Stray Thoughts On The Origin And Progress Of The Fine Arts.

harmonized indeed with the pointed style of the edifice , but presented a most unnatural representation of the human form . Sometimes the curve of an arch was decorated with such forms , and no objection was made to the ridiculous position in which they were placed , one above another , many of them necessarily being on their sides . Another ornament of the pointed style was

armorial bearings , derived from the Crusaders , and the successors of such as gained renown in the holy wars . Not contented with exhibiting the shields and helmets adorned with these insignia in their balls , they brought them to the temple of the God of Peace , where they were hung in reality or effigy around the tombs or funeral chapels of their deceased relatives ; thus telling a tale of bloodshed , feud , aud warfare , where earthly care and turmoil should be no more remembered .

Masterpieces Of The Architecture Of Different Nations.

MASTERPIECES OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF DIFFERENT NATIONS .

BY . 1 . G . LEGKAND . Oxalic ou DaviDic MOXOTUI-XIS . I should not be acknowledging in a becoming mamio the honour paid mo by the Celtic Academy , of admitting me amongst the number of their members , if I did not hero give some slight idea of those astonishing and singular monuments of the Celts and Druids the ancient oriin of

g which is lost in the darkness of ages . The Celts are regarded as the first inhabitants of Europe , more ancient and less known than tho people who foimied a jjart of them , and with whom they have been frequently confounded—the Gauls and the BretoDs . It is stated that the language still spoken in Brittany is the same that was spoken bthe ancient Celtsand that the

y , Celtic or Gaelic language has remained equally pure in the two Brittanies ( tho American and the Insular ) , the Princi-] Dality of Wales , Cornwall , Ireland , and Scotland . Originally descended from tho Scythians , thoy gradually spread themselves over a great part of Europe , —France , Spain , Great Britain , Germany , the kingdoms of the North , and a portion of Italy . The number of Gaelic nations has

been estimated at about 400 . Their population was immense . There was great difference also iu their names . For instance , tho Celts , the Iberians , and tho Ultiberians anciently occupied the whole of Spain ; when tho Romans and C-arthagcnians went- there those established on the Eastern side were distinguished as the Sarmatians . In the time of Julius Cossar , France—or , as it was then

called , Gallia—was inhabited by tho Beiges , the Acquitain . and , properly speaking , the Gauls , though thoy are otherwise called the Celts . The Roman authors ascribe to them a knowledge of the arts , great splendour and luxury in their armour and suspended chariots , and immense riches . Gallia , they say , abounded in wealth . The common soldiers of the Gauls were clad in gold chains , collars , and bracelets . Their

cavalry was held in high estimation . The Romans got their cavalry soldiers from that country . Gallia also furnished all kinds of grain and woollen goods , iron , copper , and other metals . The vessels of the Gauls wore floating citadels , against which the much smaller vessels of the Romans were broken to pieces . The Celts of Germany and those of Gallia wore , according to Sfcrabothe

, same people divided only by the Shine . Tho Gauls and the inhabitants of Great Britain wore allies , and had commercial relations . The former boasted that they had peopled great Britain , and the Britons that thoy bad sent colonics into Gallia . Brittany shook off the yoke of the Romans at the beginning of the fifth century , and was enabled to resist tho Franks after they had seized Gallia

. Never having been conquered , they preserved the language , maimers , anil customs of the Celts from the highest antiquity . At first they built no houses , and , like tho Scythians , lived iu chariots while travelling across country , and established themselves in forests , valleys , or plains , according as they wore hunters , fishermen , or tillers of tho soil . But all were armed with tho sword , the lance , and the buckler :

bold warriors were they , who often pushed bravery to ferocity . "When they wore more civilised , when thoy were , moreover , abiding in towns , thej r had not , even then , as it is known , closed or covered temples . Their religious meetings were held in the open country or in tho depth of woods , aud there they offered their sacrifices around some large stone , some column , or some revered tree .

It was because they did not like the ground to be tilled in these sacred places , that they wore in the habit ot-surroimding them with large stones . They paid a religious worship to fountains , lakes , rivers , and the sea . Thoy adored Fire , as the sjmibol of purit }' , because it served to purify everything . They also adored the Sun as the- source of light and of all reproduction . They

immolated to it white bulls and horses . Tho Temples of the Sun were certain places designated in forests by green trees . In their meetings at night the Moon also shared their adorations . The Curetes among the Celts , as the Druids amongst the Gauls , wore honoured almost on the same equality as their gods . After these pontiffs , warriors obtained the highest consideration , aud they were almost deified after their death in the poems of the Bards .

The Celts did not represent their divinities in any human form , or in that of any animal . Their idols were a sword or a halberd ; or a very beautiful tree , which they made sacred ; around which they lighted torches ; which thoy often irrigated with the blood of victims—very frequently , it is said , by that of men , as being tho most perfect of animals ; and to it they attached the trophies of victory and the Heads

of vanquished enemies . AA hon this tree died , they stripped off its bark , and it became a sacred monument , in the form of a very elongated cone . Besides that , there was a very large stone , which occupied the centre of the sanctuary , the limits of which would not have been known had they not been marked out by other rocks or stones standing upright . These monuments are

very numerous in England , Ireland , Scotlaud , the Hebrides , the Orkneys , Germany , Sarmatia , and other countries . In 1779 , there was discovered on an island in the Lake of Derwentwater , named Pocklington , in Cumberland , a Temple of the Druids , which is believed to be the oldest in Europe . It is 60 English feet in diameter . In its interior circumference was a small , square , subterranean entrenchment , which is believed to have served as a sanctuary . The height of the rocks was from 5 to 6 feet ; and there was one in the centre .

The greatest Temple of the Druids , the Stones of Oarnac , arc immense granite rocks , placed upright on the sand , on tho equilibrium , without foundation , and covering a vast extent of ground . Thoy form eleven rows , with spaces from 30 to 33 feet ; there is a space from 12 to 15 feet between each stone . These stones are as much as 22 feet high , and there are about 4000 of them . No inscription indicates the origin

and use of this singular monument . Tho general belief is that it bad some connection with astronomy and the mensuration of time ; and that stone after stone was raised at a particular period , the memory and number of which they were desirous of preserving . On this subject the work of M . Cambry on Celtic Monuments may be consulted , as well as those of Lo Brigaut and La Tourd'Auvergne .

The flat stones of Stonchenge , in Wiltshire , are constructions of the same kind , the different form of which appertains to the nature of the materials employed . These stones are as like as possible to the largest blocks taken out of our quarries , aud sot upright sufficiently close to put one on the top , resembling the completely bare lintel and jambs of a door .

THE AltCJIITECTUKE OF THE H 03 IAXS . The Romans can have no pretensions to the glory of inventors in architecture . At their origin they were a poor , simple people . Thou ferocious and intrepid warriors , they had no regard for the splendour of anything but their camps . Thoy had a contempt for the comfort of towus , the ornaments of which oriinate onlj r from tho arts . A \ hen thoy became

g the masters of the world , they took cognisance of masterpieces of all kinds , and introduced them into their numerous trophies . And when the Greeks were subjugated , that people , supplying the " place of power by craft , gradually captivated their conquerors by the charms ' of those very arts , for tho want of which they knew how to awaken a desire ;