would be far from perfect, for the water would not run equally, as a greater quantity must pass out in any given time when the vessel was full than after it was emptied of a portion of its contents. A reference to the nature of hydrostatic pressure will sufficiently account for this fact. The sand-glass, made like the modern minute-glass, was also used by the ancients, as appears from a basrelief representing the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, in which a figure of Morpheus is represented holding a glass of this description.

Having glanced at the early history of time-measuring previous to the introduction of clock-work, or more properly wheel-work, we will pass at once to a brief description of two of the most curious of the clockspheres of the ancients. The first of these is that mentioned by Eusebius, which belonged to Sapor, one of the Persian kings. According to Cardan, an illustrious mathematician of the middle of the sixteenth century, it appears to have been a large and peculiarly constructed sphere, and that Sapor could sit in the middle of it and see its stars rise and set, and that it was made of glass. But he does not state whether this curious machine was moved by wheel-work or not, but as he states that the stars in it appeared. to rise and set we may therefore infer that it was.

The second, the most celebrated

of all the clock-spheres of the ancients, is that of Archimedes, unquestionably one of the greatest geniuses of the age in which he lived, and who, as his works now extant amply testify, was deeply versed in all the mechanism then known, and which his transcendent genius greatly improved. Both friend and foe bear testimony to his great mechanical skill, as more especially exemplified in his glorious but unfortunate defence of Syracuse, against the Roman legions under Marcellus.

With respect to this clock-sphere it is not a little remarkable that it is not mentioned by him in any of his works, and we are therefore compelled to resort to contemporary historians; and what is more to be regretted, these authors do not give any clear account of this celebrated clock-sphere, being in many instances nothing more than mere passing remarks; from which we gather that Archimedes constructed a sphere which combined in it the motion of the sun, the moon, and the planets. Though these brief and imperfect allusions are sufficient to let us know that such a machine had been made by Archimedes, yet they convey no satisfactory information with regard to the nature of its construction and the purposes to which it was applied. By far the most accurate description is that given by Claudian :

"When Jove espied in glass his heavens made,
He smiled, and to the other gods thus said:
'Tis strange that human art so far proceeds
To ape in brittle orbs my greatest deeds,
The heavenly motions, nature's constant course.
Lo, here old Archimede to art transfers
The inclosed spirit, here each star doth drive,
And to the living work some motions give.
The sun in counterfeit his year doth run,
And Cynthia to her monthly circle turn.
Since now bold man worlds of his own descried,
He joys, and the stars by human art can guide,
Why should we so admire proud Solomon's cheats,
When one poor hand nature's chief work re-
peats.

And here again, although we have quoted at much length, we have derived but little information respecting the mechanism of the sphere; however, we have learned that in it the sun, moon, and stars had each of

them their proper motions and positions given to them; and this motion curiously enough is assigned by Claudian as the work of some kind spirit, for he says: "Inclusus variis famulator spiritus astris." What this inclosed spirit really was, will not take us much time to discover, for from the great mechanical celebrity of Archimedes we may assume it to have been neither more nor less than a well-contrived combination of wheels, weights, springs, pulleys, or some such kind of clockwork, which being artfully concealed from the public view, would in those times be readily accounted the agency of some spirit or divine power; but we must not suppose the poet to have been entirely ignorant of the action, for he states in effect the Archimedes stars " are governed by human art."

French historians describe a clock sent to Charlemagne in the year 807, by the famous Eastern caliph, Haroun al Raschid, which excited considerable attention at the French court. In the dial were twelve small doors, forming the divisions for the hours; each door opened at the hour marked by the index, and let out small brass balls, which falling on a bell struck the hour, a great novelty at that time. The doors continued open until the hour of twelve, when twelve mounted knights came out and paraded round the dial-plate, and afterwards went in at the open doors, which they closed after them. This clock must certainly have been furnished with some kind of wheelwork, although the motive power is said to have been water.

The earliest complete clock moved by weights, of which there is any certain record, was constructed early in the thirteenth century. It was the work of a Saracen mechanic, who received £2000 for his ingenuity. This clock, which is stated to have kept time very accurately, was presented to the Emperor Frederick II by the Sultan of Egypt, under whose direction it was made.

Striking clocks moved by wheels and weights are first mentioned by Dante, the Italian poet, who flourished during the early part of the fourteenth century. About the same time one was put up in the south transept of Glastonbury Abbey. It was constructed by Peter Lightfoot, one of the monks of that justly celebrated monastery, and by means of a communication tolled the hours on the great bell of the central tower, whilst the quarters were struck by automata on two small bells in the transept. The dial showed the hours and also the changes of the moon and other astronomical motions; on its summit there was a horizontal frame, which exhibited by aid of machinery eight knights on horseback, armed for a tournament, and pursuing each other with a rapid rotatory motion. At the dissolution of the monastery this clock was removed to Wells Cathedral. In 1835 the works were so worn away that they were replaced by new ones, the curious old dial and equestrian knights being still retained.

The famous astronomical clock made by Richard de Wallingford, Abbot of St. Albans, in the reign of Richard II, continued to go until the reign of Henry VIII, at which time it is mentioned in high terms of admiration by Leland, saying that all Europe could not produce such another. This celebrated piece of mechanism represented the motions of the sun, moon, and stars; the ebbing and flowing of the sea, and in short the figures, operations, and effects of all the heavenly bodies. The inventor of this curious clock was the son of a blacksmith, and was bereft of his parents at the early age of ten years. On which the Prior of Wallingford took him under his care and prepared him for the University of Oxford. He was elected Abbot of St. Albans on the 30th of October, 1326, succeeding his friend and patron, Hugo, the twenty-seventh abbot.

