Wonders Of Operative Masonry.

on a lofty cliff commanding an extensive view of the German Ocean , are a much observed landmark on a dangerous , rocky coast . A fine view of the east end of Whitby Abbey may be found as a frontisp iece to the eighty third volume of the

Gentleman ' s Maqazine , July to December , 1813 . FOUNTAINS ABBEY , in Yorkshire , 25 miles north-west of York , near the river Skell , ancl the town of Ripon , was founded by King Alfred . The present Abbey

( sometimes called Ripon Minster , or Cathedral ) , was erected in the reign of King Stephen , A . D . 1140 . There still remain the whole of the western front , the towers and the transept , with part of the choir and aisles of this once noble ancl still

beautiful Abbey . Its ruins are among the most admired in England . While they contain several styles of architecture , chiefly of the mixed Norman and pointed , all is chaste , pure ancl elegant . The lofty , graceful columnsthe airy archesthe

ivy-, , clad walls , and the roofless aisles impress the beholder with feelings of admiration ancl wonder . Fountains Abbey is 358 feet iu length , aud its transept 186 feet ,

while its noble tower is 166 feet high and 24 feet square . The body of the Abbey presents a majestic specimen of earl y Gothic architecture of the time of Henry III ., having been completed in 1245 . Several of the noble family of Percy are buried herethat family having constituted

, themselves the hereditary patrons of the Abbey . The cloisters are 300 feet long aud 42 feet wide ; the roof is arched , and supported by 21 stone pillars . It derived its name either from the town of Fontaines , in Burgundthe birth-place of St . Bernard

y , , the founder of the Cistercian order , or else from the Skell , a rivulet which flows near the Abbey , ancl signifies a fountain . Fountains Abbey is situated in the grounds of Studley Park , the seat of the Earl de llrey and Ripon , late Grand Master of

Masons of England . Fountains Abbey was visited in 1535 at a " Visitation of the Monasteries , " and Froude tells us that theft , sacrilege and other crimes were found prevalent there , creating a moral ruin as deplorable then as the material ruin is beautiful now . LINCLUDEN ABBEY , on the Cluden river , Scotland , some 63 miles south west of

Edinburgh , near the English border , was a favourite haunt of the poet Burns . It was originally a convent for Benedictine or Black Nuns , and was founded by one of the Lords of Galloway . In the fourteenth century the Earl of Douglass converted it

into a college and Abbey . The choir was finished after the finest manner of the florid Gothic . The roof was treble , and the trusses from which sprang the ribbed archwork were covered with armorial

bearings . 'Ihe present remains of this venerable abbey are the chancel , a part of the south wall , ancl a portion of the provost ' s house . The founders of both the Nunnery and Abbey are buried there . In the chancel is the elegant tomb of Margaret ,

daughter of King Robert III ., ancl around the walls of the ruins there is a profusion of ivy . The situation of Lincluden Abbey is exceedingly romantic , being near the " meetin . o- of the waters " of the Cluden

and the Nith . The following beautiful lines on an evening view of the ruins of Lincluden Abbey , were written by Bro . Robert Burns , and are worthy of reproduction in this connection .

Ye holy walls , that still sublime , Resist the crumbling touch of time ; How strongly still your form displays The piety of ancient days ! As through your ruins hoar and gray—Ruins yet beauteous in

decay—The silvery moonbeams trembling fly ; The forms of ages long gone by Crowd thick on Fancy ' s wondering eye , And wake the soul to musings high . Even now , as lost in thought profound , I view the solemn scene around

, And , pensive , gaze with wistful eyes , The past returns , the present flies . Again the dome , in pristine pride , Lifts high its roof and arches wide ; The hig h arched windows , painted fair , Show many a saint and martyr there .

As on their slender forms I gaze , Methinks they brig hten to a blaze ! With noiseless step and taper bright , What are yon forms that meet my sight 1 Slowly they move , while every eye Is heavenward raised in ecstasy .

'Tis the fair , spotless , vestal train , That seek in prayer the midnight fane . And hark ! what more than mortal sound Of music breathes the pile around !