stones, of colossal dimensions. A single stone, or Maen-hir, at Locmariakar, was, when unbroken, sixty-five feet in length. These monuments have always been objects of reverence among the lower orders, and they often bear marks of the superstitious worship of the peasantry in modern ages. "Near Joinville (Meuse), there is a maen-hir remarkable for a Roman inscription, at about two-thirds of its height. It consists of the words Viromarus Istatilif; Viromarus son of Istatilius, and was evidently engraved long after the erection of the monument. . . . A few maen-hirs have been found covered with rude sculptures, but these decorations were doubtless added at a later period. There is a stone of this kind near Brecknock, in Wales; it is called the maiden stone, and bears a rude carving of a man and woman in high relief. But notwithstanding all that has been said on this subject, we do not think it possible a single specimen of carving on a Celtic monument can with any certainty be attributed to the Druids; of course we do not consider as sculptures a few hues or shapeless ornaments, scarcely visible, which may be seen on some stones of that epoch." After having shewn how, in the earlier ages of Christianity, these monuments of paganism were doomed to destruction, and great numbers must have perished, the writer of this article proceeds to state the feelings with which they were subsequently consecrated to Christian purposes. "At last the epoch arrived when Christianity, become more tolerant from the fact of its triumph being no longer doubtful, condescended to appropriate the monuments of polytheism, and converted the Roman temples into churches. The lower orders had been accustomed to perform acts of devotion at the foot of the Druidical stones; so instead of throwing these down, they were sanctified and consecrated to the worship of the true God. Sometimes the maen-hir itself was hewn into the form of a cross, as one of those near Carnac; sometimes one or more crosses were cut upon them, as on that of the Mountain of Justice on the road from Auray to Carnac; at a more recent day, crosses and religious symbols were sculptured upon them in a more advanced style of art, as those on the maen-hir of Ploemeur (north coast), which can scarcely be older than the sixteenth centmy." The numerous figures of the Celtic monuments of France given in this first volume, and in the parts published of the second series, are extremely valuable.
The monuments of primeval architecture, however wonderful by their mass, or interesting by their associations, have little of real beauty and are totally deficient in purity of taste. These important qualities first present themselves in the works of the Greeks and Romans, which are here illustrated by views and details of the elegant temple of Segesta and the noble Parthenon, and of the amphitheatre of Nismes and the arch of Trajan at Benevento. We are then introduced through the Roman basilicas to the Christian architecture of the middle ages. The succeeding subjects are the basilica of St. Clement at Rome, the existence of which may be traced from the fifth century; the church of St. Vital at Ravenna, begun in the sixth century, a good example of the Byzantine style; the Catholicon, or cathedral of Athens, another early example of the same style; the church of St. Mary at Toscanella. a beautiful example of the earlier ecclesiastical architecture of