The clock in Exeter Cathedral was erected by Bishop Courtenay in the year 1480. It is on the Ptolemaic system of astronomy, and of a curious construction for the age in which it was put up. The earth is represented by a globe in the centre; the sun by a fleur-de-lis; and the moon by a ball, painted half black and half white, which turns on its axis, and shows the different phases of that luminary.

Mr. Gainsborough, of Henley-onThames, who died October 27th, 1775, made a clock of peculiar construction. It told the hour by a little ball, and was kept in motion by a leaden bullet, which dropped from a spiral reservoir at the top of the clock into a little ivory bucket. This was was so contrived as to discharge it at the bottom, and by means of a counter weight was carried up to the top of the clock, where it received another bullet which was discharged as the former. This was evidently an attempt at perpetual motion. This clock was presented to Mr. Philip Thicknesse, who gave it to the British Museum, where it is now deposited.

In the year 1850 a most curious clock was exhibited in London. It was richly gilt and elaborately engraved; it stood about four feet high, independent of the pedestal. It was of architectural design, and divided into three stories having detached columns at each corner. The two lower stories contained the dials in the front; the upper story exhibited a group of moving silver figures, which struck the hours and quarters, and moved in procession during the playing of a tune by a chime of bells. The whole was surmounted by a dome whereon was placed a silver cock, which flapped its wings. and crowed when the clock struck. It was made by Isaac Hahrecht (one of the artisans employed in the erection of the clock at Strasbourg Cathedral) in 1589. It performed all the feats of that celebrated clock,

which is regarded as one of the most curious in Europe. Its reputed history, as set forth in the printed account of it is, that it was made for Pope Sixtus V, and was for more than two hundred years in the Vatican.

It subsequently came into the possession of the King of the Netherlands, and was afterwards purchased by Mr. O. Morgan, in whose valuable collection of curious clocks and watches it now is.

No wonder that the Allocution delivered by the Pope, on March 12th, should have excited such universal attention in Europe. It is an arraignment of the crimes and hypocrisies of the Italian Government before the

whole world. It pictures in forcible language the long series of outrages perpetrated since the hour when the misfortunes of France were so meanly taken advantage of by the nation she had liberated, and when Rome was sacrilegiously seized. He recites the various acts still perpetrated, the seizure and sale of the ecclesiastical property, the suppression of convents, the law by which the clergy were made subject to the conscription, the late law on so-called "clerical abuses," and the enforcement of the "Regnum Placitum."

It also speaks of the condition of Rome, of the outrages perpetrated on the clergy at large, and it exposes the hypocritical nature of the so-called guarantees. It rejects the idea of reconciliation being possible, and it again declares that the Pope is not free, that he never can be while Rome is held by the Italian Government. In conclusion, after thanking Catholics for their generosity under the sad circumstances of the case, he appeals to them to still further assist the Holy See in the midst of these trials, declaring that the aim and object of the revolution is to destroy every vestige of the Catholic religion in Italy.

BISMARCK has received leave of absence for a year, and it is supposed that this is the beginning of the end, and that this foremost "blood and iron" statesman, who attempted to build up and cement the unity of Germany and succeeded, and who attempted to create also a powerful "German National Catholic Church," distinct from the Papacy, and independent of the Holy See, and failed, will retire for good.

Will the retirement of the German Chancellor materially alleviate the position of the Church in Germany? We suppose it will, for Bismarck was the soul of the anti-Catholic movement, and his iron will, which brooked

no opposition, was wellnigh irresistible, except when it attacked the Church. His history has to be written, but his epitaph might well be, "Here lies a strong statesman, who, undeterred by the lessons of experience, assailed the Church. He failed in this, although he could overthrow an empire."

Will his work last? Only time can show. Three things are, however, plain; first, that Alsace and Lorraine are still discontented with the German Empire; second, that the German Democratic Socialists are becoming more powerful; and, third, that Bavaria and the South German States are evidently ill

at ease.

Patriarch of Western Monasticism, the Right ON the Feast of St Benedict, the great Rev. Innocent Wolf, D.D., O.S. B., first Atchison, Kansas, was solemnly consecrated Mitred Abbot of St. Benedict's Abbey, and installed. Right Rev. Louis M. Finck, D.D., O.S.B., of Leavenworth, Right Rev. JJ. Hogan, D.D., of St. Josephs, and Right Rev. James O'Connor, of Nebraska, were present and assisted, and Right Rev Rupert Seidenbent, D.D., O.S B., Vicar-Apostolic of Northern Minnesota, preached the sermon.

Right Rev. Abbot Wimmer, O.S.B., of St. Edelbrock, O.S.B., of St. Louis on the Lake, Vincent's, Pa., and Right Rev. Alexius

were present.

To the intelligent and thoughtful Catholic there is something very remarkable in the revival of the Benedictine Order in America, as indicated by the increase in the number of abbots and abbeys. The vitality of this grand old historic order is astonishing. Carry the mind back two centuries ago, and you will see the Benedictines writing learned treatises in such numbers that it was said "the shelves of Europe groan under the weight of the Benedictine folios." Look back for five centuries, and you see the members of the same order high in Church and State, assisting in the government of kingdoms by their wisdom, and aiding the Popes by their counsels, often themselves occupy.