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Review Of Literature—Fine Arts—Exhibitions—The Drama, &C.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE—FINE ARTS—EXHIBITIONS—THE DRAMA , & c .
The Round Towers of Ireland , by H . O'Brien , A . B . —Few subjects have more puzzled the zeal of the antiquary than the " Round Towers of Ireland . " Treatises have been written by the members of the most learned bodies in Europe ; but however ingenious their suppositions , however supported by seeming proofs , their theories failed to produce that satisfaction , that perfect conviction , ivhich the irresistible voice of truth can alone command . To Henry O'Brien belongs the honour of
deciding the question of their ori gin , antiquity , and purpose , with a power whose strength appals us : he has cast back upon the vast sea of time its destroying surge , and from oblivion drawn the history of a people to whose name the literati of . Europe were almost strangers . The peculiar formation of these celebrated structures , the exquisite workmanship of their building , had long attracted the attention of the learned . Some have supposed them to be ancient beacons ; others , intended for
purgatorial columns or penitential heights . Montmorency makes them dungeon-keeps ; while General Vallancey stoutly asserts that they were receptacles of sacred fire . No man could have been found more capable of investigating the truth of these several positions than our author , who , to an intimate acquaintance with the Oriental languages , adds a perfect knowledge of the almost forgotten tongue of his native land . The peculiar tact with which he has destroyed these several suppositions , shows to what perfection the discriminating powers of the human mind may be brought by a constant and vigorous
exercise . I heir situations , the local customs of Ireland , her traditions , and the derivations and corruptions of the names still given to them by the peasantry , are all brought to bear upon the point with a patience and industry that enthusiasm would have shrunk from , and which nothing hut the pure and ardent love of truth could have supported . Every lover of Ireland , every defender of its polished antiquity , owes a debt of gratitude to our author for the satisfactory and indisputable establishment of
its honourable claims . Montmorency ' s objections against the antiquity of the Round Towers , are , to use O'Brien ' s own expression , dissipated into thin air ; the authorities of the Greek and Latin authors on whom he relies shown to be valueless , and the identity of the country with the " Insula Hyperboreum" of Hecata _ us completely proved . Taking Diodorus and the celestial indexes recorded in the ancient annals of Ulster , 949 , as his standard , the conclusion he arrives
at is , that the Round Towers were constructed for the twofold purpose of worshipping the sun and moon , as the authors of generative and vegetative heat—their peculiar form being a still more direct confirmation of the nature and principles of the ivorship , identifying the faith they were erected in honour of with the doctrines of the Budhists of the present day , by a chain of reasoning and research so profound , laborious , and clear , that a new light is thrown upon the history of the world , and the veil of ages withdrawn from the book of time .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of Literature—Fine Arts—Exhibitions—The Drama, &C.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE—FINE ARTS—EXHIBITIONS—THE DRAMA , & c .
The Round Towers of Ireland , by H . O'Brien , A . B . —Few subjects have more puzzled the zeal of the antiquary than the " Round Towers of Ireland . " Treatises have been written by the members of the most learned bodies in Europe ; but however ingenious their suppositions , however supported by seeming proofs , their theories failed to produce that satisfaction , that perfect conviction , ivhich the irresistible voice of truth can alone command . To Henry O'Brien belongs the honour of
deciding the question of their ori gin , antiquity , and purpose , with a power whose strength appals us : he has cast back upon the vast sea of time its destroying surge , and from oblivion drawn the history of a people to whose name the literati of . Europe were almost strangers . The peculiar formation of these celebrated structures , the exquisite workmanship of their building , had long attracted the attention of the learned . Some have supposed them to be ancient beacons ; others , intended for
purgatorial columns or penitential heights . Montmorency makes them dungeon-keeps ; while General Vallancey stoutly asserts that they were receptacles of sacred fire . No man could have been found more capable of investigating the truth of these several positions than our author , who , to an intimate acquaintance with the Oriental languages , adds a perfect knowledge of the almost forgotten tongue of his native land . The peculiar tact with which he has destroyed these several suppositions , shows to what perfection the discriminating powers of the human mind may be brought by a constant and vigorous
exercise . I heir situations , the local customs of Ireland , her traditions , and the derivations and corruptions of the names still given to them by the peasantry , are all brought to bear upon the point with a patience and industry that enthusiasm would have shrunk from , and which nothing hut the pure and ardent love of truth could have supported . Every lover of Ireland , every defender of its polished antiquity , owes a debt of gratitude to our author for the satisfactory and indisputable establishment of
its honourable claims . Montmorency ' s objections against the antiquity of the Round Towers , are , to use O'Brien ' s own expression , dissipated into thin air ; the authorities of the Greek and Latin authors on whom he relies shown to be valueless , and the identity of the country with the " Insula Hyperboreum" of Hecata _ us completely proved . Taking Diodorus and the celestial indexes recorded in the ancient annals of Ulster , 949 , as his standard , the conclusion he arrives
at is , that the Round Towers were constructed for the twofold purpose of worshipping the sun and moon , as the authors of generative and vegetative heat—their peculiar form being a still more direct confirmation of the nature and principles of the ivorship , identifying the faith they were erected in honour of with the doctrines of the Budhists of the present day , by a chain of reasoning and research so profound , laborious , and clear , that a new light is thrown upon the history of the world , and the veil of ages withdrawn from the book of time .