« bread OF LIFE, which cfitne down from Heaven leaves us no room to dou » 
while the hieroglyphical import of the True Vine gives evangelical dignity and 1 
portance to the clufters and foliage which are fpread around. 
The Expositorium in the hand of angels, which is fo diftin&ly carved a 0 * 
will further ferve to elucidate thefe pofitions, and Ihews fome of thofe furpriiing 
tions, which induced the firft pallors to blend the ancient fymbols with evangelic tr^ 
The Expfitorium is the moft facred of the Catholic fhrines, wherein, on high e 
vals, the confecrated wafer, ftamped with the figure of our Saviour on the cr01 ^ 
prefented with the greatell folemnity on the altar. The chafing on this is retfl # 
able ; the principal articles are therefore reprefented a little enlarged, as in the 
of the cubic cell, the holy place beneath. ^ 
The figures weeping or praying by the crofs of Jesus require no comment) j 
the Cross is infcribed on an orb, which the ancients fay reprefented the full 
the pafchal folemnity : and we fee the new moon of the Gentile rites put una 
The crofs is fufpended by a chain of three circles, included in the myftic triangle 
By the Pythagorean tranllation of the fymbols of Egypt, the equilateral tn ^ 
was the hieroglyphic of the perfect union of power, wifdom, andgoodnefs, in 
vine nature. The circle was a fymbol originally taken from the fun, as the n °^j e5 
image of the univerfal influence and benignity of the Deity ; but three united ci 
involved the additional illuftration of that Golden Chain, that Order of * r 
dence, which upholds all being, connects all fyftems, and fuftains all worlds. ( ^ 
A celebrated Egyptian , at leaftone of the earlieftof Arabian authors*, fay 5 ’ 
“ Chain implies the relation that fubfifts between the intelledual and the f ^ 
*< world and the profound Algaziel f , “ that he who can difcern the myn e ^ 
“ the Chain, which conneds the things that are in heaven with thofe that ^ 
tc earth, is verfed in the deep fecrets of the moft wonderful knowledge.” Vhe ^ 
therefore, here annexing the Cross to the moft facred fymbol of the De iT ^ 0? 
been conceived as the moft exprefiive hieroglyphic of the “ ReconciliaTI^^) 
“ God to man.” — This Chain is fomewhat differently reprefented in die fy m 
vignette of the title-page, taken from fome very ancient Abraxas. ^fjs, 
The winged attendants of the fanduary, which fupport the ftirine of the MyE°^.^ r y 
infcribed with thefe fublime fymbols, allude to the myfteries revealed by the ^ ^ 
of angels, and feem here benignly prefenting the cup ot high conlolation, w llC 
revelation imparts to mankind. # . ^0$ 
The very idea of thefe celeftial beings is comfortable and pleafant ; an in ^ e cf) e ' 
to hope, worthy of gracing the altar : but the obfervation is no lefs juft, th a '- 
rubim mentioned by Moses as the primaeval guardians of the tree of life-—^ 1 ^ 
in the temple of Jerufalem overlhadowed the ark, where the heavenly man^’ ^ 
tables of the divine law, were placed— thofe who attended at our Saviour s t° ^ 
announced his revival there — might all be varioufly alluded to by the figure 5 t (j c 
rubim and angels (fculptured on this and fimilar monuments) which em e 
place of the tabernacle, where the Bread of Life was preferved, whofe divine e u ° 
is fublimely exprsffed by the infcription' underneath, taken from St. John p 
vsnS*' 
* Abenephius. • f Kircher, Obeiif. Pamphil. lib.v. p. 450. t Ch. vi. 
