Architectural Reveries.

still , if nofc tlie sole , at all events the principal , feature of the more permanent forms of hum . au abode . In the Easfc , it was shade rather than any other form of protection thafc was chiefly sought , aud , therefore , the roof Avas carried far beyond the nucleus , or enclosed portion of the chvelling , and supported at its farthest extent hy a series of props or columns ; so thafc

, without retiring within the walls of the dwelling , which was probably only done at night , shade aud comparative coolness might he enjoyed , at all events on two sides of the building , during the whole of the day by means of the far extending eaves of the roof . This Avas little more than a permanent form of tent ,

and was entirely composed of timber , and yet it contained the germ of all the main features of the Greek temple , which , in its completest form , offers one ofthe most perfect and magnificent results that the art of building has eA'er produced . In that form of structurein its hihest statethe roof was frequently

com-, g , posed of stone like the Avails and columns , aud was consequently an important and conspicuous feature in the building ; the pediments or gables becoming the field on Avhich those sculptural displays were exhibited , the remains of which are the chief glories of ancient art .

In Boman times richly-decorated roofs are described by many ancient writers , and so conspicuous and important a feature were they considered , in an artistic point of view , that they Avere frequently composed entirely of bronze , highly Avroughfc Avith decorative detail , and profusely , or entirely gilt . Such Avas the roof of the Pantheon . With the fall of the Boman

empire , the arfc of constructing Hemispherical or vaulted roofs of stone , or of brick , covered with the famous Boman cement , seems to have been lost ; and , in the unsettled periods Avhich followed , the use of bronze for that purpose Avould have been simply inviting the attack of those Avandering hordes Avho lived

upon the plunder of ancient European civilisation before they settled down upon their conquests , and grew into those nations who have created a modern civilisation more thorough and complete than the one they destroyed , or was ever dreamed of in the palmiest days of Greek or Boman supremacy .

As the modern nations of Europe began to assume form and consistency , the art Avhich their ancestors had destroyed began to revive , and a new architecture suited to the age , combining itself Avith many of the ancient forms , soon began to display original power . The stone or bronze roof , however , did not reappear .

Solid walls and columns , more or less decorative , Avere simple forms of architectural Avork Avhich could be achieved by builders who were relearning a nearly lost ; arfc ; bufc stone vaulting or doming was beyond their skill , and the roof became a flat timber one , with a second roof above to shoot off wet . The roof had

, therefore , fallen from its high estate as the principal part of the building , to be treated as the most conspicuous and the most beautiful feature , and had sunk to the position of a secondary member ofthe structure . This change of character Avas partly the result of difference of climate . Tlie nortlnvesfc of Europe had

become the centre of the new civilisation , aucl in those regions other conditions Avere rendered necessary . In the south and east , shelter from the sun Avas chiefly sought , Avhile in the UBAV centres of human activity shelter from tho keen north Avind , thcj driving rain ,

and the winter snows were the chief objects sought iu constructing either domestic dwellings or public edifices ; and so the walls had become fully as important as the roof , inasmuch as the protection of the dwelling was sought inside the walls , and not outside them as in the south , so that projected eaves supported on columns did not reappear in the modern architecture . The northern roof did not extend beyond the wall , and the external columns of southern and eastern countries were transferred to the interior of

public buildings to support the greater expanse of roof between the external walls . Even in the great churches fche roofs were at first of wood , protected outside hy the slopes of lead and other contrivances ; but eventually the internal roof , or ceiling , was composed entirely of stone hy a system

of vaulting more perfect in principle , perhaps , than any known to the architects of Greece or Borne ; hut even Avhen this great triumph of masonry Avas effected , many of the examples of what are perfect masterpieces both of construction and decorative design—even then , no generally prevalent attempt Avas made to produce au equally solid , perfect , and dignified external roof . This feature still remained a mere

substitute for a true roof , tiles or lead supported on steeply-pitched rafters being the highest form it attained to , even Avhen the interior ceilings of stone or timber forming the support of the shabby external covering of lead or tiles had attained to their greatest perfection aud beauty . It is true that the external ridges were sometimes ornamented Avith a slight crest

of ornamental metal-work , but , as a rule , the external roofs , even of our grandest cathedrals , were a poor pretence and temporary expedient , as it Avere , for a true roof—not much nearer to the real object that ought to have been attained than the temporary rickcloth of the former is to the permanent thatch of the hay or corn stacks for which ifc is the momentary substitute .

The roof , then , did not in our sacred structures during the Mediaeval periods , become the crown and glory of the buildings , as in the temples and other public buildings of the classical epochs of civilisationthat is to say , as a general rule . A few examples might perhaps be cited of solid stone roofs . We reht

member , however , chiefly one Avorthy of being broug forward as au example of anything like a perfect result ; but that one is a glorious piece of work , grand , massive , ornamental , and of a form and structure that mig ht have endured almost for ever , as against the wear and tear of the elements ; hut the more

destructive hand of man found means , in one day ' s Avork of fire and sword , to reduce the structure to the grand ruin Avhich it now remains . We allude to the noblest of Irish ecclesiastical monuments , the remains of the magnificentchurch at the Bock of CasheLinTipperary . The scale of this grand ile of conventual buildings

p , including the church , is most noble , and the situation , perhaps , unrivalled . The nucleus of the building is probably of as early date as the seventh century , and consisted originally of a small church , around Avhich all the subsequent buildings successively grouped themselves . The curious ornaments of this mc *

ancienfc part of the building are of fche style found in the singularly curious aud beautiful Irish manuscripts of that period . The dimensions of this portion of the building are , in fact , comparatively small ; and it forms