ignated for the expiation of
penances, which concluded with weeping and other signs of contrition. A
great number of sepulchral crosses were erected in Great Britain and
Ireland, soon after prayers for the dead came into use, by the desire of
individuals, at their places of interment, to remind pious people to
pray for their souls.

The ancient practice of consecrating Pagan antiquities to religious
purposes, has been continued to times comparatively modern; thus, Pope
Sixtus V. purified the Antonine column and that of Trajan, dedicating
them to St. Peter and St. Paul, whose statues, of a colossal size, he
placed on their summits. Succeeding Popes followed these examples,
dedicating ancient columns, pillars, and obelisks to different Saints
and Apostles.

A CORRESPONDENT.

* * * * *

NOTES OF A READER.

* * * * *

THE LONDON UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE,

No. 1.

It is seldom that we "turn critics;" but our very bile rises at the
ill-timed dedication of this work to the King, as the "first fruits of
the combined exertions of a few of your majesty's subjects, educated
within the GROSSLY misrepresented UNIVERSITY of LONDON." It is quite
unnecessary for us to explain _why_ this Dedication deserves the epithet
we have chosen: it stands with the signature of "the Proprietors," and
we hope is not the act of the editors; but for the credit of the
University, the publishers, the proprietors, and editors, we recommend
their friends to cancel the leaf bearing this very offensive
inscription, whether they care or not for the golden opinions of all
sorts of people.

If the present Number be a fair sample of the _London University
Magazine_, we can promise the reader but little amusement in our "Notes"
from its pages. It may prove useful enough to the students of the
University, but it wofully lacks the attractive features of a Magazine
for the public; it may suit the library-table, but not the "excellent
coffee room," or the "retired cigar room" of the University Hotel. "On a
general Judgment--A new System of communicating Scientific Information
in a Tabular form--On the Study of the Law and Medicine--On Apoplexy,"
and the general business of the University, are very grave matters for
little more than 100 pages. "On the Metamorphosis of Plants," by Goethe,
is more attractive; but Magazine readers do not want the lumber of law
and medicine--the dry material of