specific sect; or whether it be the principle of some politician seeking the votes of the ignorant, or prejudiced, or narrow-minded; it is equally effective from the Nonconformist and Liberal standpoint. Yet the facts show that the Establishment owes far more in a financial sense to individuals than it does to the State. Since the revival in the work of the Church, which took place about the middle of the century, voluntaryism has done much to assist and encourage its development. No doubt a feeling of confidence in the stability of gifts and investments, made under the shield of national recognition, had something to do with. the case. However that may be, the sums subscribed between 1839 and 1872-when the school system was changed-for the building of Church of England schools in Wales and England, amounted to $17,900,000, while the Parliamentary grants only totalled $7,700,000. During the same period, the parochial clergy increased from 11,000 to 19,000 in numbers, and at least $150,000,000 was contributed by supporters of the Establishment for the building and restoring of Church fabrics. In Wales, where so much complaint is made by the Radicals of the day, magnificent progress has taken place. The cathedrals of Llandaff, of St. David's, of St. Asaph, and of Bangor, have risen from ruins, or been "restored" beyond recognition. In the first named diocese, between 1850 and 1870, 41 old parish churches were entirely rebuilt; 67 thoroughly restored, and many others improved. Six hundred thousand dollars was thus expended during fourteen years, and so in the other divisions then and since that date. Meantime, ample provision has been made for the Church services and ordinances being given both in Welsh and English, while the children educated in Church schools rose from 17,000 in 1826 to 63,000 in 1846, and to 82,000 in 1870. A large increase upon these Welsh fig This is a conservative estimate, and as correct as the complicated nature of the interests dealt with, will permit. Perhaps the most striking thing about the figures, is the large amount contributed by voluntary subscriptionsupwards of $26,000,000 annually. This fact alone indicates that the Established Church holds a firm place in the hearts of a large portion of the people, whilst the expenditures given show how wide is the influence for good, and how unceasing the exertions of the Church and clergy. And it illustrates the additional fact, that although great wealth may, as already observed, be a weakness, through incitement to cupidity, yet, properly utilized, it can also be made a source of strength; in this case, one far too great for the Radicals to break. But some reforms, and a still further development of church life and work, will be necessary, if eventual disestablishment and disendowment-in the distant future-are to be averted. The tithe system is undoubtedly unpopular, and in Wales is made into a sort of running sore for political purposes. Where only one in four is a churchman, this can easily be done, though in England, where considerably more than half belong to the Establishment, the difficulty is not acute. As a matter of fact, and under the Parliamentary settlement of 1836, the landlord has benefited at the expense of the tithe-owner and the Church, in an amount-according to Sir James Caird of $10,000,000 per annum. And, as for centuries the tithe has been a tax upon property, and included in its price for sale or purchase, its abrogation would be robbing Peter to pay Paul, with a vengeance. It would present the amusing picture of Radical haters of the Landlord and the Church, taking from the latter to give to the former. Still, there might be found some better means of collecting and enforcing the payment of tithes where agitation-as in Wales-has made the process painful and obnoxious to a majority of the people. The mission of the Church of England is a great one, and its opportunities for doing good are vast. The education of the people is its chiefest safe-guard; the moderate and wellconsidered extension of the Episcopate, a useful step to take. Prelates, like Ellicott of Gloucester and Bristol; Ryle of Liverpool; Wilberforce of Newcastle; Stubbs of Oxford; Carpenter of Ripon; Moorhouse of Manchester are a power in the land, and the diocesan influence of such men is very great. The lay element could be given more weight in the councils of the Church with advantage, and this is being more and more recognized every year. The parochial system will bear further extension, and the stipends of curates should be increased, while all the learning, organization, and traditional influence of the Church, should be exerted in pointing out the nature and value of a connection between Church and State, and in the proper presentation to the people, of an ideal, which is oft-times greater in theory than in practice. Given these factors in the coming struggle, together with others which have been referred to, and the Nonconformist character with all its record of zeal, courage, devotion, and