Voices From Ruins.

in the twelfth century , an accurate observer ancl careful inquirer , speaks of them as ancient in his time , and dating beyond any then existing historical record . Nor have there being wanting antiquarians who traced their origin to an epoch long anterior to the Christian era , and with apparently good reason , connecting them with the reli gious ancl mystic rites , peoples and sects , whose histories have been totally lost , and whose names alone remain as the sole evidences of their

existence . A description of one of these venerable buildings will serve to give a pretty accurate notion of the main features which distinguish them all . The one best known , perhaps , because the most frequently visited by the tourist , is situated in a place called Glendalough , or "Glen of the Two Lakes , " a

wild mountain gorge , better known however to the peasantry of Ireland by the more familiar name ofthe " Seven Churches . " Proceeding south from the Irish metropolis , through the most picturesque scenery ofthe county Wicklow , the Dargle Gleually ( the Devil's Glen ) , you commence a gradual ascent , leaving behind the pine and dwarf oak and mountain ash

which nod upon the summits of the distant mountains , and through long terraces of which you had just passed . The roads become rocky , and the face of tho surrounding country black and desolate , dotted however with here and there a group of lean sheep or a family of goats tethered together , a mud hut or two , and the spire of an isolated church , of

ivhich the advowsou is a sinecure , and whose pastor and master chiefly resides at some fashionable watering place . In wet weather nothing can be conceived more dreary than the prospect of this waste of hi g hland ; while iu fine weather the lark sings merrily overhead , the plover skims along ivith his melanchol y " peewect" and belligerent sparrows chase each otlwi * through the withered and neglected hedgerows . There is no change in the scene for at least half a dozen weary miles . At length , wheeling round the spur of a

projecting rock , a crescent of black mountain , its rugged outline defined with marvellous distinctness against tho blue sky of the horizon—the traveller enters upon a somewhat uncertain descent , passing through a pretty village of white cottages and young limes , through which a small river brawls in its rather impetuous course . Your notice is immediately arrested " by a gaunt looking

man who salutes you with every demonstration of outward respect . Your first impression is that this individual is perhaps a pensioner of Greenwich Hospital , for he wears a cocked hat and a blue surfcout reaching to the heels , with brass buttons . This impression is however soon dissipated when you observe the unsailorlike movements of your

acquaintance , and that ho wears red plush small clothes , with an enormous patch of leather on the seat of honour to preserve fche texture of the valuable fabric . This singular being is the genius loci . lie at once takes possession of you . He insists that you are one of his subjects , and that he onl y has a right to your countenance and your money . . Looking from

him , however , for one moment , two lakes stretch out westward of dusky brownish colour , over which thousands of many coloured ancl unusuall y large dragon flies disport themselves . The sun ' s rays seldom reach the surface of cither lake , and silence seems to reign in the place . Of this spot " vlooro , in liis charming melodies , sings— - "Glendalough , whose gloomy shore Skylark never warbles o ' er ;

AVhere the rock hangs high and steep , Young St . Kevin stole to sleep . " Four guide conducts you to the borders of tho lesser lake , where stands the round tower , the centre of a group of ruins itself , as though it were the monument of a glory younger and less lasting than its own lis discrowned summit appeals

, touchingly to the passer by . It is about ninety-five feet in height , about forty-live feet in diameter at the base , and about thirty-five feet towards tho top . It is flanked by an immense churchyard , iu which may be found , almost every manner and

style of sepulchral monument , from the huge stone carved crosses that commemorate the deeds of eminent ecclesiastics , down to the commemorative wreath of white blossoms which poverty hath twined and deposited above the last home of humble innocence . Tho grey ruins of several churches crumble silently at short distances ; some of them knit

together by bands of deep green ivy , ancl sustained from destruction by the parasite which has sapped their strength . On every side are piles of stone which once formed part of an ancient city ; for such we are told was Glendalough , and students front Italy and even from Egypt and the far off Ind used to resort to its famous university .

Where aro the architects who were then also the priests of the sacred temple , and went in procession , clothed in the symbolic vestiture of the Craft—adorned with the square , the triangle , and other symbols , types at once of matter and spirit—aud affixed upon the architrave fche emblematic pentalhthat mystic sign of the double immortality whieh is

p , obtained by good works ? In that tall tower , according to some scholars , the priests used to kindle the sacred fire which should be a sign unto all the dwellers on tho hills to kneel and worship ; and if you step near you will see the windows

through which the holy flame is supposed to have shone forth . Else why should be found beside these venerable monuments the stone " pillar of witness , " the " Grombae , " the fire house , and other relies of pagan worship ? But coming to later time , when Christianity in the blaze of young enthusiasm extinguished the flame and cast down

the idols of the heathen , wo are told that here , in those hollow cylinders , lived the first anchorites , holy men , who fashioned with their own hands these stern looking prison houses , wherein they remained for the whole period of their lives , and somo of them were buried here , and their bones have been collected and p laced with respect in votive

chapels , built to commemorate their piety . According to other antiquarians , the bell which summoned the mountaineer to the worship of tho Yirgin , succeeded tho element with which the pagan typified the all pervading essence of the Deity . As the muezzin from the minarets of the east summonses to morning , midday , and evening prayerso used the

, monk from the round tower by aid of a tinkling bell , fco call upon the neighbouring peasantry to repeat the angelus , as is done in Homo at this day , and in most other Catholic countries , where the clergy have power to enforce the practice .

There have been vessels found in these stone casements , which tire only used for the service of the altar , and hence many have affected to think that they were used as depositories for such 'articles iu times of trouble , when the brigand and the trooper in turn laid unholy clutch on every house , whether sacred or nofc , that lay within their reach . But

whether the round tower was used for auy or all of these purposes , one thing is certain , that the craftsmen who were their builders had a purpose in view which has never been apparent to other than themselves . Their sites tire now in the midst of solitude , ancl funereal garlands grow up at their base . In . one instanceas in . Clou Macnoise , the round tower

, overlooks tho vast tide of the river Shannon ; and if it were indeed a fire temple , it could have been discerned from an immense distance , Repose deep and perpetual is the main expression of this spot iu particular . Here has the pilgrim often conic to cast off sin from his soul as the dust from his feet . Here often has the writer

loitered' The sounding cataract Haunted me like a passion : the tall rock , The mountain , ancl the deep gloom of the wood , The still sad music of humanity , Nor harsh , nor grating , though of ample power , To chasten and subdue . J too , have felt The presence that disturbs me with the joy Of elevated thought—a sense sublime Of something far more deeply interfused ,