cing from beneath downcast lids, and shaded by long lashes. Only two
male visitors are present,--the author and his guide, while a single
priest, robed in a velvet surplice, goes through a pantomime of kneeling
and crossing himself in front of the high altar, with his back toward
the scanty audience. This man's voice is so low, if he speaks at all,
that the solemn silence of the place is quite unbroken. If he could be
heard, no worshiper of the class who come hither would understand the
Latin tongue in which he is supposed to read the service.

We can remember but two other churches of its class which equal this of
St. John in tawdry, yet costly and useless decorations, namely, those of
Burgos and Toledo, in Spain. It was the former church that was
considered so exquisite, and delicately artistic in every appointment,
that Charles V. said it ought to be placed under glass. The Toledo
cathedral rivals any Romish church we have visited, in its riches of
gold, silver, precious stones, and art treasures. It contains also more
stained glass windows than any other ever built, with the possible
exception of St. Peter's. Statues and pictures abound in the church of
St. John; gold and silver accessories, added to the original expense of
the carved lapis lazuli, render the high altar, as a whole, of great
aggregate cost. The railing in front is composed of solid silver. The
keys of Jerusalem, Acre, and Rhodes, esteemed of priceless value as
memorials, are deposited beneath the high altar,--relics of the early
possessions and the old chivalrous days of these warriors of the cross.
Just behind the altar hangs a famous painting of the Beheading of St.
John, by Caravaggio, painted in 1609. There is also an elaborate group,
in marble, representing the Baptism of Christ. It is the work of Maltese
artists of the seventeenth century, forming a remarkable monument of
native talent.

Before the altar of this Valletta church, on the right and left, richly
upholstered chairs are placed, raised above the level of the floor, and
draped with canopies of rich crimson velvet. These chairs are designed
for the bishop and the representative of the sovereign power in Malta.
They are occupied only on state occasions. Over the last mentioned is
placed the British coat of arms. In the spacious sacristy are a score or
more of fine old paintings variously ascribed to great masters. One or
two of these are very old, and were brought by the Knights from Rh