conscience, will probably find the Establishment too strong for destruction. After all, great masses of the population in England and Wales, who do not exactly belong to the Church of England, certainly do not belong to its opponents, or rivals. They do not dissent, but are simply indifferent. There surely is a great common ground for all Christians to work upon. The probabilities, at present, are with the Church and against the Churches. A new proposal, made eight years ago, by the most powerful personality in the English-speaking world, and affecting a country across the Irish channel, has been, so far, shattered by the invincible and inherent conservatism of the English character. It is not likely, therefore, that a sweeping proposal of disestablishment and disendowment, even though nominally applied to Wales alone, will be permitted to disintegrate, and ultimately destroy, a National Church which has existed through good and evil repute, through internecine struggle and political storm and stress, for more than twelve hundred years. THE ROUND TOWERS AND IRISH ART. BY FRED. T. HODGSON. THAT the golden period of art and architecture in Ireland existed from the fifth to the ninth centuries, seems established by the evidences transmitted us by the works of contemporary historians, and by ruins and specimens of handicraft and skill. It must be admitted, that for upwards of twelve generations, Erin was the nursery of all the then known sciences, and she furnished the world with schoolmasters in the arts of building, music, literature and law. It was in her courts of justice the great Alfred first received that knowledge of law and military skill which gave to the Anglo-Saxon race trial by jury and the end of Danish predominance. The Irish monks of that period were obliged to be, not only architects and artists, they were the masons, the carpenters, the plumbers, the smiths, the painters, the glass-makers, and sculptors as well, and nearly ali roads and bridges were built or designed by them. There was scarcely a country in Europe that did not employ architects, artists, or workmen from Ireland, to design and construct their buildings of the better kind, as is attested by the many works executed by them, and of which we have authentic record. The venerable Bede, who wrote in the seventh century, says: "Irish architects built a church for the AngloSaxons at Withem, A.D. 603.” The same architect and artisans, "after wards built old St. Paul's, in London, A.D. 610, on the site of the temple of Diana." This church was a great work in its day. It was destroyed during the great fire, and the present St. Paul's cathedral, built by Wren, stands on its site. We have the authority of Turner and other English historians, to the effect that, "Wilfred, Bishop of York, who built the church of Hexham, in A.D. 674, sent to Ireland for architects and skilled men to construct it." In fact, as Dr. Johnson remarks, "Ireland was then the school of the West in every art and science, and to her taste and authority, in matters of style, the Saxons of England, and Goths of Germany, cheerfully deferred." In the Island of Hy (Iona,) on the western waters of Scotland, St. Columbkill and his Irish monks built that "famous college and church from which Scotland was instructed in architecture, literature and Christianity." Gallus, an Irish monk, built the celebrated college and church of St. Gall, in Switzerland, A.D. 660. Dichhuill, another Irish monk, designed and built the monastery of Tutra, and for this service, the French monarch, Clotaire the Second, gave him many grants (A.D. 650). St. Fursa, another Irish builder, erected, about the year 666, the college and church of Lagny, near the river Marne, in France, a monastery in England, and several abbeys on the continent. Fridolia, who was also made a saint, built a monastery and several churches along the German Rhine, A.D. 590. Prince Dagobert, of Strasburg, was educated in Ireland, and it is recorded that "he brought with him from Ireland many monks and skilled men, who built churches throughout his dominion." "The splendid Basall of Salzburg, was built by Virgilius, an Irishman of some renown, in A.D. 750." Charlemagne employed a number of “Irish architects and monks, brought from the abbey of St. Gall, to build churches and abbeys." Many works in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, about the eighth century, were executed by Irish artists, as the records show; yet, strange to say, very few of the buildings on the continent, or in England, known to have been ROUND TOWER AT CARPEL. erected by Irishmen, are left to testify of their existence; the remains of a couple of round towers, a number of crosses covered with Celtic ornament, identical with that found on the crosses at Monasterboice, Glendalough, Clonmacnoise, and several other places in Ireland, are about all that remain of the many Irish-built structures that dotted England during the Saxon period. With regard to the round towers, their antiquity and uses, of which many opinions and theories have been formulated, it is generally conceded now, that they were the work of Christian architects between the 5th and 13th centuries. The investigations of Mr. George Petrie, published in his "Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland," "proves," Fergusson says, "beyond all cavil, that the greater number of the towers now existing were built by Christians, and for Christian purposes, and he (Mr. Petrie) has clearly shown that there is no reasonable ground for supposing the remainder to be either of a different age, or erected for different uses." There is but little variety to be observed in their construction. The doorways are placed almost invariably at a considerable distance from the ground, and appear to have been furnished with double doors. A flat projecting band, with a small bead moulding at the angles, is the usual decoration; but in some instances, a human head, sculptured in bold relief, is found upon each side of the arch. A stone immediately above the doorway of Antrim tower, exhibits a cross, sculptured in alto-relievo, and at Donoughmore, in the County of Meath, a figure of the crucifixion occupies a similar position, thus proving, beyond a doubt, their Christian origin. This style of decoration may have been much more common than is generally supposed, for in the number of towers. remaining in the country, more than one third of the doorways have been destroyed. There are untrained imitations of Norman design in several existing remains, particularly in the towers of Kildare and Timahoe, where concentric arches and chevron mouldings occur. The windows of these towers are generally similar to those in contemporaneous churches, with this difference, that they never splay, and that the arch-head in numerous examples is of a different form upon the interior from the exterior. The structure was usually divided into stories, the floor of which were supported by projections of masonry, or by corbels. Each story, except the top one, was generally lighted by one small window; the top story generally had four larger openings. The roof is, in all cases, conical, and is formed of layers of stone. The tower at Monasterboice, near Drogheda, a very fine example, is one hundred and ten feet high, and seventeen feet in TOWER AT CLOYNE. diameter; the thickness of the wall is three feet six inches. The ancient church which is close to it, is now in ruins. In the church-yard are two very old and curious crosses ; one about eighteen feet high, covered with sculpture, is called St. Boyne's cross, and is esteemed the most ancient religious relic now in Ireland. "Among the sculptures on it," writes an antiquarian, "is an inscription in Irish characters, in which the name of Muredach, who was king of Ireland, is plainly legible." According to the annals, Muredach died in 543, about one hundred years before St. Patrick arrived in Ireland. Tradition says, CELTIC ORNAMENTATION. "that the cross was sent from Rome by the Pope." The round tower at Drumiskin, in Louth, is one hundred and thirty-three feet high, and eighteen feet in diameter. The walls of this tower are three and a half feet thick, and are built of fine, hard, white granite to about twelve feet from the ground. The tower at Kilkenny, which is only a few feet from the cathedral, the south transept of which appears to have been shortened in its original building, because of the tower being already there, is another fine example. The masonry of this is older in its general character than that in the cathedral, and of a better sort; though, I believe that recently some evidences of a previous building have been discovered on the site where the old cathedral now stands. An ancient Irish MS. relates that these towers were used for the imprisonment of penitents; some writers name them inclusoria, et arcti inclusorii erg stula, the prisons of narrow enclosures; particularly the MS. of the life of Dunchad-o-Braoin, of whom it is said, "he betook himself into such a prison, wherein he died, Anno 987." The MSS. add, "that these penitents were placed in the uppermost story of the tower; where, having made probation, or done penance, such a limited time, according to the heinousness of their crimes, they then were permitted to descend to the next floor; and so on by degrees, until they came to the door, which always faced the entrance of the church, where they stood to receive absolution from the clergy, and the blessings of the people." Two round towers in Scotland, one at Brechin, and the other at Abernethy, are evidently of Irish origin. The one at Brechin is about forty-eight feet in external circumference. On the front are two arches, one within the other, in relief. On the point of the outermost is a crucifix, and between both, towards the middle, are figures of the Virgin Mary and St. John, the latter holding a cup with a lamb. The outer arch is adorned with knobs, and within both is a small slit or loop; at the bottom of the outer arch are two beasts